Chapter 145

If Lü Jiu were a few years older, he would realize that everything Luo Futu said was utter nonsense. If his whereabouts had been under surveillance all along, then why bother asking him what he wrote on the note?

But even if Lü Jiu was very smart and precocious, he couldn't tell the half-truth from Luo Futu's words.

Luo Futu clapped his hands, and the sound of chains clanging and rustling came from all around.

Lu Jiu shuddered and looked in panic toward the dark corner. Several hairy figures slowly crawled out of the shadows, on all fours, some large and some small, with chains of congealed blood around their necks that rattled and swayed with the slightest movement.

They looked up at the sound of Luofutu's slap, staring at Lü Jiu's unfocused and lifeless pupils.

Luo Futu leaned forward, his hand moving from Lü Jiu's pale face down to her fragile neck, slowly coiling around it like a damp, slippery venomous snake.

She then pulled open his collar, revealing a dark red burn scar on his back, and pressed her fingers on it, rubbing it repeatedly.

The darkness in the room thickened, as if a fluid was cutting off the little oxygen available. Those pairs of empty, dark pupils were like a quagmire, drawing Lü Jiu in, making him feel suffocated. He opened his mouth, but even breathing was difficult.

"Little Jiu'er, my good child, I have such high hopes for you."

Luo Futu leaned close to his ear, his voice gentle, earnestly instructing him: "Don't betray me, don't disappoint me."

*

"Knock knock".

In the dead of night, a knock came at the door. Xie Xubai's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he got out of bed to open the door.

Lu Jiu stood stiffly outside the door, his face pale, like a puppet whose soul had been ripped out.

Xie Xubai sensed the emotional fluctuations emanating from the other person—a mixture of fear and numbness, thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. He frowned slightly and asked gently, "What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

A month has passed since the arson incident. Perhaps due to the unexpected arrest of his subordinates, Luo Futu has become hesitant to act rashly. In the past month, he and his patrons have refrained from making any further moves.

But Lü Jiu started having nightmares, especially after the arsonist died in prison for no reason; the content of his dreams became increasingly terrifying.

Lu Jiu suddenly looked up and saw Xie Xubai's face, only then did she come to her senses. First she shook her head, then she nodded, and finally she hugged herself, trembling uncontrollably.

Xie Xubai felt a pang of sympathy. He noticed that Lü Jiu wasn't wearing pajamas to bed, but rather everyday clothes that allowed him to move around easily. He sighed softly, took a thick, warm coat from the clothes rack, and draped it over Lü Jiu's shoulders: "It's cold outside, come in first."

Entering the room, watching Xie Xubai close the door and draw the curtains tightly to block any possible view of what was happening inside, Lü Jiu's tense muscles relaxed slightly. He pulled his coat tighter and asked in a hoarse voice, "Can I not go to school?"

Xie Xubai looked at him and said softly, "Okay, but you still need to study. I'll ask your father to find you a tutor."

"No!" Upon hearing that someone was being called, Lü Jiu gripped Xie Xubai's sleeve tightly, her eyes slightly red and tinged with a hint of hysteria. "I can learn by myself; I don't need anyone else to teach me!"

Before she could finish speaking, meeting Xie Xubai's calm eyes, Lü Jiu suddenly realized she had overreacted. She released her grip as if electrocuted and hurriedly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Xie Xubai just smiled, not blaming him for his excitement, and patted his head, saying calmly, "Yes, I don't doubt that you have such ability."

Xie Xubai smiled and looked at him: "If you don't want a tutor, that's fine too. I'll find someone to collect annotated books, which will make it easier to learn."

"If there are parts you don't understand..."

"Then wait for me to come back, and I'll teach you."

Lü Jiu remained silent.

Gu Nan had been nurtured by Xie Xubai's spiritual power for a month, and his soul was much more solid than before. He was able to stay awake most of the time. Upon hearing Xie Xubai's words, he immediately muttered, "You spoil him too much."

