Chapter 15: Thirst Food
Only Tu Lanxun can hear N's voice.
The little girl's mother and father didn't come to see her because they had passed away.
Tu Lanxun returned the gold bracelet to the little girl, but was thinking in his mind that if his parents also became ghosts, they should come to see her, which would be more convenient than being alive, but why?
"There's only one person's death energy on the bracelet, and it carries a lot of resentment. It doesn't look like a natural death." N said.
The little girl looked over curiously, not understanding why they were suddenly silent. Tu Lanxun handed over the toothbrush kit and asked, "Little sister, what's your name?"
It was actually on the tombstone, along with her family's names, but it seemed rude to read the names directly on top of someone else's child's urn.
"Bai Xiaoju, hehe." Bai Xiaoju rolled up his sleeves. There was a round hollow birthmark on his shoulder. "Because I have this, my nickname is Xiaojuhao."
Bai Xiaoju started brushing her teeth. The pink strawberry-flavored toothpaste tasted sweet. She brushed her teeth very carefully, as if she had been well taught.
Before he finished brushing his teeth, Tu Lanxun had already figured out Bai Xiaoju's family situation.
According to the communication, Bai Xiaoju's mother Bai Chao is a self-media blogger, and her father Tang Weining is a university teacher. They like a combination of fashion and tradition, and they are not short of money, so the specifications of Bai Xiaoju's grave are very luxurious.
"So where is your home? What's your mother's video account name? Which university does your father work at?"
"My home is a big pink house. My mom's videos feature a lot of pretty dresses. My dad's workplace is far from home, and it takes an hour and a half to drive there."
Bai Xiaoju's words were drawn out, her voice hoarse and her arms stained with black ash. Like one of her parents, she must have died an unnatural death.
It is said that when she died - five years ago when she was eight years old, she died in her own words while sleeping.
After Bai Xiaoju's death, her family was deeply saddened. They visited her every two months for two years. But three years ago, her parents stopped visiting her at the cemetery. Now, Bai Xiaoju is also heartbroken.
Tu Lanxun frowned. Bai Xiaoju and one of his parents died of unnatural causes within two years. It couldn't be a coincidence.
As the night deepened, they were still delayed on the mountain until after nine o'clock. Bai Xiaoju looked only eight years old, but his mental age was already eleven. He claimed that he was an older child who could take care of himself. Although he was reluctant with tears in his eyes, he still said goodbye to Tu Lanxun and the others.
Tu Lanxun walked down the mountain and looked back quietly. Bai Xiaoju was standing in front of his own tombstone like a small dot, like a child who woke up from a nightmare holding his pillow alone. He looked so pitiful.
"Is she the only ghost in the cemetery?" She hoped someone could accompany Bai Xiaoju.
"Most of them have been reincarnated, and few remain, and they are of no use." N's voice floated over.
That's right, there are hundreds of kinds of ghosts in the world. Ghosts who died a good death should have no obsessions and start their lives again early. Only ghosts with regrets will stay in the world. They are either full of hatred or sorrow, so how can they have the mood to take care of children?
Tu Lanxun couldn't help but wonder why N stayed there. What had happened in his own gaming world?
For some reason, although there was no direct evidence that N was a good ghost, she always felt that a ghost who was willing to accompany a fool to visit a little girl in the cemetery late at night was not as vicious as people said on the Internet.
What if the news is wrong?
#
The return journey was faster than the coming journey. First, there were fewer cars on the road, and second, the cemetery hill was behind him. Tu Lanxun stepped on the accelerator as fast as he could, as if he was being chased by a ghost.
He drove into the development zone with familiarity. He saw a figure waiting in front of a convenience store. Tu Lanxun thought it was Uncle Liu, so he ran over with the key, but found out it was not him.
The visitor was a middle-aged man with a strange face and some stubble on his chin. His facial features were fairly regular, except for his sunken cheeks and dark bags under his eyes. He was wearing a windbreaker and looked quite travel-weary.
The man in the windbreaker nodded slightly at her, very friendly.
Tu Lanxun hurried to open the door for the new customer. Halfway through, the other party slid towards her like a plastic bag blown by the wind. It turned out that he was not a human!
She dodged backwards, and N appeared beside her in an instant. The ghost in the jacket knew that he had frightened someone, so he stepped back slightly and apologized, "I'm sorry, I was too anxious."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but look inside the store, especially at the snack and beverage shelf on the side. Tu Lanxun then noticed that the man in the windbreaker's coat had dry, wrinkled lips, with white flakes like garlic skin hanging down.
While hesitating whether to invite him in, the windbreaker ghost waved his hand, and several more ghosts appeared in the shadows around him. They were wearing similar outdoor clothes, some of them were carrying big bags, and they all had the same garlic-skinned and dry lips.
"We're an outdoor cross-country team." The man in the jacket smiled, and Tu Lanxun was worried he'd tear his lips. "We heard from a short man in a vest that there's a place to buy supplies, so we came here."
He is not tall and wears a vest, which fits Liu Maosheng's appearance very well. However, Tu Lanxun has another question: does the ghost in the windbreaker really know that he is dead?
Their expressions were too normal and too calm.
A serious face from the cross-country team said, "We shouldn't have gotten off the bus."
Did she mean that she shouldn't come to the convenience store where Tu Lanxun was? Her hesitation made people feel that the trip was in vain, but the Jacket Ghost turned around and smiled at the Serious Ghost, "There's no way, Lao Hu, no one knows where to get lost."
Yan Su Gui walked past him and said directly to Tu Lanxun, "We died in Huangjinzhou. The car got stuck and we got lost soon after getting out. We eventually died of dehydration in the desert. Can you rest assured now, little boss?"
