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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 87: The Mystery of the Deep Alley (Continued)
The restroom was heavy, filthy, and tainted with a sinister aura. According to my usual senses, I should have picked up on things that ordinary people couldn't comprehend upon entering. But today was different. As I entered the restroom with Qin Jian, aside from the foul odor and a few drops of blood on the floor, I sensed nothing unusual.
In the end, we found nothing and had to head back home, discussing matters in the car.
"Did you see clearly what the old man was holding?" I honestly hadn't paid much attention to what he was carrying, but judging by how he held it, it looked heavy and dark. I didn't want to think too deeply about it; just the thought made my scalp tingle. Qin Jian caught my unusual reaction from the corner of his eye and quickly asked, "What are you thinking?"
"You really don't want to know what just crossed my mind." I took a deep breath, leaning back in my seat, genuinely reluctant to share the terrifying thought that had flashed through my mind.
Qin Jian snorted dismissively. "Come on, spit it out."
"Are you not afraid of what I might say?"
"Afraid of what? We're together; what is there to be afraid of?"
"What if the old man I saw was a ghost? Then the broom he was holding would also be a ghost. What I mean is, he could be holding the body of a New Soul while sweeping, with its hair being the bristles of the broom."
Qin Jian slammed on the gas pedal in shock, causing the car to screech loudly. He cursed, "You crazy! How did you even think of that?"
"I knew you'd be scared; yet you refuse to believe it."
Qin Jian restarted the engine as we began moving again. He scoffed mockingly, "Isn't that just a vivid imagination? If we were to think about it, an old man possibly holding a woman's body while sweeping... that's just... wow! It is kind of creepy."
"Ugh, Qin Jian, what we need to do now is go home and rest. We can discuss everything later."
"Hold on; I still have one more question."
Just as I closed my eyes to doze off, he interrupted me again. I opened my eyes and cursed, "You jerk, hurry up."
"Why did you just turn back to Taling? What does Taling have that makes you want to go back? Is there something connecting them to Fruit Street?"
"Think about it. We came out of Taling and ran into Addict. Did you not notice he was an Addict?"
"I saw him. His face was dark, with a Deathly Aura surrounding him. He didn't look like a living person at all. That's how I determined whether he was human or ghost."
"So when did you start having this ability?" Originally, Qin Jian was asking me, but now it turned into me questioning him. It felt amusing, though I didn't laugh; he didn't like it when discussions weren't taken seriously.
Qin Jian thought for a moment, his brows furrowing habitually. "After you gave me that dagger."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Actually, you... resemble someone very much; he is my master."
"I've always heard about your master. Who is he?"
"His name is Qin Ye. You share many similarities with him, from your surname to your mannerisms, and even when you try to act cool and ignore people."
"Do you think there's some kind of connection between me and him? Or are we directly related as father and son?"
"Hey, hey, don't get upset. I'm just discussing the matter at hand. If you don't like talking about it, I won't push it. What about your earlier question?"
Qin Jian indeed didn't like mentioning Qin Ye. Hearing me say that, he sneered coldly and said, "At least you're sensible."
"Can you tone down that Chengdu accent of yours? Just speak properly to me."
“Dialect, I’m used to it.”
“It doesn’t matter to you. The question you asked earlier, I would have told you even if you hadn’t asked. That Addict had something to tell me and even asked me for a smoke. Do you remember that?”
“Of course.”
“So I want to turn back. Maybe Addict knows something. If we can get something useful out of him, wouldn’t that save us both some trouble?”
“Right.” Qin Jian thought for a moment, then glanced at me as I dozed off with my eyes closed and murmured, “Why weren’t you clear about it earlier?”
“I was afraid it would bring back memories for you, so I didn’t push you to go back.” I could tell that Qin Jian had a deep bond with his mother and was indifferent towards his biological father. Even when I subtly mentioned Qin Ye, he got angry. It seemed he was aware of his relationship with Qin Ye.
These matters were personal and familial for him; as an outsider, it wasn’t my place to interfere.
It would be best to devise a perfect plan for them to recognize each other. On the contrary, if I insisted on doing things my way while Qin Jian was resistant, it might backfire and create more problems.
At that moment, we both understood without needing many words. The car sped through the night, and when Qin Jian dropped me off at home, I truly felt the weight of memories. Shen Shoucai had already prepared a table full of dishes, and everything was quite clean—almost like a replica of rice.
What merit did I, Ma Qi, have to deserve such a ghostly housekeeper? Truly pitiful for me, Ma Qi.
“I’ll eat. What about you?”
“Just give me a smoke; one puff will do.” Shen Shoucai didn’t seem to be joking. Could you handle just one puff? I didn’t voice that thought but quickly washed my hands. I had eaten well with Qin Jian at the skewer place earlier, then went to Taling and later to Fruit Street. My stomach really did feel a bit hungry again.
Shen Shoucai’s cooking was decent and suited my taste.
I placed a cigarette on the edge of the table. “This is the last one. I’m reluctant to smoke it; it’s all wrinkled no matter where I put it. Don’t look down on it; this is Zhonghua.”
Shen Shoucai took a puff of smoke and chuckled bitterly, "Great China, I never got to smoke while I was alive. Tsk tsk, this is really nice." He inhaled the steam rising from the food and narcissistically boasted, "My dream is to be a chef. I’ve spent quite some time researching cooking techniques."
He gave a thumbs up in approval, saying, "Impressive."
Shen Shoucai was quite talkative. Seeing me enjoy my meal made him open up. "Master Ma, did you gain anything tonight?"
"Nothing much. On our way back, we stopped by Fruit Street. There was a bizarre death case there. The case itself isn't our concern, but when we went earlier, I saw something strange in that restroom on Fruit Street."
Shen Shoucai's interest piqued as he leaned in and asked, "What did you see?"
Even ghosts fear me, yet Shen Shoucai seemed unfazed by my aura and the presence of Eighteen Cubes.
Eighteen Cubes! Qin Jian had a dagger on him. Right, he had it with him when we went to the restroom on Fruit Street. Dagger killings are heavy; any ghost would fear it. Could they sense their existence when I entered?
Just Shen Shoucai alone was truly impressive. No wonder he was known as the Azure-Headed Ghost; he showed no fear towards the Ghostly Enforcer of Hell or the magical tools given to me by my master. It’s frightening to think how dangerous he could be if he hadn’t been guided by my master and was out there causing chaos on his own.
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