Chapter 16

The police arrived swiftly. Before the pale-faced woman could gather her things and flee, she was handcuffed and taken away on suspicion of involvement in a pyramid scheme scam.

Along the way, a young officer clasped Director Kang's hand, expressing deep gratitude. “Thankfully, you weren’t deceived and helped us catch this cunning fraudster! This so-called ‘Fairy Lady’ is a habitual scammer who has swindled countless innocent people across the country. She quickly moves on after duping each place, with her skill in altering her appearance making her elusive for so long. Truly detestable!”

Zou Shulan still found it hard to believe. She murmured, “But didn’t the news say she saved a patient who was deemed incurable, someone the doctors said wouldn’t live more than three months...?”

The young officer’s expression was odd. “We know about that report, but it was a misdiagnosis. The doctors mistook kidney stones for cysts. Some media outlets, aiming for sensationalism, deliberately glossed over the facts. There was even a clarification later, but people are more interested in scandalous news than the truth. Once the real story came out, public attention had already waned, and few know the truth now.”

Zou Shulan was shocked. “What? That news was fake?”

Director Kang sighed. “You work at a TV station — how can you not tell fact from fiction? If she truly had such powers, she’d be famous by now. No need for others to speak in riddles.”

Blushing, Zou Shulan admitted, “I was just worried and got confused.”

Meanwhile, the police continued gathering evidence left behind by the ‘Fairy Lady’ at the Kang residence. Aunt Cai, seeing an opportunity, tried to slip away unnoticed.

Chu Ning caught her furtive movements. As Aunt Cai neared the door, he grabbed a passing young officer and said firmly, “Officer, I want to report something.”

The officer looked puzzled. “Huh?”

Pointing to the doorway, Chu Ning declared, “I’m reporting that lady for animal abuse. The animals she harmed belong to residents around here. The shawl draped over her shoulder…”

He paused, his voice growing colder, “If I’m not mistaken, it’s not a common fur shawl from the market, but made from the pelts of abused and killed animals.”

The young officer shivered at this and, without hesitation, shouted after Aunt Cai, who was trying to escape: “Stop right there!”

Recently, the precinct had registered numerous reports of missing pets in the vicinity, all from this community. The officer hadn’t expected this visit to uncover two cases at once and immediately detained her.

Aunt Cai, shocked, dropped to her knees, clutching her head. “I was wrong! Officer, please don’t arrest me! I’ll pay compensation, anything you want!”

Since the police had taken away the ‘Fairy Lady,’ Mrs. Kang had been in disbelief. She had sincerely worshipped that charlatan for so long, only to discover she was a con artist. She sat on the sofa, comforted by Zou Shulan. But now, seeing Aunt Cai’s sudden confession, she clutched her chest, lips trembling with rage. “Little Cai, how could you...”

Director Kang wasn’t one to avoid confrontation. He looked at his mother and said bluntly, “Aunt Cai is deceitful. It was she who conspired with that ‘Fairy Lady’ to trick you and set you up.”

Chu Ning speculated, “She probably kept close contact with you just to scope things out beforehand…”

Mrs. Kang’s chest tightened with pain. She urgently needed a heart medicine to calm herself. “Little Cai, I really considered you a good sister!”

Yet Aunt Cai, barely in her forties, was left speechless. ‘Sister?’ she thought bitterly. ‘Thanks for nothing.’

…

Soon, Aunt Cai was taken downstairs by the officers for a thorough house search.

Within moments, the cruel truth emerged: Aunt Cai and her husband had been secretly torturing animals at home, using stolen pet furs to craft various shawls, sweaters, and fur collars, which they sold online.

Their brutality was so blatant that the tools were openly displayed, leaving the officers grim-faced after the search.

With such a large police presence, news spread quickly through the entire building and neighborhood — all the recently missing cats and pets had fallen victim to this cruel couple.

Furious residents flooded to Aunt Cai’s doorstep, blocking the hallways.

Many had assumed their pets had simply run off or been stolen by a thief, and though heartbroken, still clung to hope. Now, learning their beloved companions had been viciously killed and skinned, they were devastated.

“My Youmi was only three months old! How could they be so cruel? Aren’t they afraid of divine retribution or the vengeful spirits of these little creatures?” A tearful high school girl clutched a new outfit she had just bought for Youmi, her eyes red and swollen.

She had been raised by her grandmother, who loved cats dearly. Their countryside home was often visited by stray cats. When her grandmother fell ill and passed away last month, she had worried about the recently weaned kitten. The girl promised to care for Youmi faithfully, treating the kitten as a living memory of her grandmother.

Now Youmi was gone. The girl dared not imagine what suffering the kitten endured before death. Every thought tore her heart open, overwhelming her with pain and regret.

