Ye Zhizhou took the two to the hospital where Fan Lang was. During this period, Yuan Chang and Xia Xiang were silent, not making eye contact with each other or talking. The mood was stifling and eccentric. He left the two outside for the time being and pushed the door open to go in alone. After confirming that the ceremony for calling the soul back had ended, he stood outside and beckoned at the two. “Come in.”
Yuan Chang immediately pushed the door open and entered, while Xia Xiang hesitated for a while, before gritting her teeth and following him in.
Since he thought that he was going to see his old friend’s face on the bed, Yuan Chang quickly relaxed after seeing Fan Lang’s appearance on the bed instead. He turned his head to look back at Ye Zhizhou. “Who is he? Where’s Xiao Tao?”
“Luo Tao’s body is in the woods outside the city.” Ye Zhizhou glanced at Xia Xiang, whose body had stiffened, and motioned to Zhang Lin and Cao Yu, signaling for them to leave as he continued to speak, “I have called the police, so they should be on their way to dig up the body.”
Yuan Chang frowned at his words. After taking a deep look at Xia Xiang, he turned to walk out.
“But, Luo Tao’s soul is in the body on the sickbed.” Ye Zhizhou added indifferently while looking at Xia Xiang, “More than two months ago, this man had a car accident near the woods outside the city. Luo Tao’s soul took the opportunity to get into him and tried to steal his body.”
Yuan Chang suddenly stopped and Xia Xiang rapidly shook her head. “No. Ghosts don’t exist in this world, no…”
The paper talisman beside the sickbed suddenly moved. Cen Yuebai, who was standing in the corner, tightened his grip on the copper coin he was holding. He looked at Ye Zhizhou. “There’s a reaction.”
“What do you mean, there's a reaction?” Xia Xiang's eyes grew wide as she looked back and forth between them. She shrank back towards Yuan Chang. “No, there are no ghosts in the world. Someone dying is like extinguish a light, if they're dead then they're dead…”
Yuan Chang avoided her and turned to look at the person on the bed, his expression changed a few times. He asked in a strange tone, “Is Xiao Tao in this person’s body? Is Xiao Tao really dead? When did he die? How did he die? Is it… ” As he said this, he took a deep breath and clenched his hands. “Is Xiao Tao’s death related to my wife?”
“Yuan Chang!” Xia Xiang screamed. She turned away from the bed and stretched out her hands to grab his arm. “How long are you going to torment me for your ex! Back then, it was you who chased me! It was you! Furthermore, that Lu Tao! Why did he come to destroy our feelings! Why?! I already promised him money to study abroad!”
“So, you’re saying that Xiao Tao taking the money to go abroad was all a lie?” Yuan Chang shook her hand away, and his voice couldn’t help rising. “Yes, back then it was me that chased you, and it was me who wronged Xiao Tao! But why did you… Did you really kill him?”
“No! I didn’t.”
“Then, come with me so we can dig up Xiao Tao’s body together… Do you dare to? Come on, let’s go right now.”
The paper talisman around the sickbed shook even more. Ye Zhizhou looked at Yin Feiyu standing in the corner. Yin Feiyu opened the record chart knowingly, flipped it over to let him see it, and tapped on the word “black” that was written on it.
Ye Zhizhou moved his line of sight back to Yuan Chang and Xia Xiang, who were arguing. His gaze became slightly cold. So, the souls of these two people were already black… Black represents great evil, so their hands were stained with the blood of others.
It was probably Yuan Chang’s attitude and the hospital environment that stimulated Xia Xiang, and she finally cried out, “Yes! I killed him! But I was just defending myself! He tried to kill me first!”
Yuan Chang’s angry expression stiffened and turned blank for a split second. “So, Xiao Tao is really dead?”
“He’s dead! He deserved it!” Xia Xiang buried her face in her hands and crouched on the ground. “I was pregnant at the time. One second, he took the check and the next second he pulled out a knife. What could I do… I just wanted to protect my baby in my belly… Yuan Chang, back then, why did you chase me… why….”
Yuan Chang looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. “You killed him, you actually killed him…”
“I wanted to kill you even more!” Xia Xiang grabbed his pant leg, her knuckles turned white from how tightly she was gripping it. “Yuan Chang. How have I, Xia Xiang, treated you badly… I know you approached me for money, but I didn’t care. But you… You shouldn’t have put me into this kind of unbearable situation! Do you know what others say about me? They talk about how I didn’t become a proper rich family’s wife but became a homosexual’s wife instead! Yuan Chang, Luo Tao was obviously forced to death by you. If he wasn’t driven to despair because of you and didn’t try to kill me due to jealousy, why would he have died! It was you. It was you who killed him!”
One of the paper talismans surrounding the sickbed suddenly ignited. Seeing this, Cen Yuebai promptly threw a copper coin in the planned direction and nodded to Yin Feiyu. When he saw this, Yin Feiyu put the record chart away, turned and left the room.
Yuan Chang bent down to grip her hand and pulled her up. The rims of his eyes were red and his expression was ferocious. “If he wanted to kill you, then you should have let him kill you. Why did you have to kill him? Yes, I chased you first, but didn’t you get hooked very quickly? You even used your family's power to pressure me. If you hadn't drugged me back then, would I have bedded you?”
