Although Li Xianyu had never seen his father before, he felt a little sad as a son.
"It's all in the past, I don't wish to talk about it anymore," Great-Grandma replied with an expression devoid of excitement.
Evidently, she did not want to reminisce about the events of that year. It must have been a long and emotional story.
Li Xianyu had no choice but to change the topic. He continued to probe, "Great-Grandma, what are you then? Pardon my language, but I can't use any appropriate terms in science to describe you."
Ancient demons and whatnot… They could still be explained by certain theories of science as prehistoric beings. However, you've been dead for over a hundred years… how did you appear here?
"When I was 18, I was cultivated into a war spirit by my family and stored in a pearl. Only members of the Li family are able to summon my spirit. Over these 100 years, I had many great-grandsons. The last one was your dad. You are the newest one. Do you understand?"
"This means that your surname is Li too." Li Xianyu swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he continued to speak, "This means that you're not my great-grandmother. I should address you as Great-Great-Great… Grandma?"
"That sounds atrocious," Great-Grandma said as she frowned, "Great-Grandma sounds better."
Was seniority in the family regarded as such a casual matter?
However, to be frank, it wasn't easy to address your ancestor that lived 150 years ago. Great-Grandma… Let it be then. At least, it sounds better than Great-Great-Great Grandma.
A bout of silence soon followed. Li Xianyu, who had his views on the world thrown into disarray, tried his best to digest newly-acquired knowledge about ancient demon descendants and other objects of fiction.
Prior to this, if anyone had told him stuff about these kinds of things, he would have spat water in their faces.
However, he was unable to deny the reality in front of him. His father's will, the black pearl that made its way into his mouth, as well as him "giving birth" to his great-grandmother...
The signs all pointed to him reshaping his views about the world.
Great-Grandma looked fatigued as she fell asleep on the sofa.
Li Xianyu sat on the side of the sofa as he looked at the young lady whom he called "Great-Grandma". She was a beauty. Her face looked unreal with exquisite features, especially her skin… even the most beautiful woman would have had a few blemishes on her skin. However, hers was fair and flawless.
He could not imagine taking her as his great-grandmother. Maybe with a head of white hair, as well as a few wrinkles, he could.
Unexpectedly, Li Xianyu reached out his hand and caressed his great-grandmother's small cheeks.
Great-Grandma muttered once as she frowned.
That was pretty cute.
The sky slowly began to darken. He had daydreamed for the whole day, up until dinner. He was hungry.
He woke Great-Grandma up and said, "Let's go out and eat, if you need to."
Once she heard about food, Great-Grandma began to regain her energy. She sat up, squinted, and replied, "I want to eat pickled vegetables with meat. It must have a lot of oil."
Li Xianyu remained speechless.
How much did you suffer when you were with my dad?
Li Xianyu patted his chest proudly and proclaimed, "Let's not eat that, Great-Grandma. I'll bring you to a famous restaurant for a treat."
Li Xianyu lived in a commercial residence. Once he exited the building, various shophouses from diners, supermarkets to salons greeted him.
As the saying went, "Shaxian's chicken stew from Lanzhou, one variant is bound to suit you."
Shaxian Delicacies was one of the country's largest restaurant chains. There were three restaurants in this residential estate. Two of them served the chicken stew, while none served the handmade noodles from Lanzhou. Their pace of expansion had slowed. That was something to criticize.
However, Li Xianyu did not really like Lanzhou noodles. He felt that the beef would be blown away easily by the wind.
They sat by the doors of the Shaxian Delicacies.
Li Xianyu and Great-Grandma sat opposite each other. They ordered the set meals of pigeon soup and black chicken soup respectively. Both of them ate until there were tears in their eyes.
Great-Grandma stuffed her mouth with food as she proclaimed happily, "What a great meal, what a great meal! I haven't eaten such a sumptuous feast in many years."
Li Xianyu replied, "Me too, Great-Grandma. For the past half a month, I've been eating instant noodles."
A young couple ran this small eatery. The restaurant owner, who had extremely dark circles, snuck occasional glances at Great-Grandma.
There were a few other customers in the shop who had stopped eating and started staring as well.
The "young" lady looked like a high schooler, but her figure was voluptuous. Her legs were long, her waist slim and her butt perky. Additionally, her face was so beautiful that she could practically get along anywhere with a face like that.
Great-Grandma said, "You and your father are the same. Paupers."
Li Xianyu said, "I'm not a pauper. My foster family is rich. I just spent my money on hotels rooms."
Great-Grandma asked, "Hotel rooms?"
Li Xianyu replied, "It is the equivalent of engaging in sexual activities in the past."
Great-Grandma was shocked. "Little Li, you have a family already?"
Li Xianyu replied, "No, Great-Grandma, times have changed. Marriage is no longer a prerequisite for sex."
After Li Xianyu had moved out, he lived a free, unrestrained life. He often invited girls to hotel rooms to "chat about life and aspirations."
Great-Grandma said, "That's the equivalent of finding prostitutes. Your father had done this before. It's okay, as long as you don't have a wife. You're still an ordinary person who's still in the first step of cultivating his spirit. Instead, I'd be worried if you have a wife now."
"Great-Grandma, I'm a man. Even if I agree, my hormones won't," Li Xianyu answered in an aggrieved tone. He was unsure about cultivation, but judging by what Great-Grandma said, she did not intend to let him touch any more women.
