Chapter 83. He killed his wife and children, and then fathered a child with them...
The old man's grandson looked to be five or six years old and was still wearing his kindergarten uniform.
He was a tiny boy, huddled in his grandfather's arms, his big black eyes filled with fear.
"Master, please, please save my grandson!"
The old man cried his eyes out.
"I only have one grandson!"
His wife, who was standing beside him, also cried with red eyes and kept pounding her fists on her husband's body.
"You old fool! I've already told you to do more good deeds and accumulate good karma for your grandson!"
"You wouldn't listen! Now look what's happened, the consequences of your actions are falling on our grandson!"
The old woman cried and kept hitting the old man until she collapsed to the ground.
"Waaah, you old geezer! If anything happens to my grandson, I won't live anymore!"
The old man hugged his grandson tightly, filled with regret.
"It's just testifying in court! As long as they don't bother my grandson, I'll be their witness!"
But he was still unwilling to give up, his arms tightening around the child, his teeth clenched in resentment:
"Just because I didn't want to cause trouble, that mother and son scared my grandson. It's absolutely outrageous!"
But what can you do even if you go too far? The living are destined to lose to the dead...
When they arrived, Chu Ci was preparing paper money for the Ghost Festival the following day.
Grandma was also busy folding paper ingots to prepare the food for the evening's sacrificial ceremony.
Grandma's family has a custom that if you open a shop, you should burn more paper money and prepare more paper offerings the day before the Ghost Festival.
Then, find a large brazier at the entrance of the shop, place food and wine on it, and offer sacrifices to the wandering souls.
The general meaning is to offer them gifts so that they won't come to the store to cause trouble and affect the business.
Chu Ci was folding paper ingots in her hand when she heard the old man and woman crying. She looked up and glanced at them.
The child in the old man's arms was clearly terrified, tears welling in his eyes as he stared at Chu Ci in horror.
Chu Ci glanced at the child, noticing the black aura on his face and hands, and frowned slightly.
She noticed something outside the door out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to look.
A pregnant child huddled by the door, peeking inside.
He was startled when he met Chu Ci's gaze, and disappeared through the door in the blink of an eye.
Chu Ci stared blankly for a moment as the child disappeared.
The old man was still cursing and swearing at Ren Wenguang's dead wife and children.
"Don't accuse people wrongly," Chu Ci glared at the old man. "Your grandson provoked someone he shouldn't have, it has nothing to do with that mother and son."
She pointed at the old man's grandson in his arms, and said irritably:
“Your grandson has been messing with things he shouldn’t have for several days now. If it weren’t for Ren Wenhua’s wife and children protecting him, your grandson would have been in the hospital long ago.”
"Instead of taking a chance to thank them, you come here to curse at me?"
The old woman exclaimed in surprise, "Master, did that mother and son really help my grandson?"
Chu Ci glanced at her: "Yes, they've been protecting your grandson for several days."
“If it weren’t for the approaching Ghost Festival and the fact that you couldn’t protect him anymore, your grandson wouldn’t have gotten his comeuppance.”
"How could that be!" the old man exclaimed in disbelief. "My grandson is very well-behaved; that mother and son must have deliberately scared him!"
Chu Ci couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
“You grandparents naturally think the child is well-behaved, but whether a child is well-behaved or not is not up to you to decide.”
She tossed the folded ingots in her hand into a paper basket and looked up into her grandson's eyes.
“Kid, tell me yourself, what have you been doing?”
When her stern eyes met his grandson's, he couldn't help but shrink back, his neck hunched over, too afraid to speak.
The old man stood firmly on his grandson's side, "Master, it must be that mother and son! There's no mistake!"
Chu Ci stared at his grandson, ignoring the old man's words.
The old lady slapped her husband on the back and glared at him: "Who's the master, you or that girl? Shut up!"
The old man murmured a couple of times, then reluctantly shut his mouth.
The little grandson nestled in his grandfather's arms, cautiously glancing at his grandfather's expression.
Seeing that her grandfather was no longer speaking up for her, she began to fidget with her hands, hesitating whether or not to tell the truth.
But Chu Ci didn't want to waste time with these brats, so he waved to them.
"If you don't want to talk, then leave. It's July 14th, and we're all incredibly busy."
