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墨書 Inktalez
At Bai Qiling's clinic, we lay there for another two days. Mu Xuanche finally agreed to head back to our hometown.
It had always been just me and Mingyue, but since I was going back home, she naturally followed along.
This time, however, there was an additional person—Bai Qiling.
He mentioned that he had brought three human skins with him, each of which could last him a month.
As long as he avoided direct exposure to strong sunlight, he would be fine.
I secretly asked Mu Xuanche where Bai Qiling got these skins from. Surely they weren't really taken from people, were they?
He told me that Bai Qiling was an exceptional doctor.
Many people sought him out, and in exchange for his services, they provided him with the skins he liked.
It was best to keep a distance from Bai Qiling; the thought of someone carrying human skin was quite terrifying.
H City was quite a distance from our hometown. After more than four hours on the bullet train, we finally arrived at the train station in our hometown.
"Yan Xi, your home is quite far," said Shangguan Mingyue. Her injury had healed, but her body was still struggling. I had originally not wanted her to come, but she insisted on joining us.
We would have to transfer to another vehicle to get back to the village, which would take over an hour.
I suggested that we find a place to rest and grab something to eat before heading back.
The four of us found a restaurant and sat down to order some food.
Since Bai Qiling and Mu Xuanche didn't need to eat, Mingyue and I decided not to order anything.
I ordered a bowl of noodles, while she ordered a bowl of dumplings.
The steaming dumplings were served, exuding an irresistible aroma that made one’s mouth water.
Shangguan Mingyue eagerly picked up a plump dumpling, ready to pop it into her mouth, but just as it reached her lips, Bai Qiling slapped it away.
Watching the dumpling fall to the ground, Shangguan Mingyue's face turned furious.
"Bai Qiling, what do you mean by this? Can’t I even eat in peace?"
Bai Qiling shot her a glare and coldly replied, "Idiot."
"You dare treat me like this? I’m going to fight you!"
With that, Shangguan Mingyue rolled up her sleeves, ready to confront Bai Qiling. Meanwhile, I noticed Mu Xuanche staring intently at the fallen dumpling, which struck me as odd. I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear.
"Is there something wrong?"
Mu Xuanche parted his lips slightly and whispered two words in my ear.
"Human meat."
I widened my eyes and pointed at the dumpling on the table. "Are you saying that this is…"
He blinked at me, signaling me not to make a scene. I understood and pulled Shangguan Mingyue back to prevent her from causing any trouble.
She was still somewhat angry and protested, "What are you doing?"
After I explained the situation in a whisper close to her ear, she nearly gasped out loud. Fortunately, I quickly covered her mouth to keep her from making any noise.
"Shut up, Mingyue," she said.
She nodded in agreement and, after letting go of her, went to find Bai Qiling.
Pulling at his sleeve, she asked him, "How did you know?"
I understood that Mingyue was aware of her own eccentric personality, yet she admired those who were stronger than her. Now, Bai Qiling had figured it out immediately, while she had not. She was able to swallow her pride and seek his advice.
"Why should I tell you?" Bai Qiling replied smugly, which nearly drove Shangguan Mingyue to grab a dumpling from the table and throw it at his head.
After being mocked by Bai Qiling, Shangguan Mingyue sought out Mu Xuanche.
"Hey, my sister's husband, tell me how you knew," she urged.
Mu Xuanche remained silent and reached out to tap the space between Shangguan Mingyue's and my brows.
When we looked back at the dumplings, we noticed a faint black mist hovering above them.
We hadn't noticed the Yin Qi earlier; they both being spirits meant they detected it right away.
"Wow, that's amazing! Being my sister's husband really is impressive," Shangguan Mingyue praised Mu Xuanche enthusiastically. I found it amusing, knowing she was joking, but behind her, Bai Qiling looked furious, his eyes wide and his mouth twitching.
If it weren't for how powerful Mu Xuanche was, Bai Qiling would have already taken action by now.
At this moment, he could only swallow his anger, unable to vent it out.
What kind of establishment was this that sold human meat dumplings? Or perhaps they were unaware of it.
