Xu Wangchuan stood face-to-face with Xu Qingming. Xu Qingming was so terrified that his body went rigid, yet he still acted as though he could see nothing, walking straight through Xu Wangchuan and forcing a stiff smile as he exchanged pleasantries with the others.
Xu Wangchuan was left behind. From beneath the red wedding veil, he stared darkly at Xu Qingming.
It seemed as though countless voices were whispering in his ears, each one incessantly saying:
“Look, this is your father. He doesn’t care whether you live or die.”
“Hasn’t he always been like this?”
“What use is a parent this irresponsible?”
“If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“Why don’t you just kill him…”
“Kill him…”
With each word, the expression on Xu Wangchuan’s face grew increasingly venomous. His body, which had still looked relatively normal, gradually began to twist and deform…
His neck stretched longer, and his sharp, distorted fingers were just about to close around Xu Qingming’s neck when he suddenly sensed an intensely threatening aura.
That aura was approaching the living room.
Xu Wangchuan glared hatefully at Xu Qingming’s back. In the end, however, he turned around and fled.
Once the cold, sinister presence behind him disappeared, Xu Qingming, who had been on tenterhooks the entire time, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although that thing kept insisting that it was Xu Wangchuan, who knew whether it was some ghostly trick trying to deceive him? And even if it really was Xu Wangchuan, after becoming something like that, he could no longer be considered human…
Xu Qingming used these thoughts to convince himself. Then, secretly turning his face, he glanced behind him from the corner of his eye.
As expected, the figure wearing the red wedding veil was already gone.
However, two people were coming down the stairs from the second floor.
Xu Qingming cried out in surprise, “Muchan?”
Xu Muchan and Wei Xilou came down from the second floor. Their eyes quickly swept across everyone in the living room. They saw neither Cui Tong nor Xu Wangchuan.
He frowned and asked, “Where is everyone else?”
Yan He said, “We haven’t found them yet. A breach suddenly appeared in the ghost domain, so I brought Mr. Xu and the others out first. I was preparing to go back in and look for you, but the ghost domain seemed to disappear completely.”
As they were talking, the sounds of doors opening one after another came from several rooms upstairs and downstairs.
Clearly, after discovering that the villa had returned to normal, the people who had been hiding inside were gradually coming out.
After everyone emerged, Yan He and Pei Rong counted the people and discovered that they were still missing two.
“Cui Tong and Xu Wangchuan are missing.”
When he heard Xu Wangchuan’s name, Xu Qingming clasped his hands together uneasily.
“This… We’ll have to trouble all of you masters to find that child and Master Cui…”
The others had been thoroughly frightened by the Xu family’s bizarre situation and did not dare say a word.
Yan He and Pei Rong exchanged a glance, both frowning deeply. Neither of them immediately answered.
Based on their past experience, Xu Wangchuan was most likely already in grave danger. However, his parents obviously could not accept that explanation so easily. Yan He could only sigh and say, “The ghost domain has disappeared. Let’s search the villa. Maybe he fainted somewhere and hasn’t been found yet.”
With that, he mobilized everyone present to search the villa.
The Xu family villa was quite large, with numerous rooms. Everyone split up and searched separately.
Xu Muchan and Wei Xilou were assigned to the first floor. Xu Muchan quietly asked Wei Xilou, “Big Brother, do you know where Xu Wangchuan went?”
Wei Xilou glanced toward the corner of the second floor, then shook his head. “Maybe he felt that he did something wrong and didn’t dare face his family, so he hid somewhere.”
Xu Muchan wasn’t entirely convinced by that explanation. Cui Tong had probably taken advantage of the chaos to escape after being injured, but Xu Wangchuan didn’t seem like the type to hide because he felt guilty and was afraid to face people.
Besides, Xu Muchan had a feeling that there was more behind what his brother was saying.
Everyone turned the Xu family villa upside down, but they still couldn’t find either Xu Wangchuan or Cui Tong.
