White temples
Wen Ya was used to being alone, and she never expected that after growing up, Si Mucheng, who didn't play by the rules, would appear. She really couldn't handle him.
“…Nothing is a given. Besides,” Wen Ya glanced at his injury again, seeing how weak he was, yet he still selflessly shielded her, she didn’t know what to say, “Don’t go to the hospital again next time.”
Si Mucheng could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression. He was both amused and exasperated, struggling to save face: "...This was really an accident. Normally I could beat him."
Wen Ya nodded perfunctorily.
Si Mucheng thought of Jiang Shuo again, and he felt inexplicably concerned. His tone became even more casual: "By the way, is that guy also a Soul Exorcist? Do you know him? Is he your classmate like Brother Zhao and Shangguan Qin?"
Wen Ya paused for a moment, then said, "His name is Jiang Shuo, and my maternal grandmother's surname is Jiang."
Si Mucheng reacted: "You..." He mentally sorted out the relationship and asked incredulously, "Is he a cousin? Or a younger cousin?"
Wen Ya reluctantly replied, "I'll count him as my cousin."
The two walked out of the hospital and were about to hail a taxi back to the hotel when a Jeep Wrangler pulled up to the side of the road. Jiang Shuo got out. He saw Wen Ya and seemed relieved, his face still expressionless. "Xiao Han said he brought you to the hospital. I was worried you'd leave first. How are your injuries?" The last sentence was directed at Si Mucheng.
Si Mucheng waved his hand: "It's just a minor injury, nothing serious. Did that madman get arrested?"
Jiang Shuo nodded: "The interrogation will take more time."
Si Mucheng frowned: "Then what about him," he pointed to his head, "can he be convicted?"
Anyone with eyes could see that he wasn't a normal person. Si Mucheng was worried that the murderer wouldn't receive the punishment he deserved, considering how Shi Lu had been harmed.
Jiang Shuo clearly understood this point, and he pondered, "We must believe in the law; it will not let any guilty person get away with it."
With things having come to this point, Si Mucheng could only nod in agreement.
Jiang Shuo turned his gaze back to Wen Ya. He had come to ask her some questions, but upon seeing her and noticing the weariness in her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to ask anything. He opened his mouth and only managed to say, "Where's your little chicken?" as if he were just trying to make conversation.
Wen Ya said calmly, "We should be there soon."
Jiang Shuo hummed in agreement before saying, "Could you come to the Jiang family tomorrow? My aunt mentioned you the other day, saying she hadn't seen you in a long time."
Wen Ya had already planned this, so she nodded upon hearing this. Then, the group looked at each other, speechless.
Si Mucheng looked left and right, and only then was he absolutely certain that the two were indeed related. These two taciturn, expressionless people were truly from the same family.
He cleared his throat and flashed his signature smile: "Let's go back now. It's getting late, why don't we get some rest?"
Jiang Shuo immediately said, "It's quite late. Where do you live? I'll take you home."
Si Mucheng's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "Great, great!"
Wen Ya did not object, so the two of them went all the way with Jiang Shuo.
Throughout the journey, Si Mucheng once again displayed his flirtatious nature, managing to talk the whole way even with someone as taciturn as Jiang Shuo. He was quite impressed, thinking that perhaps being a few years older and more mature, Jiang Shuo was much easier to deal with than Wen Ya.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Si Mucheng said goodbye to Jiang Shuo and went to the front desk to inquire. Finding a room available, he immediately booked one. Although he wasn't particularly concerned, he was worried that Wen Ya might feel uncomfortable.
Having resolved the housing issue that had plagued them for two days, Si Mucheng breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Wen Ya, recalling her subtle interactions with Jiang Shuo, and asked curiously, "Do you dislike Jiang Shuo?"
Wen Ya hadn't expected him to ask that, but she still said, "...I wouldn't say I dislike him."
"Why aren't you family?"
Wen Ya looked at the elevator panel and said calmly, "Although my maternal grandmother was a member of the Jiang family, she passed away a long time ago, and I never met her. When I was little, my mother told me that when my grandmother was still alive, she didn't have much contact with the Jiang family because they lived far away. After my grandmother passed away, she completely lost contact with the Jiang family. Moreover, my maternal grandfather... had a very strange attitude towards the Jiang family; you couldn't even mention them."
Although Si Mucheng didn't know why some family members would eventually become estranged, there's a saying that every family has its own troubles, so he didn't say much. He just shrugged and said, "Even if there are many grudges, they are the affairs of the older generation. They have nothing to do with you younger generation. You and Jiang Shuo don't need to cut off contact."
Wen Ya frowned, then suddenly said in a serious tone, "Probably jealousy. His family is really rich, and my family is really poor."
Si Mucheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded seriously: "That's true, his car, tsk tsk. How come we're all in the same industry, whether it's Brother Zhao, Shangguan Qin, or the Jiang family, they're all quite wealthy, while you're penniless."
Just then, the elevator arrived at their floor, the doors opened, and the two of them stepped out. Wen Ya sighed dramatically, "So, why don't you go find them to be your masters? Zhao Wentian has always wanted to keep you at Yuhuang Temple, hasn't he?"