She moved the folded paper ingot basket to the side, and the old man, carrying his grandson, caught up and asked:
"Master, if we leave it alone, will my grandson recover after the fifteenth of the lunar month?"
Chu Ci glanced at the silent child and sneered, "It depends on that thing's mood."
"If it's in a good mood, it will eat and drink its fill and then leave after the fifteenth."
"If it's in a bad mood, it will naturally cling to your grandson for a few more years."
"Several years?!" The old man's voice suddenly rose.
Does that mean his grandson will be constantly influenced by a ghost as he grows up?
Now he stopped protecting his grandson, threw him to the ground, and cursed:
"You brat, what have you done! Tell me the truth!"
His grandson is spoiled; he even dares to talk back when his grandfather gets anxious.
"I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!"
The old man was furious: "You didn't do anything! There are so many kids in our neighborhood, why would the ghost target you instead of someone else!"
The grandson tried to argue back, but his grandfather picked him up and slapped him on the bottom repeatedly.
Chu Ci estimated that the beating didn't hurt much, but the child's wailing and howling were unusually loud.
Even Grandma, who was preparing offerings in another room, couldn't help but come out and take a look.
Seeing her grandson crying so pitifully, the child's grandmother couldn't bear it anymore.
He grabbed his wife and slapped her twice, yelling, "What are you doing! You'll only be happy if you hurt the child!"
The old man waved the old woman's hand away, "At a time like this, don't stop me! You'll be happy if you let him haunt you for two years!"
If someone is haunted by ghosts from a young age, it's questionable whether they can even grow up healthy!
The grandson got a good beating, and seeing that his grandfather was determined, even his grandmother couldn't stop him. Finally, he realized he was scared.
He sobbed and threw himself into his grandfather's arms, his voice trembling: "Grandpa, please don't hit me, I'll tell you everything..."
“Over there,” he pointed in a direction, “a few days ago, someone made offerings to the grave over there in advance.”
"My friend and I saw that the offerings were delicious little cakes, so we sneaked a couple of bites..."
"Hey, you little rascal!"
The grandson's grandmother was furious and slapped her grandson's bottom twice.
"That's food for the dead! They only eat it twice a year, and you're going to take it from them!"
Trying to steal food from a dead person? No wonder you'll get haunted!
But Chu Ci still stared at him coldly, "Just this one? Anything else?"
The grandson secretly glanced at Chu Ci.
Realizing she wasn't easily fooled, he instinctively tried to hide behind his grandparents.
The old man grabbed his grandson's arm and pulled him out from behind.
In a stern tone: "Speak! Besides stealing the offerings, what else have you done? Speak!"
The little grandson clasped his hands together, hesitating to speak.
Seeing his grandfather raise his hand high again, he closed his eyes, resigned to his fate:
"He even peed on the unfinished cake!"
The old man nearly choked on his own breath. "What did you say?!"
He picked up his grandson, pulled down the child's pants, and spanked him.
With a series of crisp "slap slap slap" sounds, the child cried like a baby.
The grandson's grandmother stopped trying to stop him and was so angry she almost cried.
"You little rascal, people only get two good meals a year, and you... how could you forget to pee up there!"
No wonder he got entangled with them; this brat deserves all the blame!
The child cried loudly after being beaten by his grandfather, and the child's grandmother was so angry that she kept wiping away tears.
She grabbed Chu Ci's hand, pleading, "Master, please! You must save my grandson!"
"He was wrong in this matter, and our family agrees. But we can't let this go on forever, right?"
"Could you help us figure out a way to get rid of that thing that's bothering my grandson?"
Hearing his wife say that, the old man's face hardened, and he pulled his grandson, whose pants were half-down, to stand still.
"You brat, stand up straight! Say you know you're wrong!"
The little grandson was crying miserably, his mouth wide open and his head tilted back as he wailed loudly.
"I'm sorry, Master. I know I was wrong. I'll never do it again!"
But Chu Ci could tell from his face that he was mischievous and unruly, and would likely do it again after this incident.
She looked at the two elderly people and sighed helplessly: "Where are the child's parents? Don't they usually participate in the child's education?"
The old lady sighed as well, "His parents both work for multinational corporations, they're incredibly busy every day, and the child misses them too..."
