The Restless Spirit's Father

If Ren Shanyue thought that she was the only one who knew about the Qiao family's involvement, she was wrong. Ever since Li Feng got mixed up in it, Li Heilong had intensified his research about this particular family from where Qiao Shan belonged.

They did have a family business that mirrored the Mian family, but their methods were more aggressive. If the Mian family only exorcised ghosts and banished evil spirits, the Qiao family would either destroy or gobble them up.

Since the second method was more reliable for the recurring cases, they did have a separate service from what the people think the Mian family had.

Since Qiao Yun had come to see him and asked for Liu Xiaodan from his hands… without knowing that Liu Xiaodan was a part of Wu Qianqian—Li Heilong's winning chip in getting Mian Bingbing, the tycoon had cast his stone gaze at the Qiaos.

Now that they were indeed bad people who would harm Liu Xiaodan—an actual nephew of Li Heilong, he wouldn't let them have whatever they wanted without him knowing what that was.

It could be something that could be used against Mian Bingbing's family after all. That was the only reason Li Heilong needed to join the fray; anything that would harm his wife should be terminated.

Ren Shanyue and the others had gone to sit down at the lounge, Jiang Yanyu serving them juices even if there was wine on the table. They weren't underage anymore, but Jiang Yanyu couldn't possibly ask them not to drink her premium wine, right?

The woman then hummed as she sipped on her juice. "Did Mr. Li have the same idea as I do?"

"I don't know what Ms. Yue is thinking of, but I can spare a bit of investment if you need me." Li Heilong didn't normally speak like this to others, but he caught his son's ex-fiancee on her way to bag another man under the Li family's noses.

As much as he understood, he had not broken the engagement just yet. All the other Lis were not entitled to disagree as it was not their signature or their son involved. Perhaps they could before… but not anymore.

The girl just turned to Jiang Yanyu. "Auntie, I didn't know you're discussing business with Mr. Li. How about you continue for now while we attend to Nayi instead? We might be… disturbing something."

"Eh? Don't make it sound like it's something indecent." Jiang Yanyu frowned. "Mr. Li is only here to discuss the website's stance about his son's case. I did publish an interview with Li Feng and his perceived future of the movie industry after all."

"Oh, right."

"Haven't you heard of that? I thought you're keeping tabs on your fiancee, Ms. Yue." Li Heilong seemed to sound dismayed.

Ren Shanyue only sighed softly, gauging the hidden changes in the expression of the people around them. "It just slipped my mind, Mr. Li. I do remember the interview." She then sipped on her glass, silently cursing this tycoon.

"Let's talk openly to avoid any misunderstandings then." Li Heilong then chuckled before clearing the smile on his face. "I doubt it's a secret to Ms. Jiang that a distant nephew of mine is now a patient in Cherry Medical. Would you like to help me keep an eye on his recovery, Ms. Jiang?"

All the eyes of the girls glinted differently. One was for the interest in the chance of working together, another was for a chance to get money from the Li family, and the last was for the imminent mention of a man's name. The three males were all shocked inwardly, but they didn't show much of it.

"Yes, of course, what kind of help do you need from me, Mr. Li?'

"En, access to Cherry Medical and its previous studies… about the paranormal." Li Heilong ignored the shock in Jiang Yanyu's eyes. "Feng had lost a lot because of this fantastical string of murders. Would it be possible to prove that one ghost could kill multiple humans?

"How could it be done? How can the intangible affect the material?

"Ms. Yue here will be sure to provide details about the study. I only needed your coverage for the project, Ms. Jiang."

Ren Shanyue's eyes glistened as if Li Heilong was earning respect from her. This man seemed to know when to fight and when to play along with others. He probably knew that having the backing of the Li and Ren families wouldn't make it difficult for Jiang Yanyu.

Moreover, if the website did have a very probable reason to carry it out, it wouldn't matter if they could prove it or not in the end. Ren Shanyue and the boys would still get what they wanted.

It's just that...

Jiang Yanyu bit her lip. She then looked away for now before chuckling. "I don't think I can help you with that, Mr. Li. You see… Cherry Medical is already carrying out a similar study. Breakthrough is also getting the exclusive doc.u.mentation of this."

