Xu Zifan told Cheng Zhuang and the housekeeper to stay in the car while he took Jiang Tianxin to see the place first.
Cheng Zhuang frowned and said, "Is my brother inside? If he is, I need to go and save him."
Jiang Tianxin particularly disliked his disrespectful attitude towards Xu Zifan, and said with disgust, "If you want us to find someone, then shut your mouth. This must be the first and last time Qingfeng Temple solves trouble for the Cheng family, because you are just too annoying!"
"What did you say?!" Cheng Zhuang stared at her in disbelief. He had done so much for her, how dare she say such things to him?!
The butler was somewhat surprised to see Jiang Tianxin's disgust. He pulled Cheng Zhuang aside and said, "Young Master, let's wait. There might be kidnappers inside. It's very dangerous. You're still weak."
Xu Zifan, impatient with this idiot, had already told Jiang Tianxin to quietly head towards the house. He just wanted to figure out what was going on inside; if a ghost was harming people, eliminating it would be a good deed.
Shao Hua kept projecting the scene inside the room onto Xu Zifan. Xu Zifan saw that the little boy finally moved. He took a dagger and gestured with it to his limbs one by one, as if considering how to cut them off. Then he pointed it at his heart and gestured with it, as if estimating the force to insert it.
Xu Zifan was even more puzzled. The virtual screen could only see the scanned objects, not the yin energy or ghostly aura. Xu Zifan could only wait at the door for an opportunity. Just as the little boy put down his dagger and was about to pick up his axe, Xu Zifan kicked the door open, flew over, and grabbed the little boy.
Only then did he realize that there was a thin layer of black mist around the little boy, very faint. This was not a ghost possession, but rather the ghostly aura emanating from the little boy's soul. It was too unbelievable!
The little boy struggled fiercely, shouting, "Let go of me! Who are you? Let go!"
Jiang Tianxin was taken aback when she saw the burly man collapse. "Master, is there something wrong with this child? What happened to him?"
Xu Zifan shook his head. "I don't know either." After saying that, he reached out and placed his hand on the little boy's forehead. As their skin touched, he saw a fragment.
Cheng Zhuang returned to the Cheng family home with a pale face, heavily tainted with ghostly energy. The little boy ran downstairs and tripped, bumping right into Cheng Zhuang. The ghostly energy touched the little boy, and instantly a ghostly aura emanated from his soul. When the little boy opened his eyes again, he no longer had his original innocence, but instead had become somewhat malevolent, exactly as he is now.
Xu Zifan pondered for a moment. This was somewhat like the awakening of memories from a past life, but it was tinged with ghostly energy, making it different from reincarnation. He stuck a talisman on the little boy to prevent him from moving or making a sound, then held him in his arms, preparing to return to the Taoist temple. When he turned around, he saw Jiang Tianxin staring at them in a daze.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Tianxin looked at them and said, "No, it's just... I thought you two looked alike just now, but now that I look at you closely, you don't seem to look that alike anymore."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zifan looked at the little boy, whose face was full of anger. Even when a six-year-old child is angry, he still looks very cute, only because of the ghostly aura, which adds a bit of gloom.
Xu Zifan carefully examined his features and also felt a sense of familiarity. Fate is a mysterious thing; a cultivator's heartstrings might occasionally twitch, indicating that something was connected to them. He immediately decided to go and see Cheng Jia.
"First, have someone arrest the kidnappers and investigate thoroughly before making any further plans. We're going to Chengjia."
Upon hearing the word "get married," the little boy glared fiercely at Xu Zifan, like an angry little leopard. Xu Zifan chuckled, finding it rather amusing rather than offensive. He then thought that if the boy had awakened his past life's memories, his eyes shouldn't be so innocent; he was still just a child.
Jiang Tianxin called the police, who took the kidnappers away. The police were left to search the small house, while she and Xu Zifan prepared to leave with the little boy.
The butler smiled excitedly as soon as he saw the little boy, "It really is the young master, that's wonderful!" Then he realized something was wrong and asked nervously, "What's wrong with the young master?"
Xu Zifan, still holding the child, got into the car and said, "His condition isn't quite right. Let's go to Chengjia first. I need to understand his situation in detail."
Cheng Zhuang squinted at the child for a moment, then frowned and said, "Is he possessed by a ghost? Has he been tainted by something unclean?"
"It's unclear at the moment," Xu Zifan said, then closed his eyes and quickly searched for similar cases. After all, he possessed all the books in the cultivation world, and there were quite a few recorded events. He just needed to distinguish between true and false, as some might just be random writings by bored people.
Cheng Zhuang kept his distance from the child in the back seat, as far as possible. Jiang Tianxin saw him in the rearview mirror and a mocking smile appeared on her lips. This kind of person still has the nerve to say that Jiang Dong is not a good older brother. What kind of person is he? He doesn't care at all when his younger brother has problems, and he's even afraid of being implicated. He's really cold-blooded.
The Cheng family had two generations of officials, not high-ranking officials in the capital, but officials in the capital were powerful and influential. Cheng Zhuang's grandfather's generation was not very strict with their partners, so Cheng Zhuang's grandmother made a lot of money through business. Later, when she was no longer allowed to do business, she settled down to be an official's wife. Therefore, the Cheng family was very well-off.
Cheng Zhuang's grandparents had passed away, and Cheng's parents were waiting for them at home. As soon as Cheng's mother saw the little boy, she excitedly rushed forward to hug him, bursting into tears of joy, "Baby! Baby, you scared Mommy to death! Luckily you're alright, thank goodness, thank goodness!"
