The Third Collection Chapter 9 The Death of Huā Liǎo

  "It seems that Master Chun Yu has taken a liking to you." The dancers teased while packing up their things.

  I inexplicably picked up that jade pipa, but didn't expect Hou Xian to run over: "Sister Hua, Sister Hua."

  "Hua Lele Baile looked back at him with a glance: 'Hey, where did you get the guts to look for me in front of the Protecting Country Lady today?'"

  He put his hands around his chest with a pleased smile: "I have nothing to do with this national protector's wife, I came to say goodbye to you."

  "Goodbye!"

  Farewell! Hou Xuan is leaving!

  "Where are you going? Don't even think about not coming back, or I'll die of boredom."

  "I won't forget about you, Flower sister. I just want to go find someone, and when I do, we'll come together to play with you."

  "Raised an eyebrow: 'A woman?'"

  Hou Xian chuckled and scratched his head.

  "Wow! The kid's awake!"

  "Flower sister, it's not what you think, anyway, I won't be able to explain clearly for the time being. You'll understand when you find her."

  I'm so anxious in my heart, I'm right here, Hou Xuan, I'm right here! But it's obvious that Hou Xuan didn't even glance at me and ran away with a smile on his face. I hate him! No matter how I say it, I look as beautiful as a flower, but I couldn't attract his attention. It's really frustrating, although this is a manifestation of his good quality, but now!

  My mood was at an all-time low, and I couldn't sleep due to anxiety. I felt dizzy and had a series of strange dreams. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I suddenly felt a chill and got out of bed. The room was eerily quiet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures, which gave me a fright. This feeling was all too familiar, just like when Nan Gong Autumn would stand by my bedside in the middle of the night at the Guardian Temple, staring down at me like a ghost. Could it be him?!

  Gathering up the courage to look over at the bedside, I let out a sigh of relief. It was those two ghostly messengers from the underworld. They stretched out their hands: "Hey, long time no see. Do you miss us?"

  Instantly black lines all over his face, who would have thought it was you guys.

  "We came today to inform you that Pao Tui has set out on her journey." The old man in the prisoner's uniform floated in mid-air with his legs crossed. Another one stood beside him. Accidentally, they started discussing the issue of age again. After all, the other one was much younger than Gui Shu, and Gui Shu was very handsome when he was young.

  "Didn't you just start? Didn't I burn a lot of money for Pao Tui before?" Could it be that these two guys embezzled!

  "That's right, to say that the two of you are really good friends. Fang Niuni took out half and gave it to us two, saying that she couldn't let you become a real prostitute, after all, this is her body, so she asked us to think of a way."

  I blinked: "Did you guys choose another body for me?"

  "That's not easy, reviving the dead is not something that can be done casually. There aren't many opportunities for it, but we can give you some internal energy to protect yourself."

  "Internal energy? Why not spiritual energy?" Since it's all given, wouldn't giving some spiritual energy be better? "Little girl, you're really greedy. Spiritual energy isn't something that can be casually given, besides... Our ghostly spiritual energy belongs to yin. It's not the kind of immortal energy you imagine, and ghostly energy is harmful to a mortal's body. So, something like internal energy... we can still give you some, how about it, are you happy or not?"

  Lowering his eyelids and yawning: "Oh, you guys go ahead, I'll keep sleeping."

  "Hey! You're still not satisfied? You should know that we ghost messengers can't just come up here easily. Only when someone upstairs dies can we get the permit to come down, and there are also regional restrictions. We can't take people from other places, you know how hard it is for us to come down once?"

  "......Oh." Isn't it that you want me to offer myself as well? The paths of humans and ghosts are different, if I'm to be grateful, I can only burn more paper money for you.

  "Shaoyang, give her your inner strength." The old man in prison clothes called out to the ghostly errand boy who was almost asleep.

  That made the little ghost in the shade look stunned: "Oh." He raised his hand, I opened my eyes wide, and saw him make a throwing motion. I looked for a long time, but didn't see anything.

  "Alright. The usage is roughly the same as when you were in Feng Qingya's body, and the power is about the same too. According to your comprehension, it shouldn't take more than a month or two without any accidents, but be careful not to get carried away."

  Your jaw has dropped, are you helping me or harming me?

  "Girl, we can be considered to have a predestined relationship. I'll pass on my magical skills from my previous life to you. With this skill by your side, you won't live too miserably."

  Continue to dislocate your jaw, teach me magic? It's not as good as magic! Who doesn't know that magic requires a lot of props, at that time I'll be escaping with my life, how can I still make props?

  The old man in prison clothes floated before me, stretched out his right hand, smiled a bit slyly, and "thwacked" my forehead. Instantly, everything went black, I opened my eyes with a start, to find myself lying on the bed, with the sound of wind, rustling leaves, and occasionally cat cries coming from beside my ear. Was it all just a dream?

  I got up in a daze, looked at my hands and clenched my fists. I used to be unable to control my inner strength, and now it's still the same, so I didn't feel any power existing. But...it seems that my body is indeed different from before, such as my hearing...

