Mother Luo was the first to react. With an ugly expression on her face, she walked over to the pile of broken glass.
The next second, she grabbed Luo Cheng’an by the arm and rained a flurry of slaps down on his head. “All those fangirls of yours told you to sign up for an acting class, and you wouldn’t listen! Wouldn’t listen! Wouldn’t listen!”
Father Luo followed close behind. He grabbed Luo Cheng’an’s ear and dragged him away, saying disdainfully, “Come on, you. You’re acting like you’re sick in the head!”
“It hurts, it hurts!” Luo Cheng’an was dragged outside by the ear, yet he still didn’t forget to glare viciously at Xi Yu and mouth, “Just you wait!”
Mother Luo kicked him. “You think you’re so great! Move your mouth one more time and see what happens!”
The moment Mother Luo kicked Luo Cheng’an out, her expression changed completely. She gently and lovingly smoothed her hair and said, “Wait a moment. I’ll have the maid come clean this up. Cheng’an has a bit of a problem in the head. If he comes back and makes a fool of himself again, just beat him up and he’ll behave.”
Xi Yu: …
The last time he had been this speechless was when he had slept under a bridge for an entire night and a ghost had taken off his underwear.
After Mother Luo left, the maid quickly came up and cleaned everything.
Xi Yu had just gotten ready to go to sleep when Luo Cheng’an came back with one swollen ear, and his expression was extremely gloomy.
Xi Yu yawned. “I know your methods are very impressive already. I won’t—”
With lightning speed, Luo Cheng’an threw his arms around Xi Yu’s leg, which was hanging beside the bed, and burst into loud sobs. “Bro! You’re my only bro! Please, don’t kick me out! I’m a mama’s boy! I really can’t live without my family! Waaahhhhh—”
Xi Yu’s expression became complicated.
A huge lump of golden light was hugging his leg—and rubbing against it at that.
“Did I ever say I was going to kick you out?” Xi Yu desperately searched through the memories in his mind, confirming that he had never said such a thing.
“Gah?” A snot bubble emerged from Luo Cheng’an’s nose.
Xi Yu flew into a rage and kicked him away. “You shameless bastard! What a move!”
Every single one of his cells felt disgusted.
Luo Cheng’an was kicked onto the floor. The golden light surrounding his body made him look like a giant golden retriever in Xi Yu’s eyes. Because of this, the necklace around his neck, wrapped in wisps of black mist, became especially conspicuous.
Xi Yu’s expression changed. He pulled the necklace over and spoke quietly. “So it was this…”
He had originally thought the source of the Luo family’s baleful energy was the Soul-Locking Formation on the roof.
It turned out there was also this thing…
Luo Cheng’an was still immersed in the shock that Xi Yu hadn’t said he would kick him out. He smiled ingratiatingly. “You like this? But this can’t be taken off. If you don’t kick me out, I’ll make ten identical ones for you tomorrow!”
Xi Yu hooked a finger around the necklace and said quietly, “Of course you can’t take it off. This is a Life-Exchange Lock.”
It required the birth dates and eight characters of destiny of two people, along with articles of their personal clothing, to be burned in Everlasting Flames for ninety-nine days before it could take shape.
Once it was forged into an ornament, the moment it came into direct contact with the body, it could not be removed unless the person whose life was being borrowed died.
Xi Yu was somewhat excited.
He had never expected to see such an evil formation.
The Luo family really was full of treasures.
There was the six-legged vicious fiend on the roof that had been fed human blood, and now there was this Life-Exchange Lock. Every single one was an exceedingly rare curse, enough to make someone die silently without anyone noticing.
It seemed the person who had set up the formations wasn’t merely after the lives of the three members of the Luo family.
What they truly wanted was—
fortune.
They really intended to squeeze every last bit of value out of the Luo family, draining their blood dry and then chewing their flesh to pieces.
Such a method was truly vicious.
Hearing Xi Yu muttering mysteriously to himself, Luo Cheng’an rolled his eyes. But since Xi Yu wasn’t kicking him out, he patiently explained, “This little gold medallion was given to me by my second uncle. It wasn’t expensive. It really just can’t be taken off. Look if you don’t believe me.”
