Chen Yang helped Chao Jian back to the room, frowned and said, "It's a big bruise. I'll go to the kitchen to get an egg."
When he went out, he brushed past Xiangdong's shoulder and gave him a warning look with a cold face.
"… "
Xiangdong was so angry that his lungs were about to explode. He closed the door, glared at the boy sitting on the bed, and laughed in anger: "You are quite scheming, little brother."
The cane in Chao Jian's hand tapped the ground "ta-ta-ta".
Xiang Dong was afraid of that thing. He stood at a safe distance and scratched the corner of his mouth with his thumb: "If you want to play this game, then I will accompany you to the end. Let's see who will win... who gets the cabbage in the bowl."
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Xiangdong lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall to smoke: "Do you know why Chen Yang avoids me and is wary of me, but allows you to take advantage of him in various ways? Because he treats me as a man, a male animal who wants to fuck him, and you are just a younger brother."
He laughed, mocking and arrogant: "A younger brother will always be just a younger brother."
Chao Jian pointed to the side.
Xiangdong was so excited that his brain didn't catch up: "What do you mean?"
Chao Jian said, "He sleeps there."
The bed sheets were a little messy, revealing ambiguity and intimacy.
Xiangdong suddenly couldn't laugh anymore.
Why am I so angry? He looked at the young man through the swirling smoke, his eyes narrowed, a fierce murderous look on his face, he might as well just beat him to death.
Chao Jian, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, stood up suddenly.
The cigarette in Xiangdong's mouth trembled, and the murderous intent and cruelty in his eyes turned into surprise. This treacherous bastard can stand without crutches
Damn, if he waits until his left leg is fully healed, won’t it be even more difficult to defeat him
Well, now is the time...
Xiangdong bit the cigarette butt tightly and walked towards Chao Jian with a forced smile.
At this moment, Chen Yang pushed the door and walked in. The materialized murderous intent in the room made him pause.
So Xiangdong was kicked again.
Xiangdong was kicked out of the room. He smoked half a cigarette while cursing at the door, limped a few steps, and there was a buzzing sound in his head.
Damn, I fell into the trap again!
That kid has great hearing. He must have known that Chen Yang was back, so he deliberately provoked him to make him show his murderous intention.
Damn it!
He looks like a decent person, but smells so strong of green tea.
Did he not take the medicine? Xiangdong felt that he had touched the truth. He quickly turned back to the door of Room 09 and pounded on it with his fist.
"Boom boom boom"
Chen Yang in the room was peeling an egg halfway when he had to stop: "It's too noisy, I'll go out for a while."
No response.
Chen Yang put the egg into Chao Jian's hand: "Peel the rest and rub your face. I'll be back soon..."
Chao Jian's mood suddenly became violent: "Come back soon? How long is a while? One minute, one hour, one day, or... Get out!"
When he said the last two words, Chao Jian waved his crutch, and Chen Yang hugged his head reflexively.
The cane hit the corner of the table next to him.
The pounding on the door continued. The person in the room was stimulated by something and was on the verge of losing control. Chen Yang attacked him from both sides. The string of reason was stretched tighter and tighter, and finally broke with a loud bang.
"Hold… "
"Hold!"
Chen Yang yelled anxiously and stopped Jian's shaking hands.
Chen Yang didn't notice Chao Jian's abnormality. He held his head with both hands and panted to coax him, "Calm down. I'll be back in three minutes. I promise. Soothe yourself."
Outside the door, when Xiangdong was about to use his fist and kick, the door opened.
Chen Yang walked out with a sullen face and closed the door with his back hand. He glanced at the kitchen staff of the inn and asked Xiang Dong in a low voice, "Did your brain get stuck in the door?"
Xiangdong: “…”
The smell of nicotine rushed into his nostrils and stirred his irritated nerve endings. Chen Yang subconsciously pulled the cigarette from Dongdong's mouth and wanted to take a puff. He saw the saliva on the cigarette butt and put it back into his mouth.
"Others don't know that Chao Jian has multiple personality disorder, and you don't know either?"
Chen Yang sniffed the two fingers that had touched the cigarette, and used the smell of the cigarette to calm himself down: "I've been worried all day, afraid that he would get sick, and you deliberately tripped me up..."
