A Sudden Incident

I glanced at Han Shanshan's house across the way. The lights were out, so it seemed she had gone to sleep.

I unlocked the door with my key. The television was still on, surprisingly, so I walked over and picked up the remote to turn it off—only to find Yu Xiaoxue lying on the sofa in a pale green gauze nightgown.

Yu Xiaoxue had hair like a cascading waterfall. Perhaps she had just finished drying it; the smooth strands spilled from the sofa onto the carpet.

She was sleeping soundly, but a faint tear mark hung at the corner of her eye. It seemed she had been crying earlier.

Remembering that she was already homeless while I at least still had a mother in Lin County, my heart ached. I reached out and touched her flushed cheek.

However, my action made her body shift. As a result, her loose nightgown exposed a large expanse of snow-white skin across her chest, and my breathing quickened.

I swallowed, but my wife-like elder sister seemed displeased by the sight. I felt a chill behind me and could only awkwardly pick up a blanket from beside me and drape it over Yu Xiaoxue.

Although the weather was a little cool, it was not cold enough to cause a chill. After covering Yu Xiaoxue with the blanket, I returned to the study.

I turned on Zhao Qian's computer and began searching for the history of Liancheng Mountain. The images that came up were not the place I wanted, so I added the character "Little" to the search. Sure enough, I found it.

Unfortunately, there was only an introduction to the scenic area, with no record of that ancient tomb complex.

I gave up searching. Remembering Zhao Qian's evaluation of the feng shui there, I opened the map again. I found that the entire county was surrounded by great mountains and vast waters stretching endlessly, as though two giant blue and green dragons were winding around each other in battle. As for the shooting range, it was like one of the points where the two dragons converged—mysterious in the extreme. I did not understand feng shui, but even that alone made me feel there was something unusual about the location.

The tomb raider had died inside the tunnel, and even now, thinking of the stench of the corpse made me shudder. It seemed that even if one or two people died there, no one would discover them. Once the rain came and the earth collapsed over them, they would vanish without a trace among the mass graves.

The tomb's owner was undoubtedly a fierce ghost. But I did not know how ferocious it was or whether it possessed intelligence. In any case, it might even be on the same level as Xijun.

Grandmother's notes contained records of places like this. Moreover, the stronger the aura of a yin-filled place, the greater the chance that a powerful fierce ghost would appear. Of course, if I could make a fierce ghost serve me and raise it under my control, it would undoubtedly be a powerful boost to me.

After all, I could not rely on Xijun alone in battle. If I encountered enemies attacking from both front and rear, without multiple sources of combat power, I would be at a severe disadvantage.

As I thought about these things, my mouse clicked around aimlessly. In the end, I opened Zhao Qian's photo album.

My eyes lit up, and I clicked into it without a second thought.

There were more than a thousand photos, covering everything from elementary school to university. With great interest, I started looking through her elementary and middle school photos. I discovered that Zhao Qian had worn glasses even back then, looking like a bookworm, and that she had been thin and petite.

She had kept wearing glasses through high school. However, by then, although Zhao Qian was still a bookish girl, her figure had begun to take shape. There were more than a dozen photos of her trip to Beihai, and the little girl wore a swimsuit, looking very sexy. Her snowy chest was particularly eye-catching.

When I realized my wife-like elder sister had not moved, I felt somewhat relieved. It seemed that although she could warn me, she could only sense yin energy and danger. Her closed eyes were not deliberate—she genuinely could not see—so she had no way of discovering what I was doing at that moment.

Later, I saw Zhao Qian as a university student. By then, she had blossomed into a striking beauty. Although she still wore glasses, her melon-seed-shaped cheeks seemed to tell everyone that she was a rare beauty.

I grew curious and searched through her travel photos, wondering whether there were any from the seaside. I reached the bottom without finding a single one of her in a swimsuit, which left me somewhat disappointed.

I felt that later, I should find an excuse to invite her and Yu Xiaoxue to the seaside.

At that thought, my heart jolted. I remembered that her grandfather had only just passed away, and Zhao Qian was probably still grieving. Thinking about such things now did not seem quite right. I immediately shut down the computer, glanced at the peach blossom tree outside the window, and pulled the curtains closed.

It seemed that whenever I returned to this villa, I was affected by its peach-blossom feng shui.

Knock, knock!

Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone knocked on the door.

"Brother Tian, you're back?" Yu Xiaoxue's voice came from outside. It seemed she had woken up.

"I'm back. I saw you sleeping on the sofa, so I covered you with a blanket." After saying that, I got up and opened the door.

Yu Xiaoxue stood before me in graceful poise. Zhao Qian's pajamas were still a little too large for her, and the hollowed-out section across her chest had slipped down to mid-breast. Two red cherries stood upright behind the fabric, seemingly flaunting that she had grown up.

Never mind that she was only sixteen or seventeen; she was already a half-grown girl, and physically she was no inferior to a normal woman. My blood surged backward and my blood pressure shot up as I looked at her. I nearly slammed the door shut.

"Brother Tian, I'm scared to sleep alone. I just dreamed about what happened in Little Yi Village, too. I want to sleep with you." Yu Xiaoxue still looked bleary-eyed and did not notice me staring at her chest.

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat and hurriedly said, "It was only a dream. Don't think too much about it. Besides, how old are you now? Go sleep by yourself."

"But... when you were little and scared, you used to run over and insist on sleeping with me. Just consider this paying me back." Seeing that I was about to close the door, Yu Xiaoxue became more alert and hurriedly squeezed inside.

