It was late at night, but the Gao family's house was still brightly lit. Old Man Gao sat at the top of the table with a solemn expression. Gao's father and mother sat beside him and took out their cell phones from time to time to check them so as not to miss any news from their son. Bai Xian and the head of the Zhou family sat at the bottom, seemingly waiting for something. Zhou Nan, Ai Yu, and a young man in his twenties were standing behind them with their heads lowered, not daring to say a word.
A compass and a map of Haicheng were placed in the middle of the living room. A Taoist priest was using Gao Shukai's blood as a guide to try to find out his location. The blood drop rolled back and forth along the edge of the compass, then slid onto the map, starting from Haicheng No. 1 High School and finally stopping at the Qingyuan Mountain Cemetery.
The Heavenly Master collected his magic and said thoughtfully, "The blood bead can still move, which means that he is not in danger of death for the time being. He is still in the Qingyuan Mountain Cemetery."
"But the police have searched the cemetery and found no trace of them. They say they are still there, they are still there, why can't they be found?" Gao's mother was so anxious that her eyes were red. She looked at Ai Yu and Zhou Nan and asked, "I pay you 50,000 yuan a month. Is this how you protect my son? It's just to accompany him to and from school every day. Is it so difficult?"
The head of the Zhou family immediately explained: "Madam, my Xiaonan was born prematurely and has been sick since birth. He has to go home for a checkup on the 15th of every month. We have already told you this in advance and have also listed the terms in the contract. You should also know this."
Mother Gao tried to hold back her tears and said, "What about her? Why isn't she here either? You were the ones who recommended her to me, saying she would be the future leader of Xuanmen. But now that something's happened, you're trying to blame her and denying her all. Is this how you Xuanmen behave?"
Faced with Gao's mother's accusations, Bai Xian and the head of the Zhou family couldn't help but feel ashamed. Although the people in the Xuanmen sect are proficient in Taoism and have considerable strength, as if they are superior to others, in fact, the Taoist temples they are using now are all built with funds from the Gao family and rented to them at a low price. The crystals, mercury, cinnabar and other materials needed for daily practice are also sponsored by the Gao family.
The relationship between Xuanmen and the chaebols is both complementary and mutually restrictive, and neither can be missing. Moreover, with the reduction of spiritual energy and the decline of Xuanmen, the practice of Xuanshu no longer relies on talent but resources, and the role of the chaebols has become more obvious.
Once Haicheng Xuanmen loses the support of the Gao family chaebol, it will immediately face the danger of disintegration. Whether Gao Shukai can be found is not only a matter for the Gao family, but also a matter for Xuanmen. Thinking of this, the Zhou family patriarch glared at Ai Yu with a look of dismay and said sternly: "Xiao Nan left because she had something to do. What about you? Why did you leave?"
Ai Yu stammered, "I left because Gao Shukai wanted to fire me. I had been planning to return the money to the Gao family today." Others would not be able to practice without the support of the Gao family, but she was not afraid. Her space magic weapon is filled with rare treasures, enough for her to practice for a lifetime.
Zhou Nan glanced at her quickly, frowning, but said nothing. He knew that the situation was not like that. Gao Shukai had never explicitly said that he would fire Ai Yu. He just refused to admit that he liked Ai Yu. It was her self-esteem that was too strong and she acted on impulse. If Ai Yu was really fired, even if Zhou Nan was not feeling well, he would never leave his job without permission. Since when, Ai Yu became more and more sharp, even he could hardly recognize her.
Gao's mother got even angrier after hearing this: "But you didn't pay the money back, did you? Even if you didn't pay the money back, you are still his bodyguard and should be responsible for sending him home. Don't you have any professional ethics? Is it so difficult to send him home? If I had known this, I shouldn't have asked the two children to protect him. It's so irresponsible!"
Old Master Gao said slowly, "Zhou Xinghe, I remember that there is an unwritten rule in your Xuan Sect called 'if you take money from others, you must help them get rid of disasters'. No matter if you are from a decent sect or an evil sect, if you take money, you must do good things for them. But look, where did you take my Shukai? Now I am too lazy to discuss with you who is responsible for this. If you can bring my Shukai back safely, everything will be fine. If not, my Gao family will not be involved in any affairs of Xuan Sect in the future. You can handle it as you wish."
"Don't be angry, old man. We will send someone to bring Shukai back immediately." The head of the Zhou family apologized repeatedly, and finally asked Bai Xian to lead the three juniors to Qingyuan Mountain.
At the same time, Lin Dan also went out with a hundred yuan in his pocket.
"Why are you still going out so late?" Yu Yeying asked worriedly.
"Gao Shukai is missing. I'm going to look for him. Lock the door and be safe."
"Do you like Gao Shukai very much?" Yu Yeying's eyes were dark.
"He is very important to me. Okay, go back to sleep, you have to go to school tomorrow morning." Lin Dan waved his hand without looking back and disappeared into the night.
Yu Yeying stared at her back expressionlessly for a long time without moving.
…………
Qingyuan Mountain was shrouded in a thick fog. Even without the ability to see ghosts and spirits, ordinary people could feel the icy and chilling Yin energy.
