Chapter 87: Retirement Day 87: You never laughed when we talked about retrospection. ...
After the surprise, his slightly stunned expression quickly turned calm. A hint of helplessness and relief flowed from his deep, dark eyes. His voice was still hoarse, but one could hear a hint of relaxation as he said slowly, "I'm glad you're okay."
Leaving these words, Qingyang's brows were filled with fatigue again. Pengqiu took on the responsibility of accompanying him conscientiously. He dipped a cotton swab in water and touched Qingyang's lips. He called the doctor to give him a painkiller. The former fell into a coma again.
Mingxin stood by the bed with his arms folded. Seeing Pengqiu's actions, he muttered, "You seem quite caring."
Pengqiu glanced up at Sushi, who was dozing off by the window. He smiled and explained in a low voice, "When we were little, my senior brother would often fight with other kids. I wouldn't stand up to him, so he'd tell me to get lost. So usually, he'd end up with a bloody head and bruises after a fight, while I wouldn't even have a scratch from a nail. In those moments, I'd take on the responsibility of taking care of him."
He glanced at Su Shi's propped-up head. The half of his face facing them happened to be the one with the scar on his forehead. Although his eyes were closed, he could still see that he had a fierce look. Ming Xin nodded, "It can be seen that your senior brother really loves to fight."
Pengqiu laughed.
Although Mingxin's attitude toward him and Senior Brother Sushi had improved considerably since their last conversation, it was clear he still held a certain prejudice against Senior Brother Sushi. He drew the curtain shut and spoke even more brazenly about past events: "Senior Brother Sushi actually doesn't like fighting. We both entered Huanlongtai very early, young as we were, but we were both direct disciples of the abbot. With these two identities combined, the younger Taoist priests nearby would become jealous and displeased with us, often leading the rest of the abbey to isolate and bully us."
Pengqiu has a gentle personality and is the type who won't say a word even when being bullied.
But that night, a group of young Taoist priests pushed him into a ditch taller than he was, sprained his leg, and he couldn't get out for a long time. Until midnight, Senior Brother Su Shi, still waiting for him, circled the temple countless times but couldn't find him. So, he pushed open the young Taoist priests' doors and, with his fists, demanded to know where his junior brother was.
"I remember it very clearly. Although I was in that ditch some distance from the Taoist temple, the cries of the young Taoist priests that night could be heard clearly from far away."
Pengqiu laughed as he spoke, concluding his speech: "Senior Brother Sushi is a truly kind and principled person. Don't have a stereotype about him. Even the wound on his forehead was caused by saving someone."
"oh?"
Pengqiu's words just now had already somewhat overturned the image of Su Shi in Mingxin's mind. Now Pengqiu revealed a big secret. Mingxin was as curious as she could be. She poked the other's arm with her elbow, signaling him to speak quickly.
"About four years ago, Senior Brother Sushi went to a very remote village. The people there might have been born with underdeveloped brains, so they would actually sacrifice young women and children at a fixed time every year, saying that they were offering sacrifices to the mountain god, hoping that the mountain god would bless their village. They said it was an offering, but in reality it was just a massacre. By the time Senior Brother arrived at the village, the resentment of the women and children who died in the massacre had completely taken shape, and they had turned into mindless evil spirits. Those evil spirits would eat anyone they saw..."
Ming Xin interrupted him: "Could your senior brother have been injured while saving those idiots?"
Peng Qiu tactfully retorted, "Senior Brother hates evil as much as he hates evil."
Not to mention the idiots who saved the village, the fact that he didn't help kill people and feed them to the evil spirits was a great outburst of humanity.
Meeting Mingxin's puzzled and strange eyes, Pengqiu explained, "He wanted to save the remaining women and children in the village."
oh.
That makes sense.
Mingxin was a little curious again: "What about the evil ghost? How did your senior brother deal with it in the end?"
Pengqiu: "Brother, you brought it back to the Dragon-Huaning Platform. Master performed a ritual to move it and it was reincarnated into the underworld."