Luo Cheng’an desperately tried to prove it. He pulled and tugged at it, but couldn’t break it. He even tried slipping it over his head, but couldn’t get it off, until his neck turned red.
“It really can’t be taken off. If you like it, I’ll have an even prettier one made for you.”
Xi Yu paused. “It can be removed. 1,500. Do you want me to remove it?”
Luo Cheng’an rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. “Here, here, I’ll give it to you. As long as you don’t kick me out, I’ll give you everything.”
If you wanted money, you could’ve just said so. Why put on this whole act?
Luo Cheng’an scanned the QR code on Xi Yu’s phone and tapped away furiously.
“I gave you everything. I’m keeping 200 yuan for food.”
Luo Cheng’an climbed up from the floor. “Now that you’ve taken my money, you can’t kick me out anymore, okay~”
Alipay received 1,325,800 yuan…
WeChat Pay received 362,400 yuan…
Xi Yu stared at his balance and suddenly grabbed Luo Cheng’an’s hand.
“I was actually very afraid of pain… but you gave me way too much!”
Chicken legs!
Roast duck!
Braised pork!
Xi Yu had been a god for tens of thousands of years and a human for more than twenty years, but this was the first time in his life he had ever been this rich!
He bit his finger, hooked it around Luo Cheng’an’s necklace, and said, “Today, I’ll make sure you get your money’s worth!”
“What the hell, what the hell! What are you doing?” Luo Cheng’an stared at Xi Yu in horror. “Fuck! Are you going to tell Mom and Dad that I injured your hand? You scheming—fuck! Fuck!”
Xi Yu pressed his bloody fingertip against the square pendant of the necklace.
Luo Cheng’an heard a sizzling sound.
Wisps of black smoke spread out before his eyes, accompanied by a foul and nauseating stench.
His eyes widened in horror as he watched the necklace fall into Xi Yu’s palm.
Xi Yu used his blood to draw a talisman on his palm, then brought his hands together.
“With my blood, I sever evil and banish demons—”
…………………………
“By my brush, let all ghosts hide!”
Luo Cheng’an covered his mouth and stared at Xi Yu’s open palm after he finished speaking.
The golden necklace had already turned into black ash.
The instant Xi Yu opened his eyes, Luo Cheng’an’s legs went weak, and he almost wanted to kneel.
So… so terrifying!
“It… it stinks.” Luo Cheng’an pointed at the foul-smelling black ash.
“Of course it stinks. This thing was burned using the bones of a person who committed the ten most heinous sins as the catalyst.”
Xi Yu clapped his hands, and the ash scattered into the air, vanishing as if it had never existed.
Luo Cheng’an felt like his brain was about to explode.
He was a staunch materialist.
After two seconds of silence, he said, “Your… your magic trick was really good. Can you teach… teach…”
Luo Cheng’an couldn’t finish.
This wasn’t a magic trick at all!
He hugged Xi Yu’s thigh. “Waaaaah, I’m going to ask where Second Uncle bought this thing! It’s too scary…”
Xi Yu couldn’t truly understand just how deficient Luo Cheng’an’s intelligence was.
He patted Luo Cheng’an on the head and kindly reminded him, “Once the Life-Exchange Lock is broken, the person who exchanged lives with you will suffer a backlash. Pay attention to whether anyone around you suddenly suffers a serious injury.”
Xi Yu deliberately emphasized the words “around you” and “suddenly.”
His blood was worth a fortune.
It really was a bargain for this sweet, foolish rich kid.
Luo Cheng’an looked at Xi Yu with tearful eyes and wailed, “That was so scary! Waaaaah! I knew someone would be jealous of me because I’m so handsome! Who exactly wants to hurt me?”
Luo Cheng’an was crying his eyes out, with snot and tears streaming down his face.
Xi Yu’s mouth twitched. He tossed him a pack of tissues and reminded him, “The Life-Exchange Lock is a paired item. One is removed, and the other is used. Think carefully. Is there anyone around you wearing a necklace exactly like yours?”
