The Golden Age - Chapter 69: Ghost
By the time Shi Ling and his riders arrived at Wood Street, Qin Xiao’s house was already surrounded.
Wood Street was a relatively remote street in Gui City. For many years, there had never really been anything to see here. Therefore, due to the lack of people, the business here was very poor, not even comparable to the ones near the Yudai River.
At dawn, the peace at Wood Street was broken.
Not everyone who lived here knew what was going on.
Mr. Chen, who was lame and couldn’t really walk well, would get up around noon every day. This morning, he was suddenly woken up by the sound of horses and saw that Qin Xiao’s house, which was quite a couple of houses down the street, was completely surrounded by a crowd of people. He couldn’t help but to go there and check it out too.
“Mr. Jin, what’s the matter?” When seeing the coffin shop owner, Mr. Jin, was also there, Mr. Chen walked forward to ask.
“Someone died.” Mr. Jin and his father ran a coffin shop. They rarely talk to each other, but they were similar in many ways. Always quiet and one could never see him smile.
“Who’s dead?” Mr. Chen was a bit taken back. “Qin Xiao died?”
After all, they were all neighbors. Although Qin Xiao wasn’t extremely social around his neighbors, he still knew quite a few of them
“What nonsense.” Someone beside them interrupted, “Qin Xiao was not even in the house. Some strangers died. I don’t even know where they came from.”
“Stranger?” Mr. Chen looked puzzled. “How come a stranger died in Qin Xiao’s house?”
The person replied, “Who knows, maybe they came into the house to steal things. I heard that Qin Xiao won a lot of money from the casino. Maybe they were after the money.”
“Qin Xiao killed them?” Mr. Chen kept asking.
“No, it was a ghost.” Mr. Jin suddenly spoke.
“Ghost?” Mr. Chen was shocked again, “How did you know? Did you see her?”
Mr. Jin pointed towards the yard and did not reply.
The door to the yard was open. Although someone was guarding it, one could see what was going on inside. Mr. Chen saw a full armored soldier in the middle of the yard. Beside him stood the owner of the pancake shop, Mr. Wang. They seemed to be talking about something.
Mr. Wang has been making Chinese pancakes for a very long time in Wood Street. He was a nice person and loved to laugh. Some think that he was a bit autistic, but he never lied once in his life.
Two corpses were lying in the yard. Both dressed in long black clothes and a cover in front of their face. One of them still held a dagger and the other one had a dagger beside his corpse.
“Ghost woman.” Mr. Wang drew in the air, “Floating around. Slap! Hands touch the neck, and the person die.”
“How come you saw it?” Shi Ling’s men, Song Chuang, asked, “You said the ghost woman was floating around. Did you see it?”
Mr. Wang nodded several times. “The house was very noisy. I heard the sound. I looked inside, a bunch of fighting. And then they…” He pointed at the two corpses. “They ran out. The ghost woman followed. Then they died.”
“How does the ghost woman you’re talking about look like?” Shi Ling frowned and asked.
Mr. Wang covered his eyes with his hand, “I didn’t. I didn’t. The ghost woman eats people. I didn’t dare to look at her. She will eat me. I ran back to my house and hide.”
“Is the owner of this house Qin Xiao?”
“Yes.” Mr. Wang nodded. “Qin Xiao. Good boy. He eat my food very often. He give me a lot of money.”
“Did you see him last night?” Shi Ling continued to ask.
Mr. Wang shook his head. “No. I no see him.” He suddenly seems to have thought of something and showed a frightened expression. “He’s eaten. The ghost woman ate her.”
“Bring him down.” Shi Ling waved his hand and someone took Mr. Wang away. Before being pushed away, Mr. Wang shouted, “Ghost woman! Watch out! She eats people!”
Shi Ling entered the room, there were two more corpses in the room. He squatted down beside one of them and Song Chuang followed. “Commander, from the looks of these corpses, it seems like they both died in an instant. That Qin Xiao jailer couldn’t have done this.”
“The murderer is a well-trained fighter in the Intermediate Heavenly Realm.” Shi Ling said quietly, “Incredible skills.”
Song Chuang was a bit shocked, “Intermediate Heavenly Realm, isn’t that as strong as you?”
“I’m not as good as her.” Shi Ling looked around. “I just got to level four. This person seems to be at least level five or higher.”
“There’s such a person beside Qin Xiao?” Song Chuang was even more shocked.
Shi Ling did not reply. He stood up and walked around the room, then left. Song Chuang spoke, “Commander, we have sealed both sides of Wood Street. Should we search every house one by one? I’m sure the killer and Qin Xiao must be in one of those houses.”