"No worries. Soon, your hormones will agree," Great-Grandma said as she waved her hand.
Li Xianyu was speechless once again.
What does that mean?
He looked at Great-Grandma's hot body and remembered what his biological father had said in his will. Spirit in flesh… As a pure child, he did not understand much.
In the midst of his wild thoughts, a series of whimpers sounded from beside his legs. He looked down and saw a dirty Samoyed dog squatting by the door, staring at him.
It was probably a stray dog. Its fur had turned from white to grey, and was entangled.
"A pug?" Great-Grandma frowned and threw her half-eaten drumstick in front of it.
"Go, go, go!" The lady owner walked over and kicked the pug aside as she cursed, "Should've broken your other leg too."
The pug yelped a few times while limping away, and stopped at the roadside to sit by the tree-laden roadside.
"Great-Grandma, what are you looking at?" Li Xianyu looked at his great-grandmother, who was looking towards the restaurant owner.
"Don't you see?" Great-Grandma replied curiously, before realizing what happened.
"Oh, you haven't been awakened, you can't see it."
Li Xianyu was dazed. "See what?"
Great-Grandma lowered her voice and whispered, "There's a ghost behind the owner."
"Ah?" Li Xianyu turned around and looked at the owner, not seeing anyone near him.
"Great-Grandma, stop joking. There are no ghosts in this world."
Great-Grandma smiled. "Do you want to see them then?"
Li Xianyu nodded without hesitation.
"It's going to sap a bit of your strength," Great-Grandma reminded him.
"No big deal. On the other hand, I want to see what a ghost looks like. Is it as pretty as you?"
Great-Grandma frowned. "I'm not a ghost, I'm a war spirit."
Then, she proceeded to face Li Xianyu's mouth and mimicked a sucking motion as blushing followed on her fair cheeks, making them appear radiant. Next, she placed her finger between Li Xianyu's eyebrows.
Nothing happened initially. However, once her finger had broken contact for three seconds, Li Xianyu's eyes began to heat up. It felt like his eyes were on fire.
Great-Grandma uttered, "Look again."
He turned around and looked towards the owner. His pupils instantly shrank. This time he saw not only the owner preparing some vermicelli, but an old lady in grey behind him, tiptoeing and blowing cold wind onto the owner's neck.
There was no one there just now.
"Turn the temperature up, it's too cold," the owner turned and shouted at his wife, as he prepared his food.
"How can you possibly be cold when you're cooking on such a hot day?" The lady owner muttered to herself, "Are you that weak?"
No one else saw the old lady. The customers were busy eating their own meals, while the lady owner walked around with plates on her hands. They paid no attention to the old lady. This bizarre scene caused Li Xianyu's hairs to stand on end.
At this instant, the old lady seemed to have sensed Li Xianyu staring at her. As she continued to blow cold wind, she turned around menacingly in a 180 degree motion.
Li Xianyu finally saw her face. It was old and wrinkled, while her expression was sombre. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared dead at Li Xianyu.
It was as if the air had solidified.
Li Xianyu's hands trembled slightly. It was June, but he felt unbelievably cold.
"Don't look," Great-Grandma used her hands to cover his eyes as she said in a deep tone. "Don't look directly at her. She will pester you."
We locked eyes and she's the one?
Li Xianyu gulped and nodded. At this instant, the burning sensation in his eyes vanished. Once Great-Grandma had let go, he glanced secretly at the owner's back, only to discover that the old lady had vanished.
"The owner's 'parental senses' on his face are dark. He must have lost a parent recently. The old lady should be his mother," Great-Grandma whispered. "When someone dies, their spirit will remain in the mortal world for seven days. The more she is missed, the longer the spirit will stay. The old lady's eyes are red. This means that she has lingering resentment. Most probably, she had an unfilial son."
"Will the owner die?"
"Nope. Based on her method, he will fall gravely ill for a few days," Great-Grandma continued, "Don't meddle in others' domestic affairs, it's none of our business."
After his "ordeal", Li Xianyu no longer had any more appetite. After he settled the bill, he departed the restaurant swiftly along with his great-grandmother.
"Great-Grandma, is there such a place as Hell?"
"One's death is akin to a lightbulb that has fizzled out. There are no gods or deities."
Great-Grandma shook her head.
That meant no?
Li Xianyu crossed the word "Hell" out of his mind as he gained another insight into the new world. Emotionally, he muttered, "I thought reincarnation existed...ooh…"
Suddenly, he felt like his body was being ripped apart. He clutched his waist as he collapsed on the ground.
This feeling was too familiar. It was kidney overload.
He was barely able to walk straight.
"As I told you, it will sap your essence," Great-Grandma squatted by his side and muttered.
Li Xianyu asked, "Do you have any misconceptions about this?"
Great-grandma was shocked. "The kidneys is where the essence is hidden. Once it fails, the qi and blood will be damaged. A man's health is closely associated with his kidneys. Other then some pain at your waist, what else do you have?"
"No…"
"That's what I thought."
Li Xianyu did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Your meaning of 'essence' is different from mine."
Great-Grandma continued to explain, "I'm a war spirit. War spirits get their source of energy from the people they possess. The stronger they are, the stronger I am. It's the same with an electric fan. You turn it up one notch versus five, the power consumption is different. With your condition now, you're equivalent to about half a notch maximum."
He suddenly remembered his goddamn father's will, stating that his great-grandmother was an energy-sapping spirit.
Was this what he meant after all?