Xu Muchan held his finger in his mouth and sucked on it with gurgling sounds for quite a while before finally showing a satisfied expression.
After eating his fill, the young man looked even more obedient. His deathly pale skin, devoid of color like that of a paper effigy, had gained a little more rosiness and luster.
Reluctantly, he released his teeth, and Wei Xilou’s finger slipped out of his mouth, with two clear, round holes visible on it.
Perhaps because he liked his food very much, the young man unconsciously licked it again before carefully hugging that hand against his chest and pressing it down.
Satisfied, he closed his eyes and fell unconscious once more.
With his free hand, Wei Xilou wiped away the black-red bloodstains at the corner of the young man’s mouth.
His fingertip followed the contours of the young man’s face downward, reaching his slightly curved neck. His finger hooked onto the red cord and pulled out the Mountain God tablet hanging against the young man’s chest.
The Mountain God tablet was made from locust wood. Because it had been worn for so long, its surface had been polished smooth and glossy, though the patterns carved upon it had already become somewhat faded.
Using the remaining blood on his fingertip, Wei Xilou deepened the carved patterns once more before tucking the Mountain God tablet back against the young man’s chest.
Just as his finger was about to withdraw, it accidentally brushed against the delicate flesh nearby.
Wei Xilou paused.
Then, following his heart’s desire, he stopped and repeatedly rubbed that spot, savoring the delicate, slightly cool sensation of the skin.
This novel sensation was strangely addictive.
Although a human body was somewhat cumbersome and troublesome, its sense of touch was much more direct than that of a spirit body.
Wei Xilou narrowed his eyes slightly, rubbing that small patch of soft skin until it became red and hot.
Wei Jianguo pushed open the door carrying a stack of examination reports, only to see the ancestor sitting beside the hospital bed. One hand was beneath the young man, while the other was inside his collar. Although the clothing obscured the exact movements, the clothes were being pushed up and down repeatedly. Anyone whose eyes were working could tell what he was doing.
“……”
The child on the bed seemed to be his son’s classmate, while their own ancestor… putting his age aside, he might not even be human.
Wei Jianguo’s expression changed several times. In the end, he forced himself to pretend he had seen nothing. Holding the examination reports respectfully, he stepped forward and said, “Ancestor, all the examination results are out. The doctor said this child doesn’t have any major health problems. He’s just somewhat malnourished and anemic.”
As for the other bizarre conditions, Wei Jianguo deliberately ignored them. There was no point asking a doctor about something so unscientific.
“Malnourished?”
Seeing that Wei Xilou seemed somewhat puzzled, Wei Jianguo carefully explained, “This child looks too thin. It may be because he’s still growing and hasn’t been eating properly. The doctor said that people nowadays more or less have some degree of malnutrition or anemia.”
Wei Xilou still frowned, looking somewhat displeased.
Wei Jianguo did not know whether the other man had understood, so he became even more cautious and tentatively suggested, “The doctor also prescribed a bottle of nutritional IV fluids. Shall I have the nurse come in now?”
As he spoke, he glanced at the child’s extremely long fingernails. They no longer looked blue-black at this point and simply appeared to be unusually long normal fingernails. But when Wei Jianguo remembered the doctor’s string of questions at the time, he was curious despite himself. Even so, he could only force those questions deep down into his heart.
Wei Xilou ultimately agreed.
Wei Jianguo had the nurse come in to administer the nutritional IV. He stayed nearby and cautiously suggested, “Oh, right. I had someone prepare several sets of clothes for the ancestor to change into. If the ancestor doesn’t mind, shall I have them sent over?”
The times were different now, after all. Wei Xilou had an exceptionally striking appearance and wore clothes unlike anyone else’s, so it was inevitable that he would attract attention. Wei Jianguo had already realized this earlier.
Although these unfilial descendants were annoying, they were not completely useless.
Wei Xilou nodded and added, “Prepare a house as well. It should be near Nanming. And that phone you people use—send one over too.”
The corner of Wei Jianguo’s mouth twitched, but he did not dare show the slightest dissatisfaction. He immediately agreed, “Ancestor, please wait a moment. I’ll have someone prepare everything right away.”
After leaving the ward, Wei Jianguo first called his father to report the situation.
He did not know that their ancestor, Wei Xilou, had climbed out of the coffin in the secret chamber of the ancestral hall. Although he was carefully attending to this “ancestor” according to his father’s instructions, he still had some doubts in his heart.
Old Master Wei, however, sounded considerably more relaxed when he heard Wei Xilou’s requests.
“Give the ancestor whatever he wants and do your best to satisfy him. Right now, we’re not afraid of him making requests. We’re afraid he won’t ask for anything at all.”
Old Master Wei had spent his entire life as a businessman. The type of opponent he feared most was someone who wanted nothing.
Making requests meant the Wei family was still useful to him. As long as that was the case, there was still room for negotiation.
A relationship with give and take was the kind that could last.
Hearing this, Wei Jianguo said nothing more. He merely gestured to the secretary beside him, telling him to handle the arrangements.
He then asked about his son. “Is Yao Yao all right?”
Old Master Wei looked toward his grandson, who was still clutched in Goddess Jinhua’s hand in the distance.
“Your wife woke Yao Yao up. He’s comforting that Goddess Jinhua right now. From the looks of it, he’s managed to calm her down for the time being. It seems the ancestor really wasn’t deceiving us. Yao Yao shouldn’t be in any danger for now. I’ve already had people prepare the adoption ceremony.”
