My Daughter Hongxia:
Time flies, and the years slip away. Unknowingly, more than thirty years have passed.
Back then, when Your Father was out making a life for himself, my heart was like a wild weed, seeking only to roam free. This led me to neglect you and your mother, causing our relationship to break down and eventually end in separation.
All these years, Your Father has missed you dearly. I still remember the day you were born; I was ecstatic.
You lay in the crook of my arm, so tiny, with just a sparse bit of hair. In that moment, I felt something I had never felt before, like drinking ice water on a summer day, a feeling that spread through my entire body…
Writing up to this point, Shen Siyuan paused his pen and glanced at Lu Guanchang, wondering how much of what he said was truly sincere.
Perhaps everything he said was true, but why did things turn sour later? Why did he abandon his wife and Daughter, ignoring them for so many years…
Only when you feel the pain yourself do you learn to regret.
If he wasn't curious to see if helping someone like this would yield any Merit, Shen Siyuan would absolutely not have helped him.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Shen Siyuan stop writing, Lu Guanchang snapped back to his senses.
"It's nothing, please continue," Shen Siyuan said.
Lu Guanchang then continued to organize his words.
He began by reminiscing, sharing many amusing anecdotes about their time as father and daughter when she was a child.
Then, he expressed his guilt towards his Daughter. Finally, he spoke of his own matters—how his life's work had come to nothing, leaving him unreconciled.
He felt that all of it should belong to her and hoped she could come to Binhai to meet him one last time.
From beginning to end, he never mentioned that he was already dead, only that he didn't have much time left.
It was understandable why Lu Guanchang put it that way. If he said he was already dead, many things would become difficult to explain.
"That's about it. I've troubled you, Great Master," Lu Guanchang said respectfully.
"I'll send it out for you via Express Delivery tomorrow. Ci'en is close, so it should arrive the day after…"
"Okay, okay, thank you, Great Master, thank you~" Lu Guanchang bowed his thanks repeatedly, his face filled with joy.
Shen Siyuan waved his hand.
"You can go. I need to rest too."
"Alright.
In that case, Great Master, I'll… I'll head to Ci'en first," he said after a moment of thought.
"That works," Shen Siyuan nodded.
This way, he would know in advance whether his daughter would come to Binhai.
Not long after Lu Guanchang left, Yin Xingyue and Doudou rode a Yin Wind in through the window.
"You two don't have to stay here and keep me company. Especially you, Doudou, you should go Home and be with your Mom and Dad."
Shen Siyuan picked up his Mobile Phone.
It had several messages from Jiang Wenxin. On the surface, she seemed to be talking about the Blind Date in two days, but between the lines, she was actually asking if Doudou was with him, whether she had gotten lost, and so on.
"Oh? Do Mom and Dad miss me? I miss them a little bit too."
Having forgotten in her play, Doudou was reminded of her Mom and Dad by Shen Siyuan.
"Bye-bye, Banner Master Big Brother! Bye-bye, Sister Xiaoyue…"
Waving her little hand at the two, she rode a Yin Wind and flew out the window in a flurry.
"That little thing…"
Shen Siyuan shook his head helplessly, then turned his gaze to Yin Xingyue beside him.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here."
Yin Xingyue shook her head and said, "I'm going to see if the Police Officers have found him…"
Shen Siyuan knew who 'him' was, so he nodded in agreement.
Yin Xingyue then also left on a Yin Wind. He checked the time; it was almost ten-thirty.
He grabbed a Change of Clothes and went into the Bathroom, deciding to take a shower and go to bed.
But when he came out of the Bathroom after his shower, he found that Yin Xingyue had returned at some point and was sitting obediently on the Sofa, seemingly waiting for him.
"What's wrong?" Shen Siyuan asked, a little surprised.
"He's dead," Yin Xingyue said in a calm tone.
Her abrupt sentence left Shen Siyuan stunned for a moment before he understood.
He quickly pressed, "Are you saying your Stepfather is dead?"
"He's not my dad," Yin Xingyue corrected him with a serious expression.
"Alright, my mistake. Fang Yunlou is dead? How did he die?"
Yin Xingyue first nodded, then shook her head, and said timidly, "I saw him, and then I came back.
I don't know how he died."
Shen Siyuan walked over and gently stroked her head.
"Don't be afraid. He should be the one who's afraid of you now.
Isn't that what you told Doudou yourself?"
Yin Xingyue's fear of Fang Yunlou stemmed from the control and mental intimidation he subjected her to when she was alive. She was just a little girl still in elementary school, full of confusion about the world.
Her mother didn't side with her, she was bullied at School, and her Teacher disliked her…
Eventually, she completely broke down and chose Suicide.
But her Death didn't mean her fear of Fang Yunlou would disappear.
However, this was something she had to overcome herself. Shen Siyuan couldn't help her with it.
"Don't be afraid, you still have me. You're my Dharma Protector now, and I won't let anyone hurt you…"
Shen Siyuan's words seemed to give Yin Xingyue immense courage.
A Pale Blue Light began to emanate from her body—the glow of the Netherfire she had contained within herself.
Yin Xingyue looked up at Shen Siyuan and said softly, "Thank you, Big Brother."
Shen Siyuan smiled slightly and patted her little head.
"Go on, do what you want to do."
Yin Xingyue nodded, then transformed into a gust of Yin Wind and vanished from the room with a whoosh.
Fang Yunlou was dead. He had died a miserable Death, tortured to the end.
He died so unwillingly. His career was about to reach a new height, he still had so much money he hadn't spent, and countless wonderful things were waiting for him to enjoy.
How could he just die like this?
But dead was dead. No matter how he raged, no matter how he roared at his killer, lunging forward to fight them to the death, it was all useless.
In the end, he could only choose to go Home disconsolately. Home was the Final Spiritual Refuge; even as a Ghost, Home still gave him a sufficient sense of security.
Along the way, he saw all sorts of ghosts. Very few could maintain a complete Human Form; most were Grotesque and Twisted.
For example, he himself was like this.
His upper body was human, but his lower body was like an Octopus, covered in slimy Tentacles.
These Tentacles were short and disgusting.
As a New Ghost, seeing the other side of the world for the first time, he was completely in the dark and extremely cautious, trying his best to avoid contact with other ghosts.
Only after cautiously returning home did he let out a long sigh of relief. But when he saw his still-gorgeous Wife, resentment welled up in his heart.
I'm dead, so what right does she have to be alive? And on top of that, all my assets will go to her.
The thought of her lying under some other man in the future, moaning with his fortune, made his eyes burn with rage.
Hate grew in his heart, and countless Tentacles began to grow, eventually spreading throughout the entire room, completely turning him into an Octopus Monster.
He used his Tentacles to encircle Yang Xuejiao, intending to take her with him.
Even as her Body Three Fires sizzled and smoked against him, he refused to give up.
Through his persistent efforts, Yang Xuejiao's Three Fires grew weaker and weaker, like a Candle in the Wind.
But just then, a gust of Yin Wind suddenly blew into the room, and a small figure appeared before Fang Yunlou.
Seeing the newcomer, Fang Yunlou's eyes revealed a sinister look, and his lips split into a terrifying smile.
"I… I'm not afraid of you anymore."
Blue Flames rose into the air.
PS: An explanation—ghosts can't directly harm people, but Ghost Attachment will cause one to be Plagued by Bad Luck, suffer a Fortune Decline, have Everything Goes Wrong, and experience Financial Loss or a Serious Illness.
I mentioned this back in chapter seven; the setting hasn't been changed.