The Restless Spirit's Father

Indistinct voices and a song of a sutra blared through Liu Xiaodan's ears, and he felt the need to shut them out. He pulled on his arms and covered his ears as soon as he could. However, the noises continued to deafen him. When his eyes opened, he realized he was on the ground.

The place seemed to be a cave, and a lot of people were in front of him. All their faces were stricken with fear, and yet they continue to recite what seemed to be something aiming to suppress him. Liu Xiaodan stared at these people for a while before trying to get on his knees. His hands were still on his ears, trying not to hear them.

He didn't recognize any of these people; neither did he know where he was at the moment. The cave looked deep and carved further in the mountains. The wind was cold from behind him, but the air in front was warm and humid.

"Stop… it hurts…"

He whispered, but he was ignored. They kept on chanting, and there seemed to be no end to this sutra on loop. Noticing that, Liu Xiaodan reached out his hand and focused on the man in the middle. He knew he was not supposed to feel angry, but he had this bud of hatred welling from the inside.

Before he knew it, the man's head burst as blood gushed out of his ears and nose. The man fell to the ground, but the people only made shocked faces. The chanting had gotten softer, but it didn't make any difference to Liu Xiaodan's ears.

"What…? This isn't right…" Liu Xiaodan took back his hand and stared at the lines on his palms. Blood began to draw on it, and the characters were beginning to appear. Just then, his felt his hand ache like he was dipping it in scalding water. "It burns… wait… if you decide to kill me… then…"

He reached out again and only stared at the man closest to him. "Forgive me for wanting to live…"

His words were the start of a symphony of screams. The sutra had completely been lost as the chanters kept on dying one by one. Blood would rush out of their heads, and they couldn't even have enough energy to run away. Like flies being hit by pesticide, they fell to the ground. A red river formed on the path towards Liu Xiaodan.

Liu Xiaodan watched the blood pool all the way along the crevice underneath him. It was just that when it reached his face, he realized that he was not in his body. He saw an old bark as the being's face. The hollows were curved mellower and deeper, making pareidolia guide him to see a crying creature.

Instead of being scared and bewildered, he used both hands to cradle the face in his reflection. "Guangru… who are these people?"

"Baba…" A low howl came into the wind. Liu Xiaodan knew that the sound was being produced by his own throat.

"It's okay. It's okay… are you hurt?"

"Wake up…"

As if it was a snap, Liu Xiaodan tore his eyes open after waking up from the dream. When he came to, he was shocked to see two doctors collecting blood from him. They were also surprised that he was awake. He then scanned them and their reactions. "What are you doing?"

His eyes slid to the side and saw a whole bag being filled. "Where are you taking that?"

"Mr. Li asked us to collect more blood from you. This is for Young Master Feng." The doctor tried to smile, but he didn't like the look coming from Liu Xiaodan's eyes. It was as if he was seeing through the lies the doctor breathed through his teeth.

"Should you ask for my consent first?" Liu Xiaodan growled.

He then rose to sit, and the other doctor quickly took out a syringe from inside his garb. The cap flew off, and he stabbed Liu Xiaodan with the needle and injected the contents. Liu Xiaodan was inwardly scared as he felt a tingling sensation coming from the needle. However, it soon vanished as if an ineffective drug.

His dark eyes then flew to the doctor who was trying to flee with the blood bag. Liu Xiaodan extended his hand and balled his fist as if crushing something. Boom! The blood bag exploded, and the doctors were terrified. The blood floated like a blob in the air and moved towards Liu Xiaodan again.

"Shit, so strong!" The doctors crawled to the door and escaped. Liu Xiaodan didn't follow or hunt them down simply because he didn't know who they were. The only reason why he acted was because they tried to hurt him… and lied to him even.

"Those weren't from Mr. Li…" Liu Xiaodan looked down on his leg and picked up the syringe that was left. Blood lined the needle, but he managed to see nothing else worth of his interest. He then looked at the blood floating in the air… not knowing how to put it all back. He couldn't possibly drink his own blood, right?