Tu Lanxun blinked. Huangjinzhou was at the other end of the country, with four or five provinces in between. Could it be that they were walking from the burial ground?
"Oh, please come in and sit down first," she said.
The leader, the jacketed ghost, thanked him, and the other four or five ghosts rushed in, their hungry eyes fixed on the mineral water. Someone rushed over to open a bottle, sipped it for a long time before sitting down in frustration, "Brother Gao, that uncle cheated us, the water here is not good either."
Human food has no effect on ghosts, neither in taste nor in quenching thirst or hunger, and they feel cheated by Liu Maosheng.
"Thank you, little girl, I don't have any money on me." The ghost in the windbreaker jacket fumbled around for a long time and took out a not-so-big gold brooch with a hand-made flower pattern, which looked like a souvenir with a desert style.
Tu Lanxun accepted it. Of course, he couldn't just do that for a bottle of ordinary mineral water. He took out the small piece of incense stick and fumigated half of the drinking water and food on the shelf. "Please eat."
There should be rules in doing business. She has her own account of what goods to sell at what price.
The ghost who had just filled his bottle with water unscrewed a new one, took a tentative sip, and was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't recognize the taste of water. Then the corners of his dry eyes turned red, and he couldn't even cry. "It's water, real drinkable water!"
The other members of the cross-country team seemed to be awakened. They swept through the shelves and looted the things they had bought with their own money.
If a drop of mineral water was spilled, someone would wipe it up from the ground and carefully put their index finger into their mouth. After drinking heavily, their first choice was jelly, canned meat, and any other food with plenty of water. Bread and snow cakes were relegated to the cold palace. They refused anything that would dry their tongues.
Tu Lanxun wanted to say that people who have been thirsty for too long should drink water slowly, but the person in front of him was already a ghost. He put away the golden flower brooch and swept the burnt incense ashes into the dustpan.
"Sell me two more sticks of incense," she whispered, "and I'll give this to you."
"One."
"make a deal!"
N leaned against the cashier counter, as if the long-overdue food spree had nothing to do with him. Suddenly, a stick of incense appeared and was about to roll over the edge of the cashier counter. Tu Lanxun picked it up with both hands, and the light golden flowers belonged to N.
The cross-country team over there had already eaten and drunk enough, and were lying on a pile of packaging bags, crying and laughing. The windbreaker ghost shoved them away one by one, and the serious ghost took away the garbage with a cold face. Suddenly, a word appeared in her mind: kind father and strict mother.
The coordinates of the convenience store were written down in a notebook. Tu Lanxun wanted to ask how they found the location, but the Jacket Ghost beat him to the punch, "Boss, we want to buy some more to take away. This is about it."
He was pointing to a shelf, the last one among the remaining shelves, which was filled with real food. The goods gradually changed from solid items such as instant noodles and bread to pickled mustard greens, spicy strips and crisp noodles.
After selling this series to him, the only edible items left in the store are the preserved plums, crispy plums and rose plums. We have to think about how to purchase more of them.
Tu Lanxun's wandering thoughts were mistaken for hesitation, so the Jacket Ghost quickly smiled and said, "You can sell us anything, even expired items."
The Serious Ghost remained serious and old-fashioned, "We will pay you."
As he spoke, Yan Yangui took off his backpack and opened the top bag of his mountaineering bag. Inside was a bright yellow light, which turned out to be a pile of gold. Most of them were not complete and were cut into small corners. Some of them could be pieced together into gold ingots, and the other part could be pieced together into big gold coins.
After they died, they walked across half the country. They wouldn't have gone there to rob graves, would they?
"We met a lot of ghosts along the way." The Jacket Ghost smiled, "and two of us are businessmen."
Their outdoor uniforms are very high-end, and traveling all the way to the western desert for off-road adventures is a hobby that requires financial support.
A handful of broken gold was exchanged for a shelf. The total weight of the former was about that of two gold biscuits. Tu Lanxun adapted to the exchange rate and accepted a deposit of half the weight of a gold biscuit, promising to sell them another shelf of food next week.
This group of rich ghosts have been thirsty and hungry for too long, but in today's ghost world, food and drink are more expensive than gold and there is no demand for them.
"Hey, will you come back?" She thought they would continue walking to the next city.
"I'm not coming back, I'm not leaving. You can't buy these anywhere else." Yan Sugui said seriously with a stuffed backpack on his back.
They decided to find a place to stay in the development zone. It was deserted anyway, and the closer to the 24-hour Sunshine Convenience Store, the better. Just like the starving disaster victims who sleep with their rice jars.
Tu Lanxun just went out, and the convenience store was half empty. After sending away the group of ghosts in windbreaker jackets, she didn't mind the weight of the bag full of gold and started to count the goods busily.
"Beef jerky, mineral water, energy biscuits, and chocolate..."
Distracted by the cross-country team, Tu Lanxun finally remembered Bai Xiaoju and asked N, "Why are some ghosts trapped in one place? For example, you can walk around, but Xiaojuhao can only stay in the cemetery?"
N lowered his eyes. The golden flower hovered and spun above his palm. "She's not trapped there. She's just too weak to stay away from the 'anchor' for too long."
Moreover, Xiao Juhao cannot leave the cemetery and is looking forward to her family coming to see her.
"What's an anchor?" Tu Lanxun asked. "Is it something that ghosts can't live without? Are there ghosts that absolutely can't live without anchors?"
"Yes." N raised his eyes calmly and looked at the computer next to Tu Lanxun, "That female ghost is it."
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