Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Sitting in the taxi, Yun Jianyue finished reading through the case file and turned to look at Si Wuming beside her, only to find that he had already fallen asleep with his eyes closed.
“Do you really like sleeping that much?” Yun Jianyue muttered under her breath.
To her surprise, Si Wuming slowly opened his eyes and tilted his head at her, silently asking if she needed something.
Yun Jianyue was speechless. “You know, when you keep looking at me like that, you’re really asking to get beeped-”
“What does ‘beeped’ mean?” Si Wuming asked without hesitation.
“It’s me manually censoring words involving violence and verbal abuse,” Yun Jianyue replied.
The taxi driver glanced at them through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help laughing. “You two make a cute couple. Are you heading back to your hometown in Luci County together?”
Si Wuming’s ‘spout nonsense on autopilot’ skill kicked in again. “Yes.”
Yun Jianyue: ?
Lu Changxue: ?
From inside the jade pendant, Lu Changxue let out a sinister little chuckle and said in an extremely creepy tone, “He just agreed that the two of you are a couple. Don’t tell me he’s fallen for you? It was the same on Chongguang Mountain last time. He cares about you so much!”
“I can hear you,” Si Wuming said abruptly, staring at the jade pendant hanging in front of Yun Jianyue’s chest.
A second later, he suddenly realized that the pendant’s location made his staring rather inappropriate. His ears turned red, and he quickly looked away.
Lu Changxue fell silent. She had forgotten that this man was the Show-Off King.
Wait. He could hear her? If he could hear her, then why had Si Wuming seriously offered to place a muting restriction on her the last time Yun Jianyue used her as a shield?!
“And you still dare claim this isn’t love!” Lu Changxue roared.
Yun Jianyue understood Lu Changxue’s thought process all too well. Exasperated, she said, “If you’ve got nothing better to do, go eat some preserved plums.”
The driver chuckled. “Preserved plums are delicious. My daughter loves them.”
Lu Changxue burst out laughing. “This driver is so adorable! Hahahaha!”
Just then, Yun Jianyue’s phone vibrated with a new message. She checked it and discovered it was from Si Wuming.
The guy was sitting right next to her. Why was he texting her?
Puzzled, Yun Jianyue opened the message anyway.
[Si Wuming: It isn’t love. I only said yes because I didn’t want to explain things to the driver. I went to Chongguang Mountain because you’re my colleague, and both you and my martial nephew were there. As for what Cai Zeyu said over the phone, he was talking nonsense.]
Despite how earnestly he explained himself, a completely different thought flashed through Yun Jianyue’s mind.
She couldn’t resist asking, “You don’t have social anxiety, do you?”
Si Wuming rarely spoke more than twenty words at a time. He had finally managed such a long explanation, yet he had still typed it out on his phone!
Si Wuming: !!!
The moment Yun Jianyue saw his expression, she felt as if she had uncovered the truth.
So the Show-Off King wasn’t aloof. He just had social anxiety.
His fear of social interaction was what made him seem so cold and untouchable.
And because he disliked talking to people, he never said a word during missions. He simply dealt with their targets through brute force.
“All right, I understand. From now on, leave the heavy burden of socializing to me.” Yun Jianyue patted Si Wuming’s shoulder with solemn sincerity.
“Thank you,” Si Wuming whispered before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.
Yet even after he had been asleep for a long time, the tips of his ears remained bright red.
At four in the afternoon, the two humans and one ghost arrived in Luci County.
As soon as they got out of the taxi, the captain of the Luci County Paranormal Bureau Branch approached them with two other people.
“Hello. You must be our colleagues from the municipal Paranormal Bureau. I’m Chen You, captain of the Luci County Paranormal Bureau Branch. These two are Xiao Wang and Xiao Zhao.”
After briefly introducing himself, Chen You exchanged credentials with them and led the pair to their vehicle.
In the car, Yun Jianyue asked Chen You, “The case file says Yu Lu and her family went to Granny Chang again afterward. What happened?”
The file had been submitted to the municipal bureau on September 18, but the transfer order had only been approved today. There had been a one-week interval in the meantime.
Chen You said, “It didn’t go well. We’re on our way to see Yu Lu now.”
Their car soon turned into an alley. At the very end stood a large iron gate, with a wind-battered sign hanging crookedly beside it:
Luci Psychiatric Hospital.
“Yu Lu went insane?” Yun Jianyue got out of the car with Chen You and the others. When the hospital staff saw who they were, they let them straight through.
Chen You explained, “Yes. Yu Lu lost her mind the day after the Yu Family went to Granny Chang a second time. The Hu Family is still insisting that Yu Lu be held legally accountable, but a psychiatric evaluation found that she no longer possesses full legal capacity.”
“Then what part did you play in all this?” Yun Jianyue asked.
Nowhere in the file did it explain why Chen You and his team had taken over the case. It only stated that the police had assumed responsibility for it.
Chen You sighed and handed Yun Jianyue his phone. “We haven’t had time to print it yet, so read the digital copy for now. This is the supplementary report we wrote after submitting the file to the municipal bureau.”
Thursday, December 15.
Yu Lu went to see Granny Chang, but Granny Chang wasn’t home. Her family said a wealthy businessman from the neighboring city had hired her services and that she would not return for several days.
For the next three days, Yu Lu went to Granny Chang’s house every day.
Finally, on December 18, Yu Lu found Granny Chang, who had just returned to the village.
“Granny!” Yu Lu rushed over excitedly and seized Granny Chang’s hand.
Granny Chang had been chatting warmly with some fellow villagers, but the moment she saw Yu Lu, her expression changed. She hastily yanked her hand free.
“There’s nothing I can do about your family’s troubles! I warned your father from the beginning. You brought all of this upon yourselves!” With that, Granny Chang turned toward her house.
Yu Lu followed close behind, pleading desperately. “Granny, if even you can’t help me, then I’m finished! I don’t care if I go to prison, but if that unclean thing keeps tormenting my parents, even ten thousand deaths wouldn’t be enough for me to make it up to them as their daughter!”
In the end, Granny Chang’s heart softened. Just before reaching her door, Yu Lu’s pleas moved her enough to stop and explain.
“Girl, let me put this plainly. Your family was born to a life of poverty and hardship. You don’t have the fortune to withstand a sudden windfall. If you’d left that one million in relocation compensation untouched for three years and then had me perform a ritual for you, you would have been able to use it. But your father refused to heed the warnings. He insisted on buying a car, buying a house, and starting a business.
“Now your family has violated every taboo there is, and your collective fortune has fallen as low as it can go. Naturally, that makes it easy for unclean things to latch on to you. A ghost clouded your eyes and made you run someone over and kill them. A little ghost tripped your father and left him crippled. Your mother will be next!
“I’ve received guidance from the immortals and know a little about ghosts and spirits, but only a little. If you’d come to me earlier, I might still have had a way to break this curse. Now there’s nothing I can do.”
After saying this, Granny Chang turned to enter her house.
Yu Lu dropped to her knees with a thud. Sobbing, she begged, “Granny, please save my mother! My father is already disabled. Nothing can happen to my mother too. Please, Granny, I’m begging you!”
Granny Chang had a granddaughter a few years younger than Yu Lu who was still in college. Seeing Yu Lu in such a wretched state, she could not bring herself to turn her away in the end.
“Bring your mother here tomorrow. But understand this first: whether it works will not be up to me. It will be up to Heaven.”