Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Zhongshan Country [7]

Qi ZhiRong did not come out of the hotel room that day. Zhang Yushui who got a sum of money invited them to play nearby. Qi Xi smiled broadly while saying he would not go but to accompany his Xiao Rongrong. “You don’t know, my Xiao Rongrong is actually a fluffy enthusiast.” In a good mood he transformed into a cub and once again went to take advantage of it.

There were people specialized to keep guard Qi ZhiRong in good stead. Zhang Qiu wanted to ask Li Shu if he wanted to go, but he didn’t see that person in in sight.

“That’s really strange.”

In the end, he could only take Xiao Jiang to go and Pei Qing brought Ling Dang. Today, Ling Dang’s clothing was furry; white fur jacket with two pink rabbit ears drooping from his hat that his face hidden in it was only palm-sized. At this moment, he was pulling on Pei Qing’s clothes, looking like a young and tender boy easy to kidnap.

Zhang Qiu had become accustomed to the two people “your command is my wish”. They were now staying in a small county town, which was close to Inner Mongolia, and the smell of livelihood was very close to that area, where there were also Shanbei[1] customs. The blending of the two sides had a different kind of style, especially the food, like sitting in two cities.

[1 Shanbei, northern Shaanxi province, including Yulin 榆林 and Yan’an 延安, a Holy Land of Mao’s revolution]

The economy here was backward and there were no tourists, but not at this time. When they just arrived at a restaurant, the people inside looked over.

“Not open?” Zhang YuShui asked lightly.

The owner of the restaurant was a stocky man with plateau red[2]. He hurried out to greet them. After they ordered the meal, the owner went to prepare it. The people who were eating there had taken back their gazes, but a few still looked at them with special curiosity.

[2 a patchy or clumpy red plaque that appears on the face (cheeks) due to the climatic environment causing the skin to be too thin]

Zhang Qiu felt freaked out being looked at but Er-ge and the others were accustomed to it and did not care about those eyes. Zhang Qiu could not bear it and looked back at those people. He did not expect the other people to smile at them with no malice.

After that, someone couldn’t help asking, “Did you guys bump into a ghost yesterday?”

“I saw them coming from the other side of West Street. They should be from Old Li’s hotel.” Another person said, not waiting for Zhang Qiu and company to reply.

The first one said, “You guys are really unlucky. It hasn’t happened in five years. How without rhymes or reason you guys bumped upon it? But you guys had long life. I heard that people came back early in the morning, unlike five years ago, sigh…”

Five years?

All the way, every mentioned subject was about the abnormal weather four years ago. Zhang Qiu only thought about it and Zhang YuShui read him and said, “Yulin is far away from here. It’s normal to be affected a bit at night.”

That was actually true. Zhang Qiu nodded and asked the man who had just spoken, “What happened five years ago? We’re all out of town. We didn’t believe that before, but last night while sleeping, there was a woman whispering in your ear——”

Zhang Qiu noticed that when his words reached this point, all the chatting men in the restaurant showed dread and light excitement expressions.

“Don’t mention it. LaoZi still remembers that if the women weren’t ghosts, I would really like to marry one as a wife. They are beautiful. I’ve never seen such beautiful women before.” There was a lot of mischievous laughter.

The next one said, “Saying this is the same as not wanting to live, but they’re really beautiful.”

After that, the more the talk was going on they more outrageous it became. Five years ago, when those female ghosts seduced people, the man who spoke was accidentally interrupted while being seduced. He only remembered those beautiful female ghosts and the enchanting deceptive trick.

Zhang Qiu had heard from the bodyguards who came back from the graveyard that at first they were pretty women, but in the end they were bloody, skinless female ghosts. The bodyguards almost died of nausea.

“Five years ago, the government didn’t care about such a big thing? I didn’t see the news either.” Zhang Qiu deliberately said.

Sure enough, the men looked at him with an expression of “you are silly,” and said, “Now they all say that they believe in science and oppose superstition. Who will report it? Five years ago, many eighteen, nineteen unthinking youngsters in the villages around the county town met with mishap in Moon Bay one after another, and then it spread to the city. All of them were men. The strong ones could still come back alive, but in a few days their bodies were found in Moon Bay. Alas, at that time, the whole county town bound their boys of seventeen, eighteen and not allowed them to go out at night…”

“Moon Bay?” Zhang Qiu saw these people mention the Moon Bay with fear in their eyes, and changed his words: “We got off from the highway and saw the sky from a distant was seriously gloomy but it was not raining. Really odd.”

The owner of the restaurant brought up the meal and said seriously, “That is Moon Bay. You guys from other place listen to this advice; don’t go there foolishly. It’s a very evil place.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Was it not where the old ancestors fought a war and died there before——”

“Don’t say that. Eat up, eat up.”

The crowd went back to their table to eat, drink and brag.

Zhang Qiu and company looked at each other and knew that Moon Bay was probably the place Qi ZhiRong was looking for. They just didn’t know what Qi ZhiRong was waiting for, not making a move.

