10.
The next day, major media outlets rushed to report that the richest man in the country, Shen Wanchuan, had found his biological son.
Jiang Yanchu called me specifically to tell me he had returned to the Shen family. “Since they changed my fate and went to such lengths to hide my appearance, they definitely don’t want me back in the Shen family.”
“But that only makes me want to go back even more. This time, I’m going to take back everything that belongs to me!”
I was also glad he’d finally returned to the Shen family. The mastermind was still on the loose, so he would still need me—and that meant I could earn a little more.
But I hadn’t expected this day to come so soon.
On the third day after Jiang Yanchu returned to the Shen family, he called and invited me over.
Standing in front of the Shen family’s mansion, I couldn’t help sighing. Some people really knew how to be born into the right family. My adoptive father’s home was already huge, but I hadn’t expected my birth father’s to be even bigger.
This time, Jiang Yanchu came out in person to greet me. We were once again riding in the long Lincoln, with the same familiar feel and the same familiar setup.
But as I sat in the car and looked at the landscaping around the estate, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a little off.
The courtyard blended Chinese and Western styles, with a Chinese rock garden and flowing water alongside a Western-style garden pavilion.
What’s more, the rock garden was arranged differently from the usual kind, which rose in the middle and sloped down on all sides, or meandered through alternating high and low sections.
This one ran from northwest to southeast, with a heap of jagged stones at its southern end—a sign that good fortune was being drained away.
Inside the mansion, a stern-looking middle-aged man and a beautiful young woman were sitting on the living room sofa.
When they saw me, they stood to greet me. “You must be Master Qin. I’m Shen Wanchuan. I wanted to meet you in person and thank you when you subdued that lynx during the livestream, but I was overseas on business at the time.”
“I never imagined you’d help us find Yanchu and break the fate-changing spell cast on him, too. That’s why I asked Yanchu to invite you today, so I could thank you in person.”
I nodded politely. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shen. What happened before was a small matter; there’s no need to take it to heart.”
“As expected of a master—you carry yourself with great dignity. Even if you don’t think much of it, I still want to show my gratitude. And there’s something else I’d like to ask you about today.”
“Is it about the mastermind behind the change to Jiang Yanchu’s fate?”
Shen Wanchuan’s expression darkened. “Before my wife gave birth, someone switched the babies. She raised that lynx as her own child for more than twenty years. Over the past two days, I’ve sent people to investigate the original hospital, but they haven’t found a thing. The more I think about it, the more I can only come up with one unusual person.”
He paused, then continued. “That person was able to alter Yanchu without anyone noticing. If they have bad intentions toward us again, it’ll be very difficult to stop them.”
Shen Wanchuan must have had plenty of people watching him, given that he’d become the richest man in the country. There were too many to investigate one by one.
But then I thought of the rock garden in the courtyard and asked, “Where did the rock garden on the estate come from?”
Shen Wanchuan seemed to understand what I was getting at. “A business partner gave it to me fifteen years ago, when I was renovating the estate. Is there something wrong with it?”
“But Grandmother had a feng shui practitioner look at it back then. They said it was excellent for feng shui and would attract wealth.”
Fifteen years ago again.
Jiang Yanchu suddenly grew excited. “What did that practitioner look like, Dad?”
Shen Wanchuan didn’t understand why he was so excited. He simply said, “I was busy with work then, and your mother was in poor health, so your grandmother took care of everything. Only she would know.”
11.
Shen Wanchuan led us to meet the Shen family’s grandmother. Her room was decorated with great elegance.
The ebony furniture, hollow gilt incense burner, and blue-and-white porcelain vase were all luxurious and excellent for feng shui, nourishing the soul.
But the old woman lay in bed, looking gaunt, like a lamp about to go out.
Shen Wanchuan went to the bedside and called softly, “Mother.”
The old woman slowly opened her dry, sunken eyes and reached toward Shen Wanchuan. “Wanchuan, is A-Zhe back?”
Jiang Yanchu went over and took the old woman’s hand. “Grandma, I’m home.”
“Good, you’re home. It’s good to have you back. Don’t go out partying anymore. Go to the company and learn the ropes.”
Jiang Yanchu nodded, moved. “Grandma, don’t worry. I’ll work hard and learn from now on.”
The old woman’s expression suddenly changed. She knocked Jiang Yanchu’s hand away. “You’re not A-Zhe. A-Zhe wouldn’t be this well-behaved. Who are you?”
Jiang Yanchu looked hurt. “Grandma, I’m A-Zhe. The one before was a fake.”
The old woman shook her head in disbelief. The wrinkles on her face tightened, and it flushed red.
Shen Wanchuan gestured for Jiang Yanchu to step aside, then sat by the bed to comfort his mother.
At last, the old woman calmed down. Shen Wanchuan asked her, “Mother, when you were renovating the estate, do you remember what the feng shui practitioner you hired looked like?”
The old woman murmured, “The feng shui practitioner? Let me think… She was probably around thirty, with an oval face and a large, coin-sized mole on the left side of her face.”
Shen Wanchuan glanced at Jiang Yanchu, who hurriedly nodded.
Shen Wanchuan tucked the old matriarch’s hands under the covers and carefully covered her with the blanket, lost in thought.
As Shen Wanchuan tucked the old woman’s hand under the covers, her sleeve slipped down, revealing part of her pale arm.
As we left the old woman’s room, Jiang Yanchu said excitedly, “That’s the master—the one who hid my appearance fifteen years ago.”
Shen Wanchuan immediately sent someone to investigate.
12.
I was kept at the Shen residence for lunch. As we ate, I recalled the layout of the old woman’s room and asked, “Does she usually lie in bed like this?”
