Chapter 111: You Really Are Blind

"It was the dead of night. When I went to the living room, I saw the lights were still on in Jiang Chen's study. Standing outside the door, I could hear him muttering to himself. He sounded like he was scolding something, constantly repeating words like possession, spiritual hosting, and birthing a Ghost Infant."

Ye Bing wrapped her arms around herself. It seemed last night's encounter had truly left her deeply traumatized.

"I waited until the study went completely silent before I left to move the flowerpot. It was about the size of a basketball, sitting in a corner between the bathroom and the hallway. To be honest, that potted plant never saw the sun year-round. It grew in the filthiest, darkest place in the house, yet the vegetation inside was surprisingly lush."

"I always felt something was wrong with that plant. Out of curiosity, I took a small trowel and dug through the soil. The moment I turned the dirt over, I saw an absolutely terrifying sight."

"Buried inside that flowerpot was a deformed baby's corpse. It had grown together with the plant's roots. The sight made my blood run cold. If I hadn't bitten down hard on my own finger right then, I probably would have dropped and shattered the pot on the spot."

"A baby's corpse growing together with a plant?" I had never seen anything so bizarre.

Ye Bing nodded with absolute certainty. "There's a photo in this document I brought. If you don't believe me, you can see for yourself."

"No need. I told you a long time ago that something was wrong with Jiang Chen." Through the curling smoke, I pressed, "And then? What else happened last night?"

"I was terrified. I didn't even care if Jiang Chen found out; I just picked up the flowerpot, ready to throw it out of the house. But before I could even open the door, someone grabbed my shoulder. It was a very small hand. I swear it wasn't Jiang Chen—there was someone else in that house!"

"I didn't even dare turn my head, terrified of what horrifying thing I might see. In the end, I had no choice but to put the flowerpot back where it was and flee to my room."

"I haven't slept a wink, let alone dared to tell Jiang Chen what happened. I'm so scared right now. Gao Jian, tell me, what should I do?"

Ye Bing described it so vividly that I felt as if I had been there myself. Pondering it over and combining it with my encounters over the past few days, I already had a rough idea of what was going on.

"Jiang Chen is definitely keeping a Little Ghost in the house. He couldn't hide something like this from his family, which means Old Master Jiang has tacitly approved of it. The Jiang family's ability to dominate Jiangcheng and build their tower right over a dragon vein means they must have an expert guiding them from the shadows. There's no way they wouldn't know the dangers of raising a Little Ghost, so why is Jiang Chen still so hell-bent on doing it?" Instead of focusing on Ye Bing's pleas, my thoughts delved into a deeper layer.

'The waters of the Jiang family run incredibly deep. In this tangled web of relationships, what kind of role is Ye Bing playing? Why did Jiang Chen insist on marrying her?' Thinking back to the keywords Ye Bing had unwittingly dropped just moments ago—possession, spiritual hosting, birthing a Ghost Infant—I realized Jiang Chen's purpose in raising a Little Ghost probably wasn't just to seek wealth and secure his luck.

The cigarette burned down to the filter. Seeing me lost in thought, Ye Bing didn't interrupt. She knew my thinking habits just as well as I knew her measurements.

"I can't help you with this." Lighting another cigarette, I opened the shop door to let the outside sunlight pour in.

I didn't say that just to make things difficult for her. In reality, the way to escape danger was quite simple: just leave the Jiang family and leave Jiangcheng. But for Ye Bing, who had gone through immense lengths to finally marry into wealth, that was practically impossible.

And fundamentally solving her problem would be extremely difficult, unless Jiang Chen gave it up of his own accord.

Any other method would only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. Even though the wedding hadn't been successfully completed and the two of them still hadn't consummated the marriage, Ye Bing was nominally Jiang Chen's wife. You can guard against thieves day and night, but it's impossible to defend against a thief in your own home. If the person sharing your bed wanted to cast a curse or perform a spell on you, it would be far too easy.

"Is there really no way at all?" Ye Bing stood up and walked up behind me. "Gao Jian, back when we were together, no matter what predicament you ran into, you always found a way to solve it. Please, help me this one time, alright?"

"Jiang Chen is raising a ghost. That's all I can tell you. You have to choose what to do next yourself. If you're truly terrified, there's a blind fortune-teller under the Tianqiao you can look for, or you can go to a temple yourself to ask for some Talisman Paper."

"Gao Jian..."

Flicking the ash from my cigarette, I looked at her delicate, increasingly haggard face. "You chose this path yourself. Besides, your five minutes are up."