Ming Xin thought that it was not that easy to reincarnate in the underworld, but he thought that only the people in the underworld knew these inside information. If he said it out loud, it would definitely arouse Pengqiu's curiosity. If Sang Qiqi's identity was exposed at that time, it would be inappropriate.
So he just shut up.
After the two finished talking about Su Shi, who looked fierce but was actually kind-hearted, they pulled the curtain open again. However, no one expected that the man they were talking about just now was standing behind the curtain. Su Shi crossed his arms, his eyelids half open, and he looked very imposing.
He asked expressionlessly, "Next time you say something bad about me, can you please go outside and say it? I was just dozing off, not dead, and I can still hear."
Pengqiu: “…”
Mingxin: “…”
Mingxin muttered, "How could there be any bad words? They were all good things."
Seeing that he dared to refute, Su Shi's eyes became even more fierce.
It was precisely this expression that suddenly brought Mingxin back to his senses, as he was about to shrink his neck and go find his senior brother to block it. He spoke in a long voice with an expression that seemed to see through Su Shi: "Oh - you actually heard us praising you, so you feel embarrassed, right?"
Back in time: "..."
He felt in his pocket, and with a swish of his slender fingers, several pieces of bright yellow talisman paper with strange and unfamiliar runes appeared before Mingxin's eyes. In Mingxin's stiff expression, Su Shi asked with a fierce face, "Which one do you want to try?"
Mingxin: "...I said it wrongly. Actually, I'm sorry for disturbing you."
He turned around silently and returned to Mingwu's side, becoming a weak, helpless and pitiful little Taoist priest.
-
the next day.
Qingyang, who had woken up several times, finally regained consciousness. Although the wound still hurt from time to time, his complexion and condition were much better than when he had just undergone emergency surgery.
Leaning against the headboard, he looked at Pengqiu who was busy running around, with a look of helplessness on his face, as if he found it funny. He said, "Fellow Daoist Pengqiu, I'm really fine now. I don't blame you. You really don't have to come and look after me every day."
To say that it is every day is not actually accurate.
Because, it is all the time.
The last time Qingyang received this kind of treatment was probably when he was just born and in the cradle.
Pengqiu shook his head at Taoist Qingyang's kindness, his expression serious. "No, my senior brother and I promised Taoist Mingwu that we would take care of you at all times until you are discharged. Don't feel embarrassed, this is what my senior brother and I should do."
Qingyang: “…”
Mingxin, who was accompanying him next door, glanced at the grayed-out game page, took a moment to raise his head, and advised Qingyang: "Uncle Master, just let Pengqiu and the others stay. It just so happens that Senior Brother Mingwu has returned to the Taoist temple. It's quite boring for me to stay in the ward alone. With Pengqiu here, we can still eat some sunflower seeds and chat."
They had just had a discussion on 'how to increase online fame faster and better'.
The conclusion is that -
There is no need to think of any solution. They have been ridiculed by many fellow Taoists online because of the incident in Beiqing Village.
Qingyang sighed and asked, "You feel bored, but I'm still in the ward. I can talk to you about anything you want."
The game character revived, and Mingxin raised his head again, retorting as a matter of course, "That's different. Pengqiu and I are the same age, and we're both internet celebrities, so we have a lot in common. Most importantly, Pengqiu is a nice guy. If I call someone an idiot, he'll follow me and curse back. He gives me a lot of emotional value. But you, Master, are different. You just tell me not to swear. Oh, and one more thing, you can't eat takeout, so I can't afford to deliver a single cup of milk tea I order."
Qingyang: “…”
He rubbed his brow with his uninjured hand and said nothing more.
The atmosphere became quiet. Qingyang lowered his eyes and looked at his hand which was hooked to an IV drip. Then he looked at Yunsheng who had not woken up yet next door. Then he thought of his fellow apprentice Sushi who he could not drive away. His eyes darkened slightly.
