The Restless Spirit's Father

Liu Guangru looked around and saw how many children were in that area at this time of the day. Most were playing after eating lunch while some parents were enjoying the wind. He then turned to Wu Qianqian who was fixing his jacket and his shoes. He could hear the faintest voices in their hearts—ones that cried bitterness over seeing the young children. They had always wished for Liu Xiaodan to bring a girlfriend home soon so he could get married and for them to have grandchildren. However, right now, they didn"t even spare a look at those children... because they had Liu Guangru.

Ghost or not, what did those children have on Liu Guangru? Aside from them being alive and innocent, they couldn"t match the child in any way. In fact, other parents even turned to look at that beautiful child on the old man"s arm.

"Grandpa, I can walk. You"re tired." Guangru stopped the childish talk as soon as he felt the pain building up in Liu Li"s arm. He could peer into people"s hearts and bodies; of course, he knew his grandpa shouldn"t bother with him anymore. "I"ll be careful."

"Okay. Here we go." Liu Li slowly bent down and set Liu Guangru down. He then raced to take the hand of his grandparents before walking at their pace again. The grandpa patted his head before glancing at his wife. Wu Qianqian only made a squirm while wearing a gleeful smile. Were they slowly forgetting the fact that they were walking a ghost child?

"Xiao Ru, please tell us if you"re going to ask anyone, okay?" Wu Qianqian chuckled as she squeezed his little hand for a second. She only received a nod from the child. She then turned to her husband. "Do you think... Nayi would change her mind if she walks Xiao Ru like this?"

"I doubt it." Liu Li sighed as he consoled the back of his sore shoulder. "She"d been traumatized by the child. If we"re going to ask her, she"ll flip out. We"ll see what to do next after Xiaodan makes his recovery. If he comes with her, maybe Xiao Ru would have a chance."

Liu Guangru was quietly listening to them. Right, he should have taken his father with them. If only he didn"t mistake Liu Xiaodan"s temper for a normal person"s, then he couldn"t have hurt his mother. Then again, if that didn"t happen, he would never know how she truly felt for him. The mogui was not only a child in appearance, but he could get naïve in profiling people as well.

He squeezed their hands as he stopped in front of the fenced tree. He let go of them and looked up as if trying to find anyone. He glared at the tree and called out, "You, come out."

A woman peeked from the leaves, but her head was inverted as if she was upside-down. She didn"t make a sound and was pretty much forced to come out. She then eyed at the two before twisting her concealed lips. "Looks like that man had fallen..."

"Not at all. Someone tried to kill my Baba. Who is it?" Liu Guangru started talking with someone again, and that squeeze was his signal. At this moment, he was not a child anymore... but an old ent.i.ty that was enraged within. "Give me a name."

"I"ve got nothing." The woman only continued to hide. "I don"t know who it is."

"If I find out it was you?"

"It"s not me, I swear. I wasn"t tailing him! I was only warning him to leave you alone!"

The leaves rustled as if the ent.i.ty was preparing to leave. Liu Guangru only frowned deeper, his childish face filled with a terrifying aura and murderous intent. It had become darker than what a child should be able to muster. Soon enough, red liquid began dripping from the branches, horrifying Wu Qianqian and sending her to her husband"s arms.

A groan escaped the tree, and white hands started creeping from the leaves. "Stop, stop it! I"ll make you pay if you don"t stop!"

"I am scared." Liu Guangru only huffed as he raised a hand to his chest and slowly balled it into a fist. The groaning kept on growing, but unlike earlier, Liu Guangru had already isolated the noise. They were the only ones who could hear the noise being made by the woman in the tree. "A name."

"No name! No name! I have no name for them!"

"So there"s a "them" now." Liu Guangru released the woman in the tree from whatever was happening to her behind the leaves. He then looked up at his grandpa and took his hand to lead them away. "Grandpa, grandpa, let"s go home. Guangru"s tired."

Liu Li looked up at the tree and found no traces of what happened earlier. He then walked his wife and his grandchild away. The woman in the tree peeked from the leaves and growled as she stared at the child. She would throw something at them, but she knew Liu Guangru would crush her effortlessly. Also, there was something strange about that old woman. She could only withdraw back inside the tree and hoped that Liu Guangru wouldn"t bother her again.