Cui Tong had never been a good person in the first place, so Yan He didn’t care whether he was alive or dead. But they couldn’t find Xu Wangchuan either…
Looking at Xu Zhifei, who was barely able to keep herself standing, Yan He set up an altar and tried to summon Xu Wangchuan’s soul.
There was no response.
Under normal circumstances, whether someone was alive or dead, as long as their soul was still present, there would be a reaction.
But now…
Yan He stared at the completely unresponsive soul-summoning array and felt that Xu Wangchuan had most likely met with disaster.
Ordinary people who died inside a ghost domain usually didn’t even have their souls survive.
After hesitating for a long time, Yan He finally chose to tell them directly.
“Please… accept our condolences.”
Xu Zhifei’s body swayed, and she nearly collapsed, but Xu Qingming caught her in time.
She covered her mouth in disbelief. “Could it be… could it be that you’re mistaken?”
Yan He looked troubled. He didn’t know how to comfort a mother who had just lost her child.
In the end, Pei Rong said, “You all saw what Xu Wangchuan was like earlier… Our abilities are limited. I’m sorry.”
Xu Zhifei sank onto the sofa, covering her face as she tried to suppress her sobs.
In the end, it was Xu Qingming who saw the group of masters out.
Most of these people were charlatans who had contributed nothing at all. Only Yan He, Pei Rong, and Cui Tong truly possessed real skill. But Cui Tong was nowhere to be found…
Thinking about that thing that had previously claimed to be Xu Wangchuan, Xu Qingming still felt uneasy. He wanted to ask the two of them to stay the night.
For some reason, Yan He didn’t particularly like Xu Qingming. Besides, the ghost domain had already dissipated, so he shook his head and declined.
“There’s no need for us to stay overnight. If Mr. Xu is still worried, we’ll come back tomorrow and make sure there aren’t any other problems.”
Only after hearing this did Xu Qingming stop insisting.
Yan He and the others gradually left. Xu Muchan checked the time and felt that he should leave as well, so he said goodbye to Xu Zhifei.
Xu Zhifei hurriedly wiped away her tears. She seemed to want to force a smile, but she simply couldn’t manage it. Her face remained deathly pale as she stood up.
“I’ll see you out.”
Seeing how fragile she looked, Xu Muchan didn’t refuse again.
Xu Zhifei accompanied them outside. In the courtyard, Xu Qingming turned around and saw Xu Muchan.
Thinking about what had happened to Xu Wangchuan, he realized that from now on, this was the only son he had left. He originally wanted to force a smile and say a few words to ease their relationship, but Xu Muchan didn’t even look at him.
Xu Qingming’s expression immediately stiffened. He gave a heavy snort and went back into the living room.
Xu Zhifei walked them all the way to the gate. She looked at Xu Muchan, hesitating to speak.
Xu Muchan disliked this kind of tangled, unresolved situation, so he simply asked, “Is there anything else?”
Xu Zhifei tightened the fingers resting over her abdomen, but she still asked quietly, “Muchan, do you know… what exactly happened to your brother, Wangchuan? Is he really…”
She ultimately couldn’t bring herself to say the word “dead.” She could only look at Xu Muchan sorrowfully, waiting for an answer she desperately hoped to hear.
This child had been different from ordinary people since he was young. He had even mentioned the Joy God earlier. Perhaps it was a woman’s sixth sense, but Xu Zhifei couldn’t help feeling that this child might know something.
Xu Muchan avoided her almost pleading gaze and answered honestly, “I don’t know where Xu Wangchuan went either. He probably made a deal with the Joy God before, which was why he was later assimilated by it. But when I saw him, he had already broken away from the Joy God. He should have escaped and gone into hiding somewhere. As for why he hasn’t shown himself, I don’t know either.”
This answer brought a little color back to Xu Zhifei’s pale face. She smiled through her tears and repeatedly thanked Xu Muchan.
