Chapter 41 The unbearable time was finally over. He Zhao was leaving, and she was still soaking wet...
The unbearable time was finally over, and He Zhao was leaving. She put her wet shoes and socks back on. She had no choice; she had to pack up her stall. Wang Yu could do the small tasks of fetching bowls, chopsticks, and paper money for the dead, but packing up the stall was out of the question. Wang Yu seemed a bit unreliable, and He Zhao was even worried that Wang Yu might turn around and knock her stall over.
Besides, I'll be driving later, and going barefoot is even more inappropriate.
Wearing these shoes and socks made He Zhao feel really uncomfortable. Wang Yu felt a little embarrassed that this had happened on her second day here. She waved goodbye to He Zhao, and after learning that she would be coming back in three days to continue accompanying him, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that she was being lazy; it's just that this job was truly beyond human capabilities. She had to face so many ghosts in one night, while also protecting an ordinary person, and those ghosts didn't seem easy to deal with. Especially that suture-sealed water ghost, whose resentment seemed immense; one can only imagine the grievances it suffered in its previous life.
Wang Yu also checked, but she was only at level two and her access level was not as high as Qiao Yanyu's. Moreover, the sutured water ghost's face was not even visible, so she could only search based on some superficial features.
But this city is neither too big nor too small, and the women are young.
Looking back over the past few years, the number of young women victims is simply too high; or rather, this group is a prime target for criminals. There are many reported missing persons and deaths alone, and if you add in those who went missing but didn't report it, the number is even greater.
After searching through the database without finding a corresponding victim, Wang Yu felt even more distressed.
This means that the disappearance of the sutured water ghost was either not reported or reported elsewhere. The scope suddenly expands nationwide, and it's even possible that it wasn't part of the case at all; searching for it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if the case is reported to the information processing department and their assistance is requested, there are so many cases nationwide, and the information processing department is extremely busy. It's uncertain how long it will take to solve the case reported by Wang Yu.
Leaving Wang Yu aside, He Zhao finally managed to pedal her electric tricycle back to her rented apartment building. After parking the tricycle, she went upstairs. Before going up, He Zhao specifically asked the system if the person on the fifth floor was still watching her. After receiving a negative answer, He Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, each day wasn't all bad news.
He Zhao returned to his room, quickly took off his wet shoes and socks, turned on his energy-efficient air conditioner (level 5), and boiled a large kettle of water. He gulped down a big glass, soaked his feet, and only felt relieved after sweating a bit.
She really can't catch a cold right now. He Zhao can't be sure if her stingy system will force her to get sick when she has a cold. Even if it's not that stingy and allows her to take a day off, He Zhao is also worried about what to do if she doesn't earn any money.
I took a day off, but I didn't get a thousand yuan in wages, and the system's ghost money payment was delayed.
What's worse is that if she catches a cold these two days, it might be washed away during her rest. He Zhao doesn't want to have to stay home and recover from an illness on her day off. She didn't even wait for Qiao Yanyu's message before pulling up the covers and falling asleep.
She slept from dawn till dusk. When she opened her eyes, her head was still a little dizzy and felt very heavy. He Zhao immediately knew that her condition was not good; she might have caught a cold.
But she didn't feel the urge to cough or sneeze, so He Zhao felt she was probably fine. She shook her head, got out of bed, and drank a large glass of hot water before she felt a little more awake. Her hands moved faster than her mind, and she turned on her phone to check Qiao Yanyu's messages.
Qiao Yanyu didn't send many messages, and the intervals between them were all roughly the same. The earliest one was sent to herself in the morning while eating breakfast, and she didn't send another one after not receiving a response. The next one was sent around 12 o'clock, obviously while eating lunch, casually asking He Zhao if he had eaten and if he was awake.
After that, every three hours, they would ask He Zhao if he had woken up.
The most recent message was sent to He Zhao not long ago. It seems he had already asked Wang Yu, and the question was direct: Do you have a cold? Are you awake now? Do you feel unwell?
She rarely showed such direct concern for others, and even sent three questions in a row, indicating that she genuinely cared about He Zhao. He Zhao smiled, felt a slight itch in his throat, coughed a few times, and then replied to Qiao Yanyu.
He Zhao initially considered whether to hide it from Qiao Yanyu, since there was no need to tell Qiao Yanyu about her cold. Although she liked Qiao Yanyu very much, it only went as far as liking her appearance, enjoying being with her, and liking her personality. To say that she actually considered her a lover would be too much of an exaggeration.
There's no need to worry someone who's somewhere far away or who knows where. Besides, Qiao Yanyu is so kind-hearted; if she were to worry herself sick, it would be bad for me.
It's one thing to act all green tea in front of people, but to do it from so far away and still upset them is just ridiculous.
He Zhao is sometimes too clear-headed, to the point that he can't establish deep connections with people.
