Yellow Springs Inn (Zhang Xiao Qi)

Chapter 13: 一丝模糊的记忆 A Wisp of Hazy Memory

Chapter 13: 一丝模糊的记忆 A Wisp of Hazy Memory

After walking on the road for about four minutes, Luo Qian Qi halted his footsteps.

When I saw the big words "The Morgue" those two words [T/N: three characters in chinese] I stopped and stared blankly.

I looked at Luo Qian Qi, confused, "Luo Qian Qi, didn"t you saw you were bringing me to see the female ghost, why did you bring me to the morgue?"

Luo Qian Qi chuckled, "Go in first and then I"ll explain!"

I nodded my head, then promptly followed him into the morgue.

After walking into the morgue Luo Qian Qi retracted his umbrella, then put it on a table to the side.

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and said, "Follow me!"

I nodded, then followed Luo Qian Qi"s footsteps.

Luo Qian Qi brought me to the mortuary room, which was about thirty square feet in size.

The four sides of the room all had freezers, but at the very center of the room was a bed with one corpse on top.

While the corpse had already been covered with white cloth, I noticed that the corpse"s belly was also bulging out, could this corpse be of that female ghost?

I pointed at the corpse on the bed, "This is…"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "Take a look for yourself and you will know!"
I nodded, then walked to the side of the bed. When I lifted up the white cloth covering the corpse, the corpse"s appearance was revealed.

I looked over the corpse"s face, finding that she was indeed the female ghost with the big belly that had run out of the nether world.

Luo Qian Qi walked up to my side, he looked at the corpse laying on the bed and told me, "Her name is Fu Yu Yan1, she is a third-year university student, her family home is not here, rather it is in a remote village in the countryside, I just don"t know where her soul is, at the same time she is the girlfriend of Wan Tong Guang2, the son of the business big-shot Wan Fu Ming3!"

I nodded and asked, "How did she die?"

Luo Qian Qi said, "She jumped off a building, she was pregnant with Wan Tong Guang"s child, but Wan Tong Guang instead dumped her, so she jumped off a building!"

I harrumphed coldly, "That Wan Tong Guang really is sc.u.m!"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "But that Wan Tong Guang can be considered to be met with retribution, yesterday evening got caught up in a car accident, but his luck is strong, didn"t die!"

I nodded, "Then how come you are here? From what I know Thousand Jade Hall is a ways away from here, right!"

Luo Qian Qi smiled, "The Wan family invited me here!"

I asked in confusion, "Invited you here to handle Wan Tong Guang"s matter?"

Luo Qian Qi nodded, "After Wan Tong Guang got into a car accident he entered the hospital, after he woke up he told his father Wan Fu Ming that a ghost had harmed him, so his father sought out Thousand Jade Hall!"

I nodded, smiling as I teased, "It isn"t like your Thousand Jade Hall doesn"t have any people, how come Luo Hall Master himself came in person to do it?"

Luo Qian Qi smiled and pinched my nose, "Isn"t it because I owe you money, just staying at home everyday how could I possibly have enough money to give back to you!"

I rubbed the nose that Luo Qian Qi had pinched uncomfortably and laughed, "Never would have thought that you Luo Hall Master still remembered! How much money did Wan Fu Ming offer to make you Luo Hall Master throw your hat into the ring?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "One million!"

I nodded my head, "The price is pretty reasonable!"

Following up I asked again, "Then have you found Fu Yu Yan"s soul?"

Luo Qian Qi shook his head, "I haven"t, so I came here to find here corpse to see if I can find any clues!"

"Then when did you get here?" I asked.

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and answered, "Yesterday evening!"

"Yesterday evening!" It was also yesterday evening that Fu Yu Yan fled the nether world, didn"t think that once she fled she would seek Wan Tong Guang.

I said to Luo Qian Qi, "Then what is our plan from here on out?"

Luo Qian Qi smiled, "She definitely will find Wan Tong Guang again, just protecting Wan Tong Guang is enough!"

I nodded, "This plan really is pretty good!"

Luo Qian Qi smiled and nodded, "Are you hungry? I"ll take you to eat good food!"

"Okay!" I smiled and nodded, anyone who would refuse food is an idiot.

Luo Qian Qi saw that I agreed and immediately pulled me to leave the morgue. Only once I arrived did I realize that Luo Qian Qi had tricked me.

It was true that it was taking me to food, but other than us two there were also other people. Moreover, it wasn"t a dining hall or a restaurant; it was actually someone else"s house.