“You…” Xia Xiang looked at him in shock, her face pale. “You wished the one who died was me? Yuan Chang, back then, I was still pregnant with your child…”
“Child? Do you think I don’t know your rich and wonderful past? Are you sure Xiao Wei is my child?” Yuan Chang coldly threw her hand aside and strode to the bedside to stroke Fan Lang’s face. There was a trace of madness in his eyes. “Xiao Tao, are you stealing this body? How can I help you, huh? As long as you live, I promise I'll never leave you again. We'll be together for the rest of our lives, ok?”
“No, you're not allowed to!” Xia Xiang screamed and rushed forward to pull him away. “What do you mean? You don’t even want the children anymore?! You can’t treat me like this!”
“Fuck off!” Yuan Chang pushed her aside, completely tearing off the mask of a good man. “Xia Xiang, right now, I can still live a good life without you. Take your illegitimate children with you and scram, you murderer.”
“He's obviously your child!” Xia Xiang was angered to the point where she actually became calm, and said with a smile, “Yes, I’m a murderer, but aren’t you also one? Why do you think Luo Tao wanted to kill me so much back then? It was because I found out about your dirty and evil secrets. He wanted to kill me to silence me.”
Yuan Chang quickly turned around to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“You thought our first meeting was in our senior year of college? No, I knew you back in high school.” Xia Xiang gathered up her messy hair and had a nostalgic smile on her face. “In the autumn of my junior year of high school, my parents and I quarreled about studying abroad, and I ran to an old city street, which was famous for being dirty and messy back then. When I passed by a small alley, I overheard a conversation between two people. Can you guess what they were talking about?”
Yuan Chang stared. “You were the shadow that ran away that day?”
“Yes, it was me. You seemed to have always thought that it was a stray cat who ran away. It’s not bad. I like the term stray cat.” The smile on Xia Xiang’s face disappeared, and she looked at him directly. “At that time, I was wondering what kind of person could design such a wonderful murder plan… Yuan Chang, you didn’t disappoint me. That fire was beautiful.”
“You… You lunatic!” Yuan Chang was so stimulated by the weird smile on her face that he took a step back.
Xia Xiang looked at the sickbed again, and a trace of hatred flashed in her eyes. “Obviously, you were the prey I saw first. What qualifications did Luo Tao have to take you? He was infatuated with you. He helped you set the fire, helped you finish your studies, and finally, wanted to kill me to cover up your crime. Ah, in this world, infatuated people are more likely to suffer.” She took a switchblade out of her pocket and opened it. “So, Luo Tao, since you've already suffered, why didn't you just accept it instead of crawling back out of hell?” As she said this, she lunged toward the sickbed.
Yuan Chang was greatly alarmed and rushed forward to stop her. The two suddenly started to wrestle with each other.
The paper talisman began to move more violently. Ye Zhizhou, who was just watching the big show, saw this and quickly retreated to Cen Yuebai’s side. He slowly spread out his spiritual power and surrounded the whole room, focusing on Xia Xiang, who was holding a weapon.
The paper talisman violently shook again, and all of the paper talismans suddenly ignited, disappearing. Cen Yuebai placed the last copper coin and walked towards the door while holding Ye Zhizhou’s hand. The array had been set up. They could only wait until the invading soul couldn’t stand the provocation and unmask his true nature. Only at that moment could they split the two souls.
“Where are you guys going?” Yuan Chang, in the middle of his scuffle, actually noticed the movements of the two and shouted, “You’re not allowed to leave! You guys want to stop Xiao Tao from coming back, right? I won’t allow it! You're not allowed to leave!”
Xia Xiang became even more excited when she heard this. With a twist of her hand, the sharp point of the knife cut a gash into Yuan Chang’s body.
Yuan Chang, in excruciating pain, directly shook her off of him. Xia Xiang was frightened by the blood coming from his body and her hand shook, letting the switchblade fall to the ground. Ye Zhizhou quickly ran up to snatch the switchblade away before running back to Cen Yuebai to hold his hand to pull him out of the ward.
Yin Feiyu, who was waiting outside, saw them come out and put down the record chart he was writing in. He pushed up his glasses and asked, “How sure are you?”
“80 percent, Luo Tao's soul reaction was very strong.” Cen Yuebai frowned. He took the switchblade from Ye Zhizhou's hand and threw it aside. Then, he looked at Zhang Lin and Cao Yu. “Are you guys prepared? This time, it might hurt a little.”
The two people looked at each other carefully and then nodded. “That's ok, as long as we can help Xiao Lang.” After seeing the states of their souls, they have reflected on many things. After this is over, they will never act like before.
Ye Zhizhou used his spiritual power to monitor the situation inside the room and used the system to check the amulet left on Fan Lang’s sickbed. He began to quietly wait for the result. After deciding to let the several parties solve their grievances, Cen Yuebai came up with this more intense method of separating the souls. Ye Zhizhou hesitated, but looking at Fan Lang’s innocence in this matter, he finally agreed. Yuan Chang and the others aren’t innocent, so they might as well let them bite each other.
This chapter was a bit too long for me to finish on time
At least we’re getting some action! Part 2 and then we’re going into a new arc