Phantom Skeleton Painting

Chapter 77.1 Ghost Market

Mr. Zhu also saw that these two people were looking for his reaction. He was a little angry and helpless. He blew his beard and stared for a while, but Song Qingluo showed no intention of stopping. In the end, he was no longer interested. He let out a long sigh and stopped trying to educate the two of them.

“Back to business.” Song Qingluo said, “He came to sell items again last week? What did he sell this time?”

Mr. Zhu said: “Actually, although the boy from the Zhao family bought his thumb ring last time, I actually didn’t connect the two things. Until last week, he came again. This time, he sold a hairpin. To a girl I know.”

Song Qingluo said: “Who?”

Mr. Zhu sighed again: “She played in the same yard as you when she was a child. Her name was Lu Yinyin. I wonder if you still remember her.”

Song Qingluo said: “I have almost forgotten what happened in the past.”

“Forget it if you don’t remember, it’s not important anyway.” The old man waved his hand, “As for her… After buying the hairpin, she went home. Who knew that within a few days, she would start to go crazy like the Zhao boy? She also claimed that there were bugs crawling in her body. You know what happened with the Zhao boy who wore the ring on his hand, but the hairpin is on her head!”

Lin Banxia was slightly startled after hearing this: “She didn’t want to chop off her own neck, did she?”

“That’s not true.” Mr. Zhu waved his hand, “She already tried. Fortunately, her father found her and stopped her forcefully. Even so, she still cut a bit of her throat. Fortunately, the cut was not deep enough to kill her. Come on…you have to know, once it could be a coincidence, but this is the second time, no matter how you look at it, you would also panic.”

Song Qingluo pondered: “Are they the only two who bought that person’s things?”

“There must be more.” Mr. Zhu said, “I only know these two people, but there must be others who bought it. I just don’t know what happened to the others after they bought it.”

Song Qingluo thought silently.

Mr. Zhu didn’t push them and asked them if they were hungry and if they wanted to eat something. Before Lin Banxia could answer, he called a servant and brought over several plates of exquisite snacks, inviting Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo to eat. Lin Banxia picked up a piece and took a bite, showing surprise. This snack seemed to be an improved traditional Chinese snack. The texture and taste were very good, so the workmanship should be very sophisticated. From this point of view, Mr. Zhu Wenbing must be a very particular person. Why would such a sophisticated person deliberately defraud Song Qingluo of his money? And even after defrauding the money, the two have not become enemies yet… Lin Banxia really couldn’t understand.

While Lin Banxia was thinking about it, Song Qingluo said suddenly, “Is Lu Yinyin in the hospital now?”

“Yes.” Mr. Zhu nodded, “I did a check-up in the hospital. There is nothing wrong with her body. It’s just that her mental state is not like a normal person. She tried desperately to cut off her head… She is still tied to the bed.”

His voice was lowered, “Qingluo, does your friend know about those things?”

Song Qingluo said: “He knows, just tell him directly.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Mr. Zhu said, “Do you think this person has anything to do with the things you deal with?”

It turned out that Mr. Zhu also knew about Song Qingluo’s work, and he was worried that he would spill the beans, so he specifically asked if Lin Banxia knew about it.

Song Qingluo said: “I can’t tell, I have to see it in person.”

Mr. Zhu said: “Then let me contact her family. Can we go to the hospital to see her together tomorrow? Even if you haven’t seen her for so many years, she was your childhood playmate after all…” He seemed to be worried about Song Qingluo. He didn’t want to worry about it, so he said a few more words.

Song Qingluo said calmly: “Aren’t I going to go? I am the one who does this job. Do you think it will be ok to go at ten o’clock tomorrow morning?”

“Okay.” Mr. Zhu said, “I will come to pick you up when the time comes.”

Song Qingluo nodded, stood up and said, “It’s getting late, I’ll go back first.”

“Hey…” Mr. Zhu said, “This pastry was your favorite when you were a child. Why don’t you take some home, hmm?”

“No need.” Song Qingluo refused, “I don’t like eating these now.” He winked at Lin Banxia, ​​and the two of them turned around and left the yard. Behind them, there was a faint sound of the old man helplessly sighing.

Although it was already very late at this time, the ghost market was still busy. Lin Banxia walked behind Song Qingluo and asked: “You are actually here to see the old man today, right?”

Song Qingluo didn’t look back: “No.”

Lin Banxia smiled and said: “Liar.”

Song Qingluo still didn’t admit it: “I just wanted to take you to see the ghost market. It was bad luck that I met him.”

Lin Banxia said in a long voice: “Oh… So that’s it.”

Song Qingluo suddenly stopped and turned around to stare at Lin Banxia.

