Chapter 55

Hu Yuanfei carefully scanned the area around the river behind the house inch by inch with his demonic power, sensing every single fish and stone at the bottom of the river with absolute clarity.

The riverbank was overgrown with lush weeds, and there were indeed many mosquitoes, forming swarms with every sweep. He discovered that these water mosquitoes were the exact same kind that had flown onto the terrace. Hu Yuanfei searched around for the gathering spots of these water mosquitoes and found a nest every few steps. It was simply too difficult to pick out one special mosquito among thousands.

Hu Yuanfei furrowed his brows deeply, as he could not sense anything unusual about these mosquitoes.

The river behind the residential complex was quite long, extending far beyond just the section behind the house. Terrified of missing a single spot, Hu Yuanfei scanned all the way from one end of the river to the other. During this process, aside from mosquitoes, he managed to fish out five or six mobile phones, earphones, necklaces, rings, and even a tablet computer.

Unfortunately, all the items had been soaked in water and were ruined. Tossing the items onto the riverbank, he continued forward, but still came away empty-handed when he reached the end.

Hu Yuanfei refused to believe it. How could it be so clean? Or was someone deliberately targeting them?

He carefully racked his brain to think of any enemies he might have. Ever since coming down the mountain, he had always behaved honestly. Even when encountering supernatural incidents, they were always smoothly resolved in the end, and he had basically never had conflicts with anyone.

He also maintained a very good relationship with the ordinary customers in the shop. Occasionally, there were a few who felt the price was too expensive and refused to pay after he caught mice for them, but even then, he only charged them half price and did not offer after-sales service, without resorting to any violence against them.

Lang Xiao spent most of her time with him, and she was even calmer than he was, making the probability of her having enemies even lower.

After thinking for a long time, Hu Yuanfei still could not come up with any existing enemies.

Irritated, he scratched his neck. Targeting them was one thing, but targeting a child was truly unforgiving.

Hu Yuanfei returned home dejectedly. It was almost dawn, and Lang Xiao was still waiting on the terrace. Seeing him return with an unhappy expression, she knew his trip had not yielded much.

"Didn't find anything?"

"No."

Lang Xiao asked, "Could it just be an accident?"

Hu Yuanfei shook his head. "I don't think so. The mosquitoes that flew up were water mosquitoes from the riverside, but I didn't find any special mosquitoes, nor did I find anything unusual at the bottom of the water. Down there, it was very clean—no demonic aura and no ghostly aura. I suspect someone is targeting us. Hurry up and think if you have any enemies I don't know about."

Lang Xiao had come down the mountain a few days earlier than him; perhaps she had provoked some enemy during those few days?

Lang Xiao thought about it seriously for a moment, then said uncertainly, "The old lady at the third stall inside the vegetable market? When I was buying vegetables, we argued about the price for five minutes, and she looked very angry."

Hu Yuanfei: "..."

"I don't think she would be angry enough to drive mosquitoes to bite us."

Lang Xiao continued to think, "The little boy on the sixth floor of the first unit in our building pushed and shoved a bit with Qingyao while fighting over a ball. That little boy cried very sadly and said he hated Qingyao."

Hu Yuanfei continued: "..."

Sometimes he felt that Lang Xiao took things a bit too seriously, but this serious demeanor was also inexplicably a bit cute, even though using cute to describe her was extremely mismatched and absurd.

"Did Qingyao handle that matter properly in the end?"

Lang Xiao nodded. "She took the initiative to give the ball to the child and taught him how to pass the ball and play together. Now he likes to follow behind Qingyao's backside and call her little sister. But his mother doesn't like Qingyao, saying she is too mischievous and lively, and might hurt her own child, so she forbids her child from playing with Qingyao."

Hu Yuanfei immediately said indignantly, "When did this happen, and why didn't I know about it! Qingyao is so sensible and well-behaved, and among all her playmates, she has never hurt anyone. Hmph, we don't care to play with him anyway!"

Lang Xiao nodded in agreement. "That's what I said too, but Qingyao doesn't mind much. She feels that child has few friends and is quite pitiful, and she wants to find him to play together next time."

Hu Yuanfei couldn't help but let out another huff. "Since Qingyao likes it, then fine. It seems you really don't have any enemies either. Let's observe tonight to see if any more mosquitoes appear, and stay a bit more vigilant recently. Qinglai, when you are at school, pay more attention too and make sure Qingyao doesn't get bitten."

Qinglai nodded solemnly and promised, "I will definitely keep a close eye on her."

Several spirits had been nervous for half the night, yet when Qingyao woke up early in the morning, she felt neither itching nor pain. The red swelling on her face caused by the mosquito bites had completely vanished, leaving only white traces of ointment on her face.

Four heads surrounded her face to study it for a long time. Lang Xiao reached out and touched it; the child's skin was smooth and delicate, and after being washed clean, no traces could be seen.

Hu Yuanfei widened his eyes, pulling Qingyao this way and that to examine her, which left Qingyao bewildered and giggling for a long time.

"Daddy, it tickles."

Hu Yuanfei and Lang Xiao exchanged glances. "I didn't see wrongly last night, did I?"

Lang Xiao shook her head.

"Aren't there a bit too many special traits about Qingyao?" Hu Yuanfei couldn't help saying. "Is she really human?"

He rubbed Qingyao's face again, refusing to stop until her lips puckered into a little trumpet shape.

Lang Xiao patted his hand away. "Of course she's human. Didn't the old Taoist Wen Yuan say that her constitution is special, and she absorbed that unique power, so it's completely normal for her to recover a bit faster."

