Chapter 40: You Can’t Escape!
Thanks to the Dao tracking talisman she injected into the student ghost’s soul body last night, everywhere he went left traces of his ghost energy, allowing Nan Yuanman to easily find his lair.
The little girl was petite, holding a soy milk cup twice the size of her chubby little hands with puffed cheeks while speaking, her serious small face adding a touch of contrast cuteness, so adorable that Meng Qinian couldn’t resist reaching out and gently ruffling her slightly messy ahoge.
Nan Yuanman seriously drinking soy milk: “?”
Meng Qinian withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened, coughed lightly: “Just the two of us? No need to find some external help or anything?”
That student ghost seemed pretty cunning; he was a bit worried that Yuanman might not be able to handle it.
“No need, it’s daytime now, his ghost power isn’t as strong as at night, I can handle it.” Nan Yuanman shook her head and spoke.
If she couldn’t handle it, then just release Grandpa!
Perfect timing, since Grandpa had some indigestion after swallowing a fierce ghost that day, letting him out to digest would be nice too.
“Then let’s go.” Meng Qinian picked up the car keys from the table, held Nan Yuanman’s hand, and strode away.
–
Under Nan Yuanman’s guidance, Meng Qinian drove the car to the Old Town Area on the west side of S City.
The alleys in the Old Town Area were narrow, the car couldn’t enter, so Meng Qinian found a place to park, then carried Nan Yuanman shuttling through the interconnected alleys.
The people living in this Old Town Area who were out strolling and enjoying the cool air were quickly drawn to this striking big and small pair, and a grandma walking her dog asked curiously: “Who are you here to find?”
Nan Yuanman smiled sweetly on her soft white small face, saying softly: “Good morning, Grandma, I’m here to find Brother Lu Ye, do you know where his home is?”
“Looking for the Lu family? You must be relatives of the Lu family.” The grandma’s face lit up in realization, pointing toward an old building not far away: “There, the Lu family lives there, Unit 3, Room 506.”
Meng Qinian spoke politely: “Thank you.”
He carried Nan Yuanman toward the old building the grandma pointed to, and the surrounding people curiously gathered, asking: “Who are they here to find?”
The old grandma tsked, saying: “They’re here for Lu Ye of the Lu family, who would’ve thought the Lu family had such presentable relatives, look at that watch the young man is wearing, probably costs over five figures!”
Someone was stunned for a moment, exclaiming: “Looking for Lu Ye of the Lu family? Wait, wasn’t that kid who hanged himself at home before Lu Ye?”
At that moment, the Lu home.
A middle-aged couple with average looks and weary expressions sat at the dining table, eating numbly and mechanically, with a black-and-white portrait of the deceased placed on the offering table not far from them.
The boy in the portrait had a face similar to the student ghost, but without the student ghost’s yin energy, smiling brightly at the camera.
After the silent meal, Lu Ye’s father Lu Zhicheng spoke in a hoarse voice: “Xiao Juan, Mom asked me when we’re going to have another child…”
Li Juan, who had been numb, instantly flew into a rage at his words, sweeping all the bowls and chopsticks off the table with her hand, and amid the crisp sound of the bowls shattering on the ground, she shouted agitatedly: “Child child child! Lu Zhicheng! Little Ye hasn’t even been dead for a year! You as his father can’t wait to have another child? Do you even have him in your heart?”
“You know Little Ye has been dead for a year! We’re not young anymore, almost forty! If we don’t have another child, who will take care of us in old age!” Lu Zhicheng got annoyed too, slamming his chopsticks down hard on the table.
He couldn’t help bringing up old grievances, complaining: “I told you back then, he had a lot of school pressure! I told you not to push him too hard, but you insisted on early bird gets the worm, scheduling his holidays full of cram classes, no breathing room at all!”
“Little Ye committed suicide because of you! It’s all your fault!”
Li Juan hysterically: “Now you’re saying it’s my fault? When Little Ye was alive, I never saw you take care of him for a single day! Where were you when he zoned out in class or skipped school? Where were you when he was bullied by other kids?”
“Did you as his father ever attend even one parent-teacher meeting? Always saying you’re busy busy busy, and in your free time you love going fishing for your dead fish! You can’t even raise one child properly, you think you can raise a second one well?”
“I’m telling you Lu Zhicheng, I’ll only ever have one child in this lifetime, Little Ye! You want me to give you another one? No way!”
“If your mom wants one, let her have it herself!”
Lu Ye condensed yin energy into a thin line, hung it on the room doorknob, and hanged his neck with it, listening expressionlessly to the argument coming from outside.
The grievance seeping in from outside was continuously entering his body, slowly repairing his damaged soul.
His pre-death room was his lair.
Nothing was more nourishing than the grievance from one’s own parents.
He deliberately blocked out the argument outside, recalling what he had glimpsed last night when going to find Meng Qinian, the strong merit on him, a trace of greed flashing in his blood-colored ghost eyes.
He had a premonition that as long as he could lure and kill Meng Qinian and devour his soul, he could advance to ghost king.
It was just that little ghost was too much in the way.
He needed to figure out a way to deal with that little ghost first…
While Lu Ye was racking his brains on how to deal with Nan Yuanman, the argument in the living room had escalated to a fever pitch.
Everything in the living room had been smashed to the ground, Lu Zhicheng’s forehead was red from being hit, he clutched it, roaring angrily: “You’re really unreasonable!”
With that, he turned around furiously and opened the door to leave.
As soon as the door opened, he locked eyes with Meng Qinian and Nan Yuanman standing at the doorway, hands raised to press the doorbell.
Lu Zhicheng’s face stiffened, embarrassed and annoyed at being caught in family discord, he asked in an especially unpleasant tone: “Who are you here for?”
Before Meng Qinian could speak, Nan Yuanman at his side charged in like a little calf, her small hands quickly forming seals, pulling out several talismans and hurling them at the tightly closed room door: “Where do you think you’re going!”
Meng Qinian: “!”
“Yuanman!”
Li Juan, standing wearily in the living room silently shedding tears, was stunned for a moment at the sudden intrusion of the child, and before she could speak, she saw the child throw out a stack of talisman paper.
Li Juan: “!!”
She exclaimed in shock: “What are you doing?!”
As soon as she spoke, the thrown talismans turned into a golden-yellow net in front of her, trapping a black figure that rushed out from the room.
Immediately after, a wail sounded in her ear: “Ah!! It hurts so much! Mom! It hurts so much! Save me—!”
Li Juan’s pupils contracted sharply, crying out: “Little Ye?!”
