Strong Winds Return Home

Liang Shu asked: “Everyone in the city fears the female ghost and dare not go out, but you still come to this gloomy house to look for her?”

“You fellows can earn this reward for catching the ghost, but I can’t?” Liu Meng curled his lip. “As I said just now, everyone can use their own abilities. But I’ve been guarding here for three days and haven’t achieved anything, so don’t waste your time.” After speaking, he limped over to the door to leave. When he turned around and saw that the two people behind him had not moved, he warned again, “Hey, this is a forbidden area in the city. The government strictly prohibits anyone from entering or leaving. Are you really not going, ah? Don’t leave casually, and don’t implicate me if the officials find out.”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “All right, don’t worry, we won’t turn you in.”

Liu Meng gave a hiss and muttered to himself, why are these two people so indifferent, but there was nothing he could do, so he just slipped away in a hurry.

Liu Xian’an said: “It turns out there is a reward for catching the ghost. Is the reward from the government?”

“Even if the government wanted to offer this kind of reward among the people to catch the ghost, it would be done through the large households in the city.” Liang Shu said, “Otherwise, there are soldiers with swords, but they are still strung along by a ghost. If they had to ask the common people for help in the end, it would be truly shameful if word spread.”

Liu Xian’an pondered for a while, and felt that his words made sense. He said: “The one offering the reward should be that “Yu-daren” that Liu Meng mentioned just now.” After speaking, he took two more steps into the room. There was thick dust everywhere, swirling under the moonlight. It seemed that nobody had come here for a long time. The tables, chairs, and benches all exuded a damp musty smell, scattered in all directions. It should have been ransacked by thieves many times after the owner of the house left.

The two were talking when a gust of wind suddenly came from behind, and there was a strange creaking sound—

Liang Shu grasped Liu Xian’an’s hand and turned around to look. The wind had blown the wardrobe door open, and it hung there, creaking and dangling.

It was a false alarm, but Second Young Master Liu’s heartbeat didn’t calm down for a long time. He also didn’t know if he was startled by a ghost, or because His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s palm was really warm, warm and dry. It was also very strong, and on this sort of haunted night where the wind was whistling, it turned out that it could warm his heart.

Liang Shu asked: “You’re scared silly?”

Li Xian’an returned to his senses: “……What is the prince talking about?”

Liang Shu teased: “I’m talking about the forty-eight thousand year-old immortal who is also afraid of ghosts.”

Liu Xian’an said: “I was thinking about other things.” But it was difficult to go into detail. He was thinking about other people’s hands, so he quickly changed the topic. “The wardrobe is so rotten.”

“The door seems to have been broken for a long time,” Liang Shu said, “but the inside is very new.”

The new part didn’t seem to have been exposed to the wind and sun, but judging by its placement, it faced the sun from the window. Liu Xian’an heard what he meant: “Therefore, the things that were in the wardrobe were taken away recently, so the clapboard looks like new.”

But what would those things be? They should be very cheap, or at least look very cheap, otherwise the place wouldn’t have been ransacked many times and the thing was only taken away recently.

Liang Shu said: “Let’s go and look elsewhere.”

Liu Xian’an made a sound of affirmation, and was led to the back courtyard. The fingers of the two were still intertwined. They were spying, so that was normal.

Thus, the place that should be warm continued to be warm, and the hearts that should beat continued to beat.

– – –

When they returned to the inn, it was already daylight. After Liu Xian’an washed up, he wrapped himself in the quilt. He felt that his entire person was restless, and his mind was in a mess, and he didn’t have time to sort out everything that had happened today. He fell asleep, and the Three Thousand Worlds were also chaotic, so he went straight through groups of sages who were arguing about the Dao, walking all the way to the hot spring. Liang Shu happily opened his arms, and without a word of nonsense, he took this person close.

The world was quiet.

It was so quiet that until he was shaken awake by A-Ning at noon, he still felt that he was in pure white nothingness. A-Ning forcibly grabbed his young master’s arms and pulled him into a sitting position, then quickly stuffed a cushion behind him: “Get up!”

