That was a clichéd and boring story.
A mysterious charlatan who cheats and deceives people to make them mysterious, but he raises an outstanding daughter who is incompatible with her mother.
The daughter was beautiful, intelligent, and had exceptional academic performance. However, her mother, a shaman, constantly coerced her into playing double roles, claiming she was born to be a "fairy." As a result, the daughter suffered constant bullying and discrimination from childhood. She hated it so much that she was willing to break off relations with her mother. Consequently, after graduating from college, the talented daughter completely severed contact with her mother.
Then, the daughter fell in love with a young, wealthy man. A love she had never felt before completely blinded her mind. She loved him so deeply that, after years of courtship, he abandoned her from a poor family and chose to marry a daughter of a wealthy family of equal status.
But at this time, the daughter was already pregnant with that man's child.
She chose to give birth to the child named "Li Yu".
"...After Li Yu was born, Li Xuelin raised her independently. During this time, she occasionally contacted your grandmother, but the relationship always ended on bad terms. Six years later, Li Xuelin was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Perhaps because of her poor relationship with your grandmother, or perhaps because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to raise her own child, she decided to let Li Yu return to her father's family."
"Xiao family."
Before Teacher Xu could continue, Li Xiu whispered about Li Yu's father's family.
Teacher Xu sighed and nodded.
The man who had been in love with Li Xuelin for many years and then abandoned her was the popular young heir of the Xiao family at that time.
Although married, Shawvis had no other children at the time.
In Li Xuelin's opinion, with the Xiao family's astonishing wealth, there would be no problem in raising an illegitimate child.
She had never anticipated that the Xiao family was definitely not a good place for such an ignorant child with Xiao family blood flowing in her veins.
"The Xiao family's rise to wealth was very 'dirty'."
Teacher Xu's steady narration echoed in the clean and bright ward.
"...The earliest record can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty. An ancestor of the Xiao family accidentally found a small red door, and 'that thing' was sealed within the door."
"No one knows which powerful being sealed him within the gate, nor his specific name. Where he appeared, people generally call him 'Master Red.' He is extremely dangerous and extremely powerful. Even sealed, he still possesses magical powers that can fulfill the wishes of the Xiao family for generations. Relying on the power of the object sealed behind the gate, the Xiao family has avoided countless natural and man-made disasters throughout history, and the entire family has risen to prominence and become the richest in the area. However, the protection from within the Red Gate is not free."
"The Xiao family soon discovered that they had to give back as much as they received..."
"By the time of Xiao Weisi's generation, the Xiao family had to use their own blood and flesh to sacrifice it in order to barely suppress its backlash."
Hearing this, Li Xiu had already vaguely guessed the whole story, and his face suddenly turned extremely pale.
Teacher Xu glanced at him and continued.
"The cycle of justice will always come. As the Xiao family prospers, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to have offspring. Only two children of this generation have survived. Xiao Weisi's sister must have sensed some dark side of the family, so she eloped with someone as soon as she came of age and has not been heard from since. And the eldest son, Xiao Weisi, has also never been able to successfully give birth to a child."
"But Li Yu went back."
"Yes, until Li Xuelin sent Li Yu back."
"Isn't it said that even a tiger won't eat its own cubs? Isn't Li Yu that man's only child? Why...why is he..."
Although he knew that everything had already happened, Li Xiu still felt incredible.
"Men don't need to give birth to a new life themselves," Teacher Xu said calmly, "Besides, under huge interests and life threats, not everyone has the courage to sacrifice themselves."
Li Xiu's lips moved slightly.
He thought of everything Fang Qianan had done in that dark other world.
Teacher Xu looked at Li Xiu gently. "You're a very good child, and so is Fang. However, in a family like the Xiao family, who are accustomed to using illegal means to obtain everything, it's impossible for anyone to have the courage of you and Fang."
As long as you pray, you can obtain the wealth and glory that others only dream of, but will never be able to obtain in their entire lives. But what does it matter if the person being sacrificed is your own child?
As long as it's not me, it's fine.
"And then?"
After a brief silence, Li Xiu's question was heard in the ward.
The boy's face was pale, but his eyes were steady, without any wavering.
He displayed a calmness and determination beyond his years: "Since the Xiao family became like that, it must be because something went wrong, right?"
Teacher Xu couldn't help but look at Li Xiu with approval, and when he spoke again, his voice became a little lower than before.
