Chapter 30: Back in the alley

Instant retribution is especially fast for me. When Qin Huai and I went out, I had a small piece of gauze wrapped around my forehead and my face was also bruised. It looked like Qin Huai had beaten me a hundred times.

Qinhuai looked at me with a strange expression, probably wanting to laugh, but then deliberately not laughing and being suffocated into this state, and then said, “Retribution, retribution, it really works on Taoist priests, don’t you think so? Chengyi?”

My ‘internal injury’? I just scared Qin Huai a little, didn’t I? As a result, the kid pounced on me, knocked over the teapot, scalded my leg, knocked over the coffee table, and then I was thrown to the ground by him, and the coffee table fell directly on my face, and then I became this.

“Hahahaha…” Qin Huai laughed arrogantly.

I finally exploded, grabbed Qin Huai and yelled, “If you mention this again, I’ll beat you up and make you look like this.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t mention it again.” Qin Huai tried hard to hold back his laughter. I always felt that the boy’s expression was not sincere at all.

It was a little after midnight.

Qin Huai and I came to the “ghost market” where my master and I had been before. It used to be incredibly lively here. I clearly remember that there were all kinds of things for sale, but now it’s really a ghost market, and there’s not a single human shadow to be seen.

“I said Chengyi, you remember it right? This is really a ghost market!” It was still a little cool in the May night. Qin Huai, in pursuit of elegance, was dressed lightly. He rubbed his shoulders and said to me, “This is really a ghost market!”

Although there have been some changes here, they are still within the scope of acceptance. I looked at Qin Huai and said, “I remember it correctly, this is the place! Maybe the people here have moved, but this is not my destination. Let’s go and find out.”

Qinhuai had no choice but to follow me, and he didn’t forget to grab my jacket on the way to wear it.

I let him do it because I was afraid he would catch a cold. After all, my physical condition was much better than his.

Thanks to my good memory, I walked back and forth all the way, between unfamiliar and familiar scenery, and I never forgot the path I had taken in the past.

I remember when my master brought me here, we once walked through a quiet, almost eerie alley. After walking through the alley, there was an open space near the outskirts. But now, if it weren’t for the familiar scenery I saw, I would hardly recognize this alley. Because buildings have been built on both sides, but the alley between the buildings still exists. The difference is that the once bumpy alley has now become a flat cement road.

There is only one lamp in the alley, emitting a dim blue-white light in the dark alley, making me and Qin Huai, who is walking in the alley, look like two male ghosts. Qin Huai complains, “Chen Chengyi, you better tell me the truth. Are you trying to take me out in the middle of the night and sell me because you think I’m ‘as beautiful as a flower’?”

I looked at Qin Huai with a strange look and said, “If you are as beautiful as a flower, then the flowers in the world should be something else, right? I think, like cow dung or something.”

“It’s okay, you’re a man and you don’t appreciate my beauty.” Qin Huai is completely unaware that he is in his thirties.

I was too lazy to argue with him, and said, “Come on, when I came here with my master, there wasn’t even a single lamp, so you should be satisfied.”

But Qin Huai didn’t respond for a long time. I turned my head and looked at Qin Huai, but Qin Huai was stunned and didn’t move for a long time.

I walked over and patted Qin Huai on the shoulder, saying, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you standing there?”

Qin Huai suddenly grabbed my arm and said to me in a frightened voice, “Chengyi, I may have opened my eyes!”

“What?” I thought I heard it wrong.

“Really, Chengyi, I may have opened my eyes to the heavens. Just now, I turned my head and saw a woman at the entrance of the alley who wanted to come in. I wanted to see if she was a beauty, but when you spoke, I was distracted. Then when I looked back, the woman was gone again.” Qin Huai said to me with great seriousness.

I hadn’t sensed any presence of evil spirits since entering the alley, but Qin Huai suddenly said he saw a woman, and then she disappeared. That means she was a ghost. It’s impossible that I’m more sensitive than him, so I can’t sense it. He sensed it.

Besides, a ghost that can be seen clearly by ordinary people in a state of consciousness must be extremely evil. So, I just thought about it for a moment and said to Qin Huai, “You may have a long-standing eye problem, but it’s not realistic to open your third eye. Let’s go. Maybe it’s just a passerby.”

“I’m telling you, I really wasn’t wrong, I…” Qin Huai hurriedly argued.

But at this point, I stopped talking because I also clearly saw a woman walking into the alley with a steaming hot meal in her hand. If I remember correctly, there was a food stall selling food at night very close to this alley. At the time, I was also impressed by how quickly the city was being built. Places that used to be very remote now have late-night food stalls.

Seeing the woman walk in like this, I immediately understood what was going on. Maybe she wanted to go back, but then thought about it and went back to buy some late-night snacks to take away.

I grabbed Qinhuai and said to him, “Take a good look. You said it was a female ghost.”

Qinhuai stared at the woman who was not far away and was walking towards us. After a long time, he sighed and said, “Well, brother, I was once happy for nothing. I would like to exchange my love car for this day-eyed brother. I am too curious.”

“Oh, then you will definitely regret it.” I said lightly.

While I was talking to Qin Huai, the woman carrying the late-night snack had already walked in front of us. I had no intention of paying attention to her, but just now Qin Huai and I were still talking about other people, so I glanced at her.

But it was this glance that made me see a strange feeling. Generally, when a woman meets two men in this kind of alley, no matter how she pretends to be unconcerned, her eyes are definitely guarded.

But this woman was different. She didn’t even notice us, and she didn’t care at all.

If that wasn’t strange enough, the strangest thing was that she had a strange smile on her face. If that smile had been on her face during the day, it wouldn’t have been strange, let alone