On this beautiful morning, where there was no need for school or work, Ye Zhizhou, still half-asleep, was awakened by the ringing of his phone. He groggily reached out, but instead of his phone, he touched a long and strong hand.
"Awake now?" A kiss landed on his cheek, and then the phone's ringing disappeared. He struggled to wake up but found himself trapped in drowsiness. The bed was too comfortable, and the scent of his lover beside him was too enticing. He shifted slightly and fell back into a deep sleep.
Cen Yuebai propped himself up and gazed at him, a subtle smile playing on his lips. His phone, now set to silent mode, lit up again. He glanced at the caller ID displaying "Shen Zixia" and narrowed his eyes. After hanging up the call, he sent a text message.
At the Shen residence, Shen Zixia's face stiffened as he finished reading the message. He pounded the sofa's armrest in frustration.
"What's wrong, big brother?" Shen Mengxi appeared with breakfast in hand, her brows furrowing. "Is it a call from second brother? When is he coming back?"
"He's not coming back," Shen Zixia replied, his face dark. He walked over to help her with the dishes. "Zihao has some business to attend to and will be staying at Cen Yuebai's place for a while."
"Staying with his sister-in-law?" Shen Mengxi's eyes lit up. "I need to prepare something for second brother... I'll go buy it now!" Without finishing her breakfast, she rushed upstairs.
Shen Zixia watched her go and took a deep breath. His phone suddenly rang again, and he angrily picked it up, only to shout, "Are you being a coward or what? If you want to pursue someone, do it straightforwardly. Why play these mind games? I don't have the time for that!"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call, followed by the familiar, condescending voice of Yin Feiyu. "If you're feeling irritated, try drinking some chrysanthemum tea to cool down."
Shen Zixia froze and checked the caller ID on his phone. It wasn't Su Yuxi; it was Yin Feiyu. He sighed and, with a hint of sadness, put the phone back to his ear. "Why did you call?"
"Neither Cen Yuebai nor Shen Zihao is answering my calls," Yin Feiyu said, glancing at Fan Lang's bed where his soul was rapidly turning black. He felt a mix of pity and disgust. "Tell them to come to the hospital. Fan Lang's condition is deteriorating rapidly."
After saying that, Yin Feiyu hung up, leaving Shen Zixia frustrated. He took a sip of his coffee and cursed under his breath.
Ye Zhizhou and Cen Yuebai arrived at the hospital around lunchtime. Yin Feiyu was standing by Fan Lang's room, munching on a sandwich. When he saw them approaching, he spoke directly, "Fan Lang was following his normal routine of rehabilitation, medication, and studying yesterday. It seems like he didn't notice the formation outside the room. But when I came for a late-night checkup, his condition had changed. The darkness in his soul is spreading rapidly, and it's already covered more than half of it. You should go in and see."
Finishing the last bite of his sandwich, he wiped his hands with a wet tissue, pushed open the door to the room, and said, "My grandfather heard about this and insisted that I help you. He's quite fond of you two. It's your lucky day."
"Thank you," Cen Yuebai expressed his gratitude readily. Having Dayan on their side made many things easier.
Ye Zhizhou also thanked Yin Feiyu before quickly entering the room to assess Fan Lang's condition. He frowned. "Hasn't he woken up today?"
"No," Yin Feiyu replied, checking his notes. "He's been sleeping for over ten hours now."
"During the process of soul fusion, the invading soul can take control of the host's body once it's halfway merged. Fan Lang's normal routine yesterday was most likely not his own consciousness. The formation outside the room has been detected, and the invading soul is now making a desperate move," Cen Yuebai explained after examining the situation. He took out several sheets of paper, folded them, and hung them around the bed based on the five elements. Then he turned to Ye Zhizhou. "Do you have the phone numbers of Zhang Lin and Cao Yu? Ask them to come here."
Ye Zhizhou quickly took out his phone and asked, "Why do you need them?"
"To summon their souls," Cen Yuebai explained briefly. He then took out a stack of paper and began arranging them. "We need to act fast. Once the fusion is complete, Fan Lang and the invading soul will be inseparable."
Zhang Lin and Cao Yu arrived promptly, both looking confused. Ye Zhizhou briefly explained the situation to them and then pushed them toward Fan Lang's bed.
"What is this soul fusion? What are you guys doing?" Zhang Lin grew impatient, reaching out to grab one of the papers hanging on the bed. "And what are these papers for? What are you doing with all this nonsense?"
"Don't touch that," Ye Zhizhou warned, grabbing his hand. He spoke with a serious tone, "If you want your brother back, stop acting recklessly."
