Chapter 36 Encountering a Ghost "You encountered a ghost messenger last night."
“The Anping County the waiter described is very strange,” Cen Ying said, frowning. “So many things have happened in just one month, and they are all chilling murder cases!”
Bai Yuheng glanced at the compass that had remained motionless since arriving in Anping County and said, "One month, which is exactly the time since the Four Directions Mirror was stolen."
"You mean, something here obtained the Four Directions Mirror?" Li Tiankuo asked, taking a sip of tea.
Bai Yuheng gave him a knowing look and nodded, saying, "If we want to know more, we must go to the yamen first." As she was speaking, the kitten in her arms started to paw at her restlessly. Bai Yuheng glanced down at it and continued, "Tiankuo, this matter depends on you."
Li Tiankuo was slightly taken aback. This was the first time she had called him by his name so formally. After a moment of surprise, he nodded and said, "Do you want to review the case files?"
“Hmm.” Bai Yuheng soothed the increasingly restless kitten in her arms and said, “Rumors circulating in the streets are no more detailed than the government’s inspection records. We need more details. However,” she paused, then continued, “we also need to find that night watchman and learn about the circumstances of the first discovery.”
Cen Ying nodded in agreement with her, but still offered her own perspective: "I think that although rumors circulating in the streets are not as rigorous as those from the government, there's a saying that there are hidden masters among the common people. Maybe someone knows something?"
Bai Yuheng thought about it carefully and agreed: "Then you and Xiao Can go together to gather information about the people in the county, and Tian Kuo and I will go to the government office, how about that?"
Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan both said, "No problem."
Bai Yuheng looked at Li Tiankuo, who nodded: "Okay."
“Alright, then we’ll start gathering information first thing tomorrow morning, and we’ll come back in the afternoon to summarize what we’ve found. As for the Liang residence—” Bai Yuheng suddenly smiled and looked at Cui Mingcan, “Little Can, would you like to come along?”
"Wh-when?" Cui Mingcan suddenly had a bad feeling.
Bai Yuheng smiled and said, "Midnight."
"..."
*
"The water is ready, sir. You may take a bath now," the waiter said to the woman in red who was sitting at the table playing with a cat after pouring the water.
"Okay, thank you."
After closing the door, Bai Yuheng put down the bell she had bought on the way, stretched, took off her outer robe, and said to the kitten on the table, "I'm going to take a bath. Are you going to your 'father'?"
"Meow meow meow!"
The kitten was very fierce, baring its teeth and looking quite unhappy with its "father".
Bai Yuheng also found it strange. The kitten had been very clingy to her the whole way, and she had to carry it most of the time. When she had carried it for a while and her arms were getting sore, it would reluctantly run to Cui Mingcan. Xiao Ying wanted to hold it, but its fussy nature made her lose her temper, and she could only pet it occasionally.
As for the cold-faced Li Tiankuo, he would bristle and bare his teeth if he got even half an inch closer, as if he were ready to fight at any moment.
In the end, it was Bai Yuheng who spent more time with it.
She was about to take a bath and, worried that it might run off without her, told it beforehand, "Since you're not going to your 'dad's, then stay on the table. I'm going to take a bath first, so don't run around. If you agree, lick my finger."
After saying that, he put his finger to its mouth.
The kitten gave it a gentle kiss.
Bai Yuheng smiled and said, "So good."
After rubbing it, she went behind the screen, checked the water temperature, and then took off her clothes.
The room was separated into two areas by only a screen.
The kitten was lying on the table, licking its paws boredly. When it heard the sound of water, it instinctively raised its head and perked up its ears. It only glanced at the water briefly before covering its eyes with its paws, silently burying its ears and turning away.
Light streamed down onto the screen, casting an image of the person standing behind it onto the screen. Their clothes were off, and their graceful silhouette was faintly visible, until the sound of water suddenly rang out.
After an unknown amount of time, the kitten, feeling suffocated and unable to breathe, stretched its aching limbs and decided to go out for some fresh air. It jumped out of the half-open window.
A small, agile cat leaped down from the second floor and hid behind a tree in the courtyard. The bright moonlight shone down, and in the shadows, a tall shadow landed on the ground.
The shadow shifted slightly, revealing handsome features in the shadows. Its dark, jade-like eyes glanced at the window it had just jumped out of, and it breathed a sigh of relief.
He suddenly frowned and pursed his lips, covering his face with one hand, breathing heavily and rapidly. The moonlight shone on him, revealing his ears to be flushed red.
"Oh."
A laugh suddenly broke the silence of the courtyard. Pei Yuanxu touched his lips, recalling the warmth and touch of her fingertips. Instantly, his brows relaxed and his lips curved into a smile.
midnight.
The moon hangs on the branch.
"Hmm..." Cui Mingcan kicked off the blanket covering him and paced anxiously in the room.
"I can't hold it in any longer!"
He gritted his teeth, rushed out of the room, and knocked on the door next door.
"do what?"
Candles were still lit inside Li Tiankuo's room.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Cui Mingcan looking anxious.
"Brother Tian, please, come with me to the outhouse, okay?"
"..." Li Tiankuo frowned in disdain.
"Please, please..." Cui Mingcan pleaded with his fist clenched, his face pale and pained, "I should have known better than to eat so many of these drunken shrimps here..."
Li Tiankuo recalled that the man had eaten a lot of Anping County's specialty drunken shrimp during dinner that evening, and it seemed that he had an upset stomach.
He glanced at the dark and quiet inn and said, "Can't you go by yourself?"
Cui Mingcan let out a muffled groan, no longer caring about saving face: "Oh dear, I'm scared..."
Thinking of how afraid he was of ghosts, Li Tiankuo turned around, picked up the candle on the table, and said, "Let's go."
