Qin Chu raised an eyebrow, "Change? How do we change?"
Ye Huohuo looked at Li Mohan. "We have to take him with us!"
"Take him? Are you kidding me? That 'Nightmare Curse' just nearly killed him. Tonight is the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, and we don't know what we'll encounter. He knows nothing and will only be more endangered if he follows us," Qin Chu immediately objected.
"We can now confirm that people from the Xuanmen are using sorcery to target the Li family. And based on our encounters so far, they should be targeting Li Mohan specifically.
You saw what happened just now. They dared to attack us then; if we aren't there, they'll be even more brazen. That person is a master; a few talismans won't be enough to stop him.
I think it's safer for him to act with us tonight. Besides, he has good fortune protecting him. He'll be safer encountering ghosts than ill-intentioned people," Ye Huohuo explained.
Qin Chu looked at Li Mohan, then at A Cheng. "Alright. One is protected by luck, the other by malevolent energy. As long as they don't encounter fierce ghosts, there shouldn't be a big problem.
It's getting late; we need to hurry. You're always causing trouble and managing these trivial matters. Next time something like this happens, I won't help you."
As Qin Chu spoke, he reached out and scooped up the myna bird from the table with one hand, placing it on his shoulder. "I still have to look after the eldest senior brother. You two will tire me out eventually."
Just as he reached the doorway, he suddenly turned back to look at Li Mohan. "You said ten years ago your girlfriend's car, along with her, fell into the river. The car was recovered, but her body was never found, right?"
Li Mohan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Yes! You're from Longcheng, could you possibly have some inside information? Could Yingxue still be alive!"
Qin Chu's gaze swept over his face a couple of times, then he looked at Ye Huohuo, whose face was slightly pale. He shook his head. "No, I just find it strange. The Cui family of Longcheng has always retaliated for grudges. Since you were their bane, and they failed to kill you back then, why did they only make a move ten years later?"
Li Mohan shook his head. "The police caught someone after the car accident ten years ago. He confessed to tampering with my brakes, which led to the crash and deaths.
But I knew it was a scapegoat hired by the Cui family. I had no evidence, and the Cui family's influence in Longcheng was immense. With my strength back then, I couldn't touch them.
So, for the next few years, I focused on making my company bigger and stronger. Once I had some influence, I seized several business opportunities from the Cui family, causing them significant losses. Perhaps that pushed them too far, so..."
Li Mohan said 'significant losses,' but the Cui family likely suffered substantial ones.
Qin Chu's gaze kept shifting across Li Mohan's face. Others didn't notice, but Ye Huohuo did.
When the group arrived downstairs at Lu Qing's house, Ye Huohuo found an opportunity to pull Qin Chu into a small alley. "Second Senior Brother, did you notice something on Li Mohan's face?"
"I examined his 'wife palace' earlier, and there was a shadowy presence there, indicating he had a deep love in his heart, but that person is already dead."
Qin Chu, however, shook his head. "I just looked too. There's one shadowy presence, one substantial. The shadowy one should be the Mei Yingxue in his heart, and the substantial one should be you."
Ye Huohuo raised her hand to smooth her hair, using the gesture to conceal her awkwardness. Her gaze flickered. To this day, she didn't feel like she was a married woman.
"Is... is that so! Is there something wrong?"
"I can't quite explain it. It's just that the shadowy presence is a bit strange, not quite like the ones I've seen of men who lost their wives, but I can't pinpoint the difference," Qin Chu said with a troubled expression.
"Alright, you're being too worried. Could it be that Mei Yingxue is still alive? If she really is alive, after ten years, why hasn't she come back to find Li Mohan? I think you're overthinking it!" Ye Huohuo said, but she couldn't help but feel a pang of doubt herself.
Qin Chu was the most knowledgeable person in Shouyang Mountain's Wuji Temple, second only to their master. In terms of experience, Ye Huohuo was still quite junior.
His words made Ye Huohuo uneasy. What she said to Qin Chu was more like trying to convince herself.
"What are you two doing? It's almost ten o'clock!" Li Mohan saw them whispering in the alley and felt uncomfortable.
Although Qin Chu had also been affected by the Nightmare Curse, he was like a drunken person, often speaking his mind. It was possible that what he had said was his true feelings.
It was possible that he harbored other intentions towards Ye Huohuo.
Ye Huohuo was his nominal wife. Even if they had a past affair, it was in the past. If they were to be together, they would have to wait until after a year.
After their divorce. Were they being so intimate in front of him now, as if he didn't exist?
Qin Chu and Ye Huohuo emerged from the alley one after another. Qin Chu glanced at Li Mohan's freezing face. "Mr. Li, are you jealous?"
Li Mohan let out a cold laugh. "Jealous of what? Hers?" As he spoke, he gestured towards Ye Huohuo with his chin.
Qin Chu didn't back down. "No? Then why do I smell such a strong scent of sourness?"
"Alright, you two have been affected by the Nightmare Curse again. Why are you acting like children!" Ye Huohuo pushed Qin Chu away from behind.
She smiled apologetically at Li Mohan. "Mr. Li, please don't mind him. He's like this, always speaking without thinking. I'll teach him a lesson!"
As she spoke, she punched Qin Chu's back twice. "Second Senior Brother, if you joke like this again, don't blame me for being impolite! Don't we have enough troubles already? Do you still have the leisure to joke around here?"
Qin Chu chuckled, unoffended. Anyone could see that the two of them had a very close relationship.
Li Mohan's gaze deepened as he watched the two of them, his fists clenching at his sides.
The four of them arrived at Lu Qing's house. Just as Ye Huohuo was about to knock, she heard the sound of things being smashed from inside.
"You wretched woman, you won't give me money, but you'll treat that good-for-nothing girl? She's barely breathing. I'll carry her out and bury her later! We can't have her die in the house, or people will know and this house won't sell well.
Good-for-nothing, I was counting on her for a dowry when she got married. Now, I've raised her for nothing, and before she could repay me, she's dying!" The man's voice was loud and his tone extremely rough.
Interspersed with the man's voice was the low sobbing of a woman.
Then came the sound of struggling, and the woman's voice grew louder.
"Husband, you can't just throw Xiao Qing out. She's still breathing! Master Ye said she'd come to save Xiao Qing tonight, and Xiao Qing will wake up!..."
This woman was clearly Xiao Qing's mother, Li Feng.
And the man should be Xiao Qing's father.
Ye Huohuo had previously analyzed that Xiao Qing and her mother must have frequently suffered domestic violence at home. Hearing this completely confirmed her suspicions.
Before Li Feng could finish speaking, there was a sharp "smack."
The sharp sound was clearly a slap, and it was a heavy one.
Ye Huohuo hated husbands who hit their wives the most. This immediately ignited her anger.
She raised her fist and slammed it hard on the door. "Open the door! We're here to save someone!" she shouted as she knocked.
Lu Qing's house was an old-fashioned apartment building, with three households in each stairwell.
Lu Qing's home was on the far left. As Ye Huohuo knocked and shouted, Lu Qing's door didn't open, but the doors of the other two households opened a crack, and heads peeked out, looking at the four of them.
"You really shouldn't provoke the man inside! He's a gambler. When he loses, he drinks heavily, and when he's drunk, he beats his wife and children! He's not human! Be careful he doesn't bring trouble upon you," an old woman from the middle door advised them in a low voice.
This old woman looked very shrewd. Although she was in her seventies or eighties, her eyes darted around, observing the four of them.
As soon as the old woman finished speaking, Lu Qing's door was violently pushed open from the inside.
Before Ye Huohuo could get a clear look at the person opening the door, a basin of cold water was doused over her.