A damp odor, mixed with a fishy saltiness, drifted in, hovering around Sui Han’s feet and crawling forward as if it wanted to engulf someone, yet also seemed wary of something.

The little fox on Sui Han’s leg yawned, opened its eyes, and leaped to the ground.

All nine tails unfurled simultaneously, the phantom mirrored on the wall like wind-blown wheat, strand by strand, instantly creating distance between itself and its master.

Sui Han saw it.

Those things were water droplets.

Black water droplets congealed into clumps, eventually forming a gelatinous substance, rolling and slowly advancing.

The edges of the gelatinous substance clung tightly to the ground, forming various shapes and expressions: crying, smiling, twisted states like a pantomime.

However, if one looked closely, the cracks opening on the sides were unexpectedly identical to the things on Xu Songyan’s face.

Identical fissures, identical ferocity.

The boy slowly rose and walked a few steps to stand before the azure masterpiece.

He raised a hand and gently tapped at the surging, roaring sea.

“Dong—”

He was tapping the painting, but a booming sound suddenly echoed within this illusory barrier, the ancient toll of a bell emanating from that mysterious temple.

Each time Sui Han’s finger moved, the bell’s chime followed.

An ethereal oppression pierced the air, and the rapidly gathering gelatinous substance abruptly cracked open. They were forced apart and quickly lost their suction.

Ultimately, they only dissolved into a pool of stagnant water, scattering into their most primitive form, silently evaporating into the turbid air.

The tide receded, and the fishy saltiness vanished.

The painting was still a painting; everything seemed like it had never happened.

Sui Han knew that this believer had truly encountered a significant problem. If the previous times were due to the turbidity in people’s hearts blinding their eyes, then this time, something mystical was clearly involved.

When Xu Songyan came out, Sui Han was still sitting there correctly, and the little fox was still sleeping on his lap.

The boy looked up at him. Xu Songyan was utterly unaware of what had just transpired. The man was drying his hair, saying, “Do you want to take a shower too? It’ll be tiring to fly tonight.”

“I’ll just shower at the hotel.”

Sui Han was a bit of a neat freak and didn’t like being touched by others, nor was he accustomed to using other people’s bathrooms.

Hotels were fine; at least they had people to disinfect and clean them, especially the hotels the organizers provided, mostly five-star or higher.

Xu Songyan remembered there was pork floss in the refrigerator. He quickly took it out, found a brightly colored plate, and poured all the pork floss into it.

“I wonder if Huan Huan can eat this?”

The man pushed the plate flatteringly, but Huan Huan only opened one eye to look at it before closing its eyes and dozing off again.

Xu Songyan was embarrassed.

Sui Han pinched the little guy’s nape and placed him beside the plate.

“Learned how to put on airs.”

The little fox rolled over and stood up, wagging its tail at its master. The nine fluffy tails swayed back and forth, then it narrowed its eyes and contentedly devoured the pork floss.

Sui Han watched it helplessly, stroked its head, and scratched the seam on the top of its head a couple of times.

He educated it, “A child should have manners.”

Huan Huan immediately turned to look at Xu Songyan, its tiny mouth smeared with pork floss crumbs, its round face tilted up, baring its small white teeth at Xu Songyan in gratitude.

Then it turned back and continued to eat the fragrant pork floss.

“It’s so cute.”

Xu Songyan didn’t dare to touch it, afraid Huan Huan would be unhappy. He could only say this to Sui Han, feeling like he was scratching an itch from outside his boot.

Sui Han took videos of Huan Huan as content. The little guy knew how to pose, cooperatively making several movements.

It opened its two front paws, stood up, and “awooed” at its master.

Little Fox showing claws.jpg

Sui Han put down his phone and casually said to Xu Songyan, “Brother Xu, you said you bought this house early?”

“Yeah.”

Xu Songyan’s face flushed slightly when he mentioned the house, for some reason.

“The first time I came, I heard two old men downstairs chatting. They said this building was resettlement housing and that it was haunted.”

The boy watched Xu Songyan’s expression without betraying his thoughts, but Xu Songyan looked puzzled. “Ah? Is that what they say?”