Afraid of brushing against some sensitive part of her body, I immediately stepped aside, and she successfully darted in.

I sighed. If I had not known Yu Xiaoxue was naturally scatterbrained, I would have thought she was seducing me. "Xiaoxue, that was when we were children. Men and women should keep their distance now. Stop fooling around, or I'll get angry."

"What does that matter? We slept together plenty of times when we were little. Back then, you were wearing nothing but your little underpants. Hmph." Yu Xiaoxue pretended to be somewhat displeased, but the clarity in her eyes betrayed the fact that she was fully awake.

I finally understood. No wonder my wife-like elder sister had not made a fuss—it turned out this little girl had been teasing me. I immediately turned the tables and said, "Since that's the case... all right, then. We'll sleep together. But don't regret it if something happens."

With that, I began taking off my clothes. Yu Xiaoxue's face instantly flushed red, and she stuck out her tongue. "Never mind. Brother Tian hasn't even showered since coming back, and he smells awful. I'll sleep by myself. I don't think I'm scared anymore."

I nearly burst out laughing. "You should have said that from the start. All right, go to sleep early."

"Oh." After saying that, Yu Xiaoxue ran upstairs.

I was indeed tired after holding out until now. I grabbed a change of clothes, hurriedly took a shower, and then climbed into bed.

I had been asleep for some time when the mobile phone beside my pillow suddenly rang. I had no idea what time it was.

I glanced at the caller ID. It was an unfamiliar number, so I decisively hung up.

But the phone called again after being disconnected. I looked at the sky; it seemed to be nearly dawn, so I answered helplessly.

"Hello, who is this?" I asked somewhat unwillingly.

"Hello! Xia Yitian?" A woman's voice came from the other end.

"Who are you?" The voice sounded familiar, but I could not place it for a moment.

"It's me, Han Shanshan! How are you still sleeping?" Han Shanshan asked without rhyme or reason.

"It's the middle of the night. If I'm not sleeping, should I be sleepwalking?" I replied unhappily. Was she trying to torment people? It was already past six, and I had slept for less than four hours at most.

Hearing my displeasure, Han Shanshan hurriedly said, "Something happened! Zhao He is here with me!"

"You said Zhao He is with you? Don't tell me you two... No way. That's quite a gap!" After letting my imagination run wild, I asked. In truth, I was deliberately teasing the broad-minded policewoman. Zhao He was probably still keeping vigil.

"You! How can you still joke at a time like this? I said Zhao He and I are at the police station!" Han Shanshan said furiously.

When I heard that, something felt wrong. Wasn't Zhao He still at the Zhao Family estate? How had he suddenly ended up at the police station?

"What happened?" I came fully awake.

"He's suspected of murdering someone while drunk! He's locked up at the station! The team is conducting an emergency interrogation."

I frowned and sat straight up. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"I just received the call and am on my way to the station too, so I still don't know the details. But the team said a ritual master was beaten to death with a brick by him!" Han Shanshan said anxiously. Several police officers nearby were also discussing the matter.

"What? What about Zhao Qian?" I asked urgently. Wasn't the ritual master named Wang Heng? I had heard he was Zhao Xi's friend and seemed quite formidable. How had Zhao He managed to beat him to death?

"Qianqian is fine. I heard she only passed out."

"Are you out of your mind? How is passing out 'fine'? Quickly, tell me where Zhao Qian is, and where you are!" Hearing that Zhao Qian had passed out, I cursed her in anger.

"Why are you cursing me? I only meant in comparison. Zhao He is facing a huge problem, while Qianqian's situation is much less serious..." Han Shanshan muttered softly in explanation.

I had no time to worry about anything else. I hurriedly asked her location over the phone while getting dressed and heading to the garage.

After starting the car, I drove to the county Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

Zhao He and Han Shanshan were acquaintances. Because of that connection, the police team had allowed Han Shanshan to come as well. When Zhao He saw her, he asked her to call me and told her to bring me to the hospital at once to save Zhao Qian. He also said that someone wanted to harm his sister.

Zhao Qian had been admitted to the hospital, yet Zhao He believed his sister was unsafe. It seemed the details of the matter went far beyond what I had expected.

A few minutes later, I drove into the Chinese Medicine Hospital, and Han Shanshan arrived in her police car at the same time.

Although I had not known Zhao Qian for long, everything that had happened in succession had left a deep impression on me. If anything truly happened to her, I would regret for the rest of my life that I had not stayed by her side earlier.

Thinking of the incense I had burned last night, it had clearly been incense for dispelling disaster. Since something had happened now, someone must have been targeting her. Moreover, Zhao Zhou and that old bastard Wu Zhenghua absolutely could not escape responsibility. I clenched my teeth at the thought.

After Han Shanshan and I met up, we did not even exchange a word before rushing toward the inpatient department.

Ahead of us, a group of doctors hurried toward the inpatient department with grim expressions.

Downstairs at the inpatient department, two nurses anxiously waited for the doctors to arrive.

"Doctor Li, Zhao Qian in Room 26! She was just admitted through the emergency department. At first, we thought she had merely fainted, but her heart suddenly stopped just now!" The nurse's face was panic-stricken.

"Go push over the ventilator! Prepare the cardiac stimulant! Notify her family!" After hearing this, Doctor Li ordered the doctors behind him, then ran toward the ward himself.

My heart tightened, and I chased after him. Han Shanshan burst into tears at once; she had never imagined things would become this serious!