Xu Muchan was about to leave, but he saw that Xu Zhifei was still standing there, watching him without any intention of leaving.
Somewhat puzzled, Xu Muchan could only stop out of courtesy and wait for whatever else she wanted to say.
Instead, Xu Zhifei suddenly began talking about the past.
“Actually, back then, when your father and I agreed to let Cui Tong take you away, it wasn’t entirely because of the family business…”
She reached up and brushed aside the messy strands of hair beside her face, lowering her eyes instead of meeting Xu Muchan’s gaze.
“Your father, like you, could see those unclean things from the time he was little… Eventually, as he grew older, he gradually stopped being able to see them. But because of that, he became especially superstitious about those things while being deeply afraid of them at the same time.”
“So after you were born, when he discovered that you would babble at empty spaces as though you were talking to someone who wasn’t there, he realized that you had inherited this trait. Especially after you learned to speak unusually early—you were always wandering around the house talking to things we couldn’t see. He was terrified, and I was… terrified too.”
“So later, when the family business ran into trouble and Cui Tong came to us on his own, saying that he could help resolve our problems, and even offered us another fifty thousand yuan, I didn’t insist on keeping you when his condition was that he take you away.”
As though she found it unbearable to admit, Xu Zhifei lowered her head and covered her face, sobbing softly as she apologized.
“I’m sorry, Muchan. I failed in my duty as a mother. I didn’t protect you back then, and I couldn’t protect Wangchuan now either. I’m sorry…”
She had kept these words buried in her heart for a very long time. It was only after something happened to her adopted son that Xu Zhifei finally realized she could no longer deceive herself or pretend that everything was fine.
She cried bitterly, overwhelmed with grief and sorrow.
But to Xu Muchan, it didn’t affect him very much.
When he was young, he had longed for many things. He had even imagined that perhaps one day, his father and mother would come to take him home.
But as time passed, the cruel reality gradually taught him to give up those unrealistic hopes.
He had also slowly learned not to ask for too much, but instead to desperately hold on to the one thing he could actually grasp.
It was like someone who had been starving for a very long time. After prolonged hunger, the stomach would gradually shrink, and so would the appetite. Even if delicacies were placed before him, he would be unable to eat them. Instead, they would become an excessively heavy burden.
So Xu Muchan simply stood there watching her. Only after her sobs gradually weakened and Xu Zhifei finally calmed down did he say, “I don’t care about what happened when I was little anymore, so you don’t need to care about it either.”
After saying that, he took a packet of tissues from his pocket and handed it to Xu Zhifei. He nodded at her, then left with Wei Xilou.
This time, he was the one who didn’t look back.
Clutching the packet of tissues that still carried the warmth of his body, Xu Zhifei stood there in a daze, watching his retreating figure. Even after he entered the villa across the way, she remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.
Xu Qingming came outside and looked at his wife’s disheveled state.
“Why are you crying? If he doesn’t acknowledge us, then we’ll just pretend we never had a son like him!”
Xu Zhifei, still dazed, turned around and looked at him.
Her expression was no longer as gentle and submissive as before. She stared at Xu Qingming for a long time, as though she had only just come to know her husband today.
Xu Qingming grew uncomfortable under her gaze.
“What are you looking at?”
Xu Zhifei replied calmly, “I’m wondering exactly how many sons you have. You don’t want this one, and you don’t want that one either. Someone who didn’t know better would think you have plenty of sons.”
Xu Qingming hadn’t expected his wife to say something like that. For a moment, he was left speechless, unable to respond.
Xu Zhifei brushed past him and returned to the bedroom to wash up and rest.
Xu Qingming stood in the courtyard for a while. Thinking about the mess at home and the even bigger mess at the company, he couldn’t feel sleepy at all. He simply called his assistant and asked about the company’s situation.
