owlsbooks Chapter 44: The Feeling of Being Old Qin's Father
Chapter 44: The Feeling of Being Old Qin's Father
After a conversation with Fang Shiming and reaching a preliminary consensus, Fang Shiming left the hotel, followed by Li Yao. Li Yao followed closely behind Fang Shiming, as if afraid of being left behind, which made Su Qin both amused and exasperated.
"Am I that scary? I've just been suppressing my feelings for too long lately."
Ultimately, I'm still far inferior to He Yuelian. Back then, He Yuelian wasn't afraid of me at all.
"Damn it, why did you suddenly start thinking about He Yuelian again?"
Su Qin quickly took a cold shower to calm himself down. Now was not the time to think about these things; he needed to rest and recover as soon as possible. That old bastard Cao Yanhua would definitely cause him more trouble.
Exhausted, Su Qin slept until noon the next day, when he was woken up by a satellite phone.
"Hello! Who is it?" Su Qin answered the phone helplessly.
"Stop sleeping. A full day of rest should be enough for you to recover your strength. Go report to the Investigation Bureau immediately. Old Qin specifically asked to see you, so he must have something important to discuss with you."
Cao Yanhua's urgent urging completely dispelled Su Qin's sleepiness.
"Okay, I'll grab something to eat and be right there."
Before Cao Yanhua could urge him further, Su Qin decisively hung up the phone. Once he went to the Investigation Bureau, he would definitely be assigned to handle paranormal events. Although he couldn't avoid it, he had to eat and drink his fill before going.
Su Qin used the landline in the lobby to call the front desk and asked them to prepare some food. Then he lay down on the bed for a nap.
Su Qin wasn't worried at all, but Cao Yanhua was pacing anxiously in his office.
"This Su Qin is getting more and more outrageous. What time is it and he's still dawdling? He can eat, drink, play and sleep, which means he's in excellent condition, but his awareness is too low."
Sleeping in a hotel room during the day, with so many paranormal events piling up lately, how can he even sleep? He has absolutely no sense of the bigger picture. I really don't know why Old Master Qin considers him a key talent to be cultivated.
Look at Wei Jing, he just passed the Investigation Bureau's review the day before yesterday morning, and by noon he volunteered to handle a paranormal event. The difference is just too big.
Cao Yanhua paced anxiously back and forth in his office. Several supernatural incidents had recently occurred, forcing him to order a temporary lockdown. He was severely understaffed. He had originally wanted Su Qin to handle the situation, but Old Qin had just personally issued a notice asking Su Qin to come see him.
In Cao Yanhua's memory, this old man, whose intimidation was greater than his actual effectiveness, rarely paid attention to supernatural events. Without exception, the events that caught his attention were extremely heinous and terrifying. Now, his sudden desire to see Su Qin must mean that something major had happened. However, no matter how Cao Yanhua asked, Old Qin remained silent, which was enough to show the seriousness of the matter.
Cao Yanhua waited in the office for more than an hour before Su Qin finally arrived.
"What time is it? Why are you so late? Hurry up and go see Old Master Qin."
Cao Yanhua didn't even have time to criticize Su Qin; he immediately urged him to see Elder Qin, fearing that a delay might cause some serious problems.
"Fine, fine! This is it! They don't even give us time to eat, drink, or relieve ourselves. Demon slayers are human too, you know!"
Su Qin complained as he walked toward Old Master Qin's courtyard. As he walked, Su Qin's expression gradually darkened.
I don't know how much of a gap there is between me and this terrifying old man, but why did Old Qin suddenly want to see me? What exactly happened?
Su Qin didn't believe that Old Qin would want to see him for no reason. There must be something he wanted to tell him. As everyone knows, Old Qin doesn't care much about the Investigation Bureau, and there are very few supernatural events that can even attract his attention.
For a ghost master of Qin Lao's caliber, the supernatural events he focuses on are at least A-level or higher, or even S-level. Su Qin felt a little uneasy, wondering if he was being asked to get involved in some particularly terrifying event.
During this period, the Bureau of Investigation only had two ghost tamers, Su Qin and Zhang Xun. Indeed, only the two of them were qualified to handle paranormal cases of level A or above.
Su Qin reached out and pushed open the heavy wooden door, then walked straight in. Last time he came, he seemed to sense that Old Master Qin was quite averse to knocking on doors, and he remembered that.
Old Qin wasn't sitting on the recliner in the courtyard like last time. Since Su Qin didn't see anyone, she had to muster her courage and walk into the house.
Su Qin felt that the whole courtyard was gloomy, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. He just felt more uncomfortable in this courtyard than in the ghost realm of an A-level vengeful ghost. There was a strange sense of dread, as if some unknown horror was hidden in this ordinary courtyard, which could emerge at any time and devour people.
Su Qin walked into the main hall in the center. The hall was also somewhat gloomy, with poor lighting and no sunlight. The wooden walls and floors appeared damp and even began to rot, emitting a faint musty smell.
