translator: baumkuchen 

In October, it rained nonstop in Shuifu village for many days. Unlike the cooling rains in summer, autumn rains were plain cold. As the temperature gradually fell, Lu Qingjiu put on more layers of clothes. Rainy weather always made people feel lazy. Bai Yuehu"s rocking chair was moved into the house. No longer being able to sit out in the courtyard and rock like he had in the past, he felt a little regretful.

Because Yin Xun wanted to eat sausages, Lu Qingjiu went to town and bought sausage casings and meat. After beating the meat into a paste and adding seasoning, he then stuffed them into the casings. When making sausages, one needed to pay special attention to small details. For instance, when stuffing meat into the casing, one needed to poke a hole into the casing with a pin and let out the air inside, which would be conducive to letting water evaporate out of the sausage, making it easier for it to dry. The stuffed sausages then needed to be air-dried for a few days, then roasted with fruit wood.

In just a month, Lu Qingjiu"s kitchen had dried meat, soy sauce meat and sausages hanging all over. Because there were too many things, to the point that there wasn"t any s.p.a.ce to put them, he then cleaned out another room just for hanging up the meat, and specially spread out a layer of newspaper over the floor, in order to prevent grease from dripping on the floor while they dried the meat.

Just as Lu Qingjiu was thinking about what else he was lacking for the winter, two visitors arrived at his old home.

When Lu Qingjiu heard the knocking on the door, he"d thought that it was Li Xiaoyu from next door. With Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua"s efforts, Li Xiaoyu had made great progress with his studies as of late. Because of this, Li Xiaoyu"s trips to their home became even more frequent, to the point that he was coming over after school almost every day. But when Lu Qingjiu opened the door, he didn"t see Li Xiaoyu. Instead, he saw the Pang Ziqi who had almost lost his life because of the Rain Master"s Concubine standing in his doorway, an umbrella in his hand. Behind him was another man, dressed in black and no expression on his face. The man was a head taller than 1.8m tallPang Ziqi. Even though he had a handsome appearance, the cold, stone-like air about him made his entire person exude an air that made others keep away.

"Lu Qingjiu," Pang Ziqi said, "What are you doing?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I"m cooking…… You"ve gotten better?"

"Yeah." As Pang Ziqi replied, his eyes kept flitting to inside the house. He said, "Aren"t you going to invite me inside?"

Lu Qingjiu made an "as you please" gesture. At this time, Bai Yuehu had gone off to the fields, and Yin Xun had gone off to take an afternoon nap and wasn"t back yet. He was the only one left in the house.

Pang Ziqi and that tall man behind him then entered the house. They were observing Lu Qingjiu, and Lu Qingjiu was observing them in turn. From the looks of it, the man should be Pang Ziqi"s colleague, another police officer. It was just that he didn"t know what Pang Ziqi had come here for this time.

"Sit, I"ll pour you guys some tea," Lu Qingjiu invited them to sit.

Pang Ziqi said, "No need. Actually, I came over this time to thank you."

Lu Qingjiu replied, "Thank me?"

Pang Ziqi said, "That thing that had attached itself to me from before, it was you who helped me get rid of it, right?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I don"t know what you"re talking about."

Pang Ziqi laughed, "There"s no need to lie, since you"re able to see these things, then you definitely have your methods. I also haven"t planned on reporting you to the higher-ups, I"m just asking."

Lu Qingjiu sat down across from Pang Ziqi, remaining silent.

Pang Ziqi pointed at the man sitting next to him, who hadn"t yet spoken. He introduced, "This is my colleague, Meng Shuiyi."

Meng Shuiyi nodded at Lu Qingjiu in what could be considered a greeting.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Pang Ziqi. "You came here today to talk to me about this?"

Pang Ziqi shook his head. "No, I was actually a little worried about you. Since you"re able to see these things, then you should be able to sense that you have the scent of a fierce beast on you. I feel that to a normal human, this isn"t anything good."

Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, "You came here because you were worried about me?"

Pang Ziqi smiled awkwardly. "That"s one of the reasons. There"s one more reason, it"s that the higher-ups want me to ask…… Where did the corpse of the Rain Master"s Concubine go?"

Lu Qingjiu was a little curious. "How do you know it was me who made it disappear?"

Pang Ziqi said, "I don"t, aren"t I here to ask you just that?"

Lu Qingjiu replied, "If I said that I don"t know, would you believe me?"

Pang Ziqi sighed, "Naturally, I wouldn"t."

Lu Qingjiu asked, "Then why are you asking?"

Pang Ziqi said, "This is just protocol, if you"re really not willing to tell me, I won"t force you."

