Chapter 80 – Chaos in the Heart

The storeroom was in complete disarray. Several rattan boxes were strewn haphazardly across the floor, and pages of paper were scattered everywhere. It was unclear what exactly had happened earlier. Wei Yang frowned slightly but ignored the mess on the ground. He quickly walked to the corner of the storeroom and squatted down in front of the bookshelf.

His last memory before losing consciousness was picking up a wooden carving—a fox statue that had once been enshrined in his grandmother’s altar and later hidden away by his grandfather. Regardless of its purpose, it was undoubtedly connected to the events of the past. Carefully brushing aside the scattered papers on the ground, he found the fox statue still lying in its original spot, seemingly untouched. Its narrow, fox-like face bore a human-like smile, its long tail curled around its body.

Wei Yang instinctively held his breath. He felt something calling to him, tempting him. However, this time, he didn’t reach out. Instead, he turned his head and asked, “Brother Qi, did you catch that fox earlier?”

Zhang Xiuqi shook his head and stepped forward, carefully examining the wooden carving. After a moment, his brows furrowed as he recognized the object. “Ghost Yin Wood. Don’t touch it!”

Although Wei Yang had been prepared, the words still sent a jolt through his heart. “What’s Ghost Yin Wood? Was it what caused me to lose control earlier?”

Zhang Xiuqi reached out and placed a hand on Wei Yang’s shoulder, as if trying to pull him away from danger. His voice was stern. “Locust wood that has been buried underground for a long time becomes Ghost Yin Wood. It’s a tool for summoning spirits.”

Wei Yang immediately understood. In folklore, locust trees are known as “ghost trees” because of their heavy yin energy, which can attract spirits. Ghost Yin Wood refers to wood that has been buried underground for countless years, undergoing geological changes and becoming a kind of “plant fossil.” Over time, Ghost Yin Wood accumulates the essence of heaven and earth, making it a powerful material for spiritual tools. Combining these two traits, it was no wonder that the fox statue had been enshrined by the Jiang Family’s shaman.

After a moment of hesitation, Wei Yang gently patted Zhang Xiuqi’s arm. “Brother Qi, I understand the seriousness of this, but we should still put it away, right? Leaving it here makes me uneasy. Can your talisman suppress it?”

Zhang Xiuqi hesitated for a rare moment before answering, “I don’t know.”

Wei Yang was surprised. “Is it that powerful?”

“I can’t see through it.”

This was what puzzled Zhang Xiuqi the most. During the earlier struggle, he had taken a risk. If the fox spirit could possess someone without changing their appearance, it should have been extremely malevolent. However, it was expelled from Wei Yang’s body with just a drop of blood, which didn’t make sense.

This answer also surprised Wei Yang, but he was well-versed in the Little Celestial Master’s thought process. After a few questions, he pieced together the reasoning and frowned. “That doesn’t add up. Being possessed by this fox spirit should have changed my appearance.”

The nightmare from earlier was still vivid in his mind. His grandmother’s face had transformed from human to fox-like, requiring makeup to hide it before she could go out to perform rituals. Moreover, the talisman jade from Longhu Mountain had once saved his life from a fatal attack. Since he was still alive and the talisman jade hadn’t shattered, it proved that the fox spirit wasn’t much more powerful than the previous Corpse Puppet. How could it be something that even the Little Celestial Master couldn’t figure out?

After frowning for a moment, Wei Yang quickly made a decision. “Let’s seal it away first. Leaving it out in the open isn’t a good idea. I remember there was a wooden box…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Xiuqi stepped forward, picked up the wooden box, and used the Suihou Sword to flick the fox statue into the box. He then took out a Yellow Talisman and firmly affixed it to the box before placing it in his pocket. This series of actions was smooth and fluid, leaving no opportunity for Wei Yang to intervene.

Wei Yang opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. He stood up from the ground, but as he did, he seemed to remember something and quickly walked back to the bookshelf. He bent down and began feeling around the bottom of the shelf. The appearance of the wooden box earlier had been suspicious. It clearly hadn’t been placed on the shelf, so if it had been hidden there, there might be other things hidden as well.

As his fingers brushed against the bottom of the shelf, they touched a groove, as if there was a hidden compartment. Perhaps it had been partially opened during the move, causing the wooden box to fall out. Without hesitation, Wei Yang lifted the nearby plank, and a thick bundle of notebooks fell to the ground.

“Found it!” Wei Yang bent down to pick up the notebooks without examining them closely and placed them in his backpack. He then turned to Zhang Xiuqi and said, “Brother Qi, we found what we were looking for. Let’s head back. This place doesn’t feel safe.”

He glanced at their disheveled appearance and forced a bitter smile. “But we need to clean up first. Going home like this would only worry people.”

Dust was one thing, but bloodstains were harder to explain. The village wasn’t like the city. Walking around covered in blood would spread rumors everywhere by evening. He didn’t dare take that risk.

After carefully locking the storeroom door, Wei Yang took out a jacket from his bag and handed it to Zhang Xiuqi. Most of his wounds were on his back, so a jacket would suffice to cover them. He then looked at his own arm. The burn was one thing, but the knife wound had already scabbed over, with only a little blood seeping out. However, after rolling around on the ground, the wound was covered in dust and needed to be cleaned before bandaging. The water and electricity in the old house were cut off, and drawing water from the well would take too much time. After a moment of hesitation, he considered licking the wound to clean it, but before he could act, his arm was grabbed by someone.

“Brother Qi…” Wei Yang’s voice caught in his throat. Zhang Xiuqi had bent down and was gently licking the wound with his tongue. His movements were slow, likely to avoid the broken part of his tongue, but the gentle, deliberate motion felt like a different kind of temptation. Wei Yang felt his entire arm tremble, his body heating up as if it wasn’t a soft tongue touching his wound but a burning coal.