Lin Banxia was stunned when he looked at him: “What?”

Song Qingluo said: “There seems to be no one around.”

What he said was incomprehensible, but before Lin Banxia could react, he saw Song Qingluo reaching out towards him and then gently pressing his shoulders. The unsuspecting Lin Banxia was pressed against the wall behind him, then Song Qingluo leaned forward and landed a burning kiss on Lin Banxia’s lips.

Different from the many superficial kisses before, this one was full of aggression. Lin Banxia was forced to open his mouth and allowed Song Qingluo to invade. Their lips and tongues tangled, making ambiguous wet sounds. The atmosphere became increasingly hot. A faint blush appeared in the corners of Lin Banxia’s eyes, making him look delicious.

After the kiss, Lin Banxia’s breath was shaky. It was a bit embarrassing to say that this was his first kiss. He didn’t expect it to be with Song Qingluo in such a dimly lit alley.

Song Qingluo rubbed Lin Banxia’s red lips with his fingers. Some other emotions were rolling in his eyes. Finally, he suppressed them, but when he spoke again, there was a sexy hoarseness in his voice. He said: “Let’s go home.”

Lin Banxia hummed in a low voice.

After getting in the taxi, the throbbing mood gradually faded away, but at that moment, Lin Banxia also realized that Song Qingluo must have done it on purpose. He just didn’t want to answer the question he asked. Forget it, it’s not important, just let him tell a little lie.

When the two returned home, it was almost twelve o’clock.

Lin Banxia turned on the light in the living room and saw Peppa Pig playing on the TV. The two little piglets had fallen asleep on the sofa. Xiaohua hugged the little skeleton tightly, like a doll. When she heard the sound of Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo coming back, she got up in a daze, rubbed her eyes, and greeted them.

Lin Banxia hurriedly carried her to the bed in the bedroom, and carefully closed the door. The sleepy Xiaohua was about to fall asleep again, but she heard a ding-dong-dong sound from the closet next to her. Xiaohua was stunned for a moment, glanced at the small skeleton in her arms, opened her eyes wide and said, “Is there anyone in there?”

Small Cave also woke up and made a gesture with his hand.

Xiaohua actually understood and said hesitantly: “Are there other children in there?”

Small Cave made a gesture of stuffing something into his mouth, and then showed a happy expression.

“Is there something delicious?” Xiaohua’s eyes lit up.

Small Cave nodded.

Then the two little ones helped each other get up from the bed, excitedly pushed open the closet and climbed in.

***

Lin Banxia thought Xiaohua was asleep, so he turned down the sound of the TV in the living room. Unexpectedly, he was holding the remote control when he heard a click at the door, as if something had fallen. Lin Banxia got up directly and went to the door, but saw no one through the peephole. After unlocking the door, he searched on the ground again, then froze in place.

Song Qingluo followed and asked Lin Banxia what was wrong.

“Well…” Lin Banxia hesitated, “Are you sure that our house number is a heretical object?”

Song Qingluo said: “Yes.”

Lin Banxia: “Would a heretical object fall off?”

Song Qingluo: “?”

Lin Banxia said: “It fell…”

Song Qingluo looked down and found that the heretical house number 1303 had fallen to the ground. The black house number was particularly eye-catching against the white floor. Song Qingluo was silent for a while… He was also encountering this situation for the first time.

“What is this?” Lin Banxia, ​​”Strike?”

Song Qingluo also couldn’t figure it out. Although the house number was performing stress relief, under normal circumstances, its effectiveness would slowly weaken after several years. Such an inexplicable failure had never occurred before. It was almost as if it couldn’t stand the cruel blow and seemed to look down on everything. The two of them stood at the door and stared at the house number for a long time. Song Qingluo then bent down, picked it up, and analyzed: “Maybe it conflicts with Xiaohua’s attribute?”

Lin Banxia: “Oh, it doesn’t like children.”

There was already Small Cave, but now Xiaohua was also brought back. For a heretical object that doesn’t like children, it was indeed a cruel torture. It was better for it to be sealed away.

Song Qingluo picked up the house number and thought for a while: “But if there hasn’t been enough time, it is illegal to seal it directly.”

Lin Banxia: “What should we do?”

Song Qingluo: “…Do you have 502 [1.] at home?”

Lin Banxia: “Yes, yes.”

He happily went into the house and took out the 502, and handed it to Song Qingluo. Song Qingluo took it, smeared half of it on the house number, and then glued it on again seriously.

“Let’s just live together.” Song Qingluo said, “It’s here now.”

House number: “????” If we want to talk about the most humiliated heresy in the world, if it said it ranked second, who else would dare to rank first, right???

 

Translator’s comments:

1. 502 is a type of superglue.

 

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