When Joohyun woke up from the coma, she was back at the hotel at the foot of the mountain. She groggily got out of bed and opened the heavy floor-to-ceiling curtains of the hotel. It was already dark outside.
Stung by the bright neon lights on the street, she unconsciously squinted, turned around and found her bag on the sofa. She then fished out her phone inside to call her grandfather.
"Are you awake?" The place where Elder Wu was seemed to be a bit noisy, as there was a distinct murmur on the phone.
"Why is it suddenly dark?" Joohyun hadn't sobered up just yet.
"Did you become stupid from your sleep?" Elder Wu said in disgust, "Have you forgotten about the activation of the Soul Gathering Formation?"
"Oh, I remember." Joohyun asked again, "Where are you?"
"Seeing that you're not waking up, I came out to eat. Do you want to come along? It's at a barbecue stall three intersections ahead of the hotel entrance," Elder Wu answered while eating skewers."
"Forget it. By the time I get there, you'd be finished eating. I'll find a place to eat some," Joohyun declined and moved to hang up the phone.
"Girl..."
"Hm?" Joohyun heard Elder Wu call her and put the phone back to her ear.
"When you activated the Soul Gathering Formation you consumed a bit too much spiritual power, do you feel anything wrong now?" Elder Wu asked tentatively.
"No, ah?" Joohyun mobilized the spiritual power in her body. "I feel fine, and my spiritual power has almost recovered."
"That's good. I'll hang up." Elder Wu ended the call and decided not to tell Joohyun what happened in the stone room for the time being.
The reason was simple. If Joohyun remembered, then naturally he didn't need to say anything. If Joohyun didn't, then it wasn't the right time. Well, anyway, he did not want to see that silly girl seek her own death. As for Lisa, weren't they already looking for spiritual artifacts for him? Elder Wu asked the boss for twenty skewers of barbecue without any pressure.
Joohyun washed her face and changed clothes. She used her phone to find a more famous specialty restaurant nearby, intending to go out for dinner. After a day without food, she was now starving.
Restaurant businesses seemed to be particularly thriving. It was already past dinner time, but the restaurants were still full of 60-70% of the guests. It was clear to see that the online reviews of the delicious food there were true.
"Hello, Miss," the waiter greeted enthusiastically.
"For one."
"Is sitting inside alright with you? There is a table for two over there," the waiter asked.
Joohyun nodded indifferently and followed the waiter inside. Halfway there, the waiter nearly bumped into a guest coming down from the second floor. He was leading the way, so he politely turned to the side, so Joohyun bumped into an acquaintance without warning.
"Irin." Lu Ning's voice was of surprise.
"Lu Ning." Joohyun was also a little surprised.
Lu Ning looked at the waiter next to him and asked, "Are you here for dinner?"
"Yeah." Joohyun nodded.
"With friends?" Lu Ning asked.
"No, it's just me," Joohyun replied.
"Then do you want to join me? I've reserved a private room upstairs," Lu Ning warmly invited.
Just when Joohyun hesitated to go up, a girl came running down the stairs and shouted when she saw Lu Ning's back, "Brother Lu Ning, Auntie Lin said not to pick a fish too big. We wouldn't be able to eat a fish too big anyway. Why are you here?"
Yan Xin looked at Joohyun with a hellish expression, and her tone unconsciously rose a few octaves higher.
"Is it strange for me to appear here?" Joohyun raised her eyebrows.
"..." The Profound Spirit Grand Competition was in two weeks, so it was really not strange for Joohyun to appear there.
"Come along, it's no fun to be alone," Lu Ning continued to warmly invite.
"No way." Without waiting for Joohyun's answer, Yan Xin excitedly objected beforehand.
"Xin'er?" Lu Ning looked at Yan Xin disapprovingly, seemingly feeling that her attitude was entirely rude.
Joohyun originally did not want to go, but when she saw Yan Xin's expression, her interest was pricked, and so she nodded and agreed, "Then I'll trouble you."
"It's no trouble, no trouble." Lu Ning then turned his head to the waiter at the side and said, "I'm from room 206 upstairs. Please pick a smaller fish and send it over after steaming."
"Okay." The waiter nodded and turned to leave.
"I'll take you up," Lu Ning said to Joohyun with a smile.
Joohyun nodded and followed behind Lu Ning towards the second floor. Yan Xin, who was behind him, couldn't stop her, was so pissed she stomped her feet in place. Seeing Yan Xin seething like that, she found it somewhat funny, but when she walked into Room 206, she wasn't amused anymore. She regretted it. Why did she have to cut her own nose to spite Yan Xin? The girl was absolutely bent on closing in on her, ah.
