Chapter 176: Ghost Assistant (VIII)

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Chapter 176: Ghost Assistant (VIII)

A bodyguard completed the visitor registration for Shao Feidu, and a nurse then led the group to the VIP ward.

Yun Kexu was the Yun family’s youngest son, so ordinary visitors were not permitted near his ward. With Shao Feidu’s status, however, obtaining permission to visit was easy.

At the moment, only a private caregiver was in the room. Yun Kexu’s family came to visit once or twice a week.

Shao Feidu walked to the bedside and quietly studied the thin young man lying there. His features were somewhat different from Shang Ke’s, yet the aura around him felt unmistakably familiar.

A bodyguard brought over a chair. Shao Feidu sat down slowly and called Keke’s name silently in his heart. The person on the bed gave no response and remained peacefully asleep.

Shao Feidu took the young man’s hand, feeling his warmth and pulse. Only then did he notice the strange bracelet around Yun Kexu’s wrist. It was neither gold, silver, nor jade, but an archaic-looking material engraved with unfamiliar, intricate script. It looked very much like some kind of ritual artifact.

Shang Ke was the one who had taught him about ritual artifacts. He had once said that objects such as ritual artifacts and talismans could harm him.

A thought stirred in Shao Feidu’s mind. Could this bracelet be the reason Keke had not awakened?

He looked at the caregiver across from him, gently lifted Yun Kexu’s arm, and asked, “This?”

The caregiver glanced over and smiled. “Interested in the bracelet, Young Master Shao? Mrs. Yun bought it for the young master a few days ago. She was told it could ward off misfortune and protect his health.”

Once he had his answer, Shao Feidu turned his attention back to Yun Kexu. After a moment of silence, he suddenly removed the bracelet from Yun Kexu’s wrist.

“Young Master Shao, what are you—?” The caregiver looked troubled. His behavior was clearly inappropriate, but given his identity, she did not feel comfortable reprimanding him.

Shao Feidu ignored her confusion and kept his attention fixed on the person in the bed.

The ward was silent except for the steady beeping of the monitors. Shao Feidu remained in the same position for half an hour without moving. If not for the occasional blink, the caregiver might have mistaken him for a statue.

The caregiver grew increasingly uneasy. She had no idea what relationship this man had with Yun Kexu or what he intended to do. After some hesitation, she finally decided to notify the Yun family and ask them to send someone over.

“Young Master Shao, it’s getting late. Should we head back?” The bodyguard checked the time. They had already been at the hospital for an hour, and Shao Feidu showed no sign of leaving, so he steeled himself and stepped forward to remind him.

Shao Feidu did not react. His gaze remained fixed on the person in the bed.

The bodyguard had no choice but to press on. “The caregiver has already gone to notify the Yun family. Do you plan to stay and dine with them?”

He had barely finished speaking when his smartwatch vibrated several times. He raised his wrist and saw four characters displayed on the screen: 【Do not disturb.】

The bodyguard: “……”

Ever since he got Keke Assistant, Shao Feidu could give his bodyguards precise instructions without saying a word. It also made him look exceptionally aloof, willful, and imperious…

The bodyguard wisely stopped talking and retreated to the side.

Another half hour passed before the ward door opened. A dignified middle-aged woman entered, followed by a woman of about twenty-four or twenty-five. The older woman spotted Shao Feidu and smiled. “I almost didn’t believe the caregiver when she told me. I didn’t expect it really was Young Master Shao.”

Shao Feidu glanced at her. She looked vaguely familiar, but he did not know who she was. He turned back and continued staring at the person in the bed.

The elegant woman had not expected to be ignored so completely, and displeasure flickered through her. “Mr. Shao, are you a friend of my son’s? I don’t recall ever hearing him mention you.”

Shao Feidu had already entered full “everyone else is invisible” mode. His mind automatically filtered out every bit of outside noise.

Even with her excellent self-control, the woman found her temper rising. Her daughter had far less patience and immediately snapped, “Young Master Shao, what kind of attitude is that? The Yun and Shao families are equals in status, and my mother is your elder. Don’t you think you should show her at least a little respect?”

Once Young Master Shao shut himself off from the outside world, respect and disrespect ceased to exist. No matter how imposing the other person was, he remained as unmoving as a mountain.

Mrs. Yun took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Mr. Shao, but my son needs to rest. Please leave. If you wish to visit again, I hope you’ll notify me beforehand.”

Hearing that he was being asked to leave, Shao Feidu lowered his eyes to his smartwatch. He badly wanted to open Keke Assistant and search for an emergency strategy.

【What should I do if Keke’s mother doesn’t welcome me?】

【What should I do if Keke’s mother wants me to leave?】

【What should I do if I want to stay by your side?】

While he was still struggling with the problem, Shao Feidu suddenly felt Yun Kexu’s finger move…

Seeing that he still refused to budge, Mrs. Yun’s expression darkened. She turned and told her daughter to call the bodyguards in.

Four or five burly men filed into the ward and surrounded Shao Feidu. With extreme politeness and caution, one of them said, “Young Master Shao, it’s already late. Why don’t you come visit the young master another day?”

Shang Ke’s consciousness gradually returned. A low buzzing filled his ears, followed all at once by the soreness and pain throughout his body.

