What if I don't want to ascend to immortality?

Chapter 19 The house is restless
The atmosphere inside the room became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Because Song Huiping not only displayed a distant attitude in her words, but after speaking, she stared at Meng Qingtong with reddened eyes, as if she had some pent-up anger that she was looking for an excuse to vent.

Meng Qingtong rested her chin on her hand and glared back at her. After a moment of eye contact, she smiled and said, "But as spiritual practitioners who came to help, we need to understand the child's situation first. President Liu is always out and about, so busy, he might not know too much. I think it would be more appropriate to ask you?"

Song Huiping said expressionlessly, "If we wanted to know what was going on, would we need to call you here? Do you think money grows on trees?"

Han Jie stared at the various information on the spiritual website on his phone and said coldly, "You're not a cultivator, and you're a woman, so I won't make a move. But if you utter another word so impolitely, I have plenty of ways to make you regret it."

Song Huiping's fierce gaze shifted, and she opened her mouth to say something. But suddenly, she realized that the tall young man hadn't looked at her once since he sat down, as if he was avoiding her. She glanced at Meng Qingtong again, and immediately thought she understood something. She gave a heavy snort and held back the words that were about to come out.

She always knew that when a man was first ensnared by a woman, he was capable of anything.

She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that her husband hadn't arrived home yet, so she turned her face away and didn't want to talk anymore.

Meng Qingtong smiled, leaned close to Han Jie's ear and whispered, "Thanks. I can handle this kind of woman, it's okay. You play on your phone, don't worry about her. I'll squeeze more money out of her husband later, the younger children at the orphanage will be grateful to them."

“If you cooperate with me, you won’t have to put up with anyone anymore,” Han Jie said coldly. “I don’t need her to treat us like immortal masters, but I won’t allow her to speak like that either. We don’t necessarily have to make money off her.”

Meng Qingtong said softly, "Alright, we don't necessarily need to make money off her, but Yaya needs someone to take care of her. We're here to rescue her; making money is just a side thing."

She glanced at Song Huiping, whose face was ashen, and asked, "Where is Ya Ya? If you're in a bad mood and don't want to talk about her, I can just go see her myself, okay?"

Song Huiping pressed her thumb against her temples and rubbed them hard a few times, her voice trembling as she tried to control herself as she said, "Ya Ya doesn't even want to see me now, she doesn't even... she doesn't even want to call me 'Mom' anymore, I... I..."

Her emotions fluctuated drastically, and she broke down in tears after saying just one sentence: "All I wanted was to make her father happy... to have a younger brother? What a terrible thing this is! Her father is not short of money, he would never mistreat her."

Han Jie frowned, scanned the area with his divine sense, and said, "The girl is on the second floor, in the northwest corner room."

“We can’t just go up there,” Meng Qingtong said helplessly in a low voice. “Forget it, let’s wait for Liu Song to come back. I think… this whole family might have already been affected.”

"The demon hasn't revealed itself yet. Have you sensed anything?"

She shook her head. "It's not easy to find a demon when it's hiding so well. The key is, we can't be sure if it's really the demon's fault. It's not uncommon for a girl's personality to change drastically after the arrival of a younger brother. If it really has nothing to do with the demon, we need to get her to see a good psychologist as soon as possible, otherwise it will just cause more trouble."

She glanced at Song Huiping with concern and whispered, "This mother isn't quite right. I wonder if she has postpartum depression... This is really troublesome."

Song Huiping huddled together and cried for a while. Then she lifted her face, pulled out a tissue from the coffee table, and wiped away her tears, turning her light makeup into a watercolor painting. Too lazy to fix it, she just sat there blankly.

It wasn't until Aunt Wu called out from the other end of the second floor that it was time to feed Dou Dou that she flinched as if she'd been electrocuted, and without a word, ran away as fast as she could.

In the vast central hall, only Han and Meng sat side by side, quiet and lifeless.

Han Jie breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head and stretched his neck, saying, "This woman's appearance is more repulsive than a demon."

Meng Qingtong seemed somewhat sympathetic, and whispered, "She probably wasn't like this before."

"Caused by evil spirits?"

She shook her head. "No, it was her own choice. Even if there are demons, it's just the price of that choice. There was a sentence in a book I read when I was a child, and I've always remembered the gist of it. It was something like... whatever gift God gives you, there's always a price tag attached. Enjoy it early on, and don't regret it when it's time to pay the bill."

"You can memorize mnemonics so quickly, how come you can't even remember the original words from the books you've read?"

She paused for a moment, then laughed. "Everyone has their own expertise, which means I was born to do this. With my grades in academic subjects, if I hadn't become a spiritualist, I probably would have only been able to study art and end up singing, dancing, or doing live streaming."

“Doing those things might not be a bad thing. It might not be so hard or dangerous.”

