The Restless Spirit's Father

"...Qixi? Song Qixi?" Mian Bingbing frowned at the direction of her aunt. Even if she wasn't that involved in the ceremonial aspects of the family business, she had heard of a few things.

The Mian Patriarch, that was Mian Tianni's father, had a lot of children from different women. The only legitimate ones were Mian Tianni and her older sister. Mian Tianyu came from a concubine, but since he was a male, he was accepted in the main family.

The older sister refused to follow her father's footsteps and eloped with her lover from the Song family. However, when both she and her lover died in an accident, the Song family threw their child back to the Mian family.

Mian Tianni had children of her own, but she still took care of Song Qixi. He didn't practice their family business, but he was rather knowledgeable in it. His intuition was also godly that he could easily spot victims who hid and were possessed.

Then again, if his intuition was so good, why did he think Liu Xiaodan was possessed?

Chu Youlan was also quieted upon the mention of his boss's name. She had no idea who he was to the Mian family, but he wanted her to keep on probing. "I'm sorry, Master Mian.

"Boss had already taken too many steps, and he's already knee-deep in this. Liu Xiaodan is manipulated by his connection to the ghost child. Ancient entity or not, Boss didn't want a man to die just because the Mian family refused to save him."

"I'm not against saving Liu Xiaodan. I'm just... powerless against the dybbuk." Mian Tianni finally spoke with some emotion, one that was filled with regret and heartache. "Tell Qixi that no one can save Liu Xiaodan. Tell Qian'er that I'm so useless I can't save her son. The host had already fed it with blood; there's nothing I can do to kill it now.

"We're only lucky that Mian Tianyu got to seal it after an awful blood ritual I am not willing to authorize again. I've lost a hundred men to it forty years ago; I'm not losing another again." She took a deep breath. "If you want to kill it, find a stronger shaman."

Silence flooded the room, and Chu Youlan clutched as her skirt. Forty years ago, more than a hundred corpses were recovered from a place. They were soon related to the Mian shamans, but the cases were dismissed.

Even if the Mian family continued to flourish and exorcise for a living, there were still souls who hated them to the core. Twenty years ago, there was an unauthorized gathering in the forbidden shrine of the dybbuk. All those shamans died because of the miasma.

Mian Tianni didn't know that it was because of the dybbuk itself instead.

...

Chu Youlan was gently kicked out of the Mian Residence. She then sighed and sauntered to a pick-up spot for her. A slick, silver BMW went to fetch her, and she was a little hesitant to enter. It wasn't the same car that brought her there. However, when the window lowered, she quickly got in.

As she sat in the backseat, she pulled on her skirt that was inching up. She wasn't fazed as her boss was in his usual tacky look. "Boss, I couldn't... I... She only said you shouldn't get involved with this case. The enemy was too powerful. She said it was already fed, and she couldn't match up to its power anymore."

Song Qixi felt that Chu Youlan would be really unlucky if Mian Tianni went to meet her. He only chuckled as she wasn't feeling kicked in all regions when she got out of the house; he assumed worse. Mian Tianni was rather conflicted right now. Was it because the victim was Wu Qianqian's son?

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Chu. I got her to say what I wanted her to do."

"Huh? Which part of it were you waiting for, Boss?"

"That she was not powerful enough to kill the dybbuk." Song Qixi only laughed out. "I was wondering why she didn't do anything about it. It already came to this, and the great Mian Tianni hadn't done something yet. So... an entity stronger than the strongest shaman in existence...

"All in the palms of a twenty-year-old..."

Chu Youlan twitched. She murmured to herself before looking at her boos again. "Boss, what do you mean all in the palms? Wasn't the dybbuk taking control of Liu Xiaodan's rationale?"

Song Qixi rolled his eyes before stopping at a red light. He reached out to hold the rearview mirror and looked at his employee through it. "I didn't say he was being controlled.

"In fact, it was the other way around. The dybbuk was already too invested in him that it could be leasing its power to him. How else would he be able to kill selectively?"

The clerk was shocked. She then kept her thoughts to herself, but her eyes were bulging in terror. A sudden thought floated in her head, and she bit on her lip. "Boss, will Fu Xing be alright? Liu Xiaodan wouldn't just kill someone who was looking into him, right?"

"Liu Xiaodan would be sent to trial and probably to an asylum instead. If Fu Xing is wise, he would stop caring about Liu Xiaodan. After what happened last night, I doubt he would be back to report for work any time soon."

