Chapter 5: The Human Heart That Cannot Be Faced Directly
Because Qing Yanrou practices the mysterious arts, her five senses are much more sensitive than those of ordinary people.
When they heard Director Qin reporting Ning Jinghuai's situation to them, they knew that this young man was also related to Ning Jinghuai.
Seeing a group of them getting into the police car and driving towards Yantai Village, he also turned his gaze away and walked towards Yantai Village.
Chu Tingbai got into the car and saw Qing Yanrou walking slowly behind him in the rearview mirror.
Remembering that the chief of the police station had just said that this girl was the first to discover the body, he pinched his eyebrows with his fingers and signaled the driver to stop.
Qing Yanrou looked at the private car that stopped not far away, raised her eyebrows and ignored it, continuing to walk slowly and leisurely.
After a while, he walked to the back of the car.
Yantai Town is a typical karst terrain, mainly with many mountains, which makes the rural roads relatively narrow.
Chu Tingbai parked the car in the middle of the road. When Qing Yanrou approached the car, the back door suddenly opened.
Looking at the impassable road, Qing Yanrou paused, then turned around and planned to walk from the other side.
"Miss Qing, please stay."
A young man's low and hoarse voice sounded behind Qing Rouyan. She stopped and turned to look at the young man who got out of the car.
This time the distance was closer. Looking at the tall and handsome boy in front of her, the height difference made her take two steps back and look him in the eye.
"Miss Qing, are you going back to Yantai Village? Let's get in the car together." Chu Tingbai stood straight. Although he looked tired, his eyes were clear.
Qing Yanrou knew that he had something to ask, and she remembered that what she had promised Ning Jinghuai might be resolved sooner. "Okay, thank you."
After Qing Yanrou got in the car, Chu Tingbai helped her close the door and sat in the passenger seat. The rural road in Yantai Village was built when Qing Yanrou was in junior high school.
Now, after a few years, the road has become bumpy again and the car is shaking all the time.
"I heard from Chief Qin that it was Miss Qing who called the police, but according to the chief, that wasn't the only way you could get home."
After getting in the car, Qing Yanrou leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes when she heard Chu Tingbai's words.
Looking in the rearview mirror and meeting Chu Tingbai's gaze, he said in a flat voice, "Didn't Director Qin tell you what I do?"
Chu Tingbai frowned, his head aching from the constant work. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples, puzzled, "Does this have anything to do with what I asked you?"
"I am a Taoist priest."
Chu Tingbai paused for a moment, then put his hand down and sneered.
His originally tired face was now filled with impatience. "You're not saying you saw the spirit of the dead and knew this, are you?"
Qing Yanrou was not annoyed. She looked away and whispered, "Is the deceased your relative?"
Chu Tingbai realized that his emotions were out of control, so he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair dejectedly.
It was a long time before I heard him say, "I'm sorry, that's my cousin."
——
The town is not far from Yantai Village, and we arrived at the village entrance in a short while.
After getting off the car, Qing Yanrou looked at the young man in front of her and nodded to her before planning to follow Director Qin and the others to the scene. "Come with me to the temple."
Although Chu Tingbai did not believe in ghosts and gods, he still told his assistant and followed Shang Qing Yanrou to Yantai Temple.
The two of them didn't speak again along the way. When Chu Tingbai saw the crumbling mountain gate and the dilapidated Taoist temple, he looked at Qing Yanrou with suspicion, "Are you trying to get sponsorship?"
Qing Yanrou ignored him and walked straight in.
Xiaoyan and Ning Jinghuai were helping a Taoist priest water the vegetables in the yard. Ning Jinghuai would secretly touch the tender and juicy green cucumbers from time to time.
"Grandpa, I'm back."
Qing Yanrou walked over, took the water scoop from the Taoist priest and handed it to Xiao Yan, helping him sit on a stone bench nearby.
After Qing Yanrou poured a cup of tea for the Taoist priest, she found that the surroundings were too quiet.
I looked up and saw Chu Tingbai still standing at the door, frowning as he looked at a round snowman not far away that was obviously made of paper and was still moving!
Ning Jinghuai became much more sensitive after becoming a ghost. He put down his hand that was poking the cucumber and turned back to meet Chu Tingbai's gaze.
"Ah, Tingbai."
Ning Jinghuai probably forgot that he was not only a ghost, but also had a body made of paper. When he saw Chu Tingbai, he stood up excitedly and ran towards him.
For the past 19 years, Chu Tingbai has been an unwavering supporter of Marxist materialism.
But looking at the chubby snowman in front of him running towards him, with only a few roughly outlined facial features on his face, his already rough facial features became even more distorted because of excitement!
His worldview is collapsing!
When the snowman was about to touch him, Chu Tingbai's brain suddenly cleared up. Without hesitation, he raised his leg and kicked the snowman aside.
Before Ning Jinghuai could react, he found himself floating in the air like a kite with a broken string.
Qing Yanrou shook her head and pulled the snowman floating in the air down. She saw that there was a hole in its belly and it was deflated like a ball. She quickly took out the talisman paper and stuck it on.
"He's just a body made of paper now, he can't withstand your kick."
Qing Yanrou patched up the hole, put it on the ground and turned to say to Chu Tingbai.
"What is this?"
Chu Tingbai's emotions fluctuated significantly, and he stepped back.
His usually cold expression was now somewhat broken, his originally fair face turned slightly red due to excitement, and he looked like a leopard with its fur standing on end.
Ning Jinghuai, who had just recovered from the situation, suddenly calmed down when he heard his dearest cousin say who he was. His heart, which was originally excited about seeing his relatives, sat down on the ground dejectedly.
However, he didn't notice that there was a stone on the ground, and he broke it again. The air in his lower body leaked out all of a sudden, and his whole body was completely deflated.
Before Ning Jinghuai could come to his senses, he saw Xiaoyan laughing so hard that he fell forward and backward. Even an old Taoist priest couldn't help but stroke his white beard and laughed.
Ning Jinghuai was completely withdrawn and simply lay down and let himself be ridiculed.
"Don't you want to meet your relatives? I brought them to you."
After Qing Yanrou finished speaking, she left the space for the two of them and turned into the kitchen.
Chu Tingbai frowned as he looked at the pile of paper lying limp on the ground. Although he couldn't believe that this was his cousin, Keqing Yanrou had no reason to lie to herself.
Looking at this paper man again, apart from the appearance, the temperament and voice are indeed like Ning Jinghuai, as if they were carved from the same mold!
He clenched his fist, put it to his mouth, coughed twice, and asked tentatively, "Ning Jinghuai?"
"Hmm," Ning Jinghuai responded sullenly with his eyes closed.
Chu Tingbai was unwilling to believe it, but the facts were right in front of him.
Ning Jinghuai's body is lying in the forensic identification room of Chuanrong County, so the one in front of us is indeed just his soul.
Chu Tingbai squatted beside the deflated paper man, stretched out his hand but retracted it just when it was about to touch the paper man, and finally tentatively touched the deflated arm.
He felt it when Chu Tingbai squatted down, and when Chu Tingbai put his hand on his arm, Ning Jinghuai opened his eyes.
Chu Tingbai, who was always bright and cheerful, elegant and calm, now had a tense face, red eyes, and was suppressing his emotions.
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