Chapter 338: Chapter 292: The Little Girl in Red
"The Qi Family must have gotten their treasure back by now," Yang Xiao tested Fu Qingzhu, trying to gauge his reaction. The Qi Family was powerful and influential; if they discovered the item was in his possession, he was in for serious trouble.
Shrugging, Fu Qingzhu replied, "I’m not sure about that. However, I suspect they haven’t. I heard they’ve booked several floors of the Huirong Building."
After saying this, Fu Qingzhu looked at Yang Xiao and smiled, "Brother, you’ve become quite the topic of conversation lately. Even our Presidents are talking about you. Slaying Granny Hong, the Venerable Level Heretic Cultivator from the Yu Yuan Sect, that’s quite an accomplishment. Director Nalan won’t let your efforts go unrewarded. Your rise to prominence is just around the corner."
Yang Xiao was taken aback, it had only been a few days since the event, and he didn’t expect the news to have spread so quickly. He just smiled in response, "Brother Fu, you’re always so well-informed."
"No offense, I just want to remind you that the brightest moments are often the most dangerous ones. Threats from within can be more difficult to guard against than those from outside," Fu Qingzhu said with a complex look in his eyes. "The Rongcheng Patrol Division isn’t all in agreement. Aside from your Director Nalan, there’s also Director Huang Guochao, responsible for the central district. And as for Captains who can slay Venerable Level Heretic Cultivators, it’s not just you, Captain Yang. There’s also Captain Qu Muzhi from Director Huang’s team. Captain Qu killed a Venerable Level Heretic Cultivator on his own three years ago and is regarded as the strongest among all the 14 Captains and Deputy Captains of the seven divisions under the Rongcheng Patrol Office."
Yang Xiao chuckled, swirling the wine in his glass, "Good for him. How does that affect me? Is he planning to come after me?"
"Where there are people, there are conflicts. It’s no secret that Director Nalan and Director Huang have been at odds for a long time, both with their own powerful backers. Sometimes, even the Provincial Office can’t do much about it. Think about it, during the last battle at the mall against Granny Hong, why didn’t Qu Muzhi come to assist? It wasn’t that Director Nalan didn’t want him to, but because Director Huang insisted on keeping his Captain Qu to guard the central district. Director Huang isn’t as generous as your Director. If it had been Nalan Shuo, he would never do something like that," Fu Qingzhu explained.
Yang Xiao had heard of Director Huang Guochao; he was in charge of coordinating the work of the three offices in the central district, while Nalan Shuo was responsible for the four outer offices. The mall where Granny Hong and her cohorts hid was within Nalan’s jurisdiction, naturally falling under his purview.
But regardless of what was said, they were all part of the same team. Watching from the sidelines when it mattered most was something Yang Xiao couldn’t understand. To be precise, he understood, but didn’t accept it.
"Thank you for the reminder. I’ll be careful." Knowing that Fu Qingzhu meant well, Yang Xiao observed him for a moment and then suddenly asked, "Brother, have you run into some trouble recently?"
Fu Qingzhu’s brow furrowed, "Why do you say that?"
"You’ve been acting strange today, talking a lot." Yang Xiao hesitated for a moment and then continued, "Your words give me the feeling that if you don’t say them now, you might never get another chance."
After a moment of silence, Fu Qingzhu sighed, "One can’t control their fate in the jianghu. Being in this position inevitably means I know many secrets, but knowing too much isn’t always a good thing. Some secrets protect you, while others... they can just as easily spell your doom."
Suddenly, Fu Qingzhu looked directly into Yang Xiao’s eyes, "I consider you a friend, Yang Xiao. If one day, and I mean if, I really encounter troubles that I can’t solve and all my contacts and relationships prove ineffective, would you still help me?"
"I would," Yang Xiao nodded.
"Aren’t you going to ask what it is about?"
"No, don’t tell me. If it’s something atrocious, I’m afraid I might hesitate. If you don’t say anything, I’ll pretend I don’t know. You consider me a friend, and it’s only right for me to help a friend in need," Yang Xiao responded.
Fu Qingzhu’s tense expression gradually relaxed. Looking into Yang Xiao’s face, he slowly nodded, "Thank you."
Leaving the bar, Yang Xiao’s relaxed expression became tense. He knew Fu Qingzhu must be in trouble. He didn’t show his concern in front of Fu Qingzhu because he didn’t want to add to his already-stretched nerves.
Fu Qingzhu was speaking illogically today. He specifically brought up the inner struggles of the Patrol Defense Bureau, which weren’t critical to Yang Xiao at the moment. It seemed more like Fu Qingzhu was expressing his own concerns. Yang Xiao suspected Fu Qingzhu’s trouble originated from within the Apostles Union. As for the specifics, since Fu Qingzhu didn’t share, it wasn’t right for him to pry.
Frankly, Fu Qingzhu had helped him a lot. Being on guard was a tactic, not the goal. He couldn’t just stand by if Fu was in trouble.
"Brother Fu, I hope you get through this safely."