Liu Xian’an reluctantly half-opened his eyes: “Wu.”

While changing his clothes, A-Ning asked: “What did you dream about last night? You were smiling the whole time.”

Liu Xian’an thought about it for a while, and replied: “I dreamed about His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. We bathed together.”

A-Ning clapped his hands. Before, he dreamed that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was bathing alone, but now it turned into a shared bath?

Liu Xian’an felt that it was fine. Everyone had to bathe. It was not rude to take a bath.

A-Ning said: “Young Master, stop smiling.”

Liu Xian’an pushed back the quilt and sat up on the bed, continuing to ask: “Are there many hot springs on our Yaoshan Mountain?”

“Yes, but they are used to cultivate medicine, the Village Master and Eldest Young Master don’t allow anyone to soak in them.” A-Ning said, “Young Master, it is better not to think about Yaoshan, so as not to be punished again.”

Liu Xian’an put forth a hypothesis – what if His Royal Highness Xiao Wang really wanted to go.

“What has His Royal Highness Xiao Wang not seen in the world? There are hot springs in Wancheng, and also in the Northwest. They are all so big that the edges cannot be seen, how could he want to soak in our small Yaoshan hot springs?” Unmoved, A-Ning covered his face with a hot towel. “Close your eyes!”

Liu Xian’an was wiped so hard that he couldn’t speak. He continued to refute, but A-Ning wouldn’t listen, and when the towel was wrung out again, Liang Shu knocked on the door: “Are you up yet?”

“Coming.” A-Ning shook the water droplets from his hands, and was about to open the door when Liu Xian’an blew past him like the breeze. The boy was dumbfounded, staring at how his young master had gone out in such a mess. He went out to see guests without shoes on, ah, how impolite! He had never run so fast before.

The door opened, and Liang Shu also noticed his bare feet. Stepping on the green bamboo floor, the red string on that snow-white ankle tied a certain person’s soul, but Second Young Master Liu didn’t have the awareness of the souls of others. He asked: “Are we going to Aunt Mou’s house?”

“Get dressed first, then I’ll take you to eat,” Liang Shu said. “It’s cold in winter, don’t run around barefoot in the future.”

Liu Xian’an argued: “It’s not cold.”

“You must wear shoes even if it’s not cold.” Liang Shu pulled him back to sit on the bedside. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

The two of them spoke a total of less than ten sentences, and all of them were very serious, from eating, to dressing, to investigating the case, but for some reason, A-Ning felt that something wasn’t right. He thought hard for a long time, and finally asked tactfully: “Young Master, do you feel that the prince treats you differently than he treats Lieutenant General Gao?”

Liu Xian’an got dressed by himself: “What’s the difference?”

“It’s just…….” A-Ning struggled. “Aiya, I can’t say it well. Anyway, it’s different. For example, if Lieutenant General Gao was disheveled, the prince couldn’t be bothered to take care of it. Although it is also because of military discipline, Young Master…….The prince seems to care a lot about the Young Master, and even speaks in a much softer voice.”

Liu Xian’an thought, then is this not very good?

After putting on his shoes and socks and tidying himself up, he went downstairs to have lunch. All kinds of delicacies had been placed on the table, and a hot pot was simmering on the stove, steaming hot.

“Lieutenant General Gao isn’t here?”

“He went to look around the city first.”

Liang Shu helped Liu Xian’an set up the bowls and chopsticks, and boiled the mushrooms one by one for him, letting the rice noodles cool down before bringing them over. The guards next to him looked dumbfounded, wondering if their prince had been bewitched by evil spirits. For example, he could be possessed by an old woman who died unjustly, otherwise how could he be so benevolent in serving someone?

The more they looked, the more this seemed to be the case. Their necks almost stretched into the pot, and they were finally all sent out by His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Don’t stay here to be an eyesore.

The streets were quieter than in previous days.