He remembered possessing Yun Kexu’s body after arriving at the hospital. Everything had gone smoothly; once his soul fully merged with the body, he would revive. Yet at the critical moment, some force had suddenly bound him, and in the next instant he had lost consciousness.

What Shang Ke did not know was that Yun Kexu’s mother had put a rune-engraved bracelet on him at exactly that critical moment. The runes sealed Shang Ke’s spirit before it could fully merge with the body, plunging him into unconsciousness. If Shao Feidu had not appeared and removed the bracelet in time, the three-month deadline would have passed and the mission would have failed.

“Keke, you’re awake.” Shao Feidu’s delighted voice reached Shang Ke’s ears.

At first, Mrs. Yun paid no attention to his words. Then she turned toward the bed and froze in shock. Her son, who had been unconscious for more than two years, had actually opened his eyes.

“Kexu!” She rushed to the bedside, staring at him in disbelief.

Shang Ke blinked several times, trying to adjust to the light in the room.

“He’s awake! He’s really awake!” Mrs. Yun instantly lost all of her earlier composure. She turned to the bodyguards and cried excitedly, “Quick! Go get the doctor!”

What followed was complete chaos.

A patient who had been declared brain-dead after remaining in a vegetative state had miraculously awakened. The entire medical team was stunned.

After a full series of examinations, the doctor finally confirmed, “The patient has regained consciousness, and his cognitive functions are relatively normal. His memory and physical functions have suffered some impairment, however, so he will need a period of rehabilitation.”

Mrs. Yun burst into tears of joy. As long as he had awakened, everything else could be dealt with.

The doctor immediately reminded everyone not to overwhelm him with questions and to give him time to adjust first.

Mrs. Yun nodded and was about to clear everyone out of the ward when she noticed Shao Feidu sitting beside the bed, holding Kexu’s hand. Kexu was propped against the headboard, gazing at him gently and speaking to him in a low voice.

Only then did Mrs. Yun realize, with some surprise, that the relationship between the two men seemed rather unusual.

Shao Feidu was indifferent to practically everyone, yet he was extraordinarily close to Kexu. As for Kexu—perhaps he was still dazed from only just waking, but otherwise why would he look at Shao Feidu with such tenderness?

“Mr. Shao, let Kexu rest for today. Whatever you want to say can wait until your next visit.” Mrs. Yun stepped forward and interrupted them.

This time Shao Feidu did not insist. As he stood, however, he naturally leaned down and kissed Shang Ke on the cheek, completely oblivious to the expressions on Mrs. Yun and her daughter’s faces—as though they had just seen a ghost.

After seeing Shao Feidu out of the ward, Mrs. Yun could not resist asking, “What exactly is your relationship with my Kexu?”

What relationship? The question stumped Shao Feidu. He kept thinking as he walked away, getting farther and farther down the corridor until he disappeared from Mrs. Yun’s sight entirely…

This was the first time Mrs. Yun had ever been left standing there and ignored. Unable to contain her anger, she snapped, “From now on, don’t let that man anywhere near Kexu’s ward!”

The bodyguards suffered in silence. Who among them dared stop the Shao family’s eldest young master?

Shao Feidu had no idea that his “arrogant rudeness” had already thoroughly offended his future mother-in-law…

Once the ward had finally been cleared, Shang Ke relaxed and lay back down to rest.

The moment he lay down, the System’s voice sounded in his mind: 【Main Mission complete—revive within three months.】

Before he could celebrate, the System continued. 【Main Mission 2—lay at least three vengeful ghosts to rest and save the victims whose lives are being targeted by evil ghosts.】

Wait! What the hell was Main Mission 2? Wasn’t an Additional Mission supposed to come next?

【Because the Host’s Heroic Value is too low, the difficulty level of this world has increased, triggering a second Main Mission. Main Mission 2 must be completed, or the overall mission will be considered a failure.】

At that point, Shang Ke no longer knew what language was strong enough to describe how fucked his mood was.

Feeling hopeful, he asked, “So once I complete Main Mission 2, I won’t have to complete another Additional Mission?”

【Each world contains only three missions. Adding one Main Mission reduces the number of Additional Missions by one.】

That made Shang Ke feel a little better. True, an Additional Mission had been replaced by another Main Mission whose failure could doom the entire world, but the more he thought about it, the more this felt like a loophole in the System. In the past, he had constantly courted death for his missions while desperately searching for ways to survive. In reality, as long as he performed a genuinely heroic act during the mission—such as saving the drowning girl this time—he could still complete it without reaching the most extreme possible death, like being blown to pieces in his first world. His Heroic Value would simply be lower. Compared with staying alive, who cared if the score was low?

In other words, every extra Main Mission lowered the difficulty of the required heroic-death component accordingly. For Main Mission 2, he only had to find three evil or vengeful ghosts, lay them to rest, and stop them from harming anyone else. If he successfully completed all three missions in this world, then naturally he would have no need for a Return Key.

Having figured that out, Shang Ke rallied. He would restore his body as quickly as possible, then start laying evil ghosts to rest. And with Shao Feidu’s peculiar ghost-attracting constitution, the man was practically the ideal partner for someone walking the boundary between yin and yang.

Poor Dudu. It looked as though he would be seeing ghosts on a regular basis from now on…

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