Luo Qian Qi brought me to Wan Tong Guang"s house, the guest/living room"s table had already been set up with the meal, and Wan Tong Guang and his father were already seated around the table.

Wan Fu Ming saw Luo Qian Qi arrive and very enthusiastically stood up from his chair to greet Luo Qian Qi, but they couldn"t see me.

Wan Fu Ming held Luo Qian Qi"s hand and said excitedly, "Hall Master Luo, you"ve come, eat, come eat!"

As he said this Wan Fu Ming ushered Luo Qian Qi to the table.

Luo Qian Qi followed Wan Fu Ming to the side of the table, while I quietly followed behind.

Knowing that I had been tricked by Luo Qian Qi I was already very not happy, but what made me even more furious was that there was actually no seat for me at the table.

I looked at Luo Qian Qi, indignant, "Luo Qian Qi, you said you would take me to eat, but right now I don"t even have a seat, you…"

Luo Qian Qi smiled and glanced at me, he said to Wan Tong Guang"s mother, "Mrs. Wan, could you add another chair and a set of a bowl and chopsticks?"

Mrs. Wan froze. It wasn"t until Wan Fu Ming gave her a look that she returned to her senses.

She hurriedly answered, "Ok, no problem!"

"I don"t need it, I certainly wouldn"t care to eat here!" After saying this I prepared to leave.

"Xiao Qi, don"t be stubborn!" Luo Qian Qi said as he watched me.

Wan Fu Ming and the others froze, thinking to themselves: there isn"t anyone there at all, who exactly is Luo Hall Master talking to?

I looked at Luo Qian Qi unhappily and said, "Stubborn, how am I stubborn, it was you who called me over, but there isn"t even a seat for me here. I, Zhang Xiao Qi, have never received such treatment, you must truly want me to be embarra.s.sed, right?"

With this I turned, about to leave the Wan house.

Suddenly a burst of golden light flew towards me, I hurriedly dodged, but that ray of golden light hit me right in my left shoulder.

"Ah!" I called out in pain, and my left shoulder started to give off faint wisps of black smoke.

Once I was. .h.i.t by the golden light, my body materialized; Wan Tong Guang and the others could also see me.

"Xiao Qi, are you okay?" Luo Qian Qi saw that I was hurt and hurried over to support me.

I slapped away his hand, saying faintly, "I"m fine!"

Luo Qian Qi helplessly shook his head at me, "Xiao Qi, their house"s sacrificial offering has a Bodhisattva4. You let out an air of resentment, of course you would be attacked by the Bodhisattva!

I harrumphed coldly, "So their house"s sacrificial offering has a Bodhisattva. Then how could Fu Yu Yan get in?"

Wan Tong Guang and the others were shocked by my sudden appearance out of nowhere, then were again shocked by my words.

Wan Fu Ming asked me, "Miss, you just said that Fu Yu Yan is at our house?"

"No, I was saying that yesterday evening she came to your house!" I said.

Wan Fu Ming stammered and asked me, "Then you are?"

"A ghost!" I said stonily (冷不伶仃 T/N: If you know a more accurate translation, please tell me) to Wan Fu Ming.

Wan Fu Ming and the others were frightened and backed up. Luo Qian Qi said, "Don"t be afraid, Xiao Qi won"t hurt you guys, she"s just a bit angry that you didn"t prepare a bowl and chopsticks for her!"

Mrs. Wan hurriedly told me, "Great ghost deity, don"t be angry, I"ll get your bowl and chopsticks right away, right away!"

As she said this Mrs. Wan quickly walked to the kitchen. In a short while she brought back a bowl and chopsticks and put them on the table, following which she also moved over a chair and put it by Luo Qian Qi"s chair.

Luo Qian Qi patted my shoulder, smiling, "Alright, Xiao Qi, don"t be mad, just blame me for not preparing well, next time I"ll make up for it!

"No, I don"t need it, I still have some matters back home, I"ll take my leave first!" With this I left the Wan house.

"Xiao Qi!" Luo Qian Qi yelled to me, but I didn"t pay him any attention, and directly left the Wan house.

"I"m so mad, so mad!" I walked on the streets of the night, my heart filled with unrest.

"Miao~miao~"

Suddenly, a black cat blocked my path.

"What, you want to make me mad too? You better believe I can kill you!" I stared at that black cat and said moodily.

"Miao~"

That black cat called out to me before it left.

"Miao~miao~"

I had only walked a few steps when I heard another cat call, but this time, it didn"t seem to be just one cat.

