A Lump in His Throat, His Killing Intent Soared

"Xiao Qi!"

At Grandpa Wang's words, Xiao Ran's heart gave a sudden leap, and a sense of foreboding rose within him.

He didn't waste another moment. He pulled down the rolling shutter and ran toward the back street.

Xiao Qi's family's Funeral Supplies Store was a street away from his home, but it wasn't close. A residential complex stood between them, so he had to take a long detour around it.

When Xiao Ran arrived, he saw the charred ruins from a distance, with a cordon stretched around them.

A wooden sign lay on the ground. Most of it had burned away, leaving only the first three characters, "Jixiang Shou."

There had been two more characters, but they were impossible to make out. Xiao Ran remembered the full name, though: Jixiang Funeral Supplies Shop.

Looking at the ruins before him, Xiao Ran felt a stinging ache in his nose.

He didn't like the bald shopkeeper, but he genuinely cared for Xiao Qi. For one thing, he didn't have many friends. For another, Xiao Qi had never minded the smell on him.

But now...

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Xiao Ran hurried to the entrance and stared at the burned ruins, his brow furrowing tightly.

"Brother Xiao Ran!"

A familiar voice suddenly called out, bringing Xiao Ran to his senses. He turned around at once and saw Xiao Qi standing in the shadows nearby, holding the hand of a boy even younger than her.

Her young face was filled with shock and helplessness. Only when she saw Xiao Ran did a glimmer of hope appear in her eyes. "Have you seen my mom?"

"I..."

It felt as if a stone had been shoved into Xiao Ran's chest. His eyes glistened as he met Xiao Qi's pleading gaze, his heart aching as though it were being stabbed again and again.

After taking a deep breath, Xiao Ran walked up to Xiao Qi. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

Xiao Qi held her little brother with one arm and shook her head blankly. "Mom told us to run, so we ran out."

"Brother Xiao Ran, have you seen my mom?"

When Xiao Qi asked again, Xiao Ran shook his head. "No."

Disappointment appeared on Xiao Qi's face. She turned to her brother and said, "Oh. Then we'll wait for her a little longer."

Her brother nodded along, his little hands clutching Xiao Qi's arm tightly, as if he were afraid that if he let go, his sister would disappear too.

The siblings' expressions gradually grew vacant. Xiao Ran tried calling to them, but neither paid him any attention.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran understood what was wrong.

There was once a story about an executioner with a swift blade. One day, to comfort a prisoner, he whispered in the man's ear, "When I tell you to run, just run."

When the prisoner heard the executioner shout for him to run, he sprinted forward with all his might.

To his surprise, he really did make it out of the execution grounds. What he didn't know was that the moment the executioner spoke, his head had already fallen.

Unaware of the truth, he clung to that belief, and his soul wandered the world for a long, long time. It wasn't until one day, when he saw his own gravestone, that he realized he was dead.

Xiao Qi was the same. She was only a wisp of soul now, and the only reason she remained here was her final wish.

She believed that her mother would come out behind them.

That lingering belief was what kept her trapped here, unable to pass into the underworld.

If that attachment wasn't resolved, they would remain here forever, lost and dazed, just like the old man who squatted beneath the stone stele at the entrance to Xiao Ran's village.

Xiao Ran had no other good ideas. He turned and walked to a nearby shop.

He took a drink from the freezer and casually asked about the fire at the neighboring store.

"Ah, it used to be a lovely family of six. Business was good, too. Who could've guessed a fire would break out all of a sudden?"

As the shopkeeper gave Xiao Ran his change, he sighed. People in business usually avoided setting up right next to a funeral supplies store. Some residents even protested when they found one in a storefront near their complex.

But when the shopkeeper talked about Jixiang Funeral Supplies Shop, he sounded genuinely upset. It seemed that, just as he'd said, the family had been good people.

"Especially that little girl. So sweet, did well in school, and was so polite..."

The shopkeeper sighed, then changed his tone and grumbled, "Heaven really is blind. A perfectly good family, and now they've ended up destroyed."

