Chapter 74
When the unexpected gust of chilly wind slapped Parker across the face, he was thoroughly. perplexed.
It wasn’t that the cold blast hurt, but more of a surprise than anything else. But what threw Parker for a loop was his grandmother’s sudden about–face.
How could he explain it?
“I… Winnie, she, um, she likes me. She used to follow me around all the time.”
For the first time, Parker realized how clumsy he could be with words.
Winnie couldn’t care less to look at him. Her delicate face was full of disdain.
The old lady glanced at her grandson’s bewildered face, then thought about what Winnie had just said, and it all clicked. She felt a mix of frustration and disappointment.
“That Henderson girl followed you around because of me, Parker! She was looking after you for me because of the bond I had with her grandmother. She never had a crush on you!”
Her words were blunt, and Parker was shocked all over again.
“Looking after me? You, you asked her to look after me?”
When Parker wanted to deny it, he couldn’t doubt his grandmother’s words.
Winnie wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to deny her feelings for him that she’d involve his grandmother in a ruse, could it?
His heart sank.
“Grandma, what’s going on? Why didn’t you…” He couldn’t comprehend why his grandmother, who should have passed on, hadn’t moved on to her next life but instead had found someone to
look after him.
And given Winnie’s capabilities, it was clear she knew something about the mystical arts from Mystical Sects.
Why else would someone like her be keeping an eye on him?
While seeing her grandson looking so crestfallen, the grandmother softened her approach and decided to explain the situation to him.
After she had passed away, she was so worried about her family that she didn’t leave them. Her spirit lingered in the house, occasionally watching over her son and grandson at night. Even if they were unaware of her presence, she longed to watch over them a little longer.
That was until she noticed a dark, evil aura clinging to Parker about half a year ago.
It wasn’t just any dark aura. It seemed like someone had cursed him with death.
His grandmother, though a spirit herself, was a novice in these matters and had no real power, having spent most of her afterlife within the comforts of her home.
Watching Parker struggle with the dark aura, she felt helpless and could only follow him to and from school each day, looking for a solution.
Then, she met Winnie accidentally at the school.
Initially, Winnie thought i
dark energy around Parker was from his grandmother’s presence and warned her out of concern, as it was not uncommon for spirits clinging to their loved ones to cause them harm,
But when Winnie inadvertently got Involved, Parker’s grandmother saw an opportunity. Knowing that Winnie was from the Henderson family and leveraging her past friendship with the Henderson matriarch, she had persuaded Winnie to help her grandson rid himself of the
curse.
“Thanks to Winnie. She knew how to deal with this dark aura. I had no choice but to beg her for help.” Parker’s grandmother recounted, “At that time, you didn’t even realize what you were dealing with. That dark aura was like a mark set upon you, waiting to claim your life so that the evil entity could possess your body.”
The full implications of the situation were beyond what Parker had ever imagined, and he was utterly oblivious to it all at the time.
No, that wasn’t true. Back then, he did feel off, often waking up unrested and inexplicably cold.
But he never took it seriously enough to consider the supernatural.
The thought of being targeted by some evil being made Parker’s skin crawl.
“What was it? Is it… iş it still around?”
The grandmother looked at her grandson with affection and understanding in her
eyes.
“With Winnie around, it’s been dealt with. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to move on and get in line for reincarnation, would I?”
Seeing that Parker was coming around to the truth, Winnie interrupted, “What you encountered wasn’t any ghost but an Evil Spirit. These beings typically reside in statues or worshiping objects and don’t harm people directly. Instead, they seek worship.”
However, an Evil Spirit’s demands for offerings were far more severe than those of benevolent deities.
At first, they might be satisfied with offerings of small animals like chickens or ducks. But as time passed, they’d demand larger living creatures, feeding on their flesh and blood.
Once they grew powerful enough, they’d even require offerings of large animals like pigs or sheep.
As their desires increased, so did their demands until they began claiming human lives.
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Unluckily for Parker, he had stumbled upon an Evil Spirit that had already taken several lives after being abandoned by its previous worshipers.
“I figured the Evil Spirit you encountered, having claimed too many lives, was abandoned by its previous keepers because they were too scared to continue their offerings. Enraged by abandonment and already vicious from its killings.”
Winnie’s eyes darkened as she looked at Parker and continued, “It just happened to cross. paths with you, and you must have left some of your blood behind…”
Parker’s face drained of color as he remembered something.
“I was… I was hiking with my classmates and fell onto a carved stone. I cut my palm open…”
The thought that his injury might have resulted from an encounter with an Evil Spirit still terrified him even though the issue was resolved.
Winnie nodded and said, “That Evil Spirit, having tasted blood, marked you as its offering…I had to watch you closely for a while before it showed itself. Your grandmother didn’t want to scare you, so she insisted I keep the truth from you.”
Winnie said this with a glance at the old lady beside her.
Because of the grandmother’s pleading. Winnie didn’t think much of it even though she knew rumors were going around school.
She had no idea her kindness would lead to being unjustly blamed for the entire ordeal.
Had Winnie anticipated the outcome, she certainly wouldn’t have indulged the old lady’s plea and allowed Parker to wallow in the illusion of the Evil Spirit’s affections.
The grandmother’s eyes met Winnie’s, and she broke into an embarrassed, ingratiating smile. chiding her grandson!
“Young man, you’re too full of yourself, always thinking everyone’s got a crush on you. Go on and apologize to Ms. Henderson. She’s saved your life, for heaven’s sake!”
Parker felt the sting of her words as if she’d slapped him across the face.
Wasn’t he being conceited? He remembered the time when he enjoyed the teasing from his peers, even carrying an air of superiority around Winnie.
As he faced her again, Parker wished to turn back time and confront his former arrogant self.
“Winnie, I… I’m sorry.”
But before he could finish his words, Winnie had already turned on her heel, ready to leave.
“No need for apologies. Just make sure you stay out of my way in the future.”
With those words, she left without a backward glance.
Parker watched her decisive, cold departure, and for the first time, he believed it.
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She had never cared for him, not at all. But why did he feel such an aching void inside?
It felt like loss, mingled with regret.