“But I don’t like it.” Meng Qingtong looked at Ya Ya’s closed room on the second floor and said softly, “When I locked myself in like this back then, Aunt Huang came. Now, it’s my turn.”

She was clearly not the type to sit there quietly and wait idly. Seeing that the woman wasn't planning to reappear anytime soon, she picked up her phone and dialed Liu Song's number. "Mr. Liu, are you always this unpunctual when doing business? I've been sitting in the living room for half an hour. Do you really think I can exorcise your daughter from a distance of more than ten meters without even looking at her?"

"I'm so sorry, I'll be there soon. Oh, something came up at the company, I just finished dealing with it. Wait a little longer, have some tea, have some tea."

Meng Qingtong hung up immediately, saying, "Thank goodness, it sounds like that guy is alright. If he were like his wife, this job would be in trouble."

A short while later, the door opened, and a slightly overweight middle-aged man, reeking of cigarettes and alcohol, hurriedly entered the room. He kicked off his leather shoes, put on slippers, and walked into the living room while taking off his suit jacket, wiping his sweat with the jacket he had taken off.

He was taken aback when he saw the two people in the living room, then sat down opposite them and asked cautiously, "Which one of you is... Master Meng?"

"Me. You've heard my voice before. Does my assistant look like a woman?" Meng Qingtong rolled her eyes at him. "Tell us about Ya Ya's situation in detail. After we get a general idea, we'll go upstairs and see if we can knock on the door."

"The situation...didn't I write it in the application form?" Liu Song unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt, his shiny forehead still sweating profusely, and he was a little out of breath when he spoke.

"Those are too superficial. Many details are unclear. For example, how do you know that the child's diary entries are becoming increasingly negative? What exactly is this negativeness?"

"I saw it directly," Liu Song said loudly, his eyes wide. "Her mother said the child wasn't in a good mood, and I thought she was writing in her diary, so I just wanted to see what was going on. That little lock opened with a flick of the wrist. I can't quite put my finger on what was so negative about it. Her mother filled out the form, and I just felt something was off. How about I bring the notebook over for you two to take another look?"

Meng Qingtong narrowed her eyes and forced a smile, "No need. What did the psychologist say when you took your child to see him?"

"Damn it! Those doctors, just to rip me off, exaggerate everything! Fine, I'm not short of money, I'll treat him. If he gets better, what's a little money? And what happened? They gave me a ton of medicine, and I had to see a specialist three times a week—some big-name specialist who'd even been a spiritual counselor—and they still couldn't cure him. A bunch of idiots!"

Liu Song burped, patted his chest, frowned, and said, "I've filled out the psychological assessment form several times. The form is still here. Do you two want to take a look?"

"Okay. My assistant knows a lot about this, let us take a look."

He grunted in agreement, got up, and went upstairs.

Han Jie said softly, "Do I know a lot about this?"

"Anyway, you're incredibly fast at researching, so you obviously know a lot about human search engines. That should be enough to fool him."

Liu Song's shouts came from upstairs: "Ping, Ping, where are those forms for the kids? Where did you put them? Find them right now and have a fortune teller take a look. Hurry up, give Dou Dou to Aunt Song to hold and let her feed him with a bottle." Then, his voice rose eight octaves, "Didn't you hear me telling you to find them? Who the hell are you giving the cold shoulder to now? If you're sick, go see a doctor. If you don't have enough money, at least fart. Don't hold it in here and stink up my nose!"

Han Jie frowned and asked, "Are you sure he's normal too?"

Meng Qingtong rubbed her eyes and said with some helplessness, "How should I put it? This family is the type that seems abnormal to you, but is actually quite normal. Some people just live their lives like they're haunted by evil spirits. Or, perhaps... it's precisely because there are so many people like this in the world that evil spirits are haunting everywhere."

If evil originates from the human heart, then it is indeed difficult to say who is right and who is wrong, who is the cause and who is the effect.

The argument upstairs quickly escalated, and Liu Song's shouts grew louder. Aunt Wu ran out of the house with her baby in her arms, and then a sharp crack came from the other side—smack!

"That's too much." Meng Qingtong frowned and stood up. No matter how upright an official is, it's hard to settle family disputes. You have to see if the situation is within the bounds of reason.

But she immediately sat down again.

A bunch of random things flew out of the room, making a clattering noise. Liu Song covered his head and ran away, his face still bearing bright red fingernail marks.

Since the couple is evenly matched, there is no need for them to help a non-existent disadvantaged group.

Moreover, she finally sensed something was clearly wrong.

After Liu Song returned, something elusive began to flow quietly in the room, like a hidden net with delicate threads dancing within it, and the source of these threads was in Ya Ya's room.

Meng Qingtong breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "It seems there really is a demon here. Let's go upstairs. I'll see if I can coax the little girl to open the door."

