Volume One, Chapter Seven Uncle Fu: Let Them Lie Together

At that moment, Lu Shixin also cast her gaze over, tears swirling in her eyes as if they were about to fall, yet somehow held back as if forgotten.

“Mom, wake up, wake up! Brother is better now, he’s cured!”

After a long while, Lu Shixin finally came back to her senses. She joyfully tried to shake Lu’s mother, hoping to rouse her, but no matter how much she called, Lu’s mother showed no reaction.

“I advise everyone not to celebrate prematurely,” Xie Wan’ning’s words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the group’s excitement.

Then she turned to Fu Bo and gave a direct order, “Go find some strong hands and bring them all out into the sunlight to get rid of the lingering deathly aura.”

“All right, I’ll go right away.” This time, Fu Bo didn’t hesitate and immediately followed Xie Wan’ning’s instructions.

Once Fu Bo had left, Xie Wan’ning glanced at Lu’s mother, Pei Jingxian, cradled in Lu’s father’s arms. Then she said to Lu’s father, “She has had the most contact with Lu Yanci and has absorbed a great deal of deathly energy. Now that energy has entered her body. I’m too weak to save her at the moment. But you can prepare talisman paper and cinnabar; I’ll need them when I draw the talisman.”

“A talisman?” Lu Boshang looked puzzled.

Xie Wan’ning merely nodded; she was too exhausted to explain much.

Her legs began to weaken, and her whole body wavered.

Lu Shixin hurriedly wiped away her tears, then stood up and grabbed Xie Wan’ning’s hand. “Xie Wan’ning, you can save my brother, so why can’t you save my mother now? Whatever conditions you want, just name them. As long as you agree to save my mother, I’ll do anything you ask. Even if you want me to kneel and beg, I will.”

Xie Wan’ning cast a gentle glance at her. “Let go,” she said softly.

Already fragile and having used a blood talisman—though it drained much of Lu Yanci’s purple energy—it also injured her spiritual core.

But she still had unfinished business and had no choice but to endure.

She didn’t have time to waste words with Lu Shixin. Turning to Lu’s father, she said, “This hospital is saturated with yin energy, all because of the Buddha statue downstairs...”

Before she could finish, Xie Wan’ning’s eyes closed, and with a thud, she fell face down onto the bed.

Her hand remained tightly clasped with Lu Yanci’s.

In the room, the deathly aura swirling from all corners hovered in midair but dared not approach Lu Yanci any closer.

“Hey! Xie Wan’ning, don’t pretend to be dead!”

Lu Shixin anxiously stepped forward, trying to shake her awake.

“Shixin!”

Lu’s father’s voice was stern as he stopped her. “She’s too weak. Let her rest.”

Having witnessed Xie Wan’ning’s smooth operation just moments ago, Lu’s father had no choice but to believe she was indeed skilled.

So whether Lu Yanci would be saved now depended entirely on Xie Wan’ning.

Hearing her father’s reprimand, Lu Shixin hung her head like a child caught in wrongdoing.

---

“Dad, I’m sorry. I was just too worried about Mom and brother and wanted to ask her clearly...”

At that moment, Fu Bo led over a dozen strong-bodied bodyguards into the room.

Following Xie Wan’ning’s instructions, they carried all the people lying on the floor out into the courtyard to bask in the sunlight.

Lu’s mother was carried by Lu’s father to the attic to soak up the sunshine.

However, when the bodyguards tried to separate Lu Yanci and Xie Wan’ning, they found their hands were locked together so tightly they couldn’t pry them apart.

The bodyguards then looked to Fu Bo for help.

Fu Bo glanced at their intertwined fingers and suddenly felt he didn’t dislike Xie Wan’ning so much after all. “Let them lie together,” he said.

And so, Lu Yanci and Xie Wan’ning were taken to the rooftop villa to bathe in the sunlight.

On the rooftop,

Lu Boshang and Fu Bo stood facing each other. Fu Bo bowed respectfully and spoke softly.

“Master, I’ve looked for a long time but really can’t tell what’s wrong with that Buddha statue. Still, I always feel that the room becomes oppressive with yin energy the longer you stay in it.”

“Where did that Buddha statue come from?”

“Have you forgotten? Three years ago, Madam knelt outside the Great Buddha Temple for three days and nights, begging the abbot to grant it. For three years, every day she’s knelt before it, praying for the young master’s safety.”