He Zhao instinctively wanted to hide his condition, so he simply replied casually: "It's nothing. I drank some hot water and soaked my feet when I got back, and I feel much better after a nap."
But she didn't realize that her words had already revealed that she wasn't feeling well.
After sending the message, she was actually about to get up, wash up, and go down for breakfast, but Qiao Yanyu called immediately. At that moment, He Zhao even felt her phone was burning hot. She calmed herself down for a while before answering the call.
He Zhao's first word was "Hey".
Even He Zhao herself was a little shocked after saying it, because her voice sounded particularly hoarse. The moment she spoke, her throat also felt very uncomfortable, as if it was being pulled.
Even without Qiao Yanyu saying anything, He Zhao knew she must have caught a cold; her voice sounded very off. He Zhao hadn't expected that she actually had a cold, and that her throat was so hoarse and uncomfortable. When she was alone, she didn't realize it because she didn't speak and just sat quietly.
If you don't communicate with people, don't talk to people, and don't even use your mouth and throat, of course you won't know that you have a cold.
Upon hearing He Zhao's voice, Qiao Yanyu on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before saying hesitantly, "He Zhao, you have a cold." This was not a question, but a statement; with He Zhao's voice, it was impossible for him to hide his cold.
He Zhao gave a wry smile: "I'm not lying to you, I only just found out I have a cold myself."
He Zhao's voice was extremely unpleasant, sounding like an untuned erhu, producing a truly grating and unpleasant sound. Qiao Yanyu noticed it too and said, "Don't talk too much. Take good care of yourself with your cold. Talking too much will hurt your throat."
But now, He Zhao didn't want to be quiet, nor did he feel that talking too much would hurt his throat. Because this was the first time in three days that He Zhao had spoken to Qiao Yanyu, and just hearing her voice made him feel fine.
He Zhao always thought she was quite strong. After her parents passed away in an accident, she dealt with the treacherous relatives who harbored malicious intentions while managing to give her parents a proper burial. During that time, she hardly cried and felt that her heart was particularly hard.
When Qiao Yanyu showed concern, He Zhao felt a pang of tenderness in his heart and couldn't help but want to throw himself into his sister's arms, rambling on about how bad he was feeling and how he needed a kiss from his sister to feel better.
She had just been thinking that Qiao Yanyu and she didn't even live in the same place, so what was the point of her sweet talk? Why bother making her worry? But when she actually received concern, she couldn't stay tough anymore.
However, He Zhao was still thinking clearly and didn't want Qiao Yanyu to worry too much, so he lowered his voice and tried to make it sound normal, saying softly, "Sister Qiao, actually I'm fine, there's nothing seriously wrong."
Qiao Yanyu thought differently: "I heard about what happened yesterday from Wang Yu. That ghost was very strange, and it was a water ghost, which is inherently cold. You are an ordinary person, and you came into contact with its water. It's possible that this is why you caught a cold."
Before He Zhao could say anything, the system objected: [No, the host will not be harmed by the yin energy or indirect influence of the ghost. The system has already isolated this influence. The host only caught a cold because of the wind and cold after wading through water. Please explain to Qiao Yanyu that the yin energy will absolutely not affect the host.]
He Zhao pretended not to hear what the system said, but still had to say what needed to be said: "Sister Qiao, don't worry too much. It's not because of ghosts or yin energy. Although the system is unreliable, it says it can isolate things, so it probably can."
No matter what He Zhao said, Qiao Yanyu was still worried. When He Zhao couldn't see her, she couldn't help but frown. She had left to do the mission because she truly trusted Wang Yu, but this happened after only two days of Wang Yu taking over. Moreover, the suture-stitch water ghost would obviously come looking for He Zhao again, which made Qiao Yanyu even more anxious.
If I were by He Zhao's side, this would never have happened.
She was a Level 1 investigator, not out of arrogance, but definitely stronger than Wang Yu, a Level 2 investigator. She was confident she could handle such a ghost. If she could handle it, she wouldn't let the water from the sutured ghost spread, causing He Zhao's shoes and socks to get soaked and forcing him to take them off.
If it is discovered afterward that He Zhao may have been harmed by Yin energy, they will promptly take out talismans to dispel the Yin energy around He Zhao.
Qiao Yanyu sighed, knowing that thinking so much was useless; what had happened was already done, and there was no point in trying to recap it later. After thinking for a while, Qiao Yanyu said, "I'll have Wang Yu deliver some protective amulets to you later. You said before that the system could isolate the influence of Yin energy; I was careless."
"Have some porridge and ginger tea later, and wait for me to come back."
He Zhao was stunned. She rarely heard anyone say "Wait for me to come back" to her. The phrase she heard most often was "See you next time." Now that these four words came from Qiao Yanyu's mouth, she felt a warm feeling all over her body.
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