TRYMBPIETM 84: Revival of All Things (5)

Chi Qingning was also very confused.

In his impression, Chi Qingzhou’s room should have been on the first floor.

He didn’t remember the exact location, but it was either the maid’s room or the storage room.

When Chi Qingzhou went upstairs earlier, he thought it was some special arrangement by his dad, but who knew that Chi Qingzhou was actually heading to the third floor.

Chi Qingning was no less shocked than Fu Wenan.

He shrank back slightly and instinctively glanced at Fu Wenan, whose expression was also uneasy, suddenly feeling that tonight, things at the Chi family might not be so peaceful.

…

The third floor of the Chi family villa only had three suites.

The room in the center was once used by Grandpa Chi and his wife, while the room on the west side had been the bedroom of Grandpa Chi’s younger sister, Chi family aunt.

The room on the far east side had been vacant for a long time, until Chi Qingzhou returned to the Chi family, at which point it became Chi Qingzhou’s room.

Chi Qingzhou opened the door to the east suite and gestured for Wu Qi to go in.

Wu Qi gave a low bark and walked elegantly into her little friend’s room.

Out of instinct, she quickly scanned and sniffed the room.

It was very clean, not a speck of dust, and the air carried a faint fragrance of jasmine, probably from a special air freshener.

Based on the scent concentration, it seemed that the maid probably used the air freshener yesterday and had only done basic cleaning today.

Wu Qi’s gaze swept around the room and soon noticed a scent candle on a storage cabinet in the corner.

It looked somewhat familiar.

“Woof woof.”

She tilted her head and curiously asked her friend whether this candle was the same as the one it had once been given.

Chi Qingzhou wasn’t very clear about it and took a while to recall the incident.

“It’s from that batch. I had ordered for each of my friends, but a few of them weren’t very friendly, so some ended up left over.”

He smiled gently as he spoke. “I quite like this scent, so I kept some for myself.”

System: 【…】

So, Host, what happened to those not-so-friendly friends of yours?

Wu Qi seemed to have adapted well. She wagged her tail and nodded in satisfaction.

The Chi family’s maids were really good people.

It seemed that Zhou Zhou had been living quite well at the Chi family. Not only did he have his own suite, but his family also hadn’t forgotten to keep his room tidy, indicating that they still cared about him.

Now that he thought about it, the praise Chi Qingning had given earlier seemed more believable.

Wu Qi jumped onto the sofa and sat down, her hostility toward Chi Qingning again decreasing.

Chi Qingzhou walked around the room, found a small kettle in the suite, and poured some warm water for Wu Qi.

Wu Qi thanked him, drank a couple of sips, and then curiously asked, “Woof woof? Woof woof woof.”

Zhou Zhou, why did you suddenly decide to live here? Aren’t you not interested in these people from the Chi family?

Chi Qingzhou sat across from Wu Qi with a gentle smile. “I really don’t like this villa, but my dad, mom, and older brother have left some things with me for a long time, so it’s about time I return them.”

Wu Qi tilted her head in confusion. “Woof??”

Chi Qingzhou reassured him, “Don’t worry, it won’t affect me.”

It was probably because his fate was truly special that the misfortune of most of the Chi family gathered around him.

Whether it was the bloodline curse from Fan Tao and Chi Xiaoyuan, or the simple bad luck from people like Chi Jianming, they all gathered around Chi Qingzhou in the same manner.

He shifted his gaze.

The walls of the third floor villa were gradually soaking with damp marks, with eye-shaped mildew spots slowly growing, their pupils blurred, resembling a unique species submerged under water.

The shadow beneath his feet flickered, and a pair of peach blossom eyes identical to his quietly turned, curiously observing the room.

Wu Qi wasn’t at all surprised by the change in his shadow.

She was one of the few friends who had faced both of Chi Qingzhou’s souls, and it had a clear understanding of his abilities.

In her view, the amount of power Chi Qingzhou was leaking now was really nothing.

Compared to all this, it was more curious about the things Chi Qingzhou said he needed to do.

“Woof?” How sure are you about this?

Chi Qingzhou smiled. “A hundred percent sure.”

Back when he was in Yinping Village, the system had given him a mission reward, and he had observed the system’s method of power operation.

He clearly saw that the bad luck that eventually landed on Chi Shuhong was actually extracted from him.

In other words, the system couldn’t create something out of nothing.

What it could do was find something and move it to another place.

The bad luck worked like that, and so did other rewards.

Chi Qingzhou pondered. His plan from three years ago to attract the system to this world might have had something to do with this.

He had used the curse to enter Jingming Mountain’s Grand Tomb, and after everything was over, he had taken Xing Shuangzhan’s body. Eventually, he would find a way to clear the curse and misfortune on him.

Since the altar in Jingming Mountain was used to clear curses, the system’s power route was obviously meant to return the bad luck.

Chi Qingzhou smiled happily, his eyes narrowing.

【I happen to have one more mission reward I haven’t collected. Tonight, this reward should come in handy, right?】

The confused system: 【…Ah??】

Chi Qingzhou smiled without speaking, giving no indication that he intended to clarify things for the system.

