Ghost Says - Chapter 10.2

Song Yuan let out a soft chuckle, grabbing the jade Buddha in his hand, showing no signs of discomfort.

“This might still be useful against those two useless things outside.” He casually threw the jade Buddha away.

“There’s my ashes kept in this house, using that against me here won’t-” He suddenly furrowed his brow, “This jade Buddha has a spell to clear the mind?”

Then he smoothed his brow. “I suppose your luck is truly exceptional. If I keep engaging with you, he might wake up, and that would take quite some time. Alright, I’ll let you off for now.”

With that, he stood up and walked towards the window. “Although I don’t particularly like this method, the advantage is that it will be quick. You know, with the right positioning, even jumping from the second floor can be fatal, it’s just not a pretty sight. I originally didn’t want to use it on him.”

Knowing that Song Yuan’s words were true, Lin Xian suddenly lunged forward, grabbing him and trying to pull him away from the window.

The cold Song Yuan in his arms let out a disdainful hum, effortlessly breaking free from the restraint, and then kicked him in the abdomen. Lin Xian reacted with exceptional agility, and despite the pain, he clung to Song Yuan’s leg.

Suddenly, his foot slipped, and his body leaned forward involuntarily. With Lin Xian’s grip on his leg, Song Yuan lost his balance and fell towards the open window, and Lin Xian, unable to steady himself in time, fell out the window with him.

Lin Xian didn’t have time to think. He quickly wrapped his arms around Qiao Gang, shielding him.

In the courtyard of the Song family, after the sound of a heavy object falling, the first glimmer of dawn broke through the darkness, and the morning sunlight began to caress the earth.

When Qiao Gang opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the ceiling of a hospital room. From the nurse, he learned that he and Lin Xian had fallen from the second floor, and aside from a mild concussion and some scratches, he was mostly fine.

What puzzled him the most was the deep wound on his wrist, which had already received excellent emergency treatment.

This sparked endless speculation among the rescue personnel, such as him attempting suicide out of heartbreak, and the heroic police officer failing to stop him and being pushed out the window as a result.

As for Lin Xian, he seemed to have been unlucky. According to the doctor, when he fell, he suffered a severe head injury, causing cerebral hemorrhage. Although they had managed to resuscitate him, he remained in a coma and was still in critical condition.

Qiao Gang only remembered losing consciousness after seeing Song Yuan, and he had no knowledge of what happened afterward.

How did Lin Xian end up at the Song family’s place? Why did he have a cut on his wrist? How did they fall out the window?

All these questions could only be answered once Lin Xian woke up.

Qiao Gang’s injuries healed quickly, and after being discharged, he visited Lin Xian in the hospital every day.

The second day after Lin Xian’s accident, his parents had rushed over to see him. That’s when Qiao Gang learned that his father was a high-ranking military officer, and when he arrived, there was a squad of soldiers standing outside, exuding an imposing presence.

The old general’s aura was even more formidable, and even an eight-foot-tall man would tremble under his gaze.

Seeing his beloved son lying on the hospital bed with an oxygen tube, Mother Lin could not help but cry into her husband’s arms. The old general’s expression was also deeply troubled. He had only this one son, and Qiao Gang could say he had been doted on excessively at home, but now he was lying there unconscious and deathly pale.

Logically, Qiao Gang should have been implicated in Lin Xian’s injury, and the police had questioned him, but they couldn’t get anything out of him. Yet strangely, the rumored hot-tempered old man only asked him a few perfunctory questions before politely letting him go. Qiao Gang couldn’t help but feel this general was a magnanimous and broad-minded person.

What he didn’t know was that after he left, the deputy accompanying General Lin had asked him, “Sir, should we have our men interrogate him thoroughly?”

“…No, that young man doesn’t seem capable of dealing with Xian. I’m well aware of Xian’s abilities. And I’m afraid he wouldn’t withstand your methods, so let’s wait a while longer.”

“Understood, sir.”

Qiao Gang later went back to the Song family’s place, but it was empty, and there was nothing unusual in Song Yuan’s room either.

The strange occurrences that had happened before no longer occurred, and now his life had returned to its previous tranquility.

Qiao Gang even wondered if Song Yuan had disappeared?

As for Lin Xian, he finally woke up from his coma after five days. Mother Lin burst into tears while embracing him, her eyes never having dried up these past few days.

The emotionally agitated Mrs. Lin kept caressing his face, calling him her beloved darling, and even the usually stern General Lin couldn’t help but wipe away a tear at that moment.

Then, Lin Xian’s one sentence after the silence caused an uproar in the hospital room.

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

The doctor was promptly summoned, and after examining him and asking a few questions, he said this was a symptom of the brain injury, and it was unclear whether this amnesia was permanent or temporary, requiring further observation.

Mrs. Lin looked at her son sorrowfully, but regardless, the fact that he had regained consciousness was a good thing. With careful nurturing, he might gradually recover.

Lin Xian’s amnesia had made him forget all the previous events. Fortunately, his physical recovery was going well, and he could be discharged from the hospital after two months of rehabilitation.

During his hospital stay, the doctors had tried various treatments for his amnesia and found that his memories of Qiao Gang were the most preserved, and he had a peculiar dependence on Qiao Gang, even neglecting his own parents. Faced with this situation, the Lin couple could only beseech Qiao Gang to take good care of him.

As requested by the doctor, Qiao Gang often told him stories about the past, hoping he would remember the events before the coma, but the results were poor, as even a little effort would cause Lin Xian severe headaches.

Mrs. Lin wanted him to go back home after being discharged so she could take care of him, but Lin Xian firmly refused. He insisted on moving back to his own place.

On the day of his discharge, Qiao Gang had Lin Xian sit to the side while he packed up the things. A few days earlier, General Lin had received orders and had a few words with his wife before taking a flight that evening.

“By the way, I’ve had this vague feeling lately, I feel… that he’s no longer around me.”

Qiao Gang neatly stacked the thicker winter shirts, and Lin Xian put down the paintbrush he had been holding. Since the doctor had asked him to move his hands more, he had been painting a lot recently – mostly simple things like cups and vases, with a very clumsy technique.

“Yes, this feeling is quite mysterious. I haven’t encountered any strange occurrences lately either. Do you think he might have already left?”

Lin Xian looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Qiao Gang hadn’t told him about Song Yuan yet. The just-awakened Lin Xian was like a newly-hatched chick, pure and fragile. And now this little chick saw him as a mother figure, a purity that made one want to nurture him gently.

Those bloody events, Qiao Gang didn’t want to tell him about them for now.

“Alright, I’m done packing. Let’s go.”

Qiao Gang hefted a large bag onto his shoulder and took Lin Xian’s hand.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to our home, or rather, your home.”

“Will you be living there too?”

“Of course, I don’t have the money to rent a place right now.”

“I want to eat red-braised chicken wings for dinner.”

“…Don’t expect me to make them for you.”

As they closed the door, their voices grew fainter, interspersed with laughter.

A gust of wind blew in from the open window, causing the drawing paper on the bed to gently fall to the floor.

It was a sketch, with a vase similar to the one in the hospital room, containing delicate white roses.

Another gust of wind came, and a few petals drifted down, one landing perfectly over the bottom right corner of the drawing.

There, a snake-like S-shaped symbol was visible.

—The End—