2 Near Demon
◎The best second son in the world◎
There was some noisy noise in the crowd.
It was the same woman from before. She brushed the nonexistent dust off her sleeves and glanced at the door. "The Second Young Master has been ill for over ten years and still hasn't recovered. It's truly bizarre."
The person next to her continued, "Aunt Xiuhua, haven't you heard? A Taoist priest told the Second Young Master a fortune telling years ago that he was an unlucky person." Then, he lowered his voice and said, "Anyone who gets involved with the Second Young Master will be unlucky."
Aunt Xiuhua covered her mouth exaggeratedly, "tsk tsk" twice and continued: "Could it be that he is the one who killed the master and the eldest son? What a sin! When he was young, he killed his mother, and when he grew up, he killed his father and brother."
Her voice was loud enough for everyone in the mourning hall to hear.
Shu Yao couldn't help but cover her ears. The shrill voice of the woman in front of her gave her a headache. She looked at the old lady who was sitting in the main seat with a calm demeanor. There was no displeasure on the old lady's face, as if the person making up the story was not her own grandson.
She looked at her third uncle who was sitting down below. He just glanced at Xiuhua who was chattering and did not stop her.
Shu Yao lowered her eyes. It seemed that the second young master was not favored in the mansion, and everyone might even stay away from him.
As she was thinking, she glanced up inadvertently, and suddenly saw a pale hand resting on the door frame. The fingertips were pale, without a trace of blood, and the shape of the phalanges on the thin and slender hand was clearly visible.
Shu Yao suddenly shuddered for some reason. This didn't look like the hand of a living person. She rubbed her arms unconsciously and lowered her head. She thought she wouldn't see anything dirty in broad daylight.
“Cough… cough…”
Suddenly, two coughs were heard at the door. The sound was deliberately suppressed, but the coldness and hoarseness in the voice could still be heard.
Shu Yao felt that the voice was somewhat familiar.
The sound of coughing interrupted the discussion in the room, and everyone looked over at the same time.
At this time, a cold wind blew from somewhere, and everyone in the house couldn't help but hugged their clothes. The wind was really cold.
The hand that was holding onto the door frame seemed to exert a little force, and the originally pale fingertips turned a faint pink, but it disappeared in an instant. Then, a red hairband was blown up by the wind and appeared in front of everyone.
The vast snow outside makes the headband look even more vibrant red.
A thin young man walked in slowly, holding the door frame. The wind stopped, and the red hairband hung quietly on his chest.
He lowered his head, his left hand on the door, his right hand clenched into a fist and pressed against his lips, coughing from time to time. Although the sound was not loud, his shoulders were trembling slightly, as if he was trying his best to endure it.
The young man was only wearing a single piece of clothing that he only wore in spring. The clothing seemed a little short and did not fit him well. When the cold wind blew, his clothing stuck to his body, outlining his body shape that looked like a withered skeleton.
He stood there, like an iceberg untouched by the world, emitting a deep chill.
Everyone just looked at him.
He never raised his head from beginning to end, but just walked slowly into the mourning hall step by step. His steps were extremely heavy, as if he would fall if he took another step.
When they saw him coming, everyone moved away as if they were avoiding the plague god. Some people even covered their noses with their sleeves, with expressions of disgust.
Only Shu Yao stood there motionless, staring at him intently, her expression gradually becoming serious: [System, this person seems to be seriously ill.]
System: [Otherwise, how could he have been killed in just two chapters?]
Shu Yao was shocked: [He is the second son of the Ji family?]
System: [Yes.]
When the young man passed by Shu Yao, he suddenly swayed and staggered. Shu Yao subconsciously held his arm.
She raised her head, and the boy's drooping black hair covered his cheeks, revealing only a high nose bridge and a thin, sharp chin.
He pulled his hand out calmly, a hint of deep disgust flashed in his eyes, and stopped when he was five steps away from the coffin.
Shu Yao was stunned when her hands were empty. Did she just touch a handful of bones? This second young master was too thin.
