Chapter 40
Chen Zhong curled up his body, slowly squatted down, and burst into tears with his head in his hands.
Xiao Ai walked over slowly and stood in front of Chen Zhong. She placed one hand on Chen Zhong's head and carefully touched his hair. She spoke in a tender voice,
"Dad, don't cry, Xiao Ai is here."
Xiao Ai's voice came to his ears, and he felt Xiao Ai's touch. Although Chen Zhong couldn't see Xiao Ai's figure, his eyes were firm as he stretched out his hand and hugged the invisible Xiao Ai in front of him.
"Xiao Ai, Daddy is sorry for you."
Xiao Ai didn't say anything and hugged Chen Zhong with her arms.
At this moment, Su Xia's face was full of shock. She looked at Chen Zhong with disbelief. She couldn't come back to her senses for a long time. After a long time, she asked,
"Chen Zhong, who are you holding now?"
Chen Zhong tried hard to adjust his mood, wiped the tears from his face, took Xiao Ai's hand and walked towards Su Xia, with a sad but happy smile on his face, and took Su Xia's hand with his other hand.
"Wife, this is Xiao Ai, our daughter Xiao Ai. Do you remember her?"
But Su Xia's face was full of disbelief, and her brain suddenly stopped working. She seemed to have no idea what Chen Zhong was saying, and she said hesitantly,
"Xiao...Xiao Ai, our daughter? When will we..."
Xiao Ai looked at Su Xia with hope in her eyes, staring at her motionlessly.
A trace of sadness flashed across Chen Zhong's face, but he quickly adjusted his expression, forced a smile, and patiently explained to Su Xia,
"Wife, don't you remember? It was because Xiao Ai fell from the corridor and died on the spot that you became absent-minded and lived like a zombie every day. That's why you got into a car accident and left me."
As soon as the words came out, Lin Sheng and Xu Guannan's eyes widened instantly, their expressions full of surprise. They looked at Su Xia, but no matter how hard they looked, Su Xia was no different from an ordinary person, and there was nothing unusual to be seen.
Su Xia was shocked again, and her pale lips parted slightly. After a long while, she uttered a sentence.
"I...I'm a ghost too? I've been dead for a long time? But they can all see me, and I can still touch you."
"That's because I've been burning bone incense at home. I heard about a Taoist method that said burning bone incense at home for ninety days can bring the dead back to life. I did it, and I didn't expect you to really come back, but with some memory loss. At first, you even forgot about me.
Later, I continued to want Xiao Ai to come back. You would definitely be happier with Xiao Ai. But Xiao Ai can't wait for 90 days now. She can only look at you. Every time she calls you, you can't hear her, you can't see her, and you can't touch her.
Su Xia's face showed a touching expression. Even though she couldn't believe it, the soft touch in her heart would not lie.
"So...where is she now?"
Chen Zhong heard this and a happy smile appeared on his face. His eyes were filled with happiness. He quietly put Xiao Ai's hand in Su Xia's and asked caringly,
"Do you feel her? Xiao Ai is right next to you."
Xiao Ai looked up at Su Xia, her eyes filled with hope. She raised her other hand and gently pulled Su Xia's nightgown.
At this moment, Su Xia truly felt Xiao Ai's presence. Although she still couldn't see her, her thoughts became messy at the moment of touch, and an inexplicable sense of satisfaction surged in her heart.
Su Xia squatted down and hugged Xiao Ai in her arms.
When Chen Zhong saw this scene, he hugged the two of them tightly. At this moment, it was as if he was hugging his whole world.
The living room fell into silence. Lin Sheng's heart was also touched by this scene, but he had to remind him.
"Mr. Chen, I understand your feelings, but have you thought about the consequences? Even if they become solid objects, and can be hugged and touched, they will not be able to live like normal people.
You can't see the sun, you can't breathe incense, you can't live a normal life, and you might have to spend the rest of your life in a house. Is this really what you want?"
Chen Zhong had already understood this in his heart. He slowly loosened his arms and looked at Lin Sheng.
"I know everything you said, but I just want to try it once. I don't want Xia Xia to leave with guilt."
Xu Guannan stood aside, his face showing displeasure, and said coldly,
"Is your original intention really for Su Xia and not for yourself? If we have to do it all over again, will Su Xia have to go through separation again?"
Chen Zhong was stunned. He never expected Xu Guannan to say such a thing, but he could not find any excuse to exonerate himself.
Lin Sheng looked at Chen Zhong helplessly, with a hint of displeasure in his words.
"If you do this, you will only trap the souls of Su Xia and Xiao Ai here. After a long time, they will not be able to enter the reincarnation cycle. You must know this. The person who sold you the bone incense has already reminded you of this."
Chen Zhong did not answer, but slowly lowered his head, as if he knew he was in the wrong, or perhaps it was more of a guilty conscience, with a sense of dissatisfaction in his heart, and whispered,
"For them, my life span is also decreasing. Haven't I done enough?"