The quiet atmosphere lasted less than half an hour. Mingxin began to mutter about his three consecutive losses in the game. Less than two minutes later, it was Yunsheng's attending physician's turn to make rounds. He briefly checked on Yunsheng's condition, said "all is well," and left. Meanwhile, Sushi brushed past the white-coated doctor. Without even a glance at Yunsheng, he walked over to Qingyang's side. Seeing that he was resting with his eyes open and looking well, he pulled out a small notebook and pen without warning and asked Qingyang, "Fellow Daoist Qingyang, can I do a survey?"
This sentence caught the attention of everyone present.
Qing Yang was slightly stunned and asked, "What investigation?"
Su Shi pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down, explaining, "I want to ask you how you feel about my curse."
Qingyang: “…”
Mingxin: “…”
Is this polite?
Regardless of whether the topic was polite or not, Su Shi acted quite politely, even willing to explain a few more words to Qing Yang: "It's like this, the curses I've been researching are basically all capable of killing people instantly. You're the only one who's been affected by a curse and still alive. So I'd like to take the liberty of asking about your experience so I can make further modifications when I research the curse later."
Qingyang: “…”
Mingxin: “…”
Is this even human language?
Peng Qiu held his forehead helplessly and added, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Su Shi really loves studying evil spells."
Qingyang: "...I can see that."
Although he felt a little confused, seeing Su Shi sitting in front of him like a good student taking notes in class, Qingyang still spoke up even though he didn't want to recall the scene when he was affected by the evil curse.
"Your curse was quite powerful. I seemed to lose consciousness for a second, and then my head felt dizzy. I had only one thought in my mind - to kill the person opposite me. And I seemed to have completely forgotten that I was a Taoist priest. I could definitely kill him in other ways. Later... later, a faint voice whispered in my ear, coaxing me, saying that as long as I stabbed the dagger into my lower abdomen, everything would be over."
"In other words, you acknowledge the power of this curse?"
“…Accepted.”
He is now lying in a hospital bed. If he says he doesn't agree, he is being too stubborn.
"Is there any moment when you feel your mind clears up?"
"No."
"Oh." Su Shi held the pen in his right hand and quickly recorded all his experiences with Qingyang. He emphasized the words "extraordinary effect" and said, "It works very quickly, right?"
"right."
"Excuse me, what were you thinking when you were affected by the curse? I personally think you were just affected. Given your strength, the injury shouldn't be that serious."
What are you thinking about?
Qingyang's eyes flickered unconsciously, and his face showed the same calm and helpless expression as usual: "I was thinking about Yunsheng. At that time, the evil way broke its promise and hurt Yunsheng. I was very worried about Yunsheng's situation."
"Oh, that's pretty much what I guessed. You're probably feeling uneasy, so you're more affected." Su Shi nodded to himself, his pen nibbling across the booklet. After a few seconds, he asked his final question, "Do you have any suggestions for revising this curse?"
"..." Qing Yang was silent for a while, then replied, "Perhaps, you can study how to make the evil curse affect only certain people."
"I've actually thought about that, but to achieve a specific choice, I'd probably need to get the other person's birth date first. This is more suitable for dealing with acquaintances in a planned manner. It's not practical for a sudden, special situation like the one we had a few days ago. But thank you very much for your advice. I've asked enough questions, so you can rest first."
After saying that, he pulled the chair back to the bedside, bit the tip of his pen and continued to think about and research another evil curse.
-
Mingxin witnessed what Sushi did, but was too embarrassed to complain to Pengqiu about his senior brother's behavior in front of Sushi again. He could only take out his mobile phone and complain to Sang Qiqi: It's a ghost. This is the first time in my life that someone asked a victim about his feelings about the use of a curse.
At that time, Sang Qiqi was lazily dozing off in front of the simple mahjong table.
The temperature in northern Beijing has soared again over the past couple of days, and coupled with online rumors of a police crackdown on Taoist priests nationwide, the number of customers at funeral services has dropped significantly. Sang Qiqi didn't mind. Every day, she either watched variety shows or joked with Duan Sui. Occasionally, she'd invite two people from the haunted house next door over to play mahjong. They weren't playing for money, but for their faces. The loser got a turtle painted on his face.
