Chapter 92 The Smell of the Ghost Mother: The Smell of Gas...

Chu Ci paused in her steps and looked up.

"Mr. Zhong, is there something you need?"

Mr. Zhong pushed up his glasses and smiled.

"I heard from 427 that you live in the mortal realm?"

Chu Ci asked in confusion, "427?"

"It's that underworld messenger who was with you before."

Chu Ci understood.

It turns out that the dark figure was called 427.

It's strange that the underworld messengers only have numbers, not names.

Seeing that she nodded but didn't speak, Mr. Zhong asked again:

"I heard you live in the mortal realm, but are only temporarily working for the underworld. I wanted to ask you, could you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sinister voice suddenly rang out from the darkness.

I interrupted him from what he was about to say.

"Sister Chu! Over here!"

He jogged out of Hall 4, casually taking the Soul-Hooking Rope from Chu Ci's hand.

He patted Chu Ci on the shoulder, "Why were you so slow? Luckily, you didn't cause any delays."

"Oh, Mr. Zhong is here too?"

He seemed to have suddenly noticed Mr. Zhong, and turned around with a surprised expression.

"Mr. Zhong, what brings you here to see our Sister Chu?"

Mr. Zhong looked at him with a smile, his eyelashes behind his glasses drooping, and shook his head.

"It's nothing. I just ran into you and said hello."

The black-clad messenger chuckled, "Since there's nothing else, I'll take the new recruits and report back."

His beady eyes narrowed. "Goodbye, Mr. Zhong!"

The Black Yin Messenger led Chu Ci away, tugging at the Soul-Hooking Rope, but couldn't budge it.

He frowned and turned his head, only to see the old man staring intently at Mr. Zhong's face from the other end of the Soul-Hooking Rope.

He seemed to recognize Mr. Zhong; his eyes widened in astonishment, and he hesitated to speak.

Hei Yin frowned. "Old man, is there anything else?"

Mr. Zhong looked at the old man with a puzzled expression. The old man met his eyes and hesitated for a long time.

Finally, he slumped down, shaking his head in despair.

"fine."

"If you have nothing else to do, hurry up and don't waste my time!"

The old man was dragged away by the black-clad underworld messengers, and Mr. Zhong behind him reached out as if to say something.

But watching the group's departing figures, he ultimately said nothing.

As soon as they walked away, Hei Yincha nudged Chu Ci with his elbow and gestured to her in the direction of Mr. Zhong.

"Don't get involved in this person's affairs, understand?"

Chu Ci nodded and turned to look at Mr. Zhong.

He was still wearing that suit, standing by the roadside, intently watching the souls passing by.

They seem to be looking for someone.

Is he waiting for someone?

"That's right!" The black-haired officer's teeth ached when he said that.

He lowered his voice:

"This Mr. Zhong is no ordinary man. A few years ago, when you were still fighting a war, he saved countless lives."

"It's a pity that he accumulated a lot of merit, but his life was too short. He died before he was even thirty years old."

"I heard that he has a younger sister in the mortal world, and he is so worried about her that he can't cross the River of Oblivion because his obsession is too strong."

"Look, we've been waiting here for decades!"

Chu Ci: "Have you been waiting for decades?"

"yes!"

Hei Yincha clicked his tongue.

"If you calculate it that way, his sister must be over ninety years old, right?"

He smacked his lips. "Wow...they're really good at surviving!"

Chu Ci turned to look at Mr. Zhong's position; he was still intently observing the passing souls.

She lowered her eyes, a hint of confusion in her expression.

"So, he went up there during the Ghost Festival to visit his sister?"

"yes."

The black-clad messenger led Chu Ci to Hall 4, where several lines were separated by black railings.

A huge, swarming group of ghosts were lining up to be reincarnated.

The dark-skinned messenger stuffed two ghosts into the group and warned them in a deep voice.

"Don't even think about running away! These are all ghost messengers around here. If you dare to run, they'll beat you to a pulp!"

The human-shaped charcoal nodded quickly and obediently joined the back of the line.

The old man snorted dismissively.

But seeing his daughter engulfed in flames, he sighed softly and obediently lined up behind her.

Hei Yincha led Chu Ci to the workbench in Hall 4, where a thick notebook was placed.

But only the first page can be turned.

The black-clad messenger took out his seal and stamped it on the surface.

