Chapter 165: Chapter 165 The Riddle Of Fate
Chapter 165 The Riddle Of Fate
“As I ran past her, she turned around . She had a big mouth and a weird long nose . She looked like some sort of frog or animal with a big mouth . She held out a vegetable from her basin and asked me in a deep voice, ‘One of the leaves of this vegetable is spoiled, what should I do?’
“I was not in my right mind, so I was not really thinking . I randomly answered: ‘Just throw away the leaf and the rest of the vegetable will taste fine . ’ Just as I finished talking, the girl plucked the leave out from the vegetable and smiled at me with a sinister expression on her face . I don’t know what happened next . It was as though the light was turned off around me . ”
Everyone was baffled . It was a rather peculiar story, albeit a little funny . Xiao Ma asked, “Why didn’t the spirit just kill you straight away? Why did it ask you about vegetable leaves? Does it have too much free time or what?”
Ye Shaoyang rolled his eyes in annoyance, “What do you know? It is called a Riddle of Fate and it means that the spirit is not from the mortal world . It can not simply kill a person . Similar to Life Buying, it carries a natal substance with it . When it encounters a person, it asks a riddle, and the person’s answer decides his fate . ”
He turned to Li Leqing as he explained, “When you answered that she should get rid of the rotten leaf, it was exactly what she wanted to hear, so she captured one of your Hun . However, you also said that the vegetable would be fine after she got rid of the leaf . That is why you are still alive . ”
Zhou Jingru frowned, “Why does such a riddle exist?”
“It is a kind of contract between the underworld spirit and the mortal world . This kind of spirit can kill anyone it likes in its territory . However, it needs to abide by this contract outside of its realm . If it goes against the contract, it will face G.o.d’s Wrath . ”
Everyone’s mouth opened in disbelief .
The village head nodded, “That’s right . A few years ago, some fishermen died in the dam . However, those who b.u.mped into unfortunate ends on the land experienced something similar . Just like Leqing, they b.u.mped into a little girl, and they were all asked a seemingly random question . Last year, for example, Li Santui and Li Youcai were walking past the dam when they b.u.mped into the little girl . They too were hypnotized . The girl asked them How does a vegetable live without a heart?’
“Li Santui thought she was asking about planting the vegetable, so he told her that a vegetable can still grow well without a heart as long as it is taken well care of .
“Li Youcai told her, ‘A vegetable is not a living thing . ’
“The little girl stabbed them both in the chest and took out their beating hearts . Li Youcai died on the spot . Li Santui remained alive . Although he was wounded, his heart actually grew again! This happened in our village for another few more times . Some lived, and some died on the spot . ”
Ye Shaoyang thought for a while before he raised another question, “When did this ghost girl first appear?”
The village council members argued among themselves before they came to a consensus . It had been about two years ago when the water in the dam started to turn black and undead fish started to appear .
Ye Shaoyang nodded . All the clues were adding up . Now, he was confident that the ghost girl was indeed one of the five spirits he was hunting . He stood up and faced Li Leqing .
“You are a lucky man . Your missing Hun was wandering nearby, so I could summon it easily . However, the spirit of the little girl had harvested all the energy from your Hun . You might feel weak for a while, but don’t worry about it . Just go out under the sun and absorb the Yang Qi . You will surely recover in half a month . ”
Li Leqing was glad to hear that he was going to be fine . He thanked Ye Shaoyang repeatedly, but Ye Shaoyang didn’t care .
Ye Shaoyang turned to the village council members, “Can anybody lead me to the dam?”
The village head volunteered, “Sure, what’s the harm? Let me show you the way . ”
“Thanks! Let’s go . ”
Before he walked out of the room, Ye Shaoyang turned to Xiao Ling and Li Leqing .
“You don’t need to thank anybody other than your wife . She has been taking care of you for the past two months . Although she hired a caretaker, she personally prepared your meals every day . That was really hard work . Be nice to her . ”
Hearing this, Li Leqing held Xiao Ling’s hand and put it on his chest, “Of course, Mr . Ye . You are right . I’m a really lucky guy to have such a beautiful and kind woman as my wife . I now believe that this is true love . I’ll take good care of her for the rest of my life . ”
Ye Shaoyang stared into Xiao Ling’s eyes . Xiao Ling blushed, but she nodded as she stared back at him . In her eyes, he could clearly see grat.i.tude and a determination to keep her promise .
Seeing this, all Ye Shaoyang’s doubt was eased . With a lighter mood, he walked out if the room and followed the village council members .
“Mr . Ye, I’ll transfer the seventy thousand yuan to you right after this,” Li Wei said to Ye Shaoyang .
Ye Shaoyang nodded . However, before he could say anything, Zhou Jingru’s voice rang from behind him, “Brother Shaoyang, why are you accepting his money?”
Li Wei immediately grew nervous hearing this . He did not mind paying Ye Shaoyang at all, but he would surely blame himself if the two youngsters in front of him got into a fight because of it .
He quickly explained, “Please don’t misunderstand, Miss Zhou . I insisted on paying Mr . Ye without him asking . ”
Zhou Jingru was obviously not satisfied with the answer . Her expression turned sour as she spoke to Ye Shaoyang, “Brother Shaoyang, you should have just told me that you needed money . Why would you take money from others instead? Am I not your friend?”
Li Wei’s body sweat profusely as he heard this . Zhou Jingru was throwing a tantrum just because Ye Shaoyang was taking someone else’s money instead of hers!
Their relationship must be even closer than I imagined . Hmm, looks like we will be getting a new in-law for our company .
Ye Shaoyang brushed it off and explained, “I can’t ask you for money for no good reason . It is not good for me . He is obligated to pay me because I have done work for him . Seventy thousand is a reasonable amount for the both of us . Once he pays me, we are even . ”
Li Wei immediately agreed, “True, true . It’s a reasonable price . ”
“You are rich, aren’t you?” Zhou Jingru sarcastically asked .
“Well, that’s not what I mean,” Li Wei backtracked and he did not dare to utter another word . Compared to her family’s wealth, Li Wei was nothing but dirt .
Zhou Jingru’s mouth curved up in dissatisfaction as she asked Ye Shaoyang, “You mean I can’t even help you out?”
Ye Shaoyang shook his head, “If I ask for your help, you can help me by all means . However, if you intend to give me money, a house, or anything materialistic for no good reason, that only adds to my sin . It actually obstructs my cultivation . Understood? I can only spend the money I earn . ”
Zhou Jingru finally gave in and nodded, “Fine . But be sure that I’m the first person you look to for help next time . ”
Ye Shaoyang agreed .
Zhou Jingru gave him a smile, “By the way, you did something n.o.ble today . You gave someone a second chance and saved her marriage . ”
Now that she mentioned it, Ye Shaoyang recalled what had transpired between the couple . He sighed . On one hand, he did save a marriage by telling a white lie . He knew Xiao Ling would appreciate this, she would definitely treat her husband better from this point onward . The marriage would be even greater if the couple was blessed with a child in the future . However, on another hand, a lie is a lie . He could not imagine if Li Leqing ever found out the truth .
“If I could choose, I would rather face ten more supreme spirits than meddle in another couple’s marriage . It’s impossible to come up with the perfect arrangement . ”
Ye Shaoyang made sure no one was listening before he poured his heart out to Zhou Jingru .
Zhou Jingru could only smile when she heard this .
As she looked at him from behind, she couldn’t help but think, You did come up with a perfect arrangement for that couple, but what is the arrangement for yourself?