Chapter 173: Ghost Assistant (V)

Previous Chapter ◊ Table of Content ◊ Next Chapter

Chapter 173: Ghost Assistant (V)

With a soft hiss, a streamlined sports car stopped in front of Shao Feidu. The driver’s seat was empty, yet the car gave several crisp beeps.

“Get in, Dudu. We’re going to see an opera.” Shang Ke’s smiling face appeared faintly in the window, complete with colorful projected light effects.

Without saying a word, Shao Feidu got into the passenger seat. The safety belt fastened itself around him, and the sports car shot away like an arrow.

The seemingly driverless car sped all the way into the city center and, with practiced familiarity, parked in the lot behind the opera house.

“Come on.” Shang Ke floated out of the car and led Shao Feidu toward the theater.

This was the first time Shao Feidu had entered a crowded public place on his own. Given his international fame, Shang Ke had deliberately made him wear a mask so he would not be recognized and mobbed by onlookers.

The tickets had already been booked, so Shao Feidu only needed to present his ID card at the entrance. Guided by Shang Ke, he found his seat and sat down. Shang Ke settled comfortably in his arms with snacks in hand. Although he could materialize at night, no one else could see him as long as he chose not to reveal himself.

Shao Feidu held the ghost in his arms, indifferent to the surrounding noise, and stared fixedly at the stage.

The lights dimmed and the performance began. Shao Feidu watched with total concentration, as though he had merged with the opera itself. Then a spectator in the row ahead abruptly turned his head a full one hundred eighty degrees, revealing a grotesque face that grinned horribly at Shao Feidu.

Shao Feidu’s body went rigid. The mind that had finally relaxed snapped taut again.

Feeling the arms around his waist tighten, Shang Ke irritably slapped the ghostly face in front of them and knocked it straight back into the spectator’s body.

Every grievance has its target and every debt its debtor. Go bother whoever you actually have a grudge against, and stop coming out just to make your presence known. Shang Ke delivered the warning with righteous authority.

No wonder Shao Feidu had never dared go out alone. He ran into ghosts everywhere. Once Shang Ke revived, the first thing he was going to do was obtain a proper protective talisman for him.

After watching Shang Ke dispose of the ghost with a single slap, Shao Feidu gradually relaxed. He wrapped both arms around Shang Ke’s waist and pulled him more securely into his embrace.

“Relax. Keep watching.” Shang Ke took a piece of jerky from the bag and held it to Shao Feidu’s lips.

Shao Feidu opened his mouth and chewed at an unhurried pace. When the jerky was gone, Shang Ke held up a drink, thoroughly pampering him.

Fortunately, the theater was dark. Otherwise, the other patrons would certainly have noticed the bizarre sight of snacks and drinks floating by themselves into Shao Feidu’s mouth.

When the two-hour opera ended, Shao Feidu followed the crowd out of the theater.

They had just entered the lobby when several screams erupted nearby, followed by a sudden commotion.

Shang Ke looked over and saw a middle-aged man lying on the floor clutching his chest in obvious pain. A woman and a boy knelt beside him, frantically searching his clothes for something.

“Where’s your medicine? Where is it?”

The man was breathing too rapidly to answer.

Both Shang Ke and Shao Feidu could see that half his soul had already separated from his body. By the time emergency personnel arrived, the man had stopped breathing. After tens of minutes of resuscitation attempts, they were still unable to bring him back.

The newly deceased man clearly met Shang Ke’s revival requirements, but Shang Ke refused to borrow his body. The man had a wife, a child, and a family. Shang Ke could not shoulder that identity and had no idea how much harm his presence would inflict on the woman and boy.

And so he let his second opportunity for revival pass.

“Come on. Let’s go home. Tomorrow we’ll visit the hospital.” Shang Ke quickly lifted his spirits. More than two months remained before the three-month deadline. There was no need to rush.

He had two reasons for going to the hospital: to have Shao Feidu’s fingers and psychological condition evaluated, and to look for a corpse that met the revival requirements.

Shao Feidu’s fingers had been injured when a piano lid smashed down on them two years earlier. According to his rehabilitation records, the injuries should already have healed, yet for some unknown reason he could no longer play an entire piece from beginning to end.

The next day, the same seemingly driverless sports car carried Shao Feidu to the hospital. He went directly to the VIP consultation area on the fifth floor to meet the doctor Shang Ke had booked.

Hospitals naturally attracted ghosts. In the past, Shao Feidu would not have come to one even with an entire army escorting him, much less alone.

Now that Shang Ke was beside him, however, the ghosts no longer seemed quite so terrifying. At least none of them routinely tore off their own heads and threw them around…

Shang Ke had made the appointment with a highly respected senior physician.

After sitting down, Shao Feidu handed the doctor a data chip Shang Ke had prepared. It contained a detailed record of Shao Feidu’s condition, daily life, and recent progress. Although it covered only ten days, the report ran to dozens of pages: the frequency and structure of every attempt at speech, each subtle spontaneous reaction or behavioral change, his daily menu and food intake, exercise schedule, habits, sleep quality, and much more. Almost nothing had been omitted.

