On that particular morning, several changes happened in Haowen Town and only people like Zhan Rong and beings like Jiang Li sensed it. Only they felt the tension slowly filling up the air. Gu Mochou was one of them. She felt that the streets became cleaner, with dirty things out of sight, yet the atmosphere was heavier because the ghosts were depressed.
Aa storm was secretly brewing and its scale might reach the capital. She knew that the reason was the monks that began to take control of the local government behind the scenes and made the police force exceptionally active. They were that triggered by the deaths of the three innocent Daoists.
As the guilty party, there was no one else around who should feel the urgency to leave. Yet for some reason, she remained in the town, showing no whatsoever intent to go back to the city.
"I won"t go back yet," she even told her cousin.
"Lil princess… I sincerely believed that is not a good answer." On the other line was her cousin again whose voice was tinged with both worry and helplessness. "Uncle is angry because Aunt has told him you"re not even listening to her now. What"s going on? Can"t you at least explain?"
Like the cheeky girl that she always appealed herself to them, Gu Mochou stated in a careless manner, "Hey, it"s nothing, alright? Mom and I are just in some sort of misunderstanding."
"What misunderstanding?"
"Come on. I"m still in the country and n.o.body has the heart to kidnap me or do anything bad to me. Why are you all so anxious? And mom, she"s being so exaggerated."
"Although I understand that the concern from the older generation can be suffocating sometimes, it"s improper to dismiss it too. Bad girl. If you don"t like them nagging you, don"t create any reason for them to do so."
"Cousin! What am I in your mind?"
The man dodged the question and only said, "Little girl. It"s like this. If you think your job is to create mischief, then, of course, your parents will think their job is to scold you. Something happens because it is triggered. In short, it"s the law of cause and effect."
The villainess had just finished freshening up and was drying her hair. She rolled her eyes. "It"s common sense. But I"m really doing well here. Nothing"s really worrisome on my end. No one"s tailing me to kidnap me for ransom. The scenery is nice and I"m not being bullied by anyone. I would have even shared pictures of the beautiful places and things if not for my worry that you lot will hire professionals to track me down and drag me back."
"Hah…" Gu Yijun"s sigh reverberated. "Why are you like this?"
Her sweet laughter came as a reply. Gu Mochou was feeling triumphant from rendering this usually capable cousin of her sighing in defeat. "How about I promise to lessen this kind of getaways once the school starts?"
When noon came and she came out of her hotel room to look for a place to dine in before going on a tour, she ran into an old monk talking to the manager. It was an amusing sight, one looked stern and gloomy, the other looked impatient.
"Senior Ouyang… It"s been a while."
Gu Mochou looked down to hide the slight smile on her face.
The monk-robe-wearing guy must have been one of the people sent to investigate. The hotel manager was sought out and was sporting that kind of face since he felt unnecessarily bothered from work and there was no police officer accompanying the monk.
Modern folks no longer had that kind of veneration towards cultivators. One reason was that people found it hard to distinguish real from fake, so to be safe, they simply considered those looking like monks, except those from known temples, were fakes.
Perhaps, only when they were in desperate situations would they reconsider the previous statement. Then again, it rarely happened, it was hard to look for cultivators after all. Also, for real monks, the ones in power would be their first choice to help. It was not only because they could easily provide resources and help to sects, but because the sects were a headstrong stupid bunch that still thinks, "Since we are only few and we can"t extend help to everyone, it"s imperative that we prioritize the leaders and influential lot. People at the top can"t be lost because they are the ones managing, inspiring, and helping with the livelihoods of the normies below them."
The weird ideology resulted in the current scene. The top politicians knew the cultivators and were more than happy to serve them. But normal people didn"t know them and of course, more than happy to not encounter them or let them interfere with their daily mundane lives.
The hotel manager talked for a while to the other person before impatiently calling somebody else to a.s.sist him. It signified that the senior would explain everything from the top again, convincing the staff why he had to see where the three disciples were killed and who the ones around when the bodies were found. It simply spelled "waste of time". But who knew what made this Senior Ouyang think that a handsome baldie dressed in an old-fas.h.i.+oned robe like him would get the unconditional cooperation of a normal person without a single police or munic.i.p.al officer accompanying him?
