The Restless Spirit's Father

Li Feng had already calmed down after a few more minutes. He would sometimes glance at Tang Mingming, and the other enjoyed teasing him a lot. Tang Mingming wasn't really like this, but he just tried it out as this person was more or less Liu Xiaodan's problematic friend.

Liu Xiaodan only waited for the two other people to enter the room. When they did, Liu Xiaodan's gaze hardened a little. It was that scheming sergeant and the dangerous man.

"I could only lead you here. I won't be staying since it was a favor you asked for." Song Qixi only reminded them of a few things before leaving. Like normal, the guards would be outside.

"Bugs are everywhere though. I really don't like that guy. He has a face you won't trust." Tang Mingming rested his arms and chin on the table.

"You're right." Liu Xiaodan answered Tang Mingming, and Li Heilong didn't show his confusion. For now, he only wanted to listen in. This was Li Feng's request after all.

"Li Feng..." Liu Xiaodan started even before Li Feng could speak, "I heard you died."

Li Feng growled as his fists clenched, but he tried to relax and answer without yelling. "That's what I came here for. I have seen the records, and I was declared dead. Six hours after, I woke up. I need you to explain that to me."

Liu Xiaodan went silent. Should he tell Li Feng that someone else had helped him last night? It wasn't purely the black miasma.

"Oh, tell me more! If you say it like that, it makes me wonder if you died because you were gutted or if you jacked off so hard your heart stopped—"

"Who is this, really?" Li Feng growled at Liu Xiaodan as he gestured at the outsider. He then glanced at his father who was looking in Tang Mingming's direction. "Get rid of him. Please, this is really personal."

"Mr. Li," Liu Xiaodan answered by calling the attention of someone else, "aside from me, who else is sitting on my side of the table?"

"Feng is seeing someone else."

Li Feng gasped and flung his gaze at Tang Mingming again. "You're… it can't be. I… I can't feel you..."

Tang Mingming shuddered inwardly as his eyes quivered as he realized something. He then turned to Liu Xiaodan. "Xiaodan, is this person a psychic or a medium?"

"Shaman."

"Oh, shit!"

Tang Mingming quickly ducked down. A shadow shot out and then circled the room, but it only made a full circle before resting on Liu Xiaodan's shadow again. Tang Mingming peeked from under the table. "Hey, hey, Big Brother, don't be mad. I'll behave..."

Liu Xiaodan laughed out before waving his hand. "Don't worry, Li Feng won't hurt you."

Tang Mingming's eyes then brightened as he regarded Li Feng again. "Big Brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm only here to watch Xiaodan. Some nasty things would pop out sometimes so I don't want to leave him on his own."

"You're inviting more and more of them to stick with you." Li Feng massaged his forehead. "As for your shameless question, someone has been trying to assassinate me for endangering other young masters. Last night, some fraud nurses entered the ward and hooked me up with some weird drip.

"It caused my body to suffer a heart attack."

"Oh, you didn't kill off the nurses?" Tang Mingming sat properly and tilted his head to the side. "Guangru's miasma only consumes what it kills and what enters your body. If you didn't kill them off, there's a chance that someone forced you to intake the souls—one that knew of Guangru at that."

He then leaned on the table and waved his hand as if making Li Feng's scent reach his nose. "You reek of something else's death scent. I doubt only Guangru is interested in you. I can't tell who it was because I only have a small resource for the outside world, but it's something simply very nasty."

Li Feng dropped his jaw. This prison ghost was this helpful? He then glanced at his father and gulped down the lump in his throat. "Can I take it off of me?"

Tang Mingming tilted his head to the other side. "Don't you like it? Big shots are keeping an eye on you and making you stay alive?"

"It's not something a shaman would like."

"Eh, but if that scent is shaman, then that lady should be a shaman, too, right?" Tang Mingming turned to Liu Xiaodan who seemed to be clueless. Tang Mingming then looked at Li Heilong and seemed to be afraid to speak all of a sudden. He only resorted to chuckling. "Hehe, Boss, is that your niece? That beauty?"

"I have nothing to do with her," Li Heilong readily answered. He had been paying attention to their conversation after all. Moreover, he was only seen with one woman in this prison, Qiao Shan.

Tang Mingming shuddered with a whimper while Li Feng's eyes flickered. Since when did his father start seeing Tang Mingming?

Li Heilong only hummed as he crossed his arms on his c.h.e.s.t. "What about her?"

"Uhm… she also has a nasty thing accompanying her." Tang Mingming secretly held onto Liu Xiaodan's sleeve. "Though I wouldn't say 'accompanying' is a good term because it isn't actually standing next to her. I can barely smell it so I can't compare it to what I can smell from Big Brother.

"But if it's her… I can definitely smell her on you, Big Brother."

"Hm, I guess we have everything we needed from you." Li Heilong only gazed at Liu Xiaodan who didn't even speak much.