He called out to Chu Ci, "Little Sister Chu, where's your seal? Just stamp it here."

Chu Ci glanced at it and stamped it on the notebook with his seal.

Only then could one see the words at the bottom of the seal: Temporary Worker 003

In other words, she wasn't the only temporary worker in the underworld; there were at least two others ahead of her.

She put the seal in her pocket and followed the black-clad messenger outside.

Continuing with the previous question: "Since Mr. Zhong can go to the mortal world, why doesn't he go find his sister?"

Why wait here for decades?

They came out of Hall 4, and Mr. Zhong remained by the roadside, watching the passing souls intently as before.

He had been living like this for decades.

Hei Yincha sighed as he looked at Mr. Zhong.

"You think he doesn't want to? It's just that he can't find it."

He walked in one direction with his hands behind his back, the Soul-Hooking Rope at his waist rattling.

"He's been dead for so many years, yet he still thinks about his sister in the mortal world. But his sister doesn't think about him."

"Over the years, I have never burned anything for Mr. Zhong."

"Mr. Zhong went up to look for them every year, but they had already moved away long ago."

"Later, Hong Kong changed a lot, with roads being built and houses being constructed, and he could no longer find his old home."

As he spoke, he led Chu Ci to a long street.

The streets were bustling with activity, and surprisingly, they were all small shops.

Hei Yinchai casually sat down, and Chu Ci was about to sit down as well, when she suddenly heard someone call her name.

Seeing her stunned, the black-clad officer asked, "What's wrong?"

Chu Ci frowned. "I heard someone calling me."

"Oh, that must be something happening in your physical body in the mortal realm."

He looked up and estimated the time. "It's already daylight in the mortal world. Is your grandmother calling you?"

"It should be."

The black messenger demanded that she produce the black seal.

“Draw a line on the ground, think about where you want to go, and you can go back when you come out the door.”

Chu Ci did as instructed, slipped out the door, and appeared right in her own bedroom.

Grandma's voice outside the door grew increasingly urgent:

"Aci? Are you alright, Aci?"

"Aci! Open the door!"

Seeing that there was still no movement inside, Grandma went to find the spare key.

Chu Ci quickly lay back down in her own body.

Grandma couldn't find the key and was about to force the door open when Chu Ci opened it.

Seeing her granddaughter's sleepy eyes, Grandma breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death! I couldn't wake you up no matter how much I called you, I thought something had happened to you!"

Chu Ci rubbed her eyes. "No, I was just too tired yesterday."

She went to several places yesterday, and Grandma felt exhausted.

"In that case, let's not open the shop this morning and take a break."

As she spoke, she changed her shoes at the door, preparing to go out.

"I'm going to buy breakfast. What would you like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, just the kind we usually eat."

"Okay, then you can sleep a little longer. I'll wake you up for breakfast later."

"good."

Chu Ci closed the bedroom door, lay on the bed, and listened intently to the sounds of her grandmother leaving. She then turned over in bed.

I closed my eyes, and the memorial tablet I saw last night was still there.

Her disguise wasn't very clever.

In fact, it should be said that she has stopped pretending since she rented the house.

She didn't pretend, and her grandmother didn't ask.

Watching her open her shop, make money, and become a well-known spiritual medium in the neighborhood.

She didn't ask because she already knew that the original owner's granddaughter was no longer alive.

Indeed, how could a granddaughter who is always swindling and has no ambition suddenly become so capable?

Perhaps from the very first day she transmigrated, when she fought with Wang Qiang, Grandma sensed something was wrong.

She just didn't say anything, and Grandma pretended not to know.

Chu Ci lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Since Grandma is pretending not to know, perhaps she should also pretend she saw nothing and continue living her life in this world...

My mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts.

By the time she snapped out of these emotions, her grandmother had already returned with breakfast.

“Aci”.

Grandma called out from outside.

"Come out for dinner!"

Chu Ci put on her clothes and went outside. She saw that the table was covered with plates and bowls of all sizes.

So many?

"Not many."

Grandma came out of the kitchen with chopsticks and a spoon, urging her to go wash up.

"You've just passed the Ghost Festival, and you're so tired, you definitely need to eat something good."

The cool water splashed on her face, and Chu Ci smiled, her little bit of emotion instantly vanishing.

No matter what, her grandmother was her only family member in both her lives.

Since Grandma doesn't want to expose this secret, then let's not expose it.

