Yellow Springs Inn (Zhang Xiao Qi) Chapter 9

T/N: I’ve changed the small ghosts into little ghosts just because it sounds better.

The next day, I went to Luo Qian Qi’s room as per usual.

"Luo Qian Qi, there's another piece of good news and a piece of bad news, which do you want to hear first?" I didn’t knock before pus.h.i.+ng open the door, directly walking into Luo Qian Qi's room.

When I saw the state of the room I was stunned; the desk was broken in two, broken porcelain was scattered everywhere, on the ground there was even bloodstains that hadn’t been washed yet. What I did not see was Luo Qian Qi's figure.

I walked over to the bloodstains to examine them more closely. When I realized that it wasn’t Luo Qian Qi's blood, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Where did he go? Could he have been taken away?" I wondered.

I looked throughout the room and didn’t find any traces of Luo Qian Qi; from what I could see, if he wasn’t taken away, he went out for a run.

When I was about to leave, I accidentally spotted a bloodstain hidden behind a book.

It was a word, although only one part was revealed.

I walked to the desk and crouched down, and when I moved away the book, revealing the word’s entire form.

It was the word "Ping." Luo Qian Qi was taken away, or else he wouldn’t have left a word here.

I whistled loudly, and two little ghosts walked into the room, one green-clothed little ghost, one red-clothed little ghost.

I wiped off the bloodstains on the ground, then stood up from the ground.

I looked at those two little ghosts, "What exactly happened yesterday? Where did Luo Qian Qi go?"

Those two little ghosts looked at each other in an I-look-at-you-you-look at me manner for a while, then with a plop dropped down to their knees, saying in unison, "Us subordinates did not do our job properly, may Shopkeeper hand out punishment!"

I waved them off, "Rise and speak, what exactly happened last night?"

Those two little ghosts nodded, then rose and stood.

The red-clothed little ghost said, "To reply to Shopkeeper, yesterday evening we fell for someone’s decoy!"

I looked at the two little ghosts and questioned, "A decoy? What happened?"

The green-clothed little ghost said, "Yesterday we were originally protecting Hall Master Luo, then there suddenly appeared seven people in black, we thought that they were there to kill Hall Master Luo, so we quietly followed them and took care of them, but when we came back we saw that Hall Master Luo had been taken away by a person in black!"

I rubbed my chin in thought, "Then do you know where those people in black took Luo Qian Qi?"

"We do!" the red-clothed little ghost said, "Yesterday after Hall Master Luo was taken away us two brothers followed them, at the end we found out that Hall Master Luo was taken to a cave in the rear court!"

"A cave in the rear court!" From my memory this house’s rear court indeed had something like a cave.

I said, "Ok, I got it, you two continue tailing other people, as for Luo Qian Qi, I will have a look for myself!"

"Yes!" Those two little ghosts sounded their agreement and left.

"The rear court’s cave!" Thinking about this I couldn’t help but reveal a smile; that place was one that I could not be more familiar with.

The matter could not be delayed any further. After receiving the news of Luo Qian Qi being locked up in the rear court’s cave, I immediately hurried over.

When I walked over to the rear court discovered that there was not a single person there. This was not a surprise; that place had a lot of mechanisms, an ordinary person could not get in.

Since there were no people that could see me, I swaggered into the cave entrance.

The cave entrance was on the side of the fake mountain, and the mechanism to open up the cave entrance was hidden underneath the fake mountain’s lush vines.

I am a ghost; even if I didn’t open the door I could still get in.

"Ka-cha!" The cave entrance opened up. I laughed mischievously for a bit before walking into the cave.

After I walked into the cave the rock door closed by itself.

I was not stupid; since Luo Qian Ping would use a decoy to lure out the little ghosts by Luo Qian Qi’s side, then he definitely would have considered the possibility of people coming to rescue Luo Qian Qi, and of the person rescuing Luo Qian Qi not being human.

When ghosts enter rooms they often do not open the door: they either knock on the door or directly phase through the door.

Thinking to this point Luo Qian Ping would definitely lay down some sort of spell, all the ghosts that would phase through everything would definitely be seriously hurt.