Every family has its own problems, and nothing is ever perfect.
Their family is well-off, better off than many others.
Chu Ci sighed, "There's no other good way to handle this. Let's take the child to that grave and apologize."
"It just so happens that today is the fourteenth, so let's bring some good incense, candles, and paper money, and also buy a nice cake."
"Have your child offer incense and kneel by the grave for half an hour."
"Do this once at noon today, and then burn paper money for the owner of that grave at your doorstep tonight."
"Let's do these two procedures again tomorrow, be sincere, and we won't hold it against the child too much."
"Alright, alright, thank you so much, Master. I'll take my child to apologize right away!"
The child's grandmother quickly pulled the child to bow and thank Chu Ci.
While pulling up the child's pants, she sternly instructed him.
"Did you hear what the master said? You must be sincere in a moment, understand?"
The child was terrified and nodded vigorously.
Having taken one hundred yuan from them, and seeing that the three generations were about to leave, Chu Ci raised his voice to remind them:
"Don't forget to call that kid who was causing trouble with your grandson; their child is already in the hospital."
"When you have time, make offerings to Ren Wenguang's wife and children. Your child is healthy because of their care."
The elderly couple readily agreed.
Watching them leave, Chu Ci shook her head and continued folding paper ingots beside the bamboo basket.
Grandma had prepared the offerings, and I sat down beside her and folded them too.
"This old man, I really don't know what to say about him."
Grandma had already learned about Ren Wenguang's wife and children from Chu Ci, and couldn't help but shake her head in regret.
“The mother and child died so tragically, and he saw it. What good will it do him to testify in court?”
"Without his testimony, wouldn't the mother and child have died without knowing why?"
Chu Ci had seen many people like this, and spoke of it calmly.
"Everyone has concerns, so it's difficult to do good deeds."
It's just that the mother and son still held onto hope, constantly protecting the old man's grandson, no one knows how much effort they put in.
She turned to her grandmother and asked, "Grandma, after preparing the offerings, is there any food left?"
"Yes, what do you want to do?"
Grandma stood up, led her to another room, and brought out a large bowl.
The large bowl was neatly arranged with the excess ingredients.
"Here it is."
Chu Ci took the bowl. "Okay, I'll go out for a bit."
She carried a bowl in one hand, picked up a few incense sticks and a small incense burner with the other, and went out with a lighter.
Grandma followed behind her and saw her walk to the shop door and put the incense burner on the ground.
He lit a cigarette and stuck it in the incense burner, then placed the large bowl of food next to it, and even bought a bottle of children's milk and put it down.
He laughed and asked, "Who are you giving this to?"
"Give it to Ren Wenguang's wife and children."
Grandma pulled her coat tighter and looked around. "Are they here now?"
Chu Ci hummed in agreement and stepped back, moving a little further away from the offerings.
Where Grandma couldn't see, a little devil with a big belly was lying by the incense burner, sucking hard on the smoke rising from the incense and candles.
"Mommy, it's baby milk!"
The pregnant little devil couldn't wait to grab the bottle of milk, insert the straw, and then put it to his mother's lips first.
"Mom, you drink first!"
The woman, soaking wet, shook her head and brought the bottle of milk to her son's lips.
"Mom doesn't want to drink it, Xiao Bao can drink it."
The pregnant baby smiled happily and eagerly began to drink the milk.
The woman squatted down beside her son, looked at Chu Ci who was watching them from the side, and gently lowered her eyes.
She whispered her thanks: "Thank you, Master."
Chu Ci shook his head and went back to the shop.
On the other hand, after taking his grandson home, Ren Wenguang, the landlord, and his wife immediately went to the home of the child who had been causing trouble with their grandson.
When they arrived, only the child's maternal grandmother was at home.
When they asked about her grandson, the child's maternal grandmother burst into tears.
"My child is in the hospital, sob sob..."
The old man kept wiping away tears, saying, "Everything was fine before. I ate well, slept well, and was healthy since I was a child."
"But two days ago, after coming back from outside, I suddenly started to have a fever at night and started talking nonsense."
"If I didn't keep an eye on him, he would run into the street, and late at night, he almost got hit by a car..."