After washing up and sitting down at the dining table, Chu Ci realized that the food on the table was more plentiful than she had imagined.

"Cart noodles, soy milk and fried dough sticks, fish congee, wonton noodles, rice noodle rolls, radish cake, glutinous rice chicken, pineapple buns..."

Chu Ci looked at each item one by one, and couldn't help but smile as she glanced at her grandmother.

"This is such a feast!"

Grandma glared at her with a smile.

"You were so tired yesterday, you definitely need to eat something good to recover!"

Chu Ci smiled, picked up a piece of glutinous rice chicken, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The soft, sticky rice clings to the chicken, and the moment you put it in your mouth, you're filled with the aroma of lotus leaves.

"This sticky rice chicken is delicious."

"Is it delicious?"

Grandma smiled at her and pointed outside.

"A new shop opened downstairs, and I knew it was authentic just by the smell!"

Grandma handed her the soy milk, saying, "When you eat glutinous rice chicken, you must drink plenty of water, otherwise your intestines will stick together!"

Chu Ci smiled and took a sip of soy milk.

As she was finishing her breakfast, her grandmother mentioned a phone call she had received that morning.

"Miss Zhuang suddenly called you this morning and asked you to come over when you have time."

"She said her father had an accident last night and wants you to come and see him."

Thinking of Zhuang's father, whose eyes had been gouged out by the old housekeeper, Chu Ci nodded and finished her breakfast without changing her expression.

"Okay, I'll go there this afternoon."

“Yes,” Grandma nodded, “You don’t need to pack your things. Go back to your room and get some sleep. You can go out again in the afternoon.”

Chu Ci returned to her room, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what she did.

Perhaps because her body had slept through the night, she felt mentally tired but not sleepy.

However, after a busy Ghost Festival, she really wanted to take a break.

"Grandma."

She changed her clothes and came out of the room.

"I can't sleep, I'm going out for a walk."

Grandma turned to look at her and said, "Don't go to the shop to keep watch again. People need to rest sometimes."

"Okay, Grandma."

Chu Ci opened the door and went out, then came back and peeked her head out through the crack in the door.

"Don't bother making lunch, I'll bring it back."

Grandma's eyes were glued to the entertainment program on TV, without turning her head.

"No, I ordered a chicken to make soup for you at noon."

"Since you're willing to make the trip, then please bring the chicken back for me."

"The shop downstairs from us."

"Okay!"

Chu Ci stepped into the elevator and arrived at the first floor.

She had just stepped out the door when she heard a cat meow.

Turning my head, I saw a familiar little orange cat sunbathing on the stone stool by the door.

Meow~

Upon seeing Chu Ci, Xiao Ju let out a lazy bark, accompanied by a big yawn.

"Little Orange?"

Recognizing it as the clever little orange cat that had followed her upstairs that morning, Chu Ci went over and patted its head.

"You came back with Wu Jiangxue?"

Little Orange responded, nuzzled her palm with its head, and then lowered its head to lick its fur.

Seeing its contented little expression, Chu Ci originally didn't want to disturb it.

But then, as if remembering something, she paused slightly, turned around, and went to the convenience store to buy two sausages.

"Little Orange!"

When she returned with the sausages, she was greeted by Little Orange's enthusiastic meows.

Seeing its eagerness, Chu Ci peeled off a piece.

The fearless little orange cat stood on its hind legs, its front paws gripping her hand, munching and humming as it ate.

After finishing the first one, it obediently squatted on the ground waiting for the second one.

Chu Ci did not satisfy it, but instead led it to the small flower bed next to the gate.

"Little Orange, can you help me see if there are any kittens around here? If you do, I'll give you a second one, okay?"

Yesterday she kept hearing kittens meowing in the vicinity, but couldn't find any kittens.

I originally wanted to trouble the chubby cat sister, but she got injured and was hospitalized.

Now we can only trouble this clever little orange cat.

Little Orange licked its lips reluctantly, stared at the sausage in Chu Ci's hand for a while, then turned and crawled into the small flower bed.

Chu Ci waited for a while and then heard Little Orange meowing from the flower bed.

The flowers in the flower bed kept trembling, clearly because the little orange cat had burrowed deeper inside.

As the little orange cat kept meowing, an even smaller and weaker cry rang out.

"Meow……"

He sounded weak and listless; if Chu Ci hadn't listened carefully, he wouldn't have been able to hear him at all.

