Chapter 236: Completely Heartless

Translator: 549690339

“Ah  Yuru, the one who passed away was your Brother Dakui…” Mother Song said, wiping away tears. “Ah, what a tragedy. A young fellow, diagnosed with terminal liver cancer just last month, today… today, he’s gone…”

“Yuru, the father of your Brother Dakui and I, were close childhood friends…” Father Song choked on his words, “It’s not even a year since your Brother Dakui’s father passed away. It’s so unexpected… ah… it’s true what they say about misfortunes not coming singly. Life’s impermanence, so truly impermanent… Yuru go burn some incense for your Brother Dakui.”

“Alright, Dad, I understand. I’ll go now.” Song Yuru’s mood was also grave, a crystalline glimmer of unshed tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes.

“Little Long, Brother Dakui was really good to me when we were kids. He’s a distant relative of ours, you should come with me to burn some incense for him.” Song Yuru looked at Huang Xiaolong with tear-filled eyes.

“Oh, alright, my dear wife.” Huang Xiaolong nodded, casting a discrete glance at Father Song’s side.

Lo and behold!

By Father Song’s side stood the spectral figure of a middle-aged man, weeping, his emotions running high, his face twisted with anger, his body trembling, his eyes filled with hatred.

Seems like the one who died today, Dakui, must have some deep connection with this spirit!

Oddly enough, whenever Father Song took a step, the spectral form of the middle-aged man moved with him, as if attached by invisible ties.

Huang Xiaolong concealed his aura, so as not to startle the nearby spirits and trigger their flight.

‘Ah… no wonder my future father-in-law’s face looked so gloomy, black shadows lingering around his brows. So that’s why, this middle-aged man’s spirit has been following him constantly…’ Huang Xiaolong nodded slightly.

At that moment, Song Yuru led Huang Xiaolong to the front of the grand hall.

She picked up three sticks of incense from the table, lit them, bowed thrice to the memorial photo of the deceased, and placed the incense into the incense burner.

Suddenly, Huang Xiaolong noticed that the three incense sticks burning simultaneously in the incense burner were not burning equally; the left and right ones were burning rapidly while the middle one was burning slowly.

“Hmm?” Song Yuru also became aware of this anomaly, “Little Long… is there something wrong with the quality of the incense?”

“This… two short, one long…” Huang Xiaolong explained in a low voice as he led Song Yuru away, “My dear wife, people fear three longs and two shorts, but for incense, two short and one long is ominous. If such a sign appears when you are offering incense to the deceased, it means that the deceased was wronged, died unwillingly, and could not rest in peace.”

Song Yuru gasped in shock, “Little Long, are you saying that Brother Dakui was wronged? That he was murdered?”

“Yes, you could put it that way.” Huang Xiaolong nodded solemnly.

Back by Father Song and Mother Song’s side, Huang Xiaolong again observed the spirit of the middle-aged man. Its features vaguely resembled those of the deceased in the memorial photo.

Huang Xiaolong realized instantly that this middle-aged man was the spirit of the deceased’s father.

He was following Father Song around because they were childhood friends, not because he intended to harm Father Song.

“Yuru, Little Long, let’s go home.” Father Song sighed.

The four of them left the residential area and headed towards Song Yuru’s home.

The spirit of the middle-aged man followed them closely.

By now, it was already nighttime. The city-village was lit up by streetlights, various spirits wandering around, and the chilly gusts of wind were enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

Song Yuru’s home wasn’t within a residential complex, but rather a two-story building, complete with a small vegetable garden, a few stone benches, and a swing, giving it a unique charm.

“Yuru, go help in the kitchen…” Mother Song called out. “Little Long, make yourself comfortable. I’ll cook some of my best dishes as a celebratory meal for your uncle’s successful discharge from the hospital. We really owe you a lot this time, otherwise…”

“Don’t talk about such ominous things.” Father Song glared at Mother Song, then smiled and offered Huang Xiaolong a cigarette. “Little Long, do you smoke?”

“Thank you, uncle.” Huang Xiaolong accepted the offer, and Father Song lit the cigarette for him.

“Little Long, it’s cooler outside. You can sit out there for a while. We’ll eat dinner outside.” Father Song instructed, then proceeded to join Song Yuru and Mother Song in the kitchen.

The middle-aged man’s spirit also tried to follow Father Song into the kitchen.

“Hold on… why don’t you wait here? Let’s have a chat.” Huang Xiaolong blew out a ring of smoke, smiling gently.

“This ” The middle-aged man spirit shook slightly, turned slowly, and looked at Huang Xiaolong with his hateful and vengeful eyes. “You… you can see me? Who… who are you?”

“Come over here, let’s sit.” Huang Xiaolong, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, directly put his hand around the shoulder of the middle-aged man’s spirit, laughing heartily. “Why are you always following my future father-in-law? Although you don’t mean to harm him, you’re a spirit and naturally, you’ll absorb his Yang-energy. He’s already under a lot of pressure, and with your interference, he might fall sick and get hospitalized… It seems that I remember him saying that some time ago, he had a small cold. Medication didn’t work, so he had to go to the hospital for injections and fluid drips. It took him quite a few days to recover… all of that was your doing…”

“Future father-in-law?” The middle-aged man’s spirit was taken aback, and then gave a strange smile. “You’re the boyfriend of my niece, Yuru? The son-in-law of my Brother Song Yuan?”

Huang Xiaolong nodded, leading the middle-aged man’s spirit to take a seat on the stone bench. “From now on, don’t follow my future father-in-law.”

“I never meant to harm Brother Song Yuan. We grew up playing together, we shared a strong bond since childhood…” the middle-aged man’s spirit hurriedly tried to defend itself. It was highly wary of the aura emanating from Huang Xiaolong and didn’t dare to resist.

“Well, I noticed that you seem to harbor a pretty deep grudge. What’s the story? The one who died today was your son, right?” Huang Xiaolong inquired.

At this point, the middle-aged man’s spirit became extremely agitated. Veins popped on his forehead, his entire face appearing ferocious and frightful, looking every bit like a vicious ghost!

“Ah  If you continue like this, you’ll start harming people and turn into a real ghost.” Huang Xiaolong shook his head slightly.

“I! My son died unjustly! The Hu Family! They’re worse than beasts!” The middle-aged man’s spirit let out a grating sound, like a blade scraping against metal.

“Six months ago, the Hu Family moved our ancestral graves to the back mountain… Boss Hu, that sanctimonious fellow, he… he is a beast! He is a devil! He… he set up a Formation on the back mountain graveyard, absorbing all the luck from all the Yin houses within a ten-kilometer radius! His Hu Family flourished, everything went their way, they became rich no matter what business they pursued! They even won a lottery prize of 5 million! And our descendants all suffered bad luck! My son, who was in good health and once described by a fortune teller as someone destined for a long, prosperous life, died because of that! He was suddenly diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer… Ah  !!!”