Xiang Dong suddenly interrupted: "Is he still taking his medicine?"
Chen Yang was stuck for a moment.
Xiangdong had already gotten the answer from Chen Yang's reaction. He ground his cigarette butt with his teeth: "I knew something was fucking wrong!" "Has the condition worsened, or has the effect of the medicine diminished?" Xiangdong paced back and forth in front of the door.
Chen Yang had no intention of discussing it.
Xiangdong lowered his head and moved closer to Chen Yang, his breath carrying a strong smell of tobacco: "You will be killed by him sooner or later."
Chen Yang said: "I know my limits."
"Your sense of propriety is useless." Xiang Dong snorted, "He is a psychopath. You want to talk to him about reason, morality, life and philosophy? Chen Yang, you are twenty-five, not just five months old. Don't be so naive."
"I just don't understand. Are you guys bound to some bullshit death app that will explode if you unbind it? Why do you have to partner with him?"
Chen Yang's face looked very ugly, and his eyes seemed to be in a daze. It was not a matter of changing a partner.
He and Chao Jian have come a long way and have experienced so much to get to where they are today.
Chao Jian had witnessed how helpless he was when he couldn't find any clues and how he was terribly afraid of ghosts. He also taught him along the way how to adapt to the survival mode in the mission world and how to learn to interact with ghosts.
He watched Chao Jian go from the treatment period to the worsening of his condition, and he still trusted him, and they still had a tacit understanding.
Not the same.
Even if one day he meets someone who is better in all aspects in the mission world and is willing to be his partner, that person will not be more suitable for him than Chao Jian.
No, it won't be better.
Xiangdong stared at Chen Yang's dazed eyes, and his words were suggestive: "How do you know it won't work if you don't try?"
Chen Yang blurted out: "I don't want to try."
Xiangdong: “…”
Shit, did I assist by accident
Xiangdong wanted to commit suicide by smoking. Seeing that Chen Yang was about to become enlightened, his face turned as green as a dung beetle.
"The painter has gone to town, and the others are not here either. There are only three of us in the inn."
Xiangdong quickly diverted Chen Yang's attention.
Chen Yang's thoughts were brought back by Xiangdong: "They all went to investigate."
"Just walk around." Xiangdong said, "We want to know the townspeople's daily lives, neighborhood relationships, love and hate, etc. It's impossible to investigate door to door, so we can only try our luck."
Chen Yang nodded: "Chao Jian and I will go out after dark."
"The background of this mission has been laid out directly. There will be many pitfalls underneath. In order to save our energy, personal matters must be put aside. Don't recruit Chao Jian again."
Chen Yang thought that there couldn't be another incident like this during this mission, so he slowed down his tone and said, "Xiangdong, please help me."
Xiangdong paused while smoking: "He recruited me?"
"You don't know, just now he could clearly..."
No, I can’t say it. If I say it, it will just be an assist. It seems like I can only suffer in silence.
Seeing that Chen Yang was still waiting for the second half of the sentence, Xiangdong glanced and blew smoke into the air: "Nothing."
"Okay, don't recruit him. As for his side, I will talk to him." Chen Yang patted Xiangdong's shoulder, "Our goals are the same, we need to cooperate."
Xiangdong was more concerned about the first half of Chen Yang's words. Chao Jian's psychological problems couldn't even be suppressed by medicine. How was he going to communicate with him
"What would you do if that boy hit you? Would you not fight back?"
Chen Yang said without hesitation: "Impossible, he won't hit me."
east:"?"
Is this the legendary dog food? Get lost.
"Although strictly speaking, personality disorder is not a mental illness, but a psychological problem, one thing is certain, he is not a normal person. He beats himself when he gets mad, so why wouldn't he beat you?"
Xiangdong held a cigarette in his mouth and looked at Chen Yang as if he was looking at a lost lamb: "There are only zero times and countless times of domestic violence."
Chen Yang: “…”
"When it comes to domestic violence, you're no less capable than anyone else," Chen Yang said, "You just need to remember to be vigilant at all times."
