Since the only ghost in the clinic had chosen Lin Hanzhi as its target, naturally, nothing happened to the other three guests.
But Sha Chuan had already been scared out of his wits. When he accidentally stepped on a wad of paper just after entering the consultation room, he turned deathly pale and huddled in a corner, trembling. In the end, his cameraman had to comfort him for quite a while before filming could continue.
More than ten minutes after Vivian and Mu Xingchen came out, Sha Chuan finally emerged, his face pale, his fingers forming a hand seal as he muttered an incantation.
[Oh, why aren't you complaining about holding up the show now?]
[That wasn't the attitude you had when you accused Gugu of holding things up.]
[He was trying to sell himself as the brave one earlier. Let's see if he still dares now.]
Sha Chuan didn't know whether he was imagining things, but he kept feeling that the incantation wasn't as effective as it had been at first... The first time he recited it, he had felt warmth spread through every part of his body in an instant, as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring at just the right temperature.
But now, no matter how many times he recited it, his body still felt cold, and it was as though a huge block of ice weighed on his heart.
The yin energy on the second floor was much denser than on the first to begin with. It was only natural for a person's yang energy to weaken after spending a long time in such an environment.
What was more, Sha Chuan had gone looking for trouble by catching a drop of blood brimming with baleful energy. If he wasn't heavy with yin energy, who would be?
Qi Gu couldn't be bothered with him and simply directed Mu Xingchen beside him to assemble the puzzle.
Mu Xingchen had always played himself on variety shows-a goofy husky. This was his first time being entrusted with such an important task, and he immediately began piecing it together, wagging his tail in excitement.
Two minutes later, he carefully set the five puzzle pieces in place and pointed at the missing piece in the middle. "We're missing exactly the bit with the face. I wonder where the production team hid the last piece?"
They could make out that the person was probably a burly man wearing a black jacket, with a very down-to-earth bunch of keys hanging from his belt.
Qi Gu looked pityingly at Mu Xingchen, who was already rather dim at such a young age. "Guess how many rooms there are on this floor?"
"Six! You mean that locked room on the left side of the hallway?" Mu Xingchen instinctively looked that way.
"But that door's locked. Don't we need to find the key before we can go in?" Vivian asked.
Qi Gu finally stopped leaning bonelessly against the chair back and said helplessly, "No need. Let's go."
Everyone now trusted him completely, so they naturally followed his instructions.
A minute later, under everyone's expectant gazes, Qi Gu reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a ke-oh, no, a packet of Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles.
Everyone: ???
Hadn't he just eaten? Why was he having more?
Ignoring everyone's puzzled looks, Qi Gu opened the crispy noodles, broke off a suitably shaped piece, and inserted it into the keyhole.
Lin Hanzhi raised an eyebrow slightly, not having expected him to have this trick up his sleeve.
Mu Xingchen, who was in his edgy adolescent phase, looked at him with stars in his eyes. "Master, you even know how to do this!"
His urge to become Qi Gu's apprentice stirred.
Sha Chuan stared at Qi Gu's expressionless face, thinking he was just showing off, and cursed him inwardly.
[I only knew Qi Gu had worked as an extra playing a wild man. I didn't know he could pick locks with instant noodles too.]
[That skill looks a little criminal.]
[So can instant noodles really open a lock? Maybe I should buy a packet and try it.]
Qi Gu's almond-shaped eyes fixed intently on the keyhole, his lips pressed together solemnly. With a faint click...
The door didn't open. The noodle snapped off inside the keyhole.
Displeased, Qi Gu closed his fingers with a crunch, crushing the crispy noodles in his hand.
The viewers and guests waiting to see him work: "..."
"I learned it from the locksmith downstairs. I thought I'd finally be ready to graduate today." Qi Gu sounded a little disappointed.
[LMAO, failed attempt at showing off.]
[Well, suddenly this makes sense.]
[Why try a method when you aren't even sure it works? How embarrassing to fall flat on your face like that.]
[What now? We can't get in. The crispy noodle's blocked the keyhole.]
[Qi Gu's little stunt is seriously suffocating...]
Just as the comments began taking a subtle turn, Qi Gu uncorked the gourd, shook it gently, and poured Green Ghost out.
Green Ghost wasn't cranky about being shaken awake. Its eyes were simply misty with sleep, and after rubbing them with its little hands, it obediently waited for Qi Gu's instructions.
"Open the door," Qi Gu said, under the increasingly astonished gazes of the other guests and cameramen.
Green Ghost deftly passed its transparent spirit body through the door and entered the room.
Then the guests outside heard the stiff lock slowly begin to turn. With a click, the door opened a crack from inside.
Mu Xingchen's eyes nearly popped out. "Wh-what was inside the gourd? It can understand people and even open doors???"
"A little friend," Qi Gu said.
Of course, Mu Xingchen wasn't the only one shocked. So were the viewers watching on their screens.
[Holy shit! Why didn't you use this method sooner? Why bother with crispy noodles? You almost made me think you were a talentless poser.]
[I actually know how to pick locks with instant noodles, but that's nowhere near as cool as this. Coach, this is what I really want to learn!]
[So... was the one opening the door the little ghost that talked to Qi Gu in consultation room three?]
[Probably.]
There were also those who stubbornly refused to admit it, insisting that it was nothing more than props and tricks.
After opening the door, Green Ghost obediently floated back to Qi Gu's side and waited for his next command.
Vivian couldn't see Green Ghost, but somehow she could sense its presence. She looked at the empty space beside Qi Gu, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes. She was visibly moved. "Is it very young? Is it right here?"
"Only three. You can see it?" Qi Gu asked in surprise.
"No, it's just a feeling."
Hearing this, Green Ghost also curiously studied the beautiful auntie before it, who radiated a golden glow of merit.
"It seems to like you," Qi Gu relayed.
Vivian had come on the show because a master she trusted deeply had told her that she could find clues here about her abducted child.
Now that she knew of Green Ghost's existence, she instinctively felt that it was her child. The tip of her nose reddened, and her eyes were red too as she asked, somewhat choked up, "H-how did it pass away? May I ask that?"
"It was drowned because it was born with a disability," Qi Gu said.
A disability... Then it probably wasn't her baby.
Her baby had been very healthy and beautiful. Almost every friend and relative who had seen him had praised how adorable he was.
Vivian felt a little disappointed, but only a little. After all, over the years, she had already had her fill of being full of hope only to fall into utter despair.
Another poor child, gone so young, and in such a way...
As Vivian thought this, she instinctively felt in her pocket for a red envelope, but quickly realized she couldn't possibly have brought one. Her gaze darted awkwardly around before settling on the little horse charm on her Hermès bag.
A little horse charm-children should like that, right?
Without hesitation, she detached the leather horse and held it out into the empty air. "Auntie didn't know she'd meet you, so I didn't bring a red envelope. Let me give you a little toy for now. I hope you won't mind."
Green Ghost froze, blinking its big eyes at the auntie offering it a toy, not knowing why she was being so kind to it.
Right up until its death, it had never had a toy of its own.
Naturally, it didn't know what to do when receiving a gift from someone else, either.
It looked to Qi Gu for help. Qi Gu said, "If you want it, just say, 'Thank you, auntie.'"
"Thank you, auntie," Green Ghost said in its babyish voice, carefully taking the leather horse from Vivian's hand and staring at it without blinking.
"You're welcome." Vivian hadn't heard Green Ghost thank her itself, but she could guess that it probably had.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have accepted the little horse.
Before you continue