A burst of fiery red suddenly shot out from the gate and pounced on Emil.
Emil fell hard to the ground, and it took him two seconds to realize what had happened.
He widened his eyes and stared at what was in front of him.
A huge, fiery red fox was pressing its paws on his shoulders, its golden beast eyes filled with curiosity.
“Take off your pants.”
The fox opened its mouth and, surprisingly, spoke in human language.
It was the woman’s voice they had heard over the phone.
Following right behind was a young man in a long robe. He stood quietly at the door, as refined and ethereal as a breeze. “Hongyue, don’t do that. You’re scaring him.”
The fox climbed off Emil and reluctantly returned to Song Yuantian’s side.
Song Yuantian then said with an air of cold elegance and immortal grace, “Let’s go inside and talk.”
In the living room, Emil kept sneaking glances at the red fox.
The red fox seemed very attached to Song Yuantian, lying by his side the entire time.
As if sensing Emil’s gaze, the red fox turned its head and looked at him, then suddenly bared its sharp fangs, revealing its bloody mouth, which frightened Emil so much he immediately shrank back onto the sofa and lowered his head.
Song Yuantian placed a 30-centimeter-long chain on the coffee table. Bai Lixin glanced at the chain and felt it looked a bit like one he used to wear around his neck.
In the center of the chain was a sharp tooth, with beads of jade symmetrically threaded on each side.
However, his was longer and thicker, meant as a necklace.
This one was much shorter, and could at most be used as an anklet.
Song Yuantian: “If you tie this chain around your ankle, it will mask the scent of the snake god’s mark on you. As long as you don’t take it off, it won’t be able to find you.”
Emil took the anklet doubtfully. “Are you sure it’ll work?”
The red fox glanced at Emil. “Why don’t you put it down, then?”
Emil quickly tied the anklet around his ankle. “Thank you, Master! I’ll take this. How much is it?”
“Remember, you must wear it at all times. Whether sleeping or bathing, never take it off,” Song Yuantian reminded him repeatedly. “As for the price, practitioners talk about fate, not money. It’s up to you to give.”
Emil: “Is a million enough?”
Song Yuantian took out his phone. “Bank transfer, no handling fee.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Didn’t you say it was about fate, not money?’
Bai Lixin: “Master, I also have a necklace similar to this one. My mother got it from a shaman before, saying it could ward off evil and ghosts.”
Song Yuantian looked at Bai Lixin thoughtfully. “You’re not wrong.”
Bai Lixin was a bit confused. “What?”
Song Yuantian: “You have a fresh vitality on you, and your soul is securely anchored within your body. That stream of water you mentioned indeed nourished you.”
“But it’s a little strange.”
Bai Lixin became slightly tense. “What’s strange?”
Song Yuantian: “Your current state is even better than the effects of the ghost husband and the doctor before. Is this stream of water more powerful? It’s fascinating. How is it providing you with nourishment?”
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘There’s nothing fascinating here, please stop asking!’
“Oh, you mentioned the necklace,” Song Yuantian suddenly recalled Bai Lixin’s question. “Bring it over and let me see what it is.”
Bai Lixin: “Alright, I’ll go get it now.”
As he prepared to leave, Emil also stood up immediately.
Seeing the pleading look in Emil’s eyes, Bai Lixin didn’t say anything and let him come along.
Once outside Song Yuantian’s house, Emil trailed behind Bai Lixin like a chick following a hen. “Bai Lixin, can I stay with you tonight?”
Bai Lixin: “Your bodyguards are still waiting at the door. Besides, I’m only temporarily staying at someone else’s place. It’s not convenient.”
Emil: “But I’m scared.”
Bai Lixin: “I know you’re scared, but don’t be. Song Yuantian is reliable. Without his help, I would already be dead.”
As they walked and talked, they soon reached the limousine.
Two bodyguards stood at the front with their hands behind their backs. Opposite them was Lin Jue who was toying with a small knife, looking sharp and alert.
It seemed that if the two bodyguards made any move, Lin Jue’s knife would be thrown out in the next second.
Bai Lixin took a few quick steps and pushed Emil toward the car. “You should leave. Contact me if anything comes up.”
Having been politely dismissed, Emil had no choice but to get into the car reluctantly, glancing back at every step as he left.
Once the car was far away, Lin Jue raised an eyebrow and put away his knife. “Your friend?”
Bai Lixin walked back toward the courtyard. “He had some business with Song Yuantian.”
Lin Jue touched the leather of the sheath at his waist. “Why did you come back today? Wasn’t it supposed to be tomorrow?”
Bai Lixin: “The shoot went well, so we wrapped up early.”
Seeing an extra car in the yard, Bai Lixin looked at Lin Jue. “Did Lawyer Zhou Guang return?”
Lin Jue: “Yeah, he’s back. And the recent loudspeaker incident at the door has also been resolved.”
Bai Lixin: “What happened?”
Lin Jue explained, “The person who placed the speaker was a family member of a former employee of the Sun Group. During the development of this place ten years ago, that employee fell into the water and drowned. At the time, the Sun Group quickly paid the family a large settlement and blocked the news. But the family always believed it was murder by the Sun Group, so they started causing trouble.”