Xiangdong's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. How could this be brought up again? The crying child gets the milk, right? His only disadvantage is that he has healthy limbs and a strong body. He can't play the victim and beg for a hug.
Thinking of the single bed, Xiangdong grabbed Chen Yang who was about to go back to his room and said, "Everyone asked the young widow for a chair. When it's time to sleep, one person sleeps on the chair and the other sleeps on the bed. They take turns. What about you? How are you going to deal with it?"
Chen Yang turned around: "Take turns sleeping on the bed?"
Xiangdong took out the cigarette butt from his mouth and threw it on the ground: "The bed is so small, how can two people sleep on it?"
"It's not very comfortable to sleep, but it's okay to lie on your side." Chen Yang said.
Xiangdong's eyes were filled with mosaics. Sideways? Then couldn't he just straighten his back and start working
Oh shit, I'm going to have a heart attack.
As expected, before he really lets go of Chen Yang, it would be better for him not to share a mission with them. At best, it would hurt his body, and at worst, it would endanger his life.
Xiangdong pounded his chest. He still hasn't given up the idea of eating cabbage. The main reason is probably that he didn't get to eat it. If he had eaten it, he would definitely light a cigarette and make a "that's just so-so" comment.
But what the hell does “that’s it” mean
Xiangdong waved his hand and walked towards the back door of the inn. With the dog that was even crazier than him staring at him, Chen Yang would not be able to get his hands on the cabbage.
When he was about to reach the back door, Xiangdong stopped and turned sideways, watching Chen Yang return to the room. He looked up at the sky, and a hint of mockery appeared on his arrogant and unruly straight face.
What you can't get will always cause you trouble.
The favored are fearless.
Absolutely.
As soon as Chen Yang entered the room, he saw Chao Jian with his shoulders tensed, his head slightly lowered, his eyes fixed on the screen of the mobile phone in his hand.
A thought popped into his mind: Could it be that Chao Jian was watching the time
The pace of approaching slowed down little by little, and Chen Yang felt a little dry in the mouth. He only knew that Chao Jian's personality disorder was mainly manic and paranoid, and he had no idea what the other personalities were like.
He had guessed about it before, thinking that it might have fallen asleep, merged, or been destroyed.
Now he suddenly wanted to find out what Chao Jian's other personalities were.
Do you have a desire to control
Chao Jian raised his head and looked at Chen Yang with his dark and lifeless eyes. His cold and pale face showed no emotion at all.
For a moment, Chen Yang thought that Chao Jian had swallowed the entire bottle of medicine, causing him to restrain himself too much and not act like a living person.
However, the backpack containing the medicine was still in its original place.
Chen Yang walked towards his partner and asked softly, "Are you feeling better?"
Chao Jian rubbed the screen of the phone with his fingertips.
Chen Yang judged one thing based on Chao Jian's action: it took no more than three minutes for him to go out and come back.
Otherwise it would be a storm now.
He still needs treatment, Chen Yang thought. If a person cannot control himself, he will live a miserable life and will hurt himself and others.
Chen Yang glanced at the egg on the table. It was in the same condition as when he left, with half of the eggshell still remaining.
"How did you get into a conflict with Xiangdong?" Chen Yang asked while picking at the eggshell.
Chao Jian sat in silence.
Chen Yang said: "He used at least 80% of his strength in that punch. If it had hit your eye, your eyeball would have exploded."
Chao Jian remained silent.
"If it hits you from the lower jaw, it will be terrible. You will bite your tongue, loosen your teeth, and have a mouth full of blood." Chen Yang took a paper towel and spread it on the table. He put the peeled eggs on it, came close to Chao Jian and said, "Show me a few biting movements."
Chao Jian said in a hoarse voice: "I'm not hurt."
Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He handed the egg to Chao Jian: "Here."
He bent his back toward Jian, folded his hands and covered his brows: "No need."
"It's all peeled off." said Chen Yang.
Chao Jian moved the corner of his bruised lips and said, "Then eat it."
Chen Yang: “…”
"I don't know how the door of the room was carved, and the sound of opening and closing is very small." Chen Yang said while eating eggs, "It is not secure when locked from the inside, and we have to use a table to sleep at night."
