Ye Qiu stood outside the villa, yet to enter, when suddenly, he halted.
“This is my father’s residence, my father is inside,” Xu Zhiming explained to Ye Qiu, then walked towards the villa’s entrance.
After a couple of steps, Xu Zhiming noticed Ye Qiu wasn’t following. He turned and asked, “Xiao Ye, my father is inside.”
Ye Qiu, as if he hadn’t heard Xu Zhiming, stared at the villa, a glint of something unusual in his eyes.
“Ye Qiu oppa, what are you looking at?” Xu Changjin asked.
Ye Qiu said, “Have you noticed that the temperature here is lower than other places?”
Xu Changjin felt the air and said, “It’s a bit colder here than at our house.”
Xu Zhiming said, “Xiao Ye, you may not know, but there’s a fish pond behind my father’s house. That’s likely why the temperature here is lower than elsewhere.”
Ye Qiu shook his head, “It’s not because of the fish pond.”
Song Huixian immediately asked, “Xiao Ye, then what do you think is causing the lower temperature?”
Ye Qiu replied, “Yin energy.”
Yin energy?
At these words, Xu Zhiming and Song Huixian’s expressions changed.
Being well-versed in traditional Chinese culture, the couple naturally knew what yin energy was.
Xu Changjin, unaware of her parents’ reactions, asked curiously, “Ye Qiu oppa, what’s yin energy?”
Ye Qiu answered, “Simply put, it’s something unclean.”
Xu Changjin grew more puzzled, “What’s something unclean?”
Seeing she still didn’t understand, Ye Qiu said, “Have you heard of ghosts? Yin energy is something like that.”
“What?”
Xu Changjin’s face paled, fear flickering in her eyes. Instinctively, she moved closer to Ye Qiu, tightly clutching his arm with both hands.
Xu Zhiming noticed this, glanced at Xu Changjin and Ye Qiu, and seemed to understand something.
“Ye Qiu oppa, are you saying there’s a ghost in Grandpa’s house?” Xu Changjin asked nervously.
“If it were just a ghost, that would be easier to deal with. I’m afraid it’s not,” Ye Qiu’s gaze lingered on the space above the villa.
Silently, he activated his Heavenly Eye.
In an instant, Ye Qiu’s vision revealed a thick layer of black mist, like a dark curtain shrouding the villa.
Beyond the yin energy, Ye Qiu sensed a dense aura of death in the black mist.
This meant Xu Changjin’s grandfather didn’t have long to live.
“Uncle Xu, take me to see Old Mr. Xu,” Ye Qiu said, withdrawing his gaze.
“Alright,” Xu Zhiming replied, leading Ye Qiu into the villa.
Upon entering, Ye Qiu was taken aback.
The living room held twenty to thirty people, their attire clearly marking them as doctors.
They greeted Xu Zhiming warmly upon seeing him.
“They’re all doctors my dad hired to treat Grandpa. There are more upstairs, and those are top Korean doctors,” Xu Changjin whispered.
Ye Qiu nodded slightly, acknowledging her words.
He followed Xu Zhiming to the second floor, where, as Xu Changjin had said, a massive living room of several hundred square metres held at least fifty or sixty doctors.
Many of them were white-haired elderly men.
Xu Zhiming paused to exchange a few words with the doctors, then said to Ye Qiu, “These are the top Korean doctors I invited.”
“They’ve been staying here, checking on my father every four hours.”
“I just asked them, and they still haven’t found the cause of my father’s condition.”
“They also said my father likely has only a few days left.”
Tears welled up in Xu Changjin’s eyes at this.
Ye Qiu comforted her, “I’ve always believed that every illness has a cause.”
“Now that I’m here, Changjin, you don’t need to worry.”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
Xu Changjin nodded.
“My father is in the bedroom on the third floor,” Xu Zhiming said, leading Ye Qiu upstairs.
As soon as the bedroom door opened, a wave of yin energy hit them, chilling to the bone.
Xu Changjin shivered, and Song Huixian couldn’t help but shudder.
Such heavy yin energy!
Ye Qiu said, “Changjin, Auntie, you should stay out here.”
“The yin energy in the room is too strong. Staying inside too long isn’t good for your health.”
“Uncle and I are men, with strong yang energy, so we’re not affected by the yin.”
“Alright, we’ll wait here,” Song Huixian said.
Xu Changjin cautioned, “Ye Qiu oppa, be careful.”
“Mm,” Ye Qiu responded, following Xu Zhiming into the bedroom.
Inside were four middle-aged female servants.
“Uncle Xu, have them leave,” Ye Qiu said.
Xu Zhiming waved his hand, and the servants, understanding, bowed and left the room.
Ye Qiu looked towards the bed, where a gaunt-faced elderly man lay.
The man, in his seventies, had his eyes closed, his face ashen.
Ye Qiu activated his Heavenly Eye.
In the next moment, he saw a cluster of deathly energy gathered at the old man’s brow.
“Xiao Ye, this is my father, Xu Yuanzheng,” Xu Zhiming introduced.
Even without the introduction, Ye Qiu would have known.
After all, the only gravely ill person in the bedroom was this elderly man.
Ye Qiu approached the bed, closely observing Xu Yuanzheng. Though unconscious, the old man’s expression was serene, showing no signs of pain.
“Xiao Ye, please examine my father.”
“Mm.”
Ye Qiu sat by the bed, took Xu Yuanzheng’s right wrist, and began checking his pulse.
After a while, Ye Qiu released the wrist and stood up.
“Xiao Ye, my father, he…”
Before Xu Zhiming could finish, Ye Qiu said, “Old Mr. Xu’s pulse is very weak, on the brink of death.”
Xu Zhiming hurriedly asked, “Xiao Ye, have you found the cause of my father’s illness?”
Ye Qiu shook his head, “Apart from a weak pulse, Old Mr. Xu’s body is otherwise completely normal. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, he isn’t actually ill.”
Xu Zhiming was stunned, “Not ill?”
“How is that possible?”
“Xiao Ye, you just said my father is on the brink of death. How could he not be ill?”
“If he’s not ill, why is he in a coma?”
To be honest, Ye Qiu found it puzzling too.
He’d seen many strange conditions, but a case as bizarre as Xu Yuanzheng’s was a first.
What was causing Old Mr. Xu’s coma?
Ye Qiu’s gaze swept the room, then landed on the wall.
The wall was adorned with over a dozen ink paintings.
Ye Qiu walked to one of the paintings and examined it closely.
He noticed the paper was yellowed, exuding an ancient aura, as if they were relics of a bygone era.
Ye Qiu stared at the painting for a moment, then suddenly smashed the frame with a punch.
