Chapter Twenty-Nine: Negligence

I rushed toward the hospital room, almost at a sprint.

Inside, only one or two nurses stood by. Zhao Xi, Zhao Qian’s father, looked as pale as a sheet of paper, his eyes bloodshot and filled with exhaustion and defeat.

His father had died during the very Taoist ritual he had commissioned; his daughter had been nearly strangled to death in the funeral hall; his son had killed a close friend and was now in police custody; his wife was off at the police station with relatives, trying to pull strings. He, in his helplessness, had come to the hospital to watch over his daughter, only for her to suffer cardiac arrest—hovering between life and death in an instant.

Zhao Xi was panicked. Deep self-reproach and helplessness clung to him like a vengeful ghost. He couldn’t understand why he was so cursed, or how he had managed to endure this day at all. If it weren't for the others present, he surely would have collapsed to his knees and howled in despair.

The air in the room was heavy with yin energy, practically spilling out into the hallway.

The door was left ajar. The two nurses, trembling with a mix of cold and fear, were fumbling through emergency procedures. Zhao Qian lay there motionless, her complexion a sickly green, as if she had stopped breathing, her arms and legs twitching sporadically.

A pale, sinister-looking boy of seven or eight years old knelt on top of her, his eyes glowing with a black light. His thin, translucent hands were buried deep inside Zhao Qian’s chest, clutching her heart.

Seeing Han Shanshan and me arrive, the white-clad boy turned his head slowly. There was no white in his eyes, which locked onto us like a warning, forbidding any living soul from stepping forward.

Then, the boy let out a shrill, piercing shriek. His pitch-black eyes widened until they seemed to split, and the yin energy surged forward like a dam bursting.

Bang! Bang! The double doors swung open and shut rhythmically, and the overhead lights flickered on and off.

The white-clad boy’s figure manifested and vanished with the strobe of the lights. Zhao Xi’s eyes snapped open; he looked at the scene in terror, unable to speak, and lunged forward to pull the boy off his daughter.

Doctors and nurses began to crowd into the room from the hallway. My brow furrowed deep enough to form a "chuan" character.

"Qianqian!" Han Shanshan shrieked, moving to rush in, but I blocked her path.

"Han Shanshan, keep them at the door!" I commanded. I walked up to the nurses and Zhao Xi, grabbing hold of the latter as he desperately tried to claw at the boy who remained intangible to him.

Han Shanshan pulled out her Special Operations Unit police badge, halting the advancing doctors.

I immediately turned to Zhao Xi. "Uncle Zhao, take them all outside. This is not something you can handle."

"Who... who are you?" Zhao Xi looked at me, his dull eyes filled with shock and suspicion. I unsealed Xijun’s spirit urn, and her crimson figure appeared beside me.

Only then did the boy kneeling on Zhao Qian feel fear. He recoiled in terror, but Xijun dragged him off Zhao Qian’s body as if he were a mangy dog.

"Xijun! Eat him!" I ordered.

With my permission, Xijun showed no hesitation, tearing the wailing, shrieking boy to pieces bit by bit. Zhao Xi watched this scene with eyes wide, as if he were possessed. He likely never imagined that the migrant worker his daughter had spent the whole day with was accompanied by a ghost-eating spirit.

I pulled out the Soul-Stabilizing Talisman and the Ghost-Repelling Talisman I had stolen from Master Can Yun and tucked them under Zhao Qian.

"Tian... ge... I still have some on me..." Zhao Qian’s heart resumed its rhythm, and she woke up, her face still a pale, bruised gray.

It seemed she still had something on her person.

"Everyone, get out! No one comes in without my permission!" I looked firmly at Zhao Xi, signaling for him to leave and to take the two nurses with him.

"Out! Everyone, get out! Step aside and let the master save her!" Zhao Xi barked at the nurses. When they hesitated, his expression darkened; he knew that if his daughter was still carrying something foul on her, any delay could be fatal.

The two nurses, seeing that Zhao Qian had regained consciousness, were utterly confused. They couldn't see Xijun or the boy, but the eerie flickering of the lights, the slamming doors, and the bone-chilling cold in the room had terrified them. Anyone who works the night shift knows that this is the most terrifying time of the day.

Now that the family had issued a final command, they had no reason to stay, and they scrambled out, hand in hand.

"Please, you must save my daughter!" Zhao Xi begged as he left, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't worry, Uncle Zhao. I would have done it even without you asking." I nodded. Watching them close the door, I breathed a sigh of relief as I stood guard.

"Xijun, stand watch nearby."

With that, I began to remove Zhao Qian’s light jacket. A quick inspection revealed nothing, so I began to check every detail of her person, including her intimate areas, her bra, and even preparing to check beneath her.

Zhao Qian’s skin was lustrous, glowing like milk in the light and emitting the unique scent of a young girl. As I probed her body, my face burned with heat, and the fragrance wafting toward me was intoxicating.

Of course, I kept my eyes focused, terrified of missing any signs of a curse, ignoring even the chill of the "Wife Sister" blowing cold air behind my neck. I was performing this task with the utmost sincerity and reverence. Besides, look at Zhao Qian—her face was as red as a watermelon