Zhang Lin was still hesitant, but his anger subsided. Meanwhile, Cao Yu wore a shocked expression. Before they could ask any more questions, a shadow suddenly emerged in front of them.
"W-what are these misty shadows?" Zhang Lin stammered, frightened. "What's going on?"
"It's your souls. I temporarily duplicated Yin Feiyu's Heavenly Eye on both of you," Ye Zhizhou explained while getting used to the effects of the Heavenly Eye. He then looked at Cen Yuebai by Fan Lang's bed. Everyone now had semi-transparent shadows surrounding them: Zhang Lin's was a chaotic gray, Cao Yu's was a deep brown, Yin Feiyu's was a warm yellow, but Cen Yuebai's...
"Xiao Zhou," Cen Yuebai softly called out to him, covering his eyes with his hand. "Don't look."
"Why..." Ye Zhizhou's face turned pale, and he reached out to pull Cen Yuebai's hand away, trembling. "Why don't you have one?" It was just blank, nothingness. How could someone not have a soul?
Yin Feiyu glanced at them and approached, explaining the situation to Zhang Lin and Cao Yu, calming Zhang Lin down and silencing Cao Yu.
"Really?" Ye Zhizhou's eyes lit up with hope. "Will it gradually return to normal in the future? Does this have any harm to you?"
"No, once the karma on my body is cleansed, my soul's color will return to normal," Cen Yuebai assured him, hugging him again. He then gently peeled off the talismans on Ye Zhizhou's body. "Don't worry; haven't you seen me doing just fine all this time?"
As the shadows disappeared entirely, Ye Zhizhou tightened his grip on Cen Yuebai's hand, forcing himself to relax. Was it really just a matter of not being able to see?
Yin Feiyu glanced at them, and his gaze coincided with Cen Yuebai's. After a few seconds of eye contact, he casually averted his gaze. Transparent? It was impressive how he could come up with such an explanation.
Raising his hand to tear off the talismans on his body, he pushed up his glasses disinterestedly. People in love not only had lower IQs but also couldn't even control their expressions.
After witnessing these mysterious phenomena and hearing the detailed explanation, Zhang Lin and Cao Yu became more serious and cautious. Despite the recent argument and almost getting into a fight with Fan Lang, they had grown up together, and their bond was still strong. When they learned their brother was in danger, they were determined to help. Following Cen Yuebai's instructions, they pricked their fingers, pressed them onto a larger red talisman, closed their eyes, and began recalling the carefree days they had spent with Fan Lang.
Yin Feiyu and Ye Zhizhou retreated to a corner of the hospital room, trying not to disturb the summoning process.
There were no earth-shattering effects. After the talismans hanging around the bed shook a few times, Yin Feiyu, who was observing the situation, started writing and drawing in his notebook. "The blackened part has receded a bit; he's temporarily safe."
Cen Yuebai burned the talisman in his hand and nodded at Zhang Lin and Cao Yu.
Zhang Lin collapsed directly onto the floor, his face filled with afterthoughts. "I felt anxious the whole time, and I even had some memories that didn't belong to me. What's going on?"
"It's the memories of the invading soul," Cen Yuebai calmly explained as he started tidying up the talismans around the bed. "Summoning the souls requires repetition. Be mentally prepared, and don't wander around recklessly. Be cautious not to come into contact with impure things."
Ye Zhizhou's focus, however, was on Zhang Lin's previous statement. He stepped forward and asked, "What kind of memories did you see that didn't belong to you?"
"I saw two young boys playing together," Zhang Lin got up, his expression somewhat unsightly. "And then, I saw them grow up... um... It's been a bit overwhelming for my straight guy heart lately."
"Fire," Cao Yu suddenly paled and spoke with a trembling voice. He looked at Ye Zhizhou with a terrified expression and shivered uncontrollably. "A big fire, a house... there were people inside the house... someone standing outside the house was laughing."
Ye Zhizhou's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the information he had gathered earlier. He asked solemnly, "You said someone was standing outside the house, laughing?"
"Yes, and I heard someone calling him Xiaotao..."
Xiaotao? The name of the invading soul was Luo Tao, and the fire... Ye Zhizhou couldn't help but clench his fist, cold sweat forming on his back. The big brother's name was Yuan Chang, and he had a tough childhood. His mother had passed away early, his father had a gambling problem and a tendency for domestic violence, and his grandmother had a bad temper due to illness. In his second year of high school, Yuan Chang's father and grandmother accidentally knocked over an oil pot during an argument, setting the house on fire, and they were burned to death inside. Yuan Chang's grandmother had bought insurance for herself and her son, and after their deaths, Yuan Chang received a large insurance payout. He and Luo Tao, who had lost his parents early on, used that money to complete their university education.
