The Sixteenth Chapter

At six in the morning, Liu Mumu was woken by a frantic phone call.

A fair white arm stretched out from under the covers, fumbling on the bedside table for a while before finally grabbing the phone.

She squinted at the screen. The caller ID read: Zhan Ni.

The call connected. Before Liu Mumu could say a word, she heard Zhan Ni sobbing on the other end, repeating, "What should I do? What should I do?"

"What's wrong?" Liu Mumu yawned, got out of bed, and pulled open the curtains. Morning light filled the room.

"It wasn't there last night, but this morning when I woke up, I had so many red marks all over me, just like my mom had. Liu Mumu, am I going to die? Why did my mom have to pass this disease on to me?"

Zhan Ni cried, speaking incoherently, her emotions seemingly on the verge of collapse.

"Don't overthink it. Haven't you told your family about this?"

Zhan Ni sniffled. "I haven't figured out how to tell them yet."

"Then don't tell them for now," Liu Mumu sighed. "You called me, not just for comfort, right?"

Zhan Ni was silent for a moment on the other end of the line. "...After my mom got sick, the hospital couldn't do anything. If I go to the hospital now, it'll be the same. I want you to help me figure something out. I know you and your grandfather are very capable. You can definitely help me, right?"

Liu Mumu's voice turned a little colder. "I can only do a divination for you. The fee for this divination is ten thousand yuan. Come to me with the fee once you've decided."

"But..."

Zhan Ni seemed to have more to say, but Liu Mumu didn't give her the chance, hanging up the phone.

Liu Mumu's mood grew heavy. Zhan Hongye had indeed started targeting Zhan Ni. Based on the symptoms she was seeing now, it seemed to be a method of sorcery related to blood.

Furthermore, judging by the duration of Aunt Zhang's symptoms, this sorcery couldn't be achieved overnight and likely required a continuous supply of blood.

If Zhan Ni could distance herself from Zhan Hongye from this point on, there was an eighty percent chance she could escape.

However, in Liu Mumu's opinion, this method wasn't realistic.

Zhan Ni wasn't Dong Zhenghao; a few words from her could persuade him. Zhan Hongye was her biological father, after all, and Liu Mumu was an outsider.

Even if she revealed the truth, Zhan Ni might not believe her.

After Liu Mumu hung up, Zhan Ni sat in her dimly lit room, holding her phone. She repeatedly bit her lower lip until she tasted a hint of blood.

Liu Mumu was asking for ten thousand yuan, and there was no guarantee she could help. This was a huge sum for her.

After hesitating in her room for nearly half an hour, she finally made up her mind. She found the bank card her father had given her and, before anyone else in the family woke up, she left alone with her bag.

She first withdrew the money, then met Liu Mumu at a breakfast shop near Liu Mumu's residential complex, as they had arranged.

Liu Mumu had already ordered breakfast: two steamed buns, two bowls of congee, and a plate of pickles.

She wore gray athletic shorts and a light yellow tank top. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun that bounced like a prickly ball with her movements, exuding youthful vitality.

Zhan Ni could never understand why Liu Mumu seemed to have no worries at all.

As Zhan Ni was lost in thought for a moment, Liu Mumu spotted her and waved. The little dinosaur hair tie on her fair wrist swayed along.

Zhan Ni walked over and sat opposite her.

"You haven't eaten breakfast, have you? Eat first," Liu Mumu said, biting into a large, fragrant steamed bun.

Zhan Ni had no appetite. She just sipped a few mouthfuls of congee, leaving the bun untouched.

When Liu Mumu had eaten most of her meal, Zhan Ni eagerly asked in a low voice, "You said you'd do a divination for me. What will you divine?"

"A turning point."

Zhan Ni's eyes lit up, then she heard Liu Mumu continue, "Let's be clear upfront. Whatever I divine, you must follow it without asking why. If you can't do it, then don't come to me again."

Zhan Ni nodded quickly. "Don't worry, I'll listen to you."

She paused, then hesitantly asked, "Are you going to flip a coin?"

Liu Mumu used to like flipping coins a lot. Sometimes, when she was in a good mood, she'd flip them for people in her class. Sometimes it was accurate, sometimes not. It was usually for trivial matters, like whether she'd get a stone in her bun today. No one ever took it seriously.

"No, give me your hand." Liu Mumu extended her hand.

Zhan Ni placed her hand in Liu Mumu's palm.

