Lin Zhi originally had a plan not to let him leave, and it wasn't the right time to show himself yet. But when he saw him preparing to enter the brothel with an ordinary expression, it felt as if he had swallowed a hot stone, and it hurt so much that it was burning. He couldn't help but call out to him, and his tone of voice unconsciously carried a questioning tone.
Jiang Chuting didn't reply immediately. Lin Zhi had already walked up to him, feeling even more frustrated. "Chu Ran, are you lying to me? You just didn't want to see me, so you made up an excuse to leave, didn't you?"
His eyes were red, and he looked very aggrieved. Jiang Chuting explained, "I didn't lie to you, I really have something to do." It wasn't convenient to talk here, so he looked around and went down the stairs to a less crowded corner. Lin Zhi followed closely behind him.
Jiang Chuting told Lin Zhi about the incident of the male prostitute jumping off the building that she had encountered before coming here, and said to him, "I had some doubts, so I planned to go in and investigate. It's not what you think."
"So that's how it is." Lin Zhi felt a sudden sense of relief after hearing this. This was indeed something Chu Ran would do. She grabbed his sleeve and said, "Then I'll go in with you. More people means more ideas."
Jiang Chuting hesitated. He no longer intended to have any further contact with Lin Zhi, but he couldn't be too direct, so he made an excuse, saying, "You... no, you're too young."
Lin Zhi didn't like hearing this and snorted, "I'm not young. My friends are about the same age as me, and they're all married with children. Besides, they're just going in to investigate something. With you here, they won't go astray." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and started acting spoiled, "I'm clinging to you now, you can't shake me off."
Jiang Chuting was troubled, but then burst into laughter again. He couldn't push him away, and as he took a step forward, Lin Zhi was dragged along with him.
In the end, she couldn't persuade him otherwise and had to agree.
The two went in together, asked for a room, and hired two male prostitutes to accompany them for drinks.
As soon as the two entered, Jiang Chuting noticed that one of them still had red eyes, and the other was forcing a smile. Although they were both putting on a brave face, they were clearly not in a good state.
Jiang Chuting's mind raced, and she asked them gently why they were like this. The two women exchanged a glance, hesitant, afraid that saying it would bring bad luck to the guest. Lin Zhi crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and said, "If you're asked to speak, then speak honestly. Don't hesitate."
Lin Zhi was handsome and young, but he looked like someone not to be trifled with. The two of them quickly started talking back and forth.
People who come to places like this are all unfortunate, and they often band together to help each other. These two happened to have a good relationship with the male prostitute named Baoqi who jumped off the building, and they are now grieving because of his death.
Jiang Chuting gave the two men some loose silver and then asked them about Baoqi's illness. Seeing his kind face and concerned gaze, they didn't think he had any ill intentions, so they didn't hide anything from him. They told Jiang Chuting that Baoqi had started falling ill four months ago. At first, they thought it was just a common stomachache, so they took some medicine, but it didn't help. In fact, the pain got worse and worse, and the doctors couldn't find the cause. They didn't have much money to begin with in their line of work, and now that she was sick, she couldn't take clients anymore, making her practically useless. Not only did she suffer from the scorn and insults of the nanny, but she was also driven to poverty by this strange illness. Baoqi probably knew that even with their help, she wouldn't last long, and when the illness recurred, she would simply die.
The young male prostitute with red eyes just now was named Nongyu. Jiang Chuting asked him if Baoqi had encountered any unusual people or events before she fell ill, but Nongyu said he didn't know. After all, they were just helping each other out, not always together, and besides, Baoqi herself didn't know how she got sick, so how could he know?
Nongyu wiped away her tears and said to Jiang Chuting, "Originally, we wanted to pool some money to bury him, but the person in charge heard that something similar to Baoqi had happened elsewhere before. That male prostitute committed suicide by poisoning himself. Some people said... that it was a ghost child reincarnated, possessed by an evil spirit. He died with a lot of resentment, and they had to burn him completely, otherwise he would come back to haunt them. The male prostitute's body was burned, and then they also wanted to burn Baoqi's body, leaving not even ashes."