"What's wrong?" Cen Yuebai hugged him.
"Yuebai," he came back to his senses, turned his head to look at him, and said, "I think we need to pay Yuan Chang a visit." Originally, they had planned to separate the invading soul from Fan Lang and then deal with the big brother. But now... to solve this long-standing grudge, it was probably best for those involved to handle it themselves.
Yuan Chang and his wife had moved to another city several years ago, and Cen Yuebai needed to stay at the hospital to monitor Fan Lang's soul fusion progress. Therefore, finding Yuan Chang was something Ye Zhizhou had to do alone.
"Let Shen Zixia accompany you," Cen Yuebai said, a bit worried.
"No need," he shook his head and put the things he needed into his spatial storage. "I don't want my big brother to get involved in this mess anymore." In the original storyline, Shen Zixia and Su Yu wasted their lives hanging around the protagonist. Now that the two of them had returned to a normal life, it was best not to drag them into Fan Lang's affairs again.
Cen Yuebai took off the Buddhist beads from his wrist, put them on Ye Zhizhou's hand, and hugged him while rubbing against him. "Come back soon."
He touched the still-warm Buddhist beads on his wrist, hugged Cen Yuebai back, and nodded gently. "I will."
A day later, Ye Zhizhou set foot on the unfamiliar city.
At eight o'clock in the evening, he arrived at Yuan Chang's home and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a charming woman in her thirties, wearing a smile. When she saw Ye Zhizhou outside the door, she hesitated for a moment and asked, "Sir, may I help you?"
"Xia Xiang," Ye Zhizhou interrupted her and took out a photo from his pocket, waving it in front of her. "If you don't want your son and daughter to die together, call Yuan Chang out and come with me somewhere."
The photo showed the burial site of Luo Tao. Xia Xiang's face turned pale when she saw it, and she tried to close the door.
"It seems like you'd rather watch your son and daughter die," Ye Zhizhou wasn't surprised by her reaction. He put the photo in his pocket and said casually, "Perhaps you'd prefer it if the police were the ones knocking at your door?"
Xia Xiang's hand, which was about to close the door, stopped. She looked at him with caution and apprehension, lowered her voice, and said firmly, "How much money do you want? I'll give it to you! Just don't disturb my life."
Indeed, she had the demeanor of a wealthy young lady. Ye Zhizhou chuckled and took out his phone to dial Yuan Chang's number. Then, he said slowly, looking at her gradually widening eyes, "Luo Tao is already dead. His body is in a small forest outside City B. Do you want to know who killed him? Come to the front door."
"You..." Xia Xiang's face turned pallid, and her body trembled slightly with anger. "How did you get my husband's phone?" She seemed to remember something and forcefully slammed the door shut.
Ye Zhizhou raised his hand to check his watch. Thirty-six seconds later, the front door opened, and the tall and handsome Yuan Chang rushed out with a distorted expression. His gaze quickly locked onto Ye Zhizhou, and he approached, demanding, "Did you make the call? Are you lying to me? Xiaotao clearly went abroad... Why aren't you speaking? Tell me, how could Xiaotao already be dead!"
"Yuan Chang!" Xia Xiang rushed out and pulled him, dragging him back into the house. "This person is insane! You believe his nonsense. We've been married for so many years, can't you forget about Luo Tao and live a peaceful life? What do you take me, Xia Xiang, for?"
"Fire and Luo Tao's death," Ye Zhizhou looked at them with cold eyes, noticing a small figure behind the door. He quickly softened his expression and lowered his voice, saying, "None of you are clean, but the child is innocent. So, will you cooperate with me willingly, or shall I expose your crimes in front of your child?"
Xia Xiang's sharp words abruptly stopped, and Yuan Chang turned his sharp gaze towards him.
"Daddy, Mommy... don't fight, my little sister is crying..." a young boy ran from behind the door, grabbed their pant legs, and gently tugged. "My little sister is crying, and she's hungry..."
Xia Xiang's lips quivered for a moment. She suddenly covered her face, crouched down, and hugged the child, sobbing softly. "Don't say it... I beg you not to say it. The child is innocent... I'll go with you, please don't say it..."
Yuan Chang's Adam's apple moved as he clenched his fist. "Once we settle the child... I'll go with you."
"[Yuan Wei and Yuan Yao's chances of falling in love with the protagonist have decreased to 50%. Please host, try harder.]" Ye Zhizhou glanced at the system prompt and then at the child in Xia Xiang's arms. There was a hint of pity in his eyes. With parents like these, what would become of these two children in the future?