Like this girl, every owner’s bond with their pets was profound — their treasured companions had been mercilessly slaughtered by a venomous pair.

Hatred burned in the eyes of the residents, tangible as if they could strip Aunt Cai and her husband to the bone. If not for the officers restraining them, they might have attacked in their fury.

Even so, Aunt Cai’s ordeal was agonizing. Stared down by the crowd and shackled by the police, she felt her scalp tingle and ache unbearably.

Upstairs, Chu Ning watched as Director Kang and his family, shaken by the ‘Fairy Lady’ incident, had come to doubt her claims. Now bereft of any faith in gods or spirits, Director Kang confided the truth to his wife — and just as he began explaining that Chu Ning was a university student from Tongcheng University, a piercing scream echoed from below.

It was Aunt Cai’s scream.

Soon, the corridor filled with rising clamor and whispers.

Zou Shulan heard it and grew restless, heading downstairs to investigate.

But within two minutes, she returned pale-faced.

Director Kang asked, “What happened downstairs?”

Zou Shulan’s eyes showed shock and dread. Clutching Director Kang’s arm, she whispered, “The neighbors surrounded Aunt Cai after finding out she abused cats. When the police were taking her away, someone couldn’t hold back and grabbed her hair…”

Director Kang frowned. “And then? What’s wrong with pulling hair—could they pull it all out?”

Zou Shulan took a deep breath. “What they pulled was her wig. When it came off, her scalp was exposed — and it was bleeding! Almost all her hair had fallen out, and the exposed scalp was covered in scratches… like long, sharp animal claws had slashed it repeatedly!”

At first, Director Kang was skeptical, but the more he heard, the more his expression changed. Suddenly, he looked at Chu Ning in disbelief and asked, “Little Chu, didn’t you say Aunt Cai was followed by a ‘head-shaving ghost’...?”

Zou Shulan was startled. “There’s more to this?”

Director Kang nodded softly.

He had thought Chu Ning was making up stories to scare Aunt Cai, but now, hearing his wife’s account, it all seemed eerily plausible.

What was stranger was that Chu Ning had never even been to their neighborhood before. How could he tell that the fur on Aunt Cai’s shawl came from abused animals? And how could he be so sure Aunt Cai was the culprit?

Could it be that spirits really do exist?

The more he pondered, the more puzzled Director Kang became, his broad face clouded with deep thought.

Seeing both Director Kang and his wife staring at him, Chu Ning smiled faintly and waved his hand. “Oh, the ‘head-shaving ghost’ was just a story I made up to frighten her.”

Noticing Director Kang’s relief, Chu Ning’s smile deepened as he added mysteriously, “Actually, I saw some cats scratching her.”

Director Kang’s eyes widened. “What?”

Chu Ning chuckled and sighed, “Cats have nine lives and hold grudges fiercely. The dozen or so cats she killed gathered to claw her scalp. I didn’t say this outright because I was afraid it would scare everyone to death.”

Director Kang and Zou Shulan’s hearts skipped a beat.

Mrs. Kang, eavesdropping from the sofa, gasped. “Someone, please give me more heart medicine!”

…

Aunt Cai’s story spread throughout the community quickly. Residents attributed the horrific condition of her scalp after her wig was pulled to the vengeful spirits of the abused animals retaliating against her — a fitting punishment for her cruelty. Compared to Aunt Cai’s evil deeds, the ‘Fairy Lady’ scandal barely sparked any discussion.

For Director Kang, a staunch atheist, the day’s experiences shook his worldview to the core.

Though he had never witnessed anything supernatural himself, and despite Chu Ning’s claims that Aunt Cai was being tormented by the spirits of the cats she’d killed — with the damage now to her hair and later perhaps to her skin and flesh — Director Kang maintained his composure and said, “Little Chu, this joke isn’t funny.”

Chu Ning shrugged. “Director, I’m not a fraud! The talismans I sell are real.”

Zou Shulan asked, “Is the talisman you sold to Mr. Qiu from Changsheng Technology genuine as well?”

Director Kang frowned. “He bought it, but who knows if it works?”

Chu Ning held up his hands. “Why don’t you buy one yourself and see?”

That’s exactly what he had told Qiu Changsheng.

But Director Kang was clearly stingy, frowning. “No free trials with your product?”

Chu Ning blinked. ‘So the director just wants a freebie.’

Meanwhile, Mrs. Kang, having been deceived by Aunt Cai, kept repeating that she would never again trust in gods or spirits so easily.

Once she had calmed down, she urged Director Kang and his wife to take their precious grandson to the hospital.

