CH 5

Back at the office, the other ghost exorcists from the Green Lantern Association were also gone. 

Tang Baishan rushed forward and couldn’t wait to ask. 

“How is it!”

“No trace was found.” Lu Yingjiu answered and Tang Baishan froze immediately.

“Then, what do you think we should do now…”

Lu Yingjiu directly changed the topic. “However, I have a solution to your nightmare.”

That ugly kid was still leaning on Tang Baishan’s back. 

Solve the ghost problem, of course. Then the nightmares will also stop.

He stared at the kid.

The little ghost trembled, and stretched out its sharp claws again. In its grasp was still the little flower of the underworld. It grabbed Tang Baishan’s back, trying hard to hand the flower to Lu Yingjiu.

Lu Yingjiu still refused to accept it.

As a result, disappointment clearly appeared on its unfriendly face.

Tang Baishan hurriedly asked, “What way?”

Lu Yingjiu sat on the sofa with both fingers intertwined. The minaret gesture was a sign of extreme confidence in psychology. He did not look ostentatious when he did it, but the aura of years of fighting the supernatural comes out all at once.

He said, “Let’s talk about the conditions, after all, this is a delegation.”

“Okay, okay, money matters are negotiable.” Tang Baishan promised.

“It’s not about money,” Lu Yingjiu said, “I want to talk about the live broadcast.”

“Live broadcast…” Tang Baishan froze for half a second, “This, this, after all, I still have to follow the rules…”

What he said was pure nonsense.

If he really followed the rules, it would be impossible for Lu Yingjiu’s live broadcast application to be rejected. He had rich experience, complete materials, and every item fully meets the standards. 

This person was really forgetful. When he finally invited Lu Yingjiu over, and when the matter was settled, he began to play dumb again.

Tang Baishan smiled again and said, “Mr. Lu, you shouldn’t be the kind of person who would make things difficult for others…”

Lu Yingjiu: “The so-called delegation, it should be recognized by both parties. This is my condition.”

Tang Baishan’s complexion changed several times, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He glanced at Chu Banyang next to him several times, wanting to see his reaction, however Chu Banyang remained unmoved.

At this moment, Lu Yingjiu was also surprised.

With Chu Banyang’s strength, he should’ve not failed to notice the kid.

Lu Yingjiu originally thought that Chu Banyang would solve the problem impatiently and save face for the Green Lantern Association. But what does he mean by not saying a word? Or is it just simply being partial to the other person.

He glanced at Chu Banyang.

Chu Banyang turned his face away, as if deliberately not meeting his gaze.

Lu Yingjiu chuckled secretly, thinking it was quite interesting.

Ye Feng next to him interjected, “Hey, didn’t you say you still have an appointment this afternoon?”

Lu Yingjiu looked at his watch and said, “I almost forgot, why don’t we talk about it tomorrow? Anyway, it’s just for one day, it’s not like you’ll be in a much more dangerous situation.” He stood up and counted the seconds silently.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

“Wait a minute! Mr. Lu, stop, I will finish this matter, as long as you get rid of that ghost.” Tang Baishan wiped his sweat with the back of his hand and the flesh on his face trembled. “I can sign your live broadcast application directly for you, but I just need to call and ask for instructions. You two should have some tea first.”

When Tang Baishan was on the phone, Lu Yingjiu was sitting on the sofa, drinking a cup of high-quality Chrysanthemum Pu’er tea.

The little ghost on Tang Baishan’s back looked at him, and held up the little flower persistently.

Lu Yingjiu found it fascinating.

It was the first time he had seen this kind of situation—it was obviously just a weak ghost kid, but he somehow got into the barrier and now, it was trying to give a flower to a ghost exorcist. The first thought that popped into his mind was that the little ghost surely had bad motives and ulterior intentions…..This kind of little ghost, he could make it disappear with only a snap of his fingers.

While Tang Baishan was on the phone with his back turned to them, Lu Yingjiu tentatively hooked his finger to the kid.

The kid was stunned.

Lu Yingjiu mouthed: “Come down.”

