27

“Digged up from a grave!”

The living room of the Yao family was silent, with only the rough, hurried breathing of Xiao Shitou faintly heard.

Lin You felt goosebumps rise all over her body, instinctively holding the cat in her arms tighter.

Xiao Shitou’s mother, Wang Xianghua, seemed to have been bitten by something as she shrieked and threw the clothes far away. After trembling for a moment, she began to wail uncontrollably.

“My Xiao Shitou! I’ve harmed you!”

She then glared angrily at her husband, who stood frozen like a wooden statue: “It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! Give me my son back!”

Yao Xiangjun instinctively tried to excuse himself, wanting to say that the other person was so wealthy, how could he have schemed against him? When he and his wife were in the south, the factory had owed wages, and this “brother” had unhesitatingly lent him thousands. Last year, when his wife was ill, this “brother” even helped arrange the hospital. Even when he casually mentioned returning to his hometown, the person immediately offered him the responsibility for a restaurant he planned to open…

If all of that was a lie… then he had fallen into a terrifying trap!

Yao Xiangjun was in a daze, allowing his wife and mother to beat him while mumbling to himself: “It’s impossible… how could this be…”

Bo Chuan gathered everything the other person had given, drew a talisman on the ground, and, with some fire, burned the clothes, kite, and snacks clean.

The flames reflected on everyone’s faces, filling the room with black smoke. As the smoke dispersed, Aunt Yin Hua exclaimed in joy, “It’s not working anymore! It’s not working anymore!”

Xiao Shitou, though still flushed, stopped struggling with his hands. His breathing, though still fast, now had a rhythm to it, indicating that he was slowly improving.

Wang Xianghua, tears in her eyes, rushed to hug her son, overwhelmed with both self-blame and relief.

Yao Xiangjun could no longer deny it, reality had slapped him in the face. His face turned pale, and he frantically searched for his phone, calling a number repeatedly.

Bo Chuan: “It’s useless. That person didn’t borrow life for himself, he’s probably already run away.”

Sure enough, Yao Xiangjun made call after call, but the phone was always unreachable.

Wang Xianghua couldn’t stand it any longer and grabbed the phone. “Aren’t you already feeling enough of a fool? Why are you still calling? Didn’t you hear the master? That person borrowed life for someone else! He’s long gone!”

Yao Xiangjun, in agony, squatted down, holding his head. He knew full well that he had made a grave mistake, but he still wanted to ask the other person.

But reality was what it was—his calls could not go through, and everything confirmed Bo Chuan’s guess.

Aunt Yin Hua kicked her son and scolded, “If you have time to waste like this, you’d better hurry up and take care of your son.”

Being tricked was foolish, but to be left devastated by it was even more foolish.

Aunt Yin Hua turned to Bo Chuan with a respectful expression, bowing. “Master, is my grandson safe now?”

Bo Chuan collected the ceramic fragments from the floor and handed them over. “This, wrap it in red cloth and throw it away tomorrow after dawn. And this…”

Bo Chuan pulled out a string of ancient coins from his pocket. “Five Emperor Coins, put them on the child to suppress the energy.”

The so-called Five Emperor Coins are divided into large and small sets, selected from the minted coins of five emperors in history. ^[1]“large set” refers to coins from five different emperors spanning various dynasties, including half-liang coins, five-zhu coins, Kaiyuan Tongbao, Song Yuan Tongbao, and Yongle Tongbao, … Continue readingThe large set includes half-liang coins, five-zhu coins, Kaiyuan Tongbao, Song Yuan Tongbao, and Yongle Tongbao. The small set includes Shunzhi Tongbao, Kangxi Tongbao, Yongzheng Tongbao, Qianlong Tongbao, and Jiaqing Tongbao.

The set Bo Chuan pulled out was the small five emperor coins. Five coins strung together with a red thread, resembling a car ornament.

Aunt Yin Hua carefully took them, cautiously placing the coins in her grandson’s swaddle. She couldn’t help but feel that the coins, upon touching the child, had grown warm, and Xiao Shitou’s breathing had become much more even.

“Thank you, Master! Once the child is better, I’ll definitely send the plaque over!”

Even though their family was struggling financially, the promised money for the temple and Taoist shrine could never be saved.

Aunt Yin Hua decided that tomorrow, she would send her foolish son to the county town to order the most beautiful plaque!

With countless thanks, she sent Bo Chuan and the others out, angrily scolding her son to hurry up and make something for her grandson to eat once he wakes up.

Aunt Wang was in a daze, she hadn’t expected such a dramatic event tonight. “Borrowing life” sounded so terrifying.

Aunt Wang also left, leaving only Lin You and Yao Jiu, both filled with doubts about life.

Yao Jiu nudged Lin You, and Lin You nudged Yao Jiu. In the end, Lin You spoke first.

“Um… Bo Chuan, you said Xiao Shitou’s life was borrowed. What does that mean?”

Bo Chuan, with his hands in his pockets, answered nonchalantly, “It’s when someone’s life is near the end, and they want to extend it by borrowing life.”

