To Raise a Soul 55.1

They rushed to the school as fast as they could. On their way, Bu Lian called to say that the teachers and school guards now had the situation under control. However, Yin Le had a gash on his arm which was around 5 cm long, and he was currently getting bandaged in the infirmary.

Hearing the news, Yu Zhen grew even more anxious. Heat grew in his body in waves, elevating along with his emotions.

As soon as the car stopped at the school gates, Yu Zhen tried to get out, but he was met with locked doors. Flustered, he turned to Yin Yan and said, “Yin Yan, why… mmph.”

He was fed a pill, and the chaos in his mind promptly died down. As a result, the feverish feeling which had mysteriously appeared became more obvious.

Blankly, Yu Zhen looked down at himself, not understanding what was going on with his body.

“Your blood perception was activated.” Yin Yan moved his hand over and wrapped a silver thread around Yu Zhen’s wrist. He used spiritual energy to connect the ends. With certainty, he continued, “Your blood relative exists in this school. Your blood is calling out to them.”

The moment that the silver thread was fastened around his wrist, the heat in his body cooled and his nerves relaxed.

Yu Zhen was shocked by his words. “But my only relative is Grandpa. Because of an accident, my Mom and Dad have already…”

With his words half-spoken, he suddenly remembered the illusion he had seen when he first entered the Way. His mouth hung open and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

The death of his parents was told to him by his grandfather. He had firmly believed in his words, but the current circumstance told him something else. Grandpa’s words might not be true. And in those illusions, I saw my parents abandon me.

If those visions are real… his heart tightened and his emotions went into disarray.

I had already thought it through. Even if my parents really did abandon me, it’s fine. Grandpa was the only close relative in my heart. No one else has anything to do with me.

However, thinking about the issue was one thing, but actually crossing paths with the other person was something else entirely. With his level of life experience, he couldn’t remain calm and indifferent.

Yin Yan touched his face, making sure that his blood perception had been sealed and wouldn’t attract evil towards him. Then he let go and stepped out of the car. Going around the front of the car, he made his way to Yu Zhen’s side and helped him out. He comforted, “Don’t think too deeply about it. You’re a remnant soul and your natal chart ^[1] is special. You have no predestined affinity with your blood relatives. It is merely a part of your fate. Even if you run into them, you don’t need to care too much about them. Treating them like strangers is good enough. Let’s go find Xiao Le first. There must be a reason for your blood perception to have awakened so suddenly. It probably has something to do with Xiao Le’s incident.”  

It could only be because both parties in the incident had some connection with him that his reaction would be intense and beyond simply affecting his mood.

… no predestined affinity. 

Yu Zhen’s mind was fixed on that one phrase as he passively let Yin Yan hold his hand and lead the way. He suddenly recalled his grandpa’s reading of his fortune – family relations will be severed.

From the moment that I was born, I was destined to have no connections with my family.

My situation is as he predicted. I have no mom or dad, nor do I have brothers or sisters. But the heavens were still quite generous to me. Although I didn’t have blood relatives at my side, I had Grandpa, a non-blood relative, to protect me and raise me up.

And now I also have the Yin family.

As his heart slowed to a steady pace, Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan who walked in front of him. He gripped the hand which held his and walked faster. “I wonder how Yin Le is doing right now. Let’s go to the infirmary to see him.” 

The person who led the way and the person being led swapped positions. Yin Yan sensed Yu Zhen’s resolve and squeezed his hand. [next] 

The infirmary was crowded. Security personnel stood at the outermost layer; the doctors and nurses were closer to the center; the teachers and the involved students were in the center of the room. These groups of people took up all the space in the infirmary, making it impossible for any others to enter.

When Yu Zhen and Yin Yan reached the doorway, they heard Yin Le’s energetic voice which did not give away any signs of an injury.

“Teacher, he stole my things first! He wouldn’t admit it and wanted to run away so I had no choice but to grab him! I didn’t mean to start anything!”

The low voice of another boy responded, full of indignation and ridicule. “What’s so great about a damn wooden sword? Why would I want to steal it? I said I happened to pick it up. ‘Happened to pick it up’, do you understand? If I knew what would happen, I wouldn’t have returned the sword back to you. Seriously, good intentions aren’t rewarded.”

“Good intentions from you? So you used good intentions to substitute the sword with a fake? To have such a convincing fake, you must have been eyeing it for a long time! And you dare say you didn’t steal it! Lin Zouwei, you bastard, give my wooden sword back! Give it back!”

“What do you mean ‘real’ and ‘fake’? How long are you going to be a pest? Teacher, look, he wants to hit me.”

“So what if I want to hit you! You thief! Shameless liar! If I didn’t hit you, you’d run off with my sword! You dare to keep saying it wasn’t planned?! To steal after the exams, when we have to part ways, you’re despicable!”

“Yin Le, are you done? Don’t make me hit you again.”

“The one who doesn’t dare throw a punch is the grandson. Come on, let’s see who’s scared of who!”