In just one hour, Bai Yingxin had gone to the bathroom to wash her face three times.
There was no place to paint, so I could only wash my face and start over.
While waiting, Sang Qiqi received a message from Mingxin and glanced at it. For the past two days, she had been hearing Mingxin's constant complaints about Senior Brother Pengqiu, Sushi. It should be said that after learning that his curse had caused a fatal blow, Sang Qiqi's curiosity about Sushi had skyrocketed. She had reminded Mingxin no less than three times to bring Sushi with him when he and Pengqiu returned to Jingbei.
Duan Sui's eyes seemed to casually sweep over the word "Shu Shi" that the girl's slender fingers typed on the screen. His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked calmly, "Do you like Su Shi very much?"
"It's okay." Sang Qiqi supported her face and answered nonchalantly, "His temperament and way of doing things are quite in line with my preferences."
Most importantly, she was really envious of that evil curse.
"A temperament that explodes at the slightest provocation and a ruthless approach to dealing with things?"
Sang Qiqi's head, dazed by sleepiness, gradually came to her senses when she heard the man's question. She keenly sensed the disdain hidden in Duan Sui's words. She glanced at him, leaned closer, and asked curiously, "Do you have any objections to Su Shi?"
She seemed completely unaware of the inappropriateness of her behavior, believing she was whispering to Duan Sui. Duan Sui lowered his eyes to gaze at her fair face, which was almost touching the back of his hand. He remained silent for a moment, not admitting, "No."
"Tsk, I don't believe it." She raised her finger and pressed it to the corner of her mouth, gesturing twice, "You never smiled when we talked about Su."
Duan Sui: “…”
Bai Yingxin, who had just finished eating melon after coming out of the bathroom, said: "..."
She looked at Duan Sui for a few seconds with a bit of heartache, then shook her head and sighed in her heart - the revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard.
It seemed that Duan Sui was not in the mood to play mahjong right now. Bai Yingxin didn't want to draw a turtle on her face anymore. She rubbed her face until it hurt, so she stood up and took her boss's hand to say goodbye.
Sang Qiqi didn't stop them and waved goodbye.
After putting away her mahjong, she shifted to another couch. She looked up and saw Duan Sui standing in front of it. He was tall and long-legged, his gaze lowered, giving her a condescending air. But after only a few seconds, Sang Qiqi shook her head and dismissed the feeling.
Duan Sui leaned over and placed the washed grapes on her table, as if to casually remind her: "It's not good to have an overly bad temper. Emotional instability is a taboo for people."
Sang Qiqi didn't expect that he was still worried about this matter. It seemed that he really didn't like Su Shi.
Although she wasn't sure why, she was happy to coax him: "That's right, your personality is quite good. I don't think you'll get angry no matter what."
It seems that Duan Sui and Su Shi's personalities are completely opposite. No wonder he dislikes Su Shi.
Having grasped the key, Sang Qiqi explained a few more words for the sake of Grape: "What I admire about Su Shi's temperament isn't his explosive nature, but his attitude towards evildoers. When dealing with the most vicious and evil, he unleashes a curse to the point of death, and won't stop until the opponent is dead. Unlike Ming Xin and the others, who just use ordinary talismans to fight for a long time but can't win."
oh.
So that's what it means.
In the final analysis, it is about being ruthless and decisive in killing.
Duan Sui thought about the evaluation of himself by others, and it seemed to be consistent with these two points.
He walked over to the sofa next to Sang Qiqi and sat down. His expression returned to calm, and he started watching the variety show with her.
At seven o'clock that evening, a news preview became a hot search on Weibo.
At the reminder of surfing expert Bai Yingxin, Sang Qiqi opened Weibo and saw the information released by the official Weibo of Ningchuan Real Estate. The general meaning was that there have been a lot of rumors about Ningchuan Real Estate’s CEO Ning Changsheng recently, so Ning Changsheng decided to hold a press conference at 2:11 pm tomorrow to discuss the various rumors on the Internet in detail.