  I closed my eyes and the sounds around me became exceptionally clear. This feeling was so familiar, it was like when I was in Feng Qingya's body at first.

  "Bang!" What was that? Someone jumped over my roof.

  "Bang bang bang!" was the sound of rapid footsteps. Who was it?

  Hastily getting out of bed, this gentleman on the beam is not ordinary!

  The moonlight outside is like frost, who will stroll in the Hundred Flowers Palace at midnight?

  Martial arts master? No way, which martial arts master breaks into a brothel at midnight, could it be because he has no money and wants to eat for free?

  The Flower Thief? Impossible, the Flower Thief wouldn't even look at a country girl from the Hundred Flowers Palace.

  A thief? Maybe, go take a look.

  But when I chased to the flower shed, I couldn't hear a single footstep anymore. Originally, in order not to let the other party discover me, I didn't follow closely, but instead was discovered by the other party and killed on the spot.

  Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the room where Huāle had gone: "Thud!" I was startled and wondered what was happening. Then, I saw Huāle rush out of the room, her thin dress covered in bloodstains.

  Disheveled hair scattered, standing under the silvery moonlight, with black bloodstains hanging from the corners of his lips, terrifying like a fierce ghost.

  "Sister Hua!" I was shocked and stepped forward, Hua saw me and rushed into my arms, tightly grasping my arm, the blood on her hand stained my sleeve red, I felt a chill all over my body, my legs were weak and I couldn't stand.

  "Flower, flower, elder sister flower..."

  "Pffft----" A mouthful of blood, directly sprayed onto my skirt, a chill ran up from the soles of my feet, as if someone had cast a spell on me, freezing me from toe to head. After she finished vomiting, she fell onto my shoulder.

  "Give the qin to Huang, to Huang..." The voice gradually faded away, and she slowly slid off my body. My nose was filled with the thick smell of blood, making my whole body tremble. After a long time, I finally let out a sharp cry from my throat: "Ah--"

  "It's too terrifying, how could Flower Girl die so miserably? It looks really scary, I'll probably have nightmares for several days."

  "Yes, the most miserable one is still Xiyangyang. He must have been scared to death and couldn't even climb out of the bathtub after soaking in it for a whole day."

  "If I were you, I'd be scared to death too. By the way, what did the lawyer say?"

  "It's said to be poisoning, even the nanny's head has swollen, and a lot of money was given to the servant, telling him not to spread it out."

  "Have you reported to the authorities?"

  "Still reporting to the officials? The nanny was only afraid that it would get out and affect the business of the Hundred Flowers Palace, so she had Flower Girl's body disposed of that night, and said that if we uttered a single word, our mouths would be slapped."

  "Alas, we can only blame our own cheap lives..."

  In an instant, the flower withered and died right in front of me, splashing me with fresh blood. For someone like me who has already died twice and is familiar with ghosts, I shouldn't be scared out of my wits. But I genuinely felt what it means to have a chill run down my spine. That coolness spread from the inside of my body to the outside, covering my entire being.

  Now that I think back, it's still a bit scary. No matter how you look at it, the death of Hua Die was too spectacular. Her eyes were wide open, her face was pale with a greenish tint, and her entire body was covered in bloodstains. I really couldn't imagine that Hua Die, who was usually so charming and alluring, would become so terrifying in death.

  "Miss, are you feeling better?" Moon poured hot water over me and I was soaking in the tub, but still felt cold. Did Ghost Uncle come to take my soul away? Ah yes, before she left, Huāle said something to me, saying that she would give her qin to some Huang person... who exactly is this Huang person, anyway? There are so many people with the surname Huang in this world, even Dragon Emperor has an emperor character attached.

  At that time she was like that, maybe it's Wang? Ah, flowered! You can't say the full name, and the tone doesn't have to be so short.

  "Xi er! Xi er!" It was Lian's voice, I turned back, she twisted her waist and hurried in, wiping the sweat with a silk handkerchief, pushing Yueyue to one side and squatting down, "You're okay now, right?"

  I nodded blankly.

  "That's good, she's dead and gone, you'll have to take her place ahead of time."

  "Huh? But I don't know anything yet... I mean, I shouldn't bring shame to the Hundred Flowers Palace, right?"

  "Oh my, listen to me and let me finish speaking!" Lian Po wiped the sweat off her forehead, "You said this matter is really unlucky. I just want you to take responsibility for it, don't worry, I won't let you suffer a loss. You can move into the attic today, if there are guests coming, you'll accompany them in playing chess, whether or not you can keep the guests from leaving depends on your skills."

  "These days, losing customers is just losing customers. I didn't expect that the guests who liked Lian would like you either. You and Lian are completely different in temperament. Originally thought that the cold and beautiful people were the best signboard, but it turned out to be this matter, alas..."

  Blinking eyes, even this theory of Lian Po Po is indeed humanized.

  "So you get ready for tonight, and if the guest is rude to you, shout, got it?"

  "Oh..." I didn't expect the day to receive guests would come so soon, and it's even on the second day after Flower's death. How terrifying, I'm going to move into Flower's attic, a haunted house...