bullyxtreme Chapter 298 My Dad Really Hates You
Chapter 298 My Dad Really Hates You
Chapter 298 My Dad Really Hates You
"If we calculate the time, wasn't it around that time that you had your accident?" Yan Xun asked.
"My memory of the timeline is not very clear," Lou Yanchuan said.
“We hadn’t been in contact for a long time at that point,” he told Yan Xun, “so I had no way of knowing about her condition.”
In Lou Yanchuan's memory, his mother was always lying on her side in bed, and his face was not clearly visible.
At the time, he thought Yan Xun's father had gone mad, choosing to believe in some master's talisman water instead of seeking medical treatment.
Then he accidentally broke his leg, and his brother miraculously contacted him and took him back to recuperate. His mother also moved into a nursing home, and everything seemed to be getting better.
“There’s something that’s bothering me,” Yan Xun said. “According to the clues in your memory, we lived in a big house before you got sick.”
Grandma Shi is probably a well-known sorceress in the area, and many people come to her to perform rituals.
The income is quite considerable.
But after Lou Yanchuan broke his leg, they moved to a walk-up apartment and had to share a room with his nephew.
"My dad went bankrupt trying to pay for his medical treatment?" Yan Xun said. "He said he would get a sum of money soon and then he wouldn't have to stay in this house anymore."
Where did he get the money?
They discussed this issue at the time, but didn't come to a specific answer.
Previously, Yan Xun thought that the money might refer to the assistance of a "benefactor," but now, according to his father, the benefactor made a mistake, and their connection with the benefactor ended, so naturally no benefactor appeared to help them.
"Did you bring your luggage back with you?" Yan Xun asked.
"Apart from personal belongings, I probably didn't bring anything back," Lou Yanchuan said. "The situation was urgent at the time, and there wasn't time to worry about those things."
Did you throw away your personal belongings?
Yan Xun's words made Lou Yanchuan reach into his pocket.
He pulled out a wallet that looked like it had been used for many years. "I threw away all the clothes. Some of the outdoor gear that my travel companions brought back, I didn't see my name in the storage room, so I probably threw that away too."
"This is the wallet I've been using."
Yan Xun took the wallet and noticed what appeared to be bullet holes on one side.
“Some places are quite dangerous.” Lou Yanchuan also noticed Yan Xun’s gaze. “At the time, I happened to have other things in my wallet, so I didn’t die.”
"Isn't this dungeon setting a bit too specific?" Yan Xun wondered.
But he still opened Lou Yanchuan's wallet in front of him.
Besides his identification, Yan Xun's wallet contained some loose change and local currency. He wasn't interested in these, so he quickly flipped through it and then checked the card compartment.
He took out all the cards and quickly found a folded talisman in one of the compartments.
Yan Xun used his fingers to pick out the talisman. "Is this a protective amulet?"
Lou Yanchuan stared at the talisman for a while, seemingly searching for clues in his memory. After a long while, he said, "It seems to be a talisman that my mother used to make me carry with me."
He frowned, as if trying to recall the exact time.
“It must have been a long time ago,” he told Yan Xun. “I was still in school.”
"Is this talisman for preventing water damage?"
Yan Xun held it up and looked at it. "It doesn't look waterproof."
“That’s strange,” Lou Yanchuan said. “In my memory, I’ve fallen into the water a few times. I just stuffed this talisman into some hidden compartment. It shouldn’t be this intact after falling into the water.”
He gestured for Yan Xun to hand him the talisman.
Yan Xun placed it in his palm.
Lou Yanchuan unfolded the talisman paper. "I put it in my wallet at least ten years ago."
Because he had never been interested in these things, Lou Yanchuan quickly forgot that he still had talismans in his wallet, and he also just casually put various cards and documents in the inner compartment.
Furthermore, he had previously fallen into the water, so no matter how you look at it, this talisman shouldn't be so new and intact.
The two looked down at the talisman that Lou Yanchuan had opened in his palm...
In the center of the talisman was a folded paper figure, and inside the paper figure were two strands of hair intertwined.
Lou Yanchuan held up the two strands of hair that were clearly black and white.
Black and white hair strands intertwined... Yan Xun and Lou Yanchuan exchanged a glance.
"It seems my dad really hates you," Yan Xun remarked. "He even changed the amulet in your wallet."
