The sudden sound immediately drew Shen Xiu'er's attention. She turned and saw her grandfather standing there, staring blankly in one direction, with a shattered bowl at his feet.
Shen Xiu'er followed his gaze but saw nothing there. "Grandpa, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"
Shen Jinghe came back to his senses, quickly squatting down to pick up the broken bowl. "Ni'er, it's getting late. You should go back to your room and rest."
Looking at the old man who seemed to have aged decades in an instant, Shen Xiu'er couldn't help but burst into tears. She ran over and helped Shen Jinghe up. "Grandpa, I'll clean this up later. You go back and rest. I think Sister wouldn't want to see you like this."
At her words, Shen Jinghe paused, then sighed and shook his head. He stood up unsteadily and walked towards his room.
After his figure had completely disappeared, Ming Li turned to the System and asked, "He can see me?"
A gruesome face suddenly appeared before its eyes. The System instinctively wanted to scream but managed to stop itself. After laboriously covering its eyes with its two small, glowing hands, the System said, "Host, don't forget, this old man is a celestial master, and not just any ordinary one." That's why he can see you, of course.
Ming Li thought about it and felt it made sense. So, she tidied herself up again, making herself look like a normal ghost, and drifted towards Shen Jinghe's room. The System followed behind, feeling a chill.
When Ming Li phased through the wall and floated into Shen Jinghe's room, she saw him holding her photo and weeping.
As Shen Jinghe cried, he suddenly sensed something was amiss. He looked up and met a pale, bloodless face. He almost dropped the photo in his hand out of fright. Once he recovered, he reached out to hug Ming Li, but his arms passed right through her soul. "Li'er, Grandpa is sorry. It's all Grandpa's fault for not protecting you..."
Ming Li looked at the weeping old man before her, her heart unmoved. She spoke faintly, "It's not your fault. I'm actually doing quite well now. You don't need to worry about me."
Hearing this, Shen Jinghe's back hunched over, and his voice was full of self-reproach. "Li'er, you don't need to comfort Grandpa. It's all my fault. I'm useless. Now I'm even seeing hallucinations..."
Ming Li: "..." Can this old man not hear her words??? Also, what did he mean by hallucinations? Was he playing a joke on her? Did this old man forget he was still a celestial master?
Just then, the System, as if sensing Ming Li's thoughts, explained, "Host, celestial masters can only see things from the underworld when they perform rituals. When you appeared now without him doing anything, he seeing you is indeed a hallucination."
Ming Li: "..." That made some sense.
"So why can he see me now?"
The System: "Can I say I don't know?"
"Heh, what do you think?"
The System: "...The weather is nice today. I'm going for a stroll." Before the words were even finished, the System had vanished without a trace.
Ming Li looked at Shen Jinghe and frowned, because the more she looked at him, the more something felt wrong. She saw that Shen Jinghe was enveloped in a faint black mist, which was continuously eroding his Yang energy. Ming Li could already feel his life force steadily disappearing.