Han Jie was slightly unwilling, but considering the existence of the Ten Thousand Demons Guidance and the fact that the demons' perception was slightly inferior to hers, it was not unacceptable.

Perhaps feeling he had lost face in front of outsiders, Liu Song tugged at his collar again, his eyes bloodshot, and prepared to rush into the house.

Han Jie grabbed him and frowned, saying, "Go see your daughter first."

"What do you have to do with it..." Liu Song turned his head and roared, but realized he was wrong halfway through and quickly swallowed it back, choking so hard that the veins on the side of his neck throbbed.

Inside the room, Song Huiping was already wailing and cursing Liu Song for being heartless. He neglected her because she didn't give him a son, and even after she gave birth to a son, he refused to break up with his mistress. He didn't care about anything at home, only giving money. He would often come home drunk and bite her while she was feeding the baby, but he didn't care and was even more enthusiastic than the son...

As the commotion over there grew increasingly offensive, and it seemed they were about to expose every flaw in Liu Song's character, Han Jie grew irritated. He flicked his fingers and closed the door, sealing it with a layer of spiritual magic.

Marry a virtuous wife – that is indeed a wise saying.

He glanced at Liu Song again, thinking to himself, "If he really has a virtuous wife, this man is not worthy of her."

Reluctantly, Liu Song walked to Ya Ya's door, pounded it twice, and tried to suppress his frustration as he said, "Ya Ya, open the door for Daddy. Daddy found a master to take a look at you and cure your illness. Once you're better, Daddy will take you to Linghe Amusement Park, okay?"

There was no movement inside.

Liu Song took a deep breath and went to get the key, but the door was locked from the inside. He tried to open it, but even after twisting the key so hard it almost broke, he couldn't get it open.

Seeing that the father's face was turning dark again, Meng Qingtong pushed him aside with her shoulder, gently patted the door, and said softly, "Yaya, I am an investigator from the Second Spirit Academy of Dongding City. Based on your performance at the Spirit River Paradise, the academy believes that you may have the talent of a spirit mage. Can you open the door and let your sister take a look at you?"

Han Jie said in a low voice, "I thought you weren't very good at lying."

"I have no qualms about telling white lies."

However, there was still no movement inside.

Seeing that Meng Qingtong was a little worried, Han Jie scanned her with his divine sense and said softly, "She's fine. She's just huddled together in the closet."

"You call that nothing?" Meng Qingtong was unwilling to wait any longer and turned to look at Liu Song. "Mr. Liu, this door can be repaired later, so I don't need to worry about it, right?"

Liu Song nodded hurriedly, "No need, no need, I'll go get the tools right away, please wait a moment, masters."

Before she finished speaking, Meng Qingtong took a half step back, kicked hard at the doorknob.

The demure temperament carefully cultivated by her flowing white hair, white shirt collar, ribbon, and pleated skirt was shattered by this kick, just like that poor door.

Due to excessive force, the door slammed against the wall from the inside, making a loud bang before bouncing back and completely knocking off the already precarious door frame latch, causing it to fall to the ground.

The kick made even the living room chandelier sway.

Liu Song's voice suddenly became so loud it was as if earphones had been plugged into a speaker; it was impossible to hear what he was saying.

Meng Qingtong strode in, touched the light switch on the wall, and pressed it.

The room was a complete mess, no longer resembling a normal room. Homework, textbooks, stationery, fairy tale books, blankets, pillows... everything was scattered on the floor. The things in the wardrobe were also thrown out. The posters on the wall were covered with scratches, and a small pair of scissors was stuck in the neck of a plush toy placed directly below it.

The diary with the small lock had completely disintegrated, its pages scattered all over the ground like a flower bud crushed before it could bloom, leaving only a pitiful mess.

A flash of anger crossed Meng Qingtong's brows. She strode to the wardrobe, opened the door, and slowly squatted down, looking at the girl inside who was huddled up, hugging her knees tightly, as if she wanted to bury her face in her thighs.

She wanted to reach out and touch the girl's head, but she didn't dare. So she focused her attention and tried to find clues about the existence of the evil spirit.

With the existence of the Ten Thousand Demons Guidance, no one in this world is stronger than her in this field.

A dozen seconds later, she looked at the worn-out cushion the girl was sitting on and finally realized that this was not an illness that required a doctor's visit.

She took out a talisman, activated it, and gently placed it on the back of Ya Ya's head. Meng Qingtong opened her arms and embraced her small body, saying softly, "It's alright, your sister is here. You'll be fine soon."

After picking up the child and holding her in her arms, watching her rest her head on her shoulder as if she had fallen asleep, Meng Qingtong glanced at Liu Song, gave him a bright smile, and whispered, "It's confirmed, it's the work of an evil spirit. Now, let's talk about the commission fee."

(End of this chapter)