Liu Xiaodan only nodded. "I can offer you this much. As for what exactly happened, it's probably because the drip had already destroyed his body and the miasma needed to shut down his entire body to heal him completely. When afflicted with Guangru's power…

"You can die for a while and then continue living again.

"I hope you can answer my questions next, Mr. Li. Why are you working with a girl like her?" Liu Xiaodan phrased his words carefully. "How much of this do you think will change if you continue to do so?"

"The Qiao family wishes to have the child for themselves. That would mean that he would stop bothering my son, and that's all I care about."

Liu Xiaodan then eyed Li Feng. "I only wanted to help you because you keep on getting hurt. If your entire family didn't want my help anymore, I will ask Guangru to not care about you starting from now on, Li Feng. In return, I want my debt paid.

"I was the reason why you lost your best friend, and I can't change that. Then again, I'm also the reason why you would have to endure going to jail. For that, Guangru saved your life thrice." He then sighed discreetly. "I hope that's enough for me to settle that debt with you."

"...I..." Li Feng was shocked. This wasn't the Liu Xiaodan that he knew. He was willingly cutting ties just like what he did with Chuan Nayi. By then, he remembered what Ruan Jin had once told him. Li Feng could only lower his head and nod.

He had to say 'yes' to relieve pressure.

Liu Xiaodan then eyed Li Heilong. "Guangru wouldn't bother him anymore. Please stop coming here and asking me to leave Guangru or give him to someone else."

The father only answered after a few seconds. "Liu Xiaodan, if you wish to keep everyone else from taking the child away from you, make sure that you can handle him properly.

"That thing they called a dybbuk didn't seem to be a simple pet you can adopt just because you want to. Same with the other dirty things you have with you. You can ignore me and the entire Li-Mian family's sentiments, but your mother would be devastated if you go down that road of destruction."

Liu Xiaodan shook his head. "Don't use my mother against me, please." He then got up and walked out of the door, the panels opening without him touching a knob. "I already told you what I know. I'm leaving for my cell."

The guards outside saw that Liu Xiaodan stepped out. They then escorted him quietly. Along with him came Tang Mingming and that huge shadow.

Li Heilong then took a look at his wristwatch before getting up, "Feng, let's go. We've been here for a long time."

The son only nodded before unconsciously checking his watch. He then made a confused twitch as he realized that three minutes had only passed since Song Qixi left. Then again, they had been talking for a while. He then eyed his father as they walked along the hallways.

"Da-Father, is it only 10:47? Didn't we arrive around 10:40?" Li Feng took off his watch, prepared to adjust his watch. It was already a five-minute walk from the entrance to this place even if he ran all the way to the conference room.

"Don't bother. It's correct." Li Heilong only hummed. "You didn't realize the time stopped in the room, didn't you?"

"The time stopped?"

"Liu Xiaodan was getting wary of us and the prison security. He would disappear from time to time, without anyone being able to trace his movements. If he mastered this trick, he could simply escape the prison."

Li Feng frowned. "He wouldn't escape the prison, right?"

The father shook his head. "He probably won't. He's only training if ever he needed to bolt." A slight smile then curled his lips. "I wonder what that Qiao Yun will do if ever."

They had arrived in their car, and Li Feng opened the door for his father before he moved to the passenger seat. Li Heilong strapped in and waited for Li Feng before starting his car, his eyes noticing subtle changes in the placement of things.

As if inwardly snorting, he only huffed as his son strapped the seatbelt on. "I have decided. Liu Xiaodan is a very dangerous person to be left alone. He should be sent to the facility."

However, he reached out a hand and prevented Li Feng from answering. That was a sign that Li Heilong already knew… the car was bugged in their absence. 'How petty, Qiao Yun.'

…

In his inner office, Song Qixi frowned. He kept on reviewing the video of the conference room. Again and again, he listened to their conversation… and it seemed that a huge chunk was missing…

"Li Feng..." Liu Xiaodan's voice was heard. "I heard you died."

"That's what I came here for." It was followed by Li Feng's. "I have seen the records, and I was declared dead. Six hours after, I woke up. I need you to explain that to me."

A black second…

Liu Xiaodan suddenly got to his feet and walked towards the door. "I already told you what I know. I'm leaving for my cell."

Pause. Rewind.

Song Qixi gritted his teeth. "What… happened?"

He then rewound again and again, only to realize that Li Heilong quickly checked his watch when Liu Xiaodan got to his feet. Song Qixi's eyes then lit up.

"T-Time freeze? He realized that the watch stopped ticking? How monstrous are you?"

Chu Youlan knocked on the door. She then opened it slightly. "Sir, the judge's reply is here. Should I read it to you now?"

Song Qixi then smiled as he refreshed his mind from the frustration. "Let me hear it."