Yellow Springs Inn (Zhang Xiao Qi)

Hearing my words, Luo Qian Qi acted as if he had eaten a bomb; he grabbed my shoulder and said, "You said you remembered what?"

I deadpanned Luo Qian Qi for three seconds, then said, "Luo Qian Qi, what are you getting so excited about, I didn"t remember anything, it"s just that I felt a little uncomfortable!"

Luo Qian Qi released his hand and laughed a little, embarra.s.sed, "Sorry, it"s just that my mood is a little out of control!"

I looked at Luo Qian Qi, probing, "Luo Qian Qi, have I forgotten something from the past?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "How would I know if you forgot something from the past?"

With this, he turned and left the small alley.

I shrugged my shoulders, putting away the dagger before continuing to follow Luo Qian Qi.

Strange, why do I have to follow him?

Thinking of this I couldn"t but halt in my steps again.

Luo Qian Qi noticed that I wasn"t walking anymore, he halted in his footsteps and turned around to look at me, "What is it?"

I was originally going to to say why do I have to follow you, but when I said it out loud it became, "I don"t want to walk anymore!"

Luo Qian Qi walked to my side and chuckled, "I"ll carry you!"

"Huh?" I stared blankly, for a long moment I forgot to react.

By the time I managed to break from my trance I was already on Luo Qian Qi"s back.

"Am I heavy?" I asked Luo Qian Qi.

Luo Qian Qi chuckled, "Not heavy, you are very light, light to the point of no weight!"

I let out a sigh, "Yes, I am very light, light to the point of weightlessness because I am a ghost, where would ghosts get their weight from!"

When I was on Luo Qian Qi"s back, I materialized my form, or else the people on the road would laugh that Luo Qian Qi is insane.

Luo Qian Qi smiled but didn"t say a word.

At some point as I lay down on Luo Qian Qi"s back I fell asleep unknowingly. When I awoke it was already the morning of the next day.

I rubbed my eyes. From looking at the furniture here, it was a hotel.

I sat up from the bed, realizing Luo Qian Qi was not in the room.

I yawned, then lay back down on the bed, preparing to fall back asleep.

At this time Luo Qian Qi walked in; he walked to the side of the bed, watching me and smiling, "Xiao Qi, time to get up, the sun has just about tanned your b.u.t.t!"

I opened an eye and glanced at Luo Qian Qi, "Stop joking, how could there be a sun in the netherworld?"

Immediately I realized that this didn"t seem like the netherworld.

Luo Qian Qi looked at my reaction and chuckled, "You must still be sleepy!"

I "tch"-ed moodily before I pushed myself up.

I looked at Luo Qian Qi said, "Where do you want to go?”

Luo Qian Qi smiled, "The Wan House!"

I nodded, "You go by yourself, I don"t want to go!"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me, confused, "Why?"

I looked over at Luo Qian Qi, "You go to the Wan House, I will go find Fu Yu Yan, an entire night has already pa.s.sed, the ghost baby in her stomach must have already been born!"

Luo Qian Qi nodded, smiling, "One attacks, the other covers!”

I nodded, then got off the bed.

I stretched lazily, saying, "Let"s go, move separately!"

Luo Qian Qi nodded, and I returned to Yellow Springs Inn.

Ling Xue, seeing that I had only just returned, was a little worried, she hurriedly ushered me to behind the front desk.

Ling Xue looked at me, "Xiao Qi, you went out for so long and didn"t come back, did something happen?"

I looked at Ling Xue and smiled, "There indeed was a small matter, but it isn"t that big of a deal!"

Ling Xue looked at me, "You say that it isn"t big, so it probably is actually a very big matter!"

I laughed mischievously, "Yesterday when I returned from the Ming Palace I saw ghost troops escorting the newly dead. Then there was a pregnant female ghost that escaped, I was worried that she would go out and hurt people so I chased after her, but I realized, the ghost baby in her tummy was about to be born!"

Ling Xue looked at me in thought, "Ghost babies being born is really dangerous for the mortal world!"

Following this she asked me, "Then did you catch her?"

I shook my head, "It"s because that I wasn"t able to catch her that I came to find people to investigate her whereabouts!"

Ling Xue smiled at me, "Don"t worry, I will get people to investigate, the moment we get information I"ll contact you!"

I nodded, smiling, "Then I"ll be taking my leave!"

Ling Xue slapped my shoulder, smiling, "Stay safe!"

