Chapter Sixteen

At six in the morning, Liu Mumu was jolted awake by the shrill ring of her phone.

A snow-white arm reached out from under the covers, fumbling around on the bedside table for a while before finally finding the phone.

Squinting at the screen, she saw the caller ID: Zhan Ni.

As soon as she answered, before Liu Mumu could say a word, she heard Zhan Ni crying and repeating over and over, "What do I do? What do I do?"

"What happened?" She yawned, got out of bed, and pulled open the curtains. Morning light filled the room.

"They weren't there last night, but when I woke up this morning, I had so many red marks on my body. They're exactly like the ones my mom had. Liu Mumu, am I going to die? Why did my mom have to pass this disease on to me?"

Zhan Ni spoke through her tears, her words muddled. She seemed close to breaking down.

"Stop imagining the worst. Have you told your family?"

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

"Then don't tell them for now." Liu Mumu let out a breath. "You didn't call just so I could comfort you, did you?"

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

Liu Mumu's voice turned a little cool. "I can only do a divination for you. It'll cost ten thousand yuan. Once you've made up your mind, bring the money and come see me."

"But..."

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

Liu Mumu felt weighed down. Zhan Hongye had indeed started targeting Zhan Ni. Judging by what she'd seen so far, he was using some kind of method involving blood.

And judging from how long Aunt Zhang's symptoms had lasted, this method couldn't be completed all at once. It might require a constant supply of blood.

If Zhan Ni could get away from Zhan Hongye now, there was an eighty percent chance she'd escape disaster.

But as far as Liu Mumu could tell, that wasn't realistic.

Zhan Ni wasn't Dong Zhenghao. Liu Mumu couldn't persuade her with just a few words. Zhan Hongye was her biological father, after all, while Liu Mumu was just an outsider.

Even if she laid everything out, Zhan Ni might not believe her.

After Liu Mumu hung up, Zhan Ni sat in the dim room with her phone in hand, biting her lower lip again and again until she tasted blood.

Liu Mumu had asked her for ten thousand yuan, and there was no guarantee she would even help. That was a fortune to Zhan Ni.

She agonized over it for nearly half an hour before finally making up her mind. She found the bank card her father had given her, then slipped out alone with her bag while everyone at home was still asleep.

She withdrew the money first, then met Liu Mumu at a breakfast shop they'd agreed on, close to Liu Mumu's apartment complex.

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 pale yellow tank top. Her hair was tied in a bun that stuck out like a spiky ball, bobbing with every movement. She had the bright, lively energy of a young girl.

Zhan Ni had never understood why Liu Mumu always seemed to have no worries.

While she stood there distracted, Liu Mumu spotted her and waved. The little dinosaur hair tie around her fair wrist bobbed along with her hand.

Zhan Ni walked over and sat across from her.

"You haven't eaten breakfast, have you? Eat first, then we'll talk." Liu Mumu had a steamed bun in her mouth. The buns here were big and delicious.

Zhan Ni had no appetite. She only managed a few sips of congee and didn't touch the bun at all.

When Liu Mumu had nearly finished eating, Zhan Ni leaned in and asked urgently, "You said you'd do a divination for me. What are you going to divine?"

"A turning point."

Zhan Ni's eyes lit up, but Liu Mumu added, "Let me make this clear first: whatever I divine, you have to do it. Don't ask why. If you can't do that, don't come to me again."

Zhan Ni nodded quickly. "Don't worry. I'll do whatever you say."

After a pause, she asked hesitantly, "Do I shake a coin?"

Liu Mumu used to love flipping coins. Sometimes, when she was in a good mood, she'd do it for people in class. Sometimes she was right, and sometimes she wasn't. It was usually about trivial things, like whether you'd bite into a stone while eating a steamed bun that day. No one had ever taken it seriously.

"No. Give me your hand." Liu Mumu held out her hand.

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

Liu Mumu held Zhan Ni's hand, and her eyes suddenly seemed to lose focus, as if she had gone from a living person to something dead. For a moment, Zhan Ni couldn't help shivering as she stared at Liu Mumu's expressionless face.

But Liu Mumu soon returned to normal and let go of Zhan Ni's hand.

"Your family is going to a banquet tonight. Don't go. Lie quietly in your bed, and don't turn on the lights. Even if you hear something, don't come out. At nine oh five, stand outside your dad's study for two minutes, then go back to your room and sleep. Don't let anyone find out. Understand?"

Zhan Ni wanted to ask more, but Liu Mumu clearly had no intention of explaining. When she saw that Zhan Ni wasn't eating the rest of her bun, she simply picked it up and stuffed it into her own mouth.

Her cheeks puffed out as she ate, and she looked nothing like the cold person she'd seemed moments ago.

Zhan Ni felt as if Liu Mumu were playing a trick on her. What did any of that have to do with her illness?

But she had no better option, so she could only trust her for now.

"I understand." She got up to leave.

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

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

After she was gone, Liu Mumu picked up the envelope and took out one of the bills to pay for breakfast.

As she walked out of the breakfast shop, a car drove by. Somehow, its tire ran over a pebble, sending it flying toward Liu Mumu's head.

Liu Mumu dropped straight into a crouch and dodged the pebble. Someone nearby walked around her with a bag of freshly bought soy milk. They'd barely taken two steps when the soy milk suddenly burst inside the plastic bag, splashing scalding liquid all over their head.

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

When Zhan Ni returned home, no one noticed she'd gone out.

All day, she seemed distracted.

Jiang Jia noticed something was off about her but didn't give it a second thought. Humming a little tune, she went upstairs to pick out clothes.

A little after four that afternoon, Zhan Hongye came home with Zhan Huitian. Then he told Zhan Ni that the whole family was going to a banquet.

When she heard him say they were going to a banquet, Zhan Ni was so shocked that she couldn't respond for a long moment.

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

Zhan Ni looked up at her father's gentle eyes, then lowered her gaze and said softly, "I don't feel well. My stomach hurts. Can I stay home?"

Zhan Hongye paused, then seemed to understand. "Of course. Get some rest at home. Would you like me to make you a bowl of brown sugar water?"

Zhan Ni nodded.

At six in the evening, everyone in the Zhan family except Zhan Ni left. The lights in the villa went out, plunging it into darkness.

Zhan Ni was a little afraid of the dark, but she remembered what Liu Mumu had told her and still didn't turn on the lights. She buried her head under the covers and checked the time every so often.

And so, nine o'clock arrived.

She heard footsteps going upstairs, then stopping outside her room.

Three knocks sounded against the door.

She hurriedly turned off her phone and pretended to be asleep.

Before long, her bedroom door opened. A little while later, it closed again.

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

At nine oh five, she slipped out of her room barefoot.

The door to her father's study was open a crack, with light spilling through.

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

Zhan Hongye took a gray bottle down from the display shelf. It looked rough, and Zhan Ni didn't remember seeing a bottle like that before.

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

The tube made a faint sound as he opened it. He carefully and meticulously smeared the blood inside around the mouth of the bottle.

He did this more than ten times, until the bottle had absorbed all the blood.

Zhan Ni nearly collapsed when she saw it. She couldn't be mistaken: that was the blood they'd drawn from her at the hospital for testing.

Liu Mumu had said earlier that the nurse had taken too much blood. Zhan Ni hadn't paid attention at the time, but she had taken another look.

Her legs went weak, and her thoughts became a jumbled mess. Still, she remembered Liu Mumu's instructions and didn't dare waste any more time. She returned to her room as quietly as she could.

About ten minutes later, someone opened her bedroom door again. They seemed to look around, then closed it.

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