Bang! Chuan Nayi dropped her juice and stared at her mother wide-eyed. She then flipped. "Are you telling me that they're going to experiment on Xiaodan?!"

"Nayi, n-no one said anything about Liu Xiaodan in particular." Jiang Yanyu waved her hand. However, the gazes given to her by Li Heilong and Ren Shanyue called out on her bullshit. Of course, Jiang Yanyu found out about it…

"Look, I didn't know much, but it shouldn't be something outside the bounds of human morality. Breakthrough is going to keep an eye on their methodologies and results. There's no way we would agree to such inhumane treatment to their subjects."

Jiang Yanyu tried not to die under Li Heilong's glare. "It would be handled carefully. It was about the boundaries of the human psyche so... it's a very delicate study for them. They won't mess it up!"

…

It was a mess…

He was a mess…

Yun He kept on washing his face in the restroom's sink. He then stared at his reflection that stared right back at him. "Yun He, you're embarrassing. How could you freak out like that? You're supposed to be calm and kind, understanding and clear-headed…

"You messed up..."

He then sighed and lowered his head. "I'm talking to myself. This is ridiculous..."

"...ridiculous…"

Yun He lifted his face and looked around. No one else was in the restroom aside from him, and he didn't hear the door open. In fact, the door was still closed.

Yun He frowned at the door. He left that open, and it should be kept open at all times. He got up from the sink and went to open the door. However, it remained locked. He then twisted and pulled on its knob again and again.

"What? Hey, hey! Help!" He slammed against the door and hoped that someone would find it strange to see the restroom closed.

"The hell? This is so wrong..." Yun He walked to the cubicles and tried to open all of them, but none gave in. He then started using more force. When it didn't work, he backed into the center of the room. "Shit, is this… is this what happens when someone…?

"This is wrong. It never happened to me before, no matter how many times I use the restroom alone."

Yun He was murmuring to himself when he suddenly remembered the child on Liu Xiaodan's l.a.p. Could it be that because he came up, things in the asylum were shaken? That couldn't be real. If he used animals as examples, he needed an apex predator to startle other predators in a new area.

That was just a child, right? It shouldn't be that scary, right?

He had heard of a lot of scary things that wouldn't compare to a single child. Liu Xiaodan's coming here shouldn't have caused his luck to plummet, right?

Then again, by the way things were at the moment, Yun He had no chances of escaping the restroom. He could only think of a way if he kept a cool head.

"Ghosts tend to show up for only two reasons: one is a need, and the other is a warning. Since this never happened before, the spirit is not warning me. The ghost haunting me at the moment should have a 'need' instead." Yun He nodded at his own deduction.

He then turned to the mirror and saw himself. "I need to find out what it wanted. Maybe it'll release me if I hear it out..."

"Hear it out..."

There went the voice again. This time, Yun He didn't look around. It was because he was starting to notice something strange with his reflection. It was smiling even when he's not.

Yun He walked closer to the mirror and saw the smile on the reflection getting bigger and bigger. Soon, the very corners of his mouth began to hurt. Yun He only massaged them, but he continued to walk closer. When he got to the sink again, the reflection wore a smile literally from ear to ear.

The nurse wanted to speak, but he felt a pang on his cheek. When he dabbed his fingers on it, he realized that blood was smudged on his face. Yun He flinched back and tried to wipe it off, but the blood wouldn't stop.

"Shit… shit..." Even if it was painful for him to speak, he couldn't help but curse. He kneeled down and leaned against the wall as he tried to assess his state. When he felt his cheeks again, he could feel the sting of an open wound.

"Wait, wait… what is happening? This can't be real!" Yun He held back his tears as he held against his cheeks that were bleeding… as well as his ears that also felt the sting from inside.

"...real..."

Yun He lifted his bloodied face and saw another him standing in front of the mirror. Unlike what he first saw, the image of him was already covered in blood while his lower jaw dangled from his face. The not-him then turned his body to face Yun He before holding out his hand.

Piak! Piak! At every second, a finger would snap back and be torn off of his hand.

Yun He was horrified… and then scared shitless when the same hand that had the fingers torn in his reflected image began to hurt. He brought it to his eyes, and the fingers were moving on their own. Pain began to radiate from the joints.

"Please… have mercy..."

Piak!