"You are very smart." He said, "Indeed, there was a big problem with the Xiao family's sacrifice. Because..."
Because when Li Yu was sent back to the Xiao family, the then mistress of the Xiao family did not know about his cruel mission.
The spoiled daughter of a wealthy family, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, felt she had suffered an unbearable betrayal. Her husband's vague explanation and his determination to take the child back at all costs infuriated her to the extreme.
She began to think of every possible way to abuse the illegitimate child that the mistress had forced into the Xiao family. Unfortunately, at that time, the Xiao family had not sacrificed a living person to the Red Gate for a long time, and a lot of business problems had occurred. Xiao Weisi was busy with his own affairs and did not care about his child who was destined to die early.
"...Before the scheduled sacrifice, Li Yu was severely abused and sent to the hospital, where he died from his injuries."
Hearing this, Li Xiu didn't know if it was his illusion, he once again felt that vague coldness.
He couldn't help but glance at Teacher Xu cautiously, but the latter didn't show anything unusual.
"Everyone involved in the sacrifice has died. We can only speculate what happened. If my guess is correct, the Xiao family, completely at their wit's end, used Li Yu's body as a sacrifice." Teacher Xu pushed his glasses and said, "Although theoretically, even if a corpse was used as a sacrifice, the subsequent accident wouldn't have happened. However, the final result is as you know. The severe backlash caused the door to open. After 'Master Hong' left that door, the intense Yin energy triggered the Xiao family tragedy and alarmed many people like us."
Li Xiu curled up her fingertips that were pressing on the quilt.
"It took a tremendous amount of effort to finally seal it back inside the Red Door. However, Li Yu's body and soul had been completely contaminated by 'Master Red' and could not be liberated. To prevent the Red Door from opening again, or being taken away by someone with ulterior motives and causing further tragedy, we suppressed Li Yu's remains in the Xiao family villa and sealed the Red Door beneath the foundation of the complex... This should have been a foolproof seal."
"So, what exactly went wrong?"
"Well..."
Teacher Xu's voice gradually became dry, and he took off his glasses and wiped them.
"At that time, the thing inside the Red Gate was too ferocious. My sect was short of manpower, so we had no choice but to invite many local Xuanmen brothers to help. Your grandmother was there too."
Hearing this, Li Xiu suddenly looked up and looked at Teacher Xu in disbelief.
Teacher Xu did not avoid his gaze.
"This was a serious mistake on our part. Your grandmother used some special techniques to discover Li Yu's identity. Li Xuelin had already passed away by then, and the old lady couldn't accept the thought of her own grandson being trapped in the formation and his soul shattered. So, she...she stole Li Yu's ashes."
*
Twelve years ago——
"Seventh Grandma, are you looking at Mozi?"
The question was asked in a heavily accented voice, but the expressionless old man ignored the man beside him.
Seeing the old man so indifferent, the man frowned, but couldn't help but persuade him a few more times.
"Oh, I'm really bored to death, so I'm telling you all this. That villa is full of capable people, and we were just called here to pretend. You're an old man, even if you see something, don't go forward, it's unnecessary."
It's late at night.
The night wind brought the faint sound of chanting from not far away. A person of metaphysics who came from a well-known and reputable sect had been casting spells inside the villa. The strong smell of cinnabar blood and incense ash mixed with the damp air, making people feel suffocated just by breathing.
Just as the man had warned them, the most they could do was stroll around the villa gardens and patrol the night. Going any further inside wouldn't be enough. Of course, this was for their own good. After all, even wild sorcerers like them could vaguely sense that something in the villa was unusual.
The old man slowly blinked his red eyes in the dark night.
Her companion was not like her, so she could not see.
Right by the wall, a familiar yet unfamiliar shadow was covering his face and crying sadly and desperately.
["Mom… Mom… I'm so sorry… Wuuuuuuu… Mom… Please save my cub…"]
"Mom... I'll always listen to you from now on... Please save him this time..."
"Mom…Mom…"
…
Listening to the increasingly passionate chanting behind her, the elderly woman's hands began to tremble violently.
In a trance, she seemed to see a small scarlet door appear behind her daughter's ghost.
Her dry lips moved and her hoarse whisper got stuck in her throat.
However, she knew better than anyone.
What's inside the door can be heard.
Be able to hear her request.
Yes, she knew, there was a price to pay for wishing on something like that.
But she had nothing left.
What is she still worried about?
It seemed as if there was a voice whispering to her from inside the door.