Chapter 122 - Know the Child

A frown came from Ruan Jin. Li Feng's scary father had also been infected by Guangru? Was that related to the injury that he sustained from that night? To think about it, he hadn't gone to see Li Feng's father again… it's not like he should anyway.

Ruan Jin s.u.c.k.e.d in air loudly before he hissed. He needed to deal with his mother's safety first before thinking about Li Feng's affairs really. Liu Xiaodan was on a higher priority, too, but it was Ruan Jin's mother they're talking about here. He couldn't just dump her on Officer Yu and get away with it.

He could toss people at other people, but not his very own mother.

"That house you mentioned..." Li Feng's voice went through again, and Ruan Jin had a bad feeling about it. "Have you seen what you wanted? I'll pay for the downpayment."

"Shit..." Ruan Jin then laughed out. Damn, rich people.

"You've probably forgotten, but you still picked me up from that paddy field. You also suffered from Canrong's hands. I still haven't done much to repay you for those." Li Feng found an avenue not to make the bargaining apparent. "I want to settle my debt. Will the house do?"

Soundless ugly crying came from Ruan Jin while he was trying to ridicule the other without Li Feng knowing. He then sighed and remembered that those favors were indeed heavy. He just didn't take much of them to heart because he didn't want to get too involved with Li Feng.

Ruan Jin sniggered over the phone. "Pay full price, you rascal. Where are we meeting?"

"..." Li Feng gave a location, but he was aching to strangle Ruan Jin as he did so. Did this guy have any idea how hard it would be to fork out a full-price amount of a house without alarming his father's accountants? Not to mention find an available space that's ready for occupancy.

Whether it was a high-end apartment or a single-detached house or even a villa, it would still take time to withdraw mostly everything. Who paid their house in full up-front anyway?

Then again, it wasn't his problem anymore if Ruan Jin didn't understand that. As long as he could get a sliver of empathy from those supposed hors.e.m.e.n, he would be alright. After dumping the house problem to a professional, he should plan how to apologize to Liu Xiaodan.

The last time they met, he didn't want to be involved with Liu Xiaodan anymore. However, things seemed to be stickier than they both expected.

…

Chuan Nayi sighed as she alighted the car with the help of her mother. Ruan Jin was waiting outside a high-end restaurant for her. Even if they were just in trendy casual attires, they didn't really stand out too much since it was daytime. Unlike the last time she went out, she was now wearing her usual.

The young man waved at the mother who drove away before rolling the wheelchair inside. The woman then sighed. "I hope you have a reason why you picked such an expensive place."

"Does this look like a date to you?" Ruan Jin asked in case Chuan Nayi would get the wrong idea.

"...I want to be courteous and say I'm flattered. It's just that… you're Xiaodan's best friend. It feels strange, and… I don't like it."

"Good. We're not on a date." Ruan Jin sighed. Her reaction was still within his expectations. He used to like Chuan Nayi anyway, but seeing the chemistry between her and Xiaodan made a line so clear. Besides, he now preferred Ye Ling over her even if that girl was actually dead, not just heart-dead.

"Okay, we're all here now." Ruan Jin placed Chuan Nayi at the spot arranged for her and then sat down on his chair. "Well, like what I said over the text, Li Feng here wanted to talk to us about seeing Xiaodan. I don't want to get involved in some secret plans so I invited everyone interested."

"…" Chuan Nayi didn't receive a text. It was a call since Ruan Jin knew her mother would be monitoring. That was why she had no idea what was going on.

"I don't mind. I'm not actually surprised, too." Li Feng nodded. He had seen Ren Shanyue talking so casually with Ruan Jin, and it was easy to tell that this woman was scheming to get something out of Liu Xiaodan. Whatever it was, it shouldn't really be Li Feng's problem…

Of course, unless it involved his father.

Li Feng then cleared his throat. "Like what I proposed in my conversation with Ruan Jin, I'm thinking of visiting Liu Xiaodan in Cherry Med. Since it would be a hard thing to pull off, I can only take two with me at most. Everyone else could just relay things if they wanted to.

"The reason for a meeting is that… I want to tell you things about Guangru. Are you all comfortable in talking about him?"

Everyone at the table knew about Guangru and his capabilities. It's just that… every time his name would come up, Liu Xiaodan would get in trouble. None of them loudly reacted even if some already had a bad feeling about what they were about to talk about.

Li Feng nodded. "I know that some of you haven't seen Guangru in person yet, but all of us had already regarded him as Liu Xiaodan's child, correct?"

Once again, there was silence.