After dinner, Pei Qing drove to the nearby suburbs for a spin. The outskirts field girded with hills and the grass was yellow. If the weather was not bad and cold, the present scenery was really bleak and magnificent, but they were not in the mood to enjoy it now.

Back to the hotel, they happened to meet Li Shu, who came back with a small black bag in his hand. It did not seem like the bag needed to go down the pit. It was too small.

“My Er-ge invited for an outing today and I wanted to ask you to come with me, but I didn’t expect you were not here.” Zhang Qiu’s tone carried familiarity. He looked down at Li Shu’s hand and asked directly, “What did you buy?”

Li Shu paused and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Zhang Qiu was disappointed. Li Shu, who was about to leave suddenly said, “Knowing too much is not good for you.”

“I’m just curious.” Zhang Qiu was happy in an instant. Li Shu was worried about him.

Dinner was settled in the hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant’s new launch roast leg of lamb was a good bargain. Er-ge got one. Zhang Qiu, being in this group of wailing like wolves, fought to grab a saucer. The outer of the roasted meat smelled appetizing and the inside was tender. The chili pepper here naturally was more fragrant than others, and the aroma making the people salivating.

Qi Xi was still chewing but he still was concerned about Zhang Qiu’s hand. When he saw Zhang Qiu packing it upstairs, he said with a broad smile, “Xiao Qiuqiu, are you sending meat to your lover?”

What sending meat! Zhang Qiu’s ears were red, did not realize he was going to send himself too.

Zhang Qiu ignored it and went upstairs. He heard Qi Xi say in a loud voice behind his back, “Xiao Qiuqiu is going to deliver meat! When you come back, there won’t be any, oh!”

Yo yo yo! Zhang Qiu beat himself until he couldn’t hear what Qi Xi said behind him. The restaurant stairs led to the guest rooms. Li Shu lived on the second floor. Zhang Qiu did not want to take the long route and took the elevator to go up. He just turned around and walked two steps before he suddenly heard the sound of chairs falling down in a room.

The hotel rooms were carpeted, but the sound was very loud.

Zhang Qiu looked at Qi ZhiRong’s room. There was a rush of breathing. Qi Xi, who was still laughing downstairs rushed up with a white face the next second, and kicked at Qi ZhiRong’s door.

Bang!

The door opened and Qi Xi had already entered. Zhang Qiu quickly followed. What strikes his eye was Qi ZhiRong, who fell on the ground with one hand firmly holding his chest with white face. The chair in the room fell to the ground. It should have been Qi ZhiRong was in pain.

Qi Xi held the person up, his face was as white as Qi ZhiRong’s, and their foreheads were cold sweating. But after a while, Qi ZhiRong’s lips were blue and his face not looking good. Qi Xi was no better.

In just a few seconds, the fairly fast Zhang Qiu had no time to shout for help. Er-ge and the others were all downstairs. There was a feeling that the two would be gone when he called the people up. Suddenly he heard footsteps from behind, and before he could turn back, the figure had arrived. It was Li Shu. He slashed his palm and decisively opened Qi ZhiRong’s lip and fed him a few drops of blood. Soon, Qi ZhiRong’s face slowly recovered it liveliness.

Qi Xi had also recovered.

“My blood can only suppressed, not cured, you’d better think clearly.” Li Shu said lightly.

Qi ZhiRong’s eyes seemed to be out of focus, and only said after refocused, “The closer I get here, the faster I get sick, but my heart tells me that I have to go somewhere quickly and urgently, but I don’t want to be controlled by people or controlled by anything else before I fully understand it.”

“You decide for yourself.” Li Shu finished saying and went out.

Zhang Qiu saw Qi ZhiRong and Qi Xi were all right. Especially Qi Xi, who came over and gave him a fierce look to signal him go out. It’s really a sperm on brain thing. Just now, you almost died! He followed Li Shu out with his hot and fragrant roast leg. He put the meat box on Li Shu’s hand, and found that the wound on Li Shu’s hand had healed. He breathed a sigh of relieve, and said with a smile, “My Er-ge’s treat, it tastes good, try it.”

“Thank you.” Li Shu opened the door and thought, “Want to come in?”

“Yes yes yes!” Zhang Qiu followed in with a smile and pointed to the meat in the box. “It’s delicious when it’s hot.”

Li Shu opened the box and the smell of spicy cumin assailed his nostrils. Memories flickered in his head, coinciding with Zhang Qiu in front of him, as if he liked barbecue very much.

“Why are you not moving?” Once Zhang Qiu saw that he didn’t bring chopsticks, he hastily said, “Can still eat with clean hands.” His head was full of “my hands are clean, I feed you!” But he could not move too soon because Li Shu found disposable chopsticks on the table in his room.

Zhang Qiu choked off speech. Li Shu handed the chopsticks over first, and Zhang Qiu was once again happy. Perhaps only Zhang Qiu could taste sweet when eating the spicy cumin roast mutton.