“Yes! My older cousin has one too! What do we do?” Luo Cheng’an lay beside the bed, his expression full of concern. “They’re targeting the Luo family! My older cousin is in poor health. Is he in even more danger than me because he’s wearing this?”
Xi Yu:
It felt like putting the answer directly in front of Luo Cheng’an and still having him ask how to solve the problem.
“Go to sleep early.”
Xi Yu patted Luo Cheng’an on the head and said sympathetically, “It’s good for your brain.”
Luo Cheng’an pouted and sniffled. “Can I sleep with you? I’m scared.”
Xi Yu glanced at the merit surrounding his body.
After hesitating for two seconds, he threw down a blanket.
“You can sleep on the floor.”
Luo Cheng’an happily rolled himself up in the blanket and lay down beside the bed. Before falling asleep, he didn’t forget to stick the Evil-Repelling Talisman that he had dismissed completely that afternoon onto his forehead.
He even added, “Bro, my older cousin has even more money. Tomorrow, can you remove his necklace too?”
Xi Yu yawned and closed his eyes. “No need. Yours is broken, so his will break too.”
“Huh?” Luo Cheng’an blinked his eyes and pressed the talisman on his forehead. “Is that for real or fake?”
Xi Yu turned off the light. “If you say one more word, get out.”
Xi Yu felt like his idiot intolerance was about to flare up.
Fortunately, Luo Cheng’an behaved himself after that.
Without the Life-Exchange Lock, the golden light around Luo Cheng’an’s body became incredibly dense, wisps of it continuously flowing toward Xi Yu.
His spiritual power was too weak right now, and the merit surrounding Luo Cheng’an could help him cultivate.
Otherwise, he really wanted to kick him out the door.
The next day
The door was being pounded so loudly that it practically shook off its hinges.
Xi Yu was sleeping soundly. His brain hadn’t even fully registered what was happening when his body had already sat upright in bed.
He shouted, “The city inspectors are here! Run!”
Luo Cheng’an, who had gotten up to open the door: ???
At the doorway, Father Luo and Mother Luo, their faces filled with anxiety: ????
Father and Mother Luo’s emotions were extremely complicated.
In just a few seconds, they went from being shocked that Luo Cheng’an had slept in Xi Yu’s room, to being confused by the words that had blurted out of Xi Yu’s mouth, and then, after understanding, to feeling heartbroken for him.
“My poor child.”
Mother Luo immediately hugged Xi Yu, her eyes misty with tears.
“They’re not city inspectors. It’s Mom and Dad. From now on, you’ll never have to sleep under a bridge again, and you’ll never have to be afraid of the city inspectors.”
Father Luo also hugged Xi Yu.
“It’s all Mom and Dad’s fault. If you like fortune-telling, our family has a shop in the city center. I’ll open the most luxurious fortune-telling parlor for you.”
Luo Cheng’an asked, “Wouldn’t it… be impossible to get a business license for that?”
Xi Yu was being squeezed so tightly that he could barely breathe. He struggled to extend a hand, wanting Luo Cheng’an to pull him away.
Luo Cheng’an’s heart trembled.
He thought that even while Xi Yu was receiving so much affection, he still hadn’t forgotten about him.
Deeply moved, he grabbed Xi Yu’s hand and held it tightly.
“Bro! Since you’re thinking about me like this, I’ll get the license for you no matter what!”
Xi Yu:
I really wish the city inspectors would come.
At least they would give him a chance to run.
“May I ask… why are you here so early? Did something happen?”
It was only a little after five in the morning.
The sky wasn’t even light yet.
If living at the Luo family meant having to wake up at this hour, he chose to go back under the overpass.
At least there, he could sleep whenever he wanted.
“Oh!” Mother Luo exclaimed.
She hurriedly released Xi Yu and said anxiously, “There’s something serious!”
“Wenjing vomited blood last night and was admitted to the hospital. Your second uncle wants us to go over there.”