“Fuck, you…”

The taunts and the teachers’ commands to stop rang out together. Yin Yan released Yu Zhen’s hand. Having itched to run in as soon as he had heard Yin Le’s voice, Yu Zhen rushed in. Using his cultivator’s agility, he squeezed through the crowd and made it to the center of the room and shouted, “Xiao Le! Don’t fight! Don’t aggravate your injury!” 

Yin Yan watched as Yu Zhen inadvertently used a simpler version of Reduction to an Inch to move through the crowd. Then he walked towards Yu Zhen.

Hearing Yu Zhen’s voice, Yin Le immediately did as the teacher commanded, and separated from Lin Zouwei. He glared at the boy before pushing away the teacher’s hand. As he moved in the direction of Yu Zhen’s voice, he looked for something to cover up the bandages on his arm.

Bu Lian frowned and muttered, “Now you’re scared? You weren’t bothered at all when you were fighting. Don’t try to hide it. Only a blind person would miss such a big piece of gauze.” 

Yin Le quietly retorted, “That wasn’t fighting, it was a delaying tactic.” As he spoke, he pulled up the thin blanket on an infirmary bed. However, his attempt at hiding the issue only made it more conspicuous.

The delaying tactic brought them all the way to the infirmary. What a ferocious tactic.

Angered, Bu Lian looked away from him and didn’t want to talk to him anymore, not even to scold him that it was a dumb move.

The teacher had also heard Yu Zhen. With the arrival of family members, the teacher breathed a sigh of relief and shooed away the extra people lingering in the room. Then the teacher invited the family to join them.

Yu Zhen had barged into the inner circle. He fixed his eyes on Yin Le and ignored the beseeching look aimed at him. With a stiff expression, he eyed Yin Le from top to bottom, then stepped closer and mercilessly yanked away the thin blanket covering him.

Yin Le: “…”

“Hehe,” Bu Lian sneered.

“Yu Ge, I can explain.” Yin Le became uneasy at the expression directed at him. With a guilty conscience, he reached out to pull his own sleeve down. 

Yu Zhen brushed away his hand and frowned. “Don’t move. Is the wound deep? What did the doctor say? Will it scar?”

“It’s alright. A scar is a man’s medal. Yu Ge you don’t need to…”

Meeting Yu Zhen’s disapproving look, Yin Le swallowed down his bravado-filled words of consolation. He smiled and replied, “It’s not deep, it’s not deep at all. It’s only an accidental scratch from a bag’s zipper. I won’t even need a single stitch. After applying medicine for a few days, it’ll be fine.” 

Bu Lian kicked the trash can, shifting it closer to Yu Zhen. In the trash can lay the replaced bandages which were a shocking, bloody sight.

Yu Zhen’s expression visibly changed as Yin Le frowned and turned to look at Bu Lian. 

Bu Lian rolled her eyes.

Standing at the side, Lin Zouwei appeared disgusted at the scene and muttered, “Have you had enough of making eyes at each other yet? How long do you want to perform this sweet family drama? Isn’t it sickening?” 

Yu Zhen frowned and looked at him.

Noticing his gaze, Lin Zouwei looked back provocatively and coldly huffed.

Angered again, Yin Le wanted to get up and beat him again. However, after taking only one step, Yin Yan grabbed his shoulder, holding him back.

Objectively speaking, Lin Zouwei’s appearance was quite good. Compared to Yin Le who’s frame was wider, he was more frail-looking and slightly shorter, and his facial features were softer. With a beautiful face shape and fashionable clothes, he was very eye-catching.

On top of that, he looked rather familiar.

Yu Zhen recalled the case of the cat demon and the bad-tempered youth who hung around Bu Lian’s neighborhood pestering her. Yu Zhen quickly determined that this was the same person. After the youth’s change into summer clothes and a different hairstyle, Yu Zhen’s impression of him dropped into the negatives. 

Spoiled bear child. 

Yin Yan’s gaze also roamed over Lin Zouwei, but rather than the boy’s appearance, he focused on his natal chart.

Reading an ordinary person’s physiognomy and their natal chart was simple for him. After a few seconds, he looked away. With small movements of his finger, he gently touched Yu Zhen.

Yu Zhen froze in place for a moment, then glanced in the direction where spiritual energy had touched him. Yu Zhen reflexively shut his eyes, and when he opened them, he saw a semi-transparent red thread that connected him and Lin Zouwei at their solar plexus.

[He’s your half-brother. Same father and different mothers, or perhaps same mother and different fathers.]

Yu Zhen’s hands trembled and he forced himself to look away.

[He activated your blood perception when he touched and tainted the peach wood sword which you had made.]

So the bad-tempered boy really stole Xiao Le’s things.

He’s a thief. 

“No.” He pressed his lips together. Raising a hand to his eyes, he rubbed them. Expressionlessly, he whispered, “He’s just a stranger.”

From the moment that I was abandoned, I no longer had parents. So I don’t have any half-brothers or sisters.