The old doctor was deeply impressed after reading it. How much patience and attention would it take to record someone’s life in such detail? With information this thorough, he could form a preliminary assessment of Shao Feidu’s condition very quickly.

After observing from the side for a while, Shang Ke nodded in satisfaction. The doctor was not only experienced but gentle. He showed neither disdain nor impatience toward Shao Feidu’s cold, unresponsive manner.

Temporarily leaving Shao Feidu with the doctor after a few reminders, Shang Ke went out to search for a suitable body.

Natural death was forbidden. Fatal injuries were forbidden. The body needed to have been essentially healthy immediately before death, preferably dead for less than an hour, and ideally free of a spouse, children, or other complicated family obligations.

After searching for quite some time, Shang Ke found a target who barely met the conditions. The young man was brain-dead; his soul was already gone and only medical equipment was keeping his body alive.

He looked about twenty and had refined features. Judging by the luxurious private room and enormous treatment costs, his family was probably wealthy. A look at the admission record showed that he had already been hospitalized for nearly two years.

The fact that his family had continued treatment for so long showed how deeply they loved him. Unfortunately, they did not know that their child’s soul was already gone and he could never wake on his own.

“Yun Kexu…” Shang Ke softly read the name. He would investigate the young man’s identity and family circumstances first. If there were no unresolved complications, he would borrow this body to revive.

With one concern tentatively settled, Shang Ke returned to Shao Feidu’s consultation room.

The moment he floated inside, Shao Feidu’s gaze locked onto him. The unease hidden in his eyes vanished almost immediately upon seeing him.

Using Shang Ke’s records, the doctor performed a series of examinations and assessments, then added his medical recommendations to the data chip and handed it back to Shao Feidu. “Give this to the person caring for you. I believe he’ll know what to do. With someone guiding you this carefully, I believe you’ll improve quickly. Take care, child.”

The doctor gave Shao Feidu a warm smile.

Shao Feidu slowly raised his eyes and let his gaze rest on the doctor’s face for a moment. Then he stood and walked out of the consultation room.

Since he was fourteen, the only people consistently around him had been Mu Zhen, an assistant, and a housekeeper. Apart from Shang Ke, this was the first time he had felt genuine kindness from a stranger.

Shang Ke was right. The outside world was not as frightening as Shao Feidu had imagined.

After leaving the hospital, Shang Ke took him around the city for several more hours. He made Shao Feidu shop at a mall by himself, order and eat at a restaurant on his own, ride the electric rail independently… They kept at it until dusk before Shang Ke finally drove him back to the villa.

Shao Feidu watched the distant sunset, light glittering in his eyes. It was obvious that he was happy.

That happiness vanished the moment they returned to the villa. Mu Zhen was back, and beside him stood Gibbs with an ugly expression.

“Young Master Shao, where did you go?” Mu Zhen demanded. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is outside? If something happened to you, how would I explain it to Old Master Shao?”

Shao Feidu acted as though he had not heard and walked straight past him.

“Stop!” Mu Zhen blocked his path and looked him over suspiciously. “You normally don’t even dare leave the house alone. Why did you suddenly go out? Who took you?”

Shao Feidu stared at the stairs ahead and stood silent as a statue.

“Answer me! You’re not mute!” Mu Zhen suddenly raised his voice. His investments were already causing him trouble, and now this man was adding to his problems.

Shao Feidu gave him a cold glance.

A chill ran down Mu Zhen’s back under that stare, and embarrassment immediately turned to anger. “I haven’t seen you for a few days and you’ve already learned how to glare at people? Have you finished the piece I told you to compose?”

Shao Feidu almost never made eye contact, but now his gaze was focused and sharp as a pair of blades.

Is his condition actually improving? That’s bad. Mu Zhen felt a flicker of alarm.

“From today onward, you are not to leave this villa without my permission,” Mu Zhen said in a tone that allowed no argument. “I’ll hire several bodyguards to protect you.”

After a moment of silence, Shao Feidu suddenly said, “I don’t want them.”

“What?” Mu Zhen froze, completely unprepared for resistance.

“My villa. I don’t want bodyguards.” Shao Feidu looked at him again. Combined with his cold expression and imposing height, the darkness in his gaze created an indescribable pressure.

“You… you…” Mu Zhen stared at him nervously, unable to answer for a moment.

Gibbs looked equally astonished. After working for Shao Feidu for so long, this was the first time he had heard him say anything this long. His articulation was clear and the sentence fluent, almost indistinguishable from ordinary speech.

Delighted, Shang Ke enthusiastically gave Shao Feidu two thumbs-up.

Having said his piece, Shao Feidu ignored Mu Zhen and turned toward his room.

Mu Zhen stood frozen for a long time before whipping around and glaring at Gibbs. “What the hell is going on? Didn’t I tell you to install surveillance? How did you fail to notice anything unusual?”

Gibbs looked miserable. “There really wasn’t anything unusual in the footage.”

“Send every surveillance recording to my inbox. I’ll inspect them myself.” Mu Zhen glanced quickly upstairs, then lowered his voice. “Young Master Shao has run out of medication. Go ask Dr. Xu for more.”

Previous Chapter ◊ Table of Content ◊ Next Chapter