His att.i.tude was actually pretty alright. Lu Qingjiu could tell that his temper was actually very explosive, it was just that currently, Lu Qingjiu had saved his life, so he couldn"t possibly lose his temper at Lu Qingjiu. Also, if not for him quickly dealing with the Rain Master"s Concubine at that time, by Pang Ziqi"s department"s efficiency, Pang Ziqi"s corpse might have long since burned to ash.

After finding out the reason why Pang Ziqi was here, Lu Qingjiu felt that there wasn"t much to say to him. He couldn"t possibly tell Pang Ziqi about Bai Yuehu. As such, he stiffly expressed his refusal, "Sorry, no comment."

Pang Ziqi sighed. His gaze swept around the room, finally landing on the currently sleeping chickens in their pen. Seemingly having noticed something strange, a hint of amazement entered his gaze. He said, "You…… Do you know what the thing staying by your side is?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Of course I do."

Pang Ziqi"s expression was complex. "Aren"t you afraid?"

Lu Qingjiu asked, "Afraid of what?"

Pang Ziqi said, "Afraid of him eating you, of course."

Lu Qingjiu said, "If he wanted to eat me, he"d have long since done it. Why would he wait until now? Furthermore, if he wanted to eat me, would you be able to save me?"

These words were actually very reasonable. A smile appeared in Pang Ziqi"s eyes. "I don"t know if I"d be able to save you, but I"d at least try." Since he was a police officer, he needed to  perform his duties as one. He felt that if Lu Qingjiu had been tricked into living with the beast due to his lack of knowledge, then he naturally had the duty to inform him. But looking at it now, Lu Qingjiu was very clear about what he was doing, and was full of trust in the beast.

"Thanks, there"s no need to worry about me," Lu QIngjiu said, "We get along very well."

Pang Ziqi nodded.

As the two were talking, Bai Yuehu, dressed in a raincoat and wearing a bamboo hat, came in through the door. Lu Qingjiu noticed, at the moment Bai Yuehu entered, the originally very relaxed Meng Shuiyi suddenly straightened his spine, as if he"d instantly become nervous.

Lu Qingjiu looked away from him. He smiled slightly at Bai Yuehu, "Yuehu, you"re back."

Bai Yuehu didn"t speak. After casually placing his dripping bamboo hat on the table, and shooting a look at Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi, he nodded.

"There"s some freshly steamed corn cakes in the pot," Lu Qingjiu said, "I was worried it would get cold, so I kept the fire on, you should eat some."

Bai Yuehu "en"-ed, turning and heading off towards the kitchen. But before he left, he shot Meng Shuiyi a mild look. Meng Shuiyi became even more anxious.

Pang Ziqi was the least sensitive one out of all of them, not noticing the undercurrent in the room at all. He was still looking at Bai Yuehu, clearly a little curious about the handsome man.

It wasn"t until Bai Yuehu entered the kitchen that Meng Shuiyi let out a slight sigh of relief. He turned and looked towards Pang Ziqi. "Let"s go."

Pang Ziqi was confused. "Ah? Why all of a sudden?"

Meng Shuiyi said, "I"m pretty much clear on anything now."

Pang Ziqi asked, "Clear? What clear, I still don"t know anything…"

But Meng Shuiyi had already stood up. He motioned with his chin. "Let"s go."

Pang Ziqi still wanted to say something, but seeing the imposing expression on Meng Shuiyi"s face, seeming like he wasn"t joking, he could only say goodbye to Lu Qingjiu, and umbrellas in hand, the two left.

"Yi, why were you in such a hurry to leave, we still hadn"t managed to ask anything." As soon as they stepped out the door, Pang Ziqi began asking Meng Shuiyi in confusion. This was his first time seeing Meng Shuiyi look slightly fl.u.s.tered like this.

"If you asked any more, you might ask yourself into that person"s stomach," Meng Shuiyi said coldly, "In the future, don"t come over here, this Lu Qingjiu isn"t someone we can provoke."

"En? What do you mean?" Pang Ziqi didn"t understand. "Isn"t Lu Qingjiu human?"

"Yes," Meng Shuiyi said, "But have you seen a human who raises beasts before?"

Pang Ziqi finally understood. "You mean… that man called Bai Yuehu is a fierce beast? There"s such beautiful beasts out there?"

Meng Shuiyi, "What do you think all fierce beasts look like?"

Pang Ziqi said, "At least somewhat like you, the kind which look too hard to chew."

Meng Shuiyi, "…"

Pang Ziqi, "Haha, I"m just joking."

Meng Shuiyi shot Pang Ziqi a glare, but didn"t bother fighting with him over it. After the two got into their car, they left Shuifu village. From the looks of it, they wouldn"t be back anytime soon.