Chapter 57 The abandoned, wandering ghosts must have been deliberately set up by the young master...
Where did it go?
come out.
come out!
Li Xin's eyes were blank and empty as he kept digging at the scorched earth.
The underground space was empty, and the soil was still scalding hot, highlighting the intensity of the fire.
Li Xin glanced at the dark humanoid figure beside him, his head throbbing with excruciating pain as if his nerves were being torn apart, and he quickly looked away.
Suddenly stunned, I could only hear the pounding of my own heart.
A sudden, overwhelming pain.
Young master.
How could this be his young master?
...Was he pushing too hard?
What led to this result?
Li Xin was bewildered.
He urged the young master to come back soon, he urged the young master to stay put. He urged, he pressed.
He wanted to keep the young master trapped in his grasp, preventing him from going anywhere.
...and then the young master really died.
Is he really dead?
No, that's impossible.
Li Xin suddenly shook his head, his anger mixed with confusion and fear, his dark pupils almost empty and eerie.
No, it won't.
The young master must have hidden himself.
How could he have died?
Just today, not long ago, he saw him through the glass.
The young master is smiling.
They were talking together in the morning, and still entwined together at night.
You can hear the young master's voice and touch his skin.
In just half a day.
He...died?
Living people have been turned into curled-up, dark-skinned figures?
No, it won't.
No, it won't.
Li Xin was terrified, on the verge of collapse, his eyes wide with fury, a mixture of rage and bewilderment.
He didn't believe it.
He doesn't believe it!
Young Master, Su Jinmu.
He must be hiding, he must be!
...But with such a huge fire, where could he possibly hide?
Li Xin's breathing was hoarse and heavy as he dug into the underground soil.
The temperature was still high, the soil was scalding hot, and the skin and joints rolled in, blisters formed in no time, and then the flesh became a bloody mess, dripping blood.
Li Xin propped himself up on the ground, like a madman who had lost his mind, or a ghost who had never seen the light of day.
Under the sun, the pale color gradually faded away.
"Young Master."
"Young Master?"
He shouted, trying to call out the person who was hiding.
Su's parents came up and pulled him back. When they saw the dark, curled-up human figure, they were stunned and couldn't come to their senses.
But Li Xin is no ordinary person; we can't let him continue to harm himself like this.
"Get up first."
Su's father said, "There's only soil in the field, nothing else."
Li Xin shoved him away, his eyes bloodshot, looking both ferocious and insane. "Get out of my way."
Su's father held him tightly, his expression tense. "Are you planning to dig a hole and bury Xiao Mu right there?"
"Shut up!!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!" A thunderous roar exploded in Li Xin's ears, his eyes almost overflowing with violence. His trembling voice drowned out Su's father's. "What nonsense are you spouting!"
"roll!"
Li Xin shook him off and wanted to continue digging, but his gaze fell to the pit he had dug in the ground.
A deafening roar filled his ears, his fingertips trembled slightly, and he finally stopped moving.
He stood there for a moment, as if stunned and unable to react.
A moment later, he ordered his men to surround the greenhouse and forbid anyone from approaching.
He bent down, wrapped the dark humanoid figure beside him with his clothes, slowly stood up as if he had lost all strength, and led it back to the third floor.
Li Xin held the doll in his arms, stunned. He wanted to put it on the bed, but then turned it around and placed it on the table.
His dark eyes seemed somewhat empty.
Don't get the bed dirty, or the young master will be angry.
As for that...that humanoid figure.
Definitely not.
Definitely not.
That's not the young master.
Li Xin seemed to have gone mad, not even glancing at the human figure. His heart was tearing at him, he could barely breathe, his chest was trembling, and his eyes searched the room, trying to find a familiar figure.
Everything in the bedroom was as it had always been.
There was no change from when I left home this morning.
The young master's books were on the bookshelf, a half-empty glass of water sat on the table, and his favorite nightlight stood by the bedside.
The curtains were half-drawn, and the blankets on the bed were not folded, just messy and natural, waiting for their owner to come back, lie down on them, and stretch out and roll around comfortably.
Everything is as it was.
They were just waiting for the room's owner to return.
Li Xin's breathing was labored, his chest tight. He looked around and caught sight of the human figure on the table. As if burned by flames, he quickly looked away.
No, it's not that.
Li Xin went crazy. He picked up his phone, wanting to call Su Jinmu and ask him why he hadn't come back yet.
The phone rang, but there was no reply.
The door was open, and outside, Su's mother pursed her lips, holding the charred cell phone she had picked up from the flower room.
