“Auntie Yang, take your time. What’s going on?” Li Qiao pulled out a chair, and Madam Yang sat down, gripping her hands tightly.
“Qiaoqiao, you have to help Xianchuan. I think… he’s been haunted by something evil.”
“Professor Song, tell me what’s happening.” Li Qiao studied Song Xianchuan carefully.
He nodded, sitting on the sofa, his expression dazed.
“A dream. I had a strange dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
Song Xianchuan clenched his hands on his knees.
“In the dream, I was trapped in an ancient tomb. I couldn’t find a way out—I kept running, searching for an exit. Something was chasing me… I stumbled through the darkness… and then I woke up.”
At first glance, it sounded like an ordinary nightmare.
“That doesn’t seem too unusual,” Liu Yusi remarked.
But then, Song Xianchuan rolled up his pant leg—revealing a dark bruise on his calf. He then pushed up his sleeve, exposing a fresh scratch on his wrist.
“The injuries from my dream… appeared on my real body. If I had died in that dream… would I have died in reality too?”
That was what terrified him the most.
When he woke up and saw the wounds, panic had seized him. After what happened to his father, Song Xianchuan knew this wasn’t just a coincidence.
“How is this possible?” Liu Yusi gasped, standing abruptly.
Beside her, Madam Yang looked utterly distraught.
He had been fine when he left home. How had things turned out like this?
“This is… complicated.”
Li Qiao’s gaze lingered on Song Xianchuan.
There were too many layers to this.
“Am I going to die?”
His eyes burned with urgency.
Li Qiao hesitated before answering. “Whoever did this doesn’t want your life.”
“Then what do they want?”
“Not sure yet. We need to find the person behind this. And it’s connected to Wang Ruonan.”
The moment the name was spoken, Song Xianchuan’s expression darkened.
He knew she was involved.
Madam Yang was aware of the student who had been harassing her son, but she thought he had already resolved the issue.
She never imagined that girl would go this far—attempting to harm him.
With a furious slam of her hand on the table, Madam Yang stood. “How dare she! I won’t let her get away with this!”
She stormed out, and Liu Yusi quickly followed, worried she might do something reckless.
Once they were alone, Song Xianchuan locked eyes with Li Qiao.
“Now that my mother’s gone… tell me the truth.”
“Nothing escapes you, Professor Song.” She had held back earlier.
In reality, his situation was far more serious.
“She wants to form a symbiotic bond with you.”
“Symbiotic bond?”
“Mm.” Li Qiao turned her phone’s flashlight toward his face, revealing faint red streaks in the whites of his eyes.
“These look like ordinary blood vessels, but they’re actually gu—a parasitic curse known as Symbiosis.”
She had recognized it the moment he walked in.
The gu of the southern borderlands were the most sinister.
“Professor Song, we need to visit your dorm tonight.”
“Why?”
“This curse didn’t latch onto you randomly. Your dorm might hold clues—and breaking the curse starts there.”
But—
This particular gu wouldn’t be easy to remove. Before they could dissolve it, they had to deal with Wang Ruonan… and whoever was pulling her strings.
Using dark arts and curses to harm others?
Li Qiao wouldn’t tolerate it.
Her eyes darkened, and Song Xianchuan’s expression turned grim.
“Let’s go.”
Xiaxia Village
Under the scorching sun, Li Man wiped sweat from her brow, a straw hat shading her face as she harvested mangoes.
Frustration boiled over.
With a sharp kick, she overturned a full basket—mangoes scattering across the ground.
Li Dazhi, who had just arrived, saw the mess and rushed over. “What the hell are you doing?! I worked hard to gather those!”
“Work, work, work! Dad… when are we ever going to get rich? When will you ever become a tycoon?”
“A tycoon? Hah! You think it’s that easy? Your old man’s got no education—money doesn’t just fall from the sky!”
He plopped onto the dirt, sighing heavily.
Li Man scoffed. “And where did all your past money go? Down the drain with your drinking and gambling.”
Li Dazhi’s face twisted with anger. “Li Man, what’s that supposed to mean? You looking down on me now?”
“You know exactly what it means. If you don’t start pulling your weight, don’t expect another drop of liquor in this house.”
In this household, she was the one in control.
As she walked away, Li Dazhi’s rage erupted.
He scrambled up, grabbed a mango, and hurled it down the hillside.
The sound of fruit smashing against rocks echoed behind her.
Li Man’s mood was foul.
But then she smiled.
If her calculations were right… the opportunity she’d been waiting for was coming soon.
By now, the Liu family should be in chaos.
That bitch Liu Yulan must already be carrying that bastard’s child.
Still—
The enemy of my enemy is my ally.
After all, in her past life, Liu Yulan had been the ultimate victor.
“Manman…”
A voice called out.
Huang Feng, clad in a simple T-shirt, jogged toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Manman, I missed you… so much.” He nuzzled into her neck, his heartbeat frantic against her.
But Li Man shoved him away.
“Manman?”
Huang Feng blinked, his lovesick gaze unwavering.
No matter what, she was always so beautiful.
“Get lost!” Disgust dripped from her words as she glared at him.
Already in a terrible mood, she had zero patience for him today.
“Manman… What did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this?”
His voice trembled with hurt.
“Nothing. I’m just tired. Leave me alone.” She turned to walk away.
Huang Feng wasn’t about to let her go.
He knew she was playing hard to get—but he didn’t care.
He was obsessed.
“Manman—!”
He sprinted after her, blocking her path.
“Move. Don’t touch me!”
She tried to push past, but Huang Feng grabbed her wrist, his expression darkening.
“Manman, I barely get to see you. Don’t you want to spend time with me? Come to my place tonight.”
His voice dropped, thick with suggestion.
Li Man let out a cold laugh. “Huang Feng, are you out of your damn mind? You think I’d let a loser like you take advantage of me?”
She slapped his hand away with a sneer.
Huang Feng’s patience snapped.
“Li Man, who the hell do you think you are? Just because you’re pretty, you think you’re some untouchable goddess?” He had always known she was delusional.
“And yet, here you are—still panting after me like a dog.”
“If I’m a dog, then you’re the shit I’m rolling in.”
His face twisted with fury as he glared at her.