This was also normal. Because the ghost appeared last night, normal people would not want to go out. Only a group of aunts gathered in Mou Cuihua’s courtyard, basking in the sun. They were saying some words to comfort her, when suddenly someone pushed open the courtyard door.

“Auntie.” A-Ning hugged the medicine box. “How are you doing today?”

“It’s the little doctor, ah.” Mu Cuihua stood up from her chair, but saw the two people behind A-Ning.

“This…….”

“These are my family’s two young masters, who are also doctors,” A-Ning introduced crisply. “Come over here and have a look.”

But this statement did not seem to be credible. It was fine to say that Liu Xian’an was a doctor, but no matter how you looked at it, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang did not look like a doctor, so Mou Cuihua repeatedly waved her hands and said: “I’m fine, I’m already fine, you had best go quickly.”

“What’s the rush?” Liang Shu dragged a chair from the side and placed it in the middle of the courtyard. The aunts around stood up and immediately said they had things to do, leaving one after another.

The love between old sisters was so thin.

Mou Chihua said: “I’m really healed.”

Liang Shu raised his eyebrows and reminded: “It’s fine now, but what if the ghost comes again tonight?”

Mou Chihua almost cried: “She……she has no reason to keep pestering me, ba. There are fifty people in this city who have quarreled with her father or scolded her, and I haven’t done anything excessive.”

“Who can say for sure about ghosts,” Liang Shu said. “Rather than expecting the ghost to find someone else, it is better to think of a way to catch her so that this ghost doesn’t get tired of wandering around the city in the future and run to your son again.”

Mou Cuihua’s face paled: “She, she, she has always looked own on our Suan Zi, why would she run to him now?”

Liu Xian’an answered solemnly: “To absorb yang energy.” It was written like this in the folktales.

No mother could bear to hear this, and Mou Cuihua was struck by lightning on the spot. Seeing that she was about to faint again, A-Ning promptly passed the smelling salts over. Liu Xian’an also moved a chair over and sat next to Liang Shu, continuing: “There are a hundred people who have offended her in this city, but why did she choose to seek you out instead of the remaining ninety-nine?”

“I don’t know why,” Mou Cuihua said. “I really don’t know.”

She racked her brain for a long time, but couldn’t recall any useful clues. What did she do back then? At most, after hearing about Wan Yuan’s affair with the hunter, she would utter a few harsh curses, and after Wan Yuan went to prison, she gloated and ate sunflower seeds on the street all morning.

“But in the afternoon, after the girl’s suicide was reported, I never mentioned it again, not a single word,” Mou Cuihua said. “Her father went crazy on the street, and it was our shopkeeper who went to help him into the house. Even if I have a cheap mouth, I wouldn’t compete for seniority in this sort of matter.”

“What about your son, did he offend her?”

“My son is even less likely. He is an honest man, and wouldn’t let out a silent fart if beaten with three sticks. When the girl died, Suan Zi was still learning from a carpenter outside, and didn’t see her face to face. If I lie about this matter, may I be struck by thunder and lightning, my heart become dirty, and when I go out, I will fall into a pit.”

Mou Cuihua raised her hand high and eloquently swore a poisonous oath, and also brought her son to swear together, which really showed that she bore no guilt. A-Ning had never heard such a variety of folk oaths, up to the ancestors and down to the underworld. It hurt the ears and eyes, so he quickly dragged her into the house for acupuncture.

Liang Shu asked, “What do you think?”

Neither of them believed that a female ghost had crawled out of the grave. Now that it was determined that the female ghost was someone playing pretend, Liu Xian’an proceeded to say: “Could it be that Mou Cuihua offended the person who is pretending to be a ghost?”

Liang Shu sent his guards to investigate outside. Although there were not many idlers on the streets today, by relying on the few words from shop owners, they could also draw some conclusions – In Huaizhen City, the people Aunt Mou had offended were not few. There were so many that not to mention two hands, if you had twenty hands, they still could probably not be counted.

She was the number one mean-spirited person in town.

Liu Xian’an was impressed: “So quarrelsome. I fear this clue is useless, let’s go find that Liu Meng.”