Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I froze for a moment when I saw that knife.

It was only about the size of a palm, with a sharp, thin blade and a wooden handle. A hideous ghost head was carved into the top of the hilt, while the blade just below it was engraved with a Bagua diagram.

You didn’t see things like this on the market nowadays; I had only seen one once before in the provincial museum.

It was a miniature Ghost-head Knife.

It also went by another, more notorious name: the lingchi Blade.

As the name suggested, it was a knife used in the past for the execution known as lingchi-death by a thousand cuts.

At this moment, blood was gurgling out of the blade, dripping steadily onto the floor.

“It hurts… it hurts so much… help me…”

The woman sobbed and pleaded, her voice very different from the usual hysteria of ghostly entities.

She seemed to be afraid of something, not daring to cry too loudly.

My heart stirred. Just as I was about to step forward to get a better look at the Lingchi Blade, a lithe figure suddenly darted out from behind me. A long whip sliced through the air with a sharp crack, lashing out toward the woman’s head.

Li Qingying moved with incredible agility, shielding me behind her in just a few steps.

The woman’s figure at the door had already vanished.

With her departure, the bloodstains on the floor disappeared as well.

Everything that had just happened felt like an illusion.

Li Qingying turned around, asking with concern, “Xiao Jiu, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I said helplessly. “But you just scared away my guest.”

Li Qingying’s brow furrowed. “Guest?”

I nodded. “Yes. She came for a Pawn Knife.”

“Pawn Knife?” Li Qingying’s expression was hard to describe. “That thing just now was covered in blood, without a single patch of healthy skin on its body. Weren’t you afraid?”

I pointed to my eyes. “I can see these things entirely because of Seventh Master, and Seventh Master needs the support of Merit for his cultivation. My way of earning Merit is to run this Pawnshop properly. Just now… you ruined a deal for me.”

Hearing that the Pawnshop’s operations were closely tied to Liu Junyan, Li Qingying immediately felt regret. “Then should I go drag her back?”

Before her voice had even faded, she had already leaped out into the night.

I stepped behind the counter, reflecting on the woman’s state.

It was obvious the woman had come to offer this Pawn Knife so I would help her find the cause of her death.

Even though she was already dead-and had been for who knows how long-her current state suggested she was still being threatened or imprisoned by something, and she needed me to lend a helping hand.

I was in desperate need of Merit right now, so I would treat every business deal that came to my door with the utmost seriousness.

A short while later, Li Qingying returned.

She looked a bit strange, standing at the door clutching her whip, seemingly lost in thought.

I asked, “Couldn’t catch her?”

Li Qingying shook her head.

I asked again, “Then you must have scared her so much she’s unwilling to provide the Pawn Knife?”

Li Qingying shook her head again. “I caught up to her, but… it was on the road leading to the Town Head’s Residence.”

Now it was my turn for my expression to shift. “The Town Head’s Residence?”

“Yes,” Li Qingying said. “I watched with my own eyes as she was sucked into the Town Head’s Residence by some force and never came back out. Xiao Jiu, that woman might be one of the Town Head’s people.”

I agreed. “Though, it’s also possible she died at the Town Head’s Residence.”

“That way of dying… tsk tsk.”

Li Qingying clicked her tongue, shaking her head repeatedly.

Lingchi. This method of death was considered a top-tier torture in ancient times. Who would have thought that even today, someone would be subjected to lingchi until death?

And in a small town like ours, no less.

Regardless, this matter was definitely connected to the Town Head’s family.

During the latter half of the night, neither Li Qingying nor I dared to sleep. We stayed in the Southern Study, yawning as we chatted.

But no more business came to the door.

When I woke up the next morning, Li Qingying was no longer in the Pawnshop.

There was fragrant porridge simmering in the pot, and two small side dishes were set out on the stove.
I have to admit, since Li Qingying arrived, I feel like I’ve returned to the days when Granny was still around; she has always taken such good care of me.

Not long after breakfast, Li Qingying came rushing back.

She placed a small brown porcelain bottle in front of me. I asked, “What is this?”

“Ox Tears,” Li Qingying said. “Rub them on your eyes, and you’ll be able to see what you want to see.”

So that was what she had been up to all morning.

This was good stuff. I quickly tucked it away and asked, “Sister Qingying, do you think that woman will come back?”

“I don’t know,” Li Qingying replied. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. However, if she really does come back, will you help her?”

Having glimpsed the woman’s background, Li Qingying had her reservations.

After all, the pack of Yellow Weasels backing the Town Head was not easy to deal with.

“I will,” I said decisively. “The Pawnshop has its rules. When a Yin Pawn is requested, one must not refuse. Besides, perhaps by following her trail, we can uncover even more?”

Li Qingying hummed thoughtfully and said, “Rules are dead, but people are alive. We have to know how to be flexible, don’t we?”

I thought about it and gave a nod. “I’ll act within my capabilities.”

That night, I didn’t close the Pawnshop doors.

Li Qingying stayed with me, waiting.

Just after eleven o’clock, there was movement outside.

I looked up and saw only a blurry shadow, so I quickly took out the Ox Tears and applied them.

Seeing Li Qingying, the figure instinctively shrank back.

Li Qingying said coldly, “If you have business, come in and speak.”

As she spoke, she stepped aside.

With the Ox Tears applied, my eyes stung for a moment. When I looked out again, I saw a skinless woman, covered in gore, standing at the bottom of the steps outside the door.

The woman’s eyes had also been gouged out, leaving only two dark, hollow sockets.

She was still clutching that Lingchi Blade, creeping into the Pawnshop in a furtive manner.

With every movement, blood dripped down, occasionally carrying bits of shredded flesh.

However, the blood and flesh were not physical; they fell to the ground and moved along with the woman, leaving no trace behind.

By the time the woman walked inside, Li Qingying had already circled around from the main entrance. She leaned against the doorframe of the small door in the Southern Study that faced the street, her arms crossed as she stared outside. “Say what you need to say. You’re already a ghost, yet you’re still so pathetic. Don’t worry, I’ll watch the door for you.”

The woman seemed to freeze for a moment, her entire body trembling.

She was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, unable to withstand even the slightest shock.

I didn’t dare delay and asked directly, “Do you want to pawn this knife?”

The woman nodded, and as she moved, a large clump of flesh fell away. “Pawn… Pawn Knife.”

I asked, “Is this knife the murder weapon that killed you? Are you pawning it so I can help you get revenge?”

The woman kept nodding, but the only words she could mutter were those same few: “Pawn Knife…”

I asked several times, but it was always the same.

I realized then that this Ghost-head Knife used to perform lingchi on her had become her obsession. Because the obsession was so deep, she could barely manage to say the words ‘Pawn Knife.’

She couldn’t say anything else.

I could only try the process of elimination. “Did Town Head Huang Youcai kill you?”

The woman shook her head.

“Was it his son, Huang Jiabao?”

The woman shook her head again.

Furthermore, she suddenly became extremely agitated, constantly turning her head to look outside as if some invisible force were threatening her.

But Li Qingying was guarding the door; if there were any danger, she would have sensed it immediately.

Right then, my gaze suddenly froze, landing on the woman’s feet.

Although her feet were also a bloody mess, I could still clearly distinguish that they were a pair of… Three-Inch Golden Lotuses.