“But Xie Wan’ning says that Buddha statue is problematic. Fu Bo, how much credibility do you give her words?”

“I don’t know,” Fu Bo pondered briefly, then added, “But we’ve trusted her once before. Trusting her again can’t hurt.”

Hearing Fu Bo’s words, Lu Boshang nodded lightly.

Fu Bo’s words echoed his own thoughts.

“Fu Bo, if Jingxian knew that the very Buddha statue she prays to daily nearly killed her son, would she be able to accept that?”

Listening to Lu Boshang’s heavy words, Fu Bo lowered his head even further.

After a moment of silence, he said, “Master, for these three years, Madam has earnestly knelt before that Buddha statue, praying for the young master’s relief and safety. When the young master suddenly woke a few days ago, Madam believed it was a divine blessing. If she knew the statue was actually malevolent, she would blame herself endlessly.”

“So, we absolutely cannot let her know.”

Lu Boshang exhaled deeply, then turned and looked up at the dazzling sun. The chill that had clung to his body seemed to dissipate significantly.

“Fu Bo, over these three years, the Lu family has indeed suffered many setbacks. First, Ayan suddenly fell ill with this strange disease, missing the chance to become chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Then, we lost cooperation opportunities with Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Arabia. Later, my health deteriorated, and I had to step down as chairman of the group. You tell me, behind all this...”

Pausing thoughtfully, Lu Boshang turned to look at Fu Bo deeply. His weathered eyes gleamed with a sharp chill. “Fu Bo, do you think this was all orchestrated by the second son, Pei Jinshan?”

“This...” Fu Bo lowered his gaze, his expression growing serious. “Master, I dare not make a definite judgment. But the Lu family’s decline, the Pei family’s eldest son becoming Chamber chairman, the Southeast and South Asia deals falling into their hands, and even the Arabian cooperation given to the Gu family—at present, it seems the Pei family benefits the most.”

Hearing this, Lu Boshang nodded. His gaze darkened, and the coldness in his eyes deepened. “If it’s really the Pei family, then Pei Jinshan’s intentions are truly sinister—not only does he want to seize the Lu family’s influence, but he also wishes for the entire Lu family to meet a dire fate...”

---

The Xie Family

In recent days, Lin Wanyin had been tormented by nightmares, unable to sleep through the nights.

Whenever she closed her eyes, the memory of Lu Yanci throwing her into a dark, endless abyss surfaced.

Inside, she endured an entire day of darkness and despair.

She was humiliated, beaten, scolded, and even stripped naked to be ogled and toyed with.

Though her brother Gu Yeting arrived just in time, all that should have remained unseen and untouched had been exposed.

No matter how she explained, no one believed she’d come out of that place without stain.

It was precisely because of this that the Pei family’s eldest son looked down on her...

And all of this was Xie Wan’ning’s fault!

If it weren’t for Xie Wan’ning, Lu Yanci wouldn’t have thrown her in there.

Yet she was still the heiress of the Xie family. How could Lu Yanci treat her so cruelly, completely disregarding the Xie family?

All she did was push Xie Wan’ning into the pool at a Pei family banquet and falsely accuse her of breaking the old master’s birthday gift. Was that enough reason for him to ruin her reputation and make her a social pariah?

Xie Wan’ning was nothing but a fake heiress. Why did she deserve the Xie surname?

Only those who bore the surname Xie could inherit the family fortune. Yet Xie Wan’ning stole not only her name but also the marriage originally arranged between her and Lu Yanci. How could she not hate her?

She was the true eldest daughter of the Xie family. Why did Lu Yanci reject her and favor that impostor?

Thinking of the torment she suffered in that dark place, she gritted her teeth in fury. But she dared not take it out on Lu Yanci, so she vented her hatred on Xie Wan’ning.

Thus, she engineered Xie Wan’ning’s expulsion from the Xie family and forced her into marriage with Fu Lingzhou, intending to leave her with nothing and a life worse than death.

But she never imagined Lu Yanci would one day wake up—and see Xie Wan’ning’s corpse...

If he knew everything Xie Wan’ning endured was because of her...

At the thought, Lin Wanyin trembled violently as if shaken by a storm. Even wrapped in a silk quilt, she felt icy cold, as if lying inside a frozen vault.

At that moment, Lin Wanyin’s mother, Xie Yunjin, gently knocked on the door and slowly pushed it open.