Chapter 1384: Fantasy Antique Shop Work Log 18

They never expected that the person being watched wasn't Guli.

Gu Meng returned alone to the fifth floor, hurrying to her room while on the phone complaining to her best friend, completely unaware of the faint child's crying.

Just as she reached the corner, Gu Meng suddenly cried out, feeling as if something had grabbed her ankle and yanked her backward.

She stumbled from inertia, and Gu Meng, frightened, turned around to see a child standing beneath the hanging basket at the end of the corridor, head down, hopping forward with thuds, blood tears flowing backward, yet smiling.

Ahhh!!

Gu Meng crawled forward with hands and feet, but her sprained ankle burned with pain, and cold sweat instantly drenched her.

Thud, thud, thud!

Gu Meng heard the sound growing nearer, as if it were right in her ear; she didn't even have time to scream, crawling forward on instinct, when her head was suddenly struck.

Gu Meng's body stiffened; she slowly lifted her neck and collided head‑on with the upside‑down smiling child.

Ah…

Gu Meng scrambled backward in panic, crying, "Help… help!"

The child‑ghost giggled, imitating her posture by bending over, yet twisted its body to crawl onto Gu Meng's back, its chilling aura seeming capable of freezing skin.

Gu Meng froze rigid with terror, her heart pounding near bursting, and she heard a childish voice whispering in her ear.

"I came to play with you…"

"Evil spirit, be gone, by my emperor's command! Pardon!"

The Five Thunder Spell was unleashed; the child‑ghost was driven back by the crackling commotion, Gu Meng narrowly escaped, tears and snot streaming as Gu Cun helped her up.

"Young aunt, are you all right?"

Gu Meng's face turned pale, her whole body trembling; she clearly hadn't yet recovered from the extreme shock.

Chang Yi Qian also came running, drawn by the screams, and was startled badly by this little sea‑ghost.

"Ghosts… ghosts really exist!"

The child‑ghost suddenly felt countless eyes on it, warily clinging to the wall; its huge, eerily odd eyes stared fixedly at everyone, blood tears streaming continuously.

Seeing Chang Yi Qian, it suddenly became very excited, shouting, "Daddy!"

Its voice was soft and childlike, yet extraordinarily strange.

Everyone turned their heads, looking at Chang Yi Qian with varied expressions.

Chang Yi Qian: "……"

"No! I don't know him! I have no child!"

The usually refined and scholarly man was driven by this sudden scene to the verge of swearing.

This expression didn't look feigned at all.

Jin Chen asked Ying Wu Shu, "Can you sense kinship by threading the line?"

Ying Wu Shu smiled faintly, "I can."

Jin Chen nodded, ignoring the child‑ghost's various feigned scary expressions and kicks, and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck.

Gu Cun stared, mouth agape, "Is this the great hero?"

It was like a claw machine—whoosh, and it was up!

Ying Wu Shu formed the seal, her lustrous, slender fingers flying in the air; several threads of dim light appeared and faded with the air's movement, one end linking to the child‑ghost.

The other end slowly reached toward Chang Yi Qian; if the threads connected, it would indicate a father‑son bond.

But the result was shocking.

That strand seemed about to link to Chang Yi Qian's heart, yet in the last moments it veered downward and wrapped around his wrist.

Luo Qiu exclaimed, "This is the first time I've seen this. Wu Shu, what does it mean?"

Ying Wu Shu also frowned, pondered for two seconds, then suddenly realized, "Could it also be the jade pendant?"

Chang Yi Qian, his expression inscrutable, pulled up his sleeve—and indeed saw the threads tightly wound around the jade pendant; only then did they suddenly realize.

The jade pendant on Chang Yi Qian's wrist had turned dark black, transformed into intense yin‑evil energy.

"Take it off quickly!" Ying Wu Shu said, then formed the seal again and cut it.

Chang Yi Qian had never noticed it either; he hastily tossed it away, but the child‑ghost snatched it while crying, stared blankly at him, unable to sense his familiar aura, then retreated to a corner to clutch the pendant and weep.

At the same time, Jin Chen clearly saw that the Children Palace beneath Chang Yi Qian's eyes had returned to normal, while correspondingly his Life Palace had deteriorated, just like Guli's.

"I see." Jin Chen understood.

The jade pendant used yin‑evil to block Chang Yi Qian's visage and aura, appearing to bestow great blessings while internally it was hollow; if the vicious spirit wasn't expelled, both Chang Yi Qian and Guli would die silently.

Gu Meng, also a victim, the accomplice could only be the Fourth Young Master Gu Pan, who had been working with Jeff from the start.

Jin Chen seized the child‑ghost again, ignoring its endless wailing, and stuffed it into the bottle opening.

Noisy, noisy, noisy—it made his head hurt!

Jin Chen wore a grimace, and amid everyone's horrified looks, he slipped the bottle into his pocket.

Gu Cun: "……Good, really fierce!"

Seeing the misunderstanding cleared, Chang Yi Qian relaxed completely and said, "I came to invite you all to dinner at the restaurant."

He paused, then added, "Eating dinner together is the rule; Gu Pan should be there too."

After all, Gu Pan still doesn't know that they've investigated this far.

——

Restaurant.

Everyone sat around the long table, expressions varied.

Gu Pan still wore the look of someone everyone owed money to—a dead‑pan face—and sat at the far end.

After waking from his nap, Guli's complexion was much better than in the afternoon; after thanking Ying Wu Shu and the others in person, he was helped to his seat by the maid.

Guli asked, "Master, I heard there's a ghost in the villa—has it been cleared now?"

Ying Wu Shu lifted his head to look at her, his thoughts turning slightly, and he smiled, saying, "I've caught one; perhaps… there are other ghosts that won't reveal themselves until night."

Considering Guli's physical condition, no one brought up the funeral clothes matter; Guli also just thought it was a haunting, and nervously said, "Then I'll trouble several masters; when the time comes, I will surely send generous gifts."

She bore an aristocratic air; even though her body was weak, her grace remained undiminished, already possessing the imposing presence of one who manages the household.

No wonder, aside from Guli, she is considered the biggest competitor for the inheritance.

Jin Chen lowered his eyes in thought, then glanced at Gu Cun—how could this big oaf not compete?

Before he could think it through, the calm maintained on the restaurant's surface was shattered by the sound of knives and forks hitting plates.

Gu Pan threw down his knife and fork, his tone unpleasant, "Second sister, I have something to say to you."

Guli furrowed his brows, "There are still guests present; how can you be so rude?"

"It's precisely because there are others here that I need to say this."

Gu Pan's icy gaze fixed on Gu Meng, "This person arranged for you to have a supplementary Chinese-style wedding photo shoot, and it's actually…!"

"Mm! Mm…!"

Gu Pan suddenly found himself unable to speak, as if something were blocking his throat.

He stared wide-eyed in terror, continually trying.

Jin Chen withdrew his gaze, coldly uttering the words.

"Noisy."

Ying Wu Shu silently shook his head in sigh; Jin Chen's young master temperament was sometimes… quite timely.

Ying Wu Shu cut a piece of meat for Jin Chen, "Don't be angry."

Jin Chen lifted his eyes to look at him, raised his hand to touch his hair, but Ying Wu Shu blocked his wrist, "Not allowed, there are so many people around."

Also don't know what habit.

Jin Chen nodded, very much to the point: "Go back and touch."

Ying Wu Shu's ears turned red, he muttered inwardly.

It's not that I meant that!

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +2, total 27!】