"Lu Mingran!" the system cried out, "Are you crazy?"
These were the last sounds he heard, because he fainted shortly after entering the restaurant.
A group of people in the restaurant surrounded him. One offered to give him water, another offered to take him to the hospital, and yet another wanted to give him CPR. After a while, Gu He returned and frowned at the crowd gathered in the restaurant.
Upon hearing that Xiao Tao was in trouble, Gu He didn't waste any words and directly pushed through the crowd to carry Lu Mingran upstairs.
————————————
Just as Xiao Jiu said, for Gu He, making a demon's soul disappear is really too easy.
Soon after, lying flat on the bed, the man, covered in sweat, slowly woke up. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the light, then looked at Gu He, and as he looked, he covered his face and chuckled.
As Gu He tidied up his red string, he kicked Lu Mingran's leg, which was dangling by the bedside, with disdain.
"What are you laughing at? You're so foolish to bring such a thing back with you."
"I don't know when I got involved."
Gu He felt a little more at ease now. It seemed his feeling was right; there was something bad about Xiao Tao, but now that it had been eliminated, there was nothing to worry about.
Little did he know that the Three Killing Curse was a cunning curse. While he was exorcising the evil spirit, the curse's malevolent energy was lurking deep within Lu Mingran's body, secretly lying in wait.
Lu Mingran tried to sit up by moving her fingers, but Gu He pressed her back down: "Sleep for a while, don't move."
"Then I want to go back to my room to sleep. There are too many strange things here, I'm scared."
So Gu He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, looking at him with a wry smile, and said, "I'm here, what are you afraid of?"
Yes, with Gu He around, there's nothing to be afraid of.
Lu Mingran slowly closed his eyes. Gu He watched him for a while, then quietly walked out and closed the door.
As soon as Gu Heyi left, Lu Mingran woke up.
——————————
Tonight, he called Xiao Jiu out, and also easily called Chu Feng and Chu Anran out as well. It is said that Chu Anran usually doesn't like to go out, but when she heard that Lu Mingran was still alive and kicking, Chu Anran was particularly willing to come out.
The location was still Mengji's place. Xiao Jiu kept laughing when she heard that Lu Mingran had once again tricked others into helping her by using the pitiful image of Xiaobaicai.
The Chu brothers arrived soon after. Just like Xiao Jiu had thought, when they learned that Lu Mingran had such a good brother as Gu He, they both really wanted to eat roasted cabbage.
Xiao Jiu: "...I don't want to eat cabbage anymore, can I ask to eat meat?"
Chu Feng and Chu Anran ignored him and stared at Lu Mingran.
"You have Gu He, that's enough. Why bother with the two of us?" Chu Anran took a sip of Sprite and looked at him.
"Then you're wrong about that."
Lu Mingran pulled over a few more plastic stools from elsewhere and placed them next to the table: "The more brothers, the better."
The subtext was that I shouldn't just burden Gu He; it would be great if more people could help me.
Lu Mingran raised her glass and smiled at the three people:
"If you're bold enough, you'll have brothers all over the world."
——————————
Tonight, Lu Mingran, who rarely drinks, got drunk, and no one could stop him.
After getting drunk, Lu Mingran neither cried nor made a fuss. He just kept walking with his head down, refusing to be accompanied by anyone. As he walked towards the river, Chu Feng was really worried that if he turned around, he would see Lu Mingran turn into a water ghost.
Xiao Jiu remained calm: "It's evening. I remember Gu He will be by the river. Although the riverside road is long, they should still be able to run into each other."
Gu He was indeed by the river.
He used to not understand why his master would go for a walk by the river at night, but now he knows it's for a bit of peace and quiet.
He stood on the bridge by the river, looking at the river and at the people. But for some reason, he saw a familiar face walking towards him from the other side of the bridge, a person who should have been sleeping in his room at that moment.
...Xiao Tao?
Xiao Tao saw him too. After pausing for a moment, Xiao Tao continued walking forward until she reached him.
The smell of alcohol.
"You sneaked out for a drink? Is the one possessing you a drunkard?"
Gu He grabbed him by the collar and shook him a couple of times, but the man just stared at him and grinned foolishly. That was bad enough, but then this guy started talking nonsense again:
"I won't sleep in your bed, there's so much blood on your bed..."
I was really drunk.
Gu He glanced around and realized he only had a thermos. He couldn't just smash the thermos to wake Xiao Tao, so he unscrewed the lid, grabbed the other's chin with his left hand, and poured the remaining half of the tea into her mouth.