Jiang Chuting's eyes widened slightly as she asked, "Someone said so? Who said so?"
"This... I don't know either." Nongyu sighed softly, "Our lives are cheap, it doesn't matter who says it doesn't matter, the result is the same." Regardless of whether the person in charge believed such words or not, they would choose to burn it to prevent future troubles.
There's no such thing as a ghost child being reborn in this world. The purpose of such rumors is probably to hide something and completely destroy the corpse.
Baoqi's strange illness may not be an illness at all, but rather a man-made disaster.
What's truly frightening is that Baoqi won't be the first, nor the last. As Nongyu said, in the eyes of the world, their lives are cheap. Even if a hundred or so die in succession, it won't matter much. Few people care about their lives; instead, it will become gossip. This is truly chilling.
Lin Zhi seemed to already know what Jiang Chuting wanted to know, and asked before he could, "What about Baoqi's body?"
Nongyu said, "When it got dark, it was transported to the woods on the outskirts of the city. They were going to burn it there..."
Before he could finish speaking, the two people sitting at the table stood up at the same time. Jiang Chuting hurriedly said, "Goodbye." Then he and Lin Zhi left Changhuan Garden and headed to the outskirts of the city without stopping.
Jiang Chuting originally didn't want to take Lin Zhi with her, but even if she disagreed, Lin Zhi knew the destination and, being able to walk, would definitely follow. It was better to bring him along so she could keep an eye on him and prevent him from encountering any danger.
They were too late. A large clearing at the edge of the woods was covered with firewood, flames shooting into the sky, clearly having been burning for some time. Even if they managed to remove the body now, it would be too late.
The trail went cold.
I don't know if it was because the person in charge of cremating the body was lazy and left first, and there was no one guarding the area.
Jiang Chuting was staring blankly at the fire when he suddenly heard a slight noise from the woods. A dark shadow flashed by, and his eyes sharpened. Without saying a word, he drew his sword and chased after it.
His lightness skill was already quite excellent, but after chasing and navigating through the maze-like forest for a while, he actually lost track of the person.
Jiang Chuting searched for a while longer, listening intently to the sounds around him, when he suddenly heard Lin Zhi calling his name from not far away, "Chu Ran, Chu Ran! Chu Ran!"
Jiang Chuting sheathed his sword and followed the sound. In the moonlight, he couldn't clearly see Lin Zhi's face, but he saw that Lin Zhi was clutching his arm and smelled of blood. His heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Lin Zhi, are you injured?"
"Yeah, after you left, there was this suspicious guy nearby. I chased after him and fought him, but not only did he get away, he also injured me." Lin Zhi hissed, then asked him, "What about you? Are you alright? Did you catch that guy?"
"No, they ran away too." This matter was getting stranger and stranger, but Jiang Chuting had no mind to talk to him about it at the moment. She frowned and said, "Let's leave first. Your injury needs to be treated quickly."
Lin Zhi's eyes gleamed in the darkness. He nodded: "Yes, you said 'we,' so you're coming with me, right? You won't leave me behind?"
Jiang Chuting was speechless for a moment after being asked that question.
He repeatedly warned himself to keep "Chu Ran" away from Lin Zhi in the future, lest his identity be accidentally exposed one day. But seeing him injured, he couldn't help but worry, and all these thoughts were put to the back of his mind.
Jiang Chuting hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't resist her own feelings and said in a low voice, "Let's go back and check on the injury first."
Lin Zhi's injuries were quite severe. Although Jiang Chuting applied acupressure to stop the bleeding, his sleeves were still soaked with blood when they returned. After cleaning and applying medicine at the clinic, Jiang Chuting took Lin Zhi to an inn nearby.
Lin Zhi leaned listlessly against Jiang Chuting and said to the waiter, "One room."
Jiang Chuting said, "Two rooms."
Lin Zhi: "One room is enough."
Jiang Chuting insisted, "I want two rooms."
In the end, we still booked two rooms.
Lin Zhi injured his left arm, which is temporarily unable to move freely and cannot come into contact with water, making it inconvenient for him to take a bath.
