CH 14

There were not many dishes to choose from in the coffee shop, they were all spaghetti, steak and so on, and the products were relatively average. The medium rare steak was almost fully cooked, and the price could only be said to be worthy of the bustling road where the place was located. 

Chen Xiaoling took a few photos in a row and sent them to Moments, with the caption [This shop is average, but luckily there is a handsome guy who came to chat with me~(heart)(heart)]

After a while, she added another comment. [Don’t get me wrong, we are just friends (heart)]

Lu Yingjiu, who was cutting his steak, inexplicably felt that the atmosphere on the table was a bit weird. He glanced at Chen Xiaoling, then at Jing Xian, both of which only seemed to be concentrating on eating, and nothing more.

Was it an illusion?

Lu Yingjiu then took a sip of water, but before he could put down the glass in his hand, he noticed the two staring at it.

Lu Yingjiu:?

He suddenly felt that the thing in his hand was a ticking time bomb, he didn’t know if he should continue drinking or to just put it down.

He hesitated for half a second, and just as he decided to put it down, he saw the hands of the two people stretch out at the same time!

Jing Xian was obviously faster than Chen Xiaoling, and snatched the glass away, “I’ll fill it again for you.”

Lu Yingjiu:???

Full of doubts, he merely watched Jing Xian get up, fill up the glass with lemonade like a newly victorious lion patrolling the territory, then place it in front of him with a captivating smile.

Lu Yingjiu: “Thank you?”

Jing Xian: “You’re welcome.”

Lu Yingjiu continued to bury his head in cutting the steak, thinking that the atmosphere was really not right. 

Is it because these two people don’t know each other, that’s why they felt uncomfortable? But it doesn’t seem to be the case…

He was not really good at handling this kind of situation, and only knew the basic principle of “if you can’t speak, then don’t speak at all”, thus he kept silent, and unexpectedly got his glass refilled twice by Jing Xian during his silence. Chen Xiaoling had a false smile on her face, and her eyelashes that stood upright after wiping a mascara trembled uncontrollably.

Their meal ended in such a weird atmosphere.

Chen Xiaoling still had something to do in the afternoon, hence she was in a hurry to leave.

Standing at the door of the coffee shop, she took a deep breath and said, “Xiao Lu, come out to see this sister for dinner next time when you have time. Let’s have a chat alone.” 

After that, she winked at Lu Yingjiu and blew kisses at him, which made Jing Xian glare at her, then she stepped on her high heels and stomped away.

As soon as Chen Xiaoling left, the atmosphere suddenly became normal.

Using the phone number given by Chen Xiaoling, Lu Yingjiu tried to call Jin Xiaoyang’s cell phone, but his phone was off.

He said, “Let’s go to Jin Xiaoyang’s home first, at least to ensure his safety.”

“En.” Jing Xian responded.

The two got into the car and drove towards the National Treasure Garden. Jing Xian still drove fiercely like before, and the second-hand Honda shuttled between traffic and overtook all the way without delay. Lu Yingjiu got used to it a little this time, he merely lowered his seat and began to catch up on his sleep.

After he closed his eyes and slept for more than ten minutes, the car came to a complete stop.

Outside was the National Treasure Garden, which was an old community, the outer walls of the buildings were visibly dilapidated.

Taking the old elevator up, they reached the 12th floor with 5 rooms.

Jin Xiaoyang lived in 12B, and the door he mentioned was 12A, which was the residence of the old lady.

Jing Xian stood in front of Jin Xiaoyang’s house and rang the doorbell several times, but no one came to answer the door. The waiters in the bar all have shifting schedules day and night, and they didn’t know whether Jin Xioayang was catching up on sleep or was simply not at home.

Lu Yingjiu stood in front of door 12A. He heard a slight sound from behind it, as if someone was walking, he stretched out his hand and pushed it gently——

Then the door opened slowly. It turned out that it wasn’t even closed.

Behind the door, standing in the middle of the living room was a man in his forties or fifties, with a round figure and face, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Everything in the house was messed up, all the drawers were pulled open, the sofa cushions were thrown on the floor, the dishes were broken by the table, the carpet was curled up in the corner, the wardrobe was open, and thin flowered shirts were visible inside…..It was like a burglary scene, done by a vicious gangster.

The “gangster” was taken aback when he saw Lu Yingjiu, and his tone sounded astonished, “You?”

Lu Yingjiu also felt that this face looked familiar. After thinking about it for a while, he remembered that the person in front of him was Chen Qi, the younger brother of Chen Zheng, the president of the Green Lantern Association, and he had met him two or three times before.

