Chapter 24: Return of the Soul 04

  Xiao Rong saw Qin Fei, slightly stunned, and immediately raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eyes, threw the remaining paper money in her hand into the dancing flames, and stood up to walk out of the aisle.

  "Qin Fei, how are you here?" Xiao Rong asked aloud.

  "I came to this breakfast shop to buy breakfast, and saw you..." Qin Fei's gaze passed over Xiao Rong's body, falling on the small brick circle, the ashes of the burned paper money swaying in the cold wind, drifting out of that small circle.

  Xiao Rong smoothed out her long hair that had fallen to the side of her face, revealing a pale complexion. She forced a smile at Qin Fei and asked, "Want to come over to my place for a bit?"

  "Good." Qin Fei nodded and said.

  Xiao Rong picked up the small bricks that had been used to burn paper money and brought Qin Fei upstairs. Xiao Rong's home was on the second floor, so the two of them didn't wait for the elevator and went straight up the stairs.

  Xiao Rong took out the key and opened the door, leading Qin Fei into the house. She asked him to sit in the living room for a while, then she ran to the kitchen to make tea.

  Qin Fei sat on the sofa in the living room, casually placing the breakfast he had bought for Shen Wei on the coffee table, his eyes wandering aimlessly around the room.

  The living room looks a bit messy, obviously hasn't been tidied up for a while. Books are scattered randomly on the dining table, and handbags haven't been hung up, just thrown onto the chair. Near the entrance of the living room, there's a basket of clothes, apparently waiting to be washed but not yet taken into the bathroom.

  Near the balcony, there was a floor-to-ceiling cabinet with some handicrafts and often-read books inside... Qin Fei's pupils suddenly constricted, on the middle layer of the cabinet, to the right, was placed a brand new photo. The photo was of a very spirited young man, smiling happily, but it was black and white, it was a memorial photo.

  Qin Fei was staring blankly at the old photo, while Xiao Rong had already brought out two cups of boiled water from the kitchen.

  "Sorry, there's no tea at home." Xiao Rong placed one of the cups in front of Qin Fei and sat down across from him with her own cup.

  Xiao Rong held the transparent glass teacup with both hands, her thumb rubbing against the rim of the cup. She fell silent for a moment before slowly opening her mouth to speak, "Just now... I was burning paper money for my husband Li Cheng."

  Although he had suspected it when he saw the new mourning photo, Qin Fei was still stunned when Xiao Rong said it out loud. When Xiao Rong came to the bookstore, she would often chat with him, and sometimes she would mention her husband who was away from home, at which time she would always smile happily. Qin Fei had never met Xiao Rong's husband and didn't know what kind of man he was, but he knew that man must have been the source of Xiao Rong's happiness. But now that man was no longer in this world.

  Xiao Rong felt that what she was about to say next seemed easier to get out after explaining the burning of paper money. She lightly pursed her lips and continued: "My husband was a surveyor at a construction site, and some time ago he was working at a site in City C when he was struck on the back of his head by a stone pillar that had fallen from a crane, and died on the spot."

  At this point, Qin Fei also understood why Xiao Rong didn't appear in his book because during that time, she lost the person she loved most. Qin Fei wanted to say something to comfort Xiao Rong, but the words stuck at the corner of his mouth and couldn't be spoken out loud. Language always becomes pale and powerless at times like these, unable to soothe even a little bit of the bleeding wound.

  Xiao Rong raised her eyes and looked at the floor cabinet in the living room. Qin Fei followed Xiao Rong's gaze, his line of sight falling once again on that brand new portrait.

  "My husband passed away a month ago, and I personally went to C City to bring him back. But for some reason, I always feel that he is still by my side, never leaving me, as if everything was just a nightmare." Xiao Rong's gaze returned from the photo, looking down at the glass cup in her hand, saying hoarsely, "Sorry, I've been in a bad state of mind lately, talking nonsense. Ah Cheng has indeed..."

  Xiao Rong's words were not yet finished, when a sudden and abrupt crashing sound was heard. It was Qin Fei's knee that accidentally bumped into the tea table. Xiao Rong raised her head to look at Qin Fei, only to see him staring straight at the position behind her. Xiao Rong followed Qin Fei's line of sight, turning her head to look behind herself, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

  "What are you looking at?" Xiao Rong turned her head and asked with some confusion.

  Qin Fei opened his mouth, he didn't know how to respond. Just now when Xiao Rong was talking to him, he saw a half-transparent figure floating out of Xiao Rong's body again, and was startled, accidentally knocking over the tea table. But after the half-transparent body completely floated out of Xiao Rong's body, Qin Fei was stunned again, because the face of that half-transparent "person" was exactly the same as the person in the photo on the cabinet.

  The ghost attached to Xiao Rong's body is Xiao Rong's husband?!!

  But why did Xiao Rong's husband want to possess his wife's body? It doesn't seem like he wanted to harm her, and there was no resentment or evil energy on the ghost...

  "Qin Fei..." Xiao Rong, who didn't get an answer to her question, stared at Qin Fei for a while before calmly speaking up, "Did you see him? Did you see Ah Cheng?"

  Qin Fei hesitated for a moment, and only after seeing the bright light in Xiao Rong's eyes did he slowly nod his head.

  "I knew Ah Cheng was always there..." Xiao Rong wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes, turned her head back again, but still saw nothing, and could only ask Qin Fei, "What did Ah Cheng want to tell me?"

  Xiao Rong's husband, Li Cheng, seemed to want to say something. He floated over to Xiao Rong and looked at her as if he was saying something, but Xiao Rong didn't hear him, so he could only sigh and look towards Qin Fei across from Xiao Rong.

  Qin Fei saw Li Cheng's mouth opening and closing as he spoke to himself, but unfortunately, although he could see it, he couldn't understand what the ghost was saying.

  "Sorry, I didn't understand what you said." Qin Fei shook his head at Li Cheng.

  Li Cheng showed a disappointed expression and then turned to Xiao Rong's side and squatted down.

  This morning, Qin Fei finally figured out who the ghost attached to Xiao Rong's body was, but no matter what, he couldn't understand what the ghost wanted to do. In the end, after consulting with Xiao Rong, Qin Fei decided to invite a professional in this field to come and take a look.

  After calling Zhang Zhixin with his mobile phone, it took less than twenty minutes for Zhang Zhixin to arrive at Xiao Rong's home.

  After Zhang Zhi Xin arrived, he circled around Li Cheng who was half transparent twice and finally stroked his goatee saying: "This is a ghost of someone after they died. Generally this type of ghost will immediately go to the underworld but he's still lingering in the world of the living and isn't some kind of malevolent or vengeful spirit. There must be some unfulfilled wish that's making him stubbornly cling to the influence of the worldly energy, causing him to linger."