Chapter 00007: Trouble Never Comes Alone (Thanks to the Lord Night with Moonlight)
# Trouble Never Comes Alone (Thanks to the Lord Night with Moonlight)
Chapter 7
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 7: Trouble Never Comes Alone (Thanks to the Lord Night with Moonlight)
In the stillness, only the sound of falling rain could be heard.
Ji Jue stared blankly at everything around him for a long while before collapsing onto the doorstep.
He felt utterly exhausted.
"What the hell is going on here!"
He pried open his stiff fingers, throwing the railing he had been clutching onto the ground.
Looking around, he found the desolate little courtyard still silent.
Luckily, Ji Jue’s home was in a remote area, and the closest neighbors had moved away long ago; otherwise, there would likely have been chaos by now.
Clutching the phone in his hand, he wanted to call the police several times, but each time he started dialing, he suddenly hung up.
Call the police? What would he even say? “An old man barged into my house, ate my boiled chicken, smashed my door and refrigerator, and then tried to eat me?” A corpse? Oh, it turned to ash, lying in the dirt, look for yourself, I am definitely innocent, this was self-defense!
Would that be useful?
For more than a decade, the security budget in Yacheng had been decreasing, and crime was becoming more rampant.
Even the police had become more like caricatures.
It was said that the new governor couldn’t stand it and planned to outsource the police business as soon as he took office.
Moreover… it was all turned to ash.
Ash.
Ji Jue gazed at the two tattered pieces of clothing, sighing helplessly.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
He thought back to how the man had crashed his tricycle into him yesterday, and now he came to bite him… only to suddenly dissolve into ash, gone!
Why?
Just to say, “Brother, you smell good?” And leave a poor kid with a lasting psychological scar?
Had they lost their minds?!
That was not right.
The expressions on that face certainly couldn’t be called sane.
From beginning to end, it was filled with madness, and there was also… a blood-red aura that no ordinary person would have—like it was alive, no, more like a parasite hidden within its body.
What on earth was that thing?
In his confusion and panic, he felt his phone suddenly vibrate.
The cracked screen lit up, revealing a familiar name that left him momentarily stunned, but then he felt a sense of calm wash over him.
Lu Feng!
Brother Feng had served four years in the Middle Land, surviving as a paratrooper in that muddy pit.
Although he never spoke of those past experiences, the dense tattoos and medals he tossed around like toys for his younger siblings told all.
He was certainly experienced in such matters.
“Hello? Brother Feng!”
Ji Jue answered the call, mustering all his courage. “You have to listen to me, I…”
“Xiao Ji, are you free right now?”
Lu Feng’s voice was hoarse over the phone. “Come to Jici Hospital.”
He said, “Mom is in trouble.”
Ji Jue trembled, as if struck by lightning.
Half an hour later, he rushed to the hospital on his small motorbike without bothering to clean himself up.
The hospital was almost packed with people, and temporary beds lined the corridors.
The air was thick with an unpleasant odor, the mustiness lingering even after repeated washes could not be ignored.
Unable to afford a private hospital with its thousands in consultation fees, the common folk could only hope for the public hospitals, which were backed by the charitable Rainbow Light Church.
Amidst the hurried nurses and doctors, Ji Jue finally found Lu Ma outside the consultation room, stumbling through the crowd.
“Ah, it’s nothing serious, just a little bump. That little dog just likes to make a big deal out of nothing,” Lu Ma waved her bandaged hand, squeezing out a carefree smile. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Ji Jue didn’t see his youngest brother or sister; they should be at home doing their homework.
Lu Feng kept his head down, silent, squatting by the door outside and smoking, waiting for the lab reports.
“What happened?”
Ji Jue stared at the bandage on her arm and the bruises on her face, his mind reeling.
The second sister, Lu Ling, was beside her and her eyes were red, endlessly blaming herself, “I should have stayed with Mom at the shop last night. It’s all my fault!”
Lu Ma smacked her on the back of the head. “You? With one more person there, do you think you could have delivered the groceries to a robber? Turned robbery for money into something worse!”
Last night, around midnight, a thief had pried open the door to the repair shop, rummaging through everything.
Lu Feng had gone out to drink with his comrades and hadn’t returned; the second sister was studying while looking after the two younger kids, leaving only Lu Ma to guard the shop.
When she woke up and yelled in anger, grabbing a wrench longer than Ji Jue’s arm, she was ready to fight.
But in the dark, her efforts were in vain, and a blow to the back of her head sent her unconscious, nearly losing her to the thief.
If it hadn’t been for luck, the thief running off had bumped into a late-night food truck—and the old lady there recognized him, who knew where she might have ended up?
God knows how she would have been sold off.
Just thinking about it made Ji Jue shiver and feel cold all over.
“Ah, there’s nothing to worry about, it’s just a little injury.”
Lu Ma patted her chest and shook her arm, thicker than Ji Jue’s thigh. “I’m in good shape, see, I’m still jumping around!”
“It’s good as long as you’re okay.”
Ji Jue didn’t know what to say, he slumped next to Lu Ma, wanting to speak but finding himself unable to.
It felt even more daunting than the fear of his own life being in jeopardy, with no strength left in him.
Over the years, being an orphan without parents and surviving alone in Yacheng was tough enough to not be shared with outsiders.
If it weren’t for Lu Ma caring for him, Ji Jue would have long since turned into nothingness.
Not to mention the skills she taught him in repairing cars… Tianmen University was the top university in Haizhou, part of the federal alliance of five leading schools.