Seeing this, Lin Sheng couldn't help but snort coldly, looked at Chen Zhong coldly, and continued,
"Condensing into a physical entity does indeed consume your lifespan. If you want the physical entity to last longer, the lifespan required will increase. You are indeed exchanging your life for your own, but does Su Xia really want this? Being trapped here for the rest of your life, without seeing the sun, can this really be called happiness?"
The original happiness was shattered at this moment, like a fragile illusion that could not withstand any wind and frost. Just a slight blow would reveal its ugliest original appearance.
"Their lives shouldn't be decided by you alone."
Lin Sheng turned to look at Su Xia and Xiao Ai, his face showing a gloomy expression, and spoke in a calm tone,
"Whether you stay or go is your own decision. We should have reached the end of your story, and tampering with it without permission may not be a good thing."
Su Xia's eyes dimmed, and she held Xiao Ai's hand tightly, as if she had made a decision. She walked to Chen Zhong, hugged him, and comforted him softly.
"Chen Zhong, let Xiao Ai and I leave."
*
Lin Sheng and Xu Guannan walked out of the community. A breeze blew past them. The weather was clear. Yesterday's howling wind seemed like a dream, lingering only at that particular time.
Lin Sheng looked at Xu Guannan, unable to tell what he was thinking, and spoke curiously.
"Captain Xu, are you really not planning to take Chen Zhong away? Bone incense is a banned substance, and he'll be sentenced to at least ten to twenty years."
Xu Guannan shook his head lightly and replied,
"No need. Just knowing the place where the bone incense is sold is enough. Besides, as you just said, he doesn't have much time left. He can't survive in prison."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng raised his eyebrows, as if agreeing with his statement.
"He's raising two entities at once, so the losses are doubled. Even if he stops now, he won't have many days left."
That night, Lin Sheng started a live broadcast, and soon viewers flocked in, expressing their desire to hear the follow-up to the Xiao Gui incident.
[Master, is there really a little ghost? Is that man lying?]
What happened next? Is he really not afraid of raising a ghost at home?
[Please tell me about the follow-up. I'm so anxious. Is the little girl I mentioned last night real?]
Seeing the barrage of questions, Lin Sheng replied directly,
"Don't mention it anymore. Even if there is one, it won't be found on you. From today on, this matter is over. Don't mention it again. As usual, if you want fortune-telling, you have to pay one out of ten."
It didn't take long before someone placed an order.
Lin Sheng saw the backstage order information and readily agreed to the other party's request for a live broadcast.
"Hello, beautiful lady, what can I ask?"
[The master's expression changes so quickly. Just now he looked impatient, but now he is smiling like a flower.]
[You change your face like turning the pages of a book, Master, you are so fickle. But I like it.]
[This can't be another ghost story, right? ]
Opposite was a beautifully dressed young lady with light brown curly hair that fell past her shoulders. Her delicate eyebrows and eyes were shining with a bright light. The expression between her eyebrows seemed not to be very good. She asked Lin Sheng about her inner doubts.
"Master, just call me Li Ke. I've been living with my boyfriend lately, but he seems to have lost interest in me. His attitude is much colder than before. Do you think he has someone else outside?"
Another love-brained person.
Lin Sheng complained in his heart, but since the other party was a customer, he didn't dare to say it directly. He asked specifically,
"Be more specific. How did you sense his attitude becoming cold?"
"I hugged less often, started to pay more attention to my appearance, and my style of clothing changed a lot, but it's more to my taste."
Is she here to tell fortunes or to show affection? Can the words "to your liking" and "indifferent" fit into the same sentence?
[? ? Are you okay, sisters? Why are you showing off your affection? Are you trying to gain attention?]
[Thinking of creating an account this way is a bit dirty.]
Unable to understand the meaning of her words for the time being, Lin Sheng continued,
"Anything else? Stop wasting your time. If you don't get to the point, I'm going to kick you out and won't refund your money."
"Yes, yes, please don't kick me, he will take the initiative to do housework now. He usually helps me wash clothes and cook. When I was on my period, he even knew to make brown sugar water. He is so thoughtful.
But at night he would resist being intimate with me, and when he was in the mood, he would only use small props. This was very unlike his original personality, and the change was too sudden. I always felt something was wrong, as if there was a different person around me.
I watched yesterday's live broadcast, so I wanted to ask, could my boyfriend be... possessed by a ghost?
[Another one? Are ghosts so rampant lately? Running around everywhere?]
[No way, what's going on? ]
[Is this person making up stories just to scare people? ]
A question popped up in Lin Sheng's mind, and he looked a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a long time before asking,
"Is it possible that he...can't..."
The barrage of comments instantly erupted with merciless ridicule.
Li Ke's face flushed instantly, and he quickly denied it.
"No, no, before we lived together, he was still very capable. We... tried it, and it felt pretty good."
Lin Sheng responded again,
"So the back is not working? Let him go to the hospital for a checkup."
"We all have regular physical examinations, and all indicators are normal. But Master, I saw an eyeball in the trash can in the bathroom today. I'm a little scared. Could it be..."
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