There aren't many people in Yan Xun's family who can do this, and Shuangshuang is too young to do it.
Yan Xun's mother and Lou Yanchuan's relationship wasn't good enough that she could secretly take the other's wallet without being discovered.
“Since you said I also hated this kind of pretentious stuff back then, it definitely wasn’t me who put this in your wallet,” Yan Xun said.
If he believed in this, his father would say it was a talisman he got for his uncle, and maybe he would even secretly put it in Lou Yanchuan's wallet.
But Lou Yanchuan also said that, in his memory, neither of them was interested in such mystical things.
Yan Xun would never secretly put the amulet in Lou Yanchuan's wallet.
It couldn't be Grandma Yan Xun either, because in Lou Yanchuan's memory, she was bedridden and not even fully conscious at that time.
After much thought, the only person capable of doing this was Yan Xun's father.
"You didn't even notice he took your wallet?" Yan Xun asked.
Lou Yanchuan pondered, "Maybe it's because I forgot to bring my wallet when I went out one day."
"It's also possible that he took it while cleaning the room."
It wouldn't take long to place a talisman, so it's normal that Lou Yanchuan wouldn't notice it.
Yan Xun held the paper figure and discovered that there was a string of characters written on the back of the paper figure, as well as an unfamiliar pattern drawn on it.
Lou Yanchuan had already retrieved all the relevant items from the storage room. "Those books and records are in my room."
Yan Xun stuffed the paper figure, along with the hair, into his pocket.
He pushed Lou Yanchuan, preparing to go downstairs, saying, "My dad will say something again if he sees this."
"say what?"
"I told you not to disturb your uncle's rest."
Yan Xun found it funny as he spoke—especially after seeing the amulet in Lou Yanchuan's wallet—he never expected his father to be a movie star.
Lou Yanchuan knew what Yan Xun was laughing about, and the two quickly returned to his room on the first floor.
“It’s a pity we’re stuck here now,” Yan Xun said. “Otherwise, we could have gone to the old house to look for clues.”
According to Lou Yanchuan's memory, they had been living in that old house for a long time.
It wasn't until he broke his leg and returned to China that he discovered the old house had been sold, his family had moved to an old walk-up house, and his mother was living in an unfamiliar nursing home.
"This means the copy knows, and we can find clues using what we have now."
As Lou Yanchuan spoke, he began to peruse Grandma Yanxun's books and notes.
Yan Xun looked at the documents piled on the floor and simply sat cross-legged on the carpet to read them.
Soon Yan Xun found the pattern on the back of the little figure in a book that recorded talismans and other such things.
"It says above that this is a substitute spell." Yan Xun looked at it. "It's usually used to prolong someone's life."
The book says that the object of the spell, that is, the person whose life is being drained, can be called a "puppet". The purpose of the puppet is to sacrifice itself to give its master a chance to live.
“But there is one thing,” Yan Xun said, “the premise for this spell to work is that the ‘puppet’ is acting voluntarily.”
“The 'puppet' must voluntarily say that it is willing to sacrifice anything for the magic to draw power from it and give its master a chance to live.” Yan Xun looked at Lou Yanchuan, “Did my dad say something to you?”
"Your question implies you already knew the answer," Lou Yanchuan said.
Yan Xun sat cross-legged on the carpet, while Lou Yanchuan sat on the carpet, unable to meet his gaze. When he spoke, he could only look down at Yan Xun, "You guessed it, so why ask?"
Yan Xun laid the book out on his lap, leaned back, supported himself with his hands on the ground, and looked up slightly at Lou Yanchuan. "He's probably asking you if you'd do anything for Grandma's condition."
Lou Yanchuan looked at Yan Xun, who had a smug expression and seemed to have a tail wagging behind him, and nodded expressionlessly. "He asked me if I would do anything as long as Mom's illness could be cured."
"At the time, I thought he was short of money and resources, so of course he would say anything," Lou Yanchuan recalled of the conversation.
If there were a way to cure his mother, he would be willing to give anything.
Yan Xun clapped his hands, "It seems my dad really hates you."
"You can even come up with such a treacherous way to cheat me."
Lou Yanchuan wasn't angry at all. "Have you ever heard of children paying for their fathers' debts?"
"I am a ghost child, and I have absolutely nothing to do with him."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two returned to the main topic—
"So, it seems that my grandmother's sudden improvement after you broke your leg was due to the talisman." Yan Xun held the paper figure, looking at the pattern on the back of it in front of the overhead light.