Getting in to change one’s fate was so difficult it felt suffocating.
Without Lu Ma’s relentless support, would Ji Jue, now a promising student at Tianmen, be here today?
What a beautiful dream!
Go to the station and the dock, kid!
Now that he saw that Lu Ma was okay, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, but as he leaned beside her, he suddenly had a chilling reminder.
[Anomalous aura detected, do you wish to absorb it?]
Ji Jue’s smile froze on his face.
With great difficulty, he turned to look at Lu Ma, her pale face still forcing a smile, and swallowed hard.
On Lu Ma, at that moment, as his aura-activated watch lit up, he could vaguely see points of red light beneath the bandages, like mold.
“Lu Ma, it seems some dust has settled on your bandage.” Ji Jue raised his hand and gently touched the bandage, “Let me help you with that.”
A metallic pattern emerged from his palm.
The instant he touched it, every trace of crimson disappeared, and the pattern vanished thereafter.
“Ouch, you child, being so rough…”
Lu Ma gasped in pain.
But soon, her brows unfurled with a smile. “Well, that does feel much better; I don’t feel so heavy-chested anymore. Just now when that little dog applied medicine, it was like I was being killed. Honestly, you need to practice more, that’s not what they taught you in the army…”
“Mom.” The second sister nudged Lu Ma, signaling her to stop talking.
Lu Feng returned with the test report; a slight smile broke through his otherwise gloomy expression.
“It’s fine, Mom, just a minor infection. A couple of shots of antibiotics and a tetanus shot should do. You need to rest at home for a few days. The shop is on me and Xiao Ji.”
Lu Ma obviously wouldn't hear of it.
She was still eager to tidy up the repair shop, and Lu Feng and Lu Ling tried their hardest to persuade her.
Ji Jue joined in, but they couldn’t change her mind.
In truth, none of the four siblings, including Lu Feng, were Lu Ma’s biological children.
Years ago, Lu Ma fell seriously ill, and excessive hormones ruined her health, leaving her never married.
All four children in the shop, including Lu Feng, were picked up from the streets by Lu Ma, who had raised them with unwavering love.
The bond in their family was stronger than that of blood relations.
Unfortunately, aside from the second child, who had just passed the college entrance exam, none of them were academically inclined…
It was no wonder why Lu Ma treated Ji Jue, who worked part-time, so preciously.
Ever since he arrived, her blood pressure no longer shot up over the little one’s math and language scores.
After all these years, she had truly come to see them as family, never treating Ji Jue as an outsider.
Now that Lu Ma agreed to rest for a few days, Ji Jue breathed a sigh of relief.
Once they had finished persuading, Lu Ling took the list to fetch the medicine while Lu Feng exchanged glances with Ji Jue.
The two excused themselves to head outside for a smoke, standing beneath the eaves while listening to the rain pour.
Ji Jue didn’t touch alcohol or cigarettes, unlike Lu Feng, who was a heavy smoker, a bad habit he had picked up in the army.
“Thanks for running this errand.” Lu Feng expressed his gratitude. “I’ve been flustered since morning, it’s all been a mess, and my mind is blank.”
“Stop with the niceties.” Ji Jue shot him a glance, not saying much, but asked, “Have the police found any leads?”
“No,”
Lu Feng shook his head. “Hoping for those useless officers, ha… They tell us to go home and wait. The license plate is fake, and there are white delivery vans everywhere in the North District; we can’t find anything at all.”
“Is there any surveillance?”
“There’s some in the shop, but it didn’t capture their faces. Outside, the cameras have mostly been decorative for years, most are broken.”
“…”
In the silence, Ji Jue glanced at his watch and after a long pause suddenly suggested, “I’ll go check the shop. There might be some clues left behind.”
“Along the way, tidy up a bit; otherwise, Mom will definitely not sit still. Fix what can be repaired; if something can’t be fixed, don’t tell her, just quietly throw it away. Otherwise, she’ll be upset,” Lu Feng patted his shoulder, pulling him in for a hearty hug. “Thanks for your hard work, I’ll replace your computer with a new one later.”
Ji Jue rolled his eyes, clearly not buying it. “You just want a new computer to play games, don’t you?”
“Hahaha, you hit the nail on the head.”
Lu Feng grinned as he flicked away the cigarette butt and tossed the car keys to the second sister. “You’ll drive Mom back home later. The house will rely on you for the next two days.”
“Ah?” Lu Ling looked dazed, staring wide-eyed, “What about you?”
Lu Feng kept his head down, merely waving his hand. “I’ll go ask a few friends to see if they’ve seen anything and won’t come back tonight.”
“……Xiao Feng!”
As he turned to leave, Lu Ma suddenly raised her voice, wanting to say something, but as she saw him looking back, she opened her mouth but hesitated again.
Only this time, she didn’t call him by his nickname.
Lu Feng smiled, waving his hand.
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’m just asking around.”
He turned and disappeared into the rain.
Half an hour later, Ji Jue raised his hand and pulled up the metal shutter of the repair shop.
The sight that greeted him was one of utter devastation.
From the counter to the shelves, everything had been overturned.
It was far from the casual mention Lu Ma had made; it was clearly a… life-and-death struggle of epic proportions!
Ji Jue pulled down the shutter again, walking toward the counter.
That evil old man, the strange blood color, the inexplicable attack.
There were too many things that he could not comprehend.
There had to be some traces left behind.
(End of Chapter)