The sunlight outside was beautiful, but Ye Bing's complexion was terrible. Holding her designer handbag, she lightly bit her lower lip, just about to say something else.

The sunlight at the shop entrance suddenly dimmed as a graceful figure stepped inside.

She looked to be twenty-eight or twenty-nine, her long hair cascading over her shoulders. Every glance and every smile radiated an irresistible charm.

She wore a low-cut white top and short hot pants, her long legs clad in black stockings. Stepping in sky-high heels, she appeared only slightly shorter than me.

Pouting her moist lips, she blew a coquettish kiss from several meters away. "Gao Jian, why haven't you come to see Sakurako for so many days? Didn't I promise you back then? As long as you spend more time with Sakurako, I'll do whatever you want me to..."

It was only when she stepped closer that she noticed someone else standing in the room. "No wonder you haven't come looking for me, you were hiding a beauty away in here. How heartbroken do you think Sakurako will be because of this!"

"I don't know if Sakurako would be heartbroken, but is it really okay for you to talk about your own daughter like that?" The seductive older woman standing in front of me was none other than Onitsuka Ayaka. This Japanese single mother with a past full of stories was also one of the women who gave me the biggest headaches. Her passion was simply overwhelming—or perhaps 'irresistible' would be a more accurate word for it.

"Stop joking around, I came to find you for serious business today." For once, Onitsuka Ayaka was completely serious. She naturally hooked her arm around my shoulder, then glanced back and called out to Ye Bing, "I'm borrowing him for a bit. You don't mind, do you?"

"Be my guest." After Onitsuka Ayaka showed up, Ye Bing's complexion grew even paler for some unknown reason. She looked as if she were feeling physically unwell, standing alone in the corner of the room.

"Could you keep your hands to yourself? Have some self-respect, alright?"

I brushed Onitsuka Ayaka's hand off my shoulder. She didn't mind at all and simply pulled a piece of paper from her purse. "Sakurako went out yesterday afternoon and hasn't come back yet. This is the note she left me yesterday."

"She's been gone all night? Why didn't you tell me something so serious earlier?!" I snatched the neatly folded paper. It had been torn from a school workbook. Aside from a single line in Japanese saying 'Don't worry', it also contained four clumsily written Chinese characters: 'Xinhu, Gao Jian.'

The fact that my name was written on the note Sakurako left behind caught me completely by surprise.

"Sakurako wrote 'Gao Jian', so I just assumed she couldn't stand being lonely and came over to play with you. I didn't think much of it at first."

"You think she's you?! Your daughter has been missing for a whole night and you're only coming to me now! Did you call the police?"

"I did, but the police said they're short-handed right now and won't dispatch anyone until she's been missing for twenty-four hours."

"Forget it, I'll help you look for her. That child isn't good at communicating, and since she can see ghosts in her dreams, it's very easy for her to run into danger." I stared intently at the note in my hand. "Since Xinhu and my name appear on the same piece of paper, this location must have something to do with me."

A location immediately surfaced in my mind. "Xinhu High School."

Xinhu High School was the site of my second livestream, and there were still many unresolved issues left behind after that stream ended.

Furthermore, based on my deductions, that haunted school definitely held a hidden, unholy treasure—a treasure capable of attracting evil entities and causing vengeful spirits to linger endlessly.

"There's a very high chance Sakurako is there. I need to head out immediately." The little girl had once helped me hold back the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends. If it hadn't been for her, I never would have survived long enough for Xiaofeng to arrive.

Grabbing a jacket, I tossed the shop keys to Onitsuka Ayaka and hurriedly left, calling out to Bai Qi to follow.

It wasn't until I was far away that Ye Bing, who had been standing silently in the corner, seemed to realize she had lost something incredibly important. Looking completely devastated, she walked out the shop door.

The reason she had stayed in the shop to watch me leave was because there was still a sliver of hope in her heart—hoping I would turn around, hoping I would help her, and hoping I would still put her first just like I used to.

"Hey, beauty, your Louis Vuitton." Onitsuka Ayaka hooked Ye Bing's designer handbag with a single finger. When Ye Bing walked over to take it, she suddenly took a step forward, pinning Ye Bing against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Whether it was in aura or the fullness of her chest, Ye Bing completely lost out to the woman in front of her. She leaned against the wall, her hands hanging weakly at her sides.

Onitsuka Ayaka looked at Ye Bing with a beaming smile. Her cold, jade-like fingers gently traced across Ye Bing's cheek. "You certainly qualify as a beauty. Such a pity you're completely blind. I heard your entire conversation from outside the door just now. Should I call you pitiful? Or should I call you pathetic?"