Chapter 52: The Power of Faith
"You... you're still promoting superstition? Do you take us police for dead? Everyone, take them away!" The middle-aged officer, seeing Mu Lichuan's dazed expression, felt a pang of sympathy.
A child who should be in middle school had been lured to such a place—clearly, schools needed to strengthen education to eradicate feudal superstition.
And so, apart from Mu Lichuan - the "instigator," everyone else in the courtyard was taken to the police station. As for what happened next, it wasn't something a teenager like him needed to worry about. With that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and "went home."
Back in Chuan City, such things never happened, likely due to the influence of local families. Even the Mo Clan operated discreetly. But here in the capital, opposition to "feudal superstition" was unexpectedly fierce.
Walking through the bustling streets of the capital, surrounded by the lively crowds, Mu Lichuan felt a strange sense of detachment. In both his past and present life, this was the first time he had felt so relaxed. Then, he noticed something, a faint energy seeping into his body, refreshing his mind and spirit.
"Qi absorption?" Mu Lichuan murmured in surprise. He had actually reached the Qi Refining stage under such circumstances. No one would believe it if he told them. It probably had something to do with his unique soul power.
He knew his soul was different, its purity was unmatched on this planet. No wonder Mu Xiaolin had coveted it so desperately in his past life. In the end, though, he had come up empty-handed.
"Watch out!" Before Mu Lichuan could react, someone shoved him aside. The next moment, the sound of a shattered flowerpot rang out.
Sitting on the ground, Mu Lichuan was stunned. He had just been lost in thought when disaster nearly struck from above. He looked up at the teenager who had saved him - a boy with a buzz cut, though the dyed color was... eye-catching.
"Bookworm!" The boy waved a hand in front of Mu Lichuan's face. "Did I scare you stupid?"
His class had plenty of bookworms - kids who only knew how to study, reciting idioms even while walking, making them prone to accidents.
Mu Lichuan snapped out of it. He wasn’t scared, he was shocked because he could see a dark aura swirling above the boy’s head, something he had never noticed before. Was this a result of reaching the Qi Refining stage?
"You... are in grave danger," Mu Lichuan said, grateful despite knowing the flowerpot wouldn’t have actually hit him. Still, this boy had acted to save him.
Though he wasn’t well-versed in fortune-telling, someone with a darkened brow and a shadowy aura was undoubtedly cursed with misfortune. Luckily, he had met Mu Lichuan—otherwise, disaster would have struck.
The boy, about to get up, froze at Mu Lichuan’s words. He studied the pale-faced teenager in casual clothes and a backpack, assuming the shock had made him delirious. "Uh... do you need to go to the hospital?"
The hospital?
Mu Lichuan nearly facepalmed. Of course the boy wouldn’t believe him. The capital wasn’t like Chuan City, here science reigned supreme, and superstition was scorned.
"Your brow is dark, your spirit weary. Lately, nothing’s gone right for you, has it? Every time you skip class, the teacher catches you," Mu Lichuan mused aloud, voicing his deductions.
The boy scoffed. "Dude, relax. I’m not gonna demand repayment for saving you." As a troublemaker, getting caught was routine. Anyone with half a brain could guess that.
Mu Lichuan frowned. He had been dead serious, yet the boy just brushed him off, dusted himself, and walked away with a wave.
He wasn’t one to meddle, but knowing the boy was headed for disaster, he couldn’t just ignore it. So, he followed.
Qi Wei was on his way to an internet cafe when he noticed the boy trailing him. "Hey... are you a stalker? Teachers say superstition’s bogus, your brain’s really..." Before he could finish, Mu Lichuan suddenly lunged, shoving him against a wall. His back throbbed from the impact.
"What the—" Qi Wei was about to curse when a speeding car careened past where he had just stood. With a deafening crash, it smashed into the wall. The driver’s fate was unknown, but the front of the car was completely crumpled.
Qi Wei’s legs turned to jelly, feeling the boy had been right. If not for that push, he wouldn’t just be "in danger"—he’d be dead.
"Help... help him..." Qi Wei stammered, his face ghostly pale.
Mu Lichuan shook his head. "Too late." His Yin-Yang vision showed the driver’s soul leaving his body, vanishing under the sunlight.
"Let’s get you to the hospital. Can you walk?" Mu Lichuan noticed Qi Wei was still shaken and likely injured despite the rescue.
Qi Wei swallowed hard. "Thanks."
The hospital was crowded. When a middle-aged woman arrived, she found her son sitting in a chair, face pale with terror.
"Mom... I almost died. This guy saved me..." Qi Wei trembled as he recounted the incident, shuddering at the memory of the driver’s fate.
The woman, Zhao Hong, paled at the story. "I told you to focus on school, but you skipped class again! What am I going to do with you?" She wanted to scold him, but seeing his state, her words died in her throat.
Qi Wei, a freshman in high school, wasn't an outstanding student, but he wasn't a troublemaker either. "Mom, he saved me. But what if his help transferred my bad luck to him? You know, karma and all..."
"Don’t talk nonsense. He’ll be fine." Zhao Hong turned to Mu Lichuan with deep gratitude, insisting he also get checked.
Mu Lichuan, unused to such warmth, felt a little overwhelmed. "It’s really not necessary..."
"Please, take this as a small token of our thanks." Zhao Hong, who ran a small eatery, pressed some money into his hands.
"Auntie, really, I can’t accept this. Qi Wei saved me first, it’s fate balancing out." Mu Lichuan smiled. Human lives weren’t something money could measure, anyway.
Zhao Hong relented but handed him a business card. "My shop’s in West Lane. Come anytime, free meals for life."
As Mu Lichuan accepted it, he felt something new in his soul energy.
"Faith..." Xiao Mo’s voice whispered. "Their gratitude has given you faith energy. It shields your soul."
By the time Mu Lichuan returned to the villa that evening, he had made another discovery - faith power. Though it couldn’t attack, it protected his soul. Doing good deeds wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
When Mu Xiaoran heard about his great-grandson’s day, he was stunned. "Opposing feudal superstition?" In all his years, he’d never encountered such a thing. Chuan City had never been like this, was it because the capital was under stricter scrutiny?
"Be careful when you go out, Grandpa," Mu Lichuan advised, eyeing the old man who still consulted feng shui for everything.
Mu Xiaoran chuckled, understanding the concern.
The next day, the newspapers branded Mu Lichuan a victim of brainwashing, making him an overnight sensation in the capital.
Reading the headlines, Mu Lichuan sighed. Now he was the "brainwashed victim"? At his age, aside from school, there weren’t many options, no one would hire a teenager.
"Lichuan, we don’t need the money. Just go to school," Mu Xiaoran suggested after seeing the papers.
Mu Lichuan frowned, but the old man added, "Otherwise, a kid like you, always dabbling in superstition, will end up in jail."
Before he could argue, another article caught his eye, this one glorifying his "fortune-telling" and heroic rescue.
"Idiot!" Mu Lichuan groaned.
Is this kid trying to get me into trouble?
Sure enough, before he could figure out his next move, the police were at his door again, this time insisting he see a psychologist.
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