The Restless Spirit's Father

Kang Jun scratched his head at the clash before bowing to the Lius as an excuse to leave. Li Feng only eyed at his grandfather before staring at the parents before him. "Mr. Liu, Mrs. Liu... even if that ghost never hurt Liu Xiaodan before, there"s a lot of dangerous events that had happened because of it. What sent him here to the hospital might not be the ghost child, but it attacked him because of the child. Please be careful. You might get caught in their crossfire."

He had run off even before Wu Qianqian could make sense of his words. He then pulled out his phone and dialed Li Yunru"s number. Li Feng spoke as soon as the call connected, "Yunru, we"re heading back to the temple to prepare for this. Are you sure you"re staying with Chuan Nayi?"

"He"s here. I don"t know how Grandfather didn"t know, but he"s still here." Li Yunru"s scared voice pulled onto Li Feng"s fragile confidence, and so he raced back inside the room.

Wu Qianqian and Liu Li were still discussing among themselves when they spotted Li Feng running back. The father didn"t stop him from pa.s.sing them by again, but they twitched as Li Feng banged against the door. Liu Li barked, "Boy! What are you doing?!"

Ignoring the two, Li Feng swung the door open and looked around, his gaze meeting with Li Yunru and Chuan Nayi"s. Liu Xiaodan was comfortably sleeping next to the black bear... which had the head turned towards Li Feng. The senior student bit onto his lip and spoke as he strode into the room, "I only want to take my cousin. If you"re going to hurt me, I won"t back down without a fight."

The bear"s head only turned towards Liu Xiaodan as if ignoring him. Li Feng felt a spike in his heartbeat as he saw the bear moved on its own. He couldn"t break it onto Li Yunru that she was mistaken. It wasn"t the ghost child that was with them... it was another kind of spirit. It was buried inside the bear, perhaps one of those silent guardians that were corrupted by the ghost child. The notion of toys protecting children had given birth to these spirits, and they were too easy to corrupt in the name of protecting someone.

Li Feng went to Li Yunru"s side and asked her to leave with him. However, Chuan Nayi even held onto him as well. He looked at Chuan Nayi before sighing. He ended up sitting at the foot of the bed to watch over two girls. He stared at Liu Xiaodan"s direction... wondering why he wouldn"t care much about Chuan Nayi right now. What a useless man, Li Feng almost spat.

The parents outside couldn"t bring themselves to enter the room. They had seen the bear moved on its own, and they both knew that it was filled with cotton in every place. They were playing with it earlier, and they would notice if there were strings at least. Wu Qianqian didn"t want to leave Liu Xiaodan, but Liu Li had to take her somewhere else to breathe. They had gone to the lobby after closing the door.

Coldness stung Liu Li"s hand as he picked up the canned cola. He tapped against the side before handing it to his wife who was nothing but shaken. She couldn"t even open her drink. Liu Li sat next to her and popped it open for her.

"Our son isn"t going to die, is he?" Wu Qianqian hummed as she stared at the can.

"Of course not. We"re going to do everything we could to keep him alive." Liu Li caressed the side of her head, soon freezing as he spotted short legs dangling from across his wife. He steeled his heart and used his hand to pull her closer to him. Wu Qianqian wondered about his action, only to see the same horrifying image next to them.

Liu Guangru was back in the hospital, and he was sitting next to them. He was looking out to the direction where Mian Tianyu took when they left. He was holding onto the bag that he bought earlier. He wasn"t making a hostile face or a gleeful one. In fact, he was only wearing a curious expression, like a child wondering what he had just seen. He then turned to the parents next to him.

He eyed at the father who was giving him a warning gaze... despite the tremor on his hand. "Grandpa, Grandpa, do you know that old man? Do you hate him?"

"...Not really. We just didn"t want to a.s.sociate with him anymore." Liu Li shook his head. He had the feeling that he shouldn"t lie to the ghost child; neither should he patronize its rage. The man kept on staring at the child. "Are you going to hurt our Xiaodan?"

"Nope. Guangru loves Baba." Liu Guangru flashed a sweet smile that had no malice or creepiness in it. He was like any cute child would be. However, his meaning was quite horrifying.

"Baba? Xiaodan is your father?"

"Not yet, but he promised me!" Liu Guangru got off of the seat and walked closer to the father. He even pressed his cold palms on his thighs as if the child wanted to climb his lap. "Grandpa, Grandpa, how long is Baba staying here?"

Wu Qianqian looked down at her pacified bracelet before looking at the child before them. She could still remember how scary he could get. A thirty-year-old haunter spirit? Should they continue making contact... even if it was something they asked to be stopped? She took a deep breath and placed her can next to her in the seat. "Xiao Ru, can you answer Grandma honestly? How long have you known Xiaodan?"