[They even held a press conference. It seems the Ningchuan Real Estate CEO is quite concerned about the public opinion Dai Jianhua has sparked.]
How could I not care? Ningchuan Real Estate’s stock price has been falling these past two days.
[Yeah, didn't the girl who was rescued from the villa by the police post a video? The girl said that when they were forcibly taken away, they encountered the club manager and asked for help, but the manager ignored her.]
[More than just ignoring it? That idiotic manager actually said, "You're honored that CEO Dai has chosen you." Ugh, you idiot! If it's an honor, why don't you take it?!]
[I heard those girls have mental issues. Ning Changsheng, you should go with Dai Jianhua.]
[No, am I the only one who's bothered by the odd timing of this press conference? Aren't all previous press conferences always on time? Why did he set it at 2:11? Any explanation?]
"Tomorrow afternoon at 2:11?" Mingxin received Sang Qiqi's forwarded message. After a quick glance, he confirmed his shared opinion with Pengqiu and replied: "It must have taken quite a while to choose this date, right?" The auspicious date for the week is tomorrow afternoon at 2:11.
Or is it an auspicious day?
Sang Qiqi tutted twice, remembering what Shen Wanglan had mentioned to her earlier: Ning Changsheng was obsessive about auspicious dates, even choosing a specific day for his wife's birth. So, holding a specific time for this press conference wasn't so surprising. Still, the fact that he'd waited this long to clarify just to time things was a bit thoughtful.
She read the comments back and forth and found that the official Weibo of Ningchuan Real Estate was extremely arrogant. It completely ignored the various questions from netizens and even liked the remarks about gender confrontation made by some brainless guys.
Refreshing the page again, a comment reading, "Who knows if what the so-called victim said is true? Anyone can say anything. Maybe the story about being forced was all nonsense. Did she just go along with the rich guy of her own accord? Turns out the boss isn't so easy to please. She regrets it now. She's trying to earn some sympathy points and become an internet celebrity. /Smile" was followed by a bright red "Like."
Sang Qiqi: “……?”
Is this official blog crazy?
Many netizens who noticed this like post had the same idea as Sang Qiqi.
[What the hell? What the hell is going on? Is the person in charge of Ningchuan Real Estate's official blog possessed by a ghost?]
[To be more precise, Dai Jianhua must have possessed him...otherwise, I really can't understand this behavior.]
[What do you mean? The stock price hasn't fallen enough, right? You think the situation isn't serious enough?]
I have a terrifying thought. Ningchuan Real Estate is so arrogant as to like this kind of comment. Could it be that the truth is really as this person said? Have we all been fooled?
[That's impossible. The girl's injuries have been reported, right?]
[The injury report doesn't mean she didn't lie.]
[What bullshit! Ningchuan Real Estate is just going crazy.]
Sang Qiqi pondered for a moment. She could probably guess why Ningchuan Real Estate was so fearless. The surveillance cameras in the clubhouse were either broken or tampered with. Li Quan and Dai Jianhua, who were implicated in the women's captivity, were both dead, leaving no evidence. If the police wanted to interrogate the clubhouse manager and others, Ning Changsheng could easily use the abilities of the Jiuyou Tongshen Society members to cover up the truth.
Blinking slowly, she changed her posture, leaning on the back of the sofa, and asked Duan Sui with bright eyes, "Tomorrow afternoon, how about we give Ning Changsheng a big event that he will never forget?"
Duan Sui, who was packing up his paper-made items, turned around and took a quick look at Ningchuan Real Estate's official Weibo account. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Making trouble on an auspicious day?"
"Yes, let him remember this disaster clearly on every auspicious day in the future."
"I think it's feasible." Their original decision to let Ning Changsheng go was because they didn't want to alert the enemy. However, the incident in Beiqing Village had already alerted the Jiuyou Tongshen Society, and dealing with Ning Changsheng wasn't a big deal. Duan Sui thought for a moment and said, "If you want, I can kill him directly at the press conference."
Thoroughly implement the decisive and ruthless style of action.
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