"Irin, this is my mother." Lu Ning introduced her to a middle-aged beautiful woman with a gentle temperament on the main seat, "Mom, this is my friend, Joohyun. You can call her Irin, Shi of Irene."
"Irene? Sure enough, you look stunning." Mrs. Lu looked at Joohyun gently.
"Hello, auntie." Joohyun's constitution was reserved at the sight of elders, especially this kind of elder who especially bore a mother-like temperament.
"Sit, take a seat. Don't be formal when we're eating together." Seeing Joohyun's restraint, Mrs. Lu said with a smile.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, we meet again," Yan Wei on the side also greeted Joohyun smilingly.
Joohyun had a better impression of Yan Wei than his sister Yan Xin, so when she heard him greeting her, she also responded politely. Not long after, the waiter came up and added a pair of bowls and chopsticks, after which dishes were served one after another. Everyone chatted while eating.
"Irin, you're also here to participate in the Profound Spirit Grand Competition, right?" Mrs. Lu looked at Joohyun.
"Right." Joohyun nodded obediently.
"Then when the time comes, the four of you can act together. That way, you can take care of each other," Mrs. Lu instructed.
Yan Xin was naturally reluctant, but she couldn't say anything in front of Mrs. Lu. Yan Wei, however, who was at the side said with a smile, "Auntie Lin, you may not know. Among the four of us, Daoist Chen has the highest cultivation. If we participate in the competition together, we will probably drag Daoist Chen down."
"Is that so?" Mrs. Lu looked at Joohyun with some surprise, obviously not expecting that such a thin and young girl would have such a high cultivation level.
"Irin's cultivation level is indeed higher than mine." Lu Ning explained, "Mom, do you still remember what I told you about the Ghost King?"
"Yeah. When you went to Pingcheng to find the Mount Tai Stone for me, you met a Ghost King at the Ghost Market," Mrs. Lu recalled and nodded.
"That's right." Lu Ning laughed, "At that time, the Ghost King appeared suddenly. Grandpa Yan was not able to come over first, and it was Irin who beat the Ghost King away."
"How powerful!" Mrs. Lu's gaze on Joohyun changed to a different shade.
"Okay, okay, let's eat. Aiya, this fish is so delicious." Joohyun was embarrassed by the compliment and could only lower her head and eat desperately.
Mrs. Lu smiled amiably. Knowing that the little girl was shy, she no longer asked questions and just invited, "Eat more if it's delicious."
The bystander Yan Xin noticed that Mrs. Lu liked Joohyun so much as soon as they met and felt a deep sense of crisis. Nonetheless, she couldn't lose her temper and could only poke the dishes with her chopsticks and sulk.
Finally able to eat with peace of mind, Joohyun breathed a sigh of relief and began to lower her head to eat, not to mention, the food here was quite delicious. She must bring her Third Brother to try them in the future.
Although there were countless dishes in the capital, most of them were improved and not so authentic.
"Huh."
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Auntie Lin."
"Auntie."
Panic ensued in the room. Joohyun looked up with a dumbfounded expression, with strips of bok choy still hanging from her mouth, only to see Lu Ning and the Yan siblings, all running in unison to Mrs. Lu's side. Mrs. Lu on the other hand looked pale with her eyes closed, looking very uncomfortable.
"..." What's going on?
Lu Ning checked his mother's condition, and then leaned down to take out an object from Mrs. Lu's neck. He then placed it in a place far away from her.
Mount Tai Stone? Looking at Mrs. Lu's expression again, Joohyun instantly understood why she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Mom, do you feel better?" Lu Ning asked as he removed the Mount Tai Stone while mobilizing his spiritual power to ease the discomfort in his mother's body.
"Much better." After a while, Mrs. Lu gradually relaxed. She smiled apologetically at Joohyun who was sitting across the table. "Scared you, didn't I?"
"It's okay. Auntie, is your soul unstable?" Joohyun asked.
Mother Lu nodded, then patted the three children around her soothingly. She instructed, "Sit back all of you. It's an old problem, yet you are still so worried every time."
"Auntie Lin, you scared me to death just now." Yan Xin wasn't lying. She was still white as a sheet now.
"It's alright, it's an old problem. It's always like this." Mrs. Lu reassured, "If you don't believe me, ask Lu Ning."
Lu Ning was not as optimistic as his mother. He said gloomily, "Mom, it's only been a month. The time is getting shorter and shorter."
"It's okay. Don't tell your father."