Inside the mourning hall, you could hear a pin drop and the only sound was the breathing of the crowd.
At this time, a crow landed on the low branch outside the house. It cried hoarsely, and its cry was sad and weird.
Perhaps it was the crow's cry that broke the silence in the room. The old lady cast a stern look at the young man who had just entered, and began to scold him, "You unfilial son! Your father and elder brother just passed away, and yet you hide in your room and sleep all day long. How disrespectful!" Then she grabbed the nearby incense burner and threw it at the young man. "You even tied your hair with a red headband. What a heartless bastard."
The young man did not dodge or evade, just stood there. The old lady had limited strength, and the incense burner did not hit the young man, but just rolled a few times on the ground and stopped.
Seeing his half-dead appearance, the old lady became even angrier, as if her dignity had been challenged. She pointed a withered finger at the boy and said, "I shouldn't have let that bitch give birth to you. You're really a debt collector. Sooner or later, this family will be destroyed by you."
Shu Yao looked at the old lady's thin lips that opened and closed as she uttered vicious words. She didn't understand why the grandmother would curse her grandson like that.
The system couldn't stand it any longer: [Master, why don't you say a few words for him?]
Shu Yao: [Shh, your master just escaped death and didn't have to be buried with me. I don't want to show off in front of the old lady.]
The system nodded, saving lives is indeed the most important thing.
The boy standing nearby didn't react at all, as if he wasn't the one being scolded.
After the old lady finished scolding, the third uncle began to persuade her: "Speak less."
The old lady snorted and continued to say to the young man, "You and your sister-in-law will keep vigil together tonight."
After saying that, he seemed not to want to stay with him any longer and hurried away with his crutches. Third Uncle came to the mourning hall today to burn incense and left after that.
The rest of the people saw that the old lady and the third uncle had left, and there was no point in staying here. In addition, it was getting late, and they just felt it was unlucky, so they left in twos and threes.
Only Aunt Xiuhua walked slowly up to the young man, with a hint of flattery on her face: "Second Young Master, the master must have left you some real estate deeds. You can give some to me, and I promise to manage them in order for you." As she spoke, she rubbed her hands excitedly.
Shu Yao sneered in her heart, this guy really made a lot of calculations.
The silent young man slowly raised his head and looked upwards at Auntie Xiuhua in front of him. When Auntie Xiuhua met his eyes, her face suddenly filled with fear, as if she had seen a ghost. She ran out trembling, cursing as she ran: "You really have a pair of dead eyes, unlucky."
Only Shu Yao and the young man were left in the mourning hall. The white banners on the beams were fluttering in the wind, and the air was filled with the faint scent of incense ash.
Shu Yao thought about it and walked over to him: "Hello, I am...your sister-in-law."
The boy ignored her and walked straight to the side, put his hand on the pillar, and slowly sat down, breathing heavily and occasionally coughing.
Although she was a little annoyed by his ignoring her, she still walked slowly towards him, squatted down, and looked at him at eye level.
The boy finally looked at her.
When their eyes met, Shu Yao was stunned and forgot to react for a moment.
What kind of face was that? She felt she couldn't describe it in words.
A red mole on the earlobe makes your face look almost enchanting!
Suddenly, she shivered.
The pair of eyes he met were narrow, dark, and lifeless, without any warmth, like a bottomless cold pond, revealing a hint of chill.
Shu Yao suddenly understood why Aunt Xiuhua said he had a pair of "dead" eyes.
He looked at Shu Yao with a cold gaze that made people shudder.
Shu Yao was a little scared. She couldn't tell whether the ice and snow outside were colder or his eyes were colder.
She suppressed her fear and continued to look at him, smiling sweetly at him: "What's your name?" After all, this was her bound object, she had to get close to him, and she also had to accumulate enough trust in him.
The girl in front of him was smiling brightly, but he remained motionless. He just looked away from her and stared at the heavy snow outside, motionless and silent.
Being ignored again, Shu Yao propped up her head, sighed softly, and complained to the system: "This bound object seems difficult to approach."
