Chapter 33: The Childhood Sweetheart in Red

The head of the Liu family was in middle age, possessing an inherent aura of approachability and a kindly, gentle demeanor. Seeing him reminded Ye Feifan of a charitable man he had met in his childhood who used to distribute porridge to beggars.

In the unfamiliar main hall, the previous family head sat opposite the current one, his clouded eyes filled with disappointment. The previous head, though appearing to be in his nineties with hair as white as snow, had actually lived for several centuries; by lineage, he was an elder to Xun Tianxing.

"Decai, are you truly set on marrying that commoner?"

"If I don't marry her, we will never get our hands on the Flower family's Heaven-Sent Pill."

"All for that single pill?"

"I have only one son, Liu Chen. As long as he consumes that pill, my Liu family is guaranteed to produce a Fluid-Realm expert within a hundred years."

"Since you have decided, be swift and clean about it."

"I understand."

...

Ye Feifan watched on. A week later, Liu Decai married the eleven-year-old daughter of the Flower family.

"Hua Wenliu?"

The familiar face from his memories stirred a sense of foreboding in Ye Feifan. Lavender and Ye Feifan were recognized by all as childhood sweethearts, but in secret, Hua Wenliu was one as well—he had once saved her from a large snake. The three of them had truly enjoyed playing together back then, and he could still faintly recall the soft, milky tone of young Hua Wenliu's voice.

"Brother Feifan, I like you."

"I know, and I like you too."

"When I grow up, will you marry me?"

"..."

"Are you going to agree or not?"

"I don't know."

"Sister Lavender doesn't like you; she told me so."

"Alright, then."

...

In his past understanding, Ye Feifan had merely been brushing off a little girl. He never imagined that she would grow up in the blink of an eye, and they had not met once since she turned eleven.

Panic set in.

No wonder the side quest required him to survive until dawn. If the grown-up ghost still remembered the events of her childhood, wouldn't he be walking into a trap?

"Damn it, what exactly did that old beast Liu Decai do?"

He kept warning himself that everything was just speculation and that things couldn't possibly be that bad. After calming his emotions, he continued to watch.

On the wedding day, Liu Decai had sent assassins to kill Hua Wenliu's parents. A maid had risked her life to come and warn her. With her parents dead, what was the point of the marriage?

Hua Wenliu had gone mad, wielding a pair of scissors in an attempt to fight her way out of the Liu estate, but she failed. She was no match for the Liu family guards, and during the struggle, she fell into a well...

She died with a grievance!

When Liu Decai arrived at the scene, Hua Wenliu had already drowned. Cruel and desperate to keep his secret, he ruthlessly executed everyone involved and threw their bodies into the well, filling it in afterward. The courtyard was temporarily abandoned, becoming like a cold palace.

On the day of the grand wedding, no one knew what had transpired, and Liu Decai successfully fed the Heaven-Sent Pill to Liu Chen.

On the wedding night, the previous head called Liu Decai to his bedroom.

"You went too far."

"No one knows. I kept it clean."

"Leave the Flower family alone for now; the old immortal hasn't kicked the bucket yet."

"I know. I will handle it."

"Keep an eye on that boy surnamed Ye. If possible, root him out completely. Do not touch Lavender."

"What about Xun Tianxing?"

"The Yan and Zhang families will share the pressure. We will develop slowly, and one day, we will succeed."

...

The boy surnamed Ye... wasn't that him?

Good heavens, two old immortals had been planning to eliminate him since back then. If he hadn't remained within the protection of the Xun family, he would likely be a vengeful spirit by now.

He made a mental note of this debt; sooner or later, he would collect.

He continued watching. Life in the Liu household began to turn strange. The previous head, a master of the Fan-Tong Realm, suddenly died, catching everyone off guard.

The previous head's eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something indescribably terrifying. There was not a single wound on his body, but that horrified expression made even Ye Feifan shudder.

Liu Decai said nothing, calmly arranging the funeral and smoothly inheriting the position of family head. No voices of dissent emerged—he had purged them with lightning speed. The ruthlessness of his methods ranked first among everyone Ye Feifan had ever encountered.

Like master, like dog—the shop assistant had truly inherited the traits of the Liu family head.

And to think he had believed Liu Chen was fine. That fellow was definitely cut from the same cloth. Since he had stolen Liu Chen's spotlight, there was no telling where he might try to make trouble. He would have to leave him feeling drained for a while later.

The dream was peculiar. The latter half of Liu Decai's dreams was consumed by terror. Every dawn, someone would randomly die—regardless of whether they were good or evil, anyone in the Liu family had a chance of perishing.

Many who were prepared to sell their lives to the family fled, yet their names continued to appear on the death list time and again. Their bodies would be found lying silently in the Liu family's living room the next morning.

Seeing this, Ye Feifan knew that anyone linked to the Liu family could not escape.

As the fear intensified, even Liu Decai began to tremble. In the end, he hired a Taoist priest specializing in Feng Shui to investigate. By suppressing the dry well with a Buddha statue, the Liu family finally enjoyed a period of peace.

Eventually, the face of the Buddha statue was completely eroded and weathered by malevolent energy, but instead, it ended up suppressing the ill omens in the residence.

The Feng Shui master was somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting the outcome to change. He further instructed Liu Decai to collect the blood of women during their menstrual cycles to dye white garments, which were then used to make robes for the Buddha statue to enhance the suppression effect.

The Liu family’s problems vanished, but the Feng Shui master fell into a deep decline after leaving the estate and died for no apparent reason a week later.

Watching this, Ye Feifan noticed the dream repeating itself. He was startled; it seemed as though something had tampered with Liu Decai's dreamscape.

Based on his past experience, the Liu family had been using the Buddha statue, which meant the effect was still active. It was highly likely that something had changed at home for Liu Chen—the plot card he had used had given Hua Wenliu a chance to breathe, and she had returned to seek revenge as the power of the Buddha statue weakened.

Having deduced the truth, Ye Feifan stopped watching and decisively cast out his dream bait.

The dream shattered, and the bait vanished.

"System, what happened?"

Since he started "dream fishing," this was the first time he had failed. Ye Feifan felt that things were not as simple as they seemed.

"The dreamer's dreamscape has been interfered with by a malicious ghost. The host's strength is insufficient to fish in this dreamscape."

Someone had tampered with his dream!

It sounded terrifying. Upon closer reflection, Ye Feifan recalled past incidents of sleep paralysis and ghosts entering his dreams; he knew that powerful ghosts were capable of influencing them.

The dream was not deep enough, or Liu Decai would not have awakened so quickly.

The Dream-Inducing Incense continued its effect, and Liu Decai soon entered a slumber. This time, the dream was a faint, murky black, tainted by Yin energy, yet it was still fishable.

"Congratulations to the host for catching a white dream tainted by Yin energy. Obtained one hundred and ten points!"

...

"Congratulations to the host for catching a white dream tainted by Yin energy. Obtained one hundred and ten points!"

...

After fishing in Liu Decai's dreams five or six times, Ye Feifan began to feel the strain. The dream had been tampered with by a malicious ghost, consuming much of his energy, and there were hidden dangers lurking within.

When he fished for the tenth time, Liu Decai's dream dissipated along with the bait, but on the Dream Hook hung a strip of white cloth with a few words written in blood:

"Is that you, Brother Feifan?"