“Why did you want to come here with Qi ZhiRong?”

“Money.” Li Shu put down his chopsticks. “He pays a lot.”

Zhang Qiu thought about a lot of reasons, but never thought Li Shu’s reason was so simple. For a moment, his brain could not turn around. After a few seconds, he said, “Are you short of money?” Li Shu was not the kind of person who had a concept of money at all.

Li Shu heard Zhang Qiu’s inquiry and his eyes flashed a thread of vacantness, but in an instant they became indifferent.

“I don’t know. It should be useful.” And another sentence was added, “Like buying a big house.”

These words were said in a mediocre and unenthusiastic tone. Li Shu said it as if he was not going to buy a big house. He looked cold and even a bit of enthusiasm and eagerness was not present.

Zhang Qiu did not understand it. Li Shu did not lose his memory?! Why didn’t Li Shu remember him and Xiao Jiang, but was so persistent about buying a house?

“You’re angry.” Li Shu asked, frowning lightly.

“No, I just don’t get it——forget it, I’ll know it later.” Zhang Qiu didn’t know how to say what mood he’s in now. Could it be that when it comes to him, even a house was not comparable?

When Zhang Qiu left, Li Shu stared at Zhang Qiu’s back in a trance. Why was the image that just appeared in his head a split second was the other person? Did he really know Zhang Qiu before?

Downstairs, when the shameless oily meat eater Qi Xi saw Zhang Qiu, he waved his paws, “Yo, Xiao Qiuqiu is back! But what to do, there’s no meat left!”

Zhang Qiu squinted at the cocky Qi Xi. “Did Qi ZhiRong kick you out?!” Otherwise, Qi Xi, whose brain was a sperm would not go downstairs to eat meat.

“That’s hurt, Xiao Qiuqiu.” Qi Xi wanted to hold Zhang Qiu’s shoulder with one hand, but Zhang Qiu pushed Qi Xi’s oily hand away annoyingly. Qi Xi chewed the meat indifferently. “My Xiao Rongrong is too cold and ruthless. At night, he held people[3] in his arms and called little sweetheart. During the day, he made people scram, sigh.”

[3 Qi Xi referred himself as people]

Zhang Qiu didn’t believe that Qi ZhiRong would call little sweetheart as this nauseating person said. Furthermore, Qi ZhiRong’s behaviour and bearing was really not like a fluffy enthusiast. He now doubted what Qi Xi said. “Did you do something in the evening? How else could Qi ZhiRong not sleep well while being surrounded on all sides?”

“How do you know?” Qi Xi looked bewildered.

Sure enough. Zhang Qiu snorted, “This is all I have left to play with. When I was with my family Li Shu, every night I used knockout drops to confuse him, and then hehehe.”

“Turns out, it can be this way too!” Qi Xi touched his chin and look as if he wanted to try it.

Zhang Qiu was immediately shocked and dared not boast. He was afraid that Qi Xi would dare to do so. Qi ZhiRong might kill Qi Xi.

“I’ll just say, don’t take it seriously –”

“Hahahahaha, Xiao Qiuqiu, you are so amusing! You have the look of submissive; to boast such a big bull really think I will believe? Hahahaha, how silly!”

It’s better to kill Qi Xi now.

Zhang Qiu was too lazy to talk to Qi Xi, but Qi Xi blocked him and said earnestly, “My Xiao Rongrong seems to be really a little fishy.”

“As a matter of fact everyone knows. Say something else.” Zhang Qiu saw his family Xiao Jiang, clattering over with his short legs, holding a large piece of meat in his hand. He stood on his toes and saying softly, “Daddy eats!”

Zhang Qiu felt very much moved. “Nevertheless my son will love dearly, good boy Xiao Jiang.”

He gnawed at the meat and heard Qi Xi saying, “Xiao Rongrong’s heart seems to have been grasp by someone.”

“Isn’t it you! What is the heart to heart——”

“Not this.” Qi Xi couldn’t say anything for a moment, he frowned and looked serious.

Zhang Qiu was no longer amused when he saw the situation. “Er-ge once said that this kind of persistence means that he didn’t know whether he was under the influence of outside forces or brought by himself.”

They talked for half a day without any outlines, and could not ask Qi ZhiRong. Forget asking, even Qi ZhiRong himself did not know.

Zhang Qiu thought of Qi ZhiRong getting sick more and more quickly. It was likely that he would go to the pit in one or two days. He had to prepare for it tomorrow.

Zhang Qiu slept soundly this evening. He didn’t know that Xiao Jiang, who was sleeping soundly, turned over immediately when he heard a noise. His big eyes looked quietly somewhere, showing two tiger teeth and sneering, “Acting recklessly.”

Xiao Jiang was not even a bit soft and cute, and once the female ghost’s head appeared, with speed as fast and light, he caught the female ghost quickly and precisely. The female ghost had not yet wailed and with vicious and merciless, he ate it in one swell whoop and belched satisfyingly.

Then he lay next to Daddy after he had a good dinner tonight.

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