The sound came from far away, slightly muffled, and after one cry, there was silence. A nearby household seemed to open their window to look, then quickly shut it again.
But Luo Yingbai had an intuitive feeling that something was wrong.
He hesitated, walking towards the direction of the sound. After a short interval, he seemed to hear faint crying and chaotic footsteps.
This time the sound was much clearer. Luo Yingbai walked around a pile of construction debris and quickly approached the abandoned building.
A staggering figure ran towards him, moonlight illuminating her face.
Luo Yingbai was stunned, whispering, “It’s you?”
He really didn’t expect the person here to be Cheng Guangchen.
As Luo Yingbai stepped forward, Cheng Guangchen recognized him. In extreme fear, finding a familiar face was like a lifeline. She immediately sobbed and threw herself into Luo Yingbai’s arms, with a faint smell of blood.
Luo Yingbai held her shoulders, pushing her slightly away, seeing Cheng Guangchen’s distorted expression and tear-stained face. He quickly asked, “What happened? Where are Zhu Linya and Xia Zheng?”
When Luo Yingbai said these words to himself, it was just a sudden whim, a casual question. He didn’t expect to actually hit the mark.
The child Zhu Linya originally gave birth to was Cheng Guangchen. Because she was a girl, she wouldn’t help her rise to power. Additionally, Zhu Linya had a new suitor at the time, so she simply claimed the girl was her adopted daughter.
Something happened in between.
Zhu Linya met Xia Zheng and reached an agreement with him, seeking a win-win situation. She let him return to the Xia family as her son, while also marrying Cheng Guangchen to share their prosperity.
From the looks of it, Cheng Guangchen was unaware of her other conflicts with the female ghost.
Cheng Guangchen stammered, “He, he implanted an artificial blood vessel in his wrist with my blood.”
Luo Yingbai’s mind raced through several thoughts. Since Xia Zheng was not Zhu Linya’s biological son, her attitude towards him and the things she used to threaten him were now clear.
Now that Luo Yingbai understood the general situation, he didn’t want to delay. He casually comforted her: “It’s okay, don’t be afraid. Go home first. I’ll go take a look.”
After he finished speaking and was about to leave, Cheng Guangchen, probably pampered since childhood and unable to handle such stimulation, was somewhat incoherent. Grabbing Luo Yingbai’s clothes and crying, she added hatefully: “None of them are good! They all want to harm me! I even saw that little bitch! She must have come to find Xia Zheng and deliberately let me see her, just to provoke me!”
Luo Yingbai asked, “Are you talking about Zhao Meiqi?”
Cheng Guangchen nodded, gritting her teeth.
Luo Yingbai struggled, and seeing that the other party still wouldn’t let go, he directly chopped her neck, knocking her unconscious.
With Cheng Guangchen’s hand still clutching his outer garment, Luo Yingbai took off the clothes and called out, “Cang Ling!”
Cang Ling Yue Yi immediately ran out.
Luo Yingbai said, “Turn around and squat down.”
After Cang Ling Yue Yi complied, Luo Yingbai placed Cheng Guangchen on his back.
Luo Yingbai: “…”
Cang Ling Yue Yi carefully carried her on his back, stood at attention, and looked expectantly at Luo Yingbai.
Luo Yingbai was amused, patted his head, and gave Cheng Guangchen’s home address: “Take her home, then come find me.”
Cang Ling Yue Yi responded and quickly set off.
Luo Yingbai ran towards the abandoned building Cheng Guangchen mentioned.
His steps were fast and light. Stopping at the entrance, he saw it was dark inside, with no lights or windows on the first floor.
Luo Yingbai brushed his fingers across his eyebrow bone, and his beautiful eyes emitted a faint purple light. Everything in the building became clear to him, and he walked in.
The surroundings were unnaturally quiet, but faint traces of yin energy could be felt. Luo Yingbai pressed his body against the wall, moving upstairs, his footsteps silent yet extremely fast.
He ran up three floors, vaguely sensing subtle movement deep in the corridor. The windows were now open, with dim moonlight filtering in.
The atmosphere made Luo Yingbai feel even more strange. He didn’t immediately enter but stood at the staircase, observing. Moonlight cast a shadow on the wall beside him.
Suddenly, Luo Yingbai noticed a curved edge beside the wall, with a few strands of hair floating.
— It was the silhouette of a head.
Luo Yingbai suddenly turned, and simultaneously, a shining dagger was placed against his neck.
The blade raised, forcing Luo Yingbai to tilt his head back. The knife-wielder wore a cold smile, stepping out from the shadows into the moonlight.
Luo Yingbai remained calm, smiling softly: “Hello, Third Aunt.”
Zhu Linya’s hair was disheveled, her face haggard, her eyes bloodshot, looking almost manic.
This was in stark contrast to Luo Yingbai, who remained leisurely despite having a knife to his neck.
Luo Yingbai wasn’t afraid of her. He didn’t fight back because he wanted to hear what Zhu Linya was planning. He was amused that she had irrationally blamed everything on him, saying helplessly: “You’re overthinking this. What are you talking about? Who did you kill? What watch?”
“You’re so cunning. You’ve already found your way here and you’re still playing dumb with me.
Zhu Linya gave a cold laugh, and her free hand suddenly pointed behind her, raising her voice: “If you don’t want to live, do you want them to die too!”
Luo Mingbai followed her finger and looked, and his face instantly changed color.
At this moment, Summer Zhi and Summer Ni were tied together with the same rope, standing trembling on a narrow air conditioning bracket outside the window.
The rope binding them was tied to the stair railing, but it didn’t look very secure.
With just a slight negligence, these two children could fall at any time.
It turned out that Summer Zheng and Zhu Linya were indeed scheming. Summer Zheng was prompted by the female ghost to find that watch, and was presumably also given advice by the ghost to arrange a meeting with Zhu Linya in this place with heavy yin energy.
Zhu Linya, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to kidnap the two Summer family children. If the children remained in her hands, even if she killed Summer Zheng, she would have leverage to threaten the Summer family.
Luo Mingbai frowned, while Zhu Linya continued to sneer: “I’m already barefoot, not afraid of wearing shoes. If you want these children to survive, you’ll have to…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Luo Mingbai suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhu Linya’s knife-wielding wrist. Zhu Linya was startled, and her arm instinctively moved forward to slash him.
But her strength was no match for Luo Mingbai’s. The knife couldn’t break his skin and was twisted out of her hand onto the ground.
Zhu Linya’s wrist was in excruciating pain, and she screamed. Luo Mingbai’s other hand was already gripping her neck, throwing her against the wall. Zhu Linya immediately lost consciousness.
He bent down to pick up the knife, quickly rushed to the window, stepped on the wall and leaped onto the windowsill, kicking open the window.
The two children were tearful, both shocked and delighted, calling out “Uncle Luo” simultaneously.
Luo Mingbai’s tone was gentle: “Be good, don’t be afraid.”
He quickly cut the ropes with the knife, freeing the children, and carried one in each arm, jumping down from the windowsill.
Luo Yingbai stopped and turned around, saying gently, “What is it?”
Xia Zhi said, “Here, I just picked this up for self-defense.”