At this point, Old Master Wei paused, his tone becoming more solemn.
“Jianguo, I have a feeling this is an opportunity for our family—and for Yao Yao. Since we’re going to appease Goddess Jinhua, this adoption ceremony has to be grand. Later, find an opportunity to ask the ancestor whether we can invite him to attend.”
Inside the hospital ward, half of the nutritional IV had already been administered.
Xu Muchan frowned and let out a soft groan. Covering his dizzy, throbbing head, he opened his eyes.
His body seemed as though it no longer belonged to him. It was limp and completely without strength, while his stomach was ravenously hungry.
Xu Muchan groggily opened his eyes, intending to call for someone, but the intense light before him dazzled his eyes. He immediately squeezed them shut again.
His thick eyelashes trembled uneasily.
Realizing something, Xu Muchan cautiously opened his eyes a narrow slit.
Light entered his vision. Distorted outlines and spots swayed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope.
Only then did Xu Muchan happily open his eyes completely.
Those distorted outlines and patches of light gradually returned to their proper positions, becoming blurry shadows reflected in Xu Muchan’s eyes.
Directly in front of him seemed to be a wall. The wall was white, and the square object hanging upon it was probably a decorative painting.
The light was very bright, but everything within his field of vision was still blurry.
Xu Muchan narrowed his eyes with all his strength. He could only make out the objects in front of him by guessing.
But that alone was enough to make him excited.
Perhaps he was simply too happy, or perhaps his eyes, which had not yet completely adapted to the intense light, were too sensitive. Transparent tears welled up from the corners of his eyes, sliding down his smooth cheeks and gathering beneath his chin, hanging there without falling.
But Xu Muchan actually did not want to cry.
He was simply overwhelmed with surprise. His black eyes, soaked with tears, were filled with astonishing brightness.
Brother really hadn’t lied to him.
“Why are you such a crybaby?”
A hand suddenly reached over from the side and caught the tear that was about to fall.
The warm droplet dampened the fingertip.
Wei Xilou found this interesting and brought his finger to his mouth to taste it.
It was salty.
He wondered what A-Chan tasted like.
“Who are you?”
The young man’s slightly hoarse voice rang out in the quiet hospital ward.
Xu Muchan finally pulled himself out of his joy and remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness.
He should have been inside Goddess Jinhua’s ghost domain earlier. For some reason, Brother had suddenly gone crazy and insisted on climbing into the coffin to lie down.
He had been very angry…
After that, after that, he could not remember.
Xu Muchan tried hard to narrow his eyes, wanting to see the person in front of him clearly. But the harder he tried, the more violently the lights and shadows before his eyes swayed.
He could only vaguely make out that he seemed to be in a hospital.
The man who had just spoken was sitting beside the hospital bed. He had broad shoulders and long arms, and his build seemed very tall and imposing, blocking most of the window behind him.
When he leaned toward Xu Muchan, Xu Muchan felt as though he were being enveloped by a dense shadow.
This sensation was inexplicably familiar.
But Xu Muchan carefully recalled the voice from earlier. It was deep and hoarse, highly magnetic and distinctive.
Xu Muchan was certain he had never met this man.
He became wary.
Supporting himself against the hospital bed, he quietly moved backward a little and asked again, “Who are you?”
The other person’s reaction was even stranger.
“You don’t recognize me?”
Xu Muchan tilted his head slightly, frowning.
“Should I recognize you?”
As he spoke, he secretly felt around his body.
His phone was in his pants pocket.
But after searching for quite some time, he realized that these were not the clothes he had been wearing at the beginning. There were no pockets, so naturally there was no phone either.
Xu Muchan grew increasingly nervous.
The man beside the bed was of unknown origin and had remained silent the entire time. He just felt that the man was probably not a good person.
Through his clothes, he gripped the wooden tablet hanging against his chest and quietly called out in his heart:
“Brother, are you there?”
Wei Xilou did not answer Xu Muchan. Instead, he pressed the call button and summoned the nurse.
The nurse soon pushed open the door.
After discovering that Xu Muchan was awake, she asked him about his condition while performing some basic examinations.
Taking the opportunity, Xu Muchan asked the nurse about his current situation.
Yet his face unconsciously kept turning toward the man sitting to one side.
Even after the nurse came in, the other man still had not spoken.
Brother had not responded either.
Xu Muchan began to suspect that perhaps he was the only one who could see the man.
The nurse continued speaking to Xu Muchan in a gentle voice, telling him that once this bottle of nutritional IV was finished, he could be discharged. However, if he was worried, he could also stay another day.
Xu Muchan thanked her, and the nurse pushed the small cart out.
The door gently closed.
The ward became quiet once again.
The silent man moved closer to the head of the bed. He remained quiet, but his presence was still extremely strong.
Even the small area where he sat seemed to have shadows that were denser than elsewhere.
Xu Muchan once again felt an intense sense of familiarity.
He raised a hand and touched his eyes, thinking about the strange thing Brother had fed him earlier.
He really wanted to find Brother and ask whether the fact that he could see a little now was because the thing he had eaten had taken effect.
But Brother was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, Xu Muchan’s heart stirred.
He looked toward the dense shadow beside the head of the bed and tentatively called out,
“Brother, is that you?”
Only then did Wei Xilou smile.
His curled finger brushed across the young man’s trembling eyelashes.
“It’s me.”
A-Chan was really too stupid.
He had only recognized him now.