Every time the child's maternal grandmother spoke, Ren Wenguang's landlord and his wife couldn't help but shudder.
After the child's maternal grandmother finished crying, the two of them asked, "Is the child still in the hospital?"
“That’s right,” the old woman said, her eyes swollen from crying, “The doctors can’t find anything wrong, but the child just stays in a coma…”
Ren Wenguang, the landlord, and his wife exchanged a glance, hesitated, and then revealed what their grandson and the other party's grandson had done.
The child's maternal grandmother froze, her voice rising:
"What?! They actually peed on someone's cake?!"
Ren Wenguang's landlord's grandson was startled by her raised voice and quickly tried to shirk responsibility.
"It wasn't me! It wasn't me who suggested it, it was your grandson who suggested doing it!"
He took advantage of the fact that the person involved was not present and talked nonsense to his heart's content.
“I didn’t want to do it at the time, but he insisted that it was fun and dragged me into doing it…”
But it's pointless to talk about these things now.
The child's maternal grandmother quickly notified her daughter and son-in-law, who were still at the hospital with the child, and asked them to come to the house.
After the two families finished burning paper money with their children, the child who had been in a coma in the hospital woke up.
The family found out the location of Chu Ci's shop and specially sent him 100 yuan as a fortune-telling fee.
Before leaving, he held the pale-faced child and thanked him profusely.
Compared to Ren Wenhua's landlord's grandson, this child, having been frightened by a ghost, was noticeably more well-behaved.
He was led by his mother, and, choking back tears, he made a promise to Chu Ci:
"Master, I know this is wrong, and I will never do it again."
"I will definitely be honest and do more good deeds in the future, and accumulate more merit for myself."
Chu Ci patted his head, "Then you have to keep your word."
The child nodded emphatically, said goodbye to Chu Ci, and was led away by his parents.
Shortly after they left, Chu Ci received a phone call from Bai Shengtian.
Her excited voice came through the telephone line and into the receiver:
"Master! Ren Wenguang's landlord just called me and suddenly agreed to let me testify in court!"
"Although I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind, I was really surprised!"
"With his testimony, Ren Wenguang can't escape this time no matter how he tries to deny it!"
She excitedly declared her intention to avenge the deceased mother and son, only to be quickly interrupted by a phone call from the person involved.
"Master, I have to go now, I need to take this call!"
"Okay, you can go ahead and get busy."
After hanging up the phone, Chu Ci continued preparing the things she would need for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
But right at the beginning, the shop's doorbell rang.
She turned her head and saw a woman with red, swollen eyes from crying push the door open and enter.
He stared at her intently, seemingly harboring some hostility towards her.
Chu Ci: "..."
She frowned and looked at the woman carefully, confirming that she did not recognize her.
"Is there something you need?"
The woman's eyes were bloodshot; she must have been crying for a long time. Her entire eyeballs were covered in red blood vessels.
She sniffed and answered Chu Ci's question:
"Ren Wenguang is my boyfriend."
Chu Ci: "..."
She looked at the woman's red, tear-filled eyes and the reddish stigma of her marital palace, and understood.
"So, what brings you here?"
The woman seemed to be provoked by her calm tone and rushed over quickly.
She demanded in a shrill voice, "Of course something's wrong! Don't you feel any remorse for framing my boyfriend with that lawyer?!"
Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at Chu Ci, gritting her teeth.
"How much did that lawyer pay you to lie? I'll give you double! Go to the police station and bring my boyfriend out!"
Chu Ci raised an eyebrow. "You think Ren Wenguang didn't kill anyone, and that Bai Shengtian was behind his arrest?"
The woman nodded emphatically, stating with absolute certainty: "It must be her. My boyfriend couldn't have killed someone!"
She clenched her fists tightly, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing the bulging veins on her forehead, Chu Ci couldn't help but ask:
"Bai Shengtian and Ren Wenguang have no grudge against each other, so why would Bai frame him?"
The woman choked, then fixed her venomous gaze on Chu Ci.
"It wasn't that female lawyer, it was you!"
"I know, it was the two of you who went to call the police. If it wasn't that female lawyer, it must have been you!"
Chu Ci brushed aside the hand that was pointing at her nose and asked her in return:
"Then what was my motive? Why would I frame Ren Wenguang?"
