"Mr. Gu, if I may ask, you said that in the days before your wife's accident, she often sat alone in a daze and muttered to herself. Could she have been talking to this little ghost?"
I thought that since they kept a little ghost in the house, Xie Xiaotang's behavior might have been normal.
Gu Song shook his head like a rattle. "Definitely not. I could see the child. In those days, she could barely even be bothered with him. She seemed possessed. That made the child very unhappy too, and he often hovered in front of her, but she acted as though she couldn't see him."
Xu Qiuyan was thinking about something else. "Did the child still need to drink blood regularly?"
"No, only that one time. Afterward, the child never drank blood again. He didn't eat anything, either. At first, I worried something might be wrong, but later I realized it didn't seem to affect his gradual growth. Then I remembered that he wasn't human to begin with. A ghost naturally doesn't need to eat."
After Gu Song finished, the aloof woman beside Xu Qiuyan spoke. "By consuming the vital blood of the body that bore him, he was actually confirming his blood relationship with them. Other than being a Ghost Body, this little ghost has a decent temperament. That Chacha must have been quite capable. Still, keeping ghosts for a long time will more or less affect their luck and make them vulnerable to evil yin influences. The reason the little ghost reacted so abnormally was probably because he sensed danger coming but was powerless to do anything."
What Gu Song said next confirmed the aloof woman's guess.
"On the afternoon Xiao Tang had her accident, she was about to leave when Xiao Tian suddenly appeared. It was the first time he had appeared in broad daylight. He grabbed Xiao Tang, as if he didn't want her to go out, and kept saying something. But other than 'dad' and 'mom,' we could understand nothing he said. Later, though, I figured it out. He didn't want Xiao Tang to leave. Maybe he had already sensed that something would happen to her."
Gu Song let out a long breath, as though confessing that they kept a little ghost had eased a burden in his heart.
I asked, "What was the child's reaction after your wife's accident?"
Gu Song shook his head. "Ever since Xiao Tang's accident, he hasn't appeared again. Sometimes I really wanted to talk to him, but no matter how I called him, there was no response."
"It should be related to his appearance in broad daylight. He's still a little ghost and can't stand the light. Coming out that time to stop Xie Xiaotang from leaving probably depleted his vitality. He'll need a long period of rest before he can recover."
It was still the aloof woman speaking, though Gu Song had no idea she was there, just as he had no idea Duan Hongbin was there.
Duan Hongbin nodded. "Put simply, this little ghost is just an ordinary little ghost without much Dao cultivation. He merely lets the couple feel that their child is still by their side. He isn't like those Fierce Ghosts. And this little ghost truly values blood ties and family affection. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken such a huge risk to come out and warn them. He has loyalty and feeling."
At that moment, I suddenly thought of the most important question. I had always felt that I had overlooked something about this case, and now I finally remembered it. "Right, we still don't know how your wife died."
Gu Song froze. "What? Didn't I tell you?"
I answered seriously, "No. You really never told us."
Gu Song frowned. "Really? Did I truly not mention it?" He seemed doubtful, and I nodded.
"She died in a car accident. It was that afternoon. After leaving home, she drove to work. I had taken leave for her for those days, but her workplace called and said there was an urgent matter that needed her attention. I never imagined she would get into a car accident on the way there. Just like that, she was gone."
"What was her job?"
Gu Song answered, "She worked in cultural relic appraisal at the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau. She was a Level 1 Appraiser."
I had not expected Xie Xiaotang to be a cultural relic appraiser.
Xu Qiuyan, however, focused on something else. "With her mental state like that, you still let her drive alone?"
Gu Song sighed. "I didn't want to, either, but she insisted. By the time I chased her downstairs, she had already started the car. I called after her, but couldn't stop her. I immediately hailed a taxi and followed her, but..."
Xu Qiuyan asked, "So you saw the car accident with your own eyes?"
