Chapter 154

Chapter 154

The air conditioner in the private room was set to the low sixties, but sweat kept rolling down my face.

It wasn’t from the hot pot; it was from sheer panic.

After all this time, I hadn’t even figured out who I really was.

And now, things were even more confusing.

I was Chen Mo, but I was also Li Fuguang.

That meant I was both my own enemy and my own victim.

My parents on both sides were enemies to each other, yet victims of each other as well.

How was I supposed to live from now on? As Chen Mo, or as Li Fuguang?

How could I face either set of parents?

“This… this…”

Song Xiaotian was completely stunned. “How do you even define this? This is like a leveled-up version of split personality disorder…”

Old Zhao Seven picked up his glass of white liquor, took a sip, and sighed. “I don’t know either. In short, that’s how it is. Besides, Du Yuwei already recognized Li Fuguang, which proves that Li Fuguang’s soul is indeed inside Chen Mo’s body.”

There was no need for further confirmation. I had all of Li Fuguang’s memories from before he was eleven, including memories of living with… Li Fuguang’s parents. I had all of them, and I even felt an emotional connection to them.

“Wait!”

My eyes widened as I stared at Old Zhao Seven, my vision blurring with sudden tears. “My dad is dead…”

Meng Yifan was taken aback. “Wasn’t your dad already buried?”

Song Xiaotian clarified, “He’s talking about Li Fuguang’s father…”

I remembered now!

When we went to the cemetery to dig up the ashes of Du Yuwei’s child, the jar had actually contained the ashes of another middle-aged man.

I had taken that man-or rather, his spirit-to Du Yuwei’s hiding place. At the time, he had fled from her, and I had chased him into the street before he vanished.

I had felt a strange sense of closeness to that man back then, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember who he was.

Later, we found out that Old Zhao Seven had swapped the ashes of Du Yuwei’s child. He had done it to prevent Du Yuwei from causing more harm.

The man whose ashes he had swapped in… that middle-aged man was my other father, Li Yanzhou.

“Yes, he has passed away,”

Old Zhao Seven’s expression grew heavy. “Li Fuguang’s mother has also passed.”

I couldn’t control my tears; it was the part of me that was Li Fuguang acting out. “How did they die?”

Old Zhao Seven said, “After Lv Zhengxian snatched Li Fuguang away all those years ago, Li Fuguang’s mother wasn’t killed. However, she suffered a severe head injury. Combined with the trauma of her child being stolen, she couldn’t handle the blow. She lost her mind and became a madwoman.”

“Li Fuguang’s father, Li Yanzhou, looked after his wife while searching for his son. He didn’t know Li Fuguang had been murdered; he thought the boy had just been taken by human traffickers.”

“Seven years after Li Fuguang went missing, his mother suddenly had a moment of clarity. She told Li Yanzhou that their son had died seven years ago and begged him to stop looking.”

“But how could Li Yanzhou believe that? He preferred to believe his son was alive and well somewhere in the world rather than accept he was dead. Still, he was relieved his wife had regained her senses; at least things wouldn’t be so hard for him moving forward.”

At this point, even Old Zhao Seven seemed unable to continue. He sighed again. “Who could have known that very night, his wife-Li Fuguang’s mother-would drown herself in the river?”
“By that time, Li Yanzhou was already physically and mentally exhausted. If it weren’t for the obsession with finding his son sustaining him, he probably would have followed his wife to the grave.”

“From then on, Li Yanzhou devoted himself entirely to the search. He was born into a scholarly family and came from a relatively privileged background, but he spent every penny he had trying to find his son. Because he didn’t know where the boy was, he had to search the entire country. It cost a fortune. Some bastards even gave him fake leads just to scam him out of the reward money.”

“What did he do when the money ran out? He worked odd jobs. Sometimes he’d go to construction sites for short-term labor, as he couldn’t commit to long-term work while searching for his son.”

Old Zhao Seven shook his head and sighed again. “Misfortune tests the thin spots of the rope; tragedy only seeks out the miserable. One day, at a construction site, an accident happened. A piece of falling rebar struck him in the head, and he died.”

“The site owner was heartless. Knowing Li Yanzhou was alone with no friends or family nearby-just a man out looking for his son-he wanted to avoid paying compensation. He hired someone to pose as Li Yanzhou’s family and buried him in a hurry, just digging a hole on a mountain and dumping him there.”

By this point, I was sobbing uncontrollably.

Even Song Xiaotian couldn’t listen anymore, slamming his fist onto the table. “Fuck! Dammit!”

“Li Yanzhou’s obsession was too deep. Combined with his violent death, he became a lingering Ghost, haunting the area.”

Old Zhao Seven continued, “But he didn’t actually harm anyone. He just liked to wander nearby looking for children, taking One Soul from them. Eventually, the situation escalated. Some locals who knew the trade decided to take matters into their own hands and eliminate Li Yanzhou in the name of heaven.”

“But Li Yanzhou’s obsession was profound. When he saw people coming to take those children’s souls, he thought they were trying to steal the children themselves. This triggered a surge of resentment, and in the end, no one could restrain him.”

“Later, someone contacted me for help, so I went. At first, I didn’t know the inside story. I thought he was a malevolent spirit and nearly killed Li Yanzhou a second time. Fortunately, I’ve always preferred to persuade a spirit to reincarnate before resorting to destruction. Li Yanzhou told me his story, and after hearing it, who could have the heart to kill him?”

“However, even in death, the man insisted on finding his son and refused to move on. No matter how much I tried to persuade him, it was useless. Left with no choice, I brought him back from that distant place and have been helping him look for his son until now.”

Having finished his story, Old Zhao Seven looked at me. “And now, I suppose he’s been found.”

I was drowning in my own tears.

Li Yanzhou was my father. He had suffered so much just to find me.

Even in death, he refused to give up on me.

Thank goodness it was Seventh Master who went there. If it had been anyone else, my father might not have even had the chance to reincarnate.

I was so choked up I couldn’t speak. It took a long time before I could finally ask, “Seventh Master, where is my father? I want to see him…”

“No rush.”

Seventh Master nodded. “Rest for a couple of days and process all of this. Human hearts are made of flesh, after all; if things come too fast and too hard, you might not be able to bear it.”

“I’ll arrange for you to meet in two days. Because this will likely be… the last time you see each other. He is dead, after all. When the lamp goes out, the light vanishes; he should go where he belongs.”