As soon as Xi Yu finished speaking, the gold bracelet on Zhang Ping’s wrist suddenly fell to the floor. A chill swept over him from behind, and foul-smelling drops of water fell onto the floor with soft plop, plop sounds.
Zhang Ping, who had been crying nonstop just moments ago, began to tremble, his entire body displaying an extreme terror.
Zhao Qi’s father’s cloudy eyes suddenly widened. Unlike Zhang Ping’s fear, his eyes burst with immense joy.
“Daughter!”
As he spoke, he tried to rush over, but Lu Zhixing grabbed him.
“You can’t go over. She’s already lost her reason.”
“She’s my daughter. She won’t hurt me.”
Zhao Qi’s father clapped his hands, the gesture one used to coax a child.
“Daughter, you came to see Dad. Dad missed you so much… so much…”
Zhao Qi’s father had already become somewhat deranged. Seeing this, Xi Yu pressed a hand against the small of his back, barely managing to steady him.
As for Zhang Ping, his eyes were wide open. He twisted his head around and let out a scream, desperately trying to run, only for Zhao Qi to grab him fiercely by the neck and stop him.
“Zhang Ping! I want you to pay with your blood!”
Zhang Ping was strangled, his lips turning purple, his veins bulging, his eyes rolling faintly upward.
Just as he was about to suffocate, Xi Yu threw out a talisman that shot straight toward Zhao Qi.
Zhao Qi let out a shriek, her movements instantly halted, unable to move any further.
But a hand suddenly protruded from her swollen belly.
The ghost infant wanted to tear through Zhao Qi’s abdomen and crawl out.
Xi Yu had no time to worry about Lu Zhixing. He released his hand and hurried to Zhao Qi’s father’s side, casting a spell to cut his hand.
The blood of a close relative could temporarily awaken an evil spirit’s consciousness.
Xi Yu took the blood, condensed it into a seal, and merged it into the center of Zhao Qi’s brow.
The mother regained consciousness, and the ghost infant’s agitation gradually calmed.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Ping crawled forward using both his hands and feet. He clutched the broken bracelet in his hand, as though holding it could dispel his fear.
Zhao Qi tilted her head and looked at him.
Her eyes were crimson, yet the gentle features she had possessed in life could still be seen.
Lu Zhixing blocked Zhang Ping’s path and kicked him straight to Zhao Qi’s feet.
Zhang Ping let out an “Ah!” and a strong smell of urine spread through the room.
Xi Yu looked at him with disgust. Lu Zhixing walked over to his side and handed him a handkerchief.
Xi Yu accepted it and covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve.
Zhang Ping was already too frightened to move. He knelt at Zhao Qi’s feet.
“Don’t kill me… don’t kill me…”
“Zhang Ping, three months ago, I begged you not to kill me. Why did you still force my head into the bathtub?”
Zhao Qi crouched down and grabbed Zhang Ping by the collar.
“I begged you over and over to let me and my child go. Why wouldn’t you let me go?!”
“Why wouldn’t you let me go!”
Zhao Qi’s father was restrained and unable to move, but when he heard Zhao Qi’s words, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but he could not produce a single syllable. Only a few hoarse sounds escaped.
“Ha… ha…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I regret it. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have killed you. Let me go. Let me go, okay… Please, I’m begging you…”
Zhang Ping dodged, not daring to meet Zhao Qi’s eyes.
Zhao Qi grabbed his hair and slammed his head hard against the floor.
“Even now, you’re still lying!”
“From the very beginning, approaching me was part of your plan!”
“Why did you kill me?! Why wouldn’t you let me go?!”
Zhao Qi’s appearance exposed everything Zhao Qi’s father had not known.
From the very beginning, Zhang Ping had approached Zhao Qi for the purpose of using her to achieve a leap in social class.
A rich family’s daughter was difficult to deceive, and most of them had powerful backgrounds, with countless relatives and friends. They were difficult to control.
But Zhao Qi’s appearance was like an opportunity dropped from heaven.
Zhao Qi was simple and kind. Her father was honest and straightforward. Although they were not especially wealthy, they had enough assets to make Zhang Ping tempted.
No background.
Some assets.
Easy to deceive and coax.
Zhang Ping was cautious. He purchased accidental death insurance for his family. Zhao Qi’s beneficiary was her father, while her father’s beneficiary was Zhao Qi.
And Zhang Ping’s own beneficiary was also Zhao Qi.
Originally, Zhang Ping had planned to arrange an accident during a trip.
But unexpectedly, before the trip, Zhao Qi discovered that she was pregnant.
Chapter 30: Xiao Yu, I Feel So Uncomfortable
She was filled with joy as she prepared to welcome the arrival of a new life.
But what awaited her was a countdown to death.
The woman Zhang Ping kept outside found out that Zhao Qi was pregnant and caused a huge scene, afraid that Zhang Ping would soften.
But how could someone like Zhang Ping, who placed benefits above everything else, possibly soften?
From the very beginning, Zhang Ping had never intended to let the child be born safely.
He had already thought of making Zhao Qi fall while she was pregnant, killing both mother and child.
After all, if the child were born, how could Zhao Qi’s father give the money to him?
Besides, he already had a child.
Zhang Ping was a coward.
After killing his own wife, even if he left the child alive, he would be frightened every time he saw that child in the future.
It would be better not to let the child be born at all.
But Zhang Ping had not expected that the woman outside would cause such a commotion that she came looking for him, only to be discovered by Zhao Qi.
When Zhao Qi confronted Zhang Ping, he became afraid that everything would be exposed and directly forced her into the bathtub.