I sounded a "tch" in disdain; if Luo Qian Ping could think of it, could I not think of it too?!

I followed for the path left by Luo Qian Qi’s aura, in the end I found him in a small cave inside the cave.

The moment I saw him I completely froze.

Luo Qian Qi’s body was full of scars from whips, the blood of the wounds already scabbing, almost like thin black worms.

Even more frightening were the two thumb-sized needles that pierced his pipa bones.

I walked over to Luo Qian Qi and crouched down, my voice trembling as I said, "Luo Qian Qi, you’re still ok, right?"

Luo Qian Qi opened his eyes and looked at me, smiling, "I just knew you would come!"

Hearing that sentence, I almost burst into tears.

I hugged Luo Qian Qi, "Luo Qian Qi, thank you for believing so much in me!" [T/N: Is it “believing so much in me” or “believing in me so much”? any Grammar n.a.z.is out there?]

"Hiss!" Luo Qian Qi looked at me and said unhappily, "I say, Zhang Xiao Qi, right now I have wounds on my body, could you be a little more restrained!"

I hurriedly let go of Luo Qian Qi, laughing with embarra.s.sment, "Sorry, I forgot!"

Luo Qian Qi waved me off with difficulty, "No problem!"

I looked at the ghastly wounds on Luo Qian Qi’s body, "These were from Luo Qian Ping?"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me and smiled, "I will get him back!"

I nodded, then helped Luo Qian Qi get out of the iron chains binding his hands and feet, as well as the steel needles locking his pipa bones.

After Luo Qian Qi finished stretching his muscles, I gave him a blood red medicinal pill.

I said, "This medicinal pill is very effective when it comes to treating wounds, after taking it you will feel a bit better!"

Luo Qian Qi nodded. Upon receiving the medicinal pill he swallowed it down.

I looked at Luo Qian Qi and laughed mischievously, "Luo Qian Qi, I have another piece of good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

"Bad news!" Luo Qian Qi didn’t even bother thinking before answering.

I nodded, "The bad news is Luo Qian Ping and the others placed the blame of killing Li Yan Xin on your shoulders, and even prepared to publicly denounce you at two in the afternoon tomorrow; every one of your Thousand Jade Hall’s elders and disciples will be present!"

Hearing the news Luo Qian Qi furrowed his eyebrows, "Then the good news?"

I laughed mischievously, "The good news is, I’ve already found Li Yan Xin's soul!"

"What?" Luo Qian Qi said in shock, "You say you’ve already found Li Yan Xin’s soul?"

I nodded, "Yes, inside Ten Li Cliff’s cave!"

Luo Qian Qi looked at me, delighted, "Zhang Xiao Qi, you really are pretty good!"

I laughed mischievously a bit, "After cleaning up this matter you have to properly reward me!"

"No problem!" Luo Qian Qi said.

I said, "So how are we going to counterattack?"

Luo Qian Qi revealed a dangerous smile, making me s.h.i.+ver even though it wasn’t cold.

"Walk faster!" Two Thousand Jade Hall disciples pulled Luo Qian Qi to the ancestral hall. The iron chains restricting his hands had already been undone, but the steel needles locking his pipa bones were still there, the wounds on his body still a ghastly sight.

Luo Qian Ping, Luo Cheng Guang, the three houses Yang, Lu, and Peng, and the Thousand Jade Hall’s elders and disciples all were already inside the ancestral hall. Right now the only thing missing was Luo Qian Qi, the star of the show.

Very quickly, those two disciples brought Luo Qian Qi to the ancestral hall.

When the people in the ancestral hall saw that Luo Qian Qi had arrived, they all could not but one by one begin to talk.

They led Luo Qian Qi to the sacrificial offering table and had him kneel down, then they retreated to one side.

Luo Qian Ping walked up, bending over to laugh softly in Luo Qian Qi’s ear, "Luo Qian Qi, I will make your end extremely miserable!"

Luo Qian Qi looked at Luo Qian Ping and chuckled coldly but didn’t say a thing.

Luo Qian Ping sounded a harrumph, then turned towards the crowd and said, "This is our Thousand Jade Hall’s Hall Master Luo Qian Qi, the one who murdered Sister Li Yan Xin and Uncle Li s.h.i.+!"