The woman choked again.
She stared at Chu Ci with red eyes, her lips moving repeatedly, but she couldn't think of a reason.
Finally, he managed to stammer out, "You...you're definitely trying to blackmail him into being with you!"
Chu Ci: "..."
She couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"I threatened him to be with me? What would I want from him then?"
"Is it because he's an alcoholic, unemployed, or that he likes to beat his wife and children?"
The woman opened and closed her mouth, clearly unsure how to answer the question.
Chu Ci stared at the increasingly bright red genitals under her eyes, then looked up at her bloodshot eyes.
"Then let me ask you a different question: what do you want from him if you're with him?"
The woman was stunned once again.
She stared blankly at Chu Ci, thinking for a while.
"Is it because...he's nice to me?"
She herself wasn't sure, and her tone was still filled with doubt.
Chu Ci: "Then think back to the time you spent together, was he really good to you?"
The woman bit her lip, lowered her eyes slightly, and fell silent.
During the time they were together, it seemed that she was the one supporting Ren Wenguang the whole time.
She went out to work and earn money, and all the money she earned had to be handed over to Ren Wenguang.
Then I helped him with laundry, cooking, and cleaning.
Even when Ren Wenguang went out gambling and lost, he would come back and scold her...
Seeing that she was starting to use her brain, Chu Ci circled around her.
Judging from your attire, you shouldn't be short of money.
"Moreover, you are several years younger than Ren Wenguang, and you don't seem to be someone he met when he made his fortune."
"So, why did you choose to be with him?"
The woman looked into Chu Ci's dark eyes and froze.
She suddenly realized that she seemed to have never thought about these questions before.
No, she had thought about it.
But every time she thought about this problem before, a voice in her head told her:
Because he's good to you!
Then came the intense pain.
Over time, she stopped wanting to think about the problem.
She frowned, looking at Chu Ci with confusion: "Why...why would I want to be with him?"
Chu Ci sighed, and roughly understood what was going on with her.
"What's your name? Do you remember where you live?"
"My name is Song Yu, and I live at Ren Wenguang's house..."
"I'm asking where you lived before you moved into Ren Wenguang's house?"
Song Yu stared at Chu Ci in astonishment, her mind blank.
She then realized with a start that she had never thought about this before.
It's as if... she was meant to be at Ren Wenguang's house.
Chu Ci never expected that she would meet such a person on July 14th.
"Don't move."
She reached out and touched the area under Song Yu's eyes, where the area was a bright red.
It also has a faint burning sensation when touched.
This situation is mentioned in "The Quick Guide to Comprehensive Medium Literacy," which describes a person as having been "planted with Yin Peach Blossom" (a form of spiritual cultivation).
Chu Ci glanced at the sky outside; there was still some time before nightfall.
"Since we have some time, I'd like to go with you to Ren Wenguang's house."
After she finished speaking, she wiped her hands and went out with Song Yu.
As soon as they stepped outside, Song Yu's expression changed.
She glared at Chu Ci and shoved her hard.
"What are you doing at my house? What right do you have to go to my house!"
"Did you go to my house to destroy evidence that could clear Ah Guang's name?"
"Don't even think about it, I won't let you succeed!"
Chu Ci: "..."
She sighed and pushed Song Yu back into the shop.
As soon as she returned to the store, Song Yu's angry expression froze, and she covered her mouth in disbelief.
"I...I didn't mean to say those things!"
But for some reason, her mind suddenly went blank.
By the time she realized it, the words had already been spoken.
"Fine, I'll let you come along, but you're still causing me trouble."
Chu Ci held out her hand. "Where's Ren Wenguang's key? Give it to me, I'll go find it."
Song Yu didn't ask what she was looking for and obediently handed over the key.
Just as Chu Ci was about to go out, a black luxury car stopped in front of her.
Chu Ci: "..."
A bodyguard in a black suit got out of the car and opened the door.
Sitting inside was Zhuang Jingxuan, whom I hadn't seen for a long time.
Zhuang Jingxuan was sitting in the car in broad daylight, wearing sunglasses.
Seeing Chu Ci looking over, she smiled and waved.
"Master, where are you going? I'll give you a ride!"
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