The assistant said that they were still negotiating compensation with the other company. Because of the incident, the shareholders were extremely dissatisfied with Xu Qingming, the chairman. The only reason they hadn’t pressed him too hard was that he had suddenly fallen ill and been hospitalized, and everyone still took their past relationship into consideration.
After listening to the report, Xu Qingming let out a heavy sigh. He sat in the living room smoking for half the night before finally returning to the bedroom.
His wife was already asleep, lying far away from him with her back turned.
Xu Qingming lay down on the empty side of the bed, but tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
When sleep finally began to overtake him, he realized that he had dreamed of the old two-story self-built house they had rented long ago.
Ever since his business had grown larger and larger, Xu Qingming had buried that old house deep in his memories.
Not only because he had nearly gone bankrupt and fallen into enormous debt there, forcing him to sell his three-year-old son.
It was also because he deeply hated the desperation and fear of being driven into a corner with nothing left.
But now, he had returned there.
Xu Qingming knew perfectly well that he was dreaming, yet no matter what he did, he couldn’t wake up.
He paced back and forth through the shabby living room, nearly driven mad by the anxiety and fear that clung to him like a shadow.
Just as he was about to lose control, a haunting voice came from outside the door.
“Xu Qingming…”
The voice was not unfamiliar.
Xu Qingming abruptly turned toward the doorway. The expression on his face was impossible to tell apart—whether it was fear or delight.
He cautiously took a step forward and tentatively called out, “Is that you, Joy God?”
A figure wearing a red veil over its head stepped out from behind the door and stood in the doorway.
“May I come in?”
Those words reminded Xu Qingming of the first time he had seen the Joy God.
The other had asked him the exact same thing:
“May I come in?”
Xu Qingming, as if possessed, said, “Yes.”
And so, it moved into the Xu family home.
Xu Qingming had been able to see these things since he was a child. After his grandfather discovered it, he repeatedly warned him that even if he saw them, he had to pretend he hadn’t. He must never communicate with them, and even more importantly, he must never attempt to have them grant his wishes.
Xu Qingming had always followed those rules when he was young. But perhaps as he grew older, he gradually realized that there were many things human effort alone could not accomplish, and sometimes all one could do was place their hopes in ghosts and gods.
Just like now.
The Xu family was in dire straits, the shareholders were pressing him at every turn, and he was completely helpless.
Xu Qingming’s heart pounded violently. An intense fear crawled all the way up from his tailbone, yet desire ultimately overwhelmed it.
Forcing himself to suppress his fear, Xu Qingming said hoarsely, “Of course you can.”
The Joy God, its head covered by a red bridal veil, stepped over the threshold and walked inside one step at a time.
The scene before Xu Qingming suddenly twisted.
When he came back to his senses, he was once again in the basement of his home.
The statue of the deity stood before him, covered from head to toe with red cloth. He knelt on the cushion in front of the statue, palms pressed together.
A haunting voice whispered beside his ear.
“What is your wish?”
Xu Qingming’s lips trembled, but he still slowly answered, “I hope the company can successfully get through this crisis.”
The voice seemed to laugh softly before continuing.
“Your wish can be granted. But what can you offer in exchange?”
Xu Qingming’s heart tightened. His throat went dry.
He hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth.
“Anything. As long as it’s something I have.”
“Your son? And your wife as well?”
Xu Qingming’s face twisted grotesquely, as though he were facing an unimaginably difficult dilemma.
The statue remained standing silently, patiently waiting for his answer.
“…Yes.”
The word seemed incredibly difficult to say. Xu Qingming spoke slowly, one word at a time.
The statue covered in red cloth let out a strange, eerie laugh. It stepped down from the altar, crouched in front of him, and said,
“Daddy, you really haven’t disappointed me.”
“But that still isn’t enough.”
Xu Wangchuan’s deformed, sharp fingers pressed against his shoulder as he giggled.
“How about using your own life to pay the price…”
A scream filled with absolute terror suddenly woke Xu Zhifei.