Sure enough, the little ghost was obedient and jumped down while still holding the flower.

Tang Baishan suddenly felt as light as a swallow, froze for a moment, and then continued talking on the phone.

The little ghost didn’t have too much resentment on him. He was just an ordinary wandering ghost, and he might also have a few unfulfilled wishes. But Lu Yingjiu doesn’t really care. As long as it stopped hurting people, he’d just let it go.

The kid jumped to his side and the flower dangled in front of Lu Yingjiu.

Lu Yingjiu paused and took it. The moment his hand touched the flower, Yin energy suddenly fluctuated.

The flower manifests itself.

Its red color was gorgeous, and its petals unfold silently, layered and very brilliant.

Ye Feng next to him was stunned, and asked in a low voice, “Why do you suddenly have a flower on your hand?”

“It was given by that nightmare ghost.” Lu Yingjiu replied in a low voice.

Ye Feng became startled, “It’s here? Why didn’t I see it, don’t pick up its things.”

“It’s fine.” Lu Yingjiu showed him the palm of his hand.

He didn’t touch the flower directly, as a small talisman paper was attached to his palm. The talisman did not ignite spontaneously, which proved that the flower was not cursed.

He looked at the kid again and asked, “Who sent you here?”

The little ghost shook his head desperately, and ran away in a hurry. Its face looked relieved, as if he had finally completed a great task.

After Tang Baishan made the call, he asked someone to bring all the materials. Lu Yingjiu submitted an application on the spot, and he approved it on the spot.

After the contract was signed, Tang Baishan said cautiously, “Mr. Lu, the ghost thing…”

“It has been resolved.” Lu Yingjiu said, standing up, “But there are still some questionable points. Don’t go back to the 19th floor, and come to me anytime if there is any new situation.”

Several exorcists looked at each other.

Since Lu Yingjiu said that the matter was settled, they all got up and prepared to leave.

When they got outside, the sky was blue and the sun was bright but not too hot. Today’s weather was really good, there was no need to do anything and just staring at the distance while feeling the wind blew could make one feel good. 

Lu Yingjiu held the little flower in his hand and the red petals trembled in the wind.

Before leaving, Chu Banyang looked at him without speaking.

Lu Yingjiu: “What do you want to say?”

Judging by his posture, he wanted to bring up the matter of that little ghost.

Sure enough, Chu Banyang said, “Is there nothing you want to ask me?” It was written all over his face, “Quickly ask me why I didn’t expose you!!”

“No thanks.” Lu Yingjiu then waved his hand, “Goodbye.”

Chu Banyang:”…..”

Although it was a “goodbye”, in fact, Lu Yingjiu saw Chu Banyang again that evening.

However, in the afternoon before that, Lu Yingjiu was tossing vases. In order to raise that…….. little flower from the underworld.

One was because this flower was a clue, and the other was that it was just really so beautiful. The petals were spread out layer by layer, and one could easily tell at a glance that it was carefully selected. Only this one but it was already more beautiful than a large bouquet of roses. It would be a pity if it withered so quickly.

The flower was put into a bottle, with a few dewdrops, it really looked so delicate and charming. It may have appeared to be the color of blood, but it was not terrifying. 

As soon as he stretched out his hand, he took away the little black beast that wanted to pick the petals. 

Little black beast: “Awu!”

It wrestled back and forth in Lu Yingjiu’s arms, jumped to the ground with its last struggle, and ran over to grab the cat food with the black and white cat. Perhaps because it was born in a trash bin, it had an unparalleled enthusiasm for food, and wanted to taste everything. The cow cat dared to be angry but did not speak, and only frantically swatted its head with its paws. With its set of obviously ineffective meow meow punches, the little black beast’s HP was 0.

After Lu Yingjiu finished tidying up, he went to bed and took a nap as usual and the flower on the windowsill, at the same time, became more and more vibrant in color.

He dreamed of the day of his dark wedding.

Different from the fake wedding he dreamed of last time, this time it was a real one—the master of ceremonies and the sorceress in the mansion were talking nonsense and kowtowing, as if they had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.