I smiled and sounded an agreement, then left Yellow Springs Inn.

"Luo Qian Qi, you sure are carefree!" I looked at Luo Qian Qi, who was sitting on the Wan House"s couch watching television.

Sitting on the couch watching television was not just Luo Qian Qi, but Wan Tong Guang and his parents as well.

Luo Qian Qi smiled, "The female ghost won"t materialize, the earth is vast and expansive, where would we go to find her, might as well just sit here and wait for her!"

Seeing Luo Qian Qi talking to empty air, Wan Tong Guang and the others stared in a daze, then immediately came to their senses: this room had an extra friend that they couldn"t see.

I felt bored, so I began to wander aimlessly around the Wan House. In the end I noticed a enshrined effigy.

This deity effigy compared to a normal deity effigy was about the same in size, its figure entirely black, its five heads looking in five different directions, each head wearing a different expression.

While he may have been surrounded in a golden glow, he didn"t have any of the kindly qualities of a deity effigy; instead he gave off a bit of an evil aura.

"Wu Tong Shen1!" I laughed coldly, thinking to myself, the one that hurt me yesterday must have been him!

I looked over Wu Tong Shen again and promptly left. Wu Tong Shen was an evil deity from folklore, he could satisfy a person"s any demand.

But because Wu Tong Shen was an evil deity, those that demanded something from him, had to give whatever Wu Tong Shen demanded in return.

The night quickly descended, and the Wan house didn"t seem to make any movement.

Wan Tong Guang asked Luo Qian Qi, "Hall Master Luo, do you think Fu Yu Yan will come seek me out?"

Luo Qian Qi took a sip of tea, "She will definitely come, because your child has already been born. She will definitely bring the child to meet his family!"

Luo Qian Qi"s words caused Wan Tong Guang and his parents to jump in fright.

Wan Fu Ming hurried asked Luo Qian Qi, "Luo Hall Master, then can your plan ensure my son"s safety?"

Luo Qian Qi harrumphed, "If you don"t trust me, I have no need to waste time with you guys!"

With this, Luo Qian Qi put down the tea cup and prepared to leave.

I happily followed in Luo Qian Qi"s example as I stood up from the sofa, preparing to leave the Wan House.

Wan Fu Ming hurriedly stood up from the sofa and chased after Luo Qian Qi, smiling apologetically, "Luo Hall Master, I didn"t mean it like that; your Thousand Jade Hall is a very well known exorcist clan, while our unknown Wan family being able to invite you, Hall Master, over is an enormous privilege!"

Luo Qian Qi smiled coldly, "Since you guys believe in me so much, then in a while the backup person doesn"t need to come in!

Wan Fu Ming froze, thinking inwardly: how did Luo Qian Qi know we invited others as well?

Luo Qian Qi looked at Wan Fu Ming and sneered, "Since you don"t have confidence in me, then sorry, I"ll be taking my leave!"

With this Luo Qian Qi left the Wan House with long strides, while I sneakily made a ghost face at Wan Fu Ming before following Luo Qian Qi out.

I said to Luo Qian Qi, "You really are leaving just like that?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "Or else what should I do?"

"Do you know who the other person he invited is?" I said

"Yang Sheng!" Luo Qian Qi replied.

I chuckled, "Yang Sheng, a member of the Yang family, no wonder you didn"t want to stay there!"

Luo Qian Qi nodded and didn"t say anything else.

Following this I thought and said, "But this isn"t bad, after all the person at fault is Wan Tong Guang not Fu Yu Yan; if we hastily got involved in helping them deal with Fu Yu Yan, we might lose karma2, so you might as well hand this mess over to Yang Sheng!"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me with a smile and did not say anything.

Luo Qian Qi and I walked to the street. The amount of people today has pitiful; it should be reasonable to say that there shouldn"t be so few people!

Luo Qian Qi and I stopped at the same time. I said, "Luo Qian Qi, do you feel like something is out of place?

Luo Qian Qi nodded his head and didn"t say anything.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, rustling the tree leaves by the roadside.

"It"s coming!" I said.

Luo Qian Qi"s eyes were exceptionally cold, he took out the Chi Xiao Sword and slashed behind him in an elegant arc.

"Ah!" the small ghost hurt from Luo Qian Qi"s slash cried out mournfully, then like a gecko adhered to the wall.

I turned around to look at the small ghost, then realized it was an entirely pitch-black ghost baby, his left shoulder had a gaping hole, currently dripping a black liquid nonstop.