She jolted awake and saw her husband beside her, both hands wrapped around his own neck. His face was bluish-black, and he was barely breathing.
“Qingming! Qingming! What’s happening?”
Xu Zhifei frantically tried to pry his hands away. Her fingernails dug into Xu Qingming’s hands hard enough to break the skin before she finally managed to pull his iron-like grip loose.
A ring of bruises surrounded Xu Qingming’s neck where he had strangled himself. His entire body collapsed limply onto the bed, his chest heaving violently and rapidly, while his eyes remained wide with terror, as though he had seen something horrifying.
Seeing her husband’s condition worsening, Xu Zhifei hurriedly called 120.
The shrill siren of the ambulance woke the sleeping person nearby.
Xu Muchan opened his eyes groggily. “What happened?”
The dark figure beside him raised a hand and covered his ears, then pulled him closer into its arms.
“Nothing happened. Go back to sleep.”
It wasn’t until the next day, after school, that Xu Muchan learned of Xu Qingming’s death.
By then, it was already late at night. Xu Zhifei looked extremely haggard. She was still wearing the same clothes as before when she knocked on the villa’s door.
When Xu Muchan opened it, she said, “Muchan, your father passed away. He died suddenly from a heart attack. They took him to the hospital, but they couldn’t save him. The funeral is in three days. You’ll come, right?”
There was a strong note of uncertainty in Xu Zhifei’s voice.
Regardless of what Xu Qingming had been like while alive, death was the end of all grievances. Xu Muchan nodded.
“Where will the funeral be held? I’ll be there on time.”
Xu Zhifei gave him the address, then added, “One thing after another has happened at home, so we’re keeping the funeral simple.”
Xu Muchan said, “My condolences.”
The funeral was held at Songshan Cemetery in the suburbs.
During those three days, Xu Muchan also read some of the news. The Xu Group was already caught in a storm of negative publicity over its collapsing credibility. It was also facing massive order cancellations and enormous compensation claims. Now that its chairman, Xu Qingming, had suddenly died, things had only become worse.
For three days, Xu-family-related stories dominated the top trending searches, ranging from financial news about the Xu Group’s plunging stock price to gossip claiming that Xu Qingming had spent a fortune hiring large numbers of Taoist priests and Buddhist monks before his death, suggesting that something supernatural might have latched onto the Xu family.
Xu Muchan merely skimmed through it and didn’t pay any further attention.
He changed into a black suit and attended Xu Qingming’s funeral with Wei Xilou.
Only close relatives from the Xu and Xu families, along with a few major shareholders who were on very close terms with the family, had been invited to the funeral.
Xu Zhifei stood at the front in a black suit and skirt. Her face was haggard and exhausted.
When she saw Xu Muchan and Wei Xilou arrive, she handed him three sticks of incense and said softly, “Go offer some incense to your father.”
Xu Muchan accepted the incense, but his gaze passed over her shoulder and landed behind her at an angle.
Xu Wangchuan stood right behind Xu Zhifei, his head covered by a red bridal veil. The vivid red veil looked completely out of place against the solemn black surroundings.
He seemed to realize that Xu Muchan could see him.
The red veil moved slightly, and a pair of deformed, snow-white fingers pressed against Xu Zhifei’s neck as he looked toward Xu Muchan.
Xu Zhifei was completely unaware of it.
Xu Muchan kept his gaze straight ahead as he stepped forward to offer the incense and pay his respects.
After the formalities were completed, Xu Muchan stepped aside and quietly asked Wei Xilou, “What’s going on with Xu Wangchuan? Didn’t the Joy God already die?”
Wei Xilou said, “Xu Wangchuan had already been fused with the Joy God. Although you forcibly separated him from the Joy God’s body, he had already assimilated part of it. Later, when you killed the Joy God’s main body, he naturally replaced the Joy God as the remnant portion of it.”