"Yan Xi, you should hurry back. I think we should just leave this matter alone for now," he said.
It was too much to handle; not everything could be managed by me. I agreed with Shangguan Mingyue's viewpoint.
Just as I hesitated, Mu Xuanche suggested that we stay and investigate further.
Since he spoke up, there must be a reason behind it.
Mu Xuanche instructed me and Mingyue to check the kitchen to see if the dumpling filling was being prepared there.
Upon entering the kitchen, we found nothing but a pile of rotten pork.
The decaying meat was swarming with flies, and thinking about those dumplings that had been eaten bite by bite made both Shangguan Mingyue and me feel nauseous.
After searching for a while without any results, we decided to head back. This time, Mu Xuanche took the lead as our strategist, sparing us from further suffering.
Because of the human meat dumplings, the four of us stayed in town.
At ten o'clock that night, Mu Xuanche asked us to return to that restaurant from the afternoon.
He and Bai Qiling were headed somewhere else, the two men acting mysteriously while sending us women off to do the work. I felt uncomfortable about it and was almost ready to hit him in frustration.
At night, when we arrived at the hotel, it was already 11 o'clock. The hotel had closed its doors, and Shangguan Mingyue and I climbed over the wall into the backyard.
We found ourselves in the foul-smelling kitchen from earlier in the afternoon, and with the doors shut at night, the stench inside was even more unbearable. Shangguan Mingyue’s lock-picking skills were still impressive; within seconds, she managed to unlock the door to the kitchen.
Once inside, we searched through the place but still found no sign of human flesh, not even a trace of Yin Qi. Perhaps it wasn't a problem with this hotel; the meat had been chopped into pieces, and unless you looked closely, it was hard to tell if it was human or pork.
“Yan Xi, we've been searching here for quite a while without finding anything. Do you think it might not be related to this hotel?”
Having spent so much time together, we had developed a basic understanding of each other. I understood what Mingyue meant.
“You're selling pork,” I replied.
“Exactly, that's what I mean.”
We had gathered clues, but now we needed to figure out how to determine if there was an issue with the hotel's supplier.
“Yan Xi, let your treasure out,” she suggested.
“Is that really okay? Why let it out?”
“Let it communicate with the pigs and ask where Boss is.”
I barely grasped Mingyue's meaning at first, but after she explained it thoroughly, I finally understood.
She meant that humans have souls, and animals have souls too. The communication between souls can transcend language. If there were souls of pigs lingering here, then Bao could communicate with them.
It sounded particularly mystical, but she insisted, so I had no choice but to let Bao out.
“Bao, can you see if there are any pig souls here?”
Bao looked adorably confused and took a moment to react. He wandered around the kitchen for a while before finally telling me there were none.
Disappointed, I prepared to leave; otherwise, it would be troublesome if someone discovered us.
As I stepped out of the kitchen and was about to climb over the wall to escape, Bao suddenly exclaimed, “Godmother, there’s a pig over there!”
Following the direction of his chubby finger, I saw a faint soul by a bucket of rotten water in the distance. It didn’t look human at all; its shape indeed resembled that of a pig.
Seeing an opportunity, Shangguan Mingyue immediately instructed, “Bao, go over and communicate with that pig. See if it’s willing to take us to where it died.”
After a long while, Bao returned, looking exhausted. “Godmother, it agreed. It wants us to follow it.”
The pig led Bao, and Bao led us.
We walked for more than two hours until we reached a dilapidated shed on the outskirts. From afar, we could smell the stench of pig manure; it seemed this was the place.
After some discussion, the two decided to investigate further. Bao was assigned to find Mu Xuanche and inform him that we were here just in case.
The dilapidated shed was low, filled with pigs confined behind bars, and there wasn't a single person in sight.
Shangguan Mingyue felt a bit discouraged. "Yan Xi, do you think we might have come to the wrong place?"
"No, I believe this is the right spot. Don't you feel a powerful Resentment gathering here?"
Shangguan Mingyue took a moment to focus and then nodded. "Yes, I can feel it. But why does it seem to be coming from beneath my feet? It doesn't feel like it's coming from the pigpen."
Beneath my feet,
I understood.
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