36 Hide Him From Me

A spirit hunting for people to latch on and throw into despair for thirty years... that was what Mian Tianyu's first diagnosis of Liu Guangru. Liu Xiaodan knew that if ever this old man had seen what he had seen that night, he would change that diagnosis right away. Then again, why would Liu Xiaodan forsake his child? He didn't even know why his ever-jealous father was acting up against an old man. This Mian Tianyu seemed to be familiar with his mother, but his father didn't want them mingling at all.

"Hm, indeed, a formidable spirit." Mian Tianyu nodded to himself again. He then patted Liu Xiaodan's forehead. "Don't worry, my child. Grandpa will make it better." The old man turned to the parents and wore quite a serious face. "I need all the details about this, Qianqian. I doubt the ghost would be blindly choosing your son as his host. Is there any deeply traumatizing event that had scarred him since birth?"

"...well, no. None that I could think of." Wu Qianqian shook her head, but she was still hiding behind Liu Li. "...Master Mian, we haven't asked my son when he first got in contact with this spirit. Even if you asked me now..."

"Grandfather, does it help that he could see the paranormal?" Li Feng sat on the edge of the bed, hand feeling the spot where Liu Guangru once was and confirming that the child was there not long ago. "How old were you when you started seeing ghosts, Liu Xiaodan?"

Liu Xiaodan's eyes widened a little and tried to hide from their gazes as he brought his eyes down. Then again, he sighed as he was only worried about Chuan Nayi's reaction to it. "Very young... as long as I could remember. I'm guessing two?"

Mian Tianyu shuffled towards Liu Xiaodan's side again and grinned at him like he was a proud senior relative. "You could gaze into the spirit realm since childhood? A natural ability?" He laughed a little, his huge hands on his belly. He then turned to Wu Qianqian. "Qianqian, how could you do this to me? Why did you hide Little Xiaodan from me?"

Liu Li raised his chin a little, also narrowing his eyes at the old man. "Why shouldn't we?"

The old man's wide grin lessened into a small smile. He stared at Liu Li for a while as well before turning towards Liu Xiaodan again. "You can still see them even at this age, right? Your ability must have been really strong. Perhaps that was why you were chosen by that ghost." He curled his lips again as if he was being kind and warm. "Xiaodan, had the other ghosts been attacking you? You must have witnessed too much for a lifetime."

Instead of an appreciative look, Liu Xiaodan couldn't hide the terror in his eyes. Just now, he could hear whispers in his ears as if the old man was saying other things aside from the words that left his lips. Multiple words were sung into his mind, and they were nothing kind. Most were about taking him away from his parents and turning him into the bait. Words like 'train' and 'master' came as well, but they were drowned by the dreadful thoughts.

What was happening? He suddenly felt rather disoriented when he turned to look at the other people. He could hear Chuan Nayi and Li Yunru's terrified whimpers and irrational fears while his parents' hearts cried so much about his situation. There were pity, dread, and horror drifting into the room. All of a sudden, Liu Xiaodan felt like he was drowning in negativity.

"Liu Xiaodan, come back." Snap.

A hitch in his breath was enough for him to realize that everything had turned back into normal. Liu Xiaodan focused his gaze on the hand before him, soon realizing it was Li Feng's hand. His eyes crept to the other's which was filled with relief.

Li Feng then brought his hand down and turned to his grandfather. "Grandfather, did you see that? The ghost child could pass on traits at will. We should make more preparations rather than doing this here all of a sudden. With all due respect, but I think this could be worse than anything we've seen in years."

Mian Tianyu hummed while staring at Liu Xiaodan before speaking. "Xiaodan, tell me. What did that ghost promise you? Did he threaten to kill your family or your friends? Did he keep on telling you that he will kill you if you do not do what he wanted? Had it hurt you before?"

"...None of those ever happened." Liu Xiaodan sighed heavily, hands on his wounded belly. "I'm not feeling so good right now. Can we talk some other time?" He gazed at Li Feng, and the other person only stared back at him. Liu Xiaodan continued. "My belly was cut deeply, and my innards might flow out again. I want to sleep."

"Okay. Let's talk again some time." Li Feng got off of the bed and waved his hand to beckon Li Yunru. However, Chuan Nayi held onto his cousin, and so he had no choice but to leave the bedside alone. He looked up at his grandfather who wouldn't stop frowning at Liu Xiaodan. "Grandfather, can we talk outside?"