“So is he Xu Wangchuan now, or the Joy God?” Xu Muchan asked in confusion.
Wei Xilou thought for a moment before saying, “To be precise, he should be somewhere between the two. He’s currently transitioning from a human into a new Joy God. The Joy God you killed before was formed in the same way.”
“The original Joy God wasn’t powerful, nor was it actually a divine being. Because it could fulfill the wishes of those who prayed to it, people believed that it brought good fortune. That was why it gradually came to be called the Joy God, and eventually became something resembling a deity.”
“But what those people didn’t know was that the more wishes they made, the greater the price they had to pay. It was precisely the desires of these people that nourished the Joy God. Once the Joy God became powerful enough, it was no longer satisfied with humans paying small prices. Instead, it would find ways to lift the veil itself and personally collect the price that was owed.”
Xu Muchan understood.
“That sounds a lot like an evil god.”
Wei Xilou neither agreed nor disagreed.
When the funeral ended, Xu Zhifei saw the mourners off. As the son of both Xu Qingming and Xu Zhifei, regardless of whatever conflicts had existed before, Xu Muchan still cooperated and went through the formalities, standing beside her and thanking the guests.
Once most of the mourners had left, only a few relatives and friends who had stayed to help remained, along with Xu Muchan and Xu Zhifei.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Muchan still asked, “Are you going to keep looking for Xu Wangchuan?”
Xu Zhifei nodded.
“You said he escaped, didn’t you? Maybe he just resents us as parents who failed him, which is why he doesn’t want to come home. He’s still young and still in school, and he has no other relatives. If I stop caring about him too, who else will?”
Xu Muchan glanced at the thing following behind her.
After hesitating slightly, he still warned her, “I only found out just now… Xu Wangchuan has become the new Joy God. If you don’t want to end up like the others, you’d better stop looking for him. And if you do encounter him, absolutely do not make any wishes to him.”
Xu Zhifei froze.
Her already haggard face took on an even more sorrowful expression.
“…Is it because Wangchuan made a wish that he became like this?”
Xu Muchan hummed in confirmation.
“I understand.”
Perhaps she had suffered too many blows. Her numb face could barely form any expression anymore.
She smoothed down a few loose strands of hair and quietly told Xu Muchan about her plans.
“After the funeral, I’m planning to sell the shares I have to a few major shareholders. After that, I’ll return to my hometown.”
Business matters had always been handled by Xu Qingming. She didn’t understand complicated business affairs and didn’t want to deal with them anymore.
So she simply transferred her shares to several shareholders who were willing to take them over. As for what happened to the Xu Group afterward, she would leave it to fate.
Xu Zhifei remembered how she and her husband had once worked in a small town in their hometown.
Back then, everyone had been poor, but they had lived peaceful, comfortable lives.
Later, as society developed, all the young people in town began leaving to find jobs or start businesses. Her husband had also been tempted, so they quit their jobs and went to Jiangcheng.
At first, they thought it would be enough to make a little money.
But once they made a little money, they wanted more.
Then even more.
Gradually, her husband’s business grew larger and larger, and she became the wealthy wife everyone talked about.
In the end, even she herself had forgotten that when they first left their hometown, all they had wanted was to find stable jobs, save some money, and then have a lovely child so that the three of them could live a peaceful, harmonious little life together.
Xu Zhifei wiped away a tear and looked at the son standing before her, now already taller than she was.
“It’s getting late. Go home and get some rest. I’m going to take your father’s ashes home too. There are still some things at home that need to be sorted out.”
Xu Muchan looked at her. He wanted to say a few more words of comfort, but aside from “my condolences,” he couldn’t think of anything else.
After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Take care of yourself.”
“Mm.”
Xu Zhifei hugged Xu Qingming’s urn, got into the car, and waved goodbye to Xu Muchan.
The mother and son got into different cars.
They traveled along the same road, yet each arrived at a different destination.