CH 13

The two returned to the car, then Jing Xian leisurely said, “I’m not interested in scenic spots, why don’t we find a place nearby to rest.”

“Okay, you decide. I also have to make a call.” Lu Yingjiu leaned back in the chair comfortably and took out his mobile phone.

Instead of opening the contacts, he entered a string of numbers from memory.

Beep—beep

Beep—beep

It rang for a long time before a clear female voice answered, “Hello?”

“It’s me.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Look up a name for me, in Lane East Bar, a waiter named ‘Xiaoyang’.”

“Alas Xiao Lu, you really don’t go to Three Treasures Hall for nothing. Every time you come to me when you only have something, makes me very sad~.”

Lu Yingjiu didn’t know if it’s only his misconception, but Jing Xian leaned over to his side, as if he’s interested in the female voice.

Lu Yingjiu replied, “Didn’t I treat you to dinner last time, do you want to go out again today?”

“Where are you?” 

“Baifeng District, with a friend.”

“Okay, send me the address later, I’ll see you soon.” The female voice laughed, like ringing silver bells, “I will send the ‘pigeon’ out to check that bar and ‘Xiaoyang’ right now.”

Lu Yingjiu then hung up the phone.

Jing Xian asked, “Your friend?”

“Yes.” Lu Yingjiu didn’t explain much, and looked up at the navigation, their destination was “Shen Yuan Coffee Shop”.

****

Lu Yingjiu held up a cup of matcha latte by his hand, and read a book quietly. When he lowered his eyes, his slender eyelashes casted a small shadow.

They had been sitting here for more than 20 minutes. The coffee shop was crowded with people, even on non-working days. Office workers and students were crowded together, yet even with this many people, Lu Yingjiu was still noticeable at a glance.

Just like a boy every girl liked in school, his features were young, sincere and beautiful, and his freshly washed collared shirt smelled of sunshine, as he shone brightly amongst the crowd.

But when his face was expressionless, this alienation was all the more obvious.

This actually conflicted with his gentle and handsome appearance.

A person’s temperament was determined by many factors. Congenital personality, lonely childhood, and the subsequent high position together constitute the part of “alienation”. Many people had a very good first impression of Lu Yingjiu, but later soon realized that he was difficult to get close to.

A few little girls passed by, chattering, and looked at him a few more times. After clearly seeing the “Illustrated Book of Corpse Changes” in his hand, they shrank their heads and retreated back.

Their eyes fell on Jing Xian instead. Jing Xian was wearing a black T-shirt today, and looked very handsome. When he noticed them, he raised his eyebrows and smiled—while also holding the “Illustrated Book of Corpse Changes” in his hand.

Girls:”……..”

Click clack click clack

The sound of high heels came from far to near.

A woman wearing suspenders and wide-leg trousers, with red lips like fire, walked over coquettishly, drawing the eyes of countless people along the way. She had just had her hair styled and burgundy nail polished. It was exquisite enough to be outrageous.

At first glance, she looked like a little rich woman.

She walked all the way to their table like this, looked at Jing Xian intently, but put her hand on Lu Yingjiu’s shoulder.

“Xiao Lu, this sister hasn’t seen you for a few days, how did you get such a handsome friend?”

Lu Yingjiu didn’t even raise his eyebrows, and said, “Let me introduce you, this is Jing Xian, I’ve known him since childhood. Jing Xian, this is Chen Xiaoling.”

Chen Xiaoling sat down beside Lu Yingjiu, and said with a smile, “Call me Sister Chen, Linda or Xiaoling is fine.”

He didn’t look surprised at all. He was about to grab Lu Yingjiu’s cup of matcha latte–Lu Yingjiu remained silent–yet she quickly moved the cup away, and blocked it with her left hand.

Chen Xiaoling did not drink it, she merely curled her lips, and met Jing Xian’s eyes as soon as she raised her head.

Jing Xian’s eyes were very black, like a night that couldn’t be dyed by any color. He looked like he hadn’t noticed her little action just now, and only said with a smile, “Nice to meet you.”

Chen Xiaoling suddenly felt cold all over her body.

Maybe a woman was really born with a certain intuition, because she felt that Jing Xian was not happy at all.

But this cold feeling disappeared quickly. She tossed her hair to hide her discomfort, “Me too—”

Afterwards, they ordered three western dishes.

Chen Xiaoling said, “I only found a little bit of what you asked me to check. It’s still the Ghost Festival, and the ‘pigeons’ are busy.” She then took out her mobile phone and found a photo, “Jin Xiaoyang, 27 years old, unmarried, has worked in Lane East Bar for 7 years, and lives at 5-12B, Guobao Garden, Enterprise Road. Lane East Bar was originally called Dongcheng Music Bar and changed its name 6 years ago. It is a very famous gay bar,” She glanced at Lu Yingjiu and teased, “Aren’t you interested in this part?”