In the end, he placed it all on the basin next to the bed. For a moment, he felt wasteful about it. Did Li Feng need more of his blood? How many days would he need to produce what he lost anyway?

Hurried footsteps came from outside, and a face that he had never seen before came to the door. It was an average-looking woman and a little out-of-place as she was wearing an OL outfit. She then looked around and saw the blood on the basin and the syringe on Liu Xiaodan's hand. Her makeup-less eyes flickered.

"Mr. Liu, are you alright? I saw doctors running from this direction." She walked closer and saw blood blotting on his leg where the syringe was stuck into. "Oh, my, did someone inject you anything? Or was it…?" Her eyes descended on the syringe again.

"Those two doctors were trying to collect blood from me." Liu Xiaodan brought down the syringe as if letting her collect it herself. He watched her look around for a small plastic bag and used it to store the syringe without touching it. "Are they sent by Mr. Li?"

"Mr. Li? Oh, that…" The woman twitched before shaking her head. "He didn't let the prison know he would be asking for more. They shouldn't be from—shit!" She then raced to the side and fiddled with the panel to patch a call to Security. "Intruders in the sick hall! They're wearing doctor garbs!"

Liu Xiaodan only shook his head. How could she react so late? Then again, he only looked at her after finishing her call. "Can I ask who you are? You seem to know me."

The woman twitched and turned to him with a nervous smile. "Oh, my family name is Chu. I'm from Data and Analysis… uhh, we sort prisoners and identify their crimes and where to put them…"

"Okay, Miss Chu. How long was I out?"

"Just a few hours. You fainted last night." Chu Youlan sighed as she managed to dispel the fear in her system. She then sat down at the foot of the bed and visually examined the inmate. "Your parents came to visit you today, but you were still asleep. They might just come back tomorrow."

"I didn't think the prison should be this thoughtful…"

"Heheh, I just heard about your case and the gossips of a lot of people. I want to see you myself so I came to deliver a piece of news that Sgt. Song wanted you to know." Upon mentioning Song Qixi, Chu Youlan noticed the change in Liu Xiaodan's expression as well as the drop in the temperature. She even got chills and goosebumps from the sudden cold.

She took in a deep breath discreetly before shaking her head. "The people who came to hurt Li Feng had all died from an encounter. They tried to raid the hospital, but Mr. Li Heilong was prepared for their attack."

Liu Xiaodan flicked his gaze off of her before murmuring, "Do you know Sgt. Song?"

Chu Youlan perked up her head. Why would he ask her that? Didn't she say she was here to pass a word from him?

"Can you look for him?" Liu Xiaodan murmured again, and Chu Youlan frowned in response. She was about to speak when she saw a black shadow moved across the walls behind her from the corners of her eyes. It came from the right outer corner to the left.

She gasped as she noticed it swept out of the door. Was that her imagination? She then looked at Liu Xiaodan again and was shocked to see him staring straight at her now. She felt her heart palpitate and the hair on the back of her neck stand. The eyes cast on her didn't seem to come from someone alive.

Liu Xiaodan only stared at her without a word. He was hoping to tell her something, but he decided not to. What was spoken between him and Sgt. Song shouldn't bother someone else. In the end, he only glanced at the door before looking at her again.

It wasn't what he wanted to say, but she hurriedly got to her feet and said parting words. She hurriedly left without looking back. Then again, when she did while racing meters away from the room, she saw another young man peeking from the door and closing it to conceal his image.

"Huh… wasn't that… Tang Mingming?" Chu Youlan could barely remember Tang Mingming's face. She knew of the famous inmates as Tang Mingming was a wildcat in the prison. He often got into fights with the Black Boss and suddenly vanished. Moreover, he didn't have any living relative.

However, she felt chills ran up her spine as she stopped alone in the hallway.

"Tang Mingming had been missing for years, wasn't he? How come he's here now? Wait, wasn't the guy he's always with…?" Chu Youlan brought her hand to her mouth as she tried not to scream. She forced her jelly legs to move and walk away… so far away from Liu Xiaodan's room in the sick hall.

'Sergeant, let me resign now please!'