Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

When Ivan saw Lilly staring at him with large shining eyes, he immediately stiffened his spine and straightened up, pursing his lips slightly. “What now?” Lilly counted busily on her fingers before exclaiming, “Wow! Ivan, this is the most number of words you've ever spoken! That's so cool!” All along, she had been under the impression that he could only speak five words at a time! Ivan just stared at her, lost for words. He thought she would compliment him for knowing so much...

Jonas smiled faintly, then shifted to a more comfortable position and propped his chin against his palm, watching the two little rascals. Children were children, after all, and they came up with the oddest observations.

Once the ribbon-cutting ceremony finished, Lilly fell asleep because she had eaten too much.

While Jonas carried her carefully, Anthony came over and took off his dress jacket, draping it over her sleeping form. The two men slipped past the barrage of cameras everywhere on the red carpet, carefully shielding their precious little burden. Bidding Colton goodnight, they made their way to their car and departed.

Ivan stood at the entrance, quietly watching as the two Crawford brothers drove off.

“Let's go, son!” Colton told him.

Ivan sighed and took a last look at the car vanishing in the distance. If he met Lilly again, he would give her two sweets. Two, because she liked eating them, and not three because he was afraid she might get cavities...

A short, chubby middle-aged man stood beside the Shaws’ car. With a smile, he bid Colton goodnight. This gentleman was very short, standing only around five feet four or so. The buttons of his dress jacket strained against his rotund beer belly; they looked as if they would pop off any moment.

This was Valentine Taylor, the CEO of Taylor Entertainment.

Valentine’s mother had given birth to two sets of twins, all boys. During her third pregnancy, she had hoped for a daughter and had named the child in her womb “Valentine” for luck.

However, the baby turned out to be a boy instead.

Mrs. Taylor had been so disappointed that she had not bothered to think of another name, so “Valentine” had stuck.

After sending off the Shaws and the Crawfords, the tension in Valentine's shoulders eased considerably. “That little Crawford brat...” Something enigmatic flickered in his eyes for a moment. “She really is a little devil!” His mother had fallen ill with some bizarre sickness, and Valentine had heard the story of how Lilly had literally brought young Ivan Shaw back from the dead. Furthermore, everyone present had witnessed the auspicious light that had shone down on the ceremony earlier.

Valentine wondered if he would have a chance to invite the little Crawford devil to take a look at his mother...

As he went back inside, he gave orders to his assistant. “Bear in mind, from now on, Little Miss Crawford doesn’t need an invitation to show up, and she doesn't need to call beforehand, either. Whenever she visits, get the best pastry chef in Shercaster City to come over immediately and bake a cake for her on the spot. Just remember that the Little Miss can’t have anything too sweet, and she doesn't like chocolate, but she loves cakes that have lots of fruits in them. She also loves fruit candies and sweets. Note all this down in the employees’ handbook.” Valentine's assistant stared at him blankly in confusion. Why would something like this need to be noted down in the employees’ handbook? Lilly was still half-asleep and dreaming when she sensed she was being stared at. She turned and squinted, then realized that an old woman was standing in front of her. This old lady was dressed in what seemed to be a green vintage dress, and her gaze was fixed intently on Lilly.

Lilly was so startled that she woke up immediately. Her eyes sprang open.

It gave Pablo a shock, and he hurriedly asked, “What's wrong?” Lilly's sleep-filled eyes were still fearful. “Master, | saw an old granny in my dream.” Pablo was startled. “What did she look like?” Lilly gestured as she described the old lady. “Her eyes were all sunken in and hollow; her cheeks too. Her eyes were purpley- blue right under here...” “Have you seen her before?” Pablo asked.

Lilly shook her head. “Nuh-uh.” Pablo narrowed his eyes and thought hard. A woman with sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, and livor mortis under her eyes, who looked like she was dead...