Chen Qi was really not a member of the association, and he had only been taking care of the Chen family. In Lu Yingjiu’s impression, he was not as shrewd and capable as Chen Zheng, but rather sincere and kind. He would greet everyone with a smile, and spoke with a unique middle-aged official accent.

He did not expect to meet him here.

Lu Yingjiu asked, “Are you here to exorcise ghosts?”

“Yes,” Chen Qi wiped the sweat on his face with the back of his hand, “It took us a long time to catch it.”

He was holding a large handful of talisman papers in his hand, and his back was covered with sweat. He must have finished catching the ghost not too long ago.

Chen Qi added, “You also came here for the ghosts? It’s a pity that you came a step late, as I already chased it away first hahaha.” He laughed a few times, and poked his head into the corridor again, “You came with your friend?”

“En.” Seeing that Jing Xian still kept knocking on the opposite door, Lu Yingjiu shouted, “Jing Xian, come here first.”

Jing Xian entered the room, and he introduced the two to each other briefly.

Another ghost exorcist poked out from the inner room, and was a little confused seeing them.

Chen Qi said, “It’s okay, I just ran into a friend.” He pointed to Lu Yingjiu, and praised, “Do you know this one? He’s the famous exorcist Lu Yingjiu, the only one who was appointed chief of the Green Lantern Association at the age of 19. Each of you should be half as powerful as him, are you not afraid of others gossiping outside, saying that our Chen family is declining day by day?”

The ghost exorcist nodded slowly towards Lu Yingjiu, and not knowing what to say, his eyes merely wandered around. Chen Qi waved again, “Okay, go get busy and paste those two sets of spells, I’ll chat with my friend here.”

The ghost exorcist went back to the inner room, busily stuck the talisman papers, and prepared to purify the yin energy.

Chen Qi wiped his sweat again and sat down by the window, “Let me tell you, I have never seen such an old lady who could run like a rabbit, it was as difficult as chasing a dog after letting it out. I originally brought three people with me, one guarding downstairs, while the two were following it. The result was alright. The two boys followed the old lady in the stairwell up to the 29th floor. They run around, maybe up and down, go back and forth three times, and now they are all lying on their stomachs in the car. Say, why are young men nowadays have such poor physical strength?”

Lu Yingjiu smiled and said, “Then it’s you who have good physical strength.”

“No, no,” Chen Qi waved his hands again and again, and smiled awkwardly, the flesh on his cheek squeezed his eyes into slits, “I stopped after running for two floors, and let them chase after it. I haven’t made a commission for several years, and today I just thought of going out for a walk, who knew I would encounter such a troublesome thing. Ah yes—do you know what is going on with the person at the opposite door? I heard that he is still posting on the forum.”

“We can’t get in touch with him.” Lu Yingjiu replied simply.

“This is troublesome, same with us too.” Chen Qi frowned, “If he was frightened just now, it would be easy to attract ghosts when he goes out. He seems to work in some bar. I’ll send someone to find him later and stuff him with some brocade bags to ward off evil spirits.”

It seemed that this commission had ended before it even started.

After all, it was done by one of the aristocratic families, and if someone from the Chen family came, and a veteran like Chen Qi, exorcising ghosts would definitely be no problem.

For the next 5 minutes, Chen Qi carefully pasted the talisman papers in his hand on the four corners of all the windows, wrapped the doorknobs, table corners, and the sofa legs —he was obviously clumsy when he squatted down, as his legs went numb, and because he was already old, he couldn’t stand up for a long time, therefore Jing Xian went over and pulled him up.

Jing Xian had great strength, Chen Qi, who weighed almost 90 kilograms, was easily lifted up by him.

Chen Qi also praised, “Young man, you don’t train less on ordinary days. right? Which family’s ghost exorcist are you?” 

Jing Xian smiled, “I’m from Lu Yingjiu’s family.”

Chen Qi was stunned for half a second, “Oh, it’s Xiao Lu’s office, right? That’s good. Sure enough, outstanding young people will attract each other. I’m ashamed of myself as a predecessor.” He wiped his sweat with the back of his hand again, looked around the room and the talismans that were almost done pasting, “It’s rare for us to see each other, would you like to……find a place nearby for tea?”

Lu Yingjiu wanted to refuse.

If it was not necessary, he didn’t really like to deal with unfamiliar people, not to mention that the other party was about 24 years older than him. There would be no common topics when drinking tea, and would eventually develop into awkward chats and awkward laughs.