"Brother Tian, you are my hero reborn!"
Li Tiankuo rubbed his brow, speechless at his flattery: "Hurry up."
He still had the mind to talk nonsense; he was afraid he'd poop in the bathroom and Cen Ying would find out tomorrow, then he'd have a good laugh.
The outhouse in the backyard.
Li Tiankuo stood under the tree, far away from him.
"Are you done yet?"
He had been standing there for a long time and couldn't help but ask him, fearing that he might die in the outhouse, and that he wouldn't go to pull him out.
"Ugh, I'm never eating drunken shrimp again!" Cui Mingcan said weakly. "Just a little longer, it'll be quick..."
"..." Li Tiankuo hesitated for a long time before saying, "It's already past midnight, you should take your medicine. I'll go find Cen Ying."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go, don't go..." Cui Mingcan's face peeked out from behind the outhouse door, flushed and pale, covered in sweat. "Don't look for her! I'll be there soon!"
Li Tiankuo couldn't understand his pride, his brows furrowed: "If you keep pulling him down, you'll die inside."
"Then I'd rather die inside..."
Cui Mingcan gripped the armrest tightly and gritted his teeth.
A cold wind blew by, and Li Tiankuo frowned, looking towards the end of the wind.
The outside was completely silent, and Cui Mingcan felt a chill in his heart.
They're not leaving, are they?
He peeked out and, sure enough, Li Tiankuo was no longer by the tree.
"Ugh..." He quickly covered his mouth, held his breath, and finished quickly.
Li Tiankuo is no brother! He actually abandoned him!
Cui Mingcan inwardly groaned, knowing that being mocked by Cen Ying would be worse than being haunted by a ghost, and his actions revealed a tragic air.
"call……"
A gust of wind howled, or perhaps it was a person's panting breath.
"!!!"
A cool breeze blew in the night, and Cui Mingcan, suspicious and paranoid, sneakily ran out of the outhouse, clutching the candlestick in his hand.
"Tap tap tap tap..."
Neat and orderly footsteps echoed on the stairs.
Cui Mingcan covered his mouth and hid around the corner. His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his body, and his breathing was unusually heavy, rapid, and noticeable in the quiet night.
"..."
The tapping stopped.
Cui Mingcan instinctively shielded his eyes from the candlelight, wanting only to merge with the darkness.
"Hahaha, whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
A sharp, strange cry rang out in the inn's lobby.
"..."
Then there was silence again.
"despair!"
It can distinguish the sound of a single object.
"despair!"
They're coming this way!
"Tap tap!"
Getting closer and closer.
"Tap tap!"
Getting closer and closer.
"Gurgle..."
Cui Mingcan covered her mouth and nose with her hand, then covered her growling stomach, and the sound stopped.
His scalp tingled, his breathing became rapid, his limbs stiffened, his heart pounded, he felt cold all over, and he was covered in cold sweat. The sweat on his forehead slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground, where it could be clearly heard.
"call……"
A cool breeze brushed past his ear.
Cui Mingcan's body trembled, stiffening for a moment before he slowly turned his head. In the dim candlelight, a face with deathly pale white skin and red lips was right in front of him, staring at each other, no more than two fingers' distance away.
Cui Mingcan's pupils contracted sharply, then his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"ah!!!!!!!"
When Cui Mingcan opened his eyes, he saw Cen Ying and Bai Yuheng's big faces. He screamed and struggled to get out of bed.
"What are you doing, shouting like that!" Cen Ying and Bai Yuheng pushed the person back down.
"Are you human or ghosts?!"
Cen Ying rolled her eyes: "Is there a ghost as beautiful as me?"
"Why don't you give it a squeeze?" Bai Yuheng suggested with a smile.
Hearing this, Cui Mingcan thought it made sense, reached out and pinched it, then exclaimed in horror, "It doesn't hurt!"
"Meow!"
The kitten sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling the pain, jumped up and scratched him with its paw.
"Ouch! That hurts!!!"
"Now you know you're not dead, right?"
"Phew..." Cui Mingcan touched his still-beating heart and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Still alive, still alive..."
"So, what happened to you last night?" Cen Ying asked, taking his pulse.
"Ugh, don't even mention it."
As he spoke, he glared at Li Tiankuo, who sat as still as a rock, his eyes practically spitting fire. He gritted his teeth and said, "Li Tiankuo, are you even a brother?! You actually ran off with me behind my back!!!"
The latter leisurely put down his teacup and looked up at him.
Cui Mingcan, lacking courage, retorted: "What are you doing! Why are you looking at me like that?! I'm the weaker one now, don't even think about hitting me!"
Cen Ying flicked his forehead and said irritably, "You heartless bastard, if it weren't for Li Tiankuo, you would be dead by now!"
"Huh? What happened?" Cui Mingcan was dumbfounded.
"You think what you had last night was a dream?"
Bai Yuheng said, "You must have encountered a ghost messenger last night."
"!!!!"
He wondered if he had misheard. His throat was dry, and he asked again in fear, "W-what!?"
"I said you've encountered a ghost!" Cen Ying shouted loudly in his ear, suspecting that the man had been scared out of his wits.
Cui Mingcan felt like he was about to faint again.
"So I really did encounter a ghost?"
Bai Yuheng nodded with a hint of sympathy in her eyes: "Yes, that should be the case."
What do you mean by "should be"? Cui Mingcan felt short of breath, recalling the deathly pale face from last night, and his eyes rolled back.
"……Well."
"Cui Mingcan, Cui Mingcan!?"
The person fainted again.
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Author's Note: Another update!
When would you like the final update, my darlings? [Let me see!]
The next update won't be until Thursday! [Milk tea][Laughing]
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