Chapter 28

Chapter 28

No matter how shocked the doctors were, the baby in Bi Cuiwen’s womb had become a boy.

The entire family was overjoyed. Even after learning that Bi Cuiwen had asked a spirit medium to perform a ritual that turned the girl into a boy, they did not care in the slightest.

As long as the Zhou Family had a son to carry on the family line, that was all that mattered, wasn’t it?

Because Bi Cuiwen was carrying a boy, her mother-in-law made an unprecedented effort to take good care of her.

Before long, it was time for Bi Cuiwen to give birth. She was taken to the hospital and remained in labor for more than ten hours before those waiting outside the delivery room finally heard a baby’s cries.

Soon afterward, a nurse emerged with a strange expression, carrying the newborn boy in her arms. She handed him to Zhou Pingcheng.

“Congratulations, it’s a boy. But your baby has a birthmark, so you should prepare yourselves,” the nurse said.

The mother-in-law did not care about some birthmark. Beaming with delight, she pulled back the cloth wrapped around the baby. “It’s only a birthmark. A birthmark doesn’t matter on a boy.”

The moment she finished speaking and uncovered the baby, everyone present fell into deathly silence.

The entire left half of the boy’s body was covered in a blue-black birthmark!

The birthmark was unnaturally precise. It stretched from the newborn’s collarbone down to the top of his thigh, covering the entire left side of his body. The right side, meanwhile, was smooth and flawless, no different from that of any ordinary child.

“Th-that’s all right. He’s a boy, so it isn’t a serious problem.” Her mother-in-law forced a smile, even privately thinking it was fortunate the baby was male.

If a girl had such an enormous birthmark, her life would have been ruined.

Just then, the doctors wheeled out Bi Cuiwen, weak and exhausted from giving birth. She immediately saw the birthmark on her swaddled son.

The strange dream she had at the spirit medium’s place abruptly resurfaced in her mind.

An uncontrollable chill crawled up from the soles of her feet until her entire body began to tremble.

Her child… was intersex.

In the end, the family named the baby Zhou Benxin.

Fortunately, aside from the birthmark, Zhou Benxin was no different from other children. He grew safely to the age of five, well-fed and chubby under the Zhou Family’s care.

But when Zhou Benxin was five, he came home from playing outside one day and suddenly developed a persistent high fever. Even after many days in the hospital, the doctors could do nothing for him.

Bi Cuiwen thought of the spirit medium again and hurried to find her, only to discover that the woman had died two years earlier.

When she returned to the hospital, the doctors told them to take the child home and prepare for his funeral. Zhou Benxin was barely breathing, each breath weaker than the last.

The entire family returned home under a cloud of despair. At the time, they still lived in the countryside.

Then a wandering Daoist appeared outside their home. After asking them for a bowl of water, he told them he could save Zhou Benxin.

With nowhere else to turn, the Zhou Family could only believe him. The Daoist carved a piece of wood into the shape of a boy, then inscribed Zhou Benxin’s birth date and Eight Characters on its back. He told the Zhou Family that it was Zhou Benxin’s Doppelganger. As long as one of Zhou Benxin’s closest blood relatives placed the Doppelganger on Chongguang Mountain, Zhou Benxin would recover. However, Zhou Benxin could not set foot on Chongguang Mountain before the age of twenty-four, or his life would be in danger.

Bi Cuiwen and Zhou Pingcheng wasted no time. They immediately took the Doppelganger to Chongguang Mountain and pleaded with an elderly Daoist at the Chongguang Mountain Daoist Temple to enshrine it there.

They rushed home and found that Zhou Benxin had indeed begun to recover.

After that, Zhou Benxin lived and attended school like any normal child, and nothing else ever went wrong.
“So that’s what happened. Just as I thought, it’s the Doppelganger causing trouble.” Yun Jianyue rolled her eyes at Zhou Benxin. “I told you not to go, but you went anyway. You brought this on yourself.”

Zhou Benxin was speechless. “I had no idea about any of this. If I’d known, I definitely wouldn’t have gone.”

Zhou Ruyan cut in, “All the family wants is for you to be safe and healthy. As long as you stayed away from Chongguang Mountain until you turned twenty-four, you would’ve been fine for the rest of your life. We told you not to go, but you just had to go anyway. You’re the only son in the family. I’m already married and pregnant. If anything happens to you, what are Mom and Dad supposed to do?”

Everyone in the Zhou Family had agreed to keep the truth from Zhou Benxin. They had been especially careful to hide the fact that he was intersex, afraid the knowledge would upset him.

“The only son, the only son. What, do we have a throne waiting for an heir?” Zhou Benxin snapped irritably. He had hated hearing his family say things like that ever since he was a child.

Only after venting did Zhou Benxin finally register what she had said. His eyes went wide as if he’d seen a ghost. “Wait, what? You’re pregnant? Since when?”

His gaze dropped to Zhou Ruyan’s flat stomach. There was no sign at all that his sister was pregnant.

“It hasn’t even been three months,” Zhou Ruyan said. “That’s not important right now. We need to deal with your problem first. I think we should tell Mom and Dad and see if they can get in touch with that wandering Daoist priest from back then.”

“Senior, do you know how to fix what’s happening to me?” Zhou Benxin did not want his parents finding out. Even if he survived, they would lecture him to death afterward.

He could already imagine exactly what they would say.

“You’re our only son! If something happened to you, how could your parents go on living?” Or, “We told you over and over to listen to us, and this is how you listen? Will you only be satisfied once you’ve worried the whole family to death?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Yun Jianyue said, “but I know someone who is.”

The image of Si Wuming, the ultimate Show-Off King, instantly flashed through Zhou Benxin’s mind. “You mean the Show-Off King? He can save me?”

“The Show-Off King is on a mission in the Arctic, but his martial nephew should be able to help,” Yun Jianyue replied.

Zhou Ruyan could not make heads or tails of their conversation. Frowning, she asked, “What on earth are you two talking about?”

“Sis, just leave this to Senior. She’s an expert in this sort of thing. Now that she knows how it started and what happened, she’ll definitely be able to save me!” Zhou Benxin pleaded. “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

Yun Jianyue stared at him. When had she ever said she could definitely save him?

“No matter how you look at it, you’re both still kids.” Zhou Ruyan clearly did not trust Yun Jianyue. Although Yun Jianyue had helped take care of matters after their grandmother’s death, this was an entirely different situation. She could not gamble with Zhou Benxin’s life.

Zhou Benxin continued pleading. “Please, Sis. How about you give us three days? If we haven’t taken care of it by then, you can tell Mom and Dad. Deal?”

Zhou Ruyan hesitated for a long time without giving him an answer.

Zhou Benxin pressed his advantage. “Mom and Dad are still overseas. Even if you tell them now, they won’t be able to get back by tomorrow. Why not let us try handling it ourselves first? If we can’t, then you can tell them.”

As he spoke, Zhou Benxin frantically shot Yun Jianyue meaningful looks. “Senior, say something to help me out here.”

Yun Jianyue silently held up three fingers and mouthed, “Three hotpot meals.”

“Deal!” Zhou Benxin agreed at once.

In the end, only after Yun Jianyue gave her assurances and joined in the persuasion did Zhou Ruyan reluctantly agree. “Fine. Forty-eight hours. If this still isn’t resolved within forty-eight hours, I’m telling Mom and Dad immediately.”