The next second, Lü Jiu pursed her lips and pleaded in a low voice, "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Gu Nan: "...??"

No wonder he was so shocked. In his memory, Lü Jiu was only superficially warm and courteous, but in reality, he was cold-hearted and indifferent. Let alone being so proactive in getting close to him, even if someone unintentionally came within a meter of him, it would cause him displeasure and jealousy.

But now, Lü Jiu was quite adept at flirting with Xie Xubai. Before the latter could even speak, she took off her shoes and darted into his bed.

—The main reason is that a precedent had already been set a few days ago. At that time, Lü Jiu was also having nightmares and couldn't sleep. Xie Xubai sang to her and patted her back to lull her to sleep.

Xie Xubai also got into bed, and Lü Jiu lay on her side next to him. After a long silence, she suddenly turned around, looked at him, and asked, "Dreams are all fake, right?"

Xie Xubai asked, "What did you dream about?"

Lü Jiu remained silent.

Xie Xubai did not press further, and replied gently, "They are usually false. What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. The more you fear something, the more likely you are to dream about it."

Lu Jiu's first reaction was to refute. He couldn't explain how real his dream was, and he was even more afraid that if he said it, he would scare the naive young master in front of him to death.

“However,” Xie Xubai changed the subject, “there are also some people who are exceptionally gifted, more sensitive and thoughtful than ordinary people, who can perceive some clues from ordinary things, unconsciously weave them into the truth in their minds, and then issue warnings in the form of dreams.”

Lü Jiu: "That's too convoluted. Explain it more clearly."

Xie Xubai smiled helplessly: "Have you ever heard of precognitive dreams?"

Lu Jiu's heart skipped a beat, but he still curled his lip indifferently: "Isn't that just something a charlatan would say to fool people?"

If there is no strange occurrence, no rebirth or reincarnation, then most of the prophetic dreams online are indeed scams and deceptions.

For the past month, Xie Xubai had not given the people of Luofutu a chance to get close to Lü Jiu, but the latter still had nightmares every day, and his psychological trauma became more and more severe.

Aside from Gu Nan, who was possessed by Xie Xubai, and his clone Gu Bai, Lü Jiu refused to contact anyone. He was extremely paranoid and saw threats everywhere. Even cats and dogs passing by would make him stiffen up and occasionally burst into laughter for no reason.

This is an illusion, not the real past; there is no automatic time-space correction here. The system has already fled, and the chances of it returning are slim. Xie Xubai has used his mental power to probe it, and found nothing unusual.

Therefore, excluding all external interference factors, only one possibility remains.

Xie Xubai sighed softly and sent out his silent thoughts: Why do you have to torture yourself like this?

Like an echo reverberating through a secluded valley, a misty red fog slowly rose from Lü Jiu's body.

The sounds of wind, insects, and birds—all the tiny, subtle noises vanished. Everything and everyone in the space was suddenly put on pause; except for Xie Xubai, who could still move, everything else was completely still.

The crimson mist condensed into a phantom figure in the shape of an adult, wearing a half-mask, lounging lazily on the bed, propping his chin up with his arm, looking up at Xie Xubai, his smiling eyes extremely gentle: "If you want to see my past and judge my sins, how can you be too biased?"

"Back then, nobody cared about me. The head of the family and his wife were senile, the eldest son was deceived, the second sister got married early, the third sister studied abroad, and the remaining idiot Gu Nan was tricked by his cronies to go out and have fun all day long. The huge Gu family was infiltrated like a sieve and nobody noticed."

Hongying grabbed Lü Jiu's chin, examining him like a cheaply sold item, and clicked her tongue in disgust: "Why were you so stupid back then? Knowing that the Gu family was unsafe, why did you still jump into the fire pit?"