System: [This requires you, Master, to work harder.]
Shu Yao held her forehead with her hand: [That's easy to say. By the way, what's his name?]
System: [Seasonal Clean.]
"Ji Shijing," Shu Yao murmured these three words from her lips.
Perhaps because he heard her calling his name, Ji Shijing's eyelashes trembled slightly, but there was still no light in his eyes.
Seeing that he still ignored her, Shu Yao shook her head and stood up. What a difficult guy to approach. She turned around and closed the door to block out the wind and snow outside.
The mourning hall suddenly became dark. Shu Yao found two candles and lit them. With someone to keep her company tonight, she was not so scared.
There were two gods and Buddhas placed on the altar, and the shadow of one of them fell on Ji Shijing. The surroundings were bright, but he was dark.
Shu Yao began to burn paper money in the basin and listened to the system telling her about the old stories in the Ji family mansion.
She listened with great interest.
It turned out that Master Ji had made his fortune late in life and established himself in the capital by relying on the cloth business. Perhaps he really had a business acumen, and his business grew bigger and bigger, and he became a well-known figure in the capital.
As we all know, when a person has money, he or she will have more relatives in the family. All the relatives, whether known or not, will come to visit, and when they go back, everyone's waist will be bulging.
The Ji family has always had no worries about food and clothing thanks to Master Ji. Some poor relatives who could not afford to eat before are now covered with silk. Now that Master Ji has passed away, leaving behind a frail little son, these so-called relatives probably want to get a share of the Ji family's property.
Flickering flames danced on the large red coffin as Shu Yao fiddled with the paper money: "System, do you think Master Ji will feel sorry for Ji Shijing? After all, Ji Shijing's grandmother doesn't care, and he has to face so many sarcastic relatives. It's really helpless to think about it."
But the system shook its head: [Master, let me tell you a piece of gossip.]
Shu Yao's eyes lit up.
Mr. Ji and Mrs. Ji were very loving, and they didn't even have a concubine in the house. But as Mr. Ji got deeper into the business world, it was inevitable that he would go to some brothels to discuss business.
Later, after getting drunk, Mr. Ji had a child with a beautiful singer from Zuixiangfang.
Fearing criticism, Mr. Ji brought the singer back to his house, but Mrs. Ji disagreed and made a fuss for several days.
Mr. Ji felt that he had let his wife down and treated her even worse than before.
The singer had never been seen since she was brought back to Ji's house. Ten months later, late one night, two servants sneaked out of the back door of Ji's house carrying a torn straw mat.
It is said that someone saw a pale hand exposed from the rolled-up torn straw mat, with blood dripping from the fingertips.
Since that day, the singer disappeared without a trace, and was replaced by a second young master in the mansion.
Shu Yao felt a little creepy. Could it be what she guessed? She sighed. This Master Ji was really cruel.
As if she understood something, she asked the system: "So Ji Shijing is not liked by Master Ji either."
System: [Master, in fact, he lives in this mansion worse than even the servants.] Originally, it wanted to say, "He's worse than even a dog."
She was a little bit incredulous and turned to look at Ji Shijing not far away. He was still leaning quietly against the pillar, but the shadow of the gods and Buddhas shrouded him, and Shu Yao could not see his expression clearly.
He was motionless, as if he were asleep.
wrong.
Shu Yao quickly dropped the paper money in her hand and ran quickly to Ji Shijing.
When I got closer, I found that he had his eyes closed and his face was extremely pale, just like the paper figures in the mourning hall.
A trace of fear slowly crept into Shu Yao's heart. She stretched out her trembling fingers to feel his breath, but perhaps because the weather was too cold, her fingers could not feel any temperature.
Looking at the pale and fragile person in front of her, she lowered her head and put her ear close to his chest, but her chest, which should have been beating, could not make any sound.
He, dead?
【Author’s words】
(Present) Ji Xiaojing: I'm aloof and not easy to deal with [rolling eyes]
(Later) Ji Xiaojing: Please look at me, sister-in-law [pitiful]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