If Gu Mochou was still a member of the spiritual realm, she would be anxious about the situation, but she was not. Before completely stepping out of the doorway, she was secretly watching the two people talking without coming into an agreement which was made obvious by their gestures.
"I guess, good luck?" she laughed in her mind.
Upon arriving at a restaurant seven minutes away from the hotel with a high reputation online, she ordered some dishes and ate them with relish when they got delivered to her table.
It was apparent, the meeting with a person looking for the murderer of his disciples did not affect her mood or made her feel on edge.
She phoned the townspeople she commissioned to watch out for tribal or village people coming out of the nearby forest. After that, she sampled the dessert, while browsing an entertainment news site for idols she followed.
Then when she saw something interesting going on in one corner of the restaurant, she found herself in the mood to watch. There was n.o.body else paying attention to that side since everyone else was busy talking with their companions or enjoying their food. She happened to be close and the two people were directly in front of her.
The voice of the guy with his back facing her rang. "I really can play the piano and I promise the guests would like my music. I"m sincere in my wish to work here."
A teenage boy aged between 16-18 stubbornly pestered a chubby guy in a suit who seemed like the owner or manager of the restaurant.
The boy seemed to want to be employed and earn money. On why he ended up job hunting, of course, she had no idea. Gu Mochou only knew the boss didn"t buy his words. Impatience was written on the obese man"s face as he crossed his arms and inspected the other from head to toe with scrutinizing eyes.
"Boy, sorry to say this. But looking at the way you dress, I would have no choice but to tell you, you"re not convincing enough."
The teenager had a face that was quite good but there was indeed a little issue with his worn-out attire. He couldn"t speak for some time. A second later, he quietly said, "Sir. Then give me a chance to perform. Once I sit down, only my face or back will be visible to the diners. I think the viewers won"t have a complaint."
"You have a certification? What"s the source of your confidence, huh?"
Then came an unexpected reply, "If I will be sitting before a piano facing the audience then I have confidence in my face, if I have to sit with them behind me, then I still have confidence since I"m quite the looker with a s.e.xy body."
"Pfft!" She couldn"t stop herself from letting out a giggle.
The teenager must have heard her since he froze then turned to her with a frown. He must have felt puzzled by her reactions or simply offended. Gu Mochou lowered her head to hide her amused expression. Because she did so, after giving her a glare, the boy returned his focus to the boss.
The villainess sipped on her gla.s.s of wine, the edges of her mouth still raised upwards. Who convinced people in that way? Her eyes went back to the funny boy.
Both of them, she and the teenager, were facing the boss. Couldn"t he see that the fat guy seemed to be p.i.s.sed off?
Sure enough, her predictions of how the negotiation would turn out came true. The manager did not give him a chance to prove his skill probably because his mouth was stupid, so he could only walk away frustrated.
Moments later, Gu Mochou was quite surprised to see the youth approaching her table with a gloomy look on his face.
"What does this guy want?" she wondered as curiosity blossomed in her eyes.
In no time, the guy arrived before her and called out with a serious face, "Hey, you."
Gu Mochou met his stare with a confused expression.
"Why did you laugh at me?" he asked, looking offended.
For a while, the girl looked at him and then thought to herself whether this audacious boy had any idea about what he was doing. Her expensive getup and exquisite face was a sharp contrast with his dull clothes and yellowing complexion. Even if he was being driven by pride now, shouldn"t he still feel a bit intimidated and conscious in front of someone like her?
"Interesting... But... I hate being questioned."
After raising her brow, she snubbed him and stood up once done leaving a few bills on the table.
The boy watched her with the same unfriendly eyes, the expression purposely made because the villainess could still see him through the reflection in the floor-to-ceiling gla.s.s wall.
He was the fellow who just escaped from the neighboring city possessed by a ghost. This was his first close contact with Gu Mochou, and it took him a lot of effort to control his face from showing an odd expression upon faintly sensing that in one the items in her body, three strong righteous spirits were being held captive.
"What does she plan to do with those souls?" wondered Jiang Li who was possessing the 17-year-old boy.