For many years, before the red candle in the dream, Lu Yingjiu listened to the sound of the majestic rain, and bowed down to the empty place yet again.

But now, it was different from what he remembered.

He was slightly taken aback—

A man dressed in a black top scholar uniform stood in front of him, and his face was unclear, as if covered by mists.

Lu Yingjiu looked up at him. For a moment, he felt the surrounding wind blowing, heard the thousands of fierce ghosts wailing, and felt the chill that pierced through his bones. He saw Yin soldiers coming in line, with flying banners, escorting countless living souls, surrounded by little ghosts, with sharp teeth.

Even the Hundred Ghost Night Parade back then was not as powerful as this one. It was as if the entire underworld had been miniaturized on the person in front of him and looking directly at the person was like staring into an abyss.

Lu Yingjiu’s first reaction was–that master was really unreliable.

Why is it a man on the other side?!

When he came back to his senses, his hand was already caught.

The man’s hands were cold, as he put a longevity lock into his palm.

Today’s Lu Yingjiu had already been expelling ghosts for many years. Feeling threatened by the other person, he instinctively threw out the longevity lock. As soon as his right hand turned over, he took out a piece of paper, bit his finger and wanted to draw a spell!

But before he could do it, his movement was stopped.

The man grabbed his wrist again. He exerted force, but he couldn’t break free. Blood trickled down from his fingertips and dripped onto the ground.

A few seconds of stalemate ensued.

Lu Yingjiu’s whole body was tense.

The man stroked his bleeding fingertip, and after a while, the bleeding stopped. Stained with his blood, he wrote two words on Lu Yingjiu’s blank spell paper.

“Jing Xian”

The font was in bold characters, and the endings and turns were like sharp knives, which was a bit chilling.

Lu Yingjiu hesitated and said, “Is this…your name?”

When the control of his body came back, he suddenly withdrew his hand and took half a step back.

The man didn’t say a word, looked at his hands, and then at the longevity lock on the ground, as if he was thinking about something seriously.

It seemed that the other party was irritated by his actions. However, Lu Yingjiu’s thoughts were surging, thinking about thousands of strategies.

After a few breaths, the man really moved. He slowly took out a…..diamond ring box! A velvet one even!

Lu Yingjiu was shocked.

When he opened it, he saw that it was really a huge diamond ring and it was shining brightly, and then the other person tried so hard to reach for his hand. This scene was even more outrageous than the little ghost giving him a flower from the underworld. 

Lu Yingjiu couldn’t hold back and exclaimed, “Fuck! Don’t change the nature of the wedding casually!”

“….” 

The dream seemed to be interrupted by something, and Lu Yingjiu suddenly woke up.

He sat up, a little dazed.

He felt like he had another strange dream. As before, he doesn’t remember anything. But he’s pretty sure…he really dreamed something weird this time.

His thoughts were not clear, but his head was full of confusion. He looked back and saw that the little flower from the underworld on the window sill was now only a solitary pole swaying in the air. Its flower had disappeared.

His eyes fell to the side. 

The little black beast: “Hoo!” It opened its mouth to breathe, and smiled at him, looking in a good mood, and a leftover petal was clearly seen in its mouth.

Lu Yingjiu supported his forehead, his eyes fell back to the bed. Suddenly, he found that there seemed to be a black thing protruding from under his pillow.

When he picked up the pillow, he froze—there was a black box underneath. He picked up the box, opened it, and saw that it was a huge diamond ring, the kind that sparkled enough to blind a dog’s eyes.

Lu Yingjiu: “…?”

He was very confused.

Bzzzttt…

Then his phone vibrated. He answered the phone and heard Ye Feng say, “I just finished a commission, let’s come out for dinner? Let’s celebrate you solving the Tang Baishan matter hahaha.”

Lu Yingjiu rubbed his browbones, temporarily suppressing the doubts in his heart. “Where do you want to go? The ramen shop you introduced last time had a turnover, will we be able to eat out?”

