Chapter 278: There Are Gains and Losses
By the end of her sentence, Mrs. York couldn’t help but start crying softly. It was clear Mr. York’s condition was now extremely serious.
Mr. Lewis’s expression changed slightly as he cast a pleading look at Arabella.
"Thankfully, you came in time. He can still be saved. As long as we sever your connection to the child and help its spirit move on, the Yin energy afflicting Mr. York will gradually dissipate. Afterward, he just needs to get more sun and eat some nourishing food to recover."
"...Sever our connection to it?" Ms. Cain’s face turned deathly pale, and she swayed slightly on her feet.
Mrs. York, on the other end of the line, seemed to hear the commotion and asked what was going on.
Mr. Lewis wasn’t in a position to explain everything, so he simply offered a few words of comfort before hanging up. He then stepped forward and took his wife’s gently trembling hand.
"When you talk about severing our ties with this child, you mean..."
"This child is your own flesh and blood. It was turned into a ’little ghost’ by your brother to increase both of your fortunes. Now, they’re using it for this kind of malicious, life-threatening deed. The resentment and Yin energy on the little ghost have reached a critical level. If you let this go on, once that resentment and Yin energy completely devour its consciousness, it will turn on you two."
Arabella had mentioned this to them before, and they both nodded in understanding.
"The best solution right now is to awaken its consciousness as quickly as possible. We need to make it realize that the ones who did this to it weren’t its birth parents, but someone else. This will dispel the resentment in its heart and allow it to be freed. However, to awaken its consciousness, we must first sever the bond of sustenance between you. The only reason your brother was able to create this ’little ghost’ in the first place was by relying on your shared bloodline..."
"So, you’re saying that once you’ve taken care of this, it will no longer have any connection to us?"
"Strictly speaking, yes, that’s correct."
Ms. Cain stared at the object in the wooden box for a long moment. In the end, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She turned and buried her face in her husband’s embrace, crying silently.
Mr. Lewis’s eyes grew red as well. He tilted his head back, fighting to keep his tears from falling.
"There is one other problem."
"What problem?"
"They raised this ’little ghost’ for the purpose of increasing your fortune. If we sever your connection to it and help it move on, your finances will be affected. You may even suffer a backlash, resulting in certain business crises."
For every gain, there is a loss. Many things in this world have their prices marked well in advance. If you want something, you must pay the price.
Mr. Lewis’s brother and his family had planned to place the cost squarely on Mr. Lewis and his wife, reaping the rewards without any of the work. What Arabella intended to alter was this very chain of cause and effect.
The little ghost’s resentment would be redirected to his brother’s family. However, it was also a fact that Mr. Lewis and his wife had reaped financial rewards over the years because of the ghost. Even with the threat to their lives eliminated, some debts still had to be paid.
The couple, however, remained quite calm upon hearing this. Compared to severing their blood ties with the child, this was a minor issue that hardly fazed them.
"The money we gained from this child’s suffering... it feels wrong even to hold it. We’re both able-bodied. Even if we go bankrupt, we can earn it all back, bit by bit. We were the ones who owed this child from the very beginning. We failed to protect him as his parents. If we can’t repay our debt in this lifetime, we can only hope we have a chance to make it up to him in the next."
Arabella breathed a sigh of relief. Not many people could remain so clear-headed when faced with financial loss. If the two of them had still been worried about a few paltry sums at a time like this, she wouldn’t have left them to die, but she would have found it deeply distasteful.
Fortunately, their actions matched their words; they truly loved the child as much as they appeared to.
"In that case, we’ll proceed as I said. First, we’ll help the child’s spirit move on, and then we’ll restore your original fates."
Ms. Cain said nothing. With tears welling in her eyes, she stepped forward and stroked the little one inside the box. A tear slid down her cheek and fell onto the little one’s head, vanishing into the black mass in the blink of an eye.
Everyone present fell silent as they watched. No one would dare disturb a mother saying a final farewell to her child.
A few moments later, Ms. Cain wiped the tears from her face and straightened her back, her gaze filled with an unprecedented resolve.
"We’re counting on you."
Arabella nodded. Guiding resentful spirits was part of her daily practice back on the mountain. This ’little ghost’ hadn’t yet been tainted by bloodshed. Though it held resentment, it was far from the level of true hatred, so it couldn’t be considered a malicious spirit. Helping it pass on would be much easier.
As she closed her eyes and began to chant, streams of golden runes, invisible to the naked eye, flowed into the little ghost’s dark form. They pierced through the black miasma, gradually enveloping its small body.
A moment later, a small figure, shrouded in a faint golden glow, finally tore free from the inky husk that had bound it so tightly and floated out of the box.
Sensing a change, Arabella opened her eyes. Her gaze fell upon the translucent figure of a chubby child. It was difficult to see clearly in the sunlight streaming in from outside, but she could still sense that it was an exceptionally beautiful and lovely child. ’If Mr. Lewis and Ms. Cain’s baby had been born,’ she thought, ’he probably would have looked just like this.’
Arabella stared at the spectral form for a long moment, then took a deep breath. Pointing to Ms. Cain and Mr. Lewis, she said, "Do you see them? They are your birth parents, and they have always loved you. You were simply fated to be connected, but not to be a family. You couldn’t be together because of a wicked person’s scheme. It’s not your fault, and it’s not their fault."
The child’s amber eyes darted about, studying the couple with a hint of curiosity.
The moment Arabella began to speak, Ms. Cain froze, as if struck by a sudden realization. By the time Arabella finished, Ms. Cain could no longer contain her emotions. "He’s here, isn’t he?" she asked, her voice trembling. "My poor child... he’s right here with us, isn’t he?"
"My baby, it’s Mommy. Mommy’s so sorry, I didn’t protect you. I had no idea you were so close to me all these years... that you suffered so much..."
Ms. Cain trailed off, breaking into sobs once more. Arabella, however, noticed that the small child’s form was growing more and more transparent.
He was a lingering spirit and couldn’t remain in the mortal realm for long. The physical husk had previously served to shield him, temporarily concealing his presence from the forces of heaven.
Now that he had broken free from that husk, he was liberated, but had also lost the justification for remaining.
"You can pass on peacefully now. They will be fine. And the ones who harmed you will soon face their retribution."
It was impossible to know if the little child understood. He simply stared intently at the couple holding each other for support, and then he smiled. He floated gently before them and reached out a hand to touch Mr. Lewis’s shoulder. Then, bracing himself on it, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Ms. Cain’s forehead.