Lu Yingjiu ignored her teasing, “Be serious.”

Chen Xiaoling snorted. “So cold…..There is an interesting rumor about why the Lane East Bar changed its name.” She glanced at Jing Xian then tugged at the corner of Lu Yingjiu’s clothes.

Normally, she would just directly ask the other party to avoid him, but she felt inexplicably frightened towards Jing Xian.

Lu Yingjiu: “Jing Xian, why don’t you rush our order.”

“….Okay. “Jing Xian got up.

After he walked away, Chen Xiaoling said, “Xiao Lu, do you know what happened to the Chen family six years ago?”

Lu Yingjiu thought for a moment, “You mean the extermination case?”

“Yes. Five members of the Chen family died in that incident. The family head, Chen Minlan, and his son’s family. It was said that they were murdered by a fierce ghost.”

The four most famous and oldest exorcist aristocratic families were “Chu”, “Ye”, “Chen”, and “Zhang”.

The four major families firmly occupied the upper echelons of the ghost exorcism world, each with its own strengths, supporting each other and restraining each other, like four giant mountains that couldn’t be overthrown, that everyone stared intently.

Therefore, no matter how tightly the case of exterminating the family was covered up at that time, rumors still leaked out and it was even too weird. No matter how one said it, those five people were also at the top of the pyramid, and it was hard to imagine that they would simply die like this.

There were many, many related rumors, such as the Chen family was not benevolent and was unrighteous, and that it was fate..…….In short, there was no conclusion.

Lu Yingjiu was not from an aristocratic family, thus he didn’t get involved in this matter, so naturally he didn’t understand it.

Lu Yingjiu said, “Why did you bring this up all of a sudden?”

“Because” Chen Xiaoling grabbed his hand, raised her head slightly, and leaned close to his ear—from outsiders, it looked like a young couple flirting, “Because, the murder scene at that time was a private room of the Lane East Bar.”

Lu Yingjiu was stunned.

Chen Xiaoling smiled again, “Anyway, I’m telling you that such a thing happened, yet there is no evidence, it is up to you to believe it or not. If you want to tell that Jing Xian, I don’t really care.”

Then sounds of footsteps came.

Jing Xian came back and sat down. “They went to the kitchen to rush our order.” He stared intently at Chen Xiaoling who was leaning on Lu Yingjiu.

Chen Xiaoling held Lu Yingjiu’s arm, feeling confident, and bent her eyes and smiled.  However, as she went to grab the matcha latte, she was stopped by Lu Yingjiu.

She complained, “Every time you go out, you go with half of your drink left, what a waste.”

“You need not to bother about it.” Lu Yingjiu said.

Chen Xiaoling curled her lips and stood up, “I’m going to read a book.”

Afterwards, she walked away in a flirtatious way.

Lu Yingjiu lowered his eyes, and was about to continue reading “The Illustrated Book of Corpse Changes”, when he suddenly heard Jing Xian say, “You’re done with your latte?”

“Done, if I drink more, I’ll get full.” Lu Yingjiu shook his head.

“Can I take a sip?”

Unlike Chen Xiaoling, drinking a bottle of wine or smoking a cigarette between boys was much more normal. Lu Yingjiu handed over the latte to him then said, “Just take it, to be honest…the taste is average.”

For the next minute or two, Jing Xian kept holding the cup of latte.

He then unexpectedly stood up. “I’m going to find a book too.”

“En.” Lu Ying didn’t even lift his head from reading, and concentrated on studying the bones of the corpse.

Among the bookshelves, Chen Xiaoling was browsing history books.

Long fingers skimmed across the spine of books, and she quickly picked out a large volume of a book. Just as she pulled it out, her breathing immediately paused.

Opposite the bookshelf, Jing Xian was looking at her.

He had handsome eyebrows and eyes, but his aggressiveness was extremely strong. He would be well suited to be on the Dark Dao and be served by those outlaws. This really frightened Chen Xiaoling enough that her scalp went slightly numb, pondering why did this person come here?

Jing Xian smiled at her.

Even this smile was like a smiling beast.

He raised his hand, took a sip…of the matcha latte, and deliberately pointed the cup towards Chen Xiaoling, so that she could clearly see that it was of Lu Yingjiu.

Chen Xiaoling:”……..”

Then, Jing Xian walked away seemingly in a good mood while taking a sip.

Chen Xiaoling:”…….”

She murmured, “This kid surnamed Lu, he said that he is not interested in gay bars…..Where did he find such person…”