Ghost Stories Series 10

Chapter 28

A mischievous smile inadvertently crossed Ling'er's lips. Hehe, you little punks! You three are still too green to play with me.

Ling'er briefly explained the situation of the hunters' attack to Hu Yi and the others, and gave them Elder Jidian's contact information, since Elder Jidian's experience and strength were top-notch in the Hunter Guild.

Just then, Tears came in, her face unable to hide her gloomy disappointment.

"What's wrong, Zhu'er?" Ling'er looked at her worriedly. Her unusual behavior these past few days was really baffling, and she wouldn't say anything when asked.

"I just went to the police station to investigate, trying to find Yu Xiao's physical body, but..."

"But what happened?" Qingluo emerged from the blue tears. Just how many hardships was Heaven going to bring her?

"But your bodies were cremated a few days ago!"

"Sister Zhu'er, why are you looking for his physical body? The case is closed, and the body should naturally be cremated, especially since Yu Xiao's condition is so bad!" Hu Yi said. No wonder, what good would keeping an old and unrecognizable corpse do besides causing panic?

"Are you going to use the Soul-Seeking Technique?" Ling'er asked.

"Besides the Soul-Seeking Technique, I can't think of any other way! But now, I'm afraid even the Soul-Seeking Technique can't be used!" Teardrop sighed. This Soul-Seeking Technique can only be used by those with profound spiritual power, and it requires something from the deceased's body, such as hair or nails, which is somewhat similar to Thai black magic. But now that Yu Xiao's physical body has been destroyed, it's truly a helpless situation!

"Not necessarily! We can go and see where Qingluo and the others lived before they died; we might find something unexpected!" Ling'er said.

Upon hearing this, Tearsdrop brightened up. How could she not have thought of that? If she was lucky, she might even be able to sense a trace of the Jade Flute's lingering spirit!

Qinglu nodded sadly. Although she had long wanted to return to the place that had brought her both happiness and sorrow, she had never been able to muster the courage. Now, with the Holy Lord and Holy Maiden by her side, she felt somewhat comforted. Ling'er and Leizhu'er looked around at the tall building in front of them.

"Is this the place?" Ling'er asked Qingluo, who was possessed by the blue tears. It was broad daylight, so she couldn't come out.

"Yes……"

Ling'er felt the blue tears inside her bag trembling violently, and the teardrops noticed it too. Even some passersby were looking at the two of them with suspicion.

"Qingluo, calm yourself down. We can't attract other people's attention!" Tearsdrop whispered.

Following Qingluo's directions, the two arrived at the top floor of the building, room 1204.

"No key? How do we get in?" Ling'er muttered to herself, "If we just barge in, the neighbors will be in trouble."

"Let me do it!" Qingluo's semi-transparent body appeared impatiently in front of the door.

She chanted a spell softly, then pushed the door open.

“Yu Xiao always forgot to bring his keys, so I set up this barrier,” Qing Luo explained in a trembling voice, but refused to take a step forward.

"Since you're here, let's go in!" Ling'er understood her feelings. When there were two of them, this place was heaven; when she was alone, it was hell.

Qingluo's tears fell in a stream, but she still went inside.

The room wasn't large, and although there were obvious signs of disturbance, it still exuded a warm and cozy atmosphere. Qingluo slowly walked into the bedroom, picked up a pillow from the bed, and hugged it tightly to her chest. It still carried his scent; she used to love leaning against his chest, breathing in his familiar fragrance. But everything had changed… Yuxiao! Where are you? Please come out and see me! I ask for nothing more than to see you one more time! Even if you tell me to my face that you intended to kill me! Please? Please? Large tears fell onto the pillow; besides tears, she had nothing left!

"What is this?" Lei Zhu'er frowned, pointing to a painting on the wall. Qing Luo looked at Lei Zhu'er in confusion, paused, and said, "This is a painting given to Yu Xiao by a friend. Holy Maiden, is there something wrong with it?"

"Yu Xiao's friend? When did they become friends?" Ling'er asked. Yu Xiao had lived for a thousand years; who knew if this friend was from the Ming or Qing dynasty? She also came over to examine the calligraphy and painting. Several withered branches were adorned with numerous unidentified small white flowers, appearing and disappearing in the distance. A golden oriole perched on a branch, seemingly singing. In the upper left corner of the calligraphy and painting was written: "Inscribed by Ban Dian San Ren." Apart from finding the name of Yu Xiao's friend somewhat strange, Ling'er couldn't detect anything else amiss.