Shen Wanchuan sighed. “Ah, this is what happens when you get old. Two days ago, she was still perfectly healthy, and then suddenly she got sick and couldn’t get out of bed.”
I’d already guessed as much, so I didn’t ask any more questions.
Shen Wanchuan’s people soon tracked down the master. Her name was Li Shimei, an ordinary mountain woman who lived on the outskirts of the city. Her husband beat her every day because she couldn’t have children.
One day, she went up into the mountains and didn’t come back for two days. Thinking something might have happened to her, her husband took a group of people up the mountain to look for her. To their surprise, they found her kneeling again and again before a tree, saying, “Thank you, great immortal!”
The villagers thought she was crazy, but they never imagined that a great immortal had truly enlightened her. She could clearly tell people what good or bad things would happen to them in the near future. At first, no one believed her, but before long, her predictions started coming true one after another.
The villagers’ attitude toward her changed, and even her husband no longer dared to mistreat her.
Later, her husband went drinking with some other people, fell, and hit his head on a rock. He bled heavily and died.
She left the little mountain village and went to the city to tell people’s fortunes, eventually earning a bit of a reputation.
That year, after finishing the feng shui reading for the Shen family, she was struck and killed by a truck on her way home.
After hearing about Li Shimei’s life, Jiang Yanchu grew dejected. “If she’s dead, then we’ve lost our only lead.”
This outcome was exactly what I’d expected.
“She isn’t dead.”
As soon as I said that, everyone at the table looked at me.
I wiped my mouth. Now that I’d finished eating, it was time to get down to business. “Come with me to the old woman’s room, and you’ll see.”
13.
The old woman was still asleep with her eyes closed. Hearing us, she slowly opened them, and a strange glint flashed in her eyes.
She looked at us, but in the end her eyes remained fixed on Shen Wanchuan. “Wanchuan, I don’t want to sleep anymore. Help me get up.”
I stepped forward and took her hand. “Let me help you up.”
The old woman tried to pull away, but I held her firmly and tugged her sleeve down, revealing a smooth, pale arm.
“Ma’am, why does your arm look so young?”
The old woman’s expression changed, and a vicious look crept into her eyes. “Damn it, I’ve been found out.”
I sneered. “Li Shimei, you’ve got a lot of nerve. You came to read the feng shui fifteen years ago with a plan to take over the old madam’s body.”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
She laughed loudly. “So what? If you’ve got what it takes, come and catch me!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Shimei turned into a wisp of smoke and escaped from the old woman’s body.
The old woman’s body immediately slumped onto the bed.
I chased Li Shimei’s soul to the outskirts, where I saw her fly into the mountains and disappear.
“Damn it!” I couldn’t help cursing. How was I supposed to find her in such a vast forest?
If I didn’t find her in time, she might take over someone else’s body.
I was standing at the edge of the forest, anxiously pacing back and forth, when I suddenly heard someone call my name. “Qin Mian!”
I turned around to see Bai Zhi Lan floating toward me in a long purple dress, with Li Shimei in her arms.
“Are you looking for her?”
I was a little surprised. “You’re not dead?”
Bai Zhi Lan smiled sweetly. “I’m a mountain spirit. How could I die so easily? It’s only my body that was destroyed.”
“That’s good.”
Thinking of what she’d been through, I couldn’t help advising her, “Don’t try to fall in love like other people from now on, or you’ll end up unhappy.”
“Ha ha ha ha!” Bai Zhi Lan laughed loudly.
“I was only messing with him. Otherwise, I’d have gone and picked a fight with him.”
Me: “…”
I’d been worrying for nothing.
She waved Li Shimei’s shrunken soul in front of me. “I’ll leave this demon to you. You can consider it my thanks for clearing my name during your livestream.”
I took Li Shimei’s soul and smiled a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Actually, I didn’t really do anything to help you.”
Bai Zhi Lan looked at Li Shimei with regret. “Maybe this is partly my fault. Her husband used to beat her every day, and she nearly got killed by a wild animal in the mountains. I felt sorry for her, so after saving her, I taught her a few simple techniques. I never expected her to be so greedy that she’d use them to harm others.”
I gently comforted her. “Who could have known what would happen in the future? You were only trying to help.”
Bai Zhi Lan waved to me. “I’m going back to the mountain to cultivate. You’re a friend of mine now, so if you ever need help, just come find me.”
“I will.”
14.
I captured Li Shimei and returned to the Shen family estate.
The old Shen matriarch lay in bed, breathing out more than she breathed in. I couldn’t help sighing at the ashen look on her face.
“The old madam is elderly and her spirit is weak. After having her body possessed for fifteen years, her life is now nearly spent.”
Shen Wanchuan’s eyes were red, and Jiang Yanchu looked just as upset. Although he had only recently been welcomed back into the Shen family and wasn’t close to the old madam, they were still his blood relatives. How could he not feel sad?
Two days later, black mourning cloth was hung at the Shen family estate, and many prominent people came to pay their respects to Madam Shen.
After the old woman’s mourning period, Jiang Yanchu came to see me and asked, “Master Qin, may I take you as my teacher?”
“Oh?”
I looked at Jiang Yanchu, thinking of the benefits of taking him on as a disciple. “Why do you want me to be your teacher?”
Jiang Yanchu’s expression turned solemn. “I’ve been harmed by evil spirits since I was little, and my relatives were possessed by ghosts and died. No one hates evil spirits more than I do, so I want even more to help those they’ve harmed.”
The kid had a good heart—and was rich and privileged, too. Taking him as a disciple seemed like a pretty good choice.
With that thought, I smiled and beckoned him closer, signaling for him to bow his head. Then I patted the top of his head. “Good disciple, from now on, I’m your master.”
It looks like life won’t be boring anymore!
—THE END—