Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Jiang Li picked out a few relatively intact nail pieces and left the ones that had shattered beyond recognition.
As she gathered them, little bits of flesh that looked as though they had been bitten in half would fall out from the underside of the nails.
These tiny meat pellets were kneaded together from minced scraps of flesh, mixed with blood and artificial flavoring.
The crimson pellets were processed into the nail pieces, then boiled and stir-fried until fragrant, turning them into little snacks.
Just the smell of these Meaty-Brand Sunflower Seeds gave a Specter the sense that they would be very satisfying to crack open and eat.
Jiang Li kept her head down, picking through the black mud in front of the tavern for a short while.
She counted them. There were nineteen pieces in her palm now. She was still missing one.
Jiang Li searched again, even more carefully this time.
In the compacted black mud by the threshold, there was a nail that looked quite whole, embedded deep in the ground.
Jiang Li tugged at it twice. The nail had sunk fairly deep into the mud, and the soil was hard, making it difficult to pull free.
After several failed attempts, Jiang Li went to the wine table and brought over the Nail-Removal Pliers.
She clamped the pliers around the nail piece and yanked upward. It came out easily.
Other than having a bit more blood on it than the others, this final nail had no real flaws.
After gathering twenty nails, Jiang Li was in a wonderful mood.
She immediately stood up and walked back to her seat.
Behind Jiang Li, at the tavern threshold-
A White Hand whose fingernail had been ripped off alive poked out from the mud, startled and bewildered.
Its five fingers emerged from the earth and felt around on the ground for a long while, searching left and right, but it could not find its missing nail.
In the end, it could only withdraw back into the ground in confusion.
Just then…
A Drunkard, utterly wasted, came staggering toward the tavern with an empty bottle in hand.
He wore black rain boots on his feet and a clean pair of White Gloves on his hands.
As he stumbled over, he accidentally stepped into the muddy ground-and onto the White Hand that had not managed to retreat in time.
The White Hand’s middle finger was flattened, the bone cracking with a sharp snap.
The Drunkard braced himself against the doorframe and let out a drunken burp.
He had just been about to lift his foot and enter when the flattened White Hand suddenly reached out and, in retaliation, grabbed the Drunkard by the ankle.
The Drunkard was yanked hard and stumbled.
Then his face went straight down, his teeth slamming directly into the corner of the chair in front of him.
With a loud crack,
the Drunkard knocked out one of his front teeth. The white tooth was dyed red with blood.
Feeling something flowing from his nose, the Drunkard raised a hand and wiped at it carelessly, smearing blood onto his White Gloves.
After falling, the Drunkard rolled over and simply lay flat on his back on the ground.
He stared blankly at the ceiling. His eyes blinked twice. Then he closed them and fell asleep.
Inside the tavern.
Jiang Li placed the pile of nails she had collected onto the table.
She pushed ten nail pieces in front of Xu Haoran.
“Use these to pay the bill,” Jiang Li said.
Xu Haoran looked at the pile of nail pieces before him. One second, the corners of his mouth were lifted, his expression still excited.
But the next second, his expression froze.
Xu Haoran stared at one woman’s pink fingernail, a trace of fear appearing in his eyes.
“Jiang Li, where did you find this?” Xu Haoran picked up the pink fingernail. “This nail with a manicure.”
“Outside the door,” Jiang Li answered at once after swallowing a mouthful of honey lemon tea.
Xu Haoran’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Take me there.”
Xu Haoran was the first to rise and head toward the entrance.
Jiang Li quickly got up as well.
She turned both her and Xu Haoran’s chairs around so the wooden chairs faced outward, ensuring no one would take their seats.
Only after arranging the chairs did Jiang Li hurry after Xu Haoran to the tavern entrance.
By then, Xu Haoran had already picked up the drunk Drunkard by the door and gently set him aside.
“Where exactly was it?” Xu Haoran lifted his eyes to look at Jiang Li, a faint glimmer of tears flickering in them.
Jiang Li crouched down and pointed to the muddy ground near the threshold. “Right here.”
Xu Haoran crouched down as well.
He drew his sword and pressed something on the hilt.
The sword instantly shortened, changing from a longsword into a small dagger.
Xu Haoran used the dagger to dig through the soil.
He wanted to search and see whether anything else might appear in this patch of mud.
After just a few scrapes, a deathly pale hand emerged from the black mud.
The White Hand, which had been sleeping soundly, was startled awake again.
Xu Haoran picked up the White Hand and examined it from every angle for a few seconds.