"A year ago. He was Yu Xiao's only friend in a thousand years. He had been here before, but it seems that the Holy Maiden was overthinking it this time. Although all my spiritual power was used to maintain Yu Xiao's life and I did not cultivate, I could still tell whether he was human or demon."

Tearsdrop thought Qingluo's words made sense. Even the most foolish members of the Nuwa clan couldn't be so ignorant. So she said, "I'm just guessing. Some unsavory person must have been in your house. I can't tell if they're human or demon yet. I only suspected it was related to the person who wrote the calligraphy because of their strange name. But since you've seen this person, that possibility is ruled out."

"Rule it out? What do you mean, Holy Maiden?" Qingluo looked at Leizhu'er nervously.

"He has indeed been bewitched; it seems I misunderstood him!"

"It really is like this...it really is like this..." Qingluo murmured. At this moment, should she be happy or sad? She was dead, Yuxiao was dead, shouldn't she be sad? But why did she feel relieved? Her heart, which had been suppressed for so long, soared in an instant. She slowly walked into the bedroom, and when her soft, boneless hands touched the large double bed, Qingluo buried her face in it and cried loudly.

"Yu Xiao, I knew it, I knew you wouldn't change your mind..." Sweet memories flashed before her eyes: Yu Xiao who rescued her from the Taoist temple, Yu Xiao who never looked down on her for being a "demon," Yu Xiao who gave her a thousand years of happiness, Yu Xiao who never betrayed her from beginning to end...

Seeing this, Ling'er and Leizhu'er also shed tears. Qingluo had been silently weeping for the past few days, suppressing her emotions terribly. Now, although they didn't know the truth, at least their love hadn't changed. How could Qingluo not be filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow?

Tears fell as she walked to the bedside, picked up a short hair from the pillow, gave Ling'er a wink, and the two left the bedroom.

"Pearl, are you going to use the Soul-Seeking Technique?"

Tears nodded and said, "However, I think the outcome might be very bad." She didn't say anything more, but simply placed the hair on the floor, sat cross-legged, formed a lotus flower with her fingers, and silently chanted a spell. Instantly, fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, and the hair on the floor slowly rose, emitting a black light. Seeing this, Tears frowned and quickened her chanting. The hair flew rapidly throughout the living room, so fast that it was imperceptible to the average person. Sweat streamed down her smooth cheeks and dripped onto the floor.

Although Ling'er didn't know the exact situation, she could get a general idea from the tears on her face.

After a while, Tears stopped chanting, stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow, and sighed, "Still can't find it!"

Although Ling'er knew the situation was not optimistic, she was still very disappointed when she heard her say that. How could they tell Qingluo? What mistake had that poor girl made that she had to be hit so hard again and again?

"Is there really no way at all?" Ling'er asked unwillingly.

Just as Leizhu was about to say something, Qingluo, who had been in the bedroom, came out. The two of them were at a loss for words when they saw her.

"Qingluo, you...you must be strong..." Leizhu'er, who was usually decisive, was now hesitant.

“Holy Maiden, I heard everything.” Qinglu smiled bitterly, this time without crying. “They say people are greedy. I’ve lived in this mortal world for a thousand years and have become tainted by worldly desires. If it weren’t for Heaven’s mercy, preventing me from ever meeting Yuxiao, I’d probably still be imprisoned in that desolate Taoist temple, wouldn’t I? Since our fate is over, let’s not force anything. Qinglu accepts it.” Saying this, she gently knelt before the two of them and said, “I am truly grateful for the care you have shown me these past few days, Holy Lord and Holy Maiden. I am willing to follow you both and serve you like a slave. I only beg you not to send me back to the Realm of Light. I want to continue investigating who harmed us. Yuxiao and I have lived quietly in the mortal world for a thousand years, never doing anything immoral or harmful, let alone having any enemies. I really can’t understand who would be so cruel as to put us to death! Moreover, I have the most beautiful memories of my life in the mortal world. I beg you, Holy Lord and Holy Maiden, to grant my request!”

Ling'er and Leizhu'er, their eyes already red, hurriedly helped Qingluo up. Leizhu'er said, "Get up quickly! We must avenge this, but I really can't say anything to the God Lord. But don't worry, this time even if we call on the Master..." But she suddenly stopped and didn't continue.

"I wonder if there's any progress on the God of Wealth's side?" Ling'er was thinking about how to avenge Qingluo and didn't hear what Leizhu said. Although Zhang Guoqiang said he had closed the case, based on her understanding of him, she always felt that Zhang Guoqiang would continue to investigate. He was not the kind of person who would give up so easily.