He passed it forward a little.
Li Xin paused, somewhat stunned, and looked down. It was the young master's.
—It's burnt out.
Li Xin's pupils constricted instantly, as if his nerves had snapped suddenly, his head throbbed with pain, and his heart felt as if it had been ripped open.
Blood was gushing out.
He snatched it away and placed it on the bedside table, in the place furthest away from the human-shaped object.
The malevolent aura was scattered and confused.
how so.
What exactly happened? Why did the fire start?
...The young master wanted to leave.
Li Xin suddenly remembered something, his dark pupils lifted, and his expression became strange and eerie.
right.
He wanted to leave.
Maybe it's a smokescreen; the young master has actually hidden himself and run away.
Maybe.
Li Xin suddenly laughed, a laugh that was somewhat frighteningly manic. He looked at Su's parents as if grasping at a straw, his voice hoarse.
Where are the Xu family members?
Su's father: "...The Xu family?"
Mr. Su paused for a moment, then said, "I don't know."
Li Xin tried calling the Xu family, but couldn't get through to any of them; all the calls went unanswered.
He called Jiang Jing again, and this time the call went through.
Where are the Xu family members?
Jiang Jing rarely receives calls from Li Xin. "My aunt's family suddenly went out of town today. They left in a hurry. I don't know why."
...went to another city?
Li Xin lowered his eyes. The young master had visited the Xu family today.
As soon as the young master left, they went to another city?
Li Xin summoned someone, his face as white as a ghost, eerily terrifying, and ordered, "Investigate."
"yes."
My subordinates investigated quickly and brought back news in no time.
"The Xu family received a message today from an orphanage in the north, saying that they found DNA that matches that of the Xu family's youngest son."
"?!?!"
Li Xin suddenly looked up and stared straight at him.
The DNA of the youngest son of the Xu family?
How did they end up in an orphanage in the north?
Is the youngest son of the Xu family not the young master?
Li Xin's eyes were shockingly dark, his breathing was deep, and his mind was a jumble of thoughts. Suddenly, he realized that the young master had not actually done a DNA test with the Xu family.
but……
It should be correct.
As if he had discovered something, Li Xin suddenly sprang into action, collecting all the hair in the room.
On the bed, and there were things he had hidden before.
Bring them all out, call someone over, and send them directly for DNA testing.
but--
"No hair follicles."
"No hair follicles."
"There are still no hair follicles."
Not a single one, not a single hair.
How can there be so many coincidences?
Li Xin's eyes were dark and crazed. Suddenly, he thought of something: a toothbrush, a toothbrush would work too.
He went into the bathroom, took out his toothbrush, and did the DNA test.
"This looks like a new toothbrush, but we still can't detect it."
...a new toothbrush.
When was it changed?
A storm raged through Li Xin's mind. After a moment, he suddenly grinned, a strange and eerie smile spreading across his face.
Not a single trace of DNA could be detected.
He didn't believe it was such a coincidence.
There's a problem.
There must be a problem.
Li Xin laughed, his smile eerily sinister, like someone who had been parched for a long time desperately grasping at a drop of sweet rain.
I thought about it quickly.
He and the young master haven't been to P's place recently, but P also has the hair he collected.
Li Xin sent someone to retrieve it, "to be tested again!"
"I've got it! There's a hair follicle!"
Everything is urgent.
The DNA test results were delivered to Li Xin immediately.
It is completely consistent with the DNA archive of the former youngest son of the Xu family.
It's confirmed to be the same person!
……Ha ha ha ha.
Li Xin laughed maniacally, his eyes brimming with ecstasy.
Even the most meticulous plans can have a flaw; there's bound to be a problem.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the young master visited the Xu family, and then the Xu family found his DNA and he left for the north?
The Su family, however, didn't have a single usable hair.
It can't be that coincidental.
Li Xin's eyes were dark, yet seemed to glow. His pale face wore a horrified smile as he used his own hair to test his DNA.
The results showed that the two tests that Xu Jia and Su Jinmu had done before used his hair.
Li Xin's breathing seemed to become a little easier, and he laughed wildly, his face contorted and ferocious.
Yes, it must be, it must be something the young master designed on purpose.
He wanted to run away.
Li Xin suddenly realized, seemingly relieved, and felt both happy and excited.
Where is the young master?
Greenhouse.
It must still be in the greenhouse.
As if given a shot of adrenaline, Li Xin rushed downstairs to the greenhouse.
People surrounded the greenhouse, which remained unchanged.
It was still a scorched wasteland inside.