The nail on the White Hand’s middle finger had been pulled out. The nails on the other fingers were still there, but none of them had any manicure.
“Is there a problem?” Jiang Li asked nervously.
Xu Haoran paused. Then, without a flicker of expression, he put the White Hand down and quickly filled the pit back in with black mud. “No problem.”
The White Hand was buried again.
Xu Haoran searched the surrounding area for a while longer.
He didn’t find any more pink nails, nor did he find anything useful.
Jiang Li and Xu Haoran returned to their seats.
Xu Haoran took the initiative to explain. “That piece of pink nail… I’m sure it’s Qingqing’s.”
Xu Haoran’s face had gone pale.
He pinched up the pink nail and slowly placed it in front of Jiang Li.
Then he took out his phone and pulled up his chat history with Zhao Qingqing from a few days ago.
In the chat, Zhao Qingqing had been showing Xu Haoran the new manicure she’d done for herself at home.
The design was very distinctive.
On the manicure, there were not only the letters Z and X, but also a white heart drawn smaller on the left and larger on the right.
“It really is Qingqing’s.” Jiang Li compared them. The nail they had found was identical to the one in the photo.
Xu Haoran gave a soft “Mm.”
They both knew very well that Qingqing had been here. Her nail might even have been forcibly ripped off.
As for whether Zhao Qingqing was currently dead or alive, no one knew.
After finding a clue about Zhao Qingqing, Xu Haoran grew somewhat agitated.
He lowered his lashes, reached for his cup of honey pomelo tea on the table, and brought it shakily to his mouth.
The iced drink slid down his throat, the cold stinging his teeth and stomach.
Xu Haoran only felt his entire body gradually turn cold.
“Maybe Qingqing was only injured. Or maybe… she was murdered.” Xu Haoran raised his eyes, his voice heavy and choked.
Jiang Li thought for a moment, then offered some comfort. “Wait a few more minutes, and we’ll be able to ask the Proprietress about Zhao Qingqing.”
Xu Haoran was silent for a few seconds before making a request of Jiang Li.
“Jiang Li, I want to see the scene from Qingqing’s prophecy. Can I? I want to know what the killer who murdered Qingqing looks like.”
Jiang Li did not agree right away.
Because Jiang Li remembered that in Xu Haoran’s prophecy, the scene where he died had been Xu Haoran holding the Knight’s Sword, hacking wildly at something in a pond.
Now that she thought about it, it was very likely revenge.
Jiang Li was a little worried.
If she showed Xu Haoran, it might cause more trouble, or even lead him toward the Death Ending from the prophecy.
Just as Jiang Li was fretting over how to respond, beside the drinking table, a man’s head… slowly emerged.
From the corners of their eyes, Jiang Li and Xu Haoran caught sight of the extra head at the edge of the table. Both of them shot to their feet in fright.
With such a strong reek of alcohol, it had to be the Drunkard.
But Jiang Li and the others hadn’t seen the Drunkard walk over at all.
The Drunkard seemed to have popped out of thin air.
The Drunkard rested his drunken head against the edge of the table and grinned stupidly.
Showing off his large, gap-toothed front teeth, the Drunkard looked at Xu Haoran with a mouth full of blood and asked simplemindedly,
“Can I… share, share your table? Hic. Pretty lady… you hugged me just now… You smell so good. I want to… sit with you…”
The Drunkard’s face was flushed as he stared infatuatedly at the fair and clean-looking Xu Haoran.
Xu Haoran was still mired in grief over the possibility that Zhao Qingqing was already dead.
He looked at the Drunkard with wet eyes, nearly on the verge of tears. “Bro, what kind of eyesight do you have? I’m not a pretty lady, I’m a man! Of course you ca-”
Jiang Li glanced at the Drunkard’s Black Rain Boots. “Of course you can!”
Jiang Li’s voice drowned out Xu Haoran’s “Of course you can’t.”
Jiang Li frowned at Xu Haoran, flicked her gaze downward, and gave a slight shake of her head as a signal.
Forest Tavern Survival Rules, Rule Six:
[Please be wary of the Guest in Black Rain Boots. You must get along peacefully with the Guest in Black Rain Boots, especially when he asks to share your table.]
Xu Haoran suddenly remembered something.
He hurriedly glanced at the Drunkard’s shoes, and his heart instantly skipped a beat!
Xu Haoran immediately echoed Jiang Li, changing his tune with an awkward, apologetic laugh.
“O-of course you can, hahaha… Bro, you’ve got great eyesight. I am the pretty lady herself.”