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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 77: The Mystery of the Alley (Part Two)
The restroom was filthy, tainted, and filled with a sinister aura. According to my usual instincts, I should have sensed something beyond the comprehension of ordinary people upon entering. But today was different. When Qin Jian and I stepped into the restroom, aside from the foul odor and a few bloodstains on the floor, I sensed nothing at all.
In the end, we found nothing and had to head back home, discussing matters in the car.
“Ma Qi, did you get a good look at the broom that old man was holding?” I hadn’t seen it clearly, but judging by how he held it, it looked heavy and dark. The thought made my scalp tingle, and I dared not dwell on it. Qin Jian, driving, caught my unusual demeanor out of the corner of his eye and quickly asked, “What are you thinking?”
“You wouldn’t want to know what just crossed my mind,” I took a deep breath, leaning back in my seat, genuinely reluctant to share the terrifying thought that had flashed through my mind.
Qin Jian snorted dismissively. “Come on, spit it out.”
“Are you really not afraid of what I might say?”
“Afraid of what? We’re in this together; what’s there to be scared of?”
“What if the old man I saw was a ghost? Then the broom he was holding would also be a ghost. What I mean is, he could be sweeping with the body of a New Soul, with its hair being the bristles of the broom.”
Qin Jian slammed on the gas, causing the car to screech loudly. He cursed, “You’re insane! How did you even come up with that?”
“I knew you’d be scared; yet you refuse to believe it.”
Starting the engine again, Qin Jian drove forward smoothly. He smirked mockingly and said, “Isn’t that just a vivid imagination? You and I were just thinking about how an old man might be holding a woman’s body while sweeping. That’s… kind of creepy.”
“Ugh, Qin Jian, what we need to do now is go home and rest. We can discuss everything later.”
“Hold on; I still have one more question.”
Just as I closed my eyes to doze off, his interruption forced me to open them again as I cursed, “You bastard, hurry up.”
"Why did you just turn back to Taling? What is there about Taling that makes you want to go back? Is there any connection between it and Fruit Street?"
"Think about it. We came out of Taling and ran into Addict. Did you not notice he was an Addict?"
"I saw him. His face was dark, with a Deathly Aura surrounding him, not a trace of a living person. That's how I determined whether he was human or ghost."
"So when did you develop this ability?" Originally, Qin Jian was asking me, but now it turned into me questioning him. It felt amusing, though I didn't laugh; he didn't like it when discussions weren't taken seriously.
Qin Jian thought for a moment, his brow furrowing as usual. "After you gave me that dagger."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Actually, you... resemble someone quite a bit; he is my master."
"I've always heard about your master. Who is he?"
"His name is Qin Ye. You share many similarities with him, from your surname to your mannerisms, and even when you try to act cool and ignore people."
"Do you think there's some kind of connection between me and him? Or perhaps we're directly related as father and son?"
"Hey, hey, don't get upset. I'm just discussing the matter at hand. If you don't like talking about it, I won't push it. What about your earlier question?"
Qin Jian indeed disliked mentioning Qin Ye. Hearing me say this, he let out a cold laugh and said, "At least you're sensible."
"Could you tone down that Chengdu accent of yours? Just speak properly to me."
“Dialect, I’m used to it.”
“It doesn’t matter to you anymore. That question you asked earlier, I would have told you even if you hadn’t asked. Addict had something to tell me and even asked me for a smoke. Do you remember that?”
“Of course.”
“So I want to turn back. Perhaps Addict knows something. If we can get something useful out of him, wouldn’t it save us both a lot of trouble?”
“Right.” Qin Jian thought for a moment, then glanced at me as I dozed off with my eyes closed, murmuring, “Why weren’t you clear about it earlier?”
“I was afraid it might bring back memories for you, so I didn’t push you to go back.” I could tell that Qin Jian had a deep bond with his mother and was indifferent towards his biological father. Even when I subtly mentioned Qin Ye, he got angry. It seemed he was aware of his relationship with Qin Ye.
These matters were personal and familial for him; as an outsider, it wasn’t my place to interfere.
It would be best to devise a perfect plan for them to recognize each other. On the contrary, if I insisted on doing things my way while Qin Jian was resistant, it might backfire and cause more trouble.
At that moment, we both understood each other without needing many words. The car sped through the night, and when Qin Jian dropped me off at home, I truly felt the weight of memories. Shen Shoucai had already prepared a table full of dishes, and everything was quite clean—almost like a replica of rice.
What merit did I, Ma Qi, have to deserve such a ghostly male servant? Truly pitiful for me, Ma Qi.
“I’ll eat. What are you having?”
“Just give me a smoke, one puff will do.” Shen Shoucai didn’t seem to be joking. Could you handle just one puff? I didn’t voice that thought but quickly washed my hands. I had eaten quite well with Qin Jian at the skewer place earlier, then went to Taling and later to Fruit Street. My stomach actually felt a bit hungry again.
Shen Shoucai’s cooking was decent and suited my taste.
I placed a cigarette on the edge of the table. “This is the last one. I’m reluctant to smoke it; it’s all crumpled up wherever I put it. Don’t look down on it; this is Zhonghua.”
Shen Shoucai took a puff of smoke and smiled wryly. "Great China, I never got to smoke during my lifetime. Tsk tsk, this is really nice." He inhaled the steam rising from the food and narcissistically boasted, "My dream is to be a chef. I've spent quite a bit of time researching cooking techniques."
He gave a thumbs up in approval. "Impressive."
Shen Shoucai was quite talkative. Seeing me enjoy my meal, he opened up. "Master Ma, did you find anything tonight?"
"Nothing much. On our way back, we stopped by Fruit Street. There was a bizarre death case there. It's not our jurisdiction, but earlier when we went, I saw something strange in that restroom on Fruit Street."
Shen Shoucai perked up with interest and leaned in to ask, "What did you see?"
Even ghosts fear me, yet Shen Shoucai seemed unfazed by my aura and the presence of Eighteen Cubes.
Eighteen Cubes! Qin Jian had a dagger on him when we went to the restroom on Fruit Street earlier. Dagger killings are heavy; any ghost would fear it. Could they sense their presence when I entered?
Just Shen Shoucai alone was truly impressive. No wonder he was known as the Azure-Headed Ghost, unafraid of the Ghostly Enforcer from hell. He showed no hesitation towards the magical tools given to me by my master. It’s easy to imagine how terrifying it would be if he hadn’t been enlightened by my master and was out there causing chaos on his own.
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