Lu Wenchuan reached the top of the basement stairs to find Xu Chengyuan standing at the door.
His expression was grim.
Zhou Man stood behind him, her fingers clutching her sleeve, the silk scarf still wrapped around her neck. When she saw Lu Wenchuan coming up from the basement, more color drained from her face.
Xu Mingji was there too.
He hid beside Zhou Man, peering past Lu Wenchuan into the basement, as if trying to see whether Xu Zhihan had followed him up, yet afraid of what he might actually see.
Lu Wenchuan flashed his credentials in front of Xu Chengyuan.
"Lu Wenchuan, Seventh Team, Special Investigation Bureau."
Xu Chengyuan stared at him, his voice heavy. "Captain Lu, shouldn't you give the Xu Family an explanation for breaking into a private residence in the middle of the night?"
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "A good question, Mr. Xu. Then let me ask one too: who does the Xu Family owe an explanation for keeping an evil spirit in its basement?"
Xu Chengyuan's expression changed.
Zhou Man panicked on the spot. "What evil spirit? Captain Lu, don't make things up. Our basement is just a place to store old belongings."
Lu Wenchuan glanced back into the basement.
Xu Zhihan slowly came up the stairs.
His face was even paler than before, his lips nearly colorless, but he held an old Peace Amulet in his hand. Xu An followed beside him, his ghostly form so faint that ordinary people couldn't see him.
Zhou Man couldn't see Xu An, but she could feel a chill following them out of the basement.
She instinctively stepped back.
Xu Zhihan saw her reaction, his gaze utterly indifferent.
"What are you afraid of?"
Zhou Man barely managed to steady herself. "Zhihan, you're not well. How could you go down to the basement in the middle of the night? Do you know how worried your father is about you?"
Xu Zhihan looked at her. "Worried about me, or worried I'd see what was down there?"
Zhou Man's expression froze.
"Xu Zhihan, go back to your room," Xu Chengyuan said sternly.
Xu Zhihan didn't move.
Lu Wenchuan leaned against the stair railing, his tone casual. "Mr. Xu, this isn't exactly the time to send him back to his room, is it? There's a Soul-Suppressing Altar down there, a Resentment-Nurturing Formation, and a child's soul sealed away. Are you sending him back so you can deal with the scene once we're all gone?"
A trace of darkness flashed through Xu Chengyuan's eyes.
He quickly regained his composure. "Captain Lu, I don't understand any of this. The Xu Family is a respectable household. We couldn't possibly have such things. Perhaps someone sneaked them into the basement when we weren't paying attention."
Lu Wenchuan gave a short laugh.
"That's a convenient answer, Mr. Xu. The basement was locked, the formation was laid out, the evil spirit was being nurtured, and one 'I don't know' settles everything."
Xu Chengyuan's expression darkened further. "You'd better have evidence to back up your words, Captain Lu."
"What a coincidence." Lu Wenchuan placed the photographs and iron box he had brought up from the basement on the table. "I happen to love evidence."
The instant the photographs were spread out, Zhou Man's expression changed.
Xu Chengyuan visibly faltered too.
Unable to resist looking, Xu Mingji glanced over. Once he saw the unfamiliar woman and child in the photographs, he asked quietly, "Dad, who's that?"
No one answered him.
Xu Zhihan looked at Xu Chengyuan.
"Who is Xu An?"
Xu Chengyuan's gaze finally turned cold. "That has nothing to do with you."
Xu Zhihan lowered his eyes to the Peace Amulet in his hand, his voice calm. "His Peace Amulet was in your basement. You sealed his soul inside an altar. And you say it has nothing to do with me?"
"That child died long ago!" Zhou Man blurted out. "It had nothing to do with us!"
She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth.
The living room fell silent.
Lu Wenchuan looked up at her. "Didn't you just say you knew nothing about it, Ms. Zhou?"
Zhou Man's lips trembled, and she immediately turned to Xu Chengyuan.
Xu Chengyuan shot her a vicious glare.
Xu Mingji was stunned too.
He had only known that there were certain things in the Xu Family he wasn't supposed to ask about. He had never known there was a dead child hidden in the basement.
Xu Zhihan's gaze settled on Zhou Man. "You knew he was dead."
Zhou Man forced herself to hold her ground. "I only heard a little about what happened back then. Xu An was a child from a branch of the Xu Family. He died of an illness when he was little. As for the things in the basement, I really don't know anything."
Xu An stood beside Xu Zhihan, his ghostly form trembling.
He seemed to understand, yet not entirely.
"I wasn't sick," Xu An said softly.
Xu Zhihan looked down at him.
Xu An struggled to remember, his words coming in broken fragments. "I remember someone locking me up and telling me not to cry. But it hurt so much."
Xu Zhihan's fingers tightened slightly.
Lu Wenchuan couldn't see Xu An, but he noticed the change in Xu Zhihan's expression. His smile faded, and his voice grew colder.
"Mr. Xu, the Xu Family would do well to cooperate with the investigation."
"Captain Lu, this isn't the Special Investigation Bureau," Xu Chengyuan said coldly. "And the Xu Family isn't somewhere you can investigate whenever you please."
Lu Wenchuan nodded, took out his phone, and made a call.
"The Xu residence. Basement. Bring a team. Yes, seal off the scene."
Xu Chengyuan's expression changed completely. "Lu Wenchuan, what do you mean by this?"
Lu Wenchuan put his phone away and looked at him with a faint smile.
"It means that, starting tonight, this basement belongs to the Special Investigation Bureau."
Xu Chengyuan was furious. "You wouldn't dare!"
Lu Wenchuan's tone was light. "Sure I would."
Xu Zhihan glanced at him.
Lu Wenchuan happened to look over at the same moment and raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say, See? Someone who handles trouble can still be useful.
Xu Zhihan looked away and ignored him.
Zhou Man suddenly spoke. "Zhihan, say something for your family. It hasn't been easy for your father to raise you all these years. You can't let outsiders investigate the Xu Family like this."
Her voice caught with a sob as she fell back on the same soft, coaxing words.
Xu Zhihan looked at her and asked, "You think I'll help you?"
Zhou Man was at a loss for words.
Xu Zhihan's tone was flat. "Zhou Man, have you forgotten that you were kneeling beside my hospital bed last night?"
Zhou Man went pale.
Xu Mingji lowered his head too, not daring to speak.
Xu Chengyuan watched Xu Zhihan, his gaze growing colder and colder.
He finally realized that he could no longer control this son as he once had.
Xu Zhihan stopped wasting time on them.
His body couldn't take any more.
Dealing with the black-robed evil spirit had drained too much of his strength, and his vision was already beginning to dim. He hated this weakness, especially showing it in front of the Xu family.
Noticing his condition, Lu Wenchuan walked over and asked quietly, "Can you still hold on?"
"Can't you ask something useful?" Xu Zhihan said coldly.
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "Let me try another one, then. Want me to help you walk?"
Xu Zhihan looked at him.
Lu Wenchuan immediately corrected himself. "I know. Get lost."
Xu Zhihan said nothing and turned to head upstairs.
Lu Wenchuan followed behind him.
Xu Chengyuan stood in the living room, his expression frighteningly dark.
Zhou Man couldn't help asking in a low voice, "Chengyuan, what do we do now?"
Xu Chengyuan looked toward the stairs, his eyes slowly turning icy.
"He can't stay in this house any longer."
Zhou Man's heart jolted.
Xu Mingji looked up too. "Dad, you want to send my brother away?"
Xu Chengyuan didn't answer.
But his silence was answer enough.