“After our investigation, it turned out that the project’s suspension here at Bihai Bay wasn’t just because of this family’s disruptions, there were many internal and external factors involved.”
Bai Lixin: “Does that have anything to do with the loudspeaker?”
“It’s related, yet not,” a voice came from the direction of the door. Bai Lixin looked over and saw Lawyer Zhou Guang, who had opened the door at some point, sitting in his wheelchair and looking at them. “Come in, let’s talk.”
Bai Lixin: “Alright.”
Zhou Zirui wasn’t in the living room, probably told to go upstairs by his father to do homework.
Lawyer Zhou Guang’s complexion had improved considerably since their last meeting, though his legs were still not functional so he had to use a wheelchair.
He wheeled himself into the living room, recalling in a deep voice, “A lot of strange things happened at that time.”
“The first worker who died was called Xia Linchuan, he was a minor supervisor on the project back then.”
Bai Lixin: “The first one?”
“Yes, the first one,” Zhou Guang sighed. “At that time, I had just joined Sun Group’s legal department. Thinking back on it now, it all still seems very strange.”
“After Xia Linchuan’s death, the Sun Group provided his family with a settlement. Initially, his family accepted the money and apology and left, but not long after, they came back, claiming Xia Linchuan had visited them in a dream. He said he was wronged, that the Sun Group had killed him, and that he wanted the Sun Group to pay the price.”
“We thought it was just a dream his family had and didn’t take it seriously, so we gave them some money to send them away.”
“But since then, strange and eerie things started happening here.”
“Within six months, three more people drowned.”
“Of those three, two of them could swim, so drowning was nearly impossible.”
“But they died nonetheless.”
“After four consecutive deaths, the president, who was still the general manager at the time, couldn’t sit idly by. She had no choice but to believe in metaphysics and suspected that Xia Linchuan’s ghost was haunting the place. At that point, the Sun Group invited a master to perform rites for Xia Linchuan and the others. The rituals were done, but the rumor of a ‘Killer Lake’ at Bihai Bay began to spread.”
“This project became something the wealthy class avoided like the plague before it had even been completed,.”
Bai Lixin: “So the Sun Group stopped the project?”
“It wasn’t just that,” Zhou Guang’s gaze darkened. “Something even more disturbing happened afterward. The head of the Sun family by then, Old Master Sun, who had always been in good health, suddenly died mysteriously. He drowned in his own bathroom.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Zhou Guang continued, “After Old Master Sun’s death, the Sun family was left leaderless, and many projects nearly fell apart. It was only with great effort that the current head, Master Sun, managed to stabilize the crumbling empire by stepping up to bear the responsibility.”
“But ever since then, the Bihai Bay project was halted, and the site became an abandoned, unfinished building.”
Bai Lixin: “Then why did you still decide to move here?”
Zhou Guang: “Back then, Zirui had a chronic respiratory condition. He couldn’t tolerate polluted air— the air that seemed normal to us was deadly to him, it would cause him lung infections that could put him in intensive care in severe cases.”
“I searched everywhere for a place with clean air for him to recuperate. By chance, I found this place. No crowds or traffic, but with abundant negative ions—perfect for his recovery. At that point, I had no other choice, so I proposed a contract to buy a villa here from Master Sun. I was still a rookie lawyer with no money, and I couldn’t afford a villa like this.”
“Master Sun was generous. Upon hearing my reason, he readily gifted me a villa.”
“When I first moved in, I was very apprehensive, but after living here, I saw Zirui’s health improve visibly. Over the past two years, his chronic illness has gotten much better. The doctors said it was greatly due to the environment. And since we didn’t encounter any incidents, we didn’t bother moving out.”
“But it seems like we can’t stay here anymore. We’ll have to leave.”
“…” After listening, Bai Lixin felt that something wasn’t right. He thought for a moment and said, “Lawyer Zhou, do you have photos of the people who drowned in the artificial lake? I’d like to take a look.”
Zhou Guang took out his phone. “Hold on, I might have them in the employees’ digital archives. Let me check.”
He tapped a few times on his phone. “I found Xia Linchuan’s.”
After saying this, he handed the phone to Bai Lixin. The screen displayed an ID-style photo.
Bai Lixin stared at the photo, and his otherwise calm eyes flashed with shock.
Though he had changed considerably, the water ghost he had seen was indeed Xia Linchuan.
Something wasn’t adding up.
Song Yuantian had said that the water ghost haunted people to find a substitute so that it can reincarnate once a substitute was found.
But according to Lawyer Zhou’s account, Xia Linchuan’s ghost had already killed three people, and it was unclear if Old Master Sun was his doing as well.
If he had been looking for substitutes, he should have found enough by now.
So why was he still lingering here?
And what about the souls of the others who drowned in the artificial lake?
Where did they go?
Could they have ended up in the same place as his own soul?
No, something was definitely wrong.
Bai Lixin suddenly stood up from his chair, muttering, “I have to step out for a bit,” and rushed into his bedroom.
He hastily dug out his necklace with the beast tooth, then, under the puzzled gazes of Zhou Guang and Lin Jue, quickly left the house.
There had to be more to this.
He had to tell Song Yuantian about his discovery!