Everything was pitch black, and the smell of gunpowder lingered for a long time.
Li Xin's lips twitched as he wandered around the greenhouse, his voice soft and gentle, as if afraid of startling someone.
"Young Master?"
Li Xin stared at the ground, at every corner, occasionally turning over the soil, a strange gentleness on his face, and softly called out, "Young Master, I know your plan. Come out, I'm not hiding anymore."
"How about we come out?"
"Young Master?"
"Come out, I won't force you, I won't cling to you, and I won't make you angry anymore."
"Come out."
The greenhouse was deathly silent.
Outside, Su's parents watched as Li Xin muttered to himself to the ground, seemingly lost in thought, his lips pressed tightly together, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
There was still no movement from the greenhouse. Li Xin's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, began to tighten again. His nerves throbbed and his temples throbbed with pain. He straightened up and let out two muffled laughs.
"Tear down the glass wall, leaving only the roof, and call an excavator to dig down the entire ground."
"……yes."
The subordinates received the order and carried it out quickly.
The construction team first propped up the four corners of the glass roof, and then dismantled the surrounding glass walls.
The glass is incredibly strong, almost like a bulletproof material, and extremely solid.
The excavator started up, making a rumbling sound, and quickly dug away a large area of soil.
Li Xin stared intently, his voice hoarse, "Be gentle, don't touch the young master."
Su's parents thought he had gone mad.
Why would a person hide in the soil? There's no oxygen there, and they wouldn't survive there anyway.
Xiao Mu wouldn't bury herself alive, would she?
Li Xin was oblivious to their gazes, or rather, he didn't care.
The young master is hiding; he must be hiding.
The excavator kept digging, lowering the entire floor of the greenhouse by one meter.
The ground was flat, and the excavated soil was clean and pure, with nothing hidden inside.
There isn't any underground either.
Human-shaped, vibrant, capable of movement and speech.
There was nothing there.
...Nobody was there.
Li Xin's head was buzzing, and he was almost stunned. He went into the greenhouse in a daze and groped around in the pit a meter deep.
"Young Master?"
He flipped over a rock, looked at the pit below, and called out, "Young Master?"
"Young Master?"
"Su Jinmu?"
The greenhouse had no walls, and the wind blew through it, making it almost bone-chillingly cold.
Li Xin shivered, his breathing became labored, and he seemed unable to catch his breath.
He... guessed wrong?
Li Xin's face was pale, devoid of any color, and he seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet.
No, the DNA, the hair, the toothbrush—there must be something wrong with these.
It is by no means a coincidence.
Li Xin didn't rush to send the DNA results to the Xu family. The young master was being pressured too much by him and didn't want to go to the Xu family. He even deliberately sent the hair out to lure the Xu family away.
He is obedient.
He's good.
He stopped going against the young master.
If you don't want to go, then don't go; if you don't want to acknowledge it, then don't acknowledge it.
"Young master, come out of the greenhouse quickly, don't hide anymore."
He read aloud, but the greenhouse remained deathly silent, with only his voice echoing.
Li Xin stood a meter underground, looking around blankly at the empty surroundings.
The greenhouse is only so big, young master, where could you possibly be?
A scene flashed in my mind, and suddenly the image of that curled-up, dark black figure appeared.
Li Xin's head throbbed with intense pain, as if it were about to be crushed and shattered, and his heart felt like it was being torn apart by needles.
No, it won't.
How could that be?
That definitely isn't his young master.
Li Xin's face was deathly pale, his eyebrows and eyes were dark and empty.
It doesn't look like a living person.
Looks like a ghost.
.
Su's parents wanted to bury the dark, human-shaped object in Su Jinmu's name.
Li Xin's eyes were terrifyingly cold, and he was ruthless on the spot.
Su's parents dared not mention it again.
Li Xin put the doll into the transparent cabinet, which was still placed in the bedroom on the third floor.
He forbade people to talk nonsense, to mention death, and especially to associate the word "death" with the young master.
They insisted that Su Jinmu had gone into hiding.
Deceiving oneself, like a lost ghost who can't find its way home.
Li Xin didn't care at all.
The one-meter-deep pit in the greenhouse has been backfilled.
The large, flat excavation marks made the base of the greenhouse look like a huge burial pit.
Li Xin couldn't stand it and had it filled back in.
The soil layers were mixed, and the scorched earth was not visible. It seemed as if it had been restored to its original state.
Li Xin kept thinking.
There was no flower room, the young master wasn't in the flower room, maybe the figure he saw that day...maybe it wasn't the young master himself?