The brushstrokes in this design are extremely skillful; it's clear that no beginner could have drawn it.
"Who do you think gave you the talisman?" Yan Xun held the paper figure and handed it to Lou Yanchuan.
Lou Yanchuan crumpled the paper figure into a ball. "It's not her." He understood what Yan Xun meant.
"If she wanted to harm me, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths."
If Grandma Yan Xun really wanted Lou Yan Chuan to be her "puppet master," there was no need for Yan Xun's father to secretly replace the amulet.
In the dungeon, besides Grandma Yan Xun, only that master has studied magic.
Lou Yanchuan looked at the books Yan Xun had spread out on his lap, "Let me take a look."
Yan Xun handed it to him.
Lou Yanchuan carefully examined the description of the talisman. "It doesn't mention that you need to insert two strands of hair."
"This spell only requires placing two different paper figures on the puppet and the master."
However, there were two hairs in the amulet that Lou Yanchuan kept in his wallet.
“One of them is definitely yours,” Yan Xun said. “The other one is my grandma’s?”
The two strands of hair were still tightly intertwined, firmly wrapped within the paper figure, and did not appear to be hairs that had accidentally gotten caught in.
The two of them then searched through the pile of books and notes again.
Finally, Lou Yanchuan found a hidden letter inside a book with its cover rolled up.
The letter had no format whatsoever. The words on it were written in pencil, and because of its age, the paper had turned completely yellow and brittle. Yan Xun and the others had to hold the edges very carefully to keep the paper intact.
I went to that world again, and I saw that child.
He sat there and said, "Dad, why didn't you save me?"
I reached out to him and told him not to cry, that his father was right there. But in the blink of an eye, he was back to how he was before he died, sitting in the pond, like the sheepskin raft I had seen before.
I told you I would come to save you.
The letter was dated 45 years ago.
There was no sender's address or sender; it seemed like the ramblings of a patient.
Besides this letter, there were other letters mixed in with the book, and judging from the handwriting, they were all sent by the same person.
A while ago, I discovered that a lot of things were missing from my house, and when I asked around, it turned out that people in the village had been the ones who had them stolen.
I said they would all die, and then I picked up those things.
I've recently researched something new that can extend someone's life, but there's a drawback: it only works on the life of a close relative.
Do you remember that puppet's spell? Tying two more strands of hair to it would extend its life.
I recently picked up a beggar. He wouldn't talk to me in the village, but he would sneak up on me at night and say he was interested in my magic.
"Binding two strands of hair can extend one's life?" Yan Xun looked at the keywords on the letter.
Grandma Yan Xun probably also found this magic a bit unbelievable, because she highlighted this passage.
Here comes another new letter.
The letter was written on scrap paper that was torn off at random, and the person still wrote on it with a pencil.
He explained in detail the new spell he had developed, saying that it was a more powerful version of the "puppet" spell. The hair was like two threads of a person's life. Once tied together, life could be extracted from the living thread and sent to the body of another person.
The only drawback is that once this spell succeeds, there is only one possible outcome.
I died after my life was drained.
This spell cannot be cast while a person is alive.
Only the dead can connect with the living in life.
Yan Xun looked at the text, then pinched the two strands of hair, "Why did you fall back then?"
Lou Yanchuan began to recall those details again...
"It seems like it wasn't held firmly enough?"
"I was very weak during that time."
He paused for a moment after saying this, "Perhaps I didn't become weak during that period."
"But even further back."
Lou Yanchuan looked at Yan Xun and said, "Before she moved into the Anxin Sanatorium, I hadn't spoken to her for a long time, nor had I seen her face."
Yan Xun's surprise was genuine; he even felt his brain was going blank, and he gestured to pause.
"Wait, let me think about it."
He sat cross-legged on the carpet, one hand supporting his chin, the other hand tapping the carpet with his fingers. "In your memory, most of the time, she was lying on the bed facing you, and she didn't respond to anything you said."
They had discussed this matter a long time ago.
Yan Xun even lay on Lou Yanchuan's bed, recreating the posture of his grandmother when she was bedridden.
The answer wasn't hard to guess, but it was precisely because it wasn't hard to guess that Yan Xun found it unbelievable and hard to believe.