Evil Presence

But how was she supposed to tell Fu Siwen about this? She couldn't exactly say that she could hear Su Leyun's thoughts, and that Su Leyun said there was something unclean attached to Chu Xuan...

Fu Siwen couldn't hear Su Leyun's thoughts. To her, this would sound utterly absurd!

While Su Minghui was still pondering it, Fu Siwen had already settled the children and returned. She led the mother and son to a guest room on the second floor, right beside the master bedroom. "If you need anything, just come find me. You've had a tiring day too, so I won't disturb your rest."

Fu Siwen turned to leave, but Su Minghui made up her mind and grabbed her.

Fu Siwen asked, "What is it?"

Su Minghui had no confidence in what she was about to say, but she had to say it.

Not only because Fu Siwen was a trustworthy friend who had stood up for her many times lately, but also because, as mothers, she knew that losing a child could truly kill them.

She asked nervously, "How is Xiaoxiao? Is he all right now?"

Only when Chu Yanxiao was mentioned did Fu Siwen reveal a worried expression. She still apologized, saying, "I'm really sorry. He's usually not like this. I don't know what got into him today."

She took Fu Siwen's hand and sat down with her on the bed, carefully choosing her words. "Have you ever thought about how children are very spiritually sensitive? I've heard that children Xiaoxiao's age can see things that we can't."

As she spoke, Su Minghui watched Fu Siwen's expression. In the end, she got to the point. "Do you think he suddenly cried when he saw Chu Xuan because there might be some evil presence on Chu Xuan that we can't see?"

The evening breeze drifted in through the open window, carrying a faint chill.

Su Minghui did not feel cold at all. Instead, her palms were sweaty with nerves. She worried that Fu Siwen would curse her out for putting a curse on Chu Xuan, and she worried that Fu Siwen would look at her as though she were insane. But what she feared most was that Fu Siwen would not believe her at all.

She wanted to save Chu Xuan. She did not want her friend to suffer the pain of losing a child. But if Fu Siwen did not believe her in the first place, how could she save him?

Yet none of the scenes she had imagined happened. Fu Siwen's expression could even be described as calm.

"Actually, we considered what you said before too. Chu Xuan wasn't born like this. Before he turned three, he was a very healthy child."

As the eldest son of the Chu Family, Chu Xuan had originally received a great deal of attention. But because of his health, he rarely appeared in public, so rumors had spread through their circles that Chu Xuan was a sickly child born frail.

But the truth was that Chu Xuan's condition had taken a sharp turn for the worse when he was three years old. He had fallen seriously ill then, and Fu Siwen had stayed by his side day and night. Although he eventually recovered from that illness, Chu Xuan's health only grew worse and worse afterward.

A kindergarten classmate had merely sneezed in his direction, yet he came home with a high fever that lasted an entire day and night. The couple no longer dared send him to kindergarten and could only hire teachers to teach him at home. That continued for eight years.

"At first, my husband and I took Xuanxuan everywhere. As long as a physician was famous, we went to see them, whether they practiced Chinese medicine or Western medicine, whether they were domestic or overseas. But after all the examinations, they only said that Xuanxuan was somewhat weak and that there was nothing wrong with him."

"Later, friends in our circle introduced us to several feng shui masters. We held one ritual after another, but none of them did any good."

"Now, neither of us hopes to cure Xuanxuan completely anymore. As long as he can stay by our side, that's enough. We occasionally visit temples to pray and donate incense offerings. We even established a public welfare children's foundation specifically to raise donations for sick children. It may not do much, but we treat it as accumulating merit and blessings for Xuanxuan."

Fu Siwen spoke of these matters with a calm expression and even a faint smile, but only Su Minghui, also a mother, knew that Fu Siwen must have suffered terribly back then. She might even have blamed herself countless times for failing to give her child a healthy, strong body.

Before Su Minghui could offer any comfort, Su Leyun had already pieced together the whole story. So the faint strands of golden light he had seen earlier were the merit these parents had accumulated for their child.

[Such is the heart of every parent. But what you've done hasn't been in vain. Without the merit you accumulated through good deeds, Chu Xuan probably wouldn't have lived past six.]

Six years old...

Su Minghui still had some recollection of that.

At the time, she had already married Zhou Guomin and had just given birth to her second child, Su Yibei, not long before when she heard that something had happened to Fu Siwen's child.

Although they had not kept much in touch by then, Su Minghui still valued their years of friendship and had planned to visit when she found the time.

When she mentioned it to Zhou Guomin, he said he had already asked around. Chu Xuan was fine and in good health. If Su Minghui went to see Fu Siwen at that time, she would only interfere with Fu Siwen's care for her child.

Su Minghui and Zhou Guomin had been deeply in love then. Whatever he said, Su Minghui believed. Besides, Su Yibei was still young, and as one thing led to another, the matter was delayed.

Thinking about it now, Su Minghui felt terribly sorry.

"Maybe it was useful after all? I remember that something seemed to have happened when Xuanxuan was six, right?"

At the mention of it, Fu Siwen still felt lingering fear.

"Yes. It happened around this time too, not long after Xuanxuan had turned six..."

Back then, there had been an artificial lake in the Chu Family's courtyard. Fu Siwen had raised some ducklings and goslings to keep Chu Xuan company. One night, no one knew how Chu Xuan had run outside, but he had actually fallen into the lake.

When Fu Siwen realized her child was missing, she called everyone to search. By the time they pulled Chu Xuan out of the water, he had already stopped breathing.

Given Chu Xuan's condition, everyone thought he would surely die that time. Fu Siwen was so frantic that she fainted on the spot. Yet unexpectedly, he pulled through. Though he spent several days in the ICU and was in even worse health after being discharged, at least he was still alive.

Su Minghui felt a pang in her heart and took Fu Siwen's hand. "See? Isn't that heaven watching over him? So everything you've done has been rewarded."

Fu Siwen gave a bitter smile. "If it really worked, why did we hold so many rituals, yet Xuanxuan's health never improved?"

"Then those people before must have all been frauds!" Su Minghui said with absolute certainty. "Leave this to me. Tomorrow, I'll ask around and find out which temples are truly effective. If temples don't work, we'll try Taoist temples. I'll go with you and try every single one!"

Fu Siwen did not understand why Su Minghui was taking this so seriously, but her attitude moved her too. Chu Xuan's health had worsened recently, and even the family doctors were helpless. If there truly was even the slightest chance of survival, then she had to seize it for him.

"Okay!" she agreed.