"The God of Wealth?" Qingluo asked, puzzled.

"It's Captain Zhang, whom I mentioned to you before. He's in charge of your case," Ling'er explained.

"Him?? Don't count on him! I just went to the bureau to ask, and the God of Wealth has taken on another case and is on a business trip to another city!" Tears welled up in her eyes as she sighed.

"Huh? Really?" Ling'er was a little surprised, but thinking about it, it made sense. What could Zhang Guoqiang possibly do with such a complicated case? No matter how serious and meticulous he was, he was still just an ordinary person!

"Qingluo, you should go back to Blue Tears. It's not appropriate for you to appear as a spirit," said Teardrop. The two returned home and found that Hu Yi and the others had not yet returned from investigating the hunter's death. Ling'er was about to ask Hu Yi how things were going when her phone rang. It was Chang Xiao.

"Ling'er, how have you been lately?" That familiar voice reached my ears.

"Do you still remember looking for me? I was just thinking of calling 114!" Ling'er said petulantly.

"Call 114? Whose number are you looking for?" Chang Xiao asked, puzzled. He now truly understood the meaning of the phrase "the guilty party accuses the innocent first"—she was the one who had disappeared...

"Of course we need to check the Martians' number! Ask them if they kidnapped you!" Ling'er said fiercely. "Hmph! They haven't even bothered to contact me for two weeks!"

"Hehe, they brought me back again! Where have you been these past few days? I tried calling you, but I couldn't get through." Chang Xiao was indeed a little guilty. A few days ago, his old friends, namely Hades and Hades, came to visit him. He had originally thought of calling her Ling'er, after all, Xue'er had a deep connection with her! But he was afraid that the two of them would speed up the recovery of Ling'er's memories, so he had to give up.

"Sigh! Don't even mention it, my experiences these past few days have been truly extraordinary! You know what? There are actually realms of light and darkness in this world..."

"What?? What did you say??" Chang Xiao interrupted her. Did she already know? His heart clenched tightly.

"The Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness! You're surprised too, aren't you? I was startled when Thunder said that too!"

"Thunder???" Chang Xiao really felt like he was about to collapse! After Hades and Hades came to the mortal world, Thunder stayed in the underworld to manage affairs, but now Ling'er said she had seen Thunder. Could he interpret that as her running off to the underworld? Even the most composed person would probably be sweating bullets now.

"Oh dear, there's so much to do! I can't explain it all over the phone..." Ling'er said, then felt something was missing from her hand. Just then, she heard Lei Zhu'er's cold voice: "Don't worry! Everything is going according to plan! Your life isn't going to be for the time being!" Only then did Ling'er realize that her phone had been snatched away by Lei Zhu'er!

"You bastard! What are you doing interfering when I'm talking to the demon?" Teardrop's voice suddenly rose several decibels!

"You're the snake demon! Let me tell you! I have the most authentic and noble Nuwa clan bloodline! You damned dog-head—￥……•" It's obvious without a doubt that the Wolf King also stole Chang Xiao's phone. Who else could the dog-head that Teardrop was talking about be besides the Wolf King? Only the Wolf King could call Teardrop a snake demon… They really are a pair of bickering lovers!

Ling'er shook her head in anguish! The doorbell rang, and when Ling'er opened the door, she saw it was Tingting.

"Tingting, it's you? I've only been back from the underworld for less than a day, and you're already so eager to see me again?" Ling'er teased.

"Yes, yes! It feels like three autumns have passed since I last saw you!" Tingting revealed two small dimples at the corners of her mouth.

Suddenly, she froze as if she had seen an alien, pointed at the person on the sofa and asked, "Excuse me, is that your holy servant—Teardrop?"

Ling'er glanced at Teardrop, who was still "greeting" the Wolf King while sitting on the sofa, and nodded: "That's right! It's her! You were also fooled by her appearance, weren't you?"

Tingting couldn't believe that the girl in front of her, who was spitting everywhere, was the Holy Maiden of the Nuwa Clan. And the day before, she had been well-behaved, adorable, and well-mannered!

"Don't be surprised by what you see; its strangeness will dissipate on its own!" Ling'er said with considerable insight. "By the way, what exactly happened? Can you manage things on your own in the Netherworld Thunder without me?"

"Pluto and Hades have already returned, and I was on official business this time, concerning the hunters." Tingting's gaze was fixed on Leizhu'er, guessing that she hadn't yet recovered from the shock.