But Chen Qi was an old fritter after all, he seemed to have sensed his intention to refuse, thus he moved closer and whispered to him, “Since we just met, I have something to tell you.”

Lu Yingjiu raised an eyebrow.

Chen Qi continued to whisper, “My brother…President Chen, didn’t he say he was investigating you?”

Investigating.

Of course Lu Yingjiu remembered this word.

When Chen Zheng wanted him to step down as chief and be transferred to another branch, he used the excuse of “investigating disciplinary violations”. As the person being investigated, he had never been aware of the specific situation, nor did he know where the current investigation procedure had gone.

Lu Yingjiu joined the Green Lantern Association at the age of 16, became the chief at the age of 19, then resigned at the age of 26. He had been exorcising ghosts for 10 years already. After so long, even a saint couldn’t say that he hadn’t made any mistakes. Chen Zheng single-handedly promoted him, and trying to find out the mistake from the past files, was not too simple.

Chen Qi asked, “What did my brother tell you, do you know exactly which commission you were investigated for?”

“I don’t know.” Lu Yingjiu shook his head, “I have no right to know.”

Chen Qi glanced into the inner room, making sure that the ghost exorcist couldn’t hear him, and then whispered, “I only heard a little bit of a secret, Xiao lu, it seems that you really got yourself a big deal this time. I have always appreciated you, therefore I want to do you a little favor. Look, how about we go and have some tea?”

Putting this on someone else, he would be extremely grateful, wishing to make a pot of good tea for Chen Qi now, and chat for a long time.

However, Lu Yingjiu merely said, “There’s no need.”

Chen Qi was taken aback.

Lu Yingjiu smiled, “I have a clear conscience, it has been for the past ten years, and it will be the same for the future.”

“……”

Chen Qi became speechless for a moment.

Lu Yingjiu’s eyes that were as bright as a knife’s light made the thousands of words stuck in his throat.

In just this second, he realized that this was an unshakable magnanimity even if the world was turned upside down.

Lu Yingjiu: “We won’t bother you any more.” He saluted, “Jing Xian, let’s go first.”

Jing Xian responded then followed his leaving footsteps.

They still took the old elevator downstairs, and when they got down, the sun was still shining brightly.

Because the light was a little dazzling, Lu Yingjiu subconsciously narrowed his eyes.

There was another “ding” from the elevator behind him, and it turned out that Chen Qi hurried to catch up with them.

He gasped and said, “Well, I thought about it, even if it’s not convenient to drink tea, I still have something for you.” He pressed the car key, and not far away, an empty black Bentley gradually opened its trunk.

Chen Qi went over and took out a heavy book from inside. The book was brand new, the packaging film was still there, and its whole body was pitch black with no title.

Chen Qi: “This is an illustrated book of ghosts that the Chen family has just revised. It hasn’t been officially printed yet. I only have one or two copies on hand. You can take it and have a look. The category entries have increased by 79, and there are many pictures, which were all selected by me.”

“……thank you. “Lu Yingjiu didn’t refuse this time, and took the brick-like book.

Jing Xian who was beside him suddenly put his arms around his shoulders and took him into his arms. This action was a bit abrupt and too intimate, just as Lu Yingjiu was about to speak——

Boom!!! 

The three turned their heads.

Thirty meters away, a roof of a gray Jetta car was smashed flat, countless fragments of glass flew out, which reflected a sharp light coming from the sun, then rained on the sides of Jing Xian and Chen Qi’s bodies, and pricked several blood marks on their hands. Because Lu Yingjiu was protected by Jing Xian, he was fine, but he had no time to pay attention to this detail.

On that Jetta roof, was a corpse.

Bright red blood flowed out in large swaths, gathered in the depression of the roof, and flowed down from the corpse’s fingertips to the ground like water.

I should know this person.

Lu Yingjiu thought.

It took two seconds for the memory to become clear: this is Jin Xiaoyang.

Today, Chen Xiaoling showed them his photo.

They all looked up instinctively, and saw that the windows on the 12th floor were wide open, and the beige lattice curtains were blown by the wind and fluttered outside the building.

The sound of the police sirens pierced the sky, and their warning lights kept flashing.

Lu Yingjiu was standing by the side of the road, his eyes were lowered, and no emotion could be seen on his face. After nightfall, the wind picked up a bit, raising his black hair and his thin white shirt.

He subconsciously rubbed the longevity lock on his neck.

He, Jing Xian, Chen Qi, and the exorcist in the room were all questioned.

