Two years ago, the boy turned around, laughing and crying at the same time: "Xu Lingqiu, I know you saw me, why didn't you save me?"
Two years later, although Xu Lingqiu was doing things for money, he had saved many, many people. He could no longer accept the helplessness of being powerless, and he could no longer watch others die beside him.
As for Xiao Liu, he said that Xu Lingqiu refused to help someone in distress.
Lu Mingran recalled a scene from the novel, took a deep breath, and knocked firmly on the door.
Lu Mingran said in a high-pitched voice:
"Hello, this is a follow-up survey conducted by the community's 'Warmth Delivery' program."
The door was already open, and as soon as Xiao Liu inside answered, Lu Mingran squeezed in and closed the door behind her.
He really did come to return the visit.
The novel mentions that Lao Yan distributed small toys under the guise of community welfare. Several households were located very close to the murder scene, and the toys they received were tampered with; the staff hinted that they should hang the toys behind their doors.
Upon entering the room, Lu Mingran's first question with a smile was, "Are you satisfied with the doll?"
As she spoke, Lu Mingran turned her head to look behind the door.
At this moment, Xu Lingqiu also noticed the green frog doll hanging on the door. He was in this line of work, and after taking a closer look, he noticed something amiss.
It seems that someone with expertise has given this neighborhood some guidance.
Xiao Liu wasn't unaware of this; he knew it was unusual when the person who sent it hinted at it. But he wanted something even safer. He wanted to extort some things from Xu Lingqiu to have double insurance.
At this point, Xu Lingqiu gave Xiao Liu a completely cold look and picked up her things to leave.
Let me say something to you before I leave.
Xu Lingqiu opened the door and said, as if reminiscing about the past:
“When you first came to me, you were all alone and helpless, and you really looked like you were about to die, so I saved you.”
Xu Lingqiu turned around with a smile:
"You're alive and kicking now; it's already a miracle you haven't killed anyone."
Xu Lingqiu then closed the door and left. Before Xiao Liu could beat her up, Lu Mingran also slipped out.
To Lu Mingran's surprise, when he went downstairs, he saw Xu Lingqiu still in the community, seemingly waiting for someone.
etc……
Lu Mingran noticed that Xu Lingqiu was looking in her direction.
Could it be that Xu Lingqiu is waiting for him?
Xu Lingqiu really walked over, stood in front of Lu Mingran, and asked him:
"You're not a staff member of this residential community, right?"
“When I helped him deal with the haunted house that year, I asked everyone in the neighborhood to find out the details of the house. The staff here rarely change, but I've never seen you before.”
Yes, you haven't met me in person, but you've seen many of my alternate accounts.
When I was an old lady selling jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), I even made jianbing for you by hand. As you ate it, you grimaced from the sourness and wished me good luck in my future business.
That being said, today marks our official meeting.
Lu Mingran lied and said, "I'm new here. Hello, Lu Mingran."
"Xu Lingqiu".
After saying that, Xu Lingqiu made a gesture to shake hands with Lu Mingran. Lu Mingran reflexively reached out her hand, only to have something stuffed into her palm.
"Have you been to a hotel or similar place recently? Those places aren't clean. I'll give you some protective items; use them for now."
Huh? A hotel? It's not clean?
Lu Mingran stared blankly into thought, then pinched the talisman and put it in his pocket. When he looked up, Xu Lingqiu was already gone.
Sigh, Lu Mingran thought to herself: You should have said goodbye to me before you left.
Then he thought of something else: it seemed that the person who was leaving in such a hurry was always him.
——————————
Last week, Lu Mingran was out having a wild time, rarely paying attention to Lao Yan's affairs. This evening, Lao Yan asked him to help deliver some things over, and feeling guilty, Lu Mingran immediately did the job and rushed to the hotel as soon as she got the things.
Old Yan was sitting at the table looking through something. Lu Mingran took out the things Old Yan needed from the black plastic bag and placed them on the table one by one.
Busy Old Yan didn't even look up as he said, "And the key."
"Oh, I put the key to that cabinet in my pocket."
As Lu Mingran spoke, she rummaged through her pockets, finding a jingling bunch of keys, but also a yellow talisman. Of all places, that thing had to end up in Old Yan's hands.
Just as Lu Mingran was about to take it, Old Yan exclaimed "Eh!" and picked up the thing with cinnabar markings, examining it closely in front of him.
"Xiao Lu, how come you have this kind of thing on you?"
"Oh, a street vendor gave it to me, insisting that I've encountered something bad while staying at a hotel recently."