“Of course we can. How can a man say no. Let me tell you, a particular Japanese store was recently rated with a high score, and I even got to grab a 10% discount coupon. It’s not for nothing. Anyway, it’s not far from your home. Come quick, come quick.”

Ye Feng sent a location.

Lu Yingjiu checked it, and the subway Line 3 could send him there directly. He changed his clothes, thought about it, put the diamond ring box in his arms, went downstairs, and walked all the way to the subway station. It was off-duty time, and the subway station was crowded with people, and he finally arrived after taking two stops. When he stepped out of the subway, he suddenly felt like he’d stepped into another place.

The Japanese grocery store was called “Kumano Izakaya”, it was not big or small, and was nestled in the corner of the street. The interior was very delicately furnished, with warm lighting, wooden tables and chairs, and bottles of sake on the bar counter, which was reflected with clear light. A few people sat in front of the bar, drinking some wine, eating some sashimi, appearing very comfortable.

There were a lot of guests, but fortunately there was no need to wait. The two of them were at the booth in the corner. As soon as Lu Yingjiu opened the menu, Ye Feng patted him violently.

Lu Yingjiu raised his eyes, and happened to meet Chu Banyang’s gaze. Chu Banyang just walked in, followed by Xiao Li.

Chu Banyang was also startled. Lu Yingjiu simply smiled and said, “What a coincidence—waiter, please change us to a bigger table.”

The store was busy and there were no booths for four people.

Five minutes later, they sat at the bar.

The atmosphere was a bit subtle.

It was mainly because of Lu Yingjiu and Chu Banyang.

Again, Chu Banyang was born at the wrong time. Since joining the club, Lu Yingjiu had overwhelmed him every time, and he would always be only in second place. Eldest Young Master Chu was also pretentious. He thinks that he and Lu Yingjiu were Ji Shengyu, He Shengliang? It’s all simply a knot in his heart.

(t/n Ji Shengyu, He Shengliang-It is a metaphor for two people of similar ability or strength to compete with each other, and jealousy will arise . Contains the meaning of lamenting that the Creator is playing tricks on people.)

From outsiders’ point of view, the relationship between the two of them was extremely rigid, Lu Yingjiu didn’t bother to care about it, and it didn’t matter whether Chu Banyang hated him or not.

Lu Yingjiu added matcha powder into the cup, added boiling water, then the green immediately swirled inside the cup.

He said, “How do you have the time to come here?”

Xiao Li was just frightened by Lu Yingjiu this morning, and now talking to him, his voice became a little weak, “I saw that this restaurant had high ratings and delicious sashimi, therefore I recommended it to Master.”

Chu Banyang looked at the menu sullenly, without speaking.

He frowned slightly.

Lu Yingjiu thought he was in such a bad mood, but he heard Chu Banyang ask the waiter as he raised his head, “You don’t have any king crabs here?” 

“No.” The waiter replied.

Chu Banyang nodded, then pointed to the sashimi. “We’ll have one of each.”

Xiao Li hurriedly said, “Master, don’t order so many for me.”

“It’s okay, just try everything.” Chu Banyang glanced at Lu Yingjiu and Ye Feng, “I can finish it.”

In this way, it was obvious that it was a treat.

The Chu family’s technique of exorcising ghosts had been passed down from generation to generation. After being blessed by the Divine Peacock, they began to do business. They chose auspicious days, observed Feng Shui, and explored the undulating mountains—their journey was smooth sailing. Now, in this Lujiang City, everyone in the Chu Family Group was well known. Chu Banyang was the Young Master who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He was so wealthy that it was outrageous, and Young Master Chu seemed to have always acquiesced, that with him around, he would be responsible for paying the bill. Today was no exception.

After a while, all the dishes came up, and the table was full.

Ye Feng chatted with Xiao Li, talking about a recent corpse dismemberment case. The two were discussing where the head of the corpse went.

Ye Feng suddenly inserted a piece of tuna sashimi, held it up to Xiao Li, and said loudly, “The minced meat on her arm was this color at that time! This is the most beautiful meat I have ever seen!”