"It seems that the Mount Tai Stone won't last long." Lu Ning's face was full of sorrow.
"It should be fine in two to three years." Joohyun casually added a line, and then reached out to clip ribs in the distance. She coldly looked up and found the rest of the four people looking straight at her. She was so scared she had to resist a burp. The ribs in between her chopsticks also almost fell back into the bowl, "Why are you staring at me?"
"Irin, what do you mean by two or three years just now?" Lu Ning asked.
"Aren't you curious about how long the Mount Tai Stone can still help stabilize Auntie's soul?" Joohyun replied.
"Are you saying that the Mount Tai Stone can only support two or three more years?" Lu Ning blanched as he questioned.
"How is that possible? This Mount Tai Stone suppressed a Ghost King. Even my grandfather said that this grade of stone is very powerful. It will definitely have no problem to stabilize Auntie's soul. How can it only last two to three years? Don't you talk nonsense." Yan Xin said with a huff.
"..." Joohyun had no idea where she had provoked this girl. Why did she keep finding a chance to attack her? Joohyun sighed and silently put down her chopsticks. Everyone looked at her. Although she was not full, it was inconvenient to continue eating.
Joohyun originally didn't want to explain, but considering that Lu Ning was her friend, and Mrs. Lu was also nice, she patiently explained: "The power of the Mount Tai Stone is definitely enough, but it's because it's too powerful, so it cannot be used for a long time."
Once Joohyun's words fell, Lu Ning pondered for a moment and suddenly understood somewhat.
"Did Auntie suddenly fall into a coma every once in a while after wearing the Mount Tai Stone, and would only gradually wake up after taking the stone off?" Joohyun asked Lu Ning.
"That's right." When his mother first fell into a coma, he and his father panicked. She fell into a coma for a week, and she couldn't wake up. Then one day his mother suddenly woke up on her own. His father searched for a hundred reasons, only to find that it was the caregiver who forgot to put the Mount Tai Stone back on his mother when she bathed her again.
Although he had no clue what the reason was, he and his father guessed that his mother's coma should be related to the stone. However, because his mother's soul was unstable and she could not leave the stone, he and his father decided to use the stone to help stabilize his mother's soul first, and then take it off when she was unwell.
"Irin, do you know what's going on?" Lu Ning asked.
"You found the Mount Tai Stone for Auntie to control the soul in her body, right?" After seeing Lu Ning's nod, Joohyun continued, "Even if Auntie's soul is unstable, it is essentially the soul of an ordinary human being. How can she withstand the power of the Stone? She suddenly faints because her soul is suppressed by the stone."
"What?" Lu Ning was surprised: "Doesn't the stone only impair evil things?"
The Mount Tai Stone was one of the commonly used magic artifacts in Metaphysics. It could seal a Ghost King during an attack and protect the living when used as a ward. It was a rare magic artifact to ward off evil forces.
"Auntie's unstable soul is an abnormal phenomenon in itself. In addition," Joohyun paused and asked again, "Is Auntie's soul unstable because she died once?"
Joohyun questioned so suddenly that Lu Ning momentarily did not react.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yan Xin was displeased when Joohyun suddenly cursed Mrs. Lu for dying once. She was instantly upset. She was about to say something else, but Yan Wei beside her restrained her with a hand.
Yan Wei was about to get mad at his sister. Her concern for Aunt Lin was laudable, but was this the time for it? Joohyun obviously understood Aunt Lin's condition. Maybe she could find a solution to the sequelae of Aunt Lin's illness, too.
"Yes, when I gave birth to Lu Ning twenty years ago. I had a difficult childbirth." Mrs. Lu smiled and said calmly, "I died once."
Lu Ning also reacted at this time and explained: "Mother gave birth to me two weeks earlier than the expected date of delivery. Father was not at home that day, and Mother accidentally took a tumble when she went to the kitchen and suffered a miscarriage. She gave birth to me. By the time my dad came back from outside, my mom had already breathed her last."
The Yan family siblings were unaware of the incident and were filled with shock.
"Fortunately, my father returned despite that. He went to the Ghost Gate and forcibly grabbed my mother's soul before my mother's vital qi dissipated." Lu Ning said, "Since then, my mother's soul has been unstable."
The author has something to say:
In order to woo his beloved lady, Young Wu sent all good things to the girl.
Young Wu: This is a Vitality Grass. Eating it can protect a dead person's last breath of vital qi before it dissipates.
The Lady: Why are you giving it to me?
Young Wu: Take it. When dying, take a bite, and I'll go to the Underworld to help snatch your soul back.
The Lady snapped in anger: Who are you cursing?