368 No One Is Allowed to Bully Her Except Me 1 (2/2)
”Mother, where does Father usually hike at?”
”He often goes to the Nanshan Mountain.”
An Xiaoning turned to Gu Beicheng and said, ”Go to Nanshan Mountain and look for Father.”
”Alright,” Gu Beicheng agreed and quickly set off.
One hour later, they were still not home yet.
An Xiaoning called Gu Beicheng again, only to hear that he did not manage to find Mr. Gu at Nanshan Mountain despite searching for a long time.
He had gone missing during hiking.
An Xiaoning began to sense something amiss. How could it be so coincidental? she thought to herself.
”Mother, I'll drive there to help search for them.”
”Alright, go ahead.”
An Xiaoning quickly drove towards Nanshan Mountain.
After meeting up with Gu Beicheng, the two of them proceeded to search the different paths on the mountain, but to no avail.
Mr. Gu could not be reached on his mobile phone and was nowhere in sight.
Gu Beicheng's last resort was to call Mr. Gu's close friend, after which he discovered that Mr. Gu was currently having a game of chess over tea with that close friend.
Upon hearing that his son was looking for him, Mr. Gu responded by saying that he would go home at once.
Mr. Gu was already home by the time the two of them returned.
”My mobile phone was out of battery. I'll charge it fully before going out next time,” said Mr. Gu, who was rather guilty after realizing that his son had had a hard time searching high and low for him.
”Father, where are the keys to the ancestral hall?” asked An Xiaoning.
”Here.” Mr. Gu retrieved a bunch of keys from his pocket and handed it to An Xiaoning.
”Father, has anyone asked you for the keys to enter the ancestral hall recently?” she asked.
”Yes, Dongcheng asked for them once last week.”
An Xiaoning immediately understood the situation. ”Alright, let's go to the ancestral hall to have a look.”
Mrs. Gu had initially wanted to tag along. However, Mr. Gu refused to let her do so. ”Don't get out of bed yet. Wait for us, we'll be back soon.”
”I'd like to go have a look too,” Mrs. Gu insisted.
”Let's allow Mother to come along since she wants to,” said An Xiaoning as she helped Mrs. Gu up.
The four of them proceeded to the ancestral hall together with the servants. However, the pain in Mrs. Gu's chest would intensify with each step they took.
”Hold her,” Gu Beicheng instructed the servant.
Mrs. Gu stopped in her tracks.
Mr. Gu's palms began to sweat as he found the entire situation too absurd and unbelievable.
Pangs of panic engulfed Mr. Gu, who chose to walk in last.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the ancestral hall, An Xiaoning opened the door with the key.
She pushed the doors forcefully, causing them to slam open with a loud thud.
They were greeted with a strong, chilly breeze.
She took the lead and began walking inside the hall.
Gu Beicheng walked beside her while Mr. Gu followed closely behind.
The ancestral hall was filled with the tablets of all the ancestors of the Gu family.
An Xiaoning reached out to bring the joss urn down from the altar and exited the hall while carrying it in her arms.
Under the bright rays of the sun, An Xiaoning flipped the urn upside down, causing the incense ashes to be scattered onto the ground.
All of a sudden, a small piece of bone appeared among the ashes.
”What's that…?” Gu Beicheng said with a squint.
”It must be the remains of an animal or a human,” said An Xiaoning. She took out a square piece of yellow-colored paper from her purse, followed by a red ink pen.
She kneeled on the ground and began drawing an amulet on the piece of paper before pasting it onto the bone.
All of a sudden, the amulet began burning by itself with a crackling sound and turned into ashes.
The initial piece of bone immediately vanished out of sight.
If they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, Gu Beicheng and Mr. Gu would have never believed that a piece of bone could be turned into ashes by an amulet.