Chao Jian put his left foot on the ground and tensed his leg muscles: "It's useless even if we use ten tables. The person who can come in is not a human."
Chen Yang was choked by the egg white. He drank a few sips of water to calm down. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Go to sleep. I'll call you when it gets dark."
Chao Jian said, "My face hurts."
Chen Yang's mouth twitched: "Then I asked you to apply an egg on your face, and you said no."
Chao Jian: "Eggs are useless."
"I'll go find the young widow in the inn and ask her if she has any medicine." Chen Yang had just stood up when he felt a resistance from behind. He looked back and saw the young man with his head down, grabbing his clothes with his hands.
This action is just like a child who wants to be touched by his parents.
Chen Yang touched the top of the boy's head and said helplessly: "What are you doing? I can't do magic. I can't make your injury disappear immediately. I can't say that it won't hurt if I blow on it. My shame won't allow it."
Chao Jian: “…”
He withdrew his hand, and put it in his hair with the other hand, brushing it back and pressing it against his ear. He said in an angry tone, "I want you to get me a basin of water. I need to wash my face!"
Chen Yang said "Oh", "Then just say it directly. The way you grabbed my clothes reminded me of my sister. Every time she wanted me to coax her... Okay, put down the crutches. I'll go get some water. It's cold, right? Wait."
The footsteps faded away, and Chao Jian put down his hands, revealing his red ears.
During dinner, none of the people who went out came back, and only Chen Yang and Chao Jian finished some of the food.
They left the inn under the gaze of the young widow.
The young widow gave instructions for a few things.
1: The front door of the inn is locked at 8pm, and the back door at 10pm.
Once the two doors are closed, they will not be opened again before six o'clock the next morning, so if you come back late, you will not be able to enter the inn.
2: There is a crazy woman in the town. She often stays in the land temple behind the maple forest in the east. Once she sees a young and good-looking man, she will pounce on him and bite him. Stay away from her if you see her.
Three: Don’t go to the second floor of the inn, the merchants there have bad tempers.
Four: The Zhu family and the Yun family are two major families in the town. They don’t like outsiders, so it’s best not to stay in front of their houses.
Chen Yang was carrying a bag and chewing a milk tablet in his hand. There were clues in the mayor's mission introduction and in the young widow's instructions, but now he had no direction and was at a loss.
The young widow's surname was Zhou. The people in the kitchen were not polite to her and even rolled their eyes at her in front of her.
I don’t know what they will gossip about behind people’s backs.
Chen Yang picked up a milk slice and handed it to Chao Jian: "Widow Zhou is the daughter-in-law of the Qi family. Is this information correct?"
Chao Jian ate the milk tablet: "Yeah."
"For some reason, she is not favored in the Qi family and has no status." Chen Yang glanced at the town. It was now covered with a layer of dim light, with a sense of embroidered shoes from the Republic of China horror film. He shuddered, "This is very contradictory. If she is not favored, why would she be allowed to manage the inn? Is there no one left in the Qi family?"
Small town, old, conservative, feudal, widow. These points combined, full of stories.
Chao Jian stopped and nodded: "There is an old man there, go and ask whatever you want to ask."
Chen Yang looked at it, turned around and asked, "What about you?"
"I won't follow you." Chao Jian said, "Go by yourself."
The old man was carrying a bamboo basket and had returned from somewhere in the town. There was a lot of mud on his patched jacket.
Chen Yang's steps were very hesitant: "Is she a human or a ghost?"
"Hurry up." Chao Jian pushed him.
Chen Yang was pushed forward and took a step forward. He took the second and third steps by himself. He walked cautiously to the old woman, forcing himself not to consider whether it was a human or a ghost. He went straight to the point and asked about Widow Zhou.
The old woman was chewing something, her dry mouth moving, her words unclear: "Young man, you are from another place, you are really handsome."
Chen Yang: “…” It’s pitch dark in here, how can I see his face clearly
"The Qi family inn is well run. People who come to town to do business all stay there." The old woman muttered to herself and swallowed the food in her mouth with a "gulp". "Oh, by the way, young man, you are asking about the Qi family's daughter-in-law, right? There are always troubles around widows."