Xie Xubai glanced at him and saw that the red-clad figure was using too much force, pinching Lü Jiu's skin until it was red. He reached out and slapped the red-clad figure's hand away, saying, "That's enough."

Xie Xubai: "The situation was dangerous at the time, and you had no choice but to rely on the Gu family. Besides, you were only nine years old at the time, and you had no one you could trust. You had already done your best to protect yourself, so there was no need to belittle yourself."

The red figure stared silently at the hand Xie Xubai had opened. After a long while, she narrowed her eyes and stared intently at Lü Jiu's face: "So, it's really enviable."

Xie Xubai: "?"

Hongying glanced at him, then switched to her usual tone and said indifferently, "I'll make him slowly recall what he did and do it again. Don't stop me, just watch carefully."

"Also, I advise you not to be too good to him. Lü Jiu is a born scoundrel, a liar, selfish, and lacking in empathy. When faced with danger, he will only abandon everyone and save his own life. If you are so fond of him, don't blame me if you are let down or deceived."

Xie Xubai and Hongying exchanged a glance and said, "He's not that kind of person."

"..." Hongying gave a slight, expressionless smirk. "Is that so? I hope you can maintain this optimistic outlook in the future."

Seeing the red figure turn into mist, Xie Xubai asked before it disappeared, "By the way, was there anything you wanted to do when you were a child?"

Hongying paused briefly, a nameless fire rising in her heart, almost unrecognizable from jealousy. She coldly replied, "No, if you ask again, you can forget about watching this show. I'll just strangle him."

Although Xie Xubai had guessed that Lü Xiangcai might have self-loathing, he hadn't expected it to be this serious. When he talked about strangling himself, his words were full of murderous intent.

He rubbed his forehead in exasperation and said in a deep voice, "Lu Xiangcai—"

Hongying noticed that Xie Xubai seemed genuinely angry. She looked away and reluctantly uttered two words: "Whale."

After saying that, he let out a resentful sneer: "Forgetting the old for the new, ah, men."

He vanished without a trace after saying that, leaving Xie Xubai no time to call him back: "..."

The stagnant air began to move again. Lu Jiu, lying on the bed, was enveloped in warmth and couldn't help but yawn. Suddenly, she heard Xie Xubai ask, "Do you like whales?"

It seems that a long time ago, Lü Xiangcai did invite him to a banquet at sea, the main attraction being the opportunity to witness the annual humpback whale migration. However, Xie Xubai didn't have the time and didn't go.

"Whale?" Lü Jiu asked. "What is a whale?"

Just as Xie Xubai was about to explain, Lü Jiu suddenly thought of something: "I did see a kind of fish on my way to Haidu by boat. It swam by the ship and seemed to be bigger than the ship itself. Was it the whale you were talking about?"

Xie Xubai said yes, and he murmured, "So that's what they call whales... Why are you suddenly asking me this?"

Xie Xubai smiled and said, "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered a report I saw in the Times before. Someone found a stranded and dead whale carcass in Ningkou County, East Bay. It should be made into a specimen and exhibited in a museum soon. If you like, I'll take you there then."

Lu Jiu suddenly froze, lost in thought, and fell silent for a moment before asking in a daze, "It's so big, can it really die?"

Such a precocious and realistic person only reveals a childlike vulnerability and innocence when discussing life and death.

Xie Xubai noticed Lü Jiu's unusual behavior, rubbed his head, and gently comforted him, "Everything has its lifespan, but there's no need to be too sad. Humans are already considered long-lived creatures; whales generally live longer than humans."

"If you ever have the chance to raise a whale, it might even be able to see you off when you die."

When Lü Jiu met Xie Xubai's teasing smile, she immediately snapped out of her sadness and forced a smile.

He'll probably have nightmares again tonight, but thankfully he has "Gu Nan" by his side. Lü Jiu closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly said, "When I said I wasn't going to school, I was just joking. I think I'll go to school next week."