“If you were Qin Xiao and had an Intermediate Heavenly Realm master beside you, would you still stay in Wood Street?” Shi Ling asked coldly, “The scene happened at Wood Street. Qin Xiao knew we would come to his house. He had long left.”
At this time, someone came from outside and bowed. “Commander, I heard that Qin Xiao made a scene at the casino the other day. He had a really powerful person beside him as well, and it was a woman too. That woman was insanely strong, a dozen of the casino’s guards stood no chance. I think the killer was with that same woman.”
Shi Ling frowned and was silent for a moment. “Find the guys in the casino and ask them to describe the woman. Find an artist and draw her face, and of course, Qin Xiao too. Place their images around the whole city. If anyone captures them, award them. If someone was caught hiding them, kill them.”
The person nodded and left.
Shi Ling walked out of the yard and looked around. His eyes fell on the oil shop across the street.
Inside the shop, Aunt Ma was still curled up on a creaky chair.
It was very early in the morning, and the sun had already shown on the street. But the shop was still very dim.
Shi Ling slowly walked to the shop and looked at Aunt Ma on the chair. Aunt Ma was sleeping as if she didn’t sleep well last night. When Shi Ling walked in and coughed, she suddenly woke up and said in a scratchy voice, “I have oil. Vegetable oil, sesame oil, what do you want?”
Shi Ling did not reply. He looked around the room. There was the counter on the left that hasn’t been cleaned in years. And beside it is a shelf full of other stuff.
On the right was a room with the door open.
Then Aunt Ma repeated, “Vegetable oil, sesame oil, what do you want?”
Shi Ling ignored her and left.
Behind that opened door, Qin Xiao was laying on the floor holding the fish-shaped dagger. The second Shi Ling came in, he had already grabbed tight onto his dagger. If Shi Ling actually came into the room, whether he would be able to walk about alive tonight would have been a question mark.
Mu Yeji was laying on top of him. But she looked calmer and did not look horrified at all.
The door was wide open, so Shi Ling did not expect that people were hiding in that room.
After Shi Ling went out, Qin Xiao wiggled to beside the bed and looked through the bottom of the door. There, he could see the street clearly.
He saw Shi Ling gave a few orders and immediately left. Soon after, the corpses were carried out of the room and were brought away. Then someone shouted, “Listen up! If anyone sees Qin Xiao or knows where he is, immediately report it to the Manor of the Marquess. The Marquess will reward you immensely. If one hides him, then say goodbye to your heads. Do you all understand?”
The people nodded their heads and quickly dispersed in the scene. The street returned to its former peace.
Qin Xiao let out a sigh of relief and wiggled his body as he said softly, “You’re too heavy! You’re killing me.”Â
Mu Yeji rolled her eyes and said angrily, “I’m a master from Sword Valley. Now I have to hide like a criminal with you. Why didn’t you just let me go out there and beat them up?”
“You’re strong.” Qin Xiao replied, “You can beat twenty or thirty, or even a hundred. But can you beat three hundred or five hundred? You’re only in the Intermediate Heavenly Realm, don’t think that you’re invincible.” He muttered, “If it wasn’t because you were busy gambling and happened to see these assassins when you came back, none of this commotion would have happened.”
Mu Yeji’s face sank and replied, “You little bastard. They’re going to kill you. I helped you finish them off, and yet here you are acting ungrateful.”
“I knew something was wrong before I even entered and hid here.” Qin Xiao also said angrily, “You’re in the Intermediate Heavenly Realm yet still couldn’t sense that something was suspicious in the house?”
Mu Yeji was even angrier. “You little piece of shit. How rude! Of course! I sensed something was wrong. I just wanted to go in and check if you died or not. I have to clean up your corpse you know. I was being nice and you’re here blabbering nonsense.” She flicked her sleeves. “From now on, I quit helping you. Stop dragging me into everything. I’m an innocent and clean person. Now because of you, I am a wanted criminal. Not only did you not thank me, yet you’re here blaming me.” The more she spoke, the angrier she got. “Compensate me with silver!”
At this moment, Aunt Ma walked into the room. She stared coldly at the two people.
Mu Yeji glanced at Hong Ye and sat down on the chair. Qin Xiao walked forward and asked, “Did they leave?”
“There are people in cover keeping an eye on the street. You wouldn’t be able to leave so easily. There are Wolf Riders all over the city. They would not leave until they find you.”
“Damn, they’re fast.” Qin Xiao sneered. “These Wolf Riders came faster than I expected.”
Hong Ye also sneered coldly. “His son almost died in your hands. Do you think he’ll let you go easily? You shouldn’t have done it, and even if you did, you should’ve killed him. Now you brought yourself so much trouble. You must not stay in Gui City.”
Edited by: EyljeeÂ