The Restless Spirit's Father

The young man only took a few looks at her. The newcomer wasn't actually exquisite compared to Chuan Nayi and Qiao Shan, but she was a cute girl. The only problem he noticed was that… she wasn't wearing anything underneath her hoodie.

Liu Xiaodan quickly pulled his hand that was dangerously close to her legs. A faint blush was on his face as he sat up so he could avoid the view. "Hello… are you lost?"

"No… this is Mango's place..." She beamed at him again before sitting down on the cold floor. "Do you want to watch Mango?"

"Your name is Mango?" Liu Xiaodan asked, but she shook her head. She then giggled as she raised her knees and opened her legs, hand venturing in the crevice. "Watching Mango?"

Liu Xiaodan shook his head as he went to leave. She could have her fun as long as he wasn't dragged into it. It was strange; he had watched videos before, but he was not keen on watching a woman play with herself live.

He got to his feet and hissed at the pain. When he turned to pick up Old Xiong, he saw a cold light twinkle in the darkness. It was a fork.

"Shit." Liu Xiaodan ran towards Mango and grabbed her wrist before she could stab herself with the fork. With her hand raised overhead, Liu Xiaodan could only imagine how deep the wound would be if she swung down on her own crotch.

"Ahh!" Mango then screamed as she was jolted by pain… coming from her wrist. She tried to kick Liu Xiaodan off of her, struggling to keep the fork in her hand. Until earlier, her shrieking voice didn't seem to be coming from her.

A human's voice could only drop and hitch for a few pitches; the noise she was making wasn't some noise a human could do.

"Mango! No! Stop! Don't stab yourself!" Liu Xiaodan tried to stop her. This girl was a patient in a mental hospital, and Liu Xiaodan pitied her for it. Since he had already seen the violence, he couldn't turn away from it anymore.

"Let! Her! Go!" A demonic screech came from Mango, but Liu Xiaodan only widened his eyes. Just then, a flash of some creature attached to Mango's back showed up in the darkness. She seemed to be under the control of a ghost that wanted her to cause violence to herself.

More footsteps came from the entry, and flashlights were aimed at them. The lights were too intense that both Liu Xiaodan and Mango turned away from it, the girl shrieking like she was being burned. Soon, strong hands came to separate them, and one particularly grabbed the fork from Mango's hand.

The girl was then brought away by two riot-geared men, but she was glaring wide-eyed at Liu Xiaodan while kicking out her legs. In a demonic screech, she continued to curse Liu Xiaodan as if using a different language.

The man holding onto Liu Xiaodan soon pressed him against the wall as if stopping him from doing anything funny. Liu Xiaodan didn't fight the push, but he g.r.o.a.n.e.d at the exerted force.

"I have Patient 4-28 secured." Captain then glanced at the black bear at the side that seemed to be the black thing he saw earlier. However, since it was harmless, he only kept holding onto Liu Xiaodan. "You think you can escape? You think we can't find you?"

"I'm not trying to escape. I was looking for my bear"—Liu Xiaodan gestured to the bear—"and I found it. You don't have to pin me down. I won't move."

"No can do. How could you move so fast?" Captain couldn't take any chances. This man slipped past them in a second.

Liu Xiaodan stared at Old Xiong and realized that the eyes were somewhat regaining life. The spirit inside must have hibernated when he was hurt. Now that Liu Xiaodan was in danger again, it might attack the security officer.

The young man then quickly bargained. "You can cuff me if you want, officer, but you should release me now. Don't you know me? I'm a little famous! I have ghost friends, and they will kill you if they catch you pinning me down like this!"

"What?" Captain frowned, but then he caught movement from their side. The black bear… seemed to be getting up on its own. The officer secretly reached behind him to grab the cuffs, but he didn't want to let Liu Xiaodan go.

It's just that… Old Xiong got to his feet in no time. A big black bear was now towering before Captain and Liu Xiaodan. Moreover, there was a low groan coming from the bear… as if he was feeling bad that Liu Xiaodan had to be manhandled so badly.

Captain risked Liu Xiaodan getting away as he quickly cuffed Liu Xiaodan and stepped away. Liu Xiaodan caught his breath and crashed to the floor in a kneeling position. His foot's wound was surely infected by now, and the radiating pain was too much to bear.

Old Xiong made the noise again, but he didn't move. His eyes then locked at Captain as if watching him intently.

"What is this…?" Captain gulped down and trembled, his hand clenching behind him. He wanted to pull out his gun and shoot the thing down, but he learned not to do so against the experiments. Shooting them did nothing but make them angrier after all.

