Volume One, Chapter Eight: The Heartless Scoundrel

Everyone turned their gaze to Xiao Duo.

Grandmother Xiao scolded, "What wrong have you done?"

Xiao Duo immediately retorted, "Grandmother, I haven't done anything. I don't even know what I should be confessing for."

Grandmother Xiao eyed him suspiciously, "If you haven't done anything, why would something latch onto you?"

Xiao Duo was silent.

He couldn't explain it, but he truly couldn't remember any wrongdoing.

Zhu Yaru shot a hostile look at Chi Xingwan. "Could it be someone playing tricks, trying to mess with A'Duo?"

Grandmother Xiao threw her a glance, and she instantly fell silent.

Chi Xingwan stared fixedly behind Xiao Duo. "You're carrying the deaths of two people on your shoulders."

Xiao Duo was appalled. "You're slandering me!"

Xiao Peiyuan jumped in, "Mother, you watched A'Duo grow up. He may be a disappointment, but he'd never have the guts to take a life."

He often found Xiao Duo exasperating, and was ashamed of his son's failures, but in his heart, Xiao Duo was his only child.

He hated Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue had stolen the heir's position that rightfully belonged to him. So, even though Xiao Yue was his own flesh and blood, he hated him.

Xiao Duo was his only child. He couldn't tolerate seeing him slandered.

Especially by Xiao Yue's fiancée.

Grandmother Xiao said to Chi Xingwan, "Xingwan, I know my grandson. If you said he was petty or a thief, maybe I'd believe it, but murder and arson? I truly can't."

Chi Xingwan trusted her own vision.

Behind Xiao Duo, she could clearly see two masses of black mist, one large, one small.

"What you harmed was a mother and child. The child hadn't yet formed," she said. Not yet formed, meaning not yet born.

Xiao Duo suddenly remembered something; his face turned ashen.

"So you remember now?" Grandmother Xiao pressed.

Xiao Duo's eyes darted. "No, I don't remember anything."

Grandmother Xiao snorted coldly. "Even now you try to hide it? Perhaps I shouldn't have called Xingwan, and let you suffer the consequences yourself."

Haunted by the strange occurrences of recent days, fear finally cracked Xiao Duo's resistance.

"Not long ago, my girlfriend got pregnant. I told her to get rid of the child, but I didn't harm her, really. I even gave her money for the abortion."

Grandmother Xiao was furious, glaring fiercely at Xiao Peiyuan.

"Like father, like son—always learning the worst from each other. You two just keep disappointing me."

Xiao Peiyuan's breath caught.

Years ago, his affair and illegitimate child had cost him his place as the Xiao family's heir when his mother found out. She stripped him of the title and shifted her support to the second and third sons.

Fortunately, the second son was mediocre, and the third was even more hopeless. He thought, given time, he could reclaim his position.

But unexpectedly, his mother bypassed their generation entirely and chose to groom Xiao Yue.

Now that Xiao Yue had been reduced to a fool, his ambitions stirred again—only to have Xiao Duo drag him down, reminding his mother of past grievances.

Xiao Duo hung his head, full of resentment.

How could his grandmother blame him? It was a mutual affair; the woman had come to him, not the other way around.

It was always supposed to be a fleeting romance—separate after the fun, offer some money, and move on. That's how he always handled it.

But that woman had tampered with the condom, got pregnant, and tried to use the child to force him into marriage.

Impossible.

His future wife would have to be from a family of equal standing, someone who could offer him support—not someone of ordinary birth.

The child couldn't stay, so he used her family to threaten her into an abortion.

It must have been her resentment that cursed him with these misfortunes.

Xiao Duo thought no one knew his dark thoughts, but he didn't realize that the two masses of black mist behind him could see straight into his soul.

One of the black shadows morphed into a pair of hands, clamping tightly around Xiao Duo's neck.

He could only make guttural, choking sounds, his toes barely touching the ground in an unnatural posture as his hands clawed desperately at his throat.

Soon, his face grew paler and his eyes began to roll back.

The sudden turn left everyone except Chi Xingwan in shock.

"A'Duo, what's wrong? Don't scare Mama," Zhu Yaru cried, rushing to support his body.

Xiao Peiyuan was frozen in terror.

Grandmother Xiao turned to Chi Xingwan, about to speak, when Chi Xingwan raised her hand, two fingers together, and drew a sigil in the air.

The moment the sigil was complete, she struck toward the space behind Xiao Duo. The hand of black mist recoiled as if scalded, instantly retreating.

The force choking his neck vanished; Xiao Duo's body collapsed, taking Zhu Yaru to the ground with him.

Xiao Peiyuan finally snapped out of his daze and hurried to check on his son.

Only Grandmother Xiao stared at Chi Xingwan in astonishment.

She had been watching Chi Xingwan's movements closely. If anyone else had made such gestures, she would have thought it a joke.

But she distinctly saw the air ripple with each stroke. She wasn't hallucinating, nor was it a coincidence. Chi Xingwan truly possessed some mysterious power.

"Xingwan, is there a way to help Xiao Duo?"

Though Xiao Duo had angered and disappointed her, he was still her grandson. Grandmother Xiao couldn't just stand by.

Chi Xingwan looked at Xiao Duo. "I can help you, but as I said before, to untie the bell, the one who tied it must do so. Only when you sincerely repent will they leave you for good."

Zhu Yaru, unable to control her emotions at the sight of her son's suffering, burst out, "What more do you want him to do? He gave that woman money for medical bills, even paid emotional damages. Isn't that enough?"

Chi Xingwan snapped, "Those were two lives. Do you really think a bit of money makes up for it?"

Xiao Duo finally stopped coughing and said hoarsely, "I didn't kill her. I just made her have an abortion. I didn't take her life."

"But the truth is, not only was the child lost—she died too. Their souls are clinging to you."

Xiao Duo trembled in fear, yet still tried to argue, "Even if she died, it has nothing to do with me."

Grandmother Xiao was so angry she nearly kicked him herself.

"Whether it's related to you isn't yours to decide. Did you ever check on that girl afterwards?"

Xiao Duo shook his head meekly.

"Then go find out!"

Xiao Duo had no choice but to take out his phone. After searching for a long while, he finally found the girl's contact, removed her from his blacklist, and dialed a voice call.

The first call was rejected.

Xiao Duo almost threw his phone in frustration, but under Grandmother Xiao's murderous glare, he dared not act out and called again.

This time, the call was answered.

Before Xiao Duo could speak, he was met with a torrent of curses.

"You heartless bastard! You killed my sister! Why don't you just die? How dare you call her!"