Lu Mingran almost choked to death.
But now he was finally a little more awake, and he mumbled the name of the person in front of him:
"Gu He?"
This lucidity only lasted for a short time.
Then Lu Mingran reached out to shake hands with Gu He, but Gu He slapped his hand away. He stubbornly raised his hand again, trying to grab the back of Gu He's hand. The evening breeze by the river carried away his voice.
"Mr. Gu, I am Lu Mingran."
Nice to meet you.
——————————
Lu Mingran vowed that he would never drink again.
The system said that it was fortunate Gu He didn't think too much about it, assuming that Lu Mingran was the name of the drunkard who had possessed him.
Lu Mingran slept for the entire day. When he came downstairs that evening, Gu He looked at him and kept smiling.
"Your alcohol tolerance is still so low."
"So you can't drink anymore, right?" Lu Mingran laughed.
A few more days passed, and Saturday arrived. According to the Three Killing Curse, a new ghost was to arrive at midnight the following night.
The system said, "According to the rules, you can start looking for clues now."
Fortunately, Gu He's place really had a lot of ghost stories, so he didn't have to bother looking for them this time. Lu Mingran randomly picked one and took it to the funeral supply store to exchange for gold ingots.
This time, after everything in the brazier had been burned away, the note left behind was quite interesting:
"Fifty-six godfathers, fifty-six godmothers."
Lu Mingran couldn't help but join in, singing a line out:
"Fifty-six godfathers and godmothers are one family?"
Fortunately, this time the clues are very clear.
Chu Feng has dealt with many elderly people, and the older generation should have heard of this kind of thing.
However, upon hearing Lu Mingran's words, Chu Feng's first reaction was:
"Fifty-six godfathers and godmothers? During holidays, visiting all those relatives must be exhausting!"
————————————
Before she knew it, it was Sunday noon. Lu Mingran was terrified, but surprisingly, she slept soundly that night.
That's impossible. The next morning, Lu Mingran checked herself over thoroughly but found nothing amiss.
Just then, a cat meowed from downstairs.
As soon as Lu Mingran went downstairs, the fat orange cat broke free from Guoguo and darted to his legs, rubbing against them.
"Xiao Tao, it seems the kitten likes you more."
Guoguo, who hadn't had enough of petting the stray cats, stood up and looked at Lu Mingran with envy.
But Lu Mingran couldn't laugh.
The kitten was looking up at him.
Have you ever seen a cat smile?
————————
The cat followed Lu Mingran for a whole day. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it, but it was too attached to Lu Mingran. No matter what Lu Mingran did, it would always stay by his side and watch him, occasionally meowing a couple of times. The sound was quite cute.
Lu Mingran had the illusion that as long as he fell asleep, the cat would take the opportunity to eat him.
To outsiders, this was nothing unusual; the girls in the shop even vied to hold the cat.
That evening, Gu He returned home. Lu Mingran was afraid he would discover something, but Gu He bent down, stroked the kitten's head, and said to him:
"If you like it, you can keep the cat and raise it."
Guoguo kept giving Lu Mingran meaningful glances.
Before Lu Mingran could answer, an unfamiliar number called.
He never answers calls from unknown numbers, but this time the call came back several times after he hung up, so Lu Mingran finally answered.
The person on the other end of the phone was a boy. As soon as the call connected, he asked, "Are you Lu Mingran?"
Then, without giving Lu Mingran a chance to speak, he said:
“My sixth aunt encountered the youngest member of the Chu family, who walks the spirit path, while she was exorcising a ghost. She heard that you were looking for me. My fourth uncle calculated that a cat is looking for you soon, and it's very fierce.”
Holy crap.
Lu Mingran asked cautiously, "Um, do you really have fifty-six godfathers and fifty-six godmothers?"
"No, I only have one godfather and one godmother, but I can't explain this to you in a short time."
“My seventh mother wants to help you, but my sixth mother said she heard from Chu Anran that you are not a good person.”
Lu Mingran: ? No, you need to explain this clearly. What's wrong with my character?
"After some discussion, they decided that I should come to check you out. I'll be coming with your brothers. Also, I know your real name is Xiao Tao."
Lu Mingran was exasperated. This wasn't a son-in-law selection process, so what were you doing here to investigate?
Also, what does "door-to-door service" mean? Which door? When?
Confused, Lu Mingran heard footsteps outside the shop.