Xie Xubai paused and asked him, "Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Lu Jiu explained logically: "I do dislike interacting with people, but I can't go my whole life without ever dealing with anyone. There are so many books and knowledge to learn, it would be too troublesome if no one taught me. You also have your own studies to attend and things to do, it wouldn't be right for me to keep bothering you."

There were also some words weighing on Lü Jiu's heart, which he could clearly see despite his young age.

Some people and some things cannot be avoided simply by not wanting to face them.

*

Around the age of thirteen, at Luofutu's request, Lü Jiu began to meet with him frequently in private.

At that time, the Gu family had initially established a trade alliance with Luofutu. Every year, the Gu family needed to send people to verify the goods list, inspect and transport the brocades and silks. Lü Jiu was intentionally arranged to be an attendant and assistant, and occasionally he would follow the manager on a cruise ship back to his hometown.

Previously, he was only concerned with how to escape, but upon returning to his old haunts, Lü Jiu discovered that the power of Luofutu was far more unfathomable than he had imagined.

The number of visitors each month was countless, their identities and origins unknown, and their reach extended far and wide, spanning all corners of the country. He owned more than just a theater and an embroidery shop; he was also involved in the liquor business and arms trafficking. But this was only the tip of the iceberg; the darker, more shocking things lay hidden beneath the turbulent surface.

It is certain that without the substantial financial backing of a large family, a Luofutu sect that started out by creating fantasy dramas would never have such great capabilities.

There are people helping Luofu, and more than one person.

Most people would probably give up completely or back down in fear after finding this out. Fortunately, Lü Jiu didn't consider himself a good person and adapted to all of this very quickly.

At the age of fifteen, Lü Jiu was assigned to the army by the Gu family. Three months later, he led a team to wipe out a group of bandits and won his first military merit. Seeing his outstanding talent, the second master of the Gu family took him in as his adjutant.

Two months later, Lü Jiu arrived at the secret liaison point at Luofutu's request for a meeting. He passed by layers of black dungeons where traitors were being dealt with, and the shrill screams pierced through the thick stone walls.

The others traveling with him felt a chill run down their spines and wanted to leave, their skin crawling with goosebumps. Only Lü Jiu stopped and, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop him, pushed open the cell door with a grin, determined to see what was going on.

The tortured person was pierced through the shoulder blade with an iron hook, hung in mid-air, covered in blood. The left half of his arm and thigh were reduced to bare white bones, and his lower body was soaked and incontinent.

Someone nearby was branding with a hot iron, and thick, acrid smoke mingled with the smells of blood, feces, and urine, creating a pungent, irritating stench that made it impossible for people to open their eyes.

The executioner, wearing a mask, asked in a harsh voice, "I'll ask you one more time, who sent you?"

The man was on the verge of death, tortured to the point of incoherence, uttering incoherent words: "No, no, no... kill, kill..."

Lu Jiu walked over, pushed away the executioner who was holding the branding iron, stroked his chin and looked him over for a long time. Without warning, he pulled out his gun and shot the man dead.

"Ninth Young Master, what are you doing?!" the executioner screamed.

"Sorry, he's so ugly." Lü Jiu turned around and innocently spread her hands at the person.

The executioner refused to comply. Now that the man was dead, and nothing had been found out, he was the one who would be held accountable! He immediately glared at Lü Jiu and stepped forward to confront him.

Unexpectedly, Lü Jiu suddenly raised his hand, the black muzzle of the gun pointed at his head. The executioner was terrified and hurriedly raised his hands, meeting those deep, dark, smiling eyes, stammering, "Ninth... Ninth Young Master?"

Lu Jiu tapped his head with the muzzle of the gun, then suddenly chuckled and mouthed, "Bang!"

Then he turned around, his shoe tips gliding over the blood-soaked ground, and walked away with leisurely, lazy steps.

That same night, Lü Jiu received news that "Gu Nan" had been bewitched by his group of playboy friends and was gathering at a restaurant to smoke opium.

