The Restless Spirit's Father

"Nayi!"

Ruan Jin tried to get the brute off of his back so he could stop them from playing Chuan Nayi to death. The girl had already lost her legs to a ghost attack; how cruel for fate to let her lose her life like this?

The men kept on laughing as they grabbed her at places, not restraining her arms which flailed around in desperation. Xie Canrong was only watching as well, lighting a cigarette and puffing out smoke. Even if Li Feng came at this very moment, they'd just let him sit down and wait for his turn to die.

For now, they were taking Chuan Nayi as compensation for all the frustration from their failed attacks.

"Please! Stop! I have nothing to do with Li Feng!" Chuan Nayi continued to cry as she felt how defenseless she was.

She could only cry and use her arms to protect herself from the claws of the predators around her. Her skin had already bled, and her clothes had been shredded. If this continued, she would just bash her own head against a rock.

"Oh, honey, I don't care." Xie Canrong laughed out and took out his cigarette. He then grabbed Chuan Nayi's face by the cheeks and hovered the cigarette before her eyes. "It didn't matter which girl called Li Feng out on a date. As long as he knew her, he would be here, right?

"Don't worry, sweetie. I won't play with you right now." He then turned her face towards Ruan Jin. "You're friends?"

"...Please don't… all you want is Li Feng… why are you hurting us?" Chuan Nayi continued to cry. She was disappointing herself, but she knew that she wasn't brave enough. If this happened in the asylum, was she going to expect Liu Xiaodan to save her every time?

Xie Canrong laughed out as he jerked his head as if giving a cue to the man behind Ruan Jin. The horseman's eyes widened as he saw his reflection in the cold light of the blade produced by the man behind him.

Ruan Jin stared deep into the eyes that reflected… and at the smile that was yet to come.

The blade then moved to his neck, and Ruan Jin was jolted inwardly when the blade did not slice through his skin…

It actually pierced through his neck like a stake stabbed into its thickness. The gush of blood was quick as his throat burned from the pain. Red liquid spurted when the blade was pulled out, a horrifying death just right before Chuan Nayi's eyes.

A scream couldn't even escape her throat… as she watched the lifeless man… smile.

"What?" Xie Canrong also saw it, as well as a bunch of his men. However, before he could comment again, he realized how his smoke turned into ashes very quickly. The smoke from the cigarette and the white mists from their breaths soon thickened into a fog in their dark area.

The crudely-wired electrical bulbs began to flicker as a subtle howling from a crying woman echoed in the area. The males looked around, but the man behind Ruan Jin dropped the hostage's head. Behind him came the arms of a woman with awfully white skin.

A white face with long black hair peered from behind the man's head, and she held onto the man. "Wuuuu… how dare you..."

The man then looked at his hand that trembled. Soon, he started holding the blade with the tip directly aimed at his face. "B-Boss! Help me! I can't control my hands!"

"Holy shit..." the men started to retreat, leaving Chuan Nayi on the ground. Xie Canrong could only watch as one of his men actually stabbed himself in the forehead three times before falling down. When the thug fell off, the body underneath moved to lunge at Chuan Nayi.

"Ahh!" Chuan Nayi screamed, but Ruan Jin shushed her as he took off his jacket and covered her with it. She then grabbed Ruan Jin's arm. "But you died?!"

"Did I?" Ruan Jin laughed out.

The snow-skinned lady then walked towards them… and past the two. She then covered her face with her hands, and she wailed louder and louder. Being the only thing in the attention and vision of the goons, the Weeper opened her fingers and glared at them through her fingers.

"Wuuuu… how dare you… foul beings..."—her palms parted, showing a malicious smile on her face—"die for me."

Most men brought out their weapons and started aiming at themselves. How lucky was Xie Canrong that he didn't have any? He was even being spared by the whispers of the Weeper. He then grabbed the knife of the man next to him. "Hey! Stop!"

"Boss! Run!"

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

Xie Canrong screamed in terror as his men screamed in pain instead. They kept on stabbing themselves on different parts of their bodies until they bled out or were incapacitated by the wounds on their own. The boss then stared at the woman who was now eyeing him.

"Help!" Xie Canrong grabbed a transceiver from his side and pressed on a button! "There's a monster! Monster!"

"We're on our way, Boss—! Shit, who's that—uh…!"

"Hello? Hello!" Xie Canrong then heard the gunshots echoing from outside. He had also heard a very familiar voice shouting.

Li Feng charged in with Li Yunru. "Nayi! Ruan Jin! Nayi! Ru—!"

