Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Qiao Ying recognized the boy.

He was Aunt Wang’s grandson, Xiao Shao. He often trailed after Aunt Wang, and rumor had it that his father had died of illness when he was young, and not long after, his mother had died of depression.

Aunt Wang had lost her husband early in life, and later she had also had to bury her own child. Yet she still had to raise a child on her own. Only because people in Zhao Manor felt sorry for her did they let her come in and work there.

But after the last time Aunt Wang falsely accused Mu Yunshu of being a demon, even though Mu Yunshu had been magnanimous and not made Aunt Wang pay any price, Aunt Wang still lost her job at Zhao Manor.

Since it was only a child, Qiao Ying no longer felt afraid. She stood up, walked over to Xiao Shao, and asked, “It’s the middle of the night. Why did you run out here alone?”

She had no good feelings toward Aunt Wang, who never seemed to close her mouth, but she wasn’t going to hate a child just because of her.

Xiao Shao looked at the person behind Qiao Ying and silently took another step back.

Qiao Ying turned around.

Shen Qingyu was standing right behind her, smiling. He looked perfectly easy to get along with, but Xiao Shao was terrified of him.

Qiao Ying shifted to the side, using her slender body as best she could to block the tall boy. “Shen Qingyu isn’t a bad person. Don’t be scared.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Qiao Ying herself felt that it sounded a little strange.

Shen Qingyu really only looked like a good person on the surface.

Xiao Shao pressed his lips together, then summoned his courage and pointed to the side. “My grandma is here.”

Qiao Ying followed the direction he was pointing and only then noticed that among the people lying all over the ground, there really was Aunt Wang. She was also sleeping with a serene expression on her face.

“I know where everyone was taken. Please, save my grandma,” Xiao Shao said as he held out his hands. In his palms was a pile of peanuts.

Qiao Ying looked at Shen Qingyu.

Shen Qingyu only smiled and said nothing, making no comment at all.

So Qiao Ying made the decision to accept the peanuts. “You said you know where everyone was taken. What’s going on?”

Xiao Shao said, “Follow me.”

He turned and ran out of the clinic. Strangely enough, the Zhao family members guarding the entrance didn’t look the least bit surprised to see Xiao Shao run out.

Xiao Shao led them to an abandoned residence. Going deeper inside, they found a dry well.

Qiao Ying didn’t even have time to reach out and stop him. She could only watch helplessly as Xiao Shao nimbly jumped into the dry well.

She hurried over and leaned over the edge, shouting, “Xiao Shao!”

The bottom of the well was pitch-black. She couldn’t see a thing, and no one answered her call.

She turned back to look at the slowly approaching boy. “Shen Qingyu, what do we do?”

Shen Qingyu smiled. “What should we do? Why don’t we jump in too?”

Before Qiao Ying could react, an arm slipped around her waist. Her body lifted into the air, and then came the weightless sensation of plunging into darkness.

It was an experience she’d never had before, and Qiao Ying instinctively grabbed the person beside her. She screamed, “Shen Qingyu, Shen Qingyu!”

She kept shouting, incredibly noisy, and every word out of her mouth was his name.

Shen Qingyu actually laughed, and their descent only sped up.

Naturally, Qiao Ying screamed even louder. “SHEN QINGYU!!!”

After they landed, her throat was already a little hoarse. Even though her feet were on solid ground, she still felt dizzy and off-balance, as if her soul hadn’t quite caught up yet.

Shen Qingyu tapped her on the head. “Have you gone stupid?”

Qiao Ying came back to herself and said weakly, “Next time you want to do something like that, can you at least tell me first so I can prepare myself?”

Shen Qingyu smiled gently. “No.”

Qiao Ying fell silent.
The dry well was not just a dry well. Wind was blowing through it; it was a subterranean passage, and no one knew where it led.

There was only one path, so they could only keep going forward.

Qiao Ying couldn’t see, so she stumbled along the way. Shen Qingyu was different. He didn’t need any light and could walk as steadily as if on level ground.

He was in a very good mood, too. No matter how many times Qiao Ying bumped into him, he always took it with a smile and didn’t seem to mind that she was clumsy and annoying.

Not only that, he even offered helpful reminders.

“Qiao Ying, there’s a hole in the ground ahead.”

She sidestepped left.

“There’s a skeleton on the left.”

Qiao Ying shuddered, pulled her foot back, and moved to the right.

“There’s a pool of blood on the right.”

Qiao Ying drew her foot back again. She kept shifting left and right, but neither side was any good. Coming to this sunless place had already made her feel as if her limbs were degenerating, and now she couldn’t even walk properly.

The boy’s laughter rang out clear and bright, like shattered jade falling onto a tray-pleasant enough to hear, but if one listened closely, there was a trace of cat-and-mouse amusement hidden within it. It was clearly a seductive tone, yet it carried a wicked little urge to tease people.

Suddenly, a light appeared. An old man came carrying a torch and called out, “Who’s there in front?”

As they drew closer, Qiao Ying made out that it was none other than Old Master Zhao. She called out, “Master Zhao.”

Old Master Zhao looked surprised. “Young Master Shen, Miss Qiao. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Qiao Ying said, “Young Master Xue asked us to come. He invited us to help investigate the matter of the townspeople suddenly losing their souls.”

“So that’s how it is,” Old Master Zhao said. “Protecting the common people should have been our duty. Instead, we’ve dragged you both into this. That makes this old man look rather useless.”

It was obvious Shen Qingyu had no intention of mingling with Old Master Zhao for long. He smiled and said, “Qiao Ying, let’s go.”

Qiao Ying turned to follow, but under the torchlight she saw that the ground ahead was perfectly level. There wasn’t a single bone in sight, let alone any blood.

Her anger flared, and she hurried after him. “Shen Qingyu, you lied to me again!”

When people got angry, they also got bolder.

Qiao Ying rushed forward to grab his arm, but Shen Qingyu lifted his hand first, and she caught nothing but air.

He lowered his head again, as if he wanted to say something else.

Qiao Ying frowned and pressed her lips together.

The words “Shorty” somehow got swallowed back down in Shen Qingyu’s throat. He slowly lowered his hand, then, as if deliberately being obnoxious, waved it in front of her face. Smiling, he said, “Qiao Ying, you’re so silly.”

Qiao Ying abruptly seized his hand and brought it to her mouth, wanting to bite it, but when she remembered the wound on his hand, she could only give up. She shook off his hand and walked at the very front. “You’re not allowed to lie to me anymore.”

Shen Qingyu followed behind her at an unhurried pace. “There’s a ghost up ahead.”

“Don’t even think about lying to me. I’m not believing you!”

In the blink of an eye, Qiao Ying, who had been walking in front, came face-to-face with a ghastly pale face. She stumbled backward, then turned and ran back.

She didn’t necessarily have to grab his hand for comfort, but Shen Qingyu had already reached out to her with practiced ease. So Qiao Ying instinctively caught his hand, wrapped herself around his arm, and hid behind his back. Her breathing turned rapid, and she didn’t dare peek out.

Shen Qingyu failed to hold back his laughter again. “Qiao Ying, you’re so stupid.”

That said, his hand grew even bolder, slipping in and out of the gaps between her fingers as if casually, until their fingers were interlaced.

Old Master Zhao walked at the rear, watching the lively scene in front of him. His eyes lowered slightly, his thoughts impossible to read.