The perspective shifts to the restaurant.

The large private room was filled with smoke. Several young people lay slumped on the chairs, looking as if their bones had been removed. Their eyes were glazed, their faces were pale and sallow, and they were listless.

Gu Nan's remnant soul was nurtured for several years, and Xie Xubai managed to retrieve the missing three parts of his soul.

He floated in mid-air, looking down at Xie Xubai who was playing with his pipe. He hesitated, then stopped, and finally couldn't help but advise, "Lü Jiu should be here soon. Why don't we go first?"

It wasn't that he was a coward; it was that when he recalled that experience, he was truly terrified.

Lu Jiu found their private room, and instead of knocking, he kicked the door open, smashing it to pieces with both kicks, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere.

Upon entering, Lü Jiu pulled the pipe from Gu Nan's mouth without saying a word. The pipe mouthpiece was made of copper and iron! Lü Jiu pulled hard without regard for anything else, scraping several bloody marks on Gu Nan's mouth and almost knocking out his teeth.

Gu Nan was in so much pain that he just wanted to curse. When he looked up, he was so frightened by Lü Jiu's ambiguous smile that he had a heart attack.

When asked who brought him here, he dared not hide the truth. Trembling, he pointed and saw Lü Jiu turn his pipe upside down and press the red-hot mouthpiece directly onto the back of the man's hand!

Gu Nan was very close, so close that he could even hear the sizzling sound of flesh being burned. The next second, the person let out a desperate scream, which could be heard clearly throughout the entire private room.

Everyone was stunned, as if they had seen the King of Hell.

The man wept and begged for mercy, but Lü Jiu just smiled the whole time, his smile never fading. He patted the man's face and said, "I won't ask who ordered you to do this. Just remember, our young master doesn't smoke this stuff. If anyone dares to bring him here again, I'll take his life. Do you understand?"

"Find someone to take him to the hospital."

Then, Lü Jiu dragged him back to the Gu family, asked the Gu family head for permission, and used a sandalwood ruler as thick as a finger to beat his palm until it was red, swollen and bleeding. The pain was so bad that he didn't dare to touch anything for a week, and from then on, he avoided those cronies like the plague.

After listening to Gu Nan's plaintive accusations, Xie Xubai paused for a moment, then sighed, "Given your father's personality, he would never allow his adopted son to punish his own child on his own. After that day, Lü Jiu disappeared for a few days?"

Gu Nan was taken aback: "Four days or five days? Arong said he caught a cold and needed to rest. I thought he was angry and didn't want to see me. Wait, did my father punish him afterwards?"

Xie Xubai: "That should be the case."

Upon hearing this, Gu Nan felt a sharp pain in his chest. Before he could say anything, two loud thuds suddenly came from the doorway, and the wooden door was kicked open with a bang, slamming onto the floor.

Who is it?

Lu Jiu strode in aggressively, his smiling gaze sweeping around before finally settling on the pipe in Xie Xubai's hand.

Gu Nan: I want to die! I want to die! I want to die!

Lu Jiu walked step by step in this direction, emanating a terrifyingly low pressure. Gu Nan felt as if he were there, shrinking behind Xie Xubai with a chill down his spine.

Xie Xubai glanced helplessly at Gu Nan, then suddenly seemed to notice something, his gaze pausing slightly.

"I didn't smoke it." Xie Xubai placed the pipe face down on the table, poured out the dregs that hadn't burned completely, and explained, "It's tea leaves."

The young people nearby, looking ecstatic, were using mental energy to subtly guide them into a blissful slumber. Their pipes were also filled with tea leaves.

Xie Xubai looked at Lü Jiu, who seemed somewhat surprised, and sensed the subtle, inscrutable emotional fluctuation the latter was trying so hard to hide: "What happened just now? Why were you so frightened?"

Lu Jiu's smile froze.