Wu Qi tilted her head and observed Chi Qingzhou for a while, confirming that he wasn’t forcing himself, and without hesitation, believed his judgment.

She elegantly ate the snack that Chi Qingzhou had brought for her, then toured the bedroom, feeling quite content before following Chi Qingzhou downstairs.

Chi Qingzhou stepped on his shadow and, amid the laughter of Xing Shuangzhan, held onto the handrail of the stairs. He smiled as he looked toward the dining room on the first floor.

“At this time, Dad and my brother should be off work by now, right?”

He hoped to see everyone in the dining room soon.

After all, only if everyone was present would things go more smoothly for what he needed to do tonight.

…

When Chi Qingzhou and Wu Qi walked into the dining room, everyone except for Fan Tao was already seated at the table.

Including Chi Shuhong, whom he had met at the hospital before.

As soon as Chi Jianming and Chi Xiaoyuan came home, they heard from Chi Qingning that Chi Qingzhou had returned, so they were mentally prepared and greeted him with smiles.

But when Chi Shuhong saw Chi Qingzhou, his expression turned completely shocked.

He almost shook with fear, his eyes full of panic as he asked, “Second… Second nephew, why are you back today?”

As soon as he said that, he realized he had misspoken and quickly added, “I mean, why didn’t you say in advance so the family could prepare?”

Chi Qingzhou answered lightly, “I’ve been busy with work recently, it’s been a long time since I came back. I thought it was time to visit.”

Chi Shuhong awkwardly smiled, “I see.”

Chi Qingzhou told the nanny to bring over an extra chair, naturally walking to the main seat at the dining table and asking the nanny to place the chair for Wu Qi.

After doing all this, he turned around and looked at Chi Shuhong with a smile in his eyes, his tone curious.

“Uncle, didn’t you move into the temple? Why are you back today?”

Chi Shuhong laughed nervously like a chicken whose throat had been squeezed, not daring to answer.

He certainly couldn’t let Chi Qingzhou know that he had returned to meet the master the Chi family worshipped.

Fortunately, Chi Qingzhou didn’t pursue the matter and quickly turned to ask Chi Xiaoyuan.

“Brother, I heard you’ve been working overtime at the company recently? Work is never-ending, but you should pay attention to your health.”

Chi Xiaoyuan’s fingers tightened under the table, but his expression remained calm, “Got it, Qingzhou, you should take care of your health too.”

Chi Qingzhou nodded in agreement, his gaze shifting to Chi Jianming. Chi Jianming immediately showed concern for him, making him look like a good father at first glance.

But after paying closer attention to Chi Jianming’s tone, something seemed off.

The posture, the choice of words, all felt overly cautious, and even had a hint of fear that Chi Jianming didn’t seem to be aware of.

At this moment, Chi Jianming felt more like a grandson trying to please than a father.

Meanwhile, Chi Qingning silently watched this absurd scene, not only doing nothing to stop it but also feeling relieved that it wasn’t him in this situation.

Fu Wenan, sitting at the guest seat, couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched this strange scene unfold.

Wasn’t the Chi family supposed to look down on Chi Qingzhou?

Why were they acting so carefully around him?

And why was Chi Qingzhou sitting at the main seat, with the Chi family members acting as if it was normal?

What had he missed in the past few months? How had the Chi family changed like this?

Fu Wenan was puzzled, and the system couldn’t figure out this change either.

【Host, I remember the Chi family’s attitude toward you wasn’t exactly…】

It couldn’t be called disdain, but they certainly didn’t treat the host like a person.

【Uh, why do they suddenly have so much tact?】

Chi Qingzhou slowly blinked, naturally responding, 【Maybe because they can feel my kindness?】

System: 【…】

Chi Qingzhou had no intention of clarifying things for the system, smiling as he scanned the table and felt that today, the Chi family seemed rather pleasant.

It seemed that under his influence, they had all become kinder.

Chi Qingzhou picked up his chopsticks and took the first bite, prompting the rest of the Chi family to begin eating.

Fu Wenan’s fingers trembled, nearly dropping his chopsticks.

The Chi family let Chi Qingzhou start eating first?

What position did Chi Qingzhou hold in the Chi family? Why couldn’t he understand anything about this?

He once again deeply questioned his life.

It wasn’t until then that the Chi family, who had instinctively feared Chi Qingzhou, realized something was wrong with their behavior.

Why had they let Chi Qingzhou sit at the head of the table?

Why had they unconsciously bowed their heads to him?

They hadn’t seen Chi Qingzhou much in the past few months, so why did they feel such deep obedience to him?

When they had last seen Chi Qingzhou at the hospital, they had mostly felt annoyed with him, right?

Their hearts raced as they instinctively looked up, only to see the shadow on the floor.

At some point, it had covered the entire floor of the dining room.

The irregular shadow swayed gently, resembling a massive creature emerging from the deep sea, curiously observing them.

A chill ran down their spines as their faces turned pale.

Forgotten memories clamored in their minds, and for a few seconds, they almost recalled what had happened in the past three years.

But Fu Wenan’s chopsticks suddenly falling interrupted their thoughts.

Fu Wenan lowered his head, drenched in cold sweat.

“What… What is this on the floor?”