Volume 1, Chapter 8: Bringing a Ghost Home

If the five brothers could have seen it, they would have found the surroundings packed with wandering spirits for miles around, all of them there to bid farewell to Tuan Tuan and Xiao Mei.

In order to give Tuan Tuan some standing, and fearing that if the five Yang brothers took her back they would not treat her well, Xiao Mei used the brothers’ newly received token of gratitude to briefly grant them spiritual sight.

Just then...

The youngest, Yang Junjie, was so frightened that he leapt straight into the arms of the fourth brother, Yang Boyu. “My god, ghosts!”

Yang Chengze, holding Tuan Tuan, jerked so hard that he nearly dropped the child.

As a leading surgeon, Yang Qixiu was utterly shaken by seeing spirits for the first time.

Yang Suiyi had even acted in an immortal fantasy drama, yet this was also his first time seeing a real wandering soul.

Some were missing arms or legs, some had a single cyclopean eye, some had tongues stretching three feet long, and some bled from every orifice.

One of the spirits with a missing arm grinned, and its tongue flopped out.

“Oh, they can see us,” it said.

As the long-tongued spirit spoke, the five brothers felt as if they had forgotten how to breathe.

When the temporary spiritual sight ended, the five Yang brothers looked again and saw nothing at all.

But the bizarre and horrifying images they had just witnessed had already left an indelible shadow in their hearts.

These lost souls and wandering ghosts were all under Xiao Mei’s command. Before leaving, she had arranged everything properly, so one might say it ended well enough.

Unlike the five brothers, whose faces had gone pale, Tuan Tuan wore a sweet smile on her plump little face and waved her arms. “Tuan Tuan is leaving now. Bye-bye.”

The five brothers watched Tuan Tuan wave at empty air, and their scalps prickled so badly it felt as if their hair were standing on end.

Yang Chengze picked Tuan Tuan up and only wanted to get her away from this eerie back mountain as quickly as possible.

He said softly, “Tuan Tuan, if you see your friends again in the future, remember to tell Big Brother, all right?”

Tuan Tuan blinked her clear, watery eyes, looking as innocent and lovely as could be.

“Big Brother, do you like Xiao Mei too?”

Yang Chengze: “!!” He really did not!

He hurriedly explained, “Big Brother just means that she’s your friend. If she ever comes to visit the Yang family, we should entertain her and treat her to a meal.”

Tuan Tuan seemed to understand and nodded, then kissed Yang Chengze on the cheek. “Thank you, Big Brother.”

Yang Qixiu immediately leaned his face over, his gaze dripping with grievance. “Tuan Tuan, what about Second Brother? Don’t you like Second Brother?”

Smack.

Tuan Tuan kissed her second brother too.

As the family’s top star, Yang Suiyi hurried over as well. “Little sister, what about Third Brother? Don’t you like Third Brother?”

“Third Brother is nice too.”

Smack—Tuan Tuan kissed him as well.

Even the usually irritable and arrogant Yang Boyu softened up. He leaned forward with a pitiful expression. “Little sister, is Fourth Brother not good enough?”

“Fourth Brother is nice too.”

Smack. A sweet kiss landed on Fourth Brother’s face.

The youngest hurried over as well. “Little sister, what about me? Isn’t Fifth Brother good too?”

“Fifth Brother is very nice too.”

Tuan Tuan kissed Fifth Brother as well.

The youngest was overjoyed, practically bouncing with delight. He had no intention of washing his face anymore!

To be kissed by his little sister—what a wonderful thing that was!

Wonderful indeed!

The brothers had just taken Tuan Tuan down the mountain and were about to leave when Gou Dashan and Zhao Guihua arrived.

The moment Zhao Guihua came up, she burst into loud tears. “Tuan Tuan, it was all my fault before. I was blinded by greed and stupidity. But I never treated you badly, did I? I raised you with my own sweat and tears, it wasn’t easy for me, was it?”

Tuan Tuan had never seen Zhao Guihua look so helpless. The little one’s clear gaze fell on her. “I didn’t steal the money.”

Gou Dashan trembled under the brothers’ icy stares. “I stole it. I took the money and lost it all gambling.”

Zhao Guihua was so angry she spat at him. “Gou Dashan, you wretch! If it weren’t for you, how could I have wrongly accused Tuan Tuan?”

“Zhao Guihua, you’re the cruel one. You were willing to lay a hand on a child so young, and you still have the nerve to blame me?”

Kneeling on the ground, Zhao Guihua slapped Gou Dashan across the face with her uninjured hand. “Tuan Tuan, it was all his fault that I misunderstood you. These past years I put so much effort into taking care of you—you haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Tuan Tuan nodded and said in her soft little voice, “But wasn’t I the one helping you work and taking care of you?”

Zhao Guihua: “...”

Well, that was indeed true.

How could this damned child tell the truth like that?

