Chapter 248

Chapter 248: Shifting the Risk

“Remains?”

When they heard those two words, the couple shook all over, as if even the breath they let out was filled with pain.

“Yes. I said just now, a baby of more than five months has already taken shape, and if you want to raise a child ghost, you often need…” Du An Rao stopped right there, but everyone present understood what she meant.

Ms. Qi’s face went deathly pale. She almost fainted again, but her worry for her child and her hatred for her enemies barely held her up at this crucial moment.

“Find him. We have to find him. It was me, this careless mama, who was too sloppy. If I had been more careful back then, even if he had no fate to stay with us, I still should have brought him home, buried him properly, and laid him to rest. Then this would not be happening now.”

“No, it is not your fault. It is mine. If I had not been afraid you would wake up and ask about the baby, that seeing him would hurt your body and your heart, if I had not pushed the nurse to deal with it as soon as possible, they might not have had a chance to take advantage of us.”

“This is not the time to argue about who is right and who is wrong. We have to solve the problem,” Ms. Qiu said. She hated that this couple was not living up to their usual selves. Normally they were not super sharp, but at least steady, reliable, and able to handle things. Now they were a complete mess.

But she could understand it too. If she ran into something like this herself, she probably would not be calm either.

“An An, can you help them look for that child’s…?” she asked.

Du An Rao thought for a moment and said: “In general, the body of a little ghost cannot be separated from its host for a long time. So it is most likely in a place you pass by or touch every day.”

Ms. Qiu, her son, and Xi Jing Yue all shivered at the same time. Anyone who suddenly learned that they had been in close contact every day with something unclean would feel a chill crawl up their back and their whole body prickle.

Mr. Liu and his wife did not feel that way. No one is afraid of their own child, even if that child has already died.

“A place we pass by every day? Has it really been that close to us? And I did not notice at all all these years.” Ms. Qi spoke and felt like crying again.

Mr. Liu’s heart churned, but his mind started to work quickly. He tried his best to recall any place that might match Du An Rao’s description.

“We live in an apartment in North City now. There are four units on the first floor, and two units share one elevator. My brother’s place is the one right next to ours.”

When he heard that, Qiu Ji Chen shivered again and asked carefully: “Are you guessing that thing is in the elevator?”

Before he even finished, Ms. Qiu shot him a glare. Could this silly son not watch his mouth? What “that thing”? It sounded so ugly. Was he not afraid of upsetting the couple and getting beaten?

Mr. Liu looked uneasy and said: “According to Master Du, the elevator is without a doubt the place that best fits the conditions. But my brother’s home is not impossible either. Strictly speaking, our two homes are only separated by one wall.”

“If it is really in your brother’s home, then you two will have to think of a way to get in and steal it out,” Ms. Qiu said. Then she turned to look at Du An Rao again, clearly wanting to say something but stopping.

Du An Rao glanced at her in confusion and asked: “Auntie Qiu, do you have something you want to ask?”

“I am just a bit confused. If they raised this little ghost to take his life fate, then the host that is linked to it should be their older son. But from what you just said, An An, it sounds like they raised this little ghost for these two instead?”

Du An Rao froze for a second, then realized she had not explained this part clearly.

“Auntie Qiu, you did not misunderstand. This little ghost was indeed raised by them for Mr. Liu and Auntie Qi,” she said.

“This… how does that make sense?” Ms. Qiu asked.

“When you raise this kind of thing, the effect is best if it is done by someone with the same bloodline. Mr. Liu’s brother did take Mr. Liu’s life fate, but he cannot take over the blood bond between Mr. Liu and that child. To get the most benefit, they raised this little ghost for Mr. Liu and his wife, hoping the two of them could get rich quickly so they could keep sucking their blood.”

Mr. Liu’s eyes flickered. When he thought of all the money, shares, and priceless items his brother had dug out of him over the years, he felt more and more like an ATM and a complete fool.

“Of course, the most important reason is that they shifted the risk.”

“Shifted the risk?” someone repeated.

“Yes. It might hurt to hear this, but once you raise it, this thing is evil. If you are careless, it will backlash. I think at first they only wanted to raise it to ask for money. But people’s greed grows bit by bit, especially when they find out they can keep gaining things without paying any price.”

Du An Rao narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on Mr. Liu and his wife again: “When I first saw you two, I noticed you were wrapped in resentment, and your Glabella Palace was dark. If no one steps in, disaster will soon fall on you.”

The couple’s faces changed a little. “This…” Mr. Liu started.

“This means the backlash has already begun. If I am not wrong, your brother’s attitude toward this little ghost has already changed from just using it to ask for money, to using it to hurt people. The more people they use it to harm, the more karma the backlash will push onto you two, and the heavier the little ghost’s resentment will grow. Once its resentment reaches a critical point, it will devour the master.”

“Devour the master?” Ms. Qiu and the others were shocked. “You mean it will turn around and attack the two of them?”

“Yes,” Du An Rao said with a grave look, nodding. When she first noticed signs of raising a child ghost on the couple, she had held some prejudice against them.

Before she could show it, she realized something was wrong. The little ghost was not raised by them of their own will at all. It had been forced onto them by someone else. That was interesting.

“Do you still remember the question I asked you at the very beginning?” she asked.

Mr. Liu and his wife looked at each other and soon remembered what Du An Rao had asked them before.

“You asked if we were planning to adopt my younger brother’s child,” Mr. Liu said.

“That is right. When did you first have the idea of adopting a child? Was that really your own thought?” Du An Rao asked.

Her reminder struck the two of them like a bolt of lightning. Ms. Qi even started trembling without realizing it and said: “No, it was not our idea. From start to finish we only thought about adopting a small child of our own. It was…”

Ms. Qi paused, then quickly turned to look at her husband: “It was my sister-in-law. Some time ago, she suddenly said that since my husband and I are getting older, if we really like children, we can adopt her son.”

Looking at Mr. Liu and his wife now, anyone could tell that his brother’s family had originally been fated to have no sons. They only gained a pair of children after stealing this couple’s life fate. For them to suddenly suggest giving away their only son to be adopted by his brother was strange to begin with, especially when that older son was already more than ten years old.

At that time, Ms. Qi had been upset and distracted because of the baby. When she heard this suggestion, she let her guard down and blurted out her true thoughts.

Now that she thought carefully, when she said she wanted to adopt another younger child instead, her sister-in-law’s face seemed to suddenly turn dark, and even her features twisted with a flash of ferocity.