Xi Yu slightly raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, that touches upon a blind spot in my knowledge.”
“I see.” Lu Zhixing said regretfully, “Then let’s look at something else. For example, is there any evil spirit attached to me?”
The pad of Xi Yu’s finger rubbed against Lu Zhixing’s palm as he lowered his eyelids, concealing the chill in his eyes.
Was Lu Zhixing testing him?
But right now, he could no longer tell whether Lu Zhixing was god or demon, enemy or kindred.
After pondering for a moment, Xi Yu smiled lightly. “Mr. Lu has the appearance of someone blessed with great fortune. Even evil spirits wouldn’t dare approach you.”
“But lately, I always feel my heart racing and my chest tight. If you don’t believe me, Mr. Xi, you can feel it yourself.”
……………………………..
Lu Zhixing clasped Xi Yu’s hand and pressed it directly against his own chest.
His heartbeat was steady and strong.
Demons did not have heartbeats.
Lu Zhixing did.
“Mr. Lu, you’re overthinking it.” Xi Yu pulled his hand away. As soon as he did, demonic aura once again enveloped Lu Zhixing.
So irritating, Xi Yu thought.
Two seconds later, Xi Yu stood up, dumped everything from his snakeskin bag onto the ground in one go, rummaged through the pile for a while, then pulled out a talisman stained with dark-red blood and handed it to Lu Zhixing.
“If Mr. Lu is still worried, just stick this talisman over your heart after taking a shower tonight.”
The talisman lay in Xi Yu’s palm.
Lu Zhixing took it and smiled. “Then thank you very much, Mr. Xi.”
“No need to thank me.” Xi Yu tapped his payment QR code. “888.”
Lu Zhixing promptly scanned the code and paid. Then he pulled his own business card from his pocket.
“Mr. Xi, I look forward to seeing you again.”
After Lu Zhixing left, Xi Yu held the business card and stared at the trace of demonic aura remaining on it. His expression grew colder and colder.
The Old Dog had been staring for quite a while. Only after the person had left did he come over, full of gossip.
“Little Yuzi, what were you two talking about just now? One hundred thousand dollars at the drop of a hat. Looks like you’ve finally latched onto a powerful patron. When you get rich, don’t forget your old buddy, hehe.”
Aunt Lan tilted her head toward the direction Lu Zhixing had left and muttered to herself, “Why does he look a little familiar?”
She struggled to remember. Suddenly, she pulled out her phone. A movie screenshot was set as her lock screen.
She let out a little “Hey!” and teased Xi Yu, “Your friend looks a little like my new husband. You can only see a pair of eyes when he’s wearing a mask, though. But if he looks like my new husband, he must be handsome.”
Xi Yu withdrew his gaze and sneered. “I leave for one day and you’ve already gotten yourself a new husband? Didn’t you say you only loved my type?”
“That was before. But Lu Zhixing is just too handsome. His newly released movie has him playing a god who falls into demonic ways for love.” Aunt Lan held up her phone, her face filled with girlish infatuation. “He’s so handsome~”
Xi Yu’s hand, which was straightening the banner, paused for a moment.
Inwardly, he muttered, Your husband is right in front of you, and you didn’t even recognize him. What a heartless woman!
“All right, pack up.” Xi Yu yawned. “It’s going to rain.”
The sky was clear and cloudless, with absolutely perfect weather.
But the moment Xi Yu spoke, everyone nearby immediately packed up their stalls. Not a single person doubted him.
The Old Dog packed up the stall and suddenly spotted an invitation. It looked completely out of place among his pile of worn-out shoes.
He slapped his forehead. “That old man who’s always asking you to tell his fortune came yesterday. He told me to give you this invitation. He said he’s celebrating his birthday and insisted that you absolutely must go. He said there wouldn’t be a birthday banquet without you.”
“Thanks.”
Xi Yu accepted it, glanced at it briefly, then casually stuffed it into his snakeskin bag.
He wasn’t going anyway.
It was nothing more than taking someone’s money and helping them avert disaster.
With that, Xi Yu shouldered his snakeskin bag, picked up his banner, and left.
The Old Dog laughed and cursed, “That kid… Looks like no one’s going to keep me company under the overpass anymore.”
Aunt Lan hadn’t sold all her watermelon. She stuffed several pieces into the Old Dog’s hands and teased, “He’s jumped through the Dragon Gate now. You’d better curry favor with him.”
“Xi Yu isn’t a fish, and the Lu family doesn’t even count as a Dragon Gate to him.”
The Old Dog sat where Xi Yu had just been sitting and took a deep breath. He stuck out his tongue, and black fur began growing across his face.
Aunt Lan’s expression changed. She kicked him.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
The Old Dog instantly returned to his old, wrinkled face and said guiltily, “The spiritual energy in the place where that kid sat is so dense. It feels incredible. I just lost control for a moment.”
Aunt Lan glared fiercely at him before sitting down beside him.
The place where Xi Yu had stayed was like a hot spring, gently enveloping everything in its warm, drifting spiritual energy.
Just as Xi Yu arrived at the Lu family home, a torrential downpour split open the clear sky.
“That old man is getting more and more casual about making it rain. He must’ve gotten beaten by his wife again.”
Xi Yu muttered under his breath. Then he set down his banner and opened the door.
Three faces covered tightly with talismans.
The three members of the Lu family were huddled tightly together, all staring at him in unison.
The corner of Xi Yu’s mouth twitched.
When Lu Cheng’an saw Xi Yu, his eyes immediately lit up. He pulled the talisman off his forehead and threw himself at Xi Yu.