On their way back to the hospital, Wu Qianqian stopped to buy some ice cream for all three of them. Liu Guangru was happily licking his ice cream while holding onto Wu Qianqian"s hand when he felt a familiar presence. He then looked up at his grandfather who noticed his distraction. The child smiled and continued walking with his ice cream. Liu Li"s hand on Wu Qianqian"s shoulder squeezed her, telling her that something was happening.

At the distance, a pretty young girl pranced into their view. Her long hair danced with the wind, and she even turned to look at Liu Guangru"s direction. She tilted her head upon seeing the child holding onto other people. Then again, those people weren"t supposed to be strangers to him; she knew exactly who they were.

The pretty girl turned to the direction where she came from. "Ruan Lang, I see Mr. and Mrs. Liu and Guangru..."

"Who?" A cute-looking guy, who didn"t know how to highlight his best points, raised his brow. He then joined her in her spot and turned to see the people she just pointed at. His eyes widened so much at the shock. "Wait... why is he... with them?"

"They"re walking their grandchild, what else?" The pretty girl chuckled. She then wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned her chest against it. "We should say "hi". Guangru had already seen me."

"Ah... well..." Ruan Jin scratched his head, and he smiled at the elderly as he approached them. "H-Hi, Xiaodan"s mother and father! How are you? Are you taking a stroll around town?"

"Well, yes, we haven"t been here for a long while so we wanted to take a look around." Wu Qianqian bowed a little as if grateful for his intentions. She then noticed the strange girl next to him before settling her gaze at the man. "Are you going to see Xiaodan now? Walk with us, Ruan Jin."

"Y-Yes, sure!" Ruan Jin couldn"t fight the terror in his heart. His eyes kept on glancing at Liu Guangru before walking to the side as if letting them pa.s.s first. It didn"t help that Liu Guangru pulled his hand away from his grandmother before raising his arms at Ruan Jin. The college student stared at him before twitching his face and speaking, "H-Hey, aren"t you a little too old to be carried?"

"But... Guangru"s tired..." The child made a sobbing face, and Ruan Jin had to give up as he threw his hands to the side. He then bent down to carry the child who was adjusting his weight. However, he displayed such a mischievous smile at his father"s best friend. Liu Guangru felt so victorious, bullying such a weak-willed man.

Liu Li could only chuckle as he watched the man carry the child. He didn"t know if Ruan Jin was aware that the child was a mogui—especially the one that was haunting his friend. Then again, it seemed that he was aware but wouldn"t speak in fear of spooking them. He then turned back to his wife and led her ahead.

Wu Qianqian glanced at the two behind them before she looked up at her husband. "Xiao Li, can you see her?"

"Her?"

"The woman next to them. It"s weird, but I had never seen a ghost before. I shouldn"t be able to." Wu Qianqian sighed and patted her chest. Liu Li even joined her in relieving her panic. "Don"t worry, your aunt protects you. Besides, we have Guangru with us." He then hummed and turned away as he said those words. The old man knew he had said something he shouldn"t have.

The mother then looked at them again, watching Ruan Jin turn to the woman to whisper with her behind Liu Guangru. Slight whispers echoed in her ears, and Wu Qianqian wasn"t even surprised. She then eyed at Liu Guangru who was only smiling at her. His bright eyes flickered a little before his smile deepened.

It was him. Liu Guangru was letting her see the female ghost walking next to Ruan Jin. What made her curious was that he was conversing with the woman as if everyone could see her. Her husband might or might not see the girl, but for some reason, Wu Qianqian was frightened.

They reached the hospital, and the four went to ride the elevator to their floor. However, as soon as the doors closed, a draft came from the floor. They felt the box moving up, but there was a weird smell coming from underneath them. Ruan Jin looked down to see if there was anything that could be giving off the smell.

Ye Ling only chuckled before reaching out to pinch Liu Guangru"s face. "Sweet child, sweet child, looks like someone was trying to feed on you."

Liu Guangru only pouted. "These people never learn."

Another scream echoed from outside the actual elevator box, and it startled the three humans. Ye Ling only played with Ruan Jin"s hair before kissing the side of his head as if rea.s.suring him. Liu Guangru just smiled at the elderly couple.

Of course, there"d be nothing wrong. Liu Li was correct: there"s nothing to be scared as they had Liu Guangru with them.