Cheng's father glanced at the little boy, frowned, coughed lightly twice, and whispered to Cheng's mother, "Be careful."
Cheng's mother looked at Xu Zi
Fan and Jiang Tianxin then calmed down a bit.
Cheng's father shook hands with Xu Zifan politely: "Are you Daoist Qingfeng? I am Cheng Bijun. The steward has already told me everything. Thank you very much this time, and Miss Jiang as well. Please have a seat."
As soon as they sat down, Cheng's mother asked anxiously, "What's wrong with my son? Why isn't he moving or saying anything? And his expression is so...so...strange?"
When Cheng's mother met the little boy's eyes, a chill ran down her spine, and she felt her scalp tingle. She almost let go and threw the little boy away, but she managed to stay composed because she was sitting on the sofa.
Xu Zifan noticed that Cheng's mother frowned slightly, but instead of answering, he asked, "Mrs. Cheng, would you mind telling me your name?"
Cheng's mother was taken aback and looked at Cheng's father. Cheng's father found it strange and couldn't help but ask, "What does this have to do with Xiao An's matter? I wonder why the Taoist priest asked me for my wife's name?"
Xu Zifan felt that Cheng's mother looked very familiar, and he also sensed that Cheng's parents were somewhat hostile towards Jiang Tianxin, and by extension, towards him. They weren't genuinely grateful; they were wary of him. He was impatient to waste any more words with them and directly had Shaohua scan his ID card.
No matter how big the house was, it was within a 500-meter radius. Shaohua quickly scanned Cheng's mother's ID card, which showed her date of birth and her name—Yu Cailan.
Xu Zifan had a deep impression of this name because it was the name of the original owner's biological mother, which he heard from his uncle's cursing words!
Xu Zifan's gaze swept over Yu Cailan. She was shrouded in ghostly energy, and even thick makeup couldn't conceal her haggard appearance. Others might assume she was weary from worrying about her son, but Xu Zifan could tell she had been plagued by ghostly energy for some time. And the little boy she held in her arms was desperately trying to infuse Yu Cailan's body with ghostly energy, as if they shared a deep-seated grudge.
Xu Zifan knew her identity and stopped asking. He looked at the little boy and said, "When I found him, the kidnappers were already unconscious. He was looking for a suitable weapon to harm himself."
Cheng's parents gasped in shock, staring at the little boy. Cheng's father exclaimed in astonishment, "This... how is this possible? Xiao An has always been a very well-behaved boy!"
Xu Zifan continued, "He was very agitated and didn't want to come back, so I temporarily restricted his movements just to make it easier to find the cause. There was no harm in it."
What I want to know now is whether he exhibited any unusual behavior after returning home to Chengzhuang until his disappearance. Please think about this carefully; it's very important.
Cheng's mother astutely grasped the key point: "You said after Cheng Zhuang returned home? Why did you say after he returned home?"
Cheng Zhuang scoffed, "Auntie, what do you mean? What does this have to do with me?" Then she glared at Xu Zifan, "What does Master Qingfeng mean? How did you drag me into this? Are you saying that I kidnapped my brother?"
Jiang Tianxin said coldly, "My master has his reasons for asking questions. You'd better be more polite to my master. Many people have asked my master for favors, but I've never seen anyone ask for help with this kind of attitude. Is this a case of using someone and then discarding them?"
Cheng's father ordered Cheng Zhuang to shut up and apologized, but his gaze towards Jiang Tianxin subtly revealed his displeasure.
Xu Zifan raised his hand, and the restraints on the little boy disappeared. He stood up and said, "Mr. Chengzhuang asked me to find someone today. I've found the person, so I won't stay any longer. Xinxin, let's go."
"Yes, Master." Jiang Tianxin felt extremely disgusted with the Cheng family and immediately stood up.
Mr. Cheng's expression changed instantly. No one had ever dared to disrespect him like this before. He was furious and didn't try to stop her. Mrs. Cheng, kicked by the little boy, exclaimed in alarm, "Wait! You haven't told me what happened to my son. Miss Jiang, are you just going to leave like this?"
The master and apprentice didn't stop walking. Jiang Tianxin sneered, "Stay here and watch your faces instead of leaving? Is this how the Cheng family treats their youngest son's savior? How interesting. Don't forget to deliver the payment to the Taoist temple. From now on, Qingfeng Temple will not accept any more orders from the Cheng family."
Before the words were even finished, they had vanished; none of the Cheng family had seen them leave. Cheng's father slammed his hand on the coffee table, roaring, "Cheng Zhuang! Is this the master you invited? Knowing a few unorthodox tricks, does he really think he's a god? And what did they mean by what they just said? What does your brother's matter have to do with you?"
Cheng Zhuang got up irritably. "How should I know? I'm still feeling unwell. I'm going upstairs. Since you think the person I found is no good, you can take care of your precious son yourself. I find it too much trouble."
Cheng Zhuang ran back to his room. Cheng's father was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table. Cheng's mother didn't dare to approach her youngest son and couldn't help but cry, "What are we going to do? Lao Cheng, Cheng Zhuang said he was possessed by a ghost when he came back last time. Do you think our baby is possessed?"
Cheng's father frowned. "Why are you crying? Take him to the hospital first. He's just been traumatized. We'll wait for the police's report."