Bai Xian's tall figure was set off by the mist, making him look a little ethereal. Even his voice seemed unreal. "Qingyuan Mountain used to be a mass grave. In the late Ming Dynasty, the late Qing Dynasty, and the Anti-Japanese War, this was where people dumped dead bodies. There are a lot of white bones under the soil, so the yin energy is very heavy. You should be careful."
"We understand, Uncle Master." The oldest young man nodded in agreement. His name is Bai Sheng, and he is Bai Xian's nephew. His talent is second only to Ai Yu and Zhou Nan, and he is considered one of the best among the younger generation in Xuanmen.
"The fog is getting thicker, follow me closely." Bai Xian disappeared on the spot as soon as he finished speaking. Zhou Nan and others were shocked and were swallowed by the thick fog not long after they chased him.
Lin Dan had already placed a tracking Gu on Gao Shukai, so she could easily track his whereabouts. She spent more than 20 yuan to buy a shovel, took a taxi, and rushed to Qingyuan Mountain overnight. The driver kept looking at her in the rearview mirror with a frightened expression. It's because her skin is too white, her lips are too red, and she is too beautiful, she looks like a female ghost who eats people's souls in the movies. After receiving the money she gave him, the driver turned on the ceiling light and checked it over and over for a long time. Only after making sure that it was not paper money for the dead did he drive away in a hurry.
Relying on the induction between the mother Gu and the child Gu, Lin Dan slowly shuttled through the thick fog and came to a tomb. He dug up the surface soil in a few strokes, pried open the coffin lid, and pulled out Gao Shukai who was sleeping soundly inside.
However, as soon as she touched Gao Shukai's arm, she fainted. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in a cramped rental house, where three men were beating up a teenager. The boy looked very handsome, but his body was covered with scars, some from being hit by fists, some from being hit by stools, some from being burned by cigarette butts, and some from being cut by knives. It was a bloody mess.
The strongest man beat him and cursed: "Fuck you, you faggot! How dare you peek at me while I'm taking a shower!"
"I didn't!" The boy covered his head and groaned, his voice full of pain.
"No matter whether you have it or not, I just can't stand you! Let's carry him to the bathroom and let him taste the hot pig skin." The man smiled ferociously. The other two immediately dragged the boy into the bathroom, pushed him into the bathtub, and scalded him with boiling water. When they heard him screaming for mercy, they clapped their hands and laughed, looking extremely happy.
Lin Dan tried to stop them, but found that his hand passed through the bodies of the three people and only grabbed a ball of air. She seemed to have transformed into a spirit state.
She squatted down and carefully checked the boy's condition, but found a trace of helplessness in his dark eyes, like a dying animal. In a trance, she also saw another face overlapping below his face. This look, this outline, were all too familiar to her.
"Gao Shukai?" she whispered in surprise.
The boy, who was twitching from the burns, seemed to have heard her call and opened his eyes to look over.
Lin Dan no longer hesitated. His nails suddenly grew larger and quickly penetrated into the boy's body, pulling out the soul that did not belong to this skin. Gao Shukai suddenly threw himself on her and was hugged by her, his body still shaking uncontrollably.
The scene of three men abusing the teenager was frozen, as if a movie was paused by the audience.
"Lin Dan, why are you here?" Gao Shukai spoke anxiously before he could calm down: "Run quickly, don't get caught by the ghost! He will stuff you into this person's body and let you suffer endless torture. I have been tortured more than ten rounds, it's really scary! Where is the door? Why is the door gone?" He pulled Lin Dan around the room, looking for the door that suddenly disappeared.
"Don't panic, just watch first." Lin Dan patted his back with a soothing voice.
As she opened her mouth, the frozen scene began to play out again. The boy was locked in a rental house by three men. When they went to work during the day, he was tied to the bathroom with a chain. He had no food to eat and could only starve. He had no water to drink and could only drink the dirty water in the toilet. At night, the three men came back and would take turns torturing him. They called him a fag, burned him with cigarette butts, whipped him, and used all kinds of unimaginable tools to destroy his body.
And all this was just because the boy's sexual orientation was accidentally discovered by them. He was also a tenant of this house, sharing part of the rent. He had no interactions with the three men, nor any grudges between them. They had a miserable life and were losers, but the boy was admitted to a key university nearby and had a bright future. They watched him go to school happily every day and plan for his future, so they came up with the idea of destroying him.
"Gay bastard" is just an excuse, as if with this title, the boy deserves to be tortured by them.
They locked him in the house and tortured him for more than ten days, forced him to eat feces and drink urine, and did all kinds of evil things. Finally, they strangled him to death, cut his body into small pieces, took it to a newly dug grave in Qingyuan Mountain, and filled it with a layer of soil. The next day, the funeral procession arrived and placed a coffin directly on top of the body parts, pressing him there silently.
Just by looking at what happened to the young man, Lin Dan felt a chill run down his spine, not to mention that Gao Shukai had experienced it himself? He has experienced this not just once, but dozens of times. How strong is he to be able to stand by himself soberly and not fall into madness? Thinking of this, Lin Dan put one hand around Gao Shukai's waist, patted him on the back with the other hand, and said softly: "It's okay, I'll take you out. I said, no matter what danger you encounter, I will come to save you."
Gao Shukai was immediately healed by her comfort. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and his ears turned red.
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