"Hm, yes." He lifted his gaze from the man before looking at Liu Li. "Please join us." He then turned towards the door and walked ahead. Before he left the room, he pulled out a talisman from his coat and slapped it onto the wall of the room. The talisman stayed, and the old man huffed in pride. He continued to walk outside while Liu Li followed him after a few seconds.

"Xiaodan, Nayi, Miss... we'll be outside. Please call if you need us, okay?" Wu Qianqian shuffled to her son and ran her hand through his hair a few times before leaving the room.

Li Yunru was about to speak when she suddenly flung to the side. The talisman on the side of the wall started to peel off on its own until it lost hold and fell to the floor. Her eyes widened before she rummaged into her bag, readying a ball container filled with daffodil powder. She raced to the vase and plucked out the flowers before pouring the powder into the water. She then slapped another talisman onto the vase... hoping that it was enough.

She then turned to Liu Xiaodan who was feigning his sleep. "Liu Xiaodan, do you know how dangerous a hospital is for someone like you? Like us?"

"Then leave."

The wounded man opened his eyes before looking down at the giant bear that was pulled to the side. He rolled to the side and got off of the bed, hand against his belly. His hand grasped at the bear's hand and pulled on it. Before Li Yunru could say anything, the bear rose as if it was alive and walked to where Liu Xiaodan pulled it to. When the man sat down, the bear did the same. Liu Xiaodan pulled the bear next to his bed and used the arm as his new pillow.

Li Yunru only gulped down the lump in her throat before hastily removing her shoes. She climbed onto Chuan Nayi's bed and held onto the woman who was as terrified as she was. Chuan Nayi only watched the events unfold and was too tired to even react anymore.

If Li Feng or Mian Tianyu witnessed that scene, they would have tried to exorcise Liu Xiaodan on the spot. Then again, either of them had no guarantee that they wouldn't be hurt by the thirty-year-old haunter spirit. Right now, they were only standing in the hallway with the assistant and the parents.

Li Feng started the conversation: "Mrs. Liu, I failed to notice way earlier, but it seemed that Liu Xiaodan was already connected to the ghost. They could even share traits, which would make this case harder than it seemed. I can't guarantee that Liu Xiaodan wouldn't be hurt, but we couldn't rely on his decisions now. The ghost could be possessing him now and controlling his every action.

"I have to be very frank. That ghost child isn't only capable of killing humans... it's also capable of vanishing other ghosts. I've heard of it killing resident ghosts in our dorm and even ones outside. I don't know how strong it really is, but it's nothing easy to deal with.

"Right now, all I could recommend is for us to exorcise it before their connection gets any worse."

Wu Qianqian looked at Li Feng before her eyes turned to the old man. "Master Mian, my son... isn't possessed. I'm so sure of it. He must have had a soft spot for the entity because of its childlike appearance, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let it eat him like this. He would never let himself be an instrument of wrongdoings. Please... is there any way for him to stop being in contact with the ghost?"

Her hands kept on fiddling on her hand-woven bracelet, which Mian Tianyu noticed. He then reached out to take a hold of her wrist, his thumb on the bracelet. "Have you ever been in the presence of the ghost, Qianqian? Did your bracelet burn?"

"...not at all. This bracelet gives me absolute protection and will only affect those who would do me harm." Wu Qianqian pulled her arm back, even stepping back after realizing that she had gone too close to the old man. "I was staring at the child earlier; never had I felt anything from the bracelet."

"Can't we ask Mian Tianni to make another for my son? Perhaps he would be safe from its attack..." Liu Li held onto his wife's shoulder, letting him be noticed by his shaking wife.

"Hmph, Tianni is not in the country at the moment. Besides, with a ghost like that, I doubt that bracelet could do anything." Mian Tianyu huffed before turning to his assistant. "Kang Jun, prepare the car. We are leaving for now. We would need to take Xiaodan back to the Mian Temple if you wanted a successful exorcism. Our temple would be ready."

Liu Li frowned before stepping forward, trying to block the old man who was about to move. "Master Mian, please don't forget. We're only asking you to save our son from that ghost child. We're not relieving our hands of him. He's still our son."

.....

Guangru: Hihihi, droopy suddenly drops 8 chapters! It's Mass Release Bonanza!

Liu Xiaodan: Her contracted work, Redeeming the Sins of Xu Rouguang, is having a back-to-back mass release today and tomorrow as well!

Li Feng: (Why is this my line?) Ahem, if you're into BL, make sure to check it out.

Guangru, Liu Xiaodan: See you there!