"Little Orange, that must be the kitten!"

The little orange cat responded with a meow.

A moment later, it emerged carrying a small, entirely black kitten in its mouth.

The little black cat was smaller than Chu Ci's palm and looked to be less than a month old.

It was covered in mud and had dead leaves stuck to it.

Its head and tail drooped, and it was filthy; it looked like it was going to die.

Put it aside, and Little Orange moved a little further away with a hint of disgust, starting to lick its own fur.

It meowed at Chu Ci, as if complaining that Chu Ci shouldn't have let it go find the kitten.

"You've worked hard, Little Orange."

I fed it the sausage in my hand, and the little orange cat happily ate and drank its fill, then licked its paws.

I jumped onto the stone pier and continued to lie on it, basking in the sun.

Chu Ci picked up the little black cat that was barely moving and looked at it.

The little black cat also looked at her with its tail drooping.

His bright green eyes were dim, and he opened his mouth, but he no longer had the strength to speak.

I poked its tiny head, which was barely bigger than a tin can, and asked, "Do you want to live?"

The little black cat stared at her with its bright green eyes and wagged its tail slightly.

He forced out a barely audible meow.

"Meow……"

"good."

Chu Ci took off her coat and wrapped it around the kitten.

"Since you want to live, I'll take you home."

Grandma was looking at entertainment news when Chu Ci came back as soon as he went out.

Seeing her clutching something like a precious treasure, I frowned in confusion.

What are you holding in your arms?

Chu Ci parted the small gap, and the little black cat eagerly poked its head out.

"Meow……"

The sound was still faint, like that of mosquitoes and flies.

The moment Grandma saw the cat, everything went black.

"You want to get a cat?!"

Chu Ci chuckled dryly twice.

"It's dying. Once it recovers, we'll let it out again."

Grandma looked at the little black cat, then at Chu Ci.

Both the big one and the little one stared at her expectantly.

"Alright, alright."

Grandma waved her hand, "Don't let it run around in the house. I'll go get some hot water to give it a bath."

As she rolled up her sleeves, Grandma emphasized:

"Don't let it run around! Look how dirty it is, it's probably covered in bugs!"

Chu Ci wanted to say that the kitten was not yet a month old and could not be bathed.

But as soon as I looked down, I saw a flea crawling all over my light-colored coat.

"!!!"

We must catch the bugs!

Grandma was giving the kitten a bath while Chu Ci went out to buy goat milk.

After giving the kitten a bath and drying it, I put it next to the bowl of goat milk, and the little guy started drinking it in big gulps.

Seeing that it wanted to bury its whole face in the bowl, Grandma was relieved.

"If you can eat and drink, you'll definitely survive."

Perhaps because of the effort put into the kitten, Grandma stopped mentioning throwing the kitten out.

The kitten had just finished eating and lay down on Grandma to sleep.

Grandma, while complaining, put on her reading glasses and ruffled its fur to catch bugs.

"Oh dear, it's a black cat. The same color as a flea, how am I supposed to find it?"

The little black cat huddled up and meowed pitifully.

Grandma immediately changed her tune: "Oh dear, I wasn't being mean to you..."

The morning passed quickly while I was with the kitten.

Perhaps because it was still young and didn't know any better, the kitten wasn't afraid of people at all.

After eating, it does parkour around the house, running around everywhere.

Chu Ci went out to get the old hen that his grandmother had ordered. When he came back, he saw his grandmother holding a little black cat and standing at the window looking out.

While petting the cat, he kept calling out "Black Bean".

Seeing Chu Ci return, Grandma happily picked up the completely black kitten.

"I've chosen a name, Black Bean. Isn't it nice?"

The little black cat lay on Grandma's hand, its bright green eyes wide open.

Meow~

The sound was much louder than before.

"That sounds nice." Chu Ci smiled and shook the old hen. "You tell me how to make it, and I'll do it."

"Never mind, I'll do it."

Grandma reluctantly put the kitten down.

"This chicken is delicious, I'll cook it."

After stewing the chicken, Chu Ci called Zhuang Jingxuan to arrange a meeting time for the afternoon.

When the chicken soup was ready, Grandma wanted to feed Heidou a chicken leg, but Chu Ci quickly stopped her.

"Grandma, kittens can't digest food well. They can eat it when they're older."

