Luo Cheng’an grabbed Xi Yu by the shoulders and shook him, looking like he was about to fall apart. “Did he just look at me? What do we do, what do we do?! Am I going to end up in the hospital again?! What did I do to deserve this?! Somebody save me!”
Xi Yu was shaken so badly he was about to come apart. He coldly shook him off.
Yet his mind was occupied with Lu Zhixing.
A member of the demon race, yet living like a human.
And yet, he was different from Xi Yu.
Xi Yu had come back to life, but all his cultivation was gone.
Lu Zhixing was different. Such a dense demonic aura surrounded his body, meaning he still possessed cultivation.
But one thing didn’t make sense.
With Lu Zhixing’s powerful demonic aura and his level of cultivation, he could completely conceal it.
He wasn’t hiding it.
Did he think no one could detect it?
Or was there some other reason…
Regardless, Xi Yu had to find a way to kill Lu Zhixing.
All demons deserved to be wiped out.
As long as he lived for even one day, he would make sure every demon was reduced to ashes!
Xi Yu looked toward where they had just come from, his gaze cold and sharp.
Luo Cheng’an’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Xi Yu’s expression was so frightening that goosebumps rose all over his body.
“Bro, that look in your eyes is scaring the children.”
Xi Yu looked at Luo Cheng’an and patted his shoulder.
“Be a little braver. You even wore a Life-Exchange Lock. What are you afraid of? Have some confidence!”
There weren’t many people in the human world capable of creating such a vicious artifact.
There had to be an expert behind Luo Shujing’s family guiding them.
Using such an evil object to harm human lives would result in eighteen levels of hell after death, where one would suffer endless torment before falling into the animal realm.
Luo Cheng’an’s expression was somewhat uneasy. His words reminded him of what had happened in the hospital room.
His second aunt had clearly spilled the water deliberately, just to see whether there was a necklace around his neck.
And Luo Shujing’s necklace was gone too.
One lock, two counterparts.
One removed, one used.
No matter how unwilling Luo Cheng’an was, he could no longer refuse to believe that the Brother Jing he had always respected so deeply really was trying to take his life.
Seeing him like this, Xi Yu chuckled and ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry yet. There’s someone else who should be worried.”
Just as Xi Yu expected, shortly after Father and Mother Luo left, the expressions of Luo Shujing’s family of three changed completely.
“Did they discover what we did? Otherwise, how could the Life-Exchange Lock have been removed so easily by Xi Yu?” Luo Shan’s face was gloomy, but his eyes were filled with concern for his son.
Luo Shujing was suffering terribly, his throat filled with the taste of blood. After removing the lock, he shook his head.
“Luo Cheng’an doesn’t have acting skills that good. The way their family of three behaved didn’t look like they knew.”
After pondering for a moment, Luo Shujing continued, “Uncle trusts us completely, and Luo Cheng’an is an idiot. He shouldn’t have noticed anything unusual. But this matter is indeed suspicious. For peace of mind, I’ll have to trouble Mom and Dad to go to Uncle’s house this afternoon and check whether the other things are still there.”
If only the Life-Exchange Lock had broken while everything else remained intact, it might really have been an accident.
But if everything had been destroyed…
Luo Shan understood what his son meant.
“I’ll go later.”
Luo Shujing suddenly remembered something, his expression turning somewhat sinister.
“I heard Xi Yu’s identity is that of a fortune-teller who used to set up a stall under a bridge?”
“Just some con artist who sets up a stall to swindle money. Luo Yuan even brought him back. Doesn’t he find it embarrassing?”
“No.” Luo Shujing’s expression became solemn. “Luo Cheng’an said Xi Yu removed the necklace. Master Qingfeng said that the Life-Exchange Lock is extremely difficult to remove. If Xi Yu really removed it, then he probably does have some real ability. When you go over this afternoon, find a way to let Master Qingfeng meet Xi Yu.”
After saying this, Luo Shujing coughed up another mouthful of blood.
Zhang Yue sat beside her son’s bed, wiping away tears in distress as she cursed furiously.
“That little bastard Luo Cheng’an injured my son! The Life-Exchange Lock caused a backlash. What are we going to do?!”
Luo Shan said, “I’ll go invite Master Qingfeng now. After I return from the Luo family, I’ll have him find a way to help Shujing.”
Even breathing hurt Luo Shujing.
With a pale face, he said, “Thank you, Dad. Lu Zhixing will be on a variety show a month from now. I can’t miss it.”
For the sake of getting close to Lu Zhixing, he had even signed a contract for that livestream variety show in the remote mountains.
Lu Zhixing never interacted with outsiders.
This was his only opportunity to get close to him.
The Lu family was a colossal existence throughout all of China.
As long as he could make a heaven’s favored son like Lu Zhixing fall for him, only then could he truly become the Luo Shujing admired and respected by everyone!
When Luo Yuan and Shen Qing returned home, Luo Cheng’an was earnestly massaging Xi Yu’s legs.
He looked exactly like a servant.
Shen Qing sat down and called out to Luo Cheng’an, “Little Eunuch An, pour your mom a cup of tea.”
Luo Yuan followed suit. “Little Eunuch An, pour your dad one too.”
Luo Cheng’an became furious.
“Just you wait!”
Luo Cheng’an obediently went to pour the tea and came back. His expression was solemn.
“Prepare yourselves mentally first. I have something very important to tell you.”
Shen Qing laughed.
“You should first explain why you and Xiaoyu were acting like that at the hospital.”
“You could tell?” Luo Cheng’an asked in panic, turning to Xi Yu. “Then will Second Uncle and Second Aunt be able to tell too?”
That he already knew about the Life-Exchange Lock.