Ever since she was little, Qingyao could see ghosts and see through the true nature of spirits. On her first birthday, not only did they benefit, but Qingyao herself also underwent changes—she could even directly touch ghosts, and minor bumps and bruises on her body would fully recover by the very next day. Over the past two years, aside from vaccinations and physical checkups, she hadn't stepped foot in a hospital, and during every checkup, she was as healthy as a little calf.

Such a child belonged to their family; Lang Xiao couldn't help leaning in and nuzzling Qingyao's face.

After their morning intimacy and breakfast, Qingyao went off to school.

Refusing to give up, Hu Yuanfei planned to go back to the riverside during the day to take another look, but he was held back by Lang Xiao.

"Stop looking. If someone is targeting us, you won't find them by searching. Let's wait and see how things develop; perhaps we'll naturally get answers after some time."

Perhaps because they had been noticed this time, everything remained normal over the next few days, and no massive swarms of mosquitoes appeared during nighttime sleep, as if that night had merely been an illusion.

Unawares, the weekend arrived. It was the first weekend after the start of school, and upon suddenly learning that she didn't need to go to school in the morning, Qingyao stood in the living room with her little backpack for a full five minutes without coming to her senses.

She frowned with exceptional disappointment. "Do we really not have to go? But I promised Li Mengxin yesterday that we would play on the slide together today."

"You can make private plans and play in the residential complex or the park. There's a slide in the park too. Today is the weekend, and the park will be very lively. Let's go ride our bicycles."

The bicycles bought earlier had been neglected for quite some time. Qingyao's eyes lit up, and she instantly pushed kindergarten to the back of her mind. "I want to ride my bike! Can I invite Li Mengxin to ride bikes with me?"

"Of course you can. I'll call her mother and ask."

"Okay."

After the fetal ghost left, Li Mengxin never tripped and fell for no reason again. In just a short week, her mental state looked much better. Perhaps influenced by Qingyao, she was also much livelier than before, and the two of them played exceptionally well together in class.

Ren Pingxiao had recovered after a few days of recuperation. She seemed to have stepped out of that shadow, and every time she dropped off and picked up her child, there was a smile on her face.

Upon receiving the invitation to play from Qingyao, she readily agreed and they arranged to meet at the park.

Qingyao couldn't wait; as soon as she finished eating, she pushed her little bicycle downstairs.

Turning left out of the residential complex led to a road where cars were prohibited. The road wasn't wide, with tall trees planted on both sides, leading up a bridge after a few steps. Crossing the stone bridge brought them near the small side gate of the park.

At this time of year, the peach blossom grove had passed its viewing period, and there were far fewer tourists here than in spring, making it perfect for children to play.

Qingyao skillfully jumped onto her little bicycle and rode around. Since Qingyao had adults watching her, Qingli and Qinglai didn't stay by her side and went off to play elsewhere.

Taking advantage of the weekend, the children in the residential complex had also been brought out to let off some steam. A few older children, nearly middle school age, were running wildly and playing a game of tag in the low peach grove, their loud shouts carrying across the area.

Qingyao pushed her little bicycle aside and cast glances over there from time to time.

Hu Yuanfei asked her, "Do you want to play with them too?"

Qingyao shook her head. "Teacher Meng said we can't run and chase around because we'll fall and it's very dangerous."

"Then do you want to go and stop them?"

To his surprise, Qingyao shook her head again. "They are big children; if I go remind them, they'll get angry. Once they fall, bleed, and feel the pain, they won't run so fast anymore."

With that, she continued riding her little bike around.

Hu Yuanfei couldn't help pulling Lang Xiao's hand and laughing. "Our Qingyao is actually quite low-key and cunning, isn't she? I was originally worried she was too kind and would be bullied."

Lang Xiao shook her head. "A child capable of bullying her probably doesn't exist yet."

"That's true."

Not long after, Li Mengxin arrived pushing her scooter. Ren Pingxiao was wearing a dress today and had makeup on, making her look a few years younger. Her natural features weren't bad to begin with, and with a little dressing up, she was quite pretty.

Being watched by the two of them, she self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry for coming a bit late. You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

"No, we just came down too."

As soon as the two children got together, they exchanged the toys in their hands, having a blast playing with each other's playthings. The parents on both sides chatted casually, their topics entirely revolving around their children.

By now, Hu Yuanfei and Lang Xiao were also experienced parents full of parenting knowledge.

The weather was hot, and Lang Xiao waved to Qingyao, who was playing and sweating all over, to feed her some water. The two children took an intermission and discussed going to play on the park's slide.

The parents followed along with their movements, but they had barely taken a few steps when a dull splashing sound came from behind, followed by the shouts of those older children.

"Quick, grab my hand!"

"I don't know how to swim! Save me."

"I don't either, I'll call someone for you. Help! Help, someone fell into the water!"

The children's voices were loud, and after just a few shouts, adults walking on the bridge hurried over. They saw a pair of hands flailing in the water, and the child's head was already out of sight.

An adult immediately jumped into the water and pulled the person up. Because the rescue was timely, the child had only swallowed and choked on a few mouthfuls of water and was completely fine.

"Cough, cough."

"It's fine now, it's fine."

A crowd quickly gathered by the waterside, all of them chiding the children.

"How did you fall in? There are fences surrounding this place. We've all said not to play by the water; now you know how dangerous it is!"

"Too sensible for their own good."

"Exactly, how dangerous. Whose child is this? Weren't the parents around? These parents are certainly bold."

In fact, to prevent anyone from falling in, high fences and "no playing in water" warning signs had been set up along the water's edge on the park side, but that couldn't stop curious children from leaning over the fence to look down.