His eyes widened as he laid his eyes on the Weeper, but unlike before, she wasn't connected to Ruan Jin anymore. Moreover, she could conjure a fog from the condensation of the lower temperature. She could also obscure the vision of a shaman.

He walked closer cautiously, ignoring Xie Canrong who was visible in the fog. Li Feng then reached out a hand as if trying to remind the Weeper that he was not there to hurt her. "Weeper, where's your master?"

The Weeper stared at him and glared, her scream shrieking. "Shaman!"

Li Yunru then twitched. "How did she get that strong? Wasn't she fading when we last saw her?"

"Someone fed her souls." Li Feng used a hand to keep Li Yunru from getting any closer. His stomach didn't seem to churn anymore, but he could still accurately gauge the strength of the spirit in front of him. "Yunru, be careful. This one isn't something we can handle..."

"No way..." Li Yunru then looked around the fog as if trying to call out to Ruan Jin if she saw him. "Ruan Jin! Ruan Jin!"

They called out like how Ruan Jin was calling out to his girl as well. He sat up in the fog and continued to call on the spirit. "Ling! Lingling! Hey! Stop! It's okay now!"

The operatives and Li Heilong had also arrived inside and were shocked when they saw such a strange woman standing in the middle of the fog.

Li Heilong then vaguely recalled it as the woman next to one of Liu Xiaodan's friends. He then eyed Li Feng who had gotten cautious. He signaled for the operatives to lower their guns.

"Shaman..." the Weeper turned to face Li Feng and Li Yunru. Blood then began to drip from her eyes. "Die!"

The Weeper dashed towards them, and the talismans Li Feng threw out only tore in midair. The two junior shamans quickly retreated as the woman's blood tears created a puddle of red liquid that would chase them at great speed.

Li Heilong wanted to help, but even if he made the operatives fire at her, the bullets only passed through. "Feng!"

"Get down!"

Li Feng dragged Li Yunru down, and Mian Bingbing lunged forward with her white ceremonial sword. A white barrier pushed away the Weeper, and Mian Bingbing gestured for Li Heilong to come and collect the two.

When the Weeper screamed in pain, Ruan Jin bolted in an attempt to catch her. The fog dissipated, and Chuan Nayi held onto Ruan Jin's jacket as she hid herself. An operative ran to give her a bigger blanket while the rest tried to double-check the dead goons in the area.

"Death!"

Ruan Jin decided to stop Mian Bingbing instead. "Don't kill her please!"

Mian Bingbing's eyes glinted. She continued her attack as her ceremonial would never hurt the living. Even if she stabbed right through Ruan Jin, nothing would happen to him. Besides, he was the host—she was planning to stab him anyway.

However, before she could reach any of those two, a strong black miasma slapped against her.

Mian Bingbing's sword broke apart, and she screamed in pain. Two operatives managed to catch her since they were closer. The Weeper controlled her momentum when she saw the black miasma. In fear, she fell to the ground and scrammed to get back to a safe place.

Ruan Jin slowed to a jog and accepted Ye Ling back inside his body. Even if the suffocation was heavier, he didn't care. He fell to his knees and then on fours as he struggled to calm her down.

Li Feng then pushed Li Yunru to check his mother before he ran towards Ruan Jin to check up on him. Chuan Nayi was already safe after all. "Ruan Jin!"

"Li Feng!" Xie Canrong, who managed to hide, pounced out of his hiding place and tried to stab Li Feng.

However, Li Heilong pushed his son out of the way. The blade dug deep through his abdomen, but Li Heilong just grabbed Xie Canrong's neck to strangle him and make him let go of the blade. An operative then aimed at Xie Canrong's head with a laser pointer.

"Do it."

Bang! Blood and gray matter scattered to the side, and Li Heilong dropped the body in his hand. He only stared at the blade stuck on his abdomen before holding onto it so it wouldn't be pulled out. The father looked past his shoulder, not minding the light-headedness and the paleness of his face. "Feng?"

"Daddy!" Li Feng got to his feet and didn't know what to do about it. "You're stabbed!"

He then turned in the direction of his mother, but Mian Bingbing was also unconscious. Li Feng grabbed his hair with both hands. "What have I done?"

"Feng, I'm fine. Attend to your mother and your friends." Li Heilong then walked off slowly, trying not to collapse. An operative came to him and gave him a shot of morphine. He continued as if he was not hurt. "Clean up the place. Don't let the media get any of this."

"Sir, we need to rush you to the hospital."

"Call for an ambulance at a different spot. One for me, and one for my wife." Li Heilong then turned to the others. "Make sure they get back to the Mian Residence quietly. No press."

Li Heilong then swiftly entered a car. As soon as he got inside, he cast a last glance at his wife's face before blacking out.