Unfortunately, Kang Wenhong’s symptoms had recurred multiple times. Each time, doctors at different hospitals had found nothing wrong with the child’s body. The couple was at a loss.

Seeing Mrs. Kang on the verge of tears again, Director Kang sighed and discussed with Zou Shulan whether they should send the boy to the capital for treatment.

As an observer, Chu Ning glanced at the little spirit riding on his father’s shoulders causing mischief and kindly said, “Actually, waking the child up is quite simple.”

He paused, then added, “But it requires cooperation from the family.”

Director Kang furrowed his brows. “You really have a way? You’re not joking?”

Mrs. Kang, eyes brimming with tears, turned to Chu Ning. “Young man, please tell us how to cooperate. If it wakes Wenhong, I’d do anything with this old body…”

Director Kang glanced at his mother, speechless. “Mom, you just said you didn’t believe in gods and spirits.”

“I said I don’t believe easily, not easily! Don’t you understand?” Mrs. Kang shot him a glare, then looked at Chu Ning with hopeful eyes.

Feigning ignorance of being put in his mother’s crosshairs, Chu Ning gently told the elderly woman, “It’s simple. When I say so later, everyone should call out the child’s nickname a few times.”

Mrs. Kang grasped Chu Ning’s hands eagerly. “Alright, alright.”

Director Kang remained unconvinced but was silenced by Zou Shulan’s gentle grip on his arm.

“Let’s try once more,” she said, eyes reddened.

With the family’s cooperation, Chu Ning found it much easier to act.

He first waved his hand in the empty living room. As the Kang family watched in confusion, he pretended to be a fearless spirit climbing the chandelier and called out three times to the little soul.

The mischievous child, entertained by himself, obediently jumped down and, looking up sweetly at the only one who could communicate with him, said, “Brother, do you want to play with me?”

Chu Ning replied, “Good children should be sleeping at this time.”

The child pouted, reluctant to stop play. “But, Jiajia wants to keep playing a little longer.”

He blinked, his watery eyes full of pure longing, whispering, “Just a little more.”

Chu Ning shook his head, then looked at the Kang family. “Is the child’s nickname Jiajia?”

All three of them stared at Chu Ning’s conversation with the air, then naturally asked, stunned, “Yes, Jiajia.”

Except for Mrs. Kang, the nickname hadn’t been used much since Wenhong turned six.

Indeed, a Taoist master who does business with the CEO of Changsheng Technology was no ordinary figure.

Zou Shulan was especially moved. “Master Chu, were you just talking to Wenhong?”

Mrs. Kang also asked, “Master Chu, where is Wenhong? Why can’t I see him?”

Chu Ning explained, “Your child’s soul is in a special state, back to when he was five or six years old. Right now… he’s causing mischief in the living room.”

Director Kang’s worldview was again rocked. “Wenhong was quite playful as a child. At six, he loved riding on my shoulders.”

Chu Ning chuckled. “No wonder.”

Director Kang looked puzzled.

Chu Ning glanced at him. “No wonder he watched that fake ‘Fairy Lady’ for so long while riding your head, haha.”

Director Kang was speechless.

Joking aside, Chu Ning chatted briefly with Director Kang before wheeling over to the mischievous little soul. The child sensed Chu Ning was about to put him to “sleep” and scampered back up to the ceiling, refusing to come down.

“Where are you running off to?”

Chu Ning shook his head, took out a blank yellow talisman from his pocket, and began drawing Taoist sword signs on it.

Suddenly, inside the sealed living room, the talisman floated up to the ceiling, like an invisible, gentle hand dragging the child’s bottom, gently bringing him back to his sleeping body.

To the Kang family, it simply looked like the talisman flew through the air and came to rest by Wenhong’s side.

This was extraordinary, but even Director Kang held his breath, afraid a sudden breath might blow the talisman away.

Chu Ning nodded to the three adults. “You can call him now.”

Mrs. Kang nervously gripped her son’s arm and cautiously called, “Jiajia?”

The talisman trembled, and the child’s soul showed a flicker of confusion.

Zou Shulan, anxious, joined in. “Jiajia, Jiajia, wake up!”

The child blinked, showing fatigue.

Director Kang finally joined, calling, “Jiajia, open your eyes when you wake up.”

The child slowly closed his eyes.

At that moment, Kang Wenhong’s eyelids twitched. He mumbled softly before suddenly opening his eyes.

“Dad, Mom, Grandma!”

He sat up in bed, full of energy and shouted joyfully.

At his cry, the Kang family finally breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Mrs. Kang and Zou Shulan wept tears of joy, while Director Kang looked at Chu Ning, lips trembling, “Master Chu...”

Chu Ning blinked.

Director Kang pounded his chest, voice heavy with regret. “I was so blind before!”