Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Alban remained silent, his gaze fixated on the mineral water bottle in Josh's hand.

He observed as Josh downed half the bottle and carelessly discarded it into his school bag.

Originally, Alban had intended to wait for Drake and Josh to leave so he could retrieve the empty bottles. After all, there would still be a few drops of water left inside.

However, his plan was unexpectedly foiled.

Unconsciously, Alban’s fists clenched, torn between the embarrassment of waiting to collect the empty bottle and the fact that he had gone to great lengths to obtain the less pure cold pool water.

Some people spend their entire lives on difficult paths, while others are born into privilege.

Lost in his thoughts, Alban reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flat box, extracting a soul flower from within. He popped it into his mouth like a snack, chewing it a few times before swallowing it.

Alban was silent.

Ah, yes, the soul flowers! Just yesterday, Lilly had placed a whole petal of a soul flower on Josh's scraped elbow! Alban believed that only Lilly could possess such items as soul flowers and water from the ice pond. Yet, he never expected that even ordinary individuals like Drake and Josh had them! “Who's there?” Drake sensed a presence and swiftly turned around, only to discover Alban standing amidst the woods.

Upon consuming the water and the soul flower, Josh experienced an instantaneous resurgence of physical strength, leaving him feeling refreshed and revitalized. He rose to his feet, his guard up as he questioned, “Why are you here? What do you want?” Alban maintained an impassive expression and replied, “You don’t have to be so wary. | don’t intend to steal from you.” With those words, he turned around and left.

Puzzled, Josh wondered, “What was he up to?” Had he been spying on them? It seemed strange...

Drake picked up Josh's schoolbag and handed it to him before retrieving his own. “Let's go.” Holding his schoolbag, Josh couldn't help but ask, “Drake, what do you think Alban was doing just now?” Drake responded, “Nothing of interest. | suppose he happened to stumble upon us and felt a bit unsettled upon realizing the significance of the water you were drinking.” Judging by Alban’s expression, that seemed to be the case.

Still perplexed, Josh inquired, “Then why did he leave so abruptly? | thought he might try to snatch it from us.” Drake reassured him, “Not at all.” He had some understanding of Alban’s temperament.

Alban may have had a somewhat sinister demeanor, but he still adhered to his principles.

No stealing... He had principles, even if they were somewhat lax.

The two brothers had taken a few steps forward when they noticed Alban retracing his steps.

Immediately, Josh frowned, and he exclaimed, “You spoke too soon, Drake!” Drake, too, had initially believed that Alban had a change of heart, but he soon heard him say, “Do you still have the water you just drank? | will offer you one million dollars to buy it from you.” Pausing briefly, he emphasized, “For one bottle.” Josh was taken aback, his first thought being whether Alban could afford one million dollars.

In a cold tone, Drake responded, “It's not for sale.” Josh added, “Do you think we need money?” Those words caused Alban to unconsciously clench his fists.

Most of the places he practiced were underground, where he occasionally stumbled upon valuable pieces of jade.

Reliant on such means, Alban had managed to sell some of the jade he found, earning a few million dollars. The one million dollars he was proposing now was the highest amount he could offer, and he had another one million in his card, which he had reserved for his sister.

Every penny had to be carefully accounted for. However, the Crawford family... they were never short of money. As he compared himself to them, he could not help but feel that the world was even more unfair.

Feeling humiliated, Alban made a decisive choice without any hesitation. He simply turned around and left.

Josh clicked his tongue, expressing his disappointment. “And he just left like that...” No negotiation whatsoever...

Feeling bored, Josh saw his brother walking away and quickly followed. Suddenly, he remembered something and called out, “Wait, Drake! What about Neo?” Drake paused and furrowed his brow.

What a hassle! “Wake her up.” After all, it was impossible for him to carry someone, and dragging her out was out of the question.

Understanding his brother's temperament, Josh had no choice but to go ahead and nudge Selen. “Hey, wake up!” “If you don’t wake up, we're going to leave you here!” Selen opened her eyes in a daze and froze for a moment.

“Where am 1?” She quickly sat up, feeling dizzy and weak.

Seeing that she had woken up, Drake continued walking without looking back. Josh explained, “Let's go quickly! You were sleepwalking.” Selen was left dumbfounded.

Josh kindly waited for her and felt relieved when she saw Selen following along.

Catching ghosts was one thing, but leaving someone behind in the woods was not a kind act.

As they ventured away from the road, Selen was completely bewildered. It seemed like she vaguely remembered something and had sneaked out on her own. Since she had been at school earlier in the day, her parents were scheduled to pick her up in the afternoon, so no one noticed her absence.

Just as Selen had returned, her teacher came to check on her.

“Selen, where have you been?” the teacher inquired, wearing a stern expression.

Selen replied, “I went to the restroom...” The teacher seemed slightly suspicious but did not press further, so the matter was left unexposed.

Josh attempted to call Blake, but couldn't get through to him.

After some thought, he decided to call his father and inform him about what the ghost said.

Anthony responded, “Alright, | understand. I'll contact Layton.” Blake was at the Lake of Confusion, where there was no mobile service, making it difficult to reach him. He told Josh that if he needed anything, he could reach out to Layton instead.

Anthony asked, “Are you okay?” Josh shook his head and exclaimed excitedly, “I'm fine! | can catch ghosts now! I'm really good at it! In the future, when | get even better, | can help Lilly...” Lilly was growing more powerful, and Josh felt like he was becoming useless in comparison.

Anthony reassured him, “It's good to know that you're safe.” Just before hanging up the phone, Josh hastily added, “Dad, once the investigation of the case is concluded, can you fill me in on the details?” He wanted to know how the head ended up on the train.