Chapter 58 Retribution

Jiang Wu didn't realize what Han Zhong was thinking. He spent an entire afternoon making a peach wood amulet, and then wrote the fire-proof spell on it with cinnabar and gave it to Zhang Xiaoyu.

The rectangular mahogany plaque the size of a coin is smooth and solid to the touch, with a hint of jade-like coolness. There are eight ancient spells on the front, which are clearly written with cinnabar and look like natural patterns growing out of the wooden plaque.

"For me?"

Zhang Xiaoyu felt that this peach wood card was unusual, but he couldn't tell what was unusual about it. He stroked the spell on it and asked curiously, "Is this for attracting love?"

Jiang Wu nodded without blushing, "Yes, so don't take it off easily after putting it on, otherwise you will be a widow for the rest of your life."

Zhang Xiaoyu immediately put it on his neck, "Don't worry, I won't even take it off when I take a shower!"

The next morning, Jiang Wugang got a call from Zhang Xiaoyu as soon as he woke up. His voice was extremely excited, "Brother Jiang, you are so smart!"

"ah?"

"Didn't you give me a marriage card?"

"That's not marriage—"

"I ran into Taohua as soon as I went out! She really has something to do with fire!"

Jiang Wu was still half asleep and half awake, and was stunned when he heard this.

Zhang Xiaoyu couldn't hide his excitement and told him what happened. This morning, he was shopping in the supermarket and met a girl who asked him for directions, and then she took the initiative to add him on WeChat.

Jiang Wu was puzzled, "What does this have to do with fire?"

“I was buying dragon fruit!”

“…”

Jiang Wu couldn't help but ask, "Is it possible that this is just a coincidence?"

"How can it be such a coincidence? It must be your marriage cards that worked." Zhang Xiaoyu couldn't help but grinning on the other end of the phone, "Brother Jiang, you are so smart. If I wasn't afraid of bad luck, I really want to buy three incense sticks to pray for you!"

Jiang Wu was a little speechless. Back in the Great Zhou Dynasty, someone actually built a shrine to worship him, but they all prayed for good weather and safety. This was the first time someone prayed for a marriage.

Although Zhang Xiaoyu said it with great confidence, unfortunately, among the three thousand spells and twenty-seven thousand kinds of spells in "The Record of Destiny", there is no spell to attract love.

He was thinking about whether he should do some research on how to attract love. If he couldn't make it in the entertainment industry anymore, he could still sell this or open an online store.

While he was thinking about this, his cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Nie Yumeng.

"Hello?"

"Jiang Wu..."

There was a faint sound, as if the person had exhausted all his strength.

Jiang Wu paused and asked directly, "Where are you?"

The address of the hospital was given there, and Jiang Wu took a taxi there after washing up.

It had been a month since I last saw Nie Yumeng. Although she was thin at that time, she was still normal. But this time when I saw her again in the hospital, she was lying on the hospital bed and had completely lost the ability to move.

In just over two months, she went from a beautiful young idol to a dying patient on a hospital bed. She was emaciated, with life-sustaining tubes inserted into her face and body. Her eyes were sunken and hollow, and her skin was a sickly pale colorless.

When she saw Jiang Wu coming, her numb expression suddenly changed, and even her eyes had a hint of spirit, "...You are here."

"Yes." Jiang Wu walked to her bedside and stood still, looking down at her body which was almost as thin as a skeleton, "Do you have something to tell me?"

Nie Yumeng looked at him with sunken eyes and said in a weak and hoarse voice, "The doctor said I can only live for a week at most."

Jiang Wu said nothing.

Nie Yumeng looked at his uneasy face and asked, "Did you know this a long time ago?"

"Um."

“…”

Nie Yumeng looked at him with a trace of bewilderment in his eyes, "Who are you? How do you know that I stole other people's luck and can even predict the wind and rain..."

Jiang Wu thought of the spell that Chang Yi had tried to trick him into signing, and replied, "You stole other people's luck by my own hand, but it was stolen by someone else."

Nie Yumeng's lifeless face showed a trace of astonishment. He just stared at him for a long time before asking, "...Are you a god?"

"No." Jiang Wu paused, then said, "Not even a little bit."

Nie Yumeng was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes burst into a startling light, "Then you can save me, right? You can definitely save me... Please, save me, I don't want to die, I'm only 24 years old!"

"No." Jiang Wu replied.

Nie Yumeng looked at him in disbelief, tears falling from his eyes, "...Why?"

“Because I don’t want to.”

“…”

Jiang Wu said calmly, "Tell me what you want to tell me."

Nie Yumeng's thin fingertips clenched the quilt, "If you save me, I will tell you who took me to that charity party."

"Forget it." Jiang Wu turned around and was about to leave.

It's not that he is playing hard to get. He really wants to find out who assassinated Han Zhong, but if he can't find it, he just needs to protect Han Zhong. No matter who the opponent is, if he dares to come, he will be killed.

If the Fang family can make people disappear without knowing it, Han Zhong, as the only heir of the Han family, can definitely do it as well. Then just let Han Zhong help clean up the mess.

"I said—"

Seeing that he was really leaving, Nie Yumeng panicked, "It's Ke Xingyan!"

Jiang Wu stopped walking. Ke Xingyan? What a coincidence?

"He knew I couldn't compare to Nan Yi, and said he had a way, so he took me to the charity gala and met Chang Yi."

Nie Yumeng fell into reminiscence and smiled bitterly. "I didn't believe it at first, but he became famous too quickly, and everyone who opposed him got into trouble. No one stood in his way. I was so jealous that I couldn't help but sign the contract. I didn't expect... it really came true."

"Nan Yi committed suicide, and no one knew it was me who spread the rumor. I debuted successfully and became the most popular new artist. It was like a dream."

Jiang Wujing listened to her quietly, "That contract is just a treaty between you and the owner. To steal someone else's luck, you need other methods."

"A jade ring."

She said softly, "I bought a jade ring at an auction. When it was delivered to me, there was also a letter saying that I only needed to give the jade ring to someone who wanted to steal their luck and bring it back in a month. That would be all."

"Where is the jade ring?"

"It broke. It broke the night I left the desert island. Then I passed out. When I woke up, I found that I had a terminal illness."

"Where are the fragments?"

"It should still be in the drawer of my room."

Jiang Wu asked for the address, took the key, and turned to leave. Nie Yumeng called out to him from behind, "Is this my retribution?"

“You could say that.”

The word "retribution" is something people made up to comfort themselves. In fact, there has never been any retribution. After all, in worldly affairs, how can one calculate who is right and who is wrong? However, whether it is the curses of the Siming clan or the magic of Taoist Xuanmen, they all disrupt the cause and effect of destiny, and the consequences of backlash must be considered.

The way she is now is the result of backlash, or retribution.

Nie Yumeng calmed down after hearing this. After a long while, she murmured, "I really envy her. Her mother is a gentle dancer, and her father is an excellent architect. She is smart and beautiful, learns everything quickly, and is so gentle..."

Jiang Wu suddenly raised his eyebrows and interrupted her mumbling, "Is her father an architect?"

"Um."

"What's your name?"

"It seems his name is... Nan Qingyu."