TLDP: Ch.31. Big Sister is a Poor Ghost…
It was very fortunate that the bleeding sister was quite powerful. She grabbed the granny’s collar as she flung the granny backward and pulled her away from me. I hurriedly tried to stick out my tongue and open my mouth to breathe! Huh? Why the h.e.l.l should I stick my tongue out to breath?
w.a.n.g Shan’s blanket was unexpectedly exposed, as she whispered to me: “Big brother Xiaolong, are you alright?”
She was apparently already awake and saw the granny ghost grab my neck. She was so scared that she hid under her blanket, afraid to come out. She watched as my neck was being pinched helplessly. I really couldn’t blame her though. She was only a little girl after all.
The granny fiercely stared at the bleeding sister, and was obviously angry: “What the h.e.l.l are you doing? The two of us are ghosts, why did you help him? Why are you not helping me?”
I was still lying down on the floor and retorted angrily: “Dead granny. I’m fine if you refuse my offer, but you dare to inflict another injury on this patriarch. I will really exorcise you! I will give you one last chance, leave this little girl alone or this Daoist priest will be impolite!”
“Well! You’re welcome to show me.” The granny taunted.
“Big sister, give her a lesson!”
The Bleeding Sister’s reply almost made me crazy enough to faint: “You just asked me to pull the old lady away. My initial price was 3000, but if I must give her a lesson, you must pay an additional payment ~~”
d.a.m.n! Was she really a poor ghost? How come she was so greedy about money? If I hadn’t been injured, I ought to teach her why Renminbi was red colored. She really took advantage of my weakness. This was really killing me! Although this patriarch recently made a small fortune, it didn’t mean that you can squander it easily! But, if I didn’t comply, this sister would definitely not help me. Besides, this granny here didn’t come to have fun with me!
“3,000 RMB, I’ll add 3,000 RMB again. Tonight you’ll protect the safety of the two of us!”
The bleeding sister spookily replied: “I want 30,000 RMB ~~!”
I almost jumped to strangle her to death! But then, I had to rely on her protection! However, I really didn’t want to be blackmailed, so I turned my eyes and continued speaking: “Big sister, you are too shortsighted aren’t you? We can establish a long-term cooperation here, can you show any sincerity? 3,000 RMB, 3,000 RMB. If you ask for more and your price is too high, then forget about our cooperation.”
Although I didn’t know how much Renminbi the bleeding sister wanted, after she heard about the long-term cooperation from me, it seemed that she was very excited. She turned and replied, in her gloomy voice: “Okay ~~”. She quickly turned over toward the granny ghost: “You should leave here, otherwise I will use hard methods against you ~~!”
That dreadful granny ghost was seething with rage. But since the bleeding sister was far more powerful than her, even if she was unwilling, she had no choice but to leave…
Seeing that the granny ghost finally left, I mumbled and lied down on the floor: “Ouch ~~ my ribs, Qianqian, quickly press the call b.u.t.ton on your bedside!”
The doctor reconnected my ribs again the same night. The next morning, I braved myself to tell my parents about the incident. Miss Daiyu seemed to have overheard our dialogue and came after Dad left. As for Mom, she went to the cafeteria to buy some porridge. The lady ghost quickly asked me: “How come you b.u.mped into another ghost this time?”
I briefly told her about what happened last night once again and then pointed at the bleeding sister who stood in the corner, said: “This big sister had helped me. Miss, I was blackmailed and lost 13,000 RMB! Moreover, that granny is possibly going to come again tonight. I can barely move in my current condition. What should I do to handle this?”
Miss Daiyu turned and looked at the bleeding sister. She calmly spoke to me: “I will talk with her. Moreover, that 13,000 RMB must be taken from your account.; You cannot take it out from your donation account. Do you understand? Also, if you two can establish a long-term cooperation, then it would be for the best. I must leave for a long time soon and cannot protect you for the time being.”
I was truly reluctant in seeing her leave and tried to reason with her: “Actually, I had wanted to delay your departure time a bit longer before I contacted the old swindler. He will absolutely be able to take you to the Netherworld to be reincarnated. You have been waiting for so many years, and it must be your greatest hope. So, wait for me to recover, and I will immediately draw a Communication Charm.
The lady seemed very grateful and replied: “Well, you rest and recuperate first, I’ll talk with her.” And then she looked at the bleeding sister as she talked to her in a commanding tone: “You, come out with me.”
The bleeding sister lowered her head as she obediently followed Miss Daiyu and drifted out.
The bleeding sister’s spiritual force was not that high. Her strength was even inferior to the comb woman ghost. If I were in my peak condition, I would be able to beat her in a minute. So, in front of Miss Daiyu who was much more powerful than her, she was naturally very obedient.
I couldn’t help but feel empty inside when I thought that Miss Daiyu would leave. Although she was really hard on me, I knew that it was for my own good.
Her biggest wish was able to be reincarnated, and because of a certain reason, she couldn’t leave to the Netherworld. The old swindler said before he died, there was a treasure that could aid her in re-entering the Netherworld. Therefore, she kept looking for it and was hoping to find it as soon as possible. Now, since the old swindler had other means to get her reincarnated, even though I was very sad, I could not be so selfish as to make her stay here with me.
But still, thinking about it, greatly saddened me.
Today was Sat.u.r.day. Xu Xiaoling was off from work and came to the hospital early. She also brought a Chinese chess board today. I asked her: “Now, now. Big sis Xiaoling, how do you have the time to always visit me? Haven’t you got anything else to do? Are there no other friends to accompany you shopping?”