Jiang Chuting wrung out a hot towel and told Lin Zhi to wipe his face with his right hand, but Lin Zhi leaned forward and closed his eyes, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Jiang Chuting had an unusual patience for Lin Zhiyou, especially since he was injured. Without saying much, she wiped his face. The steam added a touch of red to his pale face, which was slightly pale due to blood loss, and his long eyelashes were also damp, making his eyes look even darker and more beautiful.
The two chatted for a few minutes about what happened tonight.
Lin Zhi said to Jiang Chuting, "It is indeed very strange, but I always feel that the two people you and I are chasing are not from the same group." He suddenly thought of something and added, "By the way, the one I fought should be a woman."
Jiang Chuting was chasing a man with excellent lightness skills, but knowing this was useless. There were no clues, and no matter how she thought about it, it was all a mess.
Jiang Chuting shook her head slightly, "I don't know what these people are trying to do." Judging from tonight's situation, there is definitely someone behind it all, and there will be similar victims in the future.
Lin Zhi wasn't particularly interested in other people's lives or deaths, but because this righteous and kind-hearted person in front of him cared, he had to get involved and take it seriously in order to be with him.
Lin Zhi tilted his head and pondered for a moment, then speculated, "Could it be a kind of sacrifice? I've read about it in books before. It's about people being sacrificed in a specific way for their own beliefs, and the number of people who die has to reach a certain number."
"It's not impossible." Jiang Chuting had also considered this possibility, but the two people he knew of committed suicide because they were in unbearable pain, and the methods of suicide were different, so this didn't quite fit. Therefore, the most crucial thing right now is to figure out what caused their so-called "strange disease."
Lin knew: "It's a pity that Baoqi's body is also gone, and we can't find out exactly how he got sick. If we want any clues, we can only wait for the next one..."
Waiting for the next victim to appear.
Jiang Chuting sighed softly, then remained silent for a moment before looking at Lin Zhi and saying, "It's getting late, you should rest. We can talk about it tomorrow."
Lin Zhi reached out her right hand and grabbed his sleeve, staring intently at him: "Chu Ran, you wouldn't secretly leave me behind and run away in the middle of the night, would you?"
Jiang Chuting said in a low, gentle voice, "Don't worry, it won't happen. I'm next door, see you tomorrow morning."
"But I want to sleep with you."
Jiang Chuting refused without hesitation: "No way."
Lin Zhi still wouldn't let go. Jiang Chuting tugged at his sleeve but couldn't pull it back. Looking at his face, she solemnly called his name, word by word: "Lin Zhi." When Nongyue and the others came in at Changhuan Garden, Lin Zhi's expression was clearly not happy. He truly despised matters between men.
Lin Zhi probably trusts him too much, which is why she is always so close to him without any reservations, and now she even wants to sleep with him.
Jiang Chuting treated Lin Zhi like a child and had no other intentions. However, Lin Zhi said such things without knowing the truth. As Lin Zhi's "shameless homosexual," Jiang Chuting had to be careful to avoid suspicion.
He looked serious, and Lin Zhi pouted, reluctantly letting go.
Jiang Chuting returned to her room, took a shower, changed her clothes, and had just lain down on the bed when there was a knock on the door. Lin Zhi called from outside, "Chu Ran, open the door, my arm suddenly hurts so much."
His tone was a little urgent, and Jiang Chuting really thought that there was something else wrong with the wound that he had overlooked. He quickly got up and opened the door. Lin Zhi was standing at the door, blinking at him. Just as Jiang Chuting was about to speak, Lin Zhi had already squeezed into the room.
Jiang Chuting asked, "You said your arm suddenly hurt..."
"Mmm!" Lin Zhi said, "It hurts. How can it not hurt when you're injured?"
Jiang Chuting was speechless, filled with helplessness. He had been so easily deceived.
Lin Zhi walked straight to his bedside, got on and lay down on the inside, then stubbornly declared to Jiang Chuting, who stood silently in place, "I don't care, I'm going to sleep with you."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
The gains are so dismal, I'm about to start my bottom-of-the-barrel journey again, what a loser =.=
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
