Chapter 112

One sentence awakens the dreaming person.

I met Bái Jīngmò when I was about ten or eleven; the first time we met, he used silver needles to cure my grandmother's old ailment.

In other words, by the time he was in his early teens, his skill in this area already left ordinary physicians far behind.

Such ability must be Child Skill.

Yet the Bái Jiā Yīguǎn had no such talent, and there was never any word of Bái Jīngmò going somewhere to study acupuncture in seclusion; his skill with needles seemed to appear out of nowhere.

How could that be possible?

I suddenly realized that the point Lù Qiūshēng raised exactly filled the loophole I could never figure out before.

I immediately guessed: "You mean the Bai family hides a formidable figure behind them, someone who has never appeared before?"

This person is probably even more formidable than the old Bai matriarch!

Lù Qiūshēng shook his head: "Perhaps there's more than just one."

He pushed the box containing the flesh spikes toward me again and said: "This is one of them; my father likely discovered its existence back then, which led to his brutal death."

This time I took the box, staring blankly at the few bloody white flesh spikes lying inside.

Right, how could I have overlooked this!

After the old Bai matriarch's soul was locked away, the corpse left in the Dang Pu was not a hedgehog but a person!

In other words, the old Bai matriarch was nothing but a puppet from beginning to end.

The immortal the Bai family worships is a hedgehog that cultivated into a spirit; that is the true master.

The old Bai matriarch counts as a disciple of the White Immortal.

And Bái Jīngmò's needle technique should be inherited from the White Immortal!

A disciple can die.

After the old Bai matriarch dies, Bái Jīngmò can still take her place!

Being able to receive the White Immortal's true transmission shows that Bái Jīngmò is the one more favored by the White Immortal.

In a sense, the old Bai matriarch's death was inevitable.

The more I think about it, the more alarmed I become.

If the Bai family is like this, what about the Huang and Hui families?

I have seen the yellow spirit the town lord's family worships; but what appears for the Hui family has always been a bunch of fat rats, and in Wufu Town's offerings, only Dou Jinsuo of the Dou family remains.

The true Hui Immortal… has never appeared before people.

"Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, what's wrong with you?"

My complexion must look terrible right now; Lù Qiūshēng noticed and asked carefully.

I instantly came to my senses, stared steadily at Lù Qiūshēng, and weighed in my mind whether I should take this job.

Dodging is impossible to avoid.

I was already at the center of the vortex.

And Lù Qiūshēng's move undoubtedly pushed me straight into the eye of the storm.

He intends to use me, and through the Wufu Town Pawnshop, to force out the person behind the Bai family!

After long consideration, I gripped the box tightly and asked: "Officer Lù, do you intend to pawn these items alive or dead?"

Lù Qiūshēng's face instantly lit up with joy, and he declared firmly: "Dead pawn, worth sixteen yuan."

"Good."

I took out the Pawn Ticket and began to fill it in earnest.

The Pawn Ticket exists in two copies; Lù Qiūshēng signed and left his handprint.

Two copies of the Pawn Ticket, one kept on file, the other given to Lù Qiūshēng.

The transaction completed, Lù Qiūshēng stood, bowed deeply to me, then turned and opened the door.

As the door opened, endless darkness rushed in; I instinctively warned: "Officer Lù, be careful."

Lù Qiūshēng blinked, then turned back and smiled at me: "I will."

He put on a flat cap, lowered his head, and his figure hurried into the darkness.

I stood at the Dang Pu doorway for a while, then reluctantly returned behind the counter to tidy the Pawn Ticket.

Just then, Li Qingying slipped in quietly, poked her head out twice to check for followers, and only then let out a long breath.

She then closed and bolted the door, came to my side, happened to see the two items on the counter, and asked: "What is this? Xiao Jiu, did you do business tonight?"

"It's Officer Lù."

I roughly explained the whole story of the Lù Qiūshēng incident to Li Qingying.

Li Qingying is my friend, even more my comrade-in-arms; for the vast majority of things, I should share them with her.

Only when we understand and trust each other enough will our partnership become stronger.

Li Qingying listened, half-disbelieving, half-suddenly enlightened: "No wonder…"

I wondered: "What?"

"Tonight I followed the town lord to the Dou family coffin shop." Li Qingying said, "The town lord went there in the dead of night, sneaking about; after he entered, I heard fierce arguing inside the coffin shop, as if the town lord was urging Dou Jinsuo to do something, but Dou Jinsuo refused."

Indeed!

I asked: "Then what happened?"

"The argument grew more heated, it seemed they were about to break down, and I heard the town lord shout at Dou Jinsuo, even the Bai family boy lowered his head: 'Jinsuo, what are you still insisting on?!'"

Hearing those words, I also froze.

The Bai family boy referred to is naturally Bái Jīngmò.

It seems the clues we figured out together with Lù Qiūshēng earlier were correct.

I asked: "Is the town lord having Dou Jinsuo make coffins?"

"Making a coffin?" Li Qingying shook her head, "No, he had Dou Jinsuo go with him to meet a person; the two finally agreed, they'll depart tomorrow afternoon, I will keep an eye on them."

I immediately decided, saying, "At that time I'll go with you."

Li Qingying rejected my suggestion: "Xiao Jiu, now our pawnshop doesn't know how many eyes are watching; you are the number one target, if you move, I'll be exposed. Don't worry, I will pay attention to safety. Person, or I'll come with."

What she said was correct, I could only nod: "You must be very careful, safety first."

Afterwards I collected the shrink-wrapped shirt, took the box containing the meat thorns, and returned to my room.

I was thinking, what suitable time should I choose to properly meet Bai Jingmo?

·

The next day after 3 p. m., I didn't see Li Qingying anymore.

She didn't drive; I don't know how she caught up with Dou Jinsuo and them.

I was making paper horses in the shop; the reserve paper figurines and paper horses had been bought up by those who came to mourn the Bai family, and I had also developed a layer of old calluses on my hands, having stopped for several days.

I need to find something to keep myself busy, otherwise while waiting for Li Qingying I would become very anxious.

Unknowingly it became late at night; I glanced at the time, estimating that if nothing unexpected happened, Li Qingying would be back soon.

The pot kept the food hot.

As I didn't know how many times I had glanced outside, on the empty street a loud whip-crack suddenly sounded.

I was too familiar with that whip sound—it was Li Qingying!

What happened to her? Why did she suddenly use a whip?

I quickly closed the pawnshop door and ran toward the direction the whip sound came from.

Not long after, I saw Li Qingying holding a long whip, her whole body trembling, standing in a dark place.

Not far from her on the ground lay a person.

That person lay in a pool of blood, twitching continuously, their build oddly familiar.

I rushed over and, upon seeing, exclaimed in a hoarse voice: "Lu... Officer Lu..."