I looked at my surroundings. It seemed at some point in time I had walked into a small alleyway.

This alleyway"s yin5 aura was very strong. Perhaps it was because of this yin aura that I walked over here, because it made me feel very comfortable.

Just then, black cats gathered in hordes on the rooftops in all four directions. I didn"t know where all these black cats were coming from.

Black cats are inherently yin, and are also attracted to yin auras, but this many black cats all gathered together really is out of the ordinary.

Furthermore I felt like these black cats seemed not to be coming here because of me, but instead because of something inside the alley.

I hid my presence, then slowly walked into the alley.

After walking for a bit I quickly got to the end of the alley; at the end of the alley, I saw a startling scene.

I saw Fu Yu Yan, but I had already hid my presence, she couldn"t see me.

At this time her back was against the wall, her front facing me, her face full of extreme pain.

Her swollen belly had already opened up into a slit, and then I saw a small, black hand extend out from her belly.

I was wondering why the yin aura inside this small alley was so strong; so it was because a ghost baby was about to be born.

But since I noticed it, then I must stop her; after the baby is born who knows how many more people will die.

Fu Yu Yan couldn"t see me, conveniently giving me an opportunity.

I unhurriedly made my way towards Fu Yu Yan, at the same time another dagger appeared in my hand.

"Miao~"

A black cat took the initiative to claw at Fu Yu Yan, who upon seeing the situation ducked.

She glared hatefully at the cat on the eaves, then fled.

After Fu Yu Yan left the cats all scattered one by one.

I glanced at the black cats that had scattered, in my heart unable to help yelling out angrily, "I really don"t know if you guys are here to help or hurt!"

Right when I was about to give chase, there was a warm hand that grabbed ahold of me.

I looked at the owner of that hand, realizing that it was actually Luo Qian Qi.

I shook off Luo Qian Qi"s hand, "What are you pulling my hand for?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "Fu Yu Yan has someone backing her, I don"t want you to be hurt!"

I harrumphed and didn"t say anything.

Luo Qian Qi touched my left shoulder, "Does it still hurt?"

"It"s fine!" Saying this I prepared to turn around and leave the small alley.

"Xiao Qi, where do you want to go?" Luo Qian Qi looked at my leaving figure and said.

"Of course it"s returning to Yellow Springs Inn, catching ghosts isn"t my business!" I said, pouting.

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and said in a nonchalant tone, "Then can you stand to see innocent people dying at Fu Yu Yan"s hands?"

I laughed coldly, "Isn"t it that no one has died yet? Besides, perhaps this isn"t her mistake, it was Wan Tong Guang that dumped her, is it not?"

Luo Qian Qi stared blankly, "But she already died, and her belly"s ghost baby is very dangerous!"

"Isn"t there still your Thousand Jade Hall?" I turned to look at Luo Qian Qi.

Luo Qian Qi walked to my side and looked at me, "Xiao Qi, what"s up with you today?"

I shook my head, "I don"t know, in the daytime you said Fu Yu Yan was dumped by Wan Tong Guang, I just felt like I seemed to have remembered a little something, but my memory is very hazy, and I couldn"t remember specifically what it was about, but my heart felt very uncomfortable, like it had been blocked up!"

Footnotes

1. Fu Yu Yan (付雨烟): fu (付) means to pay or hand over, yu (雨) means rain, and yan (烟) means smoke.↩
2. Wan Tong Guang (万童光): wan (万) means ten-thousand, tong (童) means child, and guang (光) means light, bright, or use up.↩
3. Wan Fu Ming (万富明): wan (万) means ten-thousand, fu (富) means wealthy, and ming (明) means bright, clear, prominent, wise, or of the moon.↩
4. Bodhisattva (菩萨): In Buddhism, when a person achieves nirvana or enlightenment, the highest attainment, they break out of the cycle of life and death and are no longer reborn. At this point, they are called Bodhisattvas. However, some of them come back to the mortal world, or just delay achieving enlightenment themselves, to help other people achieve enlightenment. A very famous Bodhisattva that did this is Avalokitesvara. If you remember, back in Luo Qian Ping had a pendant of Avalokitesvara.↩
5. yin (阴): The same yin in yin jian (阴间, the nether world, probably why Xiao Qi feels comfortable with the yin aura), and means negative, moon, feminine, cloudy, or hidden. Its counterpart, yang (阳) which you may have heard in the phrase “yin and yang,” represents the sun and means positive or light.↩