The person who faced him day and night, who shared his bed and pillow with him, had been planning every day how to kill her.
Zhang Ping cried bitterly, his terror so great that he was practically freezing.
He was not repenting.
He simply knew that he was going to die.
Zhao Qi beat him until his head was covered in blood, then forced his head into the urine.
Yet even so, the resentment on Zhao Qi’s body did not dissipate.
Xi Yu reached out his hand, and Lu Zhixing placed the recording pen into it.
On this device, Zhang Ping had already clearly described the entire process of his crime.
The appearance of the Soul-Combing Incense was also simply because there had been signs of struggle on Zhang Qi’s body when she died.
Zhang Ping was afraid of being investigated, so he used the corpse-binding technique to keep her body from decaying.
Zhang Ping’s face was covered in blood. He collapsed onto the floor and had already fallen unconscious.
“Zhang Ping will receive the punishment he deserves.”
Xi Yu looked at the frenzied Zhao Qi.
“You can’t remain in the mortal world either.”
Spiritual power condensed in Xi Yu’s palm.
The ghost infant had to die.
He could not wait any longer.
“With my—”
“Don’t!”
Just as Xi Yu was about to act, Zhao Qi’s father broke through his restraints and rushed to Zhao Qi’s side, embracing his daughter.
“Don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt my child!”
Zhao Qi’s father held his daughter in his arms and stroked her hair.
“Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Dad will protect you.”
“It’s Dad’s fault. Dad failed to recognize a person’s true nature and caused you to die.”
“Dad will accompany you now. I’ll protect you for the rest of our lives.”
As Zhao Qi’s father spoke, he picked up the dagger on the table.
He suddenly exploded with unprecedented speed, so fast that Xi Yu could not stop him in time.
Lu Zhixing saw this and his fingertip moved slightly, but he quickly stopped.
Plop.
A drop of blood fell onto the floor.
The frenzied Zhao Qi, who had been completely crazed moments ago, caught the raised tip of her father’s blade with her body.
A tear of blood slid down her face.
“Dad…”
When a fierce ghost sheds tears of blood—every resentment is dispelled.
Xi Yu’s eyelashes trembled, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, at the very last moment before the ghost infant tore through the skin and emerged, Zhao Qi’s resentment dissipated.
Without resentment to nourish it, the ghost infant would remain trapped inside its mother’s body and follow its mother to the River of Forgetfulness.
There, by the banks of the River of Forgetfulness, it would wait for an opportunity to reincarnate and enter its mother’s womb again.
When both mother and child die together, if they are able to reincarnate, they will still be close relatives when they return, continuing a bond that had never even begun.
Xi Yu had always thought that Zhao Qi’s resentment after being murdered came from Zhang Ping.
But in truth, it had come from her father.
She was afraid that her father would meet the same fate as her at the hands of such an evil person.
“Dad, I can’t bear to leave you… I never dared to leave. I couldn’t stop worrying about you. What will you do after I’m gone… What will you do… Dad…”
Father and daughter embraced each other.
Zhao Qi’s father trembled all over, crying so hard that he could no longer speak.
His wife had passed away during his lifetime, and all his love had been poured into his daughter.
Now that his daughter was dead, he had no reason to go on living.
Zhao Qi knew this.
That was why she could not bring herself to leave, because she could not bear to leave her father behind.
“Let’s go. Leave their final moments to them.”
Zhao Qi no longer had any resentment, and the ghost infant had also fallen silent.
When the first ray of light rose at dawn, Zhao Qi would disappear.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Xi Yu used his spiritual power to drag Zhang Ping out of the residential complex and threw him to Zhang Meng. He also tossed the recording pen to him.
“I still have another case. We—”
Lu Zhixing clasped Xi Yu’s hand.
His short, labored breaths brushed against Xi Yu’s ear.
“Xiao Yu, I feel so uncomfortable.”
Xi Yu’s brows furrowed slightly.
He turned his head and saw the veins bulging on Lu Zhixing’s neck. He was enduring it with all his strength, his expression filled with pain.
The demonic aura around Lu Zhixing was growing heavier and heavier.
Xi Yu hurriedly wrapped his arm around him and left, calling back to Zhang Meng,
“Next time, definitely. Next time, definitely.”
Zhang Meng shouted angrily,
“Then at least leave me your number!!!”
Xi Yu pretended not to hear him and took a taxi home with Lu Zhixing.
By the time they arrived home, Lu Zhixing’s body was already cold, almost like that of a corpse.
“Are you okay?” Xi Yu asked.
Blood vessels had surfaced in Lu Zhixing’s eyes. He climbed in through the window.
His body was already as cold as an ice cellar, yet his face had developed an abnormal flush.
He gave a bitter smile.
“Not very well.”
Today was the half moon, and Lu Zhixing had also stayed in a place filled with resentment for so long.
“I told you not to go, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I needed you to protect me.”
Xi Yu let out a mocking laugh.
“I can’t protect you now.”
With his current body, the amount of spiritual power he could draw upon was pitifully small.
If Zhao Qi’s resentment had not dissipated today, that ghost infant would have nearly exhausted all the spiritual power he could currently wield.
It would be difficult to recover in the short term.
But even though the ghost infant had not been born, he had still expended a considerable amount of spiritual power.
Xi Yu raised his hand.
The spiritual power in his palm was faint and thin.
Lu Zhixing placed his hand over Xi Yu’s.
“Then I’ll protect you.”
Lu Zhixing’s hand was very large. When it rested over Xi Yu’s hand, it completely covered it.
Spiritual power flowed along their overlapping hands and entered his body.