“In the past, borrowing life wasn’t considered something that would provoke anger or resentment. When a relative was critically ill, children or younger generations would offer their lifespan to the ill person by taking a bundle of rice, inserting a scale rod and scissors into the rice, covering it with a red cloth, and sending it to the city god’s temple. If the elderly person survived, they would return to the city god’s temple to take the scale rod and scissors back. But there were rules: it had to be voluntary, it had to be blood-related, and there couldn’t be just one person. At least three or five people had to offer their life, and each person would contribute only a year, so there wouldn’t be a case of someone dying prematurely after the life was borrowed.”

“But this time, the borrowing of life wasn’t a normal case.”

Bo Chuan, walking in front, could still clearly navigate in the dark, “The person who borrowed life was quite young, and the person’s birthdate and fortune indicated they were young. I suspect this family had two children—one passed away early, and the other is also in poor health now. They wanted to borrow some life for the living child, but life can only be borrowed from the older to the younger, so they came up with this trick to substitute one life for another.”

“They found someone suitable, got the person’s accurate birthdate and appearance, and used clothes from the deceased to cover up. During the borrowing of life, because they used Xiao Shitou’s birthdate, no one could tell it was the life of someone already dead. They recognized him as a godparent, and with some manipulation, they were able to bypass the bloodline requirement.”

“But this person was too greedy. Borrowing life already damages karma, and they still weren’t satisfied—they directly tried to borrow a life. They wanted to give Xiao Shitou’s life to the child in poor health.”

“If it weren’t for my incomplete skills, everything would have been set by now.”

Lin You and Yao Jiu: …

To be honest, the shock tonight was so overwhelming that after Bo Chuan’s detailed explanation, they didn’t even know where to begin asking questions.

“…So, life really has a set span? Does that mean ghosts and demons really exist?”

Bo Chuan: “If you believe, they exist. If you don’t, they don’t.”

When they reached the door, Bo Chuan pushed it open, and the light from the yard poured in. The three of them, as if returning from another world, stood at the entrance.

Bo Chuan was silent for a moment. “Can we have some more dumplings?”

After all that commotion earlier, he was feeling a bit hungry.

Lin You: …

Well, even immortals had to eat, right? When she thought about it this way, all the talk of immortals and ghosts wasn’t so scary after all.

“The dumplings are finished, but I can make some wontons. I saved some filling from earlier.”

An egg was added to the dough, giving the skin a slight yellow tint. The meat filling was plain, wrapped in wonton skins with a bit of flour showing. The wontons were boiled in a pot, and a few pieces of bok choy were added. At the bottom of the bowl, there were diced seaweed, shrimp skins, and pickled mustard, topped with a spoonful of pork lard. The cooked wontons and bok choy were placed in the bowl and poured with hot broth, releasing steam mixed with the fragrance of pork lard. A spoonful of minced meat was cooked and added on top of the wontons, garnished with scallions and cilantro.

The wontons were juicy, the broth fresh and delicious, and the skin was thin while the meat was tender.

The three of them ate the late-night snack happily before finally dispersing.

That night, a young man who had already left Jingshui County was waiting at the airport.

He answered a call from a client, speaking with a deliberate tone, pretending to be profound: “It’s all done. Your son’s health will improve soon.”

On the other end, it seemed that the person was deeply grateful. After a pause, the man continued: “However, this matter goes against the natural order, so remember that for the next few decades, you need to honor the boy in the photo at your family’s ancestral shrine. The name and tombstone of your other deceased son must be changed to the name of the boy in the photo. Remember, no matter who asks, always say your son’s name is Yao Lei.”

After hanging up, the young man leaned back in his chair, pondering how to spend the money he had earned this time.

He was different from those fortune-tellers on the street who randomly stop people to predict their misfortunes. His principle was simple: do one big job, and he could live comfortably for decades.

There were so many rich people, and as long as he could catch a little bit of their wealth, he could live comfortably for half his life.

Moreover, this time, he had done something really big.

The eldest son of that family was in his teens, born with a sickness that had baffled doctors and medicines for over a decade with no results. The younger son had died early due to a hereditary disease.

The family, worth billions, was not short on money.

What they wanted was simply for their son to live a long, healthy life.

It was that simple.

The young man couldn’t help but feel smug. All he had done was find a child whose birthdate matched, and swap the life. After all, that young couple was poor, both working outside, and had never even been able to afford a house over the years.

The child was born into such a poor family. How miserable!

It would be better to give the life to someone who had more value.

If the child could choose freely, he would probably choose not to have been born into this world, not to have such foolish and useless parents.

The airport announcement sounded, and the young man gracefully stood up and walked toward the VIP channel.

Suddenly, a sharp pain in his chest hit him, almost making him collapse. It felt as if something was burning his soul and organs, and shadowy figures swirled before his eyes.

“Help… help me…”

Damn it, he tried to think with the last bit of his sanity.

At this moment, such intense pain could only mean one thing.

That was, the child whose life was borrowed had encountered a problem!

Why! Did they find some expert?

That couldn’t be!

Yao Xiangjun, that fool, had said his family lived on the mountain, in a small village where it was hard to even reach a hospital, let alone find an expert.

The pain in his chest worsened, stirring his mind until it felt like it was about to crack.

The airport staff had noticed him and hurriedly rushed to his side. At the same time, his phone rang like a death knell.

The staff anxiously asked if he needed help, while carefully answering the call.

“You liar! Liar! You said my son would get better! But now he’s on oxygen! Damn you, you liar! How dare you deceive me! Wait, I won’t let you get away with this!”