Clenching her back teeth, Zhao Guihua continued her tearful plea. “Tuan Tuan, if I hadn’t taken you in back then, you would have died long ago. You wouldn’t have had the good fortune you have today, would you?”

Seeing that Tuan Tuan remained unmoved, Zhao Guihua kept weeping. “Tuan Tuan, when I first saw you, you had just learned to walk. When you were sick, I was the one who took you to see the doctor. Tuan Tuan, have you forgotten all of that?”

Yang Chengze gave a cold laugh. “If my sister couldn’t bring you money, would you still have taken her to see a doctor?”

Zhao Guihua was enraged that he had struck straight at the heart of the matter. She snapped, “If I hadn’t fed and clothed her, would she have had the good fortune today of being found by you? She’d have been fed to wild dogs long ago!”

Her body slammed heavily against a rock, and the pain made her spit out a mouthful of blood on the spot.

Gou Dashan knelt on the ground and cried miserably. “Please, let me go. It was all Zhao Guihua who abused Tuan Tuan—it was all that vicious woman’s fault.”

Furious, Zhao Guihua cursed at him. “Gou Dashan, didn’t you abuse Tuan Tuan too? You made her serve you food and wash your feet. What good person are you supposed to be?”

“How did that man give you the money? Tell the truth, and maybe I’ll spare your dog life.” Yang Qixiu’s fierce gaze made Gou Dashan tremble all over.

Gou Dashan knew exactly what these people were capable of, and he no longer dared conceal anything. He poured out everything he knew.

Originally, he was supposed to get the money yesterday. But when he went to the agreed place, there was no money to be found, so he turned around and went to the hospital to demand it from the five Yang brothers.

At this, the five brothers could not help drawing a sharp breath.

Was this person aware that Tuan Tuan had been found and eager to cut ties?

Just then, Li Ge also sent word that the other party’s identity had been deliberately hidden, leaving no trace to follow.

It seemed this matter would have to be investigated from the beginning again.

Seeing that Gou Dashan had confessed everything in full, Zhao Guihua flew into a rage. She rushed up to him and beat him hard with her uninjured hand.

“You filthy man, you’ve said everything already—how are we supposed to get the money now?”

Gou Dashan was unconvinced. “Like you could have gotten it even if I hadn’t said anything!”

The two of them wrestled together in a disgraceful spectacle.

Xiao Mei, inside the pendant, saw all of this and said to Tuan Tuan, “Little one, let’s leave first. Heaven will deal with this husband and wife pair in due time.”

Right now, they had to hurry back to the Yang household so she could find out who the mastermind really was. She had to avenge Tuan Tuan!

As for the five Yang brothers, so long as they lived upright lives, why stain their hands with blood and add more karma? That would only bring trouble and ill fortune, and it would affect Tuan Tuan as well.

Tuan Tuan said to Yang Chengze, who was holding her, “Big Brother, let’s go home.”

The other four brothers glanced at Zhao Guihua. She had gone mad, striking at the air like one possessed.

“Don’t come over here—ah! Don’t come over here! Ghosts! Get back, get back, get back!”

The five Yang brothers thought again of those crooked, uneven figures and all at once shuddered.

Gou Dashan was just about to curse Zhao Guihua for being insane when he suddenly saw a spirit charging at him, claws outstretched, its three-foot tongue dangling. He was so scared he wet himself on the spot.

“Ghost!”

The couple were terrified out of their wits. They wanted to run but had no strength left, and they beat at the air like mad, as though tens of thousands of ghosts were swarming them and gnawing at their flesh.

Seeing this, the five brothers felt a chill down their spines and, one after another, turned to look behind them, as if they too could see the wandering spirits.

When Yang Chengze saw Zhao Guihua and Gou Dashan frightened into unconsciousness, looking as though they were on the verge of death, he finally carried his brothers away.

Zhao Guihua and Gou Dashan were trapped between life and death, unable to seek release. Every day they had to endure the terror brought by those wandering spirits. Ah, such suffering—truly no easy thing.

Tuan Tuan did not set foot on the ground once the entire journey. Her brothers took turns carrying her and would have preferred never to let go.

She looked at the great bird before her, her grape-like eyes round with wonder.

Yang Chengze smiled and explained, “Tuan Tuan, this is our family’s plane. From now on, wherever you want to go and play, you can fly there by plane.”

“A flying machine?” Tuan Tuan had never seen a plane before, and her eyes widened with curiosity.

Once inside, she looked around the luxurious cabin, wandering here and there, curious about everything.

And when the plane took off and shot straight into the clouds, the thrill made Tuan Tuan even more astonished.

She was not afraid; instead, she found it fun.

White clouds drifted outside the window, and the buildings on the ground looked as tiny as matchboxes. It was indescribably exciting and novel.

“Brother, are we in the sky?”

“Yes, we’re in the sky now.”

Tuan Tuan pressed her face to the window and stared for a long while, then frowned as though troubled by something.

Could it be that Tuan Tuan could still see wandering spirits in the sky?

Or had she seen immortals?