Zhao Ruijin left, but not to see his mom; instead, he wanted to first go see his dad.
He hoped his dad could join him to visit his mom.
Ever since he passed away, his mom’s mental state deteriorated; day and night, she was in a daze. Without grandma constantly by her side, she would’ve committed suicide long ago.
"Completely like a fool..."
That’s how Zhao Ruijin described his mom.
"I’m not blaming him. It’s all my fault," said Zhao Ruijin.
"Where does big brother go?"
Dou Dou didn’t quite grasp the situation yet as she saw Zhao Ruijin leaving.
"Of course, he’s going back to find his mom and dad," Duoduo explained.
"That bad auntie, she must want to become their stepmother," Dou Dou asserted with conviction.
This little one had watched too many cartoons; to her, stepmothers were the ultimate villains, always bullying kids.
Shen Siyuan beckoned, calling the three kids over to him.
The three little ones conscientiously lined up in front of him.
"I have a mission for each of you three," said Shen Siyuan.
Dou Dou immediately puffed out her chest, feeling an immense sense of sanctity.
While Duoduo’s eyes were filled with curiosity, tilting her little head as she quietly waited for Shen Siyuan to continue, only Xiao Yue seemed to have some idea of what was coming.
"To be precise, each of you has a mission."
Since Dou Dou and Duoduo were still too young, Shen Siyuan thought it best to clarify so they wouldn’t think it was a single mission for the three of them.
"Hurry up, I’m getting impatient," Dou Dou urged.
"So each of you, will guide a dead soul," said Shen Siyuan.
"What does that mean?" Dou Dou asked, looking completely clueless.
"It means to find someone who needs help, like your past selves, or like Zhao Ruijin just now, someone with unfulfilled wishes that they are powerless to complete due to death. You will bring them to me; this will also be your work from now on..."
Dou Dou and Duoduo nodded in unison, showing faces of sudden realization.
"Alright, off you go," Shen Siyuan said.
Hearing this, the three little fellows stirred up a Yin Wind, howling through the window and soaring into the sky.
"Goodbye, brother..."
Xiao Yue stopped midair, feeling quite helpless with the two little tag-alongs.
"Brother asked us to find a person each, why are you following me?"
"I will just find whoever sister finds," said Dou Dou.
"You really know how to slack off, but no, it has to be someone you find yourself," Xiao Yue explained.
Then she turned and flew off into the distance, not forgetting to look back and warn the two not to follow her again.
Watching Xiao Yue fly away, Dou Dou withdrew her gaze and sighed, then turned to Duoduo and asked, "Sister Duoduo, where are you going?"
This mission was too difficult for her; after all, she was still a kid.
Duoduo shook her head; she didn’t know either.
But she quickly thought of a place, the No. 6 bus station—the place she knew best.
Duoduo turned and swiftly flew in a direction.
"Hey... hey..." Dou Dou wanted to call her back, to go together, but Duoduo was already gone.
Dou Dou had no choice, spinning in the air in frustration.
Then she reached down to scratch her little belly.
"What kind of person should I find? Grandpa, grandma, uncles, aunties... Yikes, this seems so bothersome?"
She flipped over, lying on her back in midair, gazing at the sky.
The sunshine is really nice, she thought.
But she couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun and could only drift gently in the air with the breeze.
"Talking about good friends, huh..."
Dou Dou was really angry, not showing any sense of brotherhood at all.
"I Tao... Tao Hongdou... ha, almost forgot, my name is Tao Hongdou."
"I, Tao Hongdou, am the most loyal friend there is," Dou Dou flipped and sat up.
She saw a cloud in the sky and thought of what Duoduo had said about white clouds, immediately she curled up a Yin Wind and flew towards the clouds, then lightly landed on one.
I flip, I roll, I bounce, I jump, I burrow and make holes...
She had a blast frolicking in the sky, completely forgetting the task Shen Siyuan gave her.
Until a plane whooshed past her.
The huge venturi effect produced by the plane almost sucked her in, scaring her into curling up a Yin Wind and rushing towards the ground.
"Big planes are scary, they’re no good either..."
She thought indignantly, and only then did she remember she still had a task.
After thinking it over, she decided to go home first.
So, she curled up a Yin Wind and headed straight for her home.
It was mealtime, and Tao Guangsha and Jiang Wenxin were having lunch at home.
Then they saw a little head pop out, sniffing vigorously, giving both of them a start, before they realized what was happening.
"What delicious thing are you eating?" Dou Dou asked.
Jiang Wenxin put down her chopsticks, cheerfully said: "You’re back? Why aren’t you playing with your sisters?"
Dou Dou said unhappily, "They didn’t take me with them, I don’t want to play with them."
The couple looked at each other, both feeling a bit worried.
It was Jiang Wenxin who asked first, "Did you have a fight with them?"
"Did they bully you?"
"Then why didn’t they play with you?"
"They said they had to do a task and wouldn’t take me," said Dou Dou.
Dou Dou said, "Potato said that we can’t just eat and not work, we all need a task, so we all went out to do tasks, but they all ran off and didn’t take me..."
The more she spoke, the more bewildered Tao Guangsha and his wife felt.
"Why didn’t they take you?"
"Sister Xiao Yue said, we have to do this ourselves..."
The couple took turns asking, and finally figured out what was going on.
After understanding the situation, Tao Guangsha spoke with slight disapproval: "Dou Dou is still so young, what can she do?"
Jiang Wenxin heard him, immediately glared at him.
"Don’t talk nonsense, Dou Dou is also very capable."
"Yes, yes, I spoke out of turn..." Tao Guangsha quickly realized his mistake.
Jiang Wenxin continued: "Mr. Shen’s approach is not unreasonable, now that Dou Dou is his Guardian Child, she can’t do nothing, Dou Dou is not his daughter, it’s not like she’s pampered, she has her responsibilities..."
Hearing this, Tao Guangsha fell completely silent; he was just speaking from a father’s perspective, worried out of care, yet he knew deep down what a great opportunity Dou Dou had, it was merely a small task to ferry souls.
If she couldn’t even do this, what use would she be to Mr. Shen, a mascot?
"Then think carefully, have you ever seen any ghost in other places that looked very normal?" Tao Guangsha said.
Previously, because Shen Siyuan infused them with a wisp of Netherworld Energy, they were able to glimpse the true corner of the world, so they knew those souls contaminated by desire, while not necessarily bad when alive, were definitely not good people.
Because desires were natural, everyone had them, but being lured by karma and manifesting the nature of desires showed they weren’t good people from the start.
Dou Dou, on hearing this, seemed to have thought of something. Without a word, she immediately harnessed the Yin Wind and rushed off, leaving the couple sitting dumbfounded at the table. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
PS: There will be two more updates today, five in total.