Most importantly, Lilly had never seen her before. Previously, lvan Shaw had appeared in Lilly's dream because she had actually seen him in person. However, this departed soul who had intruded into her dream was a complete stranger to her.

This meant that the souls of the dead were beginning to come in search of Lilly...

Pablo's face was very grave as he asked, “Tulip, have you dreamed about anything else?” Lilly shook her head, looking puzzled. “Master, what's wrong?” Her master’s expression seemed very serious all of a sudden.

“Tulip, if you dream about anything in future, you must tell me, okay?” Pablo told her. Looking conflicted, he asked, “Do you know why | came to find you back then?” Lilly was still slightly blurry from sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she answered with a yawn, “Of course | do! Master, are you trying to test me? Mommy asked you to come...” Of course she still remembered what Pablo had said in the past! Pablo was silent for a moment. In the beginning, he had assumed that his meeting with Jean Crawford had been mere coincidence; he had agreed to take Lilly under his wing for a while, and that would be it. After that, he had discovered that it was not so easy to protect the girl; he needed to earn merits to prolong his life.

As for today...

Pablo opened his book and noticed that a bright red annotation had appeared under Lilly's name. It read, “If she declares that someone will die, death cannot be postponed.” Wasn't an ability like this only possible if one were the Ruler of Hell? Pablo's thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion. Was it mere coincidence that he had encountered the newly deceased Jean Crawford and found his way to Lilly's side? “Tulip, do you remember the jar of souls | gave you?” Lilly held up her hand in response. Around her fair, plump wrist was a slender red cord with a tiny urn-shaped talisman hanging from it. “Here!” she chirped.

Pablo lightly touched the urn with the tip of his index finger. “I've never told you before, but this jar needs to be filled up until it's full. If it isn’t, you might need to go away, Lilly...” Any lingering vestiges of sleep immediately left the little girl. Opening her eyes wide, she asked in dismay, “Go away where?” She had only just become acquainted with her uncles, Granny, and Grandpa Hugh. She did not want to leave them.

“To a very faraway place, and you can't ever come back,” Pablo answered gravely.

Lilly pursed her lips, then abruptly scrambled up from the bed and ran toward the bathroom. Turning on the tap, she uncapped the tiny urn and tried to fill it with water. The talisman was only the size of a fingernail, but even though water gushed through the opening, it seemed as though not a drop went in.

Pablo could not help a faint smile. “Tulip...” He murmured, rubbing his forehead. “This little thing is called a jar of souls because it can only hold souls.” Lilly blinked. “Huh? Then what do | do?” “Just collect ghost spirits until it's full,” Pablo replied. He flipped open his book again and explained as he read, “It will take 100 wandering spirits to fill this jar, but it will only take 49 resentful spirits. Oh, malignant spirits are great! It'll only take 18 of them to fill it up.” Lilly nodded vigorously. “Okay! | got it!” She peered into the mouth of the urn, then asked, “Master, won't Ms. Ugly fill the jar already?” Pablo scoffed, “Far from it.” Lilly looked upset. “Ms. Ugly, you're really no use!” The grotesque female ghost was left bereft of speech. Hey, aren't you expecting way too much of me? Abruptly, Lilly piped up, “Master, wasn’t the ghost on Cheryl's head a malignant spirit?” Pablo was busily writing in his book; without even bothering to look up, he replied, “That's right!” Lilly looked delighted. “Oh, in that case, I'll go find Josh!” Before Pablo could stop her, she raced out of the room.

Pablo stared after her, blinking in bewilderment. He hurriedly floated after the little girl, asking, “Why are you going to look for Josh Crawford?” Lilly rolled her eyes at Pablo. “Master, you're really stupid today! If | want to look for Cheryl, | need to go where she is, right? Cheryl and Josh go to the same school, so if | want to go to Cheryl's school, | need to find Josh!” She gave him a sympathetic look. “Master, your brain's rotted from being dead for so long!” Pablo was rendered utterly speechless.