“Leo, why are you here again?” Christine asked as soon as she saw him.
Leo shrugged. “What, not happy to see me?”
Christine eyed him warily. “You’re not trying to pursue my sister, are you?”
“Sis, what are you talking about!” Arlene interjected anxiously. “I invited Leo. I told him about what’s been happening at home.”
“And what good does that do?” Christine muttered.
Arlene placed the antiques she had collected on the counter. “Sis, look, Leo and I found these together.”
Christine glanced at them and sighed. “The quality is decent, but these are miscellaneous antiques, not popular items. There won’t be many buyers.”
“No worries. Even though they’re niche items, we can still make a profit if we find the right customers,” Arlene said confidently as she arranged the items on the shelves.
The previously empty shelves now had a bit of life.
“Still no customers today?” Leo asked.
“No, except for someone who came in this morning asking where to get barbecue,” Christine replied lazily, her earlier enthusiasm gone.
The shop’s location was remote, and Ethan had run it so poorly that no one came by anymore.
“Sis, should we advertise?” Arlene suggested.
“With what money?” Christine rejected the idea.
Leo stayed in the antique shop for a while, but no customers showed up.
Though he wanted to help the sisters, business couldn’t be rushed.
Finding it boring to stay and watch flies rub their hands, Leo decided to leave.
On his way back to the clinic, as he passed a hospital, a Mercedes in front of him suddenly stopped. If Leo hadn’t reacted quickly, he would have rear-ended it.
The car door opened, and a man got out from the driver’s seat. He opened the back door and carried out a little boy, rushing towards the hospital with a worried expression.
“Doctor, help! Doctor, help…” the man shouted as he ran.
A middle-aged woman emerged from the back seat, her hair and clothes disheveled, and chased after him in panic.
The scene quickly drew attention and murmurs from onlookers.
The man rushed into the hospital lobby, where doctors soon approached to check on the boy in his arms.
After examining him, a doctor said seriously, “The child is in shock. His body temperature is dropping, and his breathing is weak. We need to resuscitate him, but I can’t guarantee he’ll survive. You need to sign this consent form before we proceed.”
“No! Please save my child. Please!” The middle-aged woman pleaded loudly, almost kneeling.
“Don’t worry. We’ll do our best,” the doctor reassured her before placing the boy on a gurney to take him to the emergency room.
“Wait!” A voice suddenly called out.
Everyone turned to see a young man running in-it was Leo.
Leo glanced at the boy on the gurney.
He was a beautiful child, around seven or eight years old, with delicate features and fair skin. His lips were blue, his eyes were darkened with circles, and his breathing was frighteningly weak.
These were symptoms visible to anyone, but Leo saw more.
The boy’s life force was thin and fading, his forehead darkened with deathly energy.
He was in critical condition and could die at any moment.
Leo couldn’t let the doctors take him to the emergency room; it would mean certain death.
“Who are you? What do you want?” The middle-aged woman demanded angrily when Leo stopped the doctors from saving her child.
“If you take him to the emergency room, he’ll surely die,” Leo said solemnly.
Everyone was stunned by his words.
“Please don’t speak nonsense. We’ll do our best to save him,” the doctor said irritably.
“Do your best? Do you even know what’s wrong with him?” Leo retorted.
The doctor was taken aback.
“You don’t know, do you? So how will you save him? Electric shocks? Oxygen? Or will you study him slowly?”
The doctor was furious. Was this guy here to cause trouble?
Maybe he was from a rival hospital?
But the truth was, the doctor couldn’t diagnose the boy because his condition was too strange.
“I don’t know. Do you?” The doctor asked coldly.
Leo seemed to expect this question and replied calmly, “What if I told you he’s possessed?”
Possessed?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
What era was this? Why not say he saw a ghost?
The doctor rolled his eyes, thinking Leo might be mentally ill and prepared to call security to kick him out.
Leo turned to the boy’s parents. “If I’m not mistaken, you must have taken your child to some isolated place or exposed him to something that hasn’t seen sunlight for years.”
The middle-aged couple’s faces changed immediately.
“How did you know?” The man asked in surprise.
“You don’t need to know how I know. Your child is possessed by evil energy. If it’s not expelled, he’ll turn into an ice statue within ten minutes,” Leo declared firmly, shocking everyone present.
Silence fell over the scene.
Leo continued, “If you don’t believe me, we can wait. But let me warn you: if his body starts freezing, I won’t be able to save him.”
Seeing how serious Leo was, the man hesitated for a moment before asking, “Can you save my son now?”
“Of course, but I have one condition.”
“Money is not an issue. As long as you save my son, I’ll give you whatever you want,” the man said quickly.
“Yes, anything! Just save our son,” the woman echoed desperately.
Leo had diagnosed their son’s condition so accurately that they couldn’t help but believe him.
“I don’t want money. I want to know what caused your son’s condition,” Leo replied.
The man looked regretful. “I love collecting antiques. Two days ago, I bought a white jade plaque through special channels. It looked good but had an unclear origin. I planned to have it examined by an expert in a few days for my collection.”
“Today, my son was playing at home and accidentally knocked over the jade plaque. It shattered into pieces, and then he became like this.”
“Where is the jade plaque now?” Leo asked.
“It’s still on the floor at home,” the man replied.
“Take your son back to your car and bring me to your house,” Leo instructed.
“Huh?” The man was stunned.
“The problem lies with that jade plaque. We need to address it at its source,” Leo explained.