"Huh? What happened last night?" Chu Youlan hadn't gone to work yet so she had no idea something weird happened. Then again, she held her mouth. "I'll look into it myself, Boss. Forget I ask—"

"Control pushed the emergency button because he thought some high-quality ghost was going to kill Fu Xing. All the while Liu Xiaodan's ghost child was standing next to him."

Song Qixi curled his lips, and even if he was looking like a random guy, his smile still sent Chu Youlan into a trance. "We're visiting Fu Xing. Undo some of your buttons, and make sure he's looking all the time."

"Boss...?"

"I'm kidding. We'll just knock him out when he tries to run."

"BOSS?!"

...

A black Mercedes stopped in front of the Mian Residence, and Li Feng ran out of the car. Before he could open the main door, Mian Bingbing opened it from inside so he ended up losing balance and crashing into his mother���s c.h.e.s.t.

Even if she didn't look like it, Mian Bingbing was strong; she managed to catch Li Feng without even taking a step back in those stilettos. Her eyes then landed on that other man who walked out of the Mercedes.

Li Heilong only hummed as he walked out of his car and to the house as if he was welcome there. Mian Bingbing only held onto her son as she glared at the man who stopped in front of her. She then spoke in a very cold voice, "Never. Take my son. Back to your house even if he begged for it."

"The other seven had left. Feng wanted to stay longer." Li Heilong then looked past her and saw Li Yunru faraway. He didn't even smile at her before looking at Mian Bingbing again. "Bingbing, let me through."

"No." She stepped aside though, dragging the man struggling to endure his position to the side. "Yunru."

"Hi, Uncle!" Li Yunru walked up to him and greeted him normally like he wasn't having a staredown with his wife.

"En." Li Heilong reached out to pet the girl as he regarded her with a look. He then brought his hand down before looking down at Li Feng as if using the weight of his glare to make the son decent. However, Mian Bingbing's strong arms were holding him in place, making him cry inwardly.

Mian Tianni just managed to get it together when she heard that Li Heilong had arrived. The Li family had given vast investments to the Mian family, and so this granny was civil with the man. Even if he was atrocious in multiple aspects, he was still better than the Song family. She then asked her lady-in-waiting to invite Li Heilong inside.

The wife couldn't protest against it, but she still kept her son against her. Of course, she was also called to the waiting room.

"Uhm, I have to pass, Mommy." Li Feng didn't want to go since Mian Tianni was there. If she felt that miasma on him again, he might as well die.

"Nonsense, don't worry. Your father is extremely useless, but he still has a sliver of a use." Mian Bingbing still dragged her son with her, taking Li Yunru in tow.

She knew that Li Feng had grown to fear Mian Tianni, but she was so sure Li Heilong wouldn't want to see his son suffer. That man never knew respect towards anyone that would threaten his own, be it the elderly.

In the waiting room, Li Heilong greeted Mian Tianni with a deep bow before taking his seat. He started after the servants placed the tea on the table they just cleared earlier. "You don't seem to be in a good mood, Auntie. What's bothering you?"

Mian Tianni only looked at him before picking up her teacup. "Ask the Ren family not to sue. Putting Liu Xiaodan in the spotlight is not good for everyone."

Li Heilong raised a brow. He picked up his cup and took a sip. "Ting University made it such a big issue, and it was their impatience that placed my son in a very bad light. Ask the Ren family not to sue? Their son was killed; trashy and unfit as he might be, he was still their son."

When he said this, Mian Bingbing walked in with Li Feng and Li Yunru. The younger male felt like his father was talking about him instead. He lowered his head and tried to shrink into the background. He didn't know that Li Heilong glanced at them as they entered.

"Moreover," he continued his argument, "look at Feng. Getting involved with that Liu Xiaodan had changed him. Where did my proud son go? What did you do to him?"

"Feng'er..." Mian Tianni took a look at them, and her facial expression grew ugly. Without getting any words in, she saw Li Feng jump from his seat and race out of the room. She would stand up if she could do so in a short while. "Bingbing, fetch him."

Mian Bingbing would say something, but Li Heilong only raised his hand as if stopping her from speaking. The father then huffed softly. "Auntie Ni, what is it? What made Feng run away from you? Was it you who drew those scars on my son's back?"

The old lady shifted her icy aura to lock in on Li Heilong instead. "Your son is getting into trouble."

"Because of that Liu Xiaodan, right? Why punish my son? Let the culprit die so he wouldn't need to get near to whatever was making you hurt my Feng." Li Heilong glared at the old woman. "Don't think that because you're Bingbing's auntie, you could freely hurt my son."