After returning to his apartment and completing his nightly routine, Yang Xiao went to bed. He planned to visit the Patrol Defense Bureau the next day to hear what the word on the street was.
But shortly after falling asleep, he was awakened by a strange sound. When the cry of a child became distinct, his alertness skyrocketed. It was coming from his bathroom.
The idea of a child crying in his bathroom was enough to terrify even Yang Xiao. He reached for the light switch in the darkness bit by bit. And why so slowly? He was worried that if he moved too quickly, he might touch someone’s hand in the darkness.
The switch was touched, but despite several attempts, the light did not come on. There couldn’t be a power outage, Yang Xiao understood that he had encountered another supernatural event.
Though the room was without lights, it was not pitch-black. Instead, there was a faint, unidentifiable glimmer. Yang Xiao tiptoed out of bed, not even putting on his shoes, not daring to disturb the child crying in the bathroom. He wanted to get his drama robe first.
But when he got to the table where his backpack was placed, he discovered the backpack was gone. Yang Xiao didn’t dare to stay and continue searching, he chose to leave immediately, not touching the bathroom door at all, pretending the crying did not exist.
He made his way smoothly to the door. Before opening it, he had a second thought and peeked outside through the peephole. What he saw made his heart skip a beat, the hallway lights were on as normal, but right outside his door stood a little girl in red, crouching with her back toward him.
In an instant, the crying from the bathroom ceased, now replaced by wails coming from outside the door. The cries grew more and more pitiful while the skinny frame of the girl convulsed, as if she was enduring immense pain.
Yang Xiao slowly backed away, holding onto a last sliver of hope as he moved toward the balcony window. He cracked the tightly closed curtains slightly, and without surprise, the little girl in red was crouched on the balcony crying, back facing him.
Yang Xiao instantly closed the curtains, but it was too late. Before he could turn around, a cry suddenly rang out behind him, making all the hairs on his back stand on end.
Yang Xiao desperately called out to the drama robe in his mind, but to no avail. The crying behind him grew closer. With no other choice, Yang Xiao finally turned around slowly. Sure enough, a slim red figure was crouching right in front of him, still facing away.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Xiao forced a warm smile on his face, "Little girl, why are you in my house?"
The girl in red cried even harder upon hearing this, "Someone stole something that belongs to me, they stole my things... wuu wuu wuu..."
"What things? You... you stop crying first, I’ll help you look for them, okay?" The girl’s crying was so intense it made Yang Xiao’s skin crawl. The longer he listened, the more his head felt like splitting open, as if someone was stirring his brains with a stick.
It seemed Yang Xiao’s sincerity touched the girl, and she finally turned around and stood up. The moment she lifted her head, Yang Xiao instinctively stepped back, fearing some horrific sight. But to his surprise, the girl had delicate features, she may be a bit immature, but it was clear she would grow into a beauty.
However, just as Yang Xiao’s lifted heart was about to settle, he saw the girl turn around, lifting her own clothes with her back to him. The skin on her back was completely flayed, her spinal column yanked out in its entirety, leaving her organs and flesh hanging hollowly, a ghastly sight to behold, "Brother, these are the flesh and bones that I lost."
Startled, Yang Xiao staggered back several steps, completely speechless. The girl, however, suddenly turned around, her eyes gradually getting filled with resentment as if recognizing him. In the next moment, she let out a piercing scream, "It was you, you’re the one who stole my bones and flesh! Give them back to me, return what belongs to me!!"
Just as the girl lunged at Yang Xiao, he woke with a start, finding himself still in bed, gasping for air, and soaked through with cold sweat.
A dream...
Such an odd dream...
This time he hadn’t dreamt about the drama robe at all, yet why, with the presence of the robe, would other strange nightmares still haunt him?
This is unscientific.
After catching his breath, Yang Xiao got out of bed and casually turned on the light, when suddenly he noticed that the backpack on the table was unzipped, with a red sleeve poking out.
Therein lies the answer. More than fear, Yang Xiao felt anger, it was so obvious that the drama robe was causing trouble again. He seemed to realize something, went over, and took out the drama robe for examination. There was a new pattern on the drama robe, a stick had been embroidered onto it.
"Sister, if you wanted to take it, just take it. But what’s with scaring me in the middle of the night, if I died, that wouldn’t do you any good, would it?" This time, Yang Xiao was truly angry. He had bargained with the drama robe before, it saved his life, and he helped it retrieve that magic artifact, so they were even.
But the very next second, Yang Xiao’s cellphone on the table suddenly lit up. Curious, he picked it up and found it strangely in camera mode.
With an ominous feeling in his heart, Yang Xiao opened the photo album, and the next second, a photo popped up. Seeing the photo, he froze, and a chill swept over him. The photo’s backdrop was this very bedroom, dimly lit with a solitary figure sitting on the bed, face pale as death, staring eerily outside the frame of the camera, and that person was Yang Xiao himself.
After the shock, he immediately checked the time the photo was taken – 1:44 AM, and right now it was 2 AM.
minutes ago...