The main room was spacious, but also empty, with no clutter except for nine red lacquered wooden chairs.
Three are placed side by side on the left and right, with another one placed separately at the end separated by a pillar. There is another one placed at the top of the main room, and yet another one placed separately on the left side.
The placement of these chairs does not seem random, but rather follows certain rules, a phenomenon commonly seen in the homes of some traditional elderly people.
Suddenly, Su Qin's gaze stopped on the seat on the left. On the wall behind that seat hung a huge oil painting. The painting depicted a stunningly beautiful woman in her early twenties, holding the hand of a four- or five-year-old boy.
The woman wore a white cheongsam with blue floral patterns. Her slightly numb face was adorned with a gentle and kind smile, while the little boy holding her finger had an innocent and joyful expression on his face.
However, Su Qin's attention was not on the boy. His gaze was fixed on the woman's exquisite face. This exquisite face was so lifelike that it seemed not like a portrait, but more like a living person standing there. Its eyes seemed to be moving. As Su Qin looked at it, it was also looking at Su Qin.
Large beads of sweat rolled down Su Qin's forehead, and his clothes were soaked with cold sweat.
He saw a familiar face, an extremely familiar face.
That was He Yuelian's face!
"Cough cough!" An old cough attracted Su Qin's attention and startled him, but he didn't dare to turn around for fear that something bad might happen. His eyes remained fixed on the face in the portrait that looked exactly like He Yuelian's.
This painting is very strange; it definitely hides some unknown supernatural element, and may even be related to ghost paintings. He dared not be careless.
Old Qin came out from the inner room and saw Su Qin staring blankly at the portrait. He didn't stop him and seemed not to care. His cloudy eyes also glanced at the painting, and a trace of reminiscence flashed in his eyes, as if he was recalling something beautiful.
"Her name was Yuelian, Qin Yuelian. She was my mother. She left when I was a child and I never saw her again. All that was left was this portrait."
Old Qin's deep, somber voice resounded in Su Qin's mind like a bolt from the blue.
Are you kidding me? Yue Lian is Old Master Qin's mother? Then wouldn't He Yue Lian be...? Then I...
The cold sweat on his forehead intensified. Su Qin looked away from the portrait, staring at Old Qin in shock and confusion, his heart filled with guilt.
"Don't be nervous, and don't look at me like you've seen a ghost."
You young man are truly unlikable. Qin Yuelian is Qin Yuelian, and He Yuelian is He Yuelian. Qin Yuelian is He Yuelian, but He Yuelian is not Qin Yuelian. You haven't really offended me.
With a dark expression, Old Qin solemnly reminded Su Qin not to confuse the two things. If someone had dared to have the same thoughts as Su Qin ten years ago, and Old Qin found out, they would have been dead within three minutes, leaving not even a corpse behind.
Upon hearing this, Su Qin's face was full of embarrassment. He wanted to explain something but dared not say anything, fearing that if he did, Old Master Qin would slap him to death.
It turns out that Old Qin not only knew about He Yuelian's existence, but also about the brief entanglement between He Yuelian and him, and even guessed his presumptuous thoughts just now.
"Old Qin! Is there something you wanted to see me about?"
At this moment, Su Qin appeared extremely honest in front of Qin Lao, as honest as a model student.
He had been curious about the gap between himself and Elder Qin, but now he didn't even dare to think about it anymore. He had just foolishly used his supernatural powers to look at Elder Qin, and his supernatural powers had completely stopped working. Elder Qin hadn't even glanced at him.
It was terrifying. He only saw it for a brief moment, but there were three red mediator lines, two light red and one dark red. This was the first time Su Qin had ever seen red mediator lines, and there were three of them appearing on one person at the same time.
Old Qin was fully aware of Su Qin's little tricks. Having dealt with the supernatural for nearly a hundred years, he had seen all kinds of supernatural phenomena. He could detect even the slightest supernatural occurrence, but he simply didn't want to bother with this naive young man.
"At 2:39, go to the West Bus Station of Chengnan Square in Dajing City, take the bus, get off at the eleventh stop, and retrieve the things under the big willow tree opposite the station. You must retrieve them, otherwise something very bad will happen."
Go on! Don't miss the bus!
As soon as Old Qin finished speaking, he waved his hand and chased Su Qin out, seemingly disliking the young man.
"Alright! Mission accomplished!"
Su Qin responded and quickly jogged away from the courtyard, as if something bad would happen if he slowed down.
After leaving the courtyard, Su Qin immediately put on a long face and headed towards Cao Yanhua's office.
"Damn, the task assigned by Elder Qin is probably not so easy to complete. Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically asked me to go. I guess going there would be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death."
The so-called bus must be a ghost bus. How many terrifying ghosts must we encounter? And we have to ride eleven stops! It's going to be exhausting. I wonder what kind of thing could make Old Master Qin take it so seriously.