The customers nearby: “???”

Ye Feng ate the sashimi in one gulp, and said, “So, where do you think the head is…”

“I don’t know.” Xiao Li said, “It must have been chopped up too.”

The customer next to him suddenly raised his hand, “Waiter, we’ll pay the bill!!”

Ye Feng and Xiao Li were still chatting enthusiastically, and they didn’t notice anything unusual.

The conversation topics at a dinner table full of exorcists were always wild.

Since Lu Yingjiu had been used to drinking wine, he opened a can of beer and drank it.

Chu Banyang also asked for a can, and finally asked, “What happened to that little kid today?”

“I don’t know.” Lu Yingjiu said, “There is nothing wrong with the flower it gave me. I also checked the entire 19th floor and found that the enchantment was not broken. The only possibility I can think of is that a priest might have done it. “

But priests generally do not interfere with the world of the living.

Next, the Green Lantern Association would continue to investigate, however, it had nothing to do with Lu Yingjiu anymore.

Lu Yingjiu took a sip of beer.

Chu Banyang also took a sip.

He ate some sushi and took another sip, then Chu Banyang also did the same.

After several times like this—

Lu Yingjiu:”..?”

He glanced sideways at Chu Banyang, who stared straight ahead with no expression on his face.

The two of them drank like this. Finally, Chu Banyang finished the beer one step ahead of Lu Yingjiu.

The moment he put down the empty can, his tight expression loosened, obviously in a state of physical and mental pleasure.

Lu Yingjiu thought: It’s over. This kid has been driven crazy by him, must have been because he really wants to be first place. 

Fortunately, what he ordered was not soup, otherwise, Master Chu would drink it with a stiff neck, and his mouth would be full of blisters. He might also be proud after scalding, and thought that he had more blisters than others.

He took another sip of beer, and said tactfully, “Are you… a little perfectionist?” 

Chu Banyang: “No.”

Lu Yingjiu saw that his face was flushed, and asked, “Are you a lightweight?” 

Chu Banyang: “No, I can drink very well, and I always rank first.” 

Lu Yinhjiu: “…..”

He held his forehead. Chu Banyang was really hopeless.

Chu Banyang felt hot afterwards that he rolled up his shirt sleeves, and exposed several scars on his arms—the two of them were the same in this regard, experienced exorcists always have special medals on their body.

He was already drunk with just a small can of beer.

His drinking capacity was really bad.

Lu Yingjiu touched the thing inside his pocket, and then thought of actually bringing out the diamond ring to show Ye Feng, and wanted to ask him if he could see anything…But now that Chu Banyang happened to be here, it seemed better to ask him about it.

He put the diamond ring box on the table, opened it, and asked, “You…”

Unexpectedly, Chu Banyang’s eyes fell directly on it.

It seems that he has already seen the problem.

Lu Yingjiu stopped talking, looked at Chu Banyang staring at the diamond ring. His face and ears…he didn’t know if it was because of the beer, but they became more and more red, almost as if they were dripping blood.

Then he looked up at Lu Yingjiu, with drunkenness in his eyes, he hesitated to speak. “I…”

Lu Yingjiu: “Hm, tell me.”

“You……” 

“Say it.” 

Chu Banyang’s eyes wandered for a long time, until Ye Feng, who had almost finished eating a large plate of sashimi, fell his eyes back and landed on the diamond ring.

“This, this is not good. Although you had already resigned, but this, this is also considered an office romance……..If it is exposed, he is the heir of the Chu family, and there will certainly be gossip exploding. Although I can spend money to remove it from the hot search, I can also buy a water army……Which one do you think is better? How about foreign powder fans? The Chu family has their own powder fan base abroad, therefore you can rest assured that they can produce their own fan base.”

Lu Yingjiu: “…….”

Although he didn’t understand at once, Chu Banyang appeared to have heard something very terrible.

The people here are really drunk.

Bzzztt..

Suddenly, Chu Banyang’s cell phone vibrated violently on the table.

He muttered, “Foreign is better.” Then he answered the phone, “Hello, what is it?”