Projection, video?
Perhaps it's just a hallucination caused by his images.
Including the tracking of the bracelet's movement that day, could it be that the young master bribed someone to have someone else carry the bracelet around?
He's so smart, he probably already ran away.
This is just an illusion.
Li Xin then arranged for people to check all major transportation routes, every airport and train station, and every departing person.
Li Xin forbade anyone to speak nonsense to outsiders, but despite his extensive surveillance and investigations, rumors still began to circulate.
The news that the Su family had caught fire and killed Su Er, Su Er's former servant, and now Li Xin, the powerful and influential man in Jingzhou, was unacceptable and was on the verge of madness.
The Xu family was busy searching for people in the north, traveling around every day and investigating everywhere, and paid no attention to Jingzhou.
When I finally received the news and returned from the north, it was already a month later.
It was Jiang Jing who told the Xu family.
The Su family was completely sealed off. Qiao Tingrui had only taken two days off before, but when she returned, she was not allowed to enter.
Jiang Jing was also unable to get any information from Qiao Tingrui.
It was only after the rumors started circulating that I was unsure whether they were true or false, but I contacted my aunt, Su Han.
Su Han and the other two rushed back, travel-worn and exhausted, having worked through the night, and arrived at the Su family's house in a daze.
The guards at the door let the three people in.
As you walk further in, you can immediately see the glass greenhouse that has been demolished down to just the roof.
The hottest weather seemed to be over; a light drizzle was falling, and the sky was overcast.
Li Xin stood outside the greenhouse, staring intently for a long time.
Like a stubborn rock.
Su Han was bewildered. She stepped forward and looked into the greenhouse. The soil was messy, but she could still see some scorched earth and traces of fire.
Su Han stared for a while, seemingly lost in thought, her mind blank, before turning to Li Xin.
"...Where is Jinmu?"
Li Xin stood there, as if his soul had been hollowed out, leaving only a shell, his dark eyes unlit and gloomy.
Where is Jinmu?
Su Han asked again, and Li Xin seemed to snap out of his daze, his gaze sweeping over the Xu family members.
"Did you find anyone when you went north?"
He seemed to have not spoken for a long time, or perhaps he had been calling Su Jinmu's name too many times to himself; his voice was low, hoarse, and eerily cold.
Xu Sibai pursed his lips and shook his head. "Didn't find it."
They received the same DNA test results, but the orphanage was too remote and lacked proper surveillance, so they couldn't find out who sent the hair.
I can't find it no matter how hard I look.
Li Xin looked to the side and saw someone holding a document, handing it to the Xu family members.
Su Han took it and looked through it.
Very thick material.
It's a DNA comparison.
He and Mumu have the exact same DNA information, a DNA comparison of the same person!
Xu Yu and Xu Sibai were also staring intently at the materials. Su Han's eyes widened slightly, and her voice trembled inexplicably, as if she were choking, "Whose...is this?"
"...Young Master's."
Li Xin's eyes were empty, and he tugged at the corner of his mouth as if he were smiling, "The hair he gave you before was mine."
A few loud noises rang in Su Han's head, booming and exploding. Her vision suddenly went black, her breathing stopped, and she almost fainted.
"...Jin, Jinmu, where are they?"
“It’s hidden.” Li Xin stared at the greenhouse, expressionless.
Su's parents were standing outside. Li Xin had sealed off the Su family's residence, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. Su's parents had been unable to come and go and were feeling extremely stifled. They were sighing near the flower room.
Xu Sibai looked over, and Su's father shook his head.
Where is it hidden? It's clearly... clearly...
Li Xin said that what was in the flower room was an illusion, a projection, but many servants saw Su Jinmu come back from outside that day.
We went up to the third floor and then came down again, entering the greenhouse.
How could something seen with one's own eyes be a projection?
Li Xin simply refused to believe it.
"Knock knock!"
Knock knock knock!
Someone knocked on the closed door after a long absence.
Almost no one came to the Su family during this period. Su's father couldn't go out and felt restless, so he went to check on them.
"Someone from a private hospital said they had some things stored there and wanted to send them over."
"For Li Xin."
Li Xin slightly raised his eyes and glanced at him.
For him?
He let the people in; two or three medical staff in white coats were carrying a locked box.
He reached out and handed it over.
"This storage has been there for a while, and they asked us to bring it over at a specified time."
Li Xin's heart skipped a beat, his eyes dark and intense, giving off a strange feeling.
For him?
Li Xin accepted it and slowly opened it.