As he said that, he walked into the alley.
Chen Yang didn't dare to chase further in. He had noticed during the day that it was a deep alley and he was afraid that he would never come back.
"Old man," Chen Yang shouted from the entrance of the alley, "I came here in the afternoon. Everyone was fishing in the river at that time. Did you go there too?"
The old woman walked slowly and said in a somewhat aggressive tone: "I am already half buried in the ground, so I can't join in the fun."
The subtext is that if she had been able to move a little more nimbly, she would have gone to join the effort, but unfortunately, she missed the opportunity.
Chen Yang shouted, "The mayor said that eating fish to save one's life is unfilial, unkind and unjust." He added, "He also said that it is all fate, and what is supposed to happen will happen."
The second half of the sentence was just something he made up.
The footsteps in the alley stopped, and the old woman turned around. Her face, which was covered with age spots, was blurry. She stared at Chen Yang with her eyes: "Did Gao Degui really say that?"
Chen Yang lied without blushing or beating his heart: "Yes."
The old woman laughed a few times, and the laughter made Chen Yang's head numb. He ran quickly towards Jian and heard voices coming from behind the corner.
It's a man and a woman.
The woman was Miss Qiao. She had a very distinctive voice, with an ambiguous and affectionate ending.
The man is not a tasker.
Chen Yang looked at Chao Jian across the void. He moved closer to the voice and found Miss Qiao leaning against the wall. Her cheongsam with a white background and embroidered peonies was very beautiful under the moonlight.
A man had his back to Chen Yang, his face buried in Miss Qiao's neck, his breathing was heavy and mixed with a wet sound.
Miss Qiao neither responded nor resisted. She supported herself on the wall with one hand, her beautiful fingers inserted into her big wavy hair, and looked at Chen Yang with seductive eyes.
It's like asking if you want to join.
Chen Yang: “…”
Chen Yang returned to Chao Jian and told him about his conversation with the old woman and the matter of Miss Qiao.
"Ms. Qiao is so brave that she dares to act alone."
Chao Jian said coldly: "That's called hunting."
Chen Yang didn't understand: "Huh?"
Chao Jian said: "What you see with your eyes is not necessarily true. You think she was forced to seduce men with her body in order to get clues, but in fact she was letting men serve her. Don't you understand?"
He leaned close to Chen Yang's left ear and whispered, "Sex addiction, do you understand?"
Chen Yang couldn't believe his ears: "... I understand."
The word "sex addiction" doesn't fit his partner, who seems to have no love and is indifferent to worldly affairs.
"If you walk along the river often, you will get your feet wet," Chen Yang said, "She is a weak woman, and she indulges herself in the mission world. What will she do if the boat capsizes?"
"She can handle one man, but how about several, or a group?"
Chao Jian mocked, "Please take back your kindness, she is better than you in martial arts."
"From what you just saw, she was the prey she had chosen. If it wasn't her will, and she wanted to do that, she would have become a corpse by now."
If Chao Jian hadn't said these words, Chen Yang wouldn't have believed a single word. He was greatly shocked: "When did you observe her?"
Chao Jian answered irrelevantly: "She is an old hand, you don't need to worry about her, just take care of yourself."
Chen Yang muttered, "You are better at reading people's expressions than I am."
Chao Jian said, "Stop mumbling. Count the houses with lights on and remember them clearly."
Chen Yang calmed himself down and looked around as he walked. There was dim light in the windows along the way and candles were lit in the houses. He and Chao Jian walked for a while before they saw a brightly lit window.
That family uses light bulbs.
Chen Yang walked around to the front to look at the door plaque. The Yun family was a big and wealthy family in the town.
"Where did everyone else go?" Chen Yang continued walking.
He pondered and asked himself, "Widow Zhou should have told them that they either went to the land temple to look for the madman, or wandered around to see which houses had white lanterns hanging in front of their doors and which families were crying."
Chao Jian: “Yeah.”
Chen Yang was therefore certain of his idea, and he said, "Then we..."
Chen Yang's voice stopped abruptly when his calf was suddenly hit by a crutch. He held his breath and looked around.