As if sensing Wei Yang’s trembling, Zhang Xiuqi quickened his pace, cleaning the wound thoroughly. He then tore a clean strip of cloth from his shirt and carefully wrapped it around the wound. Patting Wei Yang’s arm, he said, “Let’s go home. We’ll apply medicine there.”

His demeanor was so natural, as if he had performed this kind of first aid countless times before. His dark, bright eyes were focused and straightforward, carrying a sense of responsibility that Wei Yang had never seen before. Wei Yang felt his heart pounding, a mix of electric numbness and an indescribable ache. However, he couldn’t express any of this outwardly. In the end, he forced a smile and said, “Right, let’s head home first.”

Though they had encountered many things in the old house, the actual time spent there wasn’t long. By the time they returned home, his uncle hadn’t come back from the fish pond yet, but his aunt was home, sitting in the yard picking vegetables. When she saw the two of them enter, she quickly got up to greet them. “You went to the old house again today? Look at you two, covered in dust…”

Wei Yang smiled at her. “The storeroom was full of dust. We’ll just take a shower later. We did make a bit of a mess while rummaging through the small storeroom, so we’ll probably need to go back and clean it up later.”

“Oh, that’s not a big deal,” his aunt waved it off dismissively. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Yes, a few books I read as a child and some notes.”

“That’s good.” His aunt, unaware of the underlying complexities, smiled and said, “Go take a shower then. Your uncle probably won’t be back until seven, so we’ll have dinner then.”

“There’s no rush.” Wei Yang exchanged a few more polite words before leading Zhang Xiuqi upstairs. When they reached the guest room, he suddenly remembered something else. He hesitated for a moment in front of the door, then steeled himself and opened it.

However, contrary to his expectations, Master Turtle wasn’t waiting at the door, nor did he come out to greet them. Wei Yang walked around the room before finally finding the turtle under the bed. Kneeling on the ground, he smiled bitterly and pleaded, “Master Turtle, I was really wrong this time. Please don’t be mad. Come out and have some dried fish?”

Master Turtle didn’t even acknowledge him, retracting all four limbs into his shell as if in hibernation. After trying in vain for a while, Wei Yang helplessly waved at Zhang Xiuqi. “Brother Qi, why don’t you go take a shower first? I’ll bandage your wounds when you’re done.”

Zhang Xiuqi looked at him, then at the turtle, and slowly nodded. He picked up a towel and walked out. The bathroom in the small two-story house wasn’t in this room. Watching him leave, Wei Yang let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor, not caring about his posture. Everything that had happened today felt like an absurd dream, and only now did the fatigue hit him. His limbs felt like they were made of lead, too heavy to lift. Whether it was the lingering effects of the nightmare or the aftermath of being possessed, he wasn’t sure.

However, the physical exhaustion couldn’t stop the whirlwind of thoughts in his mind. The things he had deliberately suppressed earlier came rushing back. He thought of the events in the dream, of that horrifying moonlit night. Why had the fox attacked him? Even if he was the “offering” his uncle had mentioned, he had been too young at the time to be a suitable vessel for possession. Moreover, that night hadn’t felt like a possession at all—the fox spirit had clearly wanted to kill him, even eat him. Wasn’t it supposed to be the Jiang Family’s household spirit, passed down through generations?

And then there was the conversation between his grandfather and grandmother. Wei Yang closed his eyes in pain, as if the sharp cries were still echoing in his ears. Had he caused the death of… his own parents? Was this what his grandmother had meant by “bringing misfortune to the family”? Was this why his kind and simple uncle had firmly sided with his grandmother, treating him with such caution? And his grandfather, that cunning old fox who knew the ways of the world better than anyone—why had he gone out of his way to make Wei Yang believe that ghosts and monsters didn’t exist, attributing everything to mere superstition? In truth, no one understood better than his grandfather that such things did exist.

Everything was on the verge of being revealed, but Wei Yang felt afraid—so afraid that he didn’t dare reach out. The backpack containing the answers was just a foot away, but he no longer wanted to touch it.

Sitting on the floor in a daze, he felt completely drained, his consciousness floating aimlessly. But something brought him back—a damp hand gently pressing against his forehead, ruffling his messy black hair.

“Yangyang.”

Wei Yang looked up. At some point, Zhang Xiuqi had finished his shower and returned to the room. Perhaps because he hadn’t brought a change of clothes, he was only wearing a towel around his waist. Water droplets dripped from his hair onto his chest, and the scars on his body, perhaps due to the recent shower, had taken on a faint red hue. Yet these scars didn’t mar the lines of his toned muscles; instead, they added a kind of fierce beauty to his physique, like a battle-hardened warrior returning with scars and glory.

Wei Yang swallowed hard and averted his gaze, looking up instead. The pair of dark eyes gazing at him held an indescribable tension, like a naive hunting dog sensing its master’s emotions but unable to do anything, simply staying by his side with focus and determination.

A part of his chest ached again. Wei Yang forced a smile and got up from the floor. “Brother Qi, I’ll go take a shower first. I’ll bandage your wounds when I’m done…”

His hand was grabbed. Zhang Xiuqi didn’t let him escape. His grip was like an iron clamp around Wei Yang’s wrist. His handsome brows furrowed slightly, as if he had a thousand words he wanted to say. But in the end, all he managed to utter was, “Yangyang, don’t be afraid.”

Wei Yang’s eyes felt hot, but a genuine smile finally appeared on his lips. He bent down and rested his forehead against Zhang Xiuqi’s, their dry and wet hair mingling.

“I’m not afraid. With you by my side, there’s nothing to fear.”