He was an artist, and although he had a fixed residence, he didn’t live there often throughout the year. He didn’t know anything about the legends in this neighborhood, but he knew about resettlement housing; resettlement housing was sold cheaply.

“Actually… the family that was originally relocated didn’t want to live here, so they sold it to me.” After Xu Songyan finished speaking, he seemed to feel this wasn’t accurate enough, so he corrected himself, “Or you could say that the developer was forced to sell it to me.”

Sui Han frowned slightly. He didn’t understand a word this person was saying.

Seeing that there was still some time, Xu Songyan packed his luggage while chatting with him.

Many relocated households lived in this neighborhood, but the developer initially didn’t plan to sell the one he bought.

Relocated households drew house numbers by lottery; whatever they drew was what they got.

The developer contacted the family that initially drew this one, who said they wanted to subsidize them with some money and not give them the house.

But they disagreed, complaining that the developer wasn’t giving them enough money. The house was theirs once they drew it, and the developer had no right to interfere.

But when it was time to move in, the family unexpectedly won third prize in the lottery and went to buy a building elsewhere, so they decided to sell this one.

They sold it for a higher price than the developer offered them.

But compared to the market price, it was still a bit lower. Xu Songyan didn’t have much money then, and seeing such a great deal, he immediately decided to take it.

Sui Han raised an eyebrow.

So that’s why this person’s face was red just now; he was embarrassed to buy this kind of house because he didn’t have money.

But this was normal.

And the developer probably knew something, so he refused to sell this one. The boy turned to look at the painting on the wall, his expression cold as he said, “Did you buy that painting?”

Xu Songyan waved his hand with a smile, “How could I have that aesthetic sense? As soon as I moved in, the painting was hanging here. I thought it looked good, so I didn’t throw it away.”

---

Inside the economy class cabin flying to Yunchuan City, Bai Bai whispered to Brother Leopard beside him, “Did Sui Han miss the flight?”

He remembered that the receptionist said that he, Brother Leopard, and Sui Han were in the same row, with Sui Han’s seat by the window. The organizers chartered the plane, so only their people were on it, but the window seat was empty.

That meant Sui Han didn’t get on the plane?

Brother Leopard took a sip of free cola and smacked his lips. “Good if he missed it.”

Bai Bai was puzzled.

He glanced and saw Xu Songyan’s assistant sitting a little ahead of him, listening to music with headphones on.

It seemed that Xu Songyan was in first class. He was so envious of rich people being able to sit in first class. He heard there were free cupcakes, tsk tsk.

At this moment, Sui Han, who was eating free cupcakes, was still talking to Xu Songyan about the house.

Xu Songyan couldn’t sleep anyway, and since the little ones had their special transport and couldn’t sit with them, Film Emperor Xu leaned back in the comfortable chair, closed his eyes, and talked to Sui Han.

“You probably don’t know, but the developer, Liang Xue, isn’t in real estate.”

“What’s he doing then?”

“Pet competitions. This time, Liang Xue is one of the organizers, but he didn’t have time to come to the Shanghai City stop. He’s waiting for us in Yunchuan City now.”

“Oh?”

Sui Han planned to meet Liang Xue when Xu Songyan added, “I heard he’s been sick for the past two years, and his health isn’t good. He was hospitalized in Yunchuan last month and just got out.”

The plane arrived in Yunchuan City at three in the morning.

After it stopped, the assistant rushed to find Xu Songyan, shouting towards the first-class cabin, “Brother Xu, streamer Sui Han!”

Bai Bai and Brother Leopard were gloating that Sui Han hadn’t come, but they were about to explode angrily when they suddenly heard this.

Sui Han and Xu Songyan slowly got off the plane. The assistant went to pick up Huan Huan for Sui Han, so the two of them stood aside and waited.

“Sui Han, the competition doesn’t start until the day after tomorrow. If you have nothing to do these two days, why don’t you come with me to meet Liang Xue? We’ve arranged to go sea fishing tomorrow, and we’ll be back the morning after tomorrow.”