"Did the fire department's investigation turn up anything?"

"What could they find? The place was full of paper. The fire got so big that all the firefighters could do was stand there helplessly. They sprayed water on both sides to keep the flames from spreading, then had to watch as the whole place burned down. Even the bodies were reduced to ashes."

Xiao Ran sighed and left the shop, helpless.

He walked up to the burned-out Funeral Supplies Store and stared at it from behind the cordon for a long while.

In the end, he still couldn't see the souls of the children's parents.

Most wandering ghosts who lingered in the world were people with very deep attachments.

Compared with children's simple, pure thoughts, adults had many more tangled desires. Most people could remain in their bodies for a short time after death, but once they lost their bodies, it was difficult for them to stay in the world.

"I'll have to wait until the seventh day."

Xiao Ran thought he would return on the seventh day after their deaths and see if he could do anything for the family.

Or perhaps...

He glanced back at Xiao Qi, who was hiding in the shadows and occasionally looking around.

Xiao Ran felt a bitter anger lodged in his throat, like a bone he couldn't swallow.

There was only one thought in his mind: Kill her!

His expression turned ferocious. A moment later, he had a plan. He took out his phone and called Uncle Li.

"Hello..."

A sorrowful sob came from the other end of the line. Uncle Li was probably busy with his business at the moment.

Xiao Ran didn't beat around the bush. "Uncle Li, I've got a bit of a problem. You know a lot of people. Help me find some things..."

It was sometime in the afternoon when a horn sounded outside the shop.

Xiao Ran stepped outside and saw Uncle Li's Wuling minivan—he couldn't remember how many hands it had passed through—parked at the door. Uncle Li got out and smiled warmly at him.

"Xiao Ran, you needed this in a hurry. I asked friends at several places, and I nearly ran up my phone bill before I managed to get this little bit for you. Only I could've done it. You couldn't find this stuff in the city these days, not even if you tried."

Uncle Li opened the van door, and a powerful stench of blood and rot hit them. Five bloodstained woven sacks lay inside.

Xiao Ran opened one sack and peered inside. After confirming it held what he needed, he nodded to Uncle Li. "Thanks, Uncle Li. Sorry for the trouble."

He took out the money he'd prepared in advance.

"Hey, it's fine. This is too much..."

Uncle Li tried to refuse, but Xiao Ran gave him no chance. He simply shoved the money into Uncle Li's hand.

Uncle Li accepted it, but he didn't feel good about it. Xiao Ran hadn't used to be so polite with him. He wouldn't have given him this much money for a small favor. At most, he'd have treated him to a meal.

The money had been little, but their relationship had grown closer and closer.

But now...

"I'll help you carry them inside."

"No need!"

Xiao Ran turned and shut the shop door. "Take me to Cuiyun Park."

"Huh?"

Uncle Li was taken aback, not knowing what Xiao Ran was up to, but he didn't press him. The place wasn't far; it took less than five minutes to drive there, even with a red light.

Once they arrived, Xiao Ran unloaded the five sacks. Uncle Li wanted to help, but Xiao Ran refused.

"All right, then. Call me if you need anything else."

Uncle Li sighed. He knew it would take a while for his relationship with Xiao Ran to return to how it had been, so he drove away dejectedly.

After Uncle Li left, Xiao Ran looked around. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he tossed all five sacks into Micheng Space, then followed the path into Cuiyun Park.

It was still the same pavilion.

A few furtive shadows were crouched inside.

Xiao Ran walked into the pavilion, a cold glint in his eyes. "You struck first, so don't blame me for striking back."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran raised his hand and set a butter-oil candle on the pavilion table. Once he lit it, a strange fragrance soon began to spread through the area.

Before long, the air around the pavilion was filled with its sweet scent, while the temperature kept dropping. Even the candle flame gradually turned green.

Xiao Ran lit a piece of spirit money. One blurred figure after another gradually emerged in his gaze...

"Everyone, we've got work to do!"