Upon hearing Luo Qian Ping's words the discussions below intensified.

One of the disciples believing Luo Qian Qi said, "That can’t be, Hall Master has high morality and principles, how could he have killed his blood-relatives Miss and Manager!"

Hearing the disciple's words, another disciple who believed Luo Qian Qi followed up, "Exactly, words cannot be relied on, you have to show proof, or else we won’t let you slander Hall Master!"

"Exactly, show proof, show proof!" another large party of disciples said in unison.

Looking at the troublesome disciples below believing in Luo Qian Qi, the faces of Luo Qian Ping and the three houses were a little ugly.

One forty year old elder stood, "Qian Ping, you said Luo Qian Qi killed Li Yan Xin and Li s.h.i.+, then where’s the proof, don’t forget, right now he is still Hall Master, you dared to act on Hall Master without formal permission, could you be trying to cause trouble?"

Luo Qian Ping froze, his face was full of bewilderment as he stared at the elder talking, thinking: they had clearly already discussed this, this group of old geezers also had the intention of killing Luo Qian Qi, now they’re singing a different tune…

I watched Luo Qian Ping and laughed coldly; it’s true that this group of old things and Luo Qian Ping colluded together, but they never would have thought, the elders now are not the same as the elders before because they were all possessed!

If you want humans we have none; if you want ghosts, my Yellow Springs Inn really has quite a few.

Luo Qian Ping looked at the elder speaking and laughed, "Elder Hai Luo, since we dared act this way, of course we have proof!"

Elder Hai Luo looked at Luo Qian Ping coldly, "Really, then why don’t you take out the proof for us to see, this way, all the elders, all the disciples will believe you!"

"That’s right, take out the evidence, take it out!" the disciples down below said.

Watching the elders who had, at this moment, changed sides, and the protest of the disciples below, Luo Qian Ping’s face quickly turned green.

Luo Qian Ping glared at the Luo Qian Qi kneeling below the offering table with eyes full of malice.

Luo Qian Qi watched Luo Qian Ping and laughed coldly, his expression one of watching a good play.

But at this time Luo Qian Ping wasn't in the mood to compete with Luo Qian Qi; he moved his line of sight to Luo Cheng Guang pleadingly.

All Luo Cheng Guang did was frozenly stand at the side, his eyes dull, like he was looking on the scene but not watching.

In fact, Luo Qian Ping had noticed Luo Cheng Guang's oddness since yesterday, but couldn't tell what was wrong.

Seeing the current situation, the three houses Yang, Lu, and Peng were in inner turmoil.

"The proof is here!" At this time when the crowd all interrogated Luo Qian Ping for proof, from outside the ancestral hall sounded the crisp and clear voice of a girl.

Hearing the girl's voice, the crowd in the ancestral hall stopped their racket, their lines of sight directed towards the ancestral hall's entrance.

Luo Qian Ping and the three houses Yang, Lu, and Peng were not an exception. Even Luo Qian Qi was very curious to see who the person who just spoke was.

With the crowd's antic.i.p.ation, a beautiful girl wearing red heels and a knee-length skirt, a red oil-paper parasol in her hand, walked through the door. This girl was Hong Yan.

The moment Hong Yan walked in, the crowd could not resist letting out a surprised sigh; how could there be such a beautiful girl in the world!

Hong Yan did not care for the crowd's looks in the slightest, and instead directly walked into the ancestral hall.

The moment Luo Qian Ping set his eyes upon Hong Yan he felt that her presence was not good, perhaps because last night the one who had injured Luo Cheng Guang was a mysterious red-clothed person.

The inside of the ancestral hall didn’t have the intense glare of the sun from outside. Hong Yan closed up her oil-paper parasol.

Luo Qian Ping looked at Hong Yan and harrumphed, "Ignorant little ghost, you know what kind of place this is, yet you actually dared to come knocking at our door seeking to die!"

T/N: Remember that if you don’t tell me what’s wrong I’ll a.s.sume everything is alright, so if you find something that you would like me to change, tell me. I would really appreciate it. Also, random comments are welcome as well.