Liu Mumu held Zhan Ni's hand, her eyes suddenly seeming to lose focus, as if she had transformed from a living person into something inanimate. For a moment, seeing her expressionless face, Zhan Ni couldn't help but shiver.

But soon, Liu Mumu returned to normal and released Zhan Ni's hand.

"Tonight, your family is attending a banquet. You are not to go. Stay quietly in your bed, do not turn on the lights, and do not leave your room even if you hear noises. At precisely 9:05 PM, stand outside your father's study for two minutes, then return to your room and sleep. Do not let anyone find out. Do you understand?"

Zhan Ni wanted to ask more questions, but Liu Mumu clearly didn't want to explain. Seeing that she wasn't eating the rest of her bun, Liu Mumu simply picked it up and put it in her own mouth.

Her cheeks bulged as she ate, completely losing the cold demeanor she had moments before.

Zhan Ni felt like Liu Mumu was toying with her. What did these instructions have to do with her illness?

But she had no better options right now and could only trust the other person for the time being.

"I understand." After speaking, she got up to leave.

Liu Mumu looked up and tapped the table with her finger. "The divination fee."

Zhan Ni pursed her lips, took an envelope from her bag, and placed it on the table. Then she left without looking back.

After she left, Liu Mumu picked up the envelope, took out one of the cash bills inside, and used it to pay for breakfast.

As she walked to the entrance of the breakfast shop, a car drove by. For some reason, its tire ran over a stone, which then bounced up and flew towards Liu Mumu's head.

Liu Mumu immediately squatted down, dodging the flying stone. Someone next to her, carrying soy milk they had just bought, walked around her. Before they had taken two steps, the soy milk suddenly exploded inside the plastic bag, drenching her head with scalding hot soy milk.

The few hundred meters from the breakfast shop to her home felt like Liu Mumu had experienced a horror game called "Final Destination."

When Zhan Ni returned home, no one noticed she had ever left.

She seemed distracted all day.

Jiang Jia noticed her abnormality but didn't pay it any mind, humming a tune as she went upstairs to pick out clothes.

Around 4 PM, Zhan Hongye and Zhan Huitian returned home together and told Zhan Ni that the whole family had to attend a banquet.

When she heard they were attending a banquet, Zhan Ni was so shocked that she couldn't respond for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Hongye asked gently.

Zhan Ni looked up at her father's gentle eyes, then lowered her gaze and whispered, "I don't feel well, my stomach hurts. Can I not go?"

Zhan Hongye paused for a moment, then realized. "Of course, you can. You rest well at home. Shall I make you a bowl of brown sugar water?"

Zhan Ni nodded.

At 6 PM, everyone in the Zhan family left except for Zhan Ni. The lights in the villa were turned off, plunging it into darkness.

Zhan Ni was a little afraid of the dark, but remembering Liu Mumu's instructions, she didn't turn on the lights. She buried her head in the covers, checking the time every so often.

Just like that, 9 PM arrived.

She heard footsteps coming upstairs, and then the footsteps stopped outside her room.

Three knocks sounded: "Knock, knock, knock."

She quickly turned off her phone and pretended to be fast asleep.

After a short wait, her bedroom door was pushed open, and after a while, the door was closed.

Zhan Ni's heart began to race. Everything was exactly as Liu Mumu had told her, as if she had seen it with her own eyes.

At 9:05 PM, she walked out of her room barefoot.

The door to her father's study was slightly ajar, with light leaking out.

She found a spot where she could see into the study without being discovered, held her breath, and stood outside.

Inside the study, Zhan Hongye took a gray bottle from the antique shelf. The bottle looked very rough, and Zhan Ni didn't remember seeing a bottle like this before.

Then, he took a blood collection tube from his desk drawer.

The blood collection tube was opened with a slight sound, and he meticulously and carefully smeared blood onto the mouth of the bottle.

He repeated this back and forth about ten times, until all the blood was absorbed by the bottle.

Seeing this, Zhan Ni almost couldn't stand. She recognized it; it was the blood that had been drawn from her at the hospital for testing.

Earlier, Liu Mumu had mentioned that the nurse had drawn too much blood. She hadn't paid much attention then, but she had taken a second look.

Her legs felt weak, and her mind was in chaos, but she remembered Liu Mumu's instructions and dared not delay any longer. She quietly returned to her room.

About ten minutes later, someone opened her bedroom door again, seemed to look around for a few moments, and then closed the door.

Zhan Ni hid under the thin blanket, trembling all over.