The gluttonous little boy is four and a half years old, and even the wealthy family kneels down and

Xiao Jin immediately sat up straight from Yun Ziang's arms, most of the sleepiness on her little face disappeared, and she stared at Sang Dong with her round eyes, saying earnestly:

"I want to know who that big bad guy who took Yu Ziping's soul is."

Sang Dong's expression froze instantly, and the fingertips resting on the bed sheet tightened slightly.

He remained silent for a long time, his eyelashes drooping, obscuring the emotions in his intact eye. After a long while, he finally spoke in a low voice: "That person... was kind to me."

He slowly recounted the past, his voice very soft, as if he were telling someone else's story.

In the years immediately following Sang Youqiang's death, he would only have nightmares at night, with things in his house moving inexplicably. Although these nightmares were eerie, they didn't actually harm anyone, and he gritted his teeth and got through them.

Until three years ago, Sang Youqiang suddenly changed. His yin energy became so heavy that it could freeze bones. For the first time, it actually solidified and blinded Sang Youqiang's right eye on the spot.

Just when he thought he was going to die, that person appeared.

A few talismans forced Sang Youqiang back and saved his life.

It was from that time that he was awakened by the yin energy, and he could see those pesky things whether his eyes were open or closed.

The man taught him basic breathing techniques and talisman-drawing methods, and introduced him to a business making Yin-Yang magical artifacts. The price he offered was very high, which allowed him to raise enough money for Ning Chan's younger brother's surgery and take over the steamed bun shop.

Even the Seven Star Steps and the Ghost-Slaying Incantation he used to slay the ghost were passed down to him by that person a while ago.

As Xiao Jin listened, her brows furrowed more and more, and her little fingers unconsciously dug at the scabbard of the peach wood sword.

After Sang Dong finished speaking, she tilted her head, looking puzzled, and asked, "But why did Sang Youqiang suddenly become so powerful three years ago?"

Sang Dong shook his head, his voice hoarse: "I don't know. I thought it was because he had accumulated enough resentment and finally turned into a vengeful ghost."

Xiao Jin looked at him with a soft, tender look in her eyes and whispered, "Silly brother, you've been tricked."

Sang Dong suddenly looked up, his one intact eye filled with astonishment: "What?"

"Sang Youqiang is just an ordinary vengeful ghost. No matter how much resentment he harbors, he can't just stay peacefully in the mortal world harming people or gouging out their eyes." Xiao Jin explained seriously, counting on her little fingers. "I've smelled him. His yin energy is a mess, a mixture of several different ghostly energies. He must have eaten other wandering spirits and vengeful ghosts to increase his power so quickly."

"But eating ghosts indiscriminately is against the laws of the underworld. The ghost messengers should have arrested him long ago. The fact that he has been able to haunt you for so many years means that someone is protecting and supporting him behind the scenes."

Sang Dong's face gradually paled, and his lips pressed into a straight line.

Fragments of details from the past few years flashed through his mind.

"You mean..." His throat tightened, and he almost dared not think further, "...the person who's keeping Sang Youqiang is him?"

"Yes, that's right." Xiao Jin nodded her little head, speaking matter-of-factly, "It's the person who took Yu Ziping's soul. He's raising ghosts, didn't you vaguely guess that, brother?"

Sang Dong stood frozen in place, feeling as if something had struck his chest hard. "Impossible!"

He instinctively retorted.

"That person couldn't possibly help Sang Youqiang and me at the same time. Why would he do that?"

"Because he wants to use what you make to harm people," Xiao Jin said bluntly, without beating around the bush. "Yu Ziping is an example."

"He first had you make a Yin wood tablet to slowly deplete Yu Ziping's Yang energy. Once his body is weak and his aura is low, it will be much easier for him to collect the soul. Only if Sang Youqiang keeps pestering you, allowing Yin energy to erode you day and night, will the magic artifact you make be powerful enough for him to use."

Sang Dong stared blankly at Xiao Jin, unable to believe what he had just heard.

How could this be?

He recalled the events of the past few years, the subtle clues, and something welled up inside him, ready to burst forth.

He always thought that person was his benefactor in his desperate situation.

It turned out not to be.

It turns out that from beginning to end, he was just a tool in the other party's hands.

Sang Youqiang is a whetstone. He is polished day and night with yin energy, so that his hands and body are soaked in yin coldness. Only in this way can the yin wood plaques and evil-attracting ritual objects he carves be extremely powerful.

No wonder that person appeared so timely back then; no wonder Sang Youqiang has become more and more powerful.

"Good heavens, this guy's got some serious scheming." Yun Ziang gasped as he listened from the side, and couldn't help but click his tongue. "So he was really saving you, but he was also really trying to harm you. He was playing both sides, keeping you completely under his control."

Sang Dong closed his eyes briefly to hide the turmoil within them.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, his voice hoarse: "I was stupid. He knew I could do wood carving the very first day he approached me."

Now it seems that person had planned everything beforehand.

Looking at his pale face, Xiao Jin gently advised, "Brother, don't play with him anymore. He's a super bad guy and will drag you down with him."

"That's right, we need to cut ties with this guy immediately." Yun Ziang immediately chimed in, leaning forward. "How much information do you know about him? Name, address, appearance—tell us everything you know. We're looking for him."

Sang Dong was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking: "I don't know his full name, I only know that everyone below calls him Mr. Li. He has always been the one contacting me, calling to let me know when I need goods or what kind of magical artifacts I need."