As she said this, Lu Mingran carefully observed Lao Yan's expression. If there really was such a thing in the hotel, Lao Yan would definitely know.
Old Yan then took apart the talisman and laughed:
“That’s right, do you remember the story I told you? I was afraid of scaring you that day, so I handled it all by myself.”
Lu Mingran: "!"
After saying that, Old Yan looked at the talisman with some regret:
"This person is somewhat skilled. But his methods are too crude and exhausting."
In short, nothing can compare to his skill.
Old Yan turned around and gave Lu Mingran a rare, big smile: "Come here, Xiao Lu, come here."
Lu Mingran stood there, too afraid to move, looking at him suspiciously.
...I have a feeling that nothing good is going to happen.
Old Yan continued to watch him patiently.
Finally, Lu Mingran slowly shuffled over. But as soon as he got close to Lao Yan, Lao Yan unceremoniously grabbed his wrist with one hand, then used his other hand to draw a talisman in the air and gently tapped it on his forehead.
Old Yan's method was indeed much more effective than Xu Lingqiu's, and Lu Mingran immediately felt her body relax a lot.
However, before Lu Mingran could offer any praise, Lao Yan suddenly coughed a few times.
The cough wasn't loud, but Old Yan looked extremely pained, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. Lu Mingran was startled and turned to pour him some water.
“No, no need for water…” Old Yan called out to him, his voice suddenly becoming weak. “Xiao Lu, I have a box in my bag. Take it out and sprinkle the contents on my back.”
Lu Mingran did as she was told. There was indeed a small, dark red box in the bag, which at first glance looked like something a woman would use to hold rouge, but it actually contained white powder.
When Lu Mingran saw Lao Yan's back, he gasped.
There were many small, dark purple handprints, layered upon layered on his pale skin. Lu Mingran felt a chill run down her spine and quickly sprinkled powder on it.
Lu Mingran felt as if she heard the cries of a child, and the things on her back finally disappeared.
Old Yan was still not recovered in front of him, panting with his head down.
"I'm so sorry, I startled you."
Lu Mingran knew what this was.
Before becoming a director, Lao Yan traveled all over the world. He also had a master, an old Taoist priest who was very old.
My master was good in every way, except that before he died, he somehow obtained two ancient corpses of a boy and a girl and placed them in the grave he had prepared for himself, as if for some benefit.
When Lao Yan discovered this, his master's physical body had already been eaten by the two vicious little devils, and his soul was about to be devoured as well.
He was raised by his master, and he hated his master for doing such a thing, but he couldn't just ignore it. In the end, although the evil spirits were eliminated, their resentment was etched on Old Yan's back, tormenting him forever.
Old Yan said this was a way of helping his master pay off his debts.
Now, Lao Yan is feeling a bit better and has started chatting with Lu Mingran.
"Xiao Lu, do you think I spoke very rudely to someone the other day?"
"There's no other way, we have to be fierce. Let me tell you something. Two years ago, something happened in a mountain village. It wasn't a man-made disaster, it was haunted."
That matter should have been handled by them, but it was dragged on for too long. By the time Lao Yan arrived, the thing had already harmed many people, including several college students who came to do charity work.
It turns out that the mountain trip that was a nightmare for Xu Lingqiu had already been recorded in a thin file with just a few words.
Old Yan sighed and said, "If only we had arrived sooner."
He felt regret.
Like Xu Lingqiu, I feel regret.
Lu Mingran then heard Lao Yan say:
“I can’t do this much longer, I need to rest. I’ve asked many people to look at these handprints on my back, and they all say it’s already quite remarkable that I’ve managed to hold on this long.”
So... so Lao Yan needs to find a successor, and Xu Lingqiu is the best candidate.
But Lu Mingran absolutely cannot let him approach Xu Lingqiu.
Lu Mingran's feelings suddenly became complicated. He knew how much Lao Yan valued this job and how much he wanted to find a suitable person.
"Cough," Old Yan coughed again.
Lu Mingran nervously gripped the box, ready to spill more, but at that moment Old Yan waved his hand and laughed:
"It's nothing, it's because I smoke too much. Sigh, I'm getting old."
"old?"
Lu Mingran retorted, "Are you trying to be a celebrity or an e-sports player? How can you say you're old at only twenty-eight?"
After saying that, Lu Mingran gave Lao Yan a firm pat on the back, encouraging him:
"Don't be so discouraged, you'll definitely live a long time!"
I'll try to live longer than a turtle.
Snap! It was a really hard, loud snap.
...
The air froze instantly.