Liu Guangru turned towards the woman, and his big eyes widened some more. A deep curled smile appeared as he changed target. Unlike with the man, he readily climbed the woman and sat on her lap. "Is Grandma scared of Guangru?"

"Eh, this... Grandma couldn"t help but get scared. Xiao Ru"s too mysterious." Wu Qianqian patted her chest to relieve her hastened breathing. "Xiao Ru, you"ve been causing trouble to your Baba, aren"t you? Look at what you"ve done. Do you mind explaining why you hurt Nayi?"

"...Mama hates Guangru..." Liu Guangru puckered his lips with a pout. Such a very endearing child. No wonder Liu Xiaodan was compelled to like him at least. Wu Qianqian used her hand and hesitated to caress the boy"s head, but she still did. Liu Guangru closed his eyes and smiled as he savored the touch. "Grandma, you"re the first girl to like Guangru. Guangru"s really happy."

"Hehe, what a bad boy then. Don"t you know girls like well-behaved children?" The mother began to feel the strange texture of the child"s hair; it was as if his hair was soft and silky because it was soaked in water... or any kind of liquid. The smell of chrysanthemums drifting into the air like a feeble tide hitting the parents" noses.

"...Guangru is well-behaved. Guangru protects Mama, but Mama..." The child began sniffing again, tears flowing from his eyes. "Baba kept on saying Mama is in danger so Guangru does his best—!" He wailed again, and even the two started panicking. His cry was so distinct and heartbreaking that even the nurses from the rooms went to take a look.

Liu Li was surprised that numerous people went to check up on them, but Wu Qianqian only hushed the child gently, rubbing her hand against the child"s back. "Shhh, it"s okay, it"s okay. Xiao Ru did his best; yes, he did his best." The mother only grinned nervously at the nurses who eyed at them, but she noticed that the nurse a.s.signed to Liu Xiaodan and Chuan Nayi had also come to the lobby. Wu Qianqian suddenly felt like crying now that Liu Guangru resorted to sniffling already.

The nurse grinned at them. "Eh, Mrs. Liu, is this a lost child? I haven"t seen him with you these days."

Liu Guangru looked up at the nurse and pouted at her. "Big Sister, Grandma said I should go home already. Help me, help me..."

She started to stammer as she tried to guess what the child wanted. "Ah, well... it"s... uhm, are you here to visit your, uh, uncle Xiaodan?" However, she was only answered by silence. "Well, your uncle Xiaodan is still asleep. You can"t disturb him for now."

"Big Sister, did you see that old man earlier? He"s so scary." Liu Guangru locked his big eyes at the nurse. "When is he going back... so Guangru could run?"

"Ah, scared of a grandpa, huh?" The nurse chuckled before reaching out to pet the beautiful child. "Big Sister can"t help you, but I will make sure he won"t scare Little Guangru, okay?" She then twitched as she enjoyed touching his hair, but she had to pull her hand back before she started squishing the child"s cheeks. She smiled at the supposed grandparents. "Ah, such a very pampered child.

"Mrs. Liu, please make sure to keep quiet. There are a lot of patients resting on the floor." The nurse then chuckled at the two, hoping they wouldn"t take offense. Liu Guangru"s cry earlier was too awful not to disturb anyone.

"I"m sorry, we"ll be more careful." Wu Qianqian hugged Liu Guangru close to her chest and rubbed the child"s back. They then watched the nurse leave to check up on another patient. She then looked down at the child who was happily hugging her back. She then turned to Liu Li who was staring at the child.

The father then looked up at the mother. "Xiao Qian, how could this child be... a thirty-year-old blood-hungry spirit?"

Wu Qianqian"s eyes widened as if he had said something he shouldn"t have. Liu Guangru brought his head up and looked at the father with his big, dead eyes. He then grinned at him. "Thirty? Hehe, does Grandpa think Guangru"s only thirty?"

Liu Li handled the question casually and yet with precision. "Not really. I have no way of knowing. Besides, right now,"—he smiled and reached out to pinch Liu Guangru"s face—"you"re just a cute, little critter. It wouldn"t matter how old you really are." He pulled his hand back after letting the child squirm a bit. "Guangru... won"t you leave our son alone? We"re scared he might be in danger... because of you."

Liu Guangru"s eyes tore open at his words. He stared at the father"s eyes which only held worry for his only son. The child"s eyes then flickered. "Guangru should get rid of them all then!" He flashed a big smile after, his ghostly aura spreading like a strong tide that almost drowned the two. "Grandpa, let"s walk around!"