CHAPTER 163: CHAPTER 163: CHOSEN CHILD

Lu Zechuan’s mind quickly flashed through numerous thoughts. He nodded with a smile, "Alright, I’ll go with you to meet your master."

Yan Fu and the woman turned mechanically, their whole bodies stiff, like puppets being controlled.

The little spirit, who had been greedily enjoying the familiar aura on the wall, suddenly turned to look at Yan Fu and the woman, his eyes immediately filled with suspicion.

Vaguely, he seemed to realize why he sought out Xia Mian, and why he followed them here.

The little spirit floated down from the wall and climbed onto Lu Zechuan’s back.

Lu Zechuan followed Yan Fu and the woman out the door, glancing back at Xia Mian’s room.

Xia Mian seemed to be sound asleep, with not a sound in the room.

Lu Zechuan frowned slightly, stepping forward to push the door open for a look, but was stopped by Yan Fu, "The master only wants to see you."

Lu Zechuan squinted his eyes tightly, slowly lowering his hand that was about to open the door.

"Let’s go!" Lu Zechuan turned around and said softly.

The path ahead, uncertain in its fortune, was one he needed to explore himself!

Yan Fu and the woman led Lu Zechuan through the courtyard, out the door, their footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.

Lu Zechuan squinted, staring at the backs of the two, rigid and wooden under the moonlight, with every movement exuding eeriness.

After walking some distance, Lu Zechuan suddenly felt as though his hand was being tugged.

Lu Zechuan lightly frowned, glanced slightly to the side without a trace, and although he couldn’t see, he felt a familiar warmth.

Xia Mian had caught up.

Inexplicably, Lu Zechuan felt grounded.

As if, as long as Xia Mian was by his side, he would fear nothing.

The Yan Fu and the woman in front seemed to sense something, stopped, turned their heads, and glanced at Lu Zechuan suspiciously.

However, despite scrutinizing Lu Zechuan thoroughly, they could see nothing.

"Why did you stop?" Lu Zechuan lightly curled his lips, speaking in a magnetic voice.

Only then did Yan Fu and the woman turn their heads and continue walking forward.

The streetlight cast a dim glow, stretching the shadows of the few people, while the little spirit appeared somewhat anxious, raising his eyes from time to time to look at Yan Fu and the woman ahead.

Lu Zechuan subtly glanced at the little spirit, who immediately quieted down.

Now in a soul state, apart from these two people before him, no one else could see or hear him.

Therefore, regarding this couple before him, he dared not offend them.

Carefully, the little spirit lay on Lu Zechuan’s back, his gaze greedily fixed on Yan Fu and the woman ahead.

Since falling into the water by accident at the age of five, he hadn’t seen them in many years.

"Mom..." the little spirit instinctively murmured.

As if sensing something, the woman frowned and glanced back, seemingly searching for something, but soon, that touch of tenderness in her eyes was replaced by numbness.

The woman turned back again, stepping mechanically together with Yan Fu.

Crossing from one end of the village to the other, several streetlights were broken, and the light grew increasingly dim.

Lu Zechuan furrowed his brow slightly, a growing sense of caution in his heart.

In front of a nearly abandoned courtyard, Yan Fu and the woman stopped.

Half of the courtyard wall had fallen off; standing outside, one could clearly see everything within.

Inside the courtyard was a well, a stone mill, and a person wearing a black bamboo hat.

That person was pushing the mill, seeming to be grinding.

He was pushing with full concentration, exerting all his strength, completely unaware of the uninvited guests outside the courtyard.

"Master!" Yan Fu’s dull gaze fell on that person, "The person you sought has been brought!"

The person pushing the mill paused and slightly raised his head, his gaze penetrating the hanging black veil of the bamboo hat to fix on Lu Zechuan, eyes burning with intensity, "The chosen one, finally, I’ve encountered you today!"

Upon finishing his words, the mill pusher stopped grinding and vaulted out from the courtyard with a hand on the low wall.

The man carried a sharp, malevolent aura, and as soon as he approached, Lu Zechuan felt thoroughly uncomfortable.

The little spirit clinging to Lu Zechuan dared not even breathe.

"Oh, there’s a little spirit here too?" the man sneered with a bit of malice, his gaze playfully landing on the little spirit.

The little spirit felt his whole body stiffen, as if his body was beginning to move beyond his control.

Just as the little spirit felt he was about to become someone else’s meal, an inexplicable warmth enveloped him, instantly dispersing that uncontrolled pulling force.

The man’s gaze suddenly became sharp, and with a hand, he flipped off the hat, revealing an extraordinary face.

The man was born with vertical pupils!

A pair of yellow-brown pupils, glowing with a strange light in the moonlight.

"You two fools, bringing a tail along too!" the man angrily waved his hand, causing Yan Fu and the woman to be thrown to the ground.

Falling to the ground, they regained some clarity, and upon seeing the man in front and Lu Zechuan whom they brought, a pleading expression instantly appeared on Yan Fu’s face, "Master, we’ve brought the person you desired! Where is our child? Please, give him back to us!"

The woman also began to weep softly, "Master, you said that as long as we bring someone, you’d return the child to us!"

The man’s lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile, "Fools, your child has been dead for so many years, already reincarnated; still, you wish to find your child? What a foolish dream!"

Yan Fu and the woman’s expressions changed immediately, filled with unprecedented despair.

"No, you said, your mana is vast, you can resurrect the dead, you know the past and the future... Even if our child has reincarnated, you would know to whom..." Yan Fu shook his head continuously, his face filled with misery and confusion, "You are a master, your words should count!"

Lu Zechuan squinted slightly at the so-called "master" before him, having no favorable impression of him.

All "masters" were adept at beguiling hearts, performing no good deeds.

"What do you count for, to demand my words be kept?" The man grinned sinisterly, waving his hand again, and as he did, something seemed to slither under the land, rushing towards Yan Fu and the woman.

The little spirit, seeing the situation, disregarded his fear and cried out, "Mom!!!"

As the little spirit’s voice lingered in the air, he had already floated over to block in front of the woman.

He remembered, remembered everything; when he was five, he secretly snuck out to play and drowned, his parents heartbroken, secluding themselves in this remote and backward village, thinking of him every day.

Because of his parents’ profound longing, his obsession was too deep; he didn’t enter reincarnation, lingering by the river for twenty years.

In these twenty years, he was muddled, almost forgetting who he was, how he died, when he sensed his parents calling out to him!

That intense call caused unrest in his heart!