Xi Yu spread his hands, indicating that he didn’t know either.
Shen Qing frowned.
“Why are you acting so mysterious today?”
“Mom, Dad! You’re still laughing! This is something extremely frightening. It’s like this…”
Luo Cheng’an vividly recounted everything that had happened the previous day—from going to Xi Yu’s room to provoke him, to dropping to his knees, transferring the money, and even being saved from disaster.
He repeated every word Xi Yu had said without missing a single one.
After Luo Cheng’an finished, the living room fell silent for a moment.
Then Luo Yuan slammed the table.
“I thought you were going to tell me something important! Turns out you just dragged a huge pile of crap into my house! If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll beat you, believe it or not!”
Xi Yu wasn’t surprised by Luo Yuan’s reaction.
The reason Luo Cheng’an had grown into such a personality wasn’t only because of the merit he possessed.
Another reason was that Luo Yuan and Shen Qing had given him an enormous amount of love.
Luo Yuan and Shen Qing were also kindhearted people.
That was precisely why they couldn’t believe that relatives connected by blood could do something this vicious.
Luo Cheng’an immediately jumped to his feet after being scolded.
“It’s true! Second Aunt deliberately spilled the water on me today just to see my necklace! You didn’t see what happened yesterday. That necklace stank, and it instantly turned into powder! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it either!”
“You’re still talking nonsense!” Luo Yuan angrily grabbed his slipper.
Luo Cheng’an instantly shoved Xi Yu forward.
“Bro! Tell Mom and Dad!”
Xi Yu: …
………………………….
“You even let Xiaoyu join you in this nonsense!” Luo Yuan stood up and was about to beat the child.
Shen Qing was quick enough to grab him.
“Cheng’an’s brain is already abnormal. If you hit him again, he’ll become intellectually disabled.”
Luo Yuan paused, put his slipper back on, and then glared fiercely at Luo Cheng’an.
Shen Qing, however, hesitated. After a moment, she asked, “Does something like the Life-Exchange Lock really exist?”
Xi Yu answered casually, “Using the bones of someone who committed the ten most heinous sins as a catalyst, the personal clothing of the two people whose lives are to be exchanged is then burned with Everlasting Flame for eighty-one days. Once it is forged into an ornament and worn against the body, the life exchange is complete.”
“Once the Life-Exchange Lock is worn, it cannot be removed without special methods. The illnesses, pain, and calamities of the person whose life is being taken will all be endured by the person whose life is exchanged, until all their fortune has been drained away. As for when they will die, that depends entirely on the fate of the person being exchanged.”
He had already explained it this clearly.
Whether they believed him or not was up to Luo Yuan and Shen Qing.
Luo Cheng’an poked his head out.
“And there’s more! When the Life-Exchange Lock breaks, the bad person suffers a backlash and gets seriously injured.”
“Your Brother Jing already had poor health to begin with.” Luo Yuan looked unhappily at Luo Cheng’an.
Shen Qing’s face, however, had gone somewhat pale.
She suddenly grabbed Luo Yuan’s hand.
“After reaching adulthood, Shujing’s health actually improved. Don’t you remember?”
Meanwhile, Luo Cheng’an had been constantly suffering from minor illnesses and injuries…
Luo Yuan frowned.
“They’re just things a child made up. How can you believe him too? Do you really think my younger brother’s family is trying to hurt Cheng’an? Have you forgotten that Shujing has always protected Cheng’an in the entertainment industry?”
Shen Qing said, “Cheng’an has worn that necklace since he was eighteen, and there was no way to remove it. Now that it broke, Shujing immediately ended up in the hospital. And Shujing’s health really does seem to have improved after he started wearing the necklace. Cheng’an was always a sturdy child when he was young. But after turning eighteen, he either fell down stairs, got hit by cars when he went out, or suddenly came down with inexplicable fevers.”
She didn’t want to believe that Luo Shan’s family was trying to harm her Cheng’an.
But after hearing what Xi Yu said, she couldn’t help connecting the dots.
Luo Yuan’s expression became strange.
Luo Cheng’an’s health really did seem to have changed after he started wearing the necklace.
The living room became eerily quiet.
Finally, Xi Yu broke the silence.
“Let me liven things up a little. How about I introduce you to this house?”
Xi Yu stood up.
Luo Cheng’an followed behind him, and Luo Yuan was dragged along by Shen Qing.
Xi Yu walked into the courtyard and pointed toward the roof.
“This is a six-legged vicious fiend stained with human blood. It harms people’s souls and ruins their fortune without them realizing it.”
Then he pointed at the intricate patterns on the tiles at the four corners of the house.
“This is a Soul-Locking Formation. It is meant for the dead. If you die here, your souls will be trapped forever and unable to enter reincarnation. You won’t even have the chance to turn into a vengeful ghost and seek revenge.”
Finally, he pointed at the painting hanging by the entrance.
“This is a Soul-Attracting Banner. Its main purpose is to attract evil entities. All the evil spirits from every direction around this mansion have been drawn here by it.”
Xi Yu couldn’t help praising it.
“Gathering all these things together really isn’t easy. Let me guess. Was this house a gift from Luo Shan, or did he help find someone to renovate it?”
After Xi Yu finished speaking, the family of three fell silent.
Luo Cheng’an hadn’t expected that there would be all these things besides the Life-Exchange Lock.
After what happened last night, he completely trusted Xi Yu.
Just thinking about having worn such an evil object for so long, while his family had lived day after day in a house covered in curses—
Luo Cheng’an got goosebumps all over.
He tightly grabbed Xi Yu and whispered, “This is a villa development Second Uncle invested in. He bought one house and gave this one to our family. They live in another one themselves, right across from us.”