"Dad, I was wrong! I truly realize my mistake!" Su Mingxuan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, fervently begging for forgiveness.
Memories came rushing back—he had nearly strangled his own father!
He couldn't comprehend how he had become so bewitched, willing to do anything for that girl.
"I won't do it again, Dad… You can punish me however you want…"
"So you realize you were bewitched? You knew that woman was strange, yet you didn't care, giving in to your desires!" Su Liguo's disappointment was palpable; he was at his wit's end with this son.
"As a father, it's my fault for failing to raise you properly."
"My life may not matter, but if this had destroyed the entire Su family…"
Overcome by anger, Su Liguo clutched his chest, visibly distressed.
Seeing this, Lu Fei stepped forward to console him, "Mr. Su, please, take care of your health. If I may, not everything is Su Gongzi's fault. That little snake targeted him from the very start."
"Flies only swarm eggs with cracks. If he hadn't been so weak-willed, would that creature have latched onto him?" Su Liguo shook his head bitterly.
"That's not entirely fair. Evil objects have a powerful ability to cloud minds—how many people can resist? Even Master Yang, a seasoned practitioner, fell under its spell."
"In fact, Su Gongzi is as much a victim as anyone. The mother-child snake pair didn't just want to become human; they wanted to procreate, which naturally required a partner."
"And as it happened, Su Gongzi was born in the year of the snake."
"Now, with the Snake Mother gone, the little snake's instinct for revenge would have driven it to manipulate him by any means."
Su Mingxuan looked at Lu Fei in shock, not expecting anyone to speak in his defense.
"Even so, it doesn't excuse his actions!" Su Liguo's tone remained unforgiving.
"I also share the blame," Lu Fei admitted. "I should have been more thorough when I first examined the snake skins."
"It's not on you, Little Lu. If this disgrace of a son had come clean earlier, none of this would have happened tonight. But he kept quiet through it all!"
Su Liguo let out a heavy sigh, his disappointment clear.
He'd sensed something was wrong when he heard that woman's laughter, but Su Mingxuan hadn't been honest with him.
Su Liguo had once placed high hopes on his son, keeping his expectations rigorous in the belief that his son would one day lead the Su family. But his son's weak character had shattered that dream.
It wasn't the attack itself that hurt him—it was the realization that his son's selfish indulgence had nearly endangered the entire family.
All the wealth and luxury had, in the end, cultivated a failure.
A sense of utter defeat enveloped him, one that not even the worst business setbacks could evoke.
"Get out. I don't want to see you anymore!" He waved his hand, gesturing for Su Mingxuan to leave.
"Dad…"
Su Mingxuan trembled, his eyes welling up with tears.
But Su Liguo merely looked away, his face icy.
Realizing the gravity of his mistake, Su Mingxuan staggered out, dejected.
"Little Lu, sorry you had to witness such family shame," Su Liguo said, offering a weary smile.
"Mr. Su, as an outsider, it's not my place to say much. But all this began because of an evil object, and perhaps the Su family shouldn't turn on each other. You shouldn't blame each other for the sake of the ones who plotted against you; seeing you divided is precisely what they want."
With that, Lu Fei excused himself and headed downstairs, where a driver was waiting to take him home.
As the car moved, Lu Fei finally allowed himself to relax.
The mother-child snake had been dealt with.
Fortunately, he'd made it in time, and the Su family was safe.
He would take tonight's lesson to heart—never handle an evil object without thoroughly understanding it.
He'd been lucky this time, but what about the next?
Back at the pawnshop, Lu Fei felt a sense of relief as he drifted into sleep.
It wasn't until noon the next day that Liu Fugui called back.
"Hey, Little Lu! Sorry, I slept right through it last night and missed your call. What did you need?"
"Nothing. Just don't bother me; I'm sleeping." Lu Fei snapped, ending the call abruptly. If he had waited for Liu Fugui's response, it would have been too late.
Liu Fugui, left bewildered, decided not to call again.
After resting and grabbing a quick bite, Lu Fei took out the mother-child snake skins for further study.
The little snake's powers of seduction seemed even stronger than the Snake Mother's.
This pair of snake skins was likely more than a tool for attraction or bewitchment; their effects could extend far beyond that…
Evil objects could harm or help, depending on their true nature.
Deciding to keep the snake skins, Lu Fei sensed they might hold unique potential.
He put the skins into a cloth bag, then took out a very old key and made his way to the storeroom at the back of the shop.
The storeroom housed all the evil objects collected by the Evil Pawnshop since its inception.
Previously, his grandfather had managed the storeroom and hadn't allowed him inside, so Lu Fei had no idea how many items were stored here.
As he turned the key, dust fell, and the heavy door swung open.
Rows of neatly arranged, ancient-looking shelves greeted him.
Inside, the storeroom was divided into two sections.
The shelves on the left held "dead-pawned" objects, which were permanently owned by the shop, while those on the right held "live-pawned" objects, awaiting redemption by their original owners.
He placed the mother-child snake skins on an empty spot on the left, labeled it with the date, and looked around before wandering over to the live-pawned section.
If an item wasn't redeemed by its due date, it would become the shop's property and move to the dead-pawned section.
Lu Fei had expected few items in the live-pawned section but was surprised to see a dozen or so, each labeled with precise dates and conditions.
One item, in particular, caught his attention—it had been pawned for over a century and wasn't yet due for redemption.
Intrigued, Lu Fei opened the box, and a chill emanated from within. Resting inside was a single, pale human finger bone.
Just looking at the bone made his skin crawl, as though it harbored an unspeakable terror. Lu Fei quickly closed the box.
Moving on, he examined the other items.
One box held a black oil-paper umbrella.
Another contained seven strange nails.
One was a jar of unknown liquid.
The collection was as diverse as it was eerie.
Lu Fei read each label carefully. Some items had decades left before redemption, while others had only a few months.
The soonest due was the black oil-paper umbrella, with just over ten days remaining.
"Do people actually come back for these things?"
Curiosity piqued, Lu Fei looked around a bit longer before returning to the dead-pawned section to select a protective item.
After all, he had promised Xie Yao he would find something to safeguard her.