"Oh? The Hunter thing?" What's going on lately? Why is everything getting involved with the Hunter?

"Shortly after you left, a ghost soldier came to report that a ghost refused to enter the City of the Wrongfully Dead. As you know, ghosts whose lifespans haven't ended are imprisoned in the City of the Wrongfully Dead to have their resentment worn away. Most ghosts don't resist because they are inherently afraid of the ghost soldiers. So when one of them rebelled, the ghost soldiers didn't know how to handle it. When I arrived and asked, I learned that the ghost was a hunter in his previous life and had a certain level of understanding, which is why he was different from other ghosts!" Tingting said.

"Oh? I've heard that hunters have been killed by unknown individuals one after another in the past few days. Could you be one of them?"

"You're right! He was indeed one of the hunters who were murdered!"

"Really? Where is he now?" If we can find him, it will save us a lot of trouble.

"Of course, he's in the City of the Wrongfully Dead. But even if you see him, it'll be in vain! It won't do you any good!" Tingting sighed.

"Why do you say that? If I can see him, I'll know who the murderer is, and that way I can avenge my dead junior brothers!" Ling'er said through gritted teeth.

"You can't help him! Because he himself doesn't know who the murderer is!"

"What???" Ling'er exclaimed in surprise. How come so many people have been unlucky lately? First it was Qingluo, and then these junior brothers she had never even met. They died without even knowing how they died! Is this kind of thing called "love" these days?

“At first, when he said he didn’t know who killed him, I thought he was just making a fuss. But after finding the ghosts of the previous victims, I realized it was true. What they had in common was that they all died in crowded places. Five of them died in subway stations, and the other died in a market. And they all felt a tingling sensation in their backs, and their spiritual energy drained away uncontrollably.” Tingting made herself a cup of instant coffee.

"It seems this person is quite strong!" Although they weren't experts, being chosen as hunters meant they weren't ordinary people. How could they be so easily ambushed? This made Ling'er very uneasy.

"Master, Master! Look who's here!" Eighteen's voice came from outside.

Could it be Chang Xiao? Ling'er stood up, her heart pounding like a deer's. She shook her head inwardly. How could it be like dating a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl?

Seeing Ling'er's expression, Tingting guessed what was going on. Ling'er had told her about Changxiao before, so she couldn't help but smile mischievously and say, "Look how nervous you are. It's only been a little over half a month since we last met."

Ling'er rolled her eyes at her but didn't say anything.

But when she opened the door and saw the man in front of her, she was even more shocked than when she saw Chang Xiao!

"Why is it you?" Ling'er's biggest fear was that love would not be reciprocated and both of them would be hurt. And these two were her good friends. How could she bear to see Tingting and Qingluo spending their days in tears?

"Ling'er? Aren't you going to introduce me?" Tingting walked over at this moment. When she saw the person in front of her, the cup in her hand slipped and fell to the ground, the scalding coffee splashing onto her white clothes like a dazzling firework. Yes, she admitted that ever since she learned he was Ling'er's junior brother, she had always fantasized about meeting him here again someday. However, now that they were actually meeting, she didn't know whether she should have met him or not! It was a love destined to have no future, and besides, it was only her unrequited love. When she didn't see him, although she loved him deeply, she could still control her heart and tell herself not to love, not to love! Now, what should she do?

"You are... I feel like I've seen you somewhere before?" Cai Meng squinted, trying to recall.

Tingting smiled bitterly. It seemed she really meant nothing to him. He probably only saw her as an ordinary ghost.

"How could you possibly have seen her? You only ever say that when you see a pretty girl!" Ling'er tried to cover it up.

"No, I must have seen her before! I remember now! It's you? How could it be you?" Cai Meng said in surprise.

"Yes, it's me. Long time no see." Although Tingting tried her best to appear composed, others could still clearly hear her rapid breathing.

Ling'er patted her head helplessly. Oh well! What's meant to happen can't be avoided.

"What's wrong?" Teardrop sensed that something was amiss and stopped her personal attacks on the wolf king.

"Hey! Mengmeng, don't you dare try anything with her, she's a ghost messenger..." Eighteen said loudly in his ear, oblivious to the situation.

"Eighteen! If you don't speak, no one will sell you off as a mute!" Ling'er wished she could drag him out and shoot him right then and there!

"What? You're a ghost messenger? What's going on?" Cai Meng exclaimed in surprise.

"Come inside and talk!" Ling'er pulled Cai Meng, who was still standing outside the door, inside.