Afterwards, the ghost exorcists of the Chen family also searched Jin Xiaoyang’s room, but found nothing unusual, and classified it as a simple suicide.

There were no traces of ghosts, therefore the members of the Chen family didn’t intend to continue the investigation.

It was the evening rush hour, and the vehicles gathered on the road to form a sea of lights, the sound of horns kept coming and going, and all the roads on the navigation map were red. Many onlookers tried their best to look around, wanting to see what happened. 

Jing Xian was standing beside and said,”It’s getting late, let’s go eat.”

Lu Yingjiu said, “When you knocked on the door, was there really no movement in the room?”

“En,” Jing Xian replied, “I’m sure.”

“At that time, Jin Xiaoyang was at home.” Lu Yingjiu murmured, “But why? Was it because he bumped into a ghost and got overly frightened…”

Perhaps only Jin Xiaoyang himself could answer this question. Lu Yingjiu turned silent for two or three seconds, then suddenly asked, “At that time, why did you take me into your arms?”

The strength that Jing Xian showed before did not match this kind of reaction at all.

Jing Xian said, “My intuition for danger is very accurate, it can be regarded as natural.”

A very standard explanation, that anyone wouldn’t find any fault with it.

Lu Yingjiu tilted his head.

Jing Xian was half a head taller than him, he raised his gaze slightly, and met Jing Xian’s eyes. Jing Xian’s eyebrows were deep and handsome. At this time, street lamps and car lights danced on his face, carving out sharp and angular lines. If one took a photo casually, one could use it as a poster for any literary movie.

The lights were dim and gentle, and at the same time it concealed the aggressiveness of his appearance…..Or, in other words, his expression in front of Lu Yingjiu was always extraordinarily relaxed, even soft, as if he was carefully hiding his claws and fangs.

Their eye contact lasted only half a second, the expressions on both sides were watertight, then Lu Yingjiu smiled lightly and quickly said, “Oh, so that’s how it is, that’s good. Thank you.”

Jing Xian asked, “Would you like to visit the Lane East Bar again?”

“I just have this intention.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Let’s go and let me drive. Are your hands okay now?”

The shards of glass scratched Jing Xian and Chen Qi, but the wounds were not deep, Jing Xian simply wrapped some gauze around his forearm.

“It’s fine.” Jing Xian said, “I like driving.”

Lu Yingjiu: “…I can see it.”

Thus their Honda SUV went on the road again. The traffic was so congested that even Jing Xian couldn’t overtake this time, so they had to wait for the traffic lights in a respectful manner. Just like this while driving then stopping, it took 40 minutes for that 15-minute drive, and they finally returned to the entrance of the Lane East Bar.

When they went there in the morning, they saw a piano and a guitar on a podium in the middle of the bar, and thought it was a literary and artistic establishment. Unexpectedly, the whole style changed at night and deafening music came from inside. The place also seemed to be difficult to get in.

Two burly men in black clothes stood at the entrance of the bar, with their arms crossed, stopping them, “What are you here for? Are you a member?!” 

Lu Yingjiu:”…..”

This was a gay place, right? He and Jing Xian just came here together, so how could he not know what the best excuse was? He was not the kind of person who couldn’t lie at all. In all honesty, he had cheated many people, including but not limited to poor Xiao Li.

It’s just that at this moment, the former chief of the Green Lantern Association, who had seen all kinds of wind and waves, and had already experienced a lot, was in a very rare….. moment of embarrassment.

He really had never encountered a scene where he needed to pretend to be gay.

Especially near the door, where there were two men groping each other lingeringly, with their clothes open, wishing to have a sexual encounter on the spot.

Even so, two seconds later, under the increasingly skeptical gaze of the two big men, Lu Yingjiu packed up all his emotions. He knew that he looked too obedient and didn’t fit in here, therefore he bent his peachy eyes and said, “Came here…”

Came here just to drink and have fun.

But before he could even finish speaking, he was pulled into the arms of Jing Xian.

Jing Xian had a handsome face that both men and gods felt indignant with, and his tone was extremely arrogant, “Nonsense, of course came here to have fun with my wife, get out of the way.” After saying that, he rubbed Lu Yingjiu’s head, looking like a cynical second-generation ancestor, raised his eyebrows and then said, “Isn’t my wife beautiful? Are you envious?”

Two big men:”……..”

Lu Yingjiu:”……….”

The two big men took two steps back, fearing that one of them would be done by Jing Xian first in the next second. Lu Yingjiu, as the “target”, was then dragged in by Jing Xian with a blank face.