Chapter 59: My Family Has a Son Who Has Just Grown Up (Part 2)

  When I arrived at the gate of my home, I turned my head and took a glance at the sauce shop. The lights had been extinguished early, and it was pitch black inside. I didn't know if Hu San'er had fallen asleep or...

  "Mei, get some rest early and I'll take my leave." Li Qiting looked at me with a serious expression and said: "Although Mei is the Dragon God's messenger, she has never had any experience in capturing demons. From now on, as long as Mei gives the word, I will definitely follow her. Please don't go out alone again, okay?"

  I hastily agreed and Li Kaitang then went back.

  I went upstairs and looked at Hu San'er's house, thinking, was it really Hu San'er after all?

  The next day, I got out of bed and found two brothers peeling radishes, and Dad was preparing to boil water for braising. I curiously asked: "Dad, why are you making pickled vegetables again today? We still have enough pickled vegetables at home!"

  "Get up, it's just the right time. Hurry to the morning market and buy some Chinese broccoli. The Hu family's store across from our gate has closed down, saying they won't be doing business anymore. Several of their old customers have come to our house to order pickled vegetables, so we need to make more or there won't be enough to sell."

  "What? Not doing it anymore?" I widened my eyes and ran out the door to take a look, only to see that the pickle shop had indeed been boarded up, with no one in sight. Several young women who had come to buy pickles were chatting and speculating: "Oh dear, how could they give up such a good business? They just stopped doing it?"

  "Yes, I came over yesterday to buy some sauce and hadn't even heard Hu San'er mention it, this is really too sudden."

  "Isn't it because he's developed feelings for that piano teacher over time and is afraid of being gossiped about, so they both went to a new place together?"

  "That's also possible, tsk, what a pity, can't eat such good sauce dishes again."

  I hastily asked: "So, even Leqin's wife who came to Beijing to work is also gone with Hu Saniu?"

  A girl smiled and said: "Look at you asking this question, whether together or not, naturally only those two people themselves know." Ten years of searching for a floating life in a dream.

  They laughed and chatted for a while before slowly dispersing.

  I had to carry a basket to buy rape, walking and walking, passing by the Grass Hat Hutong, I suddenly remembered that Leqin's sister seemed to have mentioned it. She came to this capital to rely on relatives and friends, and lived in the Grass Hat Hutong. If Leqin's sister hadn't left with Hu Saniu, she might know where Hu Saniu was. Thinking of this, I hurried into the Grass Hat Hutong.

  The alley of Caomao was overgrown with weeds, looking very desolate. There were not many households, mostly old and dilapidated houses, probably at a low price. I finally found one that wasn't locked, and quickly took a look inside the yard. An elderly woman was bent over feeding chickens. I knocked on the door and said: "Old lady, I came to Caomao Alley to find someone. Can you help me out and ask around?"

  The old woman heard this and quickly got up, asking: "Little girl, who are you looking for?"

  "I said hastily: 'I'm looking for a big sister, around twenty years old, who recently moved to Cao Mao Hutong. She's very simple and her name is Leqin.'"

  The old woman frowned at me: "A young married woman in her twenties? This thatched cottage alley is desolate and decadent, all the residents are some unwanted old guys, where can you find any young people?"

  I frowned and asked: "Xu is new here, doesn't Old Lady know?"

  The old woman shook her head: "Old lady has lived in this Cao Mao Hutong for almost twenty years, and there are only three families living in this Cao Mao Hutong. We see each other every day, if someone new moved in, how could I not know?"

  "Huh?" I thought for a moment, could it be that what Lao Qiner said that day, I completely misremembered?

  I'd better bid farewell and turn back to buy the Chinese broccoli, when the old lady said: "Unless what you saw was the fox spirit living in that broken Liu house." On Jiuxian Road.

  "What's with the fox spirit?" I hastily turned back and asked: "Old lady, what's going on with that fox spirit?"

  Old Mrs. Nai said, "The Liu family has been gone for many years, and the big house has been abandoned, with weeds growing everywhere. Foxes often appear, especially on full moon nights when they come out to play, making a lot of noise. We neighbors often find our belongings missing, but after a while, they quietly return. It's all because of that fox spirit borrowing them."

  "So it was..."

  The old woman pointed to the courtyard with the thatched hut at the very back and said: "There, that's the Liu family's house."

  "Thanks for the tip, old lady!" I thought to myself, under the bright daylight, foxes are probably all sleeping, might as well go in and take a look, see if there's any news about that Laoqin.

  The Liu family's mansion was naturally dilapidated, the vermilion gate had rotted and fallen off halfway, spider webs filled the corners of the walls, dust accumulated thickly, and the eaves creaked as if they were about to collapse. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, it wouldn't be surprising if a monster ran out from inside.

  I climbed up the worn and uneven stone steps, looked inside, and saw that the inner courtyard was also in disarray. All I could see was a circular stone path that had been overgrown with wild grass.

  I plucked up my courage and decided to take a gamble, so I called out: "Is anyone there?"

  After a while, a sharp and inhuman voice echoed back: "No one."

  "Huh...?" Isn't that a human, could it be a fox spirit? I suddenly got goosebumps all over my body, and then heard the voice ask again: "Who are you looking for?"

  "This...". I was at a loss for words, and then other voices chimed in: "Who knows her? Who knows her?"

  "Unfamiliar faces are born from unfamiliar places." Evil Emperor and Demon Empress: Rebellious Heavens Beastmaster

  "I have never taken anything from their family, neither horizontally nor vertically."

  "Shh... she can hear us talking!"

  "Right, right! She can actually hear us talking! She's a medium!"

  "It's strange, we've always avoided contact with other ordinary humans and monsters, how did she find us?"

  "Ah, I see! She looks somewhat familiar. Let me think... Ah yes, she's the envoy of the Dragon God who guards the mysterious 'Yin'!"

  "Dragon God?"

  An aged voice rang out, very majestic: "Dragon God Envoy? Could it be that you have been ordered by the Dragon God to come and report? I wonder what business the Dragon God has with our Hu family, that he would trouble an envoy to come?"

  "This is probably the leader of the fox family, I said hastily: "Actually, this... Mei Cai wants to ask if there is a young widow named Le Qinqu living in Cao Mao Hutong..."

  Piano?

  "Yes, she is talking about piano."

  "Is this our family's piano?"

  It seems that these fox spirits must have known Leqin's wife.

  "Yes, a twenty-year-old or so, very neat and clean music teacher, she said she lives in Cao Mao Hutong, and is from the western suburbs to visit relatives and friends."

  "Right, right, we've had this piano here before."

  So it seems that Leqin's wife lives in the house of the fox spirit...