“Why? You don’t want me to come?”
“No, no. I’m very happy that you came, but it really makes me curious. You haven’t fallen for me right?”
Xu Xiaoling earnestly nodded: “Well, I really like you.”
“Really?!!”
“Yes, so you can go die in happiness brat. You are really indulged in your imagination all day. I don’t want to go shopping since it would make me buy a meal. Shopping also wastes money. If I come here, it would be different, perhaps I could also get some lunch. Therefore, coming here is equal to saving money.” Xu Xiaoling talked while playing with her fingers.
Mom had long been home. It seemed she was intentionally giving us some time.
Xu Xiaoling and I began to play chess,as I lost again and again. My face was almost fully covered with small notes. The notes said that I was a stupid pig and other kinds of dumb expressions. Seeing Xu Xiaoling’s happy face, it simply made me want to drill into her head and read her thoughts.
Xu Xiaoling was really an expert at Chinese chess. Even if I had one full set of cannons and war chariots, I still got beaten in the same old way and forcefully surrendered.
w.a.n.g Shan suddenly came at this time and entered my ward: “Big brother Xiaolong, I’m really sorry for last night, causing your ribs to be broken again. I will use my pocket money to compensate your medical expenses.”
Xu Xiaoling heard those word and her brows immediately twitched, frowned: “You broke your ribs last night? How come you didn’t tell me?”
“This, this…” I was speechless, didn’t know how to answer for a short while.
w.a.n.g Shan rushed, said: “Elder sister, you are really beautiful, are you Big brother Xiaolong’s girlfriend? Actually, Big brother Xiaolong helped me last night and got injured because of that, don’t blame him.”
I hollowly smiled and quickly took the chance: “That, last night, the situation was quite dangerous… Well, I’ll tell you the truth. This little sister has been haunted by a ghost. The ghost itself was not that powerful. But since I’m still injured, I can barely move, therefore when I was in the fight, my ribs were broken again.”
Xu Xiaoling sighed: “How’s your injury, is it healed properly? Are you still pained or not?” She gently touched my chest.
I was quite shy because of Xu Xiaoling’s bold move, said: “It’s all right lady, last night was very painful, but now I feel much better.”
Xu Xiaoling looked straightly at me and scrutinized my white eyes. She took away the chess board, said: “Don’t play anymore, you cannot play. You need to quickly lie down and rest.”
I obediently lied down on my bed and carefully listened to Xu Xiaoling and w.a.n.g Shan’s conversation about the Pen Fairy game. A few moments later, Miss Daiyu floated into the ward with the bleeding sister. Miss Daiyu spoke to me: “She is also a poor ghost, but she temporarily doesn’t want to go to the Netherworld to get reincarnated into a new body. Although her spiritual power is not high, she would be quite helpful to you. I was also helped by your master before. After I leave, she will be your partner.”
“Oh.” I promised in a low voice, feeling blue.
“Xiaolong, there is no lasting feast in this world. Don’t be so sad, as for that old woman ghost problem, I’ll let her help you handle it. Just try to cooperate with her. Well, I have to go back first.”
“Wait a minute.” I stopped Miss Daiyu: “Every time I ask for her help, she always asks for a high payment. You help me with this old woman ghost first. Because if I wasn’t injured, I wouldn’t fear these little imps!”
Miss Daiyu replied in a soft voice: “She won’t be that greedy anymore later. However, if you make some money, give her a small part of your income as a reward, and take some of it for yourself. As for the rest of the payment, you must donate it. This way, the bad luck driven by your Red Arrow mark will also lessen. Listen to me well, this should not be wrong.”
“Well, alright Miss. If ancestor Long comes to see you, I would also like to see him and ask him about that fan.”
Miss Daiyu nodded as her figure then slowly disappeared, as she then vanished.
“Were you just speaking to a ghost just now?” w.a.n.g Shan asked, surprised.
I had given my promise to Miss Daiyu and replied in few words to w.a.n.g Shan. I lied down on my bed as I was secretly lost in thought. I truly hated to part with Miss Daiyu… and this bleeding sister, can she and I truly become partners? All I knew was that she just lowered her head all the time and stood in the corner, taking care of the blood gushing out from her stomach.
Miss Daiyu would never harm me though. Since the lady has spoken like that, I could not let her down.
Xu Xiaoling seemed to understand that I was in a bad mood. She then took the initiative to talk to w.a.n.g Shan, to avoid her from disturbing my thoughts.
At noon, Xu Xiaoling and I had lunch in the hospital’s cafeteria. Xu Xiaoling said: “Xiaolong, you don’t have to do this kind of work later. Your line of work now is very dangerous. You’re still young, you should go back to school and study well so you can have a stable job later.”
“Do you believe in fate?”
“I don’t believe in it. I only believe that through hard work, you can change your own fate. People who often lament their own destiny are useless people.”
I smiled bitterly: “You don’t understand. I was born with a bad luck mark. Only by practicing Daoist arts and doing many good deeds will my predicaments lessen.” Then, I told her all my life experiences for the first time.
When I had finished my story, more than two hours had pa.s.sed.
She sighed and said: “I never thought that your childhood was so dark … No wonder you are so mature, so different … ah, I am pointing this out to praise you.
“It’s alright, no problem.”
At night, I quickly told Xu Xiaoling to go back home early. As I looked at her back, I suddenly felt that there was some unusual affection that rose up from inside my heart for her. Too bad, our age gap was too big…
~~~~~~~~~~End of Ch.31~~~~~~~~~~