“Waaaaah, bro! You’re finally back! Do you know what I’ve been through these past few hours without you? Second Uncle and Second Aunt brought someone here and went through all those places you told us about. I even saw that person secretly muttering at those places! Waaaaah…”
Xi Yu disgustedly pushed him away.
“All you know how to do is cry all day! You’re going to cry away all your good fortune!”
Lu Cheng’an was genuinely terrified. He clung desperately to Xi Yu. When Xi Yu refused to let him hug him, he followed closely beside him every step of the way.
Xi Yu went through all the places once before sitting down.
“The formation has all been reinforced.”
Just as he had expected.
Lu Yuan had talismans plastered all over him. His face was deathly pale, and he looked deeply shaken, yet he still held Shen Qing tightly. After a long while, he gritted his teeth.
“That bastard! Was I not good enough to him?”
Lu Shan had no ambition whatsoever. When he was young, he had been nothing more than a thug who had accomplished nothing after graduating from middle school!
After Lu Yuan made his fortune, out of consideration for their brotherly relationship, he had arranged a job for him—an important position at that—with a high salary.
He had even raised Lu Shujing as though he were his own child!
When Lu Shujing graduated and wanted to enter the entertainment industry, Lu Yuan had spent a huge amount of money to get him in, making sure he never had to suffer even a little.
They were his own family! Blood was thicker than water!
Yet he had never imagined that his younger brother would want him dead, and that even Lu Shujing would want his Cheng’an dead!
If it weren’t for Xi Yu telling him not to completely break off relations with them, he would have already broken Lu Shan’s legs and demanded to know why!
Shen Qing came from a wealthy family and had been cherished like a precious jewel by her family since childhood. She had never witnessed such filthy methods.
They not only wanted to kill her, they even wanted to prevent her from reincarnating after death.
She trembled and did not dare make a sound, only gripping the talisman tightly.
Even Xi Yu couldn’t stand watching anymore. He raised his hand to tear it off.
“One is enough. It took me a lot of effort to draw these. Don’t waste them like that.”
“Bro, I understand your rules.”
Lu Cheng’an hurriedly scanned Xi Yu’s payment code.
“I won’t eat anymore. I’ll give you the whole 200. Can you save us?”
Lu Yuan hurriedly took out his phone as well, with Shen Qing following right behind him.
Xi Yu waved his hand repeatedly, saying, “Hey, we’re all family.”
Yet his hands made absolutely no movement to stop them.
Only after the payment notification sounded did he lie down on the sofa.
Lu Cheng’an immediately crawled over and began massaging his legs.
“Bro, is this pressure okay?”
“Not bad.”
Seeing that the three members of the family were all terrified, Xi Yu didn’t frighten them further. He explained everything.
“When I left, I left something on Lu Cheng’an that strengthened his luck. The person who set up the formation reinforcing it today is actually a good thing. It proves that he believed Lu Cheng’an’s life-replacement lock was what caused his luck to deteriorate, so he won’t become suspicious again.”
Actually, it wasn’t today.
It had been yesterday.
His blood had destroyed the life-replacement lock, and some of it had gotten onto Lu Cheng’an.
………………
The person who set up the formation had been fooled.
Looks like he had some ability after all—but not much.
However, that was more than enough to deal with this family of three.
“Are we really supposed to be afraid that they’ll become suspicious?” Lu Yuan’s chest heaved with anger. “Why not just throw all this evidence in front of that beast and let him see what he’s done!”
Xi Yu asked, “And then?”
“Then we cut ties and never associate with them again!”
Xi Yu sighed.
Lu Yuan was too upright and uncompromising.
But when something is too rigid, it is easily broken.
“Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone someone as vicious as Lu Shan. This kind of thing can’t be reported to the police, and no one would believe you even if you told them. Cutting ties and staying away from them can only resolve the danger for the time being,” Xi Yu said quietly. “Who knows when they might crawl out and bite you again?”
Shen Qing gritted her teeth. “So we’re just supposed to swallow this humiliation and continue treating snakes and scorpions like our own family?”
Xi Yu propped his chin on his hand. “Of course not. Lu Shujing has already suffered the backlash. Because of this, they will definitely resort to extreme measures to take Lu Cheng’an’s life. All you have to do is wait. Only by catching them at their weakest point can you eliminate the trouble once and for all.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t their methods extreme enough already?! Are they actually going to openly kill me next?” Lu Cheng’an was furious. They were already this vicious—how much more extreme could they get?
Xi Yu affectionately patted Lu Cheng’an on the head.
“You’re finally smart for once.”
Lu Cheng’an: “??????”
“Damn it! This is a law-based society!”
“You’ve hit the nail on the head. This is a law-based society. The life-replacement lock can kill someone without anyone realizing it, but the law can’t punish that. However, if the person trying to take your life can’t wait that long and kidnaps you to forcibly perform the life exchange, then they can be punished by law.”
A forced life exchange required cutting open the heart and draining the blood, ensuring that the person whose life was exchanged would never reincarnate.
Xi Yu was afraid that if he said this outright, Lu Cheng’an would be scared to death.
Women tended to be more sensitive to details. Shen Qing was the first to understand. Trembling, she said, “You mean… use Cheng’an as bait…”
Make Lu Shujing desperate enough to take reckless action, and then he could be punished by law, leaving him no further opportunity to harm them.
Xi Yu nodded.
Shen Qing hurriedly said, “No, I’m afraid Cheng’an will be in danger.”
“I’m not afraid!” Lu Cheng’an was trembling like a sieve, yet he still forced himself to say, “Mom, Dad, I’m really not afraid! Besides, isn’t Big Brother here? He’ll protect me.”
Lu Cheng’an felt that what Xi Yu said made sense, and moreover…