I think that hole must have been from Luo Qian Qi"s slash with the Chi Xiao Sword earlier.

I looked at the ghost baby adhering to the wall and chuckled as I said to Luo Qian Qi, "Is he the ghost baby from Fu Yu Yan"s belly?"

Luo Qian Qi chuckled, "Definitely!"

I let out a dark chuckled, "We hadn"t even gone to find him yet and he comes knocking on our door, but this is good too, saves us the trouble!"

"Roar~!"

The ghost baby on the wall glared at Luo Qian Qi and I maliciously with hostility, maybe because Luo Qian Qi hurt him, or maybe because of some other reason.

But I somehow felt that the ghost baby must have found us for some other reason. After all, between us we have no resentment nor grievances.

But it could also not be said there was no resentment or grievances at all, after all, we agreed to help the Wan House deal with Fu Yu Yan, even though Luo Qian Qi refused to cooperate with the Wan House anymore.

I said to Luo Qian Qi, "How about it Luo Qian Qi, do you want to take care of him?"

Luo Qian Qi nodded, "Allowing him to remain is also a danger!"

I nodded, smiling, "Then I"ll support you!"

Luo Qian Qi chuckled at me, then raised the Chi Xiao Sword and slowly approached the ghost baby.

“Roar~!”

The ghost attempted to scare off Luo Qian Qi with his voice, but it didn"t help in the slightest.

Luo Qian Qi gradually neared the ghost baby, he lifted his sword and slashed at the ghost baby in a graceful arc. The ghost baby yelled in alarm and quickly dodged, but his right foot was cut off by Luo Qian Qi.

The ghost baby dragged his broken leg as he crawled on the ground, his mouth incessantly emitting cries.

"Not good, he"s calling Fu Yu Yan to save him!" I said to Luo Qian Qi.

Luo Qian Qi looked at the ghost baby and harrumphed, then raised his sword, about to give him one last blow.

"Ah!"

That shriek was extremely ear-piercing, jolting my ear to the point that it was starting to feel numb.

Luo Qian Qi quickly retreated to my side, "What is going on?"

I rubbed my ears, "It seems that Fu Yu Yan has come!"

I had just finished my sentence when I saw a white figure run over to the ghost baby"s side and embraced him. That white figure was Fu Yu Yan.

Fu Yu Yan lovingly stroked the ghost baby"s broken leg, then glared at Luo Qian Qi and I fiercely.

Fu Yu Yan watched us and shouted angrily, "You guys actually hurt my child, I want you all to die!"

I looked at Fu Yu Yan and harrumphed coldly, "What a bold tone! Tell us who the person backing you is!"

Fu Yu Yan looked at me with resentment, "Their prestige is not fitting for you to know!"

I chuckled a bit, "Really? So as long as I kill you two, the people that you speak of will definitely come out to help you!"

Fu Yu Yan looked at us and harrumphed but said nothing.

I said to Luo Qian Qi, "Luo Qian Qi, get moving and kill them!"

"Following your orders, O Great Shopkeeper!" Luo Qian Qi looked at me, chuckling.

With this, Luo Qian Qi raised his sword and swept a sword aura towards Fu Yu Yan and the baby.

Fu Yu Yan, upon seeing the circ.u.mstances, hurriedly dodged. The sword aura did not injure Fu Yu Yan, but did cut off some of her long hair.

I looked at Luo Qian Qi and said sulkily, "Luo Qian Qi, I wanted you to chop her; why did you chop her hair?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and laughed in embarra.s.sment, "My bad, my bad!"

In actuality I and Luo Qian Qi both knew very clearly, there was someone who protected Fu Yu Yan from Luo Qian Qi"s sword aura, or else, going by Luo Qian Qi"s skill, Fu Yu Yan would have long been hacked into two already; how could only her hair be cut.

In the dark, there was a mysterious person with the same skill as Luo Qian Qi helping Fu Yu Yan.

1. Wu Tong Shen (五通神): There was no predetermined/pre-established English name for him/her, so I used pinyin. I"m still trying to figure out what exactly Wu Tong Shen is, but it seems like a genderless ent.i.ty (possibly more than one ent.i.ty in the same body???) that might be a G.o.d of wealth or just a mountain spirit from what I"ve read on Baike as well as the next few chapters.↩
2. on karma: I translated the words yin de (阴德) as karma due to from the one line that I read from it towards the bottom. Basically it influences how you"re treated in the underworld.↩