Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
She closed her eyes shut.
It was to allow herself to be completely immersed in her psychological mantra.
The weather this winter had been very cold, especially at night. Without the heater switched on, all one could feel was the bitter cold.
Under such circumstances, An Xiaoning actually felt a warmth that was the exact opposite of that weather.
Inside her body, she started to feel really warm gradually. It was a strong force of heat that was trapped within her.
The intensity of this heat became stronger by the minute, and when she almost could not keep it in any longer, the heat declined and gradually returned to her normal body warmth.
There was a force of strength in the form of a fireball that was clearly traveling upward from her lower body.
The fireball gradually expanded and was slowly able to be controlled by her mind’s power.
With her mind completely clear, there was nothing she could concentrate on apart from her psychological mantra. She could visualize herself in a vast starry sky running back and forth, full of energy within her body. It was a feeling that was beyond enjoyable.
It almost seemed as if all the dark clouds were gone and there was sunlight again.
With that, An Xiaoning sat there for a long time.
It was so long that she could not seem to wake up in the real world.
When Shi Qingzhou and Tuoba Shuo used the spare key to open the door, they found her sitting there, not moving, and she could not seem to respond to any external noises.
Shi Qingzhou panicked and grabbed onto Tuoba Shuo’s hand tightly, frantically asking, “Has she gone in too deep?”
“It doesn’t seem like it.” Tuoba Shuo saw that she was about to cry, so he quickly consoled her gently, “Those who are too deep into their psychological mantra act like they’re possessed and out of control, but look at her. She’s just sitting here quietly. Let’s just wait and see.”
“Boss, someone is calling you again!” Shi Qingzhou jumped in fright at this loud ringtone. She went to get the phone and glanced at the caller ID on the display screen, thereafter picking up the call for An Xiaoning. Before she could even speak, at the other end came a loud snarl, “Why didn’t you pick up your phone?!”
Upon hearing the thunderous voice on the other end, Shi Qingzhou’s heart tightened and she replied, “Xiaoning didn’t miss your calls on purpose…”
Hearing that it was Shi Qingzhou on the other end, Tuoba Gucheng’s anger soothed slightly. “Where is she?”
Taking a look at her daughter who had her eyes tightly shut, Shi Qingzhou swiftly made up an excuse. “After coming back from the Autumn Palace, I don’t know why, but she hasn’t been feeling well. She’s in a coma now so she can’t pick up your calls.”
Tuoba Gucheng replied in an astonished tone, “Has she been sent to the hospital?”
“Yes. The doctor said she’s just in a deep sleep.”
“Then, has she been possessed by a spirit?” Tuoba Gucheng thought of how she had been possessed by his beloved dog’s spirit on the night of her birthday and had fallen into a deep sleep as well.
“You know about it?” Shi Qingzhou was alarmed.
Hearing her tone, Tuoba Gucheng became more certain about his guess. “She was once possessed by the spirit of my beloved dog. We can only wait until the spirit leaves her body or carry out a ritual during the seventh lunar month.”
“Yes, that will take a while. But I’m psychic, so I can try to communicate with the spirit to try and satisfy its wish. Hopefully, I can make it leave her body sooner.”
“Call me on this number if there are any updates on the situation.”
“Okay.”
When the call ended, Shi Qingzhou looked at Tuoba Shuo in alarm. “What’s going on? Why do I feel that your nephew cares a lot about Xiaoning? Are they very close?”
“To save you, didn’t Xiaoning once disguise herself around him for some time?” Tuoba Shuo was evidently not clear about it as well. “We can only wait for Xiaoning to wake up to ask her about it.”
“I had wanted to find some excuse to explain the situation, but he actually reminded me of something.” Shi Qingzhou went on in a low voice, “When one is first possessed, they’ll fall into a coma. However, it won’t last for very long. Those who are less skilled can only wait for the spirit to leave or for the Ghost Festival to arrive before doing a ritual to get rid of it. Those who are highly skilled can immediately get rid of the spirit. However, these highly-skilled masters are extremely rare. Xiaoning was born on the Ghost Festival, so her body is naturally full of the ‘Yin’ energy and can easily be possessed by spirits.”
“Didn’t Xiaoning say that her child was born on the same day as her?”
Shi Qingzhou nodded. “The child inherited Xiaoning’s genes and is a psychic as well. He also has the same birthday as her. If only the child had inherited his father’s genes. Men have more ‘Yang’ energy than women. That means that the child will probably have a weak body when he grows up. I really don’t know if that’s good.”
“Should I switch on the heater?” Tuoba Shuo suggested.
“Not for now.” Shi Qingzhou wanted to err on the side of caution. “What if it affects her? Let’s wait for Xiaoning to wake up, then we can ask her what has happened.”
“Madam, Mr. Jin is here,” No. 5’s voice sounded from outside the door.
“Let him come in.”
“That’s not very appropriate, right?” Tuoba Shuo glanced at her.
“It’s fine.”
Shi Qingzhou thought of the scene of her grabbing onto her daughter’s hand on the flight back here as she asked, “Do you still love Jin Qingyan?”
Seeing that she was too embarrassed to answer, Shi Qingzhou genuinely wanted to know the answer and probed, “Just tell Mother, I won’t even let your Father know about it. Okay?”
An Xiaoning then whispered something to her in a soft, muffled voice.
It was her words that had made Shi Qingzhou follow her daughter’s heart as well, treating Jin Qingyan as her own son-in-law.
An Xiaoning’s words were: “Since the day I was born, the only man I’ve loved is him. It has never changed. In the future, I doubt it will ever change as well. I’m not a capricious person.”
Jin Qingyan had brought his son along. Only with the excuse that his son wanted to see his mother could he walk in here openly.
His son was downstairs playing with the group of numbered brothers while he had come up alone.
In reality, he did not know what state An Xiaoning was in at the present moment.
When he came in, his gaze was immediately fixed on the woman on the bed. He turned and asked naturally, “Mother, what’s wrong with Xiaoning?”
This call of “Mother” was especially smooth.
It just slipped out of his mouth naturally.
His face appeared calm, without a hint of embarrassment or awkwardness after calling her thus.
Perhaps, in his dictionary, such things didn’t exist.
Seeing how sincere he was, Shi Qingzhou made Tuoba Shuo close the door.
“Have a seat first, I’ll tell you.”
Watching as she was about to reveal everything, Tuoba Shuo stopped her. “Don’t tell him first.”
“Ah’Shuo, I believe that Mr. Jin is someone who can be trusted.”
Tuoba Shuo did not think that way, however. One can never know what a person is truly thinking.
He still felt that it was better to be cautious.
But Shi Qingzhou had her mind set, and she was someone who would not change what she had set her mind firmly upon.
Seeing the two of them exchanging meaningful looks, the intelligent Jin Qingyan could guess that they were hiding something from him.
He immediately tried to express his reliable side. “Mother, I love Xiaoning a great deal. I’m willing to die for her, much less do anything else. If it’s about her, I hope you can tell me honestly. Trust me, please treat me as your son!”
Shi Qingzhou could not help but grin upon hearing these words. “I know what you say is true. Xiaoning has mentioned you to me privately. But there are quite a lot of things I’m about to say to you. I don’t want to hide anything from you as well.”
“Mother, don’t worry and just speak. No matter how much there is you have to say, I’m all ears.”
Shi Qingzhou nodded. “I’m telling you so that you’ll understand her more in the future. Let’s start from her grandmother…”