The first thing you feel is the icy cold air.
A chilling aura enveloped him.
Inside was an ice pack, and in the middle was a bag of scarlet liquid.
It's blood.
Li Xin's pupils contracted as he stared intently, his breathing erratic and his voice hoarse.
"...Who saved it?"
The medical staff said, "His name is Su Jinmu. He came to deposit it the day after the typhoon hit Jingzhou. He's not donating it, he's just storing it."
typhoon.
Li Xin's heart clenched.
At that time, he knew that the young master knew about his anorexia and wanted to make it clear, but the young master wouldn't allow it and was unwilling.
He neither acknowledged his anorexia nor admitted that he was helpful in treating his anorexia.
The next day, they gave him a lot of clothes and even had his blood drawn.
Li Xin's fingertips turned white, and his pupils were almost the same color as the liquid in the box, an incomparably scarlet red.
Like someone so fragile that they have to bend down and hold the box tightly in their hands.
He regretted it.
He pushed her too hard and was too clingy.
If the young master hadn't been so pressured and kept so tightly under control, he probably wouldn't have been in the greenhouse that noon.
He regretted it.
He can be less clingy.
Li Xin felt as if he was being drained dry.
Su Han regained her composure and tried to steady herself. "That...that one in the greenhouse..."
She paused, unwilling to refer to the charred human figure from the rumors as Jin Mu.
Where?
She asked.
"Third floor." Su's father glanced at Li Xin, "They won't let him go down..." for the burial.
Su Han hurriedly went upstairs.
Xu Yu and Xu Sibai followed.
The bedroom on the third floor remained completely unchanged, bearing the strong marks of life and brimming with vitality.
It's as if the room's owner lives here every day, never leaving for a moment.
Su Han immediately spotted the curled-up human figure inside the transparent cabinet, seemingly huddled together out of fear of pain.
It doesn't look like it used to be.
...Just a month ago, we were talking by each other's bedside.
That's not how it is at all.
Su Han almost lost her balance and was supported by Xu Yu. After catching her breath, she suddenly looked away.
no.
No, it won't.
Su Han was bewildered, while Xu Yu and Xu Sibai stared blankly, speechless and incredulous.
Su Han ignored the look, shifted her gaze, and scanned the room. For some reason, she suddenly started rummaging around.
Look around and see if there's anything strange or unusual.
A clue, a hint of something amiss.
A little something that can support a person.
She flipped through the pages, not moving them around much, but examining them very carefully.
I opened the drawer and saw a wallet containing some cards.
I rummaged through another drawer and found another card lying alone on the outside.
Li Xin came up, and Su Han turned around and asked, "What kind of card is this? Why is it placed separately?"
Li Xin stared at it for a while, "It's been there for a long time, and I haven't asked about it."
"Take this and check it." Su Han handed it to someone.
The result came out quickly: it was an ordinary bank card with a considerable amount of money in it. What was different was that the purpose of each transaction was clearly stated.
The year and month, the tutoring course fee, including many detailed course categories.
Living expenses.
Gift expenses.
Return it to the Su family.
Each stroke was clear and distinct, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings.
Su Han suddenly looked at the Su family members and stared straight at them.
"Why... so many classes?"
Mr. Su was startled and stammered, "Why are you looking at us? Class...class means class. We didn't know about the card, Xiao Mu..."
Su's father's voice weakened. Originally, it was a good thing that Su Jinmu was a member of the Xu family, but he died in the Su family, which added another burden to the family.
Su's father became nervous.
.
At night, Li Xin lay in bed, the soft bedding still carrying the faint sweet fragrance of Su Jinmu.
But it has been too long and is almost gone.
Li Xin buried his face in the glass and rubbed against it. In the dimly lit room, his consciousness was blurred, but he seemed to hear a familiar, clear voice.
"Don't pull it so tight, it's uncomfortable."
Young master!
A surge of joy welled up in Li Xin's heart. He went up and grabbed her tightly, instinctively reaching out to embrace the person beside him.
He pulled her close to his chest.
But the next instant of the movement, it suddenly missed its target.
There was only a little bit of cold air in my arms.
Li Xin suddenly woke up with a start.
The room was empty, the bed was cold, devoid of any life, and lacked the warmth of the young master.
Li Xin's eyes were dark, and he didn't blink as he reached for the lighter on the bedside table.
Press the button with a blank expression.
A faint, eerie flame flickered in the room.
Extinguish, reignite, extinguish, reignite.
Looking at Li Xin's face, it became even more sinister, like a lost and wandering ghost.
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