"I see." Grandma was a little disappointed.

But after just one morning, the black beans that used to be thrown out are now swaggering onto the table.

After lunch, Grandma took Hei Dou for a nap.

Chu Ci went to the shop, intending to take the mats from the shop home to make a nest for Hei Dou.

However, as soon as she stepped out of the apartment building, she saw two figures standing in front of her shop in the distance.

She initially thought they were a couple, but upon closer inspection, she realized they were two young girls.

The two were about the same age, one with long hair and the other with short hair.

They look alike, so they must be related.

The two people probably didn't know Chu Ci; their eyes swept over Chu Ci and then fell elsewhere.

They just waited at the door, showing no intention of leaving.

Chu Ci hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

"Hello, the shop is closed today. Please come again tomorrow."

She turned and opened the door, but the two people had not left.

"Are you Master Chu from this shop?"

The short-haired girl put her arm around the long-haired girl's shoulder and stared at her with wide eyes.

The two followed Chu Ci into the shop and hurriedly asked:

"Can you help us? We feel like we're being haunted by a ghost..."

Chu Ci turned her head and glanced at them.

The girl with short hair dressed in a more androgynous style, but she was very fashionable.

She had blonde hair, heavy makeup, many ear cartilage piercings, and wore exaggerated skull accessories.

The girl with long hair dressed simply and looked rather haggard.

His clothes were loose from washing, his hair was tied up with only a rubber band, and his eyes were lifeless.

There were some bluish-purple marks on his face, his skin was sallow, and the dark circles under his eyes were quite noticeable.

Looking at the two people's faces, Chu Ci frowned.

"Are you two sisters?"

The long-haired girl nodded weakly.

The short-haired girl helped her to a chair and said, "Yes, we are sisters."

She pointed to the long-haired girl, "This is my older sister, Wu Xiuying, and I am her younger sister, Wu Xiushan."

When Wu Xiuying, the older sister, saw Chu Ci's gaze focused on the scars on her face, she couldn't help but lower her head.

Judging from her seemingly shy personality, Chu Ci glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I still have some time. Tell me, what happened to you?"

The older sister frowned and looked at her younger sister, who nodded and took the initiative to explain the situation to Chu Ci.

"A year ago, my sister and brother-in-law got married. At first, my sister and brother-in-law had a good relationship, but it changed after they had a child."

"My brother-in-law didn't want to take responsibility for raising the child, and he also disliked my sister's figure after giving birth, so he found a mistress outside."

“My sister initially tried to salvage the relationship, but my brother-in-law suddenly became a different person and hit her.”

Wu Xiushan looked at her sister Wu Xiuying and said, "She hit me more than once."

"One night, my sister got up in the middle of the night and found that my brother-in-law had returned, but the child sleeping next to her was gone."

"She rushed out and found my brother-in-law standing at the window with the child in his arms. The window was wide open, and he was about to throw the child out."

Wu Xiushan paused for a moment.

"After this incident, my sister wanted to divorce my brother-in-law."

"But my brother-in-law felt that this was dishonorable and would affect his business, so he kept putting it off."

"It was during this time that my sister noticed something was wrong..."

She glanced at her sister, Wu Xiuying, who coughed twice and took over the conversation.

"Ever since I filed for divorce, I've been able to smell gas all the time..."

Chu Ci frowned. "Gas smell?"

Wu Xiuying sat in the chair, her eyes lowered, and nodded gently.

His hands, which were on the chair, unconsciously gripped the armrests.

“When I was very young, my father had a second home outside of marriage.”

"Our mothers couldn't accept that our father didn't want us, and they also felt that divorce was shameful."

"In order to punish my father and make him feel guilty, he wanted to commit suicide with my sister and me."

Wu Xiushan walked to her sister's side and took her cold hand.

"But my mother didn't expect that my sister would wake up halfway and drag me to the door."

"My mom originally wanted to drag the two of us back into the house, but she didn't have the strength and didn't succeed."

"In the end, my mother died, but my sisters and I survived."

The older sister, Wu Xiuying, coughed twice, her whole body trembling, her lips pale.

"We had all forgotten about this over the years."

"But right after I said I wanted a divorce, I could often smell that gas."

“It’s not just me, my sister Shan can often smell it too…”

She gripped her sister's hand tightly, looking at Chu Ci with a terrified expression.

"It's like... my mom has always been watching us..."