Chapter 245: Soul Possession!

[Yin Shulan’s bonus has dropped to LV2]

[Yin Shulan’s bonus has dropped to LV1]

Within just a few seconds, Yin Shulan’s bonus dropped back to its initial state.

This indicated that Yin Shulan’s trust in Xia Yu had fallen to the lowest level.

However, the login slot didn’t gray out; he could still log in.

Relieved, Xia Yu glanced at the rewards again—they were still there.

The obtained Massage LV3 was also still present.

Fortunately, after Yin Shulan’s bonus reached LV3, Xia Yu had immediately used one skill level-up opportunity on Massage; otherwise, he would have suffered a loss.

After confirming the situation, Xia Yu began to consider the reasons behind Yin Shulan’s sudden drop in bonus.

Before being kicked out, had he done anything different?

Nothing, except staying longer than usual.

So the problem was staying too long?

Previously, he had tricked Yin Shulan by claiming he was the fish she once saved, now returned to repay her kindness, but she hadn’t fully believed him and still thought he was a wandering soul.

However, Xia Yu hadn’t done anything harmful to her, and with the eight-hour limit, she hadn’t felt particularly worried.

Now, though, the eight-hour rule had been broken, and she suddenly lost her sense of security—was she afraid he would permanently take over her body?

Rubbing his forehead, Xia Yu felt a headache coming on.

What would I want with an old woman’s body anyway!

Xia Yu could possess Xu Youxiang or An Siyao’s body to convince the old lady he had no interest in hers.

But even so, the bonus wouldn’t recover.

Well, anyway, Yin Shulan’s body wasn’t useful anymore—just make up a plausible story to comfort her slightly.

At 8 a.m. the next morning, Xia Yu reappeared at Yin Shulan’s place.

Opening his eyes, he saw a large Buddha statue.

“…”

Looking down at himself, he was wearing a golden-thread-embroidered kasaya, holding a string of sarira beads.

Throwing the sarira beads away, Xia Yu felt a chill—sariras were literally made from burnt monk bones.

Standing up, he looked around. It was a small but extremely refined Buddhist shrine.

Yin Shulan was trying to subdue him using the power of Buddha.

She had made such thorough preparations in such a short time—this old woman was actually quite capable.

“People and ghosts must remain separated; freely crossing over will surely incur heavenly punishment!” Yin Shulan’s trembling voice rang out.

“I already told you, I’m not a ghost!”

“You just want to possess my body—you think I haven’t noticed?!” The old lady’s attitude was firm.

Xia Yu sensed her determination and decided to avoid that topic while trying to deceive her.

“Actually, I’m not the fish you saved.” Xia Yu sat back down on the meditation cushion.

“So you really are here to possess me!” Yin Shulan became emotionally agitated.

“That’s not my goal at all. Think about what I’ve been doing these past few months—haven’t you noticed my real purpose?” Xia Yu countered.

“You’re just trying to gain my trust and gradually consume my soul!”

“…I came to you because I admired your talent—I wanted to create a medicine.” Xia Yu realized Yin Shulan had already been blinded by the idea of possession, so he stopped questioning and explained directly.

He continued, “The girl in the wheelchair at An Siyao’s villa—you’ve seen her, right? Actually, I was a bird once saved by that girl, and I want to repay her by curing her legs.”

Yin Shulan recalled: Xia Yu indeed had been focused on making medicine, and she had indeed seen that girl whose legs seemed to suffer from muscle issues.

But she still didn’t believe him: “That’s just your ghost story! How could a bird have such abilities! This is the scientific age!”

If you know birds don’t have such abilities and this is the scientific age, then why do you believe in soul possession?!

Xia Yu paused for two seconds, then changed his tone.

“Shut up!” He shouted angrily, his face twisted with rage. “That girl is my chosen perfect body. Once I cure her legs, I’ll possess her body. If I can’t heal her, then I’ll have to use yours!”

“Really?” Yin Shulan wasn’t frightened—instead, she seemed relieved.

“Your body is too old! I want a young, beautiful body!”

“Then let’s hurry back and continue researching.” Yin Shulan urged Xia Yu.

Standing up, Xia Yu felt mentally exhausted.

Luckily, in his previous life, he had written several novels on Qidian and acted as an extra in Hengdian for years—he wouldn’t have been able to fool Yin Shulan otherwise.

Returning the items on his body to the monk outside, paying for the service with his bank card, Xia Yu went down the mountain and returned to the lab.

He began his research.

In order to escape Xia Yu’s ghostly grasp, Yin Shulan actively studied. The more she learned and did, the sooner the medicine would be developed, and the sooner she could be free.

Since Yin Shulan’s bonus couldn’t be restored, Xia Yu couldn’t use her body for research beyond the eight-hour limit. In the following days, he chose to possess Xu Youxiang’s body to continue developing the medicine.

This further convinced Yin Shulan of Xia Yu’s previous words. She helped enthusiastically, even more diligently than Xia Yu himself.

During the research process, another ten or so researchers were added, and they moved to a larger lab.

Originally, Xia Yu had only requested two researchers from An Siyao, but Yu Liang, who had been paying attention, directly assigned a whole team and cleared out a large research lab for them.

After checking in on the research progress a few times, Yu Liang felt increasingly confused.

It was already surprising enough that his granddaughter suddenly brought home Xu Youxiang, who had outstanding computer talent. Later, his granddaughter brought back three generations of a family—originally, he had thought the main reason was for the young girl, Yin Wan, who resembled her mother. But it turned out the real focus was her grandmother, Yin Shulan, who even had the ability to independently develop medicine.

If Yu Liang could accept all that, then Xu Youxiang’s sudden appointment to lead the lab and the rapid progress that followed left him completely baffled.

The old lady could be understood as some folk expert, but you’re supposed to be a computer specialist—how come your skills are better than hers?

Yu Liang wasn’t the only one shocked—so was the original researcher.

Facing the old and the young, the young male researcher felt great pressure, but at least he had a dozen teammates to share the burden.

A month later, the final medicine was produced, but further animal testing was still needed, followed by human trials.

This next stage would require time-consuming, meticulous work, and Xu Youxiang didn’t have that much time left.

But they couldn’t use it directly either, because important dosage testing was still missing.

Too much could be fatal, too little would be ineffective—clinical trials (human testing) were necessary to determine the correct dosage.

Clinical trials required government approval, which was still in process. Even Yu Liang couldn’t speed it up. Moreover, technically speaking, animal testing should come first, followed by clinical trials.

It was already the end of July, and mid-August was Xu Youxiang’s deadline.

Clinical trials would definitely be too late, and animal testing wouldn’t be very meaningful.

After a full day of thinking, Xia Yu possessed An Siyao’s body.

He called for the driver.