"Xiaodan!" Yun He's voice echoed as he arrived at where they were, but he was shocked to see the black bear standing in the hallway. He then walked towards it cautiously, his hand extending out to touch its soft back. "O-Old Xiong? Old Xiong, is he…?"

Yun He saw Liu Xiaodan on the floor and Captain frozen solid. Their wrists were linked by a handcuff. The nurse braved the gap between Old Xiong and the wall. He then reached out as if gesturing to Liu Xiaodan. "Can I see my patient?"

Captain only nodded, not breaking eye contact with the black bear. Yun He checked up on the patient, and Liu Xiaodan had no choice but to complain about the wounds on his body. In the end, Captain uncuffed Liu Xiaodan, and Yun He carried him in his arms to rush him to the infirmary.

Just that when Captain's eyes left Old Xiong, the black bear was gone the next second. Both the nurse and the officer were shocked, but Yun He recovered way faster. He had already gone away before Captain walked out of the dark nook…

Questioning reality.

…

The smell of hot chocolate pervaded the air as Jiang Yanyu made afternoon snacks for her daughter. However, she was shocked when she saw the daughter packing her stuff. She just got home, and she was planning to leave again? Where did she think she could go alone with legs like that?

Jiang Yanyu placed the snacks tray on the table before holding only the wheelchair. Chuan Nayi twitched and turned to face her mother. "Mother, what is it?"

"What is it? Why do you sound like I'm blind?" Jiang Yanyu looked at the repacking she was doing. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to see Mr. Li. Maybe he could help me..."

"Erm, with what?"

Chuan Nayi gritted her teeth before calmly speaking to her mother. "I made a mistake. I loathed the child, but I shouldn't have taken it out on Xiaodan." She then dropped her gaze as her hand clawed at the armrest. "I want to participate in the study Cherry Medical is doing..."

A hand went to stroke at Chuan Nayi's hair even if Jiang Yanyu wanted to slap the back of her daughter's head. "Nayi… listen to me. You're not eligible for the study. Your capabilities were too weak to even be called psychic. They wouldn't have a use for you."

The daughter g.r.o.a.n.e.d and painfully shifted herself just to face her mother. "I don't care! I want to go! Xiaodan already went through a lot of things without me! I can't leave him alone any longer!"

Not when she knew that other women were now going to prey on him.

Jiang Yanyu frowned at her daughter before she shook her head before sighing. "Gosh, I can't believe I will be hit in the face like this. When your father said I was irrational and yet stubborn, I didn't think I looked as ridiculous as this…

"Listen, Nayi, you can't just jump into something without a plan. No matter how illogical you think now, you should at least secure your victory." Jiang Yanyu shook her head. "Mr. Li isn't a charitable person. If you go directly to him, he would only turn you away. I have a suggestion for you…

"Ask Li Feng for help instead."

"Eh?" Chuan Nayi was shocked. What could Li Feng do in this? He might not even want to have any ties with Liu Xiaodan anymore.

Jiang Yanyu smiled as she giggled like a scheming beauty. "Nayi, you're thinking that Ms. Yue is suspicious, right? Even Xiao Jin's words make it sound like he didn't know why she's diving headfirst into this. I just found out that her name… is Ren Shanyue."

Chuan Nayi gasped. "Ren?"

"Yes, Ren Ditian is her older brother." Jiang Yanyu only hummed.

"She's betrothed to Li Feng, but the Ren family decided to pull out from that. Mr. Li hadn't made an official announcement about it yet either. Now, now, if you could make Li Feng choose your side, perhaps you have more chances of saving Liu Xiaodan from being killed by the Ren family.

"You should know… Li Feng is still the prince of the Li family, and his parents doted on him like he was a little girl." Jiang Yanyu chuckled. "This fight has been very political now. If you don't play your cards right, you will only lose Liu Xiaodan."

The daughter pouted before looking away from her mother. "Mom, you should be asking me not to get in trouble, right? Why are you telling me how to dive into trouble and explode like a bomb to hurt the enemy?"

Jiang Yanyu wiggled a finger in front of her even if the daughter wouldn't see it. "No, no, not a bomb. You're going to be the great soldier that will save the hostage. Someone else had to play 'bomb'... a person that none of them wanted to go off..."

Chuan Nayi then eyed her mother, not liking her tone but thinking of making use of her plan. 'For a while, I think I understand now why Dad left you. Then again, this only shows me that I am… indeed your daughter.'

"Okay, I'll go see Li Feng tomorrow—"

"Tonight."