Si Mucheng also sighed: "No, I'm quite rich too. If the master has a foundation, the apprentice won't. As long as one of us is rich, that's enough."
Wen Ya couldn't help but laugh before revealing her true feelings: "Actually, it's just a little awkward. After all, I'm not familiar with him, but I have my grandmother's connection to him, so..."
Si Mucheng laughed: "I understand. But haven't you seen each other all these years?"
“I’ve met her,” Wen Ya thought for a moment. “And the great-aunt he mentioned, I should call her my maternal great-aunt. She’s my maternal grandmother’s older sister. She… likes me very much and says I look like my maternal grandmother. The two sisters are close, so they love each other out of love, and even if they haven’t seen each other for a long time, they will still call each other occasionally.”
"So you're going to visit the Jiang family tomorrow?"
"What we need are our elders. After all... even my maternal grandfather has passed away."
Wen Ya suddenly realized that her maternal grandfather had passed away, and the Jiang family was actually the last place she had any kinship with. Her family ties were so thin that she couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
Si Mucheng noticed her stunned expression. He turned around to face Wen Ya, and walked backwards, laughing as he went: "Even without blood ties, you can still choose different relatives. For example, the senior brothers of Yuhuang Temple, and Miss Shangguan can be considered one. Or, for example, me."
He smiled and leaned down, looking into her eyes: "I'm such a good disciple that you can't get rid of me."
When Wen Ya looked at the face that suddenly loomed close to her, the smile in the wet, puppy-dog eyes made her heart skip a beat.
She raised her hand, stuck out a finger and poked Si Mucheng's forehead, then pushed it back before saying, "Ugh, so annoying."
Even though it was just a sentence, Si Mucheng still couldn't miss the faint smile on her lips, and his mood improved even more: "I'm not leaving even if you annoy me to death."
Wen Ya lowered her head and saw her reflection on the ground—the shadows of her and Si Mucheng walking side by side.
From some point onward, she was no longer alone.
The new room was right next to the old one, but it didn't have a terrace. Since Si Mucheng saw that Wen Ya really liked the terrace in the old room, he packed his things and went to the new room.
As they reached the door, Wen Ya called out to him and pointed to his arm: "That part shouldn't get wet. Be careful when you take a shower."
Si Mucheng smiled, raised his right hand, held up two fingers in front of his eyebrows, and waved them outwards: "Let's go."
The next day, Wen Ya checked Si Mucheng's arm and was relieved to find it was fine and hadn't gotten wet.
"The doctor said yesterday that I need to go to the hospital today to change the dressing?"
Si Mucheng nodded: "Yes. I'll go ask today if I can get some medicine so I can change it myself. That hospital is quite far away."
Last night, the police took them directly to a hospital near Lishi No. 2 Middle School, which wasn't very convenient.
As Si Mucheng was leaving the hotel, he was about to ask Wen Ya if she knew where the Jiang family lived when he saw a familiar Jeep Wrangler parked by the roadside, with colorful chickens on its roof.
Jiang Shuo stood beside the car, staring at Wen Xiaofeng.
Si Mucheng asked in surprise, "Brother, what brings you here?"
Jiang Shuo paused for a moment upon hearing his address, then said, "I've come to pick you up."
"Hey, you even made a special trip, that must be tiring. When did you arrive? Aren't you worried we left late?" Si Mucheng seemed quite happy to see Wen Xiaofeng, but Wen Xiaofeng didn't even spare him a glance, only staring intently at Jiang Shuo.
Jiang Shuo glanced at Wen Ya: "We've only been here a short time and we've already run into your little chick."
Wen Ya waved to Wen Xiaofeng, who then flapped its wings and flew to her shoulder, nuzzling her with its head.
"Have you had breakfast?" Jiang Shuo asked.
Si Mucheng nodded. "I ate it."
“Alright,” Jiang Shuo raised his chin, “Let’s set off then. By the way, is that ghost still there?”
Si Mucheng subconsciously looked at Shi Lu, who was next to Wen Ya: "Yes."
“Alright,” Jiang Shuo said decisively. “The police got some information from the interrogation last night. Wen Ya, I need to know some things about the victim.”
Wen Ya nodded: "Perfect timing, I also have some questions I'd like to ask you."
"Let's talk on the way."
The car smoothly drove onto the elevated road, and Wen Ya spoke first: "Why were you there?"
Jiang Shuo glanced at her in the rearview mirror before slowly saying, "Actually, I noticed traces of talismans being used in that area a couple of days ago. No one in the Jiang family has used them, so I was worried there might be a problem and went to investigate. I searched the whole area, and yesterday I happened to come across that abandoned factory, where I saw you were about to set up a spirit-summoning array."
He brought up the spirit-summoning array again, but Wen Ya remained calm and composed, showing no sign of guilt. Each family stationed in their respective areas had patrols as part of their daily work, checking for any anomalies in the surrounding area and promptly detecting evil spirits or wandering souls—essentially a check-and-fill operation.
Wen Ya knew very well that the talisman Jiang Shuo mentioned was likely the one used to suppress Shi Lu, but she still asked, "Didn't you notice that talisman before?"
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