He paused, then added, "I met him once three years ago when he saved me, and we haven't seen each other since; we've only communicated by phone. He even sent me the wood for the ritual implements by express delivery, so I didn't have to find the materials myself."

"I've taken photos of all the waybills and saved them; the sender address is always the same."

He gave an address in the suburbs of Nanhai City and a phone number, saying, "That's all I know."

Yun Ziang quickly pulled out his phone, scribbled down the address and number in his notes, and muttered to himself:

"Okay, having the address and phone number makes things easier. I'll have Wen Shi investigate further; I don't believe we can't find this person."

After writing down the information, Xiao Jin leaned over the bed and looked at Sang Dong earnestly, saying, "Brother, please don't make those evil spirit amulets anymore, okay? Making too many will diminish your own good fortune. The peach blossom dolls you make are very pretty, and they sell very well."

Sang Dong tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a very faint, bitter smile: "Peach Blossom Dolls are 188 each, and Evil-Attracting Tokens are 18,000 each."

"Eighteen thousand?!" Yun Ziang's eyes widened instantly, almost dropping Xiao Jin from his arms. "That's outrageous! My little aunt's exorcism talismans, the real ones that can fight ghosts, only cost eighty-eight each! And you, this blockhead, dare to sell them for eighteen thousand?"

Sang Dong looked up at Xiao Jin, his gaze falling on her bulging little handbag, and said calmly, "It seems you don't quite understand the market prices in Beijing."

"That famous Master Zhang in Beijing charges 108,800 yuan for a single ordinary peace charm, and you have to queue up three months in advance."

"Wow—" Xiao Jin's eyes widened instantly, her mouth forming an "O" shape, her face filled with shock. "It's so expensive!"

She lowered her head, clenched her small hands, and muttered somewhat blankly, "Master said eighty-eight would be enough to cover the cost... I didn't know it could sell for that much?"

Yun Ziang, standing to the side, quickly did some mental calculations, muttering to himself, "108,000 per sheet, selling ten a month would be over a million... So this line of work is really that profitable?"

"Then why did I bother with investments before? I could have just had my little aunt draw talismans every day."

Looking at Xiao Jin's bewildered expression, Sang Dong smiled faintly and said slowly, "You are better than him."

Just the fact that she could easily kill Sang Youqiang and see through the ghost-raising scheme at a glance makes her a hundred times better than those charlatan masters on the market.

Xiao Jin was a little embarrassed by the praise, covered her mouth and giggled, then leaned into Yun Ziang's arms.

Sang Dong propped himself up and slowly sat up a little, leaning his back against the pillow.

He looked at the two figures, one large and one small, and his voice deepened, carrying a hint of solemnity: "Thank you both for saving me today."

"I have nothing to repay this favor with."

He frankly admitted that he was now penniless and disabled.

"It's all paid back now." Xiao Jin immediately shook her head, bobbing her little head. "You told us about the big bad guy, which was a huge help. We're even now."

Looking at Sang Dong's pale face, she added earnestly, "Brother, you should do more good deeds and accumulate more merit. Your health will gradually improve. Heaven will not let good people down."

Sang Dong looked into her clear, bright eyes, which were clean and pure, without pity or calculation, only pure earnestness.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and after a long pause, he replied in a low voice, "I understand."

"It's late, you should go back and rest."

"Alright, that's what I've been waiting for." Yun Ziang stood up and carefully picked up Xiao Jin. "My young master is delicate and pampered, he can't get used to sleeping on this hard hospital bed."

"I've already paid the medical bills. Just stay here and rest assured. You can be discharged whenever you're fully recovered. Don't be shy with me."

He carried Xiao Jin towards the door, but just as they reached it, Xiao Jin suddenly remembered something, grabbed his shoulder, turned around, and called out, "Brother! Don't forget to call the lady at the steamed bun shop! She couldn't find you and was crying. Don't let her cry."

Sang Dong was taken aback, clearly not expecting them to go to Ning Chan.

He paused for two seconds before giving a soft "hmm" in a very low voice.

"That's right, a grown man shouldn't make a young girl worry, it's not right." Yun Ziang added, carrying Xiao Jin, he opened the door, tiptoed out, and didn't forget to close the door behind him.

The ward returned to silence.

Sang Dong leaned against the pillow, his gaze falling on the peach wood sword on the bedside table. The four characters "敕召万神" (Imperial Summoning of All Gods) on the sword gleamed faintly under the night lamp.

That was something the old man had painstakingly worked on for more than half a year. The old man who taught him wood carving had passed away, and he thought he wouldn't live much longer either. Unexpectedly, he survived and even accidentally exposed a scam that had been hidden for three years.

Sang Dong stared blankly out the window and murmured:

"...Is it fate?"

In the corridor, Yun Ziang carried Xiao Jin towards the elevator. The little girl was lying on his shoulder, her head nodding sleepily.

"Little Miss, are we really going to find that Mr. Li next?" Yun Zi'ang asked in a low voice.

Xiao Jin mumbled a soft "Mmm" in her sleep, "We have to go...that big bad guy, he's done so many bad things, we can't let him hurt people anymore."

"but......"

Before looking for him, we need to find out who wants to harm our grandnephew!

She mumbled incoherently, yawned slightly, buried her face in Yun Ziang's neck, and quickly fell asleep again.

Yun Ziang smiled helplessly, hugged the little girl in his arms tighter, and walked more steadily.