Volume One, Chapter Five: The Change in Address

From Master, to Little Yan, and then to Yan Yatou. The changes in address revealed the old Lord Liu’s gradually growing fondness for Yan Chu.

Yan Chu clapped her hands and reached out to peel off the talisman from Liu Luo’s forehead. “Hmm, all taken care of.”

The young boy lay sprawled on the sofa, eyes tightly shut, expression serene. If not for the steady rise and fall of his chest, the old Lord Liu might have thought he was dead.

“And what about little Luo…” Liu Luo’s father looked anxiously at his unconscious son on the sofa.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. He was possessed by a ghost, which drained a good deal of his energy. Just give him some tonic foods to replenish qi and let him bask in the sun afterward. But…”

“But what?”

Yan Chu said, “Since he only goes back and forth between two places every day and hasn’t been anywhere strange, where did this malevolent ghost come from?”

The Liu family was equally puzzled.

Their little Luo had always been obedient and sensible, never causing them worry.

This time, despite racking their brains, they couldn’t figure it out.

Yan Chu furrowed her brows and approached the sleeping Liu Luo, lowering her eyes to examine him carefully.

After a moment, her gaze fixed on a red string hanging around his neck.

She reached out and pulled the red string, revealing a Buddhist amulet at the end.

It was deep black, engraved with a Buddha’s head and intricate patterns.

“Where did this amulet come from?” Yan Chu asked.

Liu Luo’s father replied, “A business partner gave it to me, saying it was specially obtained from Country T and could protect against harm. Little Luo is the only child in our family for three generations, so I had him wear it.”

He had heard many rumors about the amulets from Country T, so he had checked it carefully before accepting it.

Afterward, he even had someone verify it, and they confirmed it was indeed blessed by a monk. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let his child wear it.

But now seeing Yan Chu’s expression, Liu Luo’s father felt a sudden ominous premonition. “Could it be… the amulet has something wrong with it?”

“Hmm.” Without a word, Yan Chu pulled off the amulet and placed it on the coffee table.

Then she grabbed the ashtray beside her and smashed it down.

Crack!

The amulet shattered instantly, revealing a slipped piece of paper inside.

“What’s that…” The Liu family craned their necks but no one dared to pick it up.

They all sensed something sinister about this paper.

Yan Chu reached out, unfolded it, and handed it to the old Lord Liu.

“If I’m not mistaken, this should be Liu Luo’s birth chart, right?”

The old Lord’s brows tightened as he glanced at it. Indeed, it recorded his grandson’s birth details.

But there were also some strange markings that gave off an unsettling feeling.

“What’s the use of this?”

Yan Chu explained, “This is a Yin Gathering Talisman. Writing the birth chart on it summons spirits to possess the person matching that chart. It seems the giver of the amulet had their eyes set on your son from the start!”

Liu Luo’s father’s face shifted several times; his murderous intent flared as he stood up to confront the one who had done this.

“Stop!” The old Lord Liu shouted sternly, “You can’t just go like that without proof. Do you think they’ll admit it?”

Liu Luo’s father clenched his face pale. “Should we just swallow this injustice and let little Luo suffer in vain?”

“You won’t suffer in vain,” Yan Chu said with a smile. “Now that I’ve broken this dark magic, the caster will experience a backlash.”

Upon hearing that the perpetrator would be harmed in return, the Liu family’s expressions eased somewhat.

Just as the old Lord Liu was about to speak, Liu Luo suddenly mumbled softly on the sofa, “Hungry… so hungry…”

“Little Luo, you’re awake!” Liu’s father hurried over to help him sit up.

Liu Luo looked weak, barely steady in his seat. “Dad, I’m so hungry.”

“Hungry?”

Liu’s father recalled the master had said once the problem was resolved, little Luo would feel hungry and to prepare easily digestible food.

He shouted toward the kitchen, “Mom, honey, is the porridge ready? Little Luo says he’s hungry!”

“Coming, coming!”

Mrs. Liu and the old matriarch were both in the kitchen. Hearing this, they quickly brought out a steaming bowl of porridge.

Liu Luo took the bowl without minding the heat and began eating heartily.

Seeing this, Yan Chu prepared to leave. “Alright, the matter’s settled. I’ll be going now. As for the payment, old sir, just transfer it directly to my master’s account.”

Speaking of her master’s account, Yan Chu couldn’t help but feel like crying.

It was all because her master had left a huge debt in the Celestial Bank.

No one knew what he had done to owe the Dao so much merit.

As Yan Chu left the Liu residence, ready to send the male ghost from her ghost-capturing pouch away at home, she received a call from an unfamiliar number.

Yan Chu and her master lived in the mountains most of the time, rarely interacting with others. Except for those in trouble, few people reached out to her.

So, seeing this call unexpectedly left her momentarily stunned.

She swiped to answer, and a clear, pleasant male voice came through: “Yan Chu?”

“It’s me. May I ask who this is…” The voice sounded familiar, as if heard somewhere before.

Gu Chenxiao: …

Good heavens, just after they got their marriage certificate, his new wife had already forgotten about him.

Gu Chenxiao took two seconds to compose himself before speaking again, “It’s me, Gu Chenxiao.”

“Uh…” Yan Chu felt awkward but quickly regained her composure. “You called me for something?”

“My family knows about our marriage registration and wants you to come back to the old mansion for dinner,” the man said evenly, neither hurried nor slow. “Have you finished dealing with your matters over there? If so, I’ll have the driver pick you up.”

Yan Chu replied, “All settled.”

“Then send me your location, and I’ll have the driver come get you,” Gu Chenxiao said.

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Yan Chu added Gu Chenxiao on WeChat and sent him her location. Then she sat down on a bench not far from the Liu family’s gate to wait.

The villa district where the Liu family lived was relatively remote, quiet, and serene.

All were detached mansions, spaced far apart, greatly protecting the residents’ privacy.

Yan Chu glanced around. Opening the ghost gate here shouldn’t scare any unrelated people.

She then drew a special talisman with spiritual energy and waved her hand to disperse it.

As the spiritual energy dissipated, she made a knocking gesture with her fingers.

In the next moment, a phantom vortex slowly appeared before her, and a ghost official dressed in a Zhongshan suit with slicked-back hair stepped out.

Sensing the influx of spiritual energy into his body, Huang Cheng was quite pleased; his tone softened noticeably as he spoke.

“Who is knocking on the ghost gate?”

In this era of dwindling spiritual energy, only formidable beings could summon the ghost gate with spiritual energy.

They might become pillars of the underworld in the future, so Huang Cheng’s attitude was very courteous.

But when he turned and saw Yan Chu sitting there with a bright smile, his smile immediately froze on his face.

“Auntie, why is it you?!”