Gu Song thought for a moment. "I suppose I did, but there were two cars between us, so I couldn't see very clearly. I was completely stunned at the time. I... I really regret it. Why couldn't I stop her?"
I asked another question. "You said that after she died, she sent you a message saying she hadn't died by accident. Are you sure she sent that message?"
"Yes. It really was sent from her phone. I felt a little scared when I received it. The moment it came through, I went looking for her phone and saw the sending record. After the accident investigation ended, I retrieved her belongings, and her phone was among them."
Xu Qiuyan asked, "Could the little ghost have done it?"
"No. If it had been the little ghost, he wouldn't have used such a method," the aloof woman said calmly.
Gu Song said he had suspected the same thing, but the wording of the message sounded like Xie Xiaotang, so he believed that she had sent it.
"If someone had told me before that ghosts existed in this world, I might have scoffed. But now I believe they really do exist. If our child can be a ghost, then Xiao Tang can be one too, can't she? But why doesn't she want to come out and see me? I want to see her again so badly. I hope she can stay by my side too."
Gu Song's voice choked.
My heart felt heavy too. I looked at Xu Qiuyan, and she was looking at me as well. She gave me a faint smile, as though she had already understood what I was thinking.
I wondered whether we would ever have such deep feelings for each other. If one day I was gone, would she miss me and worry about me like this too?
Only after leaving Gu Song's home did I feel much more at ease.
His home had been oppressive. I didn't know whether that oppression came from the sorrow he revealed or something else.
"What do you plan to do?" Xu Qiuyan asked me.
"This afternoon, I'll go to the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau first and find out whether there really was some urgent matter that required Xie Xiaotang to return on the day of her accident. Also, I'm afraid we really need to make a trip to the northeast. I think that Zhuanghe probably knows something."
Xu Qiuyan pursed her lips. "You mean her accident was probably connected to their trip to Lop Nur?"
I nodded. If there was a source for the series of strange events surrounding Xie Xiaotang, it should have been Lop Nur.
I even suspected that Gu Song had concealed things from us about what had happened in Lop Nur.
"Fine, but I won't be going to the Administration Bureau with you this afternoon. I have something to take care of."
I didn't ask what it was. Although our relationship was close now, she should have her own private space, and so should I.
"Then I'll take a taxi there by myself this afternoon."
"I'm leaving now. Handle lunch on your own outside. Tonight, I'll cook at home and wait for you." With that, she got into the car alone.
As I watched the car drive away, Eccentric Song appeared beside me. "Can you guess what she's going to do?"
I shook my head. I wasn't a worm in her stomach. How could I possibly know?
Eccentric Song draped an arm around my shoulder. "She's probably going to bring back that child whose intelligence is still stuck at eight years old."
"Really? How do you know?"
I was a little puzzled, but thinking about it, that was indeed possible.
But if she really intended to do that, she should have told me beforehand.
"Do you think she's being a little disrespectful toward you? If she wants to bring that child back, she should at least tell you first, right?" Eccentric Song had guessed my thoughts exactly.
I smiled awkwardly. "Do you know that people like you are really unlikeable? No one wants to have no secrets in front of someone else."
He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Likeable or not, it's all the same. Other than you, who even knows I exist? But then again, her doing this doesn't mean she disrespects you. She wants to give you a surprise. After all, that boy used to be your little follower. He recognized you when he saw you. Think about it—how many people were left at the Little Ancestral Hall Entrance? Do you really have the heart to leave him in that damned place?"
His words made me feel guilty. I was capable of taking care of him now, yet when I saw him, I had never thought of bringing him out. Instead, Xu Qiuyan had acted before I did.
Maybe, as Eccentric Song said, she really wanted to give me a surprise.
But when I saw how well Xu Qiuyan treated that boy, I felt a little uneasy again. Perhaps that was what had been at work in my mind, which was why I had subconsciously never considered bringing him out to live with us.
Before you continue