Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 257 If there is an afterlife
Liu Qingguang had imagined countless times that his father might have his own difficulties and that was why he refused to acknowledge him, but he never imagined that this difficulty was actually related to him.

He pulled the corners of his mouth and forced a stiff smile.

"Are you saying that he refused to see A Niang for the last time in order to protect me?"

Yan Ciwan looked at him and felt as if he was going to break into pieces in the next moment. She couldn't bear it: "I think from the moment he decided to divorce your mother, he was already prepared to never see you again in this life. This result should be within his expectations. You don't have to blame yourself for it."

Liu Qingguang pursed his lips tightly, as if he was trying his best to suppress the surging emotions in his heart.

In the end, he couldn't hold it back and a tear rolled down from the corner of his eye.

He immediately turned his back and wiped his eyes vigorously with his sleeve.

Yan Ci Wan and Xiao Wang watched his back trembling slightly. He took a deep breath and turned around after a long time.

The tears on his face had been wiped clean, but his eyes were still red.

He looked at Yan Ciwan and asked, "Why do you know so much? Did your father tell you this before he died?"

Yan Ci Wan was silent for a moment. She didn’t want to lie, but she couldn’t explain what she saw and heard after the onset of her soul-leaving syndrome. In the end, she could only choose to tell a white lie.

"If I say that Governor Xie told me all this in a dream after his death, would you believe me?"

Liu Qingguang didn't answer, but from his expression it could be seen that he didn't quite believe it.

Yan Ciwan sighed helplessly, "I know you won't believe it. I didn't believe that what I saw in my dream was real at first, but I followed Governor Xie's instructions and found this purse in the drawer of his study. I had to believe that Governor Xie really had told me in my dream."

Liu Qingguang looked down at the purse in his hand, his eyes a little dazed.

Yan Ciwan reminded: "Inspector Xie once opened a sachet, and inside the sachet was a strand of hair. I guess that should be the hair of the couple."

Liu Qingguang immediately opened the sachet and poured all the spices inside into his palm. He pushed aside the spices and indeed found a strand of hair tied with a red thread.

If you look closely, you can see that half of the hair is fine and soft, while the other half is coarse and hard.

This is obviously the result of combining two people's hair together.

There is an old folk custom that when a couple gets married, they will cut off a lock of their hair and then tie their hair tightly together, which means that the married couple will never be separated.

If the ghost's dream was false, how could Yan Ciwan, an outsider, know the secret in the sachet?

Liu Qingguang was shaken.

"Why would father come to you in your dreams? Why...why couldn't he come to me and my mother in our dreams?"

They are obviously my father’s closest relatives!

Yan Ciwan had expected him to have such questions, so she explained, "To be honest, I suffer from soul-leaving syndrome. Every time the disease strikes, my soul will leave my body and wander around. So my physique is quite special, and I am more likely to attract things with heavy yin energy. Perhaps it is because of this that Governor Xie's soul can enter my dream."

After hearing this, Xiao Wang thought to himself that Yan Ci Wan had fallen ill before, but had never seen a ghost appear in her dreams. He suspected that Yan Ci Wan had lied and the dream might have been made up by her.

Considering her behavior last night, Xiao Wang guessed that after her soul left her body, she did see some scenes that ordinary people could not imagine, but she did not want to tell this secret to outsiders, so she chose to cover it up with lies.

Liu Qingguang has read many books and once read about soul-leaving syndrome in a miscellaneous book. He knew that this was a very rare disease. Patients with this disease would become mentally confused or even in a state of suspended animation. This was because their souls had left their bodies. Therefore, the patients needed their relatives to help call back their souls. If the soul could be called back, they would be safe. If the soul could not come back, they would die.

He originally thought that these were just folk rumors with some exaggeration in them, but he didn't expect that they were actually true.

Liu Qingguang asked hopefully, "When your father appeared in your dream, did he ask you to tell me something?"

Yan Ciwan shook his head.

The hope in Liu Qingguang's eyes suddenly died out, and turned into deep disappointment. Then he heard Yan Ciwan continue to speak.

"But Governor Xie has something he wants to tell your mother."

Liu Qingguang perked up and asked hurriedly, "What did you say?"

Yan Ciwan's mind flashed with the gentle look on Xie Tanyu's face when he gently stroked the sachet. She tried her best to imitate his tone at that time and spoke slowly.

"Yuan He, I have failed you in this life. If there is an afterlife, I will definitely repay you with everything I have."

Liu Qingguang looked at her steadily.

For a moment, he seemed to see Xie Tanyu.

The mist in his eyes gradually filled up, blurring his vision.

He couldn't help but call out.

"Father."

He will definitely tell these words to his mother. His mother will be very happy to hear them. The person she has been thinking about for half her life is also thinking about her. Even though there is a long time and distance between them, their hearts have never been separated.

Xiao Wang glanced at the sky and reminded, "The time for the funeral is approaching."

Liu Qingguang put away his purse and sachet, wiped his eyes, and said, "I'm going to burn incense and kowtow to my father."

He started walking towards the governor's residence, but Yan Ciwan stopped him.

"do not go."

Liu Qingguang didn't understand: "My father passed away, and as a son, I should go and show my filial piety. Didn't you ask me to go in and burn incense for my father yesterday?"

"Yesterday I didn't know why Governor Xie refused to acknowledge you. It wasn't until he appeared in my dream that night that I realized he was trying to protect you. If you go and burn incense and kowtow to him now, it would be like telling everyone that the relationship between you and your son has been repaired, and all the efforts Governor Xie made during his lifetime would be in vain."

Liu Qingguang was desperate: "Could it be that I can't even see my father for the last time?"

"As long as you still remember him in your heart, that's enough."

Liu Qingguang clenched his fists, stared at the direction of the governor's mansion, and seemed to be struggling violently in his heart.

After a long time, he suddenly asked, "If people really become ghosts after death, is he watching me somewhere now?"

"Maybe. After I turned into a spirit, I could see living people, but those living people couldn't see me. So I can't be sure whether Governor Xie's spirit is floating around."

If other people heard this, they would be horrified, but Liu Qingguang was not afraid at all. Instead, he was very happy.

"Then I can bring my father home!"

Yan Ciwan didn't expect him to react like this and was stunned.

Liu Qingguang looked up at the sun in the sky. He had heard that ghosts were afraid of the sun, so he pulled out an oil-paper umbrella from his bag.

He opened the umbrella, looking a little awkward: "Father, if you can hear me, please hide under the umbrella."

The streets were empty at this time.

A breeze blew from somewhere, the branches and leaves swayed gently, and a leaf was blown down and landed on the oil-paper umbrella.

Liu Qingguang was cheered up. It was his father who responded to him!
He said happily: "Father, follow me, I will take you back to see my mother!"