"Okay, I had a conversation with a reliable spirit, and he had told me things about Guangru that might be something new or not to you. Nonetheless, it's important for me to share it with you." Since no one reacted loudly, he continued. "Aside from Shanyue, I'm pretty sure all of us…

"Have nooses around our necks."

"Huh?" Ruan Jin was the first to react, followed by the other hors.e.m.e.n. "What noose?"

Li Feng glanced at Li Yunru who was also surprised, but he chose to eye the hors.e.m.e.n instead. "It seemed that the child could leave marks on everyone that he had interacted with, especially ones that would accept the relationship he had with Liu Xiaodan.

"It was to a point that if something close to Liu Xiaodan giving up or changing his mind happened, we would all be devoured by the demon child." Li Feng finished, but Chuan Nayi was actually the only one who hummed like she saw that coming. He then cleared his throat. "In fact, it probably is something not alarming…

"But Liu Xiaodan surely is slowly losing control of the child. I have no clear idea if that would affect the kind of relationship they had… or his judgment on whose allowed to live or not." Li Feng attracted their eyes again. "If Liu Xiaodan decided to abandon his humanity and cut ties with the world…

"Just like all demons, Guangru would surely… kill off everyone that could hold Liu Xiaodan down."

Ruan Jin then waved his hand, his trembling hand hidden from view. "Xiaodan would never do something like that! He loves his parents so much he would never abandon them!"

Li Feng gazed at him. "I can trust Liu Xiaodan a little, but I don't know how desperate Guangru can get in the future. He had been killing for decades and had been searching for a father for a century. If Liu Xiaodan's worldly ties hindered him from taking complete responsibility, what do you think the child would do?"

The three hors.e.m.e.n wanted to counter, but then again, Li Feng was correct. It was Guangru's call, not Liu Xiaodan's. That child was more dangerous than they first thought. After Wen Taio and Xu Disung heard about what Ruan Jin said about the ghost levels, they knew it was fatal.

"You don't know the child that much, do you?" Chuan Nayi only hummed again like she was nonchalant about the concerns Li Feng was putting out there. Since there was food on the table, she felt the urge to eat. She picked up her chopsticks and started even if no one else was eating. "You can always keep on comparing it to most things you know, but you won't figure him out.

"That child is not rabid; neither is it scheming and cunning. At most, he's whimsical or willful." Chuan Nayi didn't care if she was being stared at by everyone else. She just ate. "Desperate? All the more would he behave. Like you said, he had been looking for a century…

"He finally found a person who was willing to pay for his crimes and even get locked away for it. No matter what Xiaodan asked of him, he will deliver—even if it has nothing to do with Xiaodan. Moreover, Xiaodan wasn't even allowed to die." She finally eyed Li Feng. "All the more us—his friends. Just one death of anyone Xiaodan cared for will damage their relationship, and that would hurt the child.

"When he almost killed me, he probably saw how Xiaodan was distraught after learning about it. He probably even thought that Xiaodan would curse him as well. However, Xiaodan did not leave him behind and even continued to care about him. Guangru even tried to show up time and time again to apologize."

Chuan Nayi stopped for a while. "Then, we have that incident with Li Feng. Li Feng blatantly scolded Xiaodan and condemned him in front of the child… and yet Guangru still looked for Li Feng when no one even knew he was in danger. As much as I heard, another ghost contacted Ruan Jin for that."

Li Feng only stared, remembering that incident. Guangru did not only look for him but even saved him from another ghost in the paddy field.

"Then, he allegedly helped in sniffing the criminals that were after Li Feng?" Chuan Nayi looked at Li Yunru, and the latter nodded slowly. "Even to the point of taking Mr. Li away just to let him know what they planned to do? And still, after that, he didn't leave Li Feng alone.

"Just recently, Ruan Jin and I were taken by those who wanted Li Feng dead. That ghost inside Ruan Jin was said to have received power from Guangru so she could protect Ruan Jin by then. We also heard that something strange happened to Mr. Li pre-surgery."

Chuan Nayi then smiled at everyone even if the smile was cold. "Now, tell me that we're in danger. If anything, I only think Xiaodan is taking all the fire, and there's no way we could even stop him from hogging all the pain. I can't blame him though. Those dirty things feed on negativity.

"Who knows if Xiaodan's sadness is Guangru's favorite—what did they call it—delicious stuff?"

Chuan Nayi finished, and none of them had reacted. They only agreed to her points—especially Li Feng.

"Though I don't blame you for panicking, Li Feng. I mean, if I were you, I would panic, too. However, the best way to deal with this… is to find a way to make Guangru realize that Xiaodan's circ.u.mstances will never let him produce a child. Xiaodan had gone to a place where he could never be redeemed…

"And it's because of him."