Chapter 9

The astral body belonged to Sebastian—he looked like the guy Madison had seen outside the Locke residence in the daytime. It was just that Sebastian had been comatose and on a stretcher in the day. He'd been pale and skinny. This astral body wasn't like that, though. His hair was combed back neatly, and he had a broad forehead. His features were chiseled. He had a tall nose, and his lips were pursed slightly. His eyes looked a little empty because he was nothing but an astral body, and the mole beneath his right eye seemed to make his features a little softer. Madison had seen countless good-looking people after living two lives. None of them combined arrogance and ruthlessness with devilishness as well as Sebastian did. It was as if the adjectives had come into existence because of him. "So, you can see me." Sebastian floated over to her and stopped before her. She nodded. "Yes, I can." "Not only can you see me, but you can also get rid of the things that have been plaguing me." "That was ghostly energy." Madison sat down. Sebastian didn't say anything. She looked at him, her eyes glinting with interest. He was an oddity—he had golden light all around him and was enveloped in auspicious energy. He was supposed to be someone with massive good karma and fortune, yet there was deathly energy all around him, and he didn't have long to live. How interesting! "System, how much fortune can someone like him provide me?" Madison asked. "Much more than a regular individual can, of course. He's a Chosen One, just like Rebecca." Madison smirked. "You're enveloped by ghostly energy, and your soul is unable to return to your body. If you drag this on any longer, you won't have long to live." Sebastian asked, "Do you have a way to fix that?" She blinked and pulled out a talisman. "You can try this and see whether it does anything." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the talisman lifted from her hand and headed toward Sebastian. When it came into contact with his astral body, he disappeared with it. In the villa next door, the medical equipment plugged into Sebastian's body started beeping. He'd been lying still in bed when his eyes suddenly flew open. He turned his head slightly and was pleasantly surprised that he could move. Unfortunately, a force pulled him back from behind. Before he knew it, he was back in Madison's room. She sat on the bed and smiled perfunctorily at him. "How was it?" Sebastian was shocked on the inside but put up a calm front. "Not too bad." Madison didn't say anything else. He continued, "Can you help return my soul to my body?" She looked at him. "Not at the moment." "Why?" "Because I don't have enough energy." She sounded matter-of-fact. Sebastian fell silent and floated toward the window. Madison said, "There's something special about your astral body—you seem to easily attract ghostly energy. You'll lose your rationality once there's too much ghostly energy around you. "When that happens, you'll start attacking humans. And once you attack humans, there'll be plenty of people ready to come after you." Sebastian silently floated back. Madison continued, "You have a golden light around you, which means you have massive good karma. And with the auspicious energy surrounding you, that means you're destined for good things. "Both of these come together to mean that you're supposed to be someone important and influential. In the olden days, you probably would've been a king who would bring prosperity to the land and whose reign would last for years." She paused, then continued, "Now, however, your soul can't return to your physical body, shortening your lifespan. During the period your soul is out of your body, if the ghostly energy makes you lose your rationality and hurt someone, righteous cultivators will come to catch you. "The good karma on you will become theirs. This is actually a complex way of tricking the heavens. Once whoever is behind this succeeds with their plan, not only will you die before your time, but you also won't reincarnate well." Sebastian listened silently to Madison, his emotions remaining in check. She couldn't help admiring his composure. She continued, "The spell has already been cast, and I'm lacking spiritual energy. I can't help you break the spell, but…" She smiled, looking confident. "I can help you keep your astral body clean. I can also guarantee that I'll help your soul return to your physical body before your lifespan ends." She'd made it clear that she wasn't capable of anything right now, yet she still looked proud. Sebastian glanced at her. "What do you want in return?" "People in the mystic arts view causation and effect very seriously. By helping you, I'm causing something to happen—the effect is that you'll repay me financially. When you have a cause and an effect, we'll end up not owing each other anything." He looked around her bedroom. "You're not short on cash." "Nobody would ever complain about having too much money." Madison couldn't help thinking what a skeptic Sebastian was. "How much do you want?" "It depends on how much you want to give." He was right about one thing, though. She wasn't short on cash, but she was short on karma and fortune. He fell silent for a while. "I don't have any money with me right now." "That's fine. You can always repay me when your soul is back in your body." … That night, the rustling of the leaves in the wind woke Madison up. She opened her eyes groggily to see Sebastian standing by the window. He had his hands behind his back as the moonlight permeated his astral body. He looked dreamlike. After a few seconds, Madison turned away from him and went back to sleep. She'd already told him she could make his soul return to his body. What was there to be so sorrowful and pensive about? Sebastian didn't miss her actions, but he didn't turn to look at her, either. His gaze was focused on the villa next door—the lights were still on there. Inside the room he was looking at lay his physical body. Half a year ago, he'd gotten into an accident, and the doctors had concluded that he was brain-dead and would forever be comatose. At the time, he'd been standing right beside the doctors. From that moment on, he'd remained around his body and watched as doctor after doctor checked him, giving the same conclusion. Later, the Hall family had hired many experts of the mystic arts to check on him. Some of them had chanted around him, and some of them had cast spells. There'd even been a few of them who saw him. Unfortunately, they'd clamored about him being the spirit that had made his physical body end up in such a situation and had tried to eliminate him. Ultimately, the abbot at Clearwater Monastery had read his fortune and told his family that he stood a chance at survival if he were to head to Riverview. And so, his family had sent him over. Sebastian had actually long since lost hope. To his surprise, he'd run into Madison on his first day in Riverview. She could see him and get rid of the ghostly energy around him. He turned to look at Madison, who'd fallen deeply asleep again. His tense expression softened. He'd regained a sliver of hope after meeting her. … Madison got ready to leave the house after breakfast the following morning. Tanya saw her carrying a satchel and asked, "Where are you going?" "To the northern outskirts." "Why are you going somewhere so far away? What are you doing there? I'll ask the driver to drop you there." Madison tightened the straps of her satchel. "I'm going to check on a grave." Tanya fell silent. Then, she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Maddie, just stop doing those pointless things. How about you stay at home with me and watch some TV? Or maybe we could go shopping together." Madison said, "It's not pointless. This is geomancy." "Well, that's not something a young lady like you should be involved in! Besides, what do you know about geomancy when you're still so young?" Tanya was starting to get angry because of Madison's disobedience. "No one else's child does these things like you do!" Just then, Jordan bounded into the house and greeted Tanya with a smile. "Morning, Mrs. Locke." He turned to Madison, and his attitude became much more respectful. "Let me take you to the northern outskirts, Ms. Locke!" Tanya fell silent. Ms. Locke? Why was Jordan calling Madison that? Were the youngsters nowadays all into these weird habits?