Turning the Tables, Brushing Past Death

Duan Hongbin paused here. "But I wouldn't recommend doing that. This is actually a perfect opportunity. Don't you want to meet that Onmyoji?"

I immediately understood what he was planning.

He wanted Xie Xiaotang to leave with the box. Once she got it, she would naturally hand it over to that Onmyoji at once. As long as we followed her, we would be able to find him.

I was somewhat tempted too. It was indeed a good plan.

But I had to convince Xu Qiuyan and Gu Song first.

"You keep watch. I'll talk to Qiu Yan."

Duan Hongbin winked at me. "Tell her that the only way to completely free Xie Xiaotang from that person's soul control is to find the Onmyoji who cast the spell on her. Otherwise, any method will only treat the symptoms, not the root cause."

I pulled Xu Qiuyan aside and explained the situation to her.

Xu Qiuyan hesitated. She truly wanted to help Xie Xiaotang and Gu Song.

But she also knew I was right. Only by catching that Onmyoji could Xie Xiaotang be completely freed.

She said bitterly, "Those damned Onmyoji. They kill people and then seize their souls."

Even a fool could understand what had happened tonight. The moment Xie Xiaotang was murdered, her soul had already been taken away by that Onmyoji.

"Are you sure you can convince Gu Song?"

I nodded. "For Xie Xiaotang's sake, I think he'll agree."

He loved Xie Xiaotang. Even though she could never bear him children again, he had never resented her for it. He had even agreed to let her raise a little ghost.

I walked up to Gu Song. "Do you want to help her?" I pointed at Xie Xiaotang.

Without another word, Gu Song answered readily, "Yes."

I nodded. "Then you have to trust me. In this matter, you'll do exactly as I say."

"No problem." His answer was firm and decisive.

"I'll let her leave with the box, then catch the Onmyoji controlling her. Only by dealing with the problem at its root can your wife's soul regain its freedom."

Gu Song bit his lip so hard that his red lips turned bluish. He seemed to be struggling.

"Fine. I'll listen to you."

It was finally settled. I said to Duan Hongbin, "Now it's up to you."

"I might not be able to handle it alone. I'll need her help." He pointed at Sister Hong.

Just as he made that gesture, Sister Hong happened to turn and look at him. He hurriedly lowered his hand and forced out a smile.

I walked over to Xu Qiuyan. "Duan Hongbin said he needs Sister Hong's help."

Xu Qiuyan looked at Sister Hong questioningly, and Sister Hong nodded.

I hadn't expected her to agree so readily. It was probably out of respect for Xu Qiuyan.

She had always been aloof. Only when facing Xu Qiuyan had she ever shown a smile.

That meant she could do anything for Xu Qiuyan.

"You can have that little ghost attach itself to the jade. That way, it will recover quickly, and it'll become stronger than before." Sister Hong said this to me, and I truly hadn't considered it.

But I hesitated. This was no ordinary jade; it was the mysterious Twin Fish Jade Pendant of legend. If the little ghost attached itself to it, would it be endlessly replicated? The Twin Fish Jade Pendant was far too sinister.

Still, I decided to give it a try.

At the very least, I would be helping Gu Song. He cared deeply about this child as well.

Of course, I still had to ask for his own opinion in the end.

For now, the most urgent matter was to make the Xie Xiaotang before us leave with the box.

I took the box from Yin Wuyu. While no one was paying attention, I removed the jade pendant, then brought the box before Xie Xiaotang. "Here."

She took the box, then turned as though she were about to leave.

"Xiao Tang!" Gu Song still couldn't hold back. He called out to her.

But Xie Xiaotang acted as though she couldn't hear him. She spun toward the window and leaped out through the open one.

Sister Hong and Duan Hongbin jumped down after her.

Gu Song looked utterly dejected.

I said to Xu Qiuyan, "You stay here. I'll go after them and take a look."

Xu Qiuyan refused. She said she was going too, and that she could help in an emergency.

Left with no choice, I agreed.

Naturally, we couldn't just leave Gu Song and Yin Wuyu at home. It wasn't safe, so we brought them along too.

I was a little speechless. After all this chaos tonight, would we still be able to catch that flight early tomorrow morning?

Although Duan Hongbin and Sister Hong had long since vanished from sight, I wasn't worried. Whether it was Duan Hongbin, Eccentric Song, or Chu Ge, once they left, no matter how far away they were, I could sense their presence and clearly perceive their direction.

So I didn't drive fast. I could tell they were still moving quickly.

Old Shu had said that the three of them were not personalities split off from me, but consciousness entities I had created through powerful mental force. Yet at least to me, they were real.

"Mr. Jiang, there's something I don't know whether I should ask." Gu Song said.

"What is it?"

"Back in that room, were there other people besides us? And you told me to let Xiao Tang leave with the box, but now we don't even know which direction she went. Yet you're calmly driving after her. Did the people in that room whom I couldn't see already go after her?"

I was sure Gu Song understood now. Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought through these questions.

He was quite sharp. He had immediately grasped the key to the matter.

I nodded but didn't explain much.

"Also, was the thing in that box really the Twin Fish Jade Pendant?"

Gu Song asked again.

"Yes."

Gu Song pursed his lips. "Could you let me see what it looks like?"

"Didn't you already give the box to Xie Xiaotang?" I asked in return.

But Gu Song said, "That should only be an empty box. You couldn't possibly have actually handed the jade pendant over to them."

Once he calmed down, his mind worked quite well.

"To be honest, I really want to see what that thing looks like. Since Xiao Tang died, my life has become a complete mess. Maybe it all started because of it. I regret it now. If we hadn't agreed to go to Lop Nur with Zhuanghe back then, perhaps we would still be living ordinary lives instead of ending up like this."

As he spoke, his eyes reddened with tears.

I sighed. "Don't dwell on it too much. Let the past be the past. People always have to keep moving forward."

I comforted him. He took a deep breath, then nodded. "You're right. People have to look ahead."

Beep! Beep! A deafening horn sounded, followed by a beam of light so bright that I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew it had to be the large truck coming from the opposite direction.

I had seen it earlier. It had been driving properly in the opposite lane, and it hadn't even been going fast. But now, it suddenly veered toward us.

I yanked the steering wheel sharply to the right, my foot hovering over the brake. But I didn't slam it down immediately. After a brief judgment, I floored the accelerator, turned the wheel, and finally scraped past the truck. We had escaped disaster.

Gu Song was badly frightened, but Xu Qiuyan asked me, "What happened?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. It should have been coming for us."

Cold sweat soaked my back. If we had made intimate contact with that truck just now, the three of us might have been dead.

I didn't stop, nor did I intend to go after the driver.

The driver himself was probably terrified afterward. He likely didn't even know what had happened.

But I knew someone was behind it. Someone didn't want us following Xie Xiaotang.

The method was crude, but it was also highly effective.

"So you can drive too?" Xu Qiuyan finally realized.

I gave a bitter smile. It was true that I was the one sitting behind the wheel, but the one actually controlling it was Chu Ge.

If it hadn't been for him just now, how could I possibly have reacted so quickly?

I had wanted to hit the brakes, but Chu Ge had controlled me and made me floor the accelerator, skimming right past the truck.

"I understand now."

Seeing my expression, Xu Qiuyan immediately guessed it. The person driving might not have been me after all.

Gu Song, however, had no idea what we were talking about. His face was pale; the scene just now had frightened him badly.

"They've stopped. They're less than five kilometers away from us." I knew the direction, but not exactly where that location was, so I opened the navigation and pinpointed it.

"Five kilometers east of here should be..."

I was still checking the navigation when Gu Song said, "It's Shunhai. Five kilometers east should be Shunhai Forest Farm."

Aside from the area around my university and a few places downtown, I really wasn't familiar with Lin City at all. I knew even less about the surrounding towns.

But I had heard of Shunhai Forest Farm. It was the best-preserved forest farm in Lin City. It wasn't particularly large, but its presence was what had earned this provincial capital of Qian Province the nickname of the refreshing forest city.