Chapter 49: Courage

Red Cloud, my daughter:

Time slips away, days do not return; unknowingly, more than thirty years have passed. Back then, your father roamed the world, my heart like wild grass, seeking only freedom and ease, causing me to neglect you and your mother, our bond fractured, and we ultimately parted.

Over these years, your father has missed you greatly. I still remember the day you were born; I was overjoyed. You lay in my arms, small, with sparse hair. In that moment, I felt something I had never felt before, like drinking ice water in summer, spreading through my entire body...

Writing thus far, Shen Siyuan stopped his pen and looked at Lu Guanchang, wondering how much of what he said was truly sincere.

Perhaps everything he said was true, but why did it later turn sour? Abandoning you and your mother, ignoring you for so many years...

Only when one feels pain does one realize regret.

If it were not for wanting to test whether helping someone like him would bring merit, Shen Siyuan would absolutely not help him.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Shen Siyuan stop writing, Lu Guanchang came back to his senses.

"Nothing, continue speaking," Shen Siyuan said.

Lu Guanchang then continued to organize his words.

He began by recalling the past, speaking of many amusing moments between father and daughter in childhood, then expressed his guilt toward his daughter, and finally spoke of his own affairs: his life's efforts had come to nothing, his heart unwilling to accept it; all this should belong to her, and he hoped she would come to Binhai to meet him.

From beginning to end, he did not say he was already dead, only that he had little time left.

Lu Guanchang speaking thus was understandable; if he said he was already dead, many things would become inexplicable.

"That is all. Troublesome for you, Master," Lu Guanchang said respectfully.

"Tomorrow I will send it out by express delivery for you. Ci'en is nearby; you should receive it the day after tomorrow..."

"Good, good, thank you, Master, thank you~" Lu Guanchang, hearing this, repeatedly thanked him, his face full of joy.

Shen Siyuan waved his hand and said, "You may leave; I also need to rest."

"Alright, then, Master, I will first... I will first go to Ci'en," he said after thinking for a moment.

"That works," Shen Siyuan nodded.

In this way, whether his daughter would come to Binhai, he would know in advance.

After Lu Guanchang left, a short while later, Yin Xingyue and Watching Dou Dou entered through the window, riding the cold wind.

"You two need not stay here to keep me company; especially Watching Dou Dou, go home and accompany your father and mother."

Shen Siyuan picked up his phone; there were many messages from Jiang Wenxin on it. Seemingly discussing the blind date scheduled for the day after tomorrow, her words actually inquired whether Watching Dou Dou was with him, whether she was lost, and so on.

"Oh? Do Mom and Dad miss me? I miss them a little too."

Watching Dou Dou, who had forgotten, upon Shen Siyuan's reminder, finally remembered her father and mother.

"Goodbye, Sweet Potato Pot, goodbye, Little Sister Xingyue..."

Waving her small hands at the two, she rode the cold wind and flew out the window in a hurry.

"This little thing..."

Shen Siyuan helplessly shook his head, then turned his gaze to Yin Xingyue beside him and said, "If you have nowhere to go, stay here."

Yin Xingyue shook her head, then said, "I will go see if the police uncle has found him..."

Shen Siyuan knew who "he" referred to in her words, so he nodded in agreement.

Thus Yin Xingyue also departed, riding the cold wind. Checking the time, it was nearly ten thirty.

He then picked up his change of clothes and went to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower and sleep.

But after he finished showering and came out of the bathroom, he found that Yin Xingyue had returned at some unknown time, sitting obediently on the sofa, seemingly waiting for him to come out.

"What's wrong?" Shen Siyuan asked, somewhat surprised.

"He is dead," Yin Xingyue said calmly.

Her abrupt statement left Shen Siyuan stunned, then he realized.

He hurriedly asked, "Are you saying your stepfather is dead?"

"He is not my father," Yin Xingyue corrected seriously.

"Alright, I misspoke. Is Fang Yunlou dead? How did he die?"

Yin Xingyue nodded, then shook her head, and said somewhat timidly, "I saw him, then came back; I don't know how he died."

Shen Siyuan stepped forward and reached out to pat her head.

"No need to fear; he should be afraid of you now. Didn't you say that to Watching Dou Dou yourself?"

Yin Xingyue's fear of Fang Yunlou stemmed from his control and psychological intimidation of her while he was alive. She was only a little girl still in elementary school, filled with many unknowns and confusions about the world; her mother did not support her, she was bullied at school, and the teachers disliked her even more...

In the end, she completely broke down and chose to commit suicide.

But her death did not mean her fear of Fang Yunlou would vanish.

However, she must walk out of this herself; Shen Siyuan could not help her.

"Don't be afraid; I am still here. You are my guardian now; I will not let anyone harm you..."

Shen Siyuan's words seemed to give Yin Xingyue great courage; pale blue light began to emanate around her body, the light of the Nether Fire she had gathered within herself.

Yin Xingyue raised her head, looked at Shen Siyuan, and said softly, "Thank you, Brother."

Shen Siyuan smiled slightly and gently patted her small head, saying, "Go ahead; do what you wish to do."

Yin Xingyue nodded, then turned into a gust of cold wind and vanished from the room with a whoosh.

Fang Yunlou was dead; he died miserably, having suffered endless torment.

He died with great unwillingness; his career was about to reach a new level; he still had much money left unspent; countless wonders awaited him to enjoy. How could he die like this?

But dead is dead; no matter how furiously he raged, no matter how he roared at the killer, lunging forward to fight for his life, it was utterly useless.

In the end, he could only gloomily choose to return home. Home is the ultimate refuge of the soul; even as a ghost, home still brought him sufficient security.

Along the journey, he encountered all kinds of ghosts; few could maintain a complete human form; most were strange and twisted, just as he himself was.

His upper body was human, but his lower body was like an octopus, covered in slimy tentacles; these tentacles were short and very disgusting.

As a new ghost, having seen the other side of the world, he, with eyes blind to the darkness, was extremely cautious, avoiding contact with other ghosts as much as possible.

When he cautiously returned home, he finally let out a long sigh of relief; but upon seeing his still-gorgeous wife, resentment arose in his heart.

I am dead; why does she still live? Moreover, all my property must go to her.

Just thinking of her someday lying beneath some man, moaning with his property, made his eyes bulge with rage and his heart fill with hatred; countless tentacles began to grow, finally spreading throughout the entire room until he completely transformed into an octopus monster.

He used his tentacles to encircle Yang Xuejiao and took her away with him.

Even as the three fires on her body scorched him until he sizzled and smoked, he still refused to give up.

Through his unremitting efforts, the three fires on Yang Xuejiao grew weaker and weaker, like a candle in the wind.

But just then, suddenly a cold wind blew into the room, and a small figure appeared before Fang Yunlou.

Seeing the newcomer, Fang Yunlou's eyes gleamed with sinister intent, and his lips split into a terrifying smile.

"I... I am not afraid of you anymore."

Blue flames rose up.

PS: Let me explain: ghosts cannot harm people, but being haunted by a ghost brings a string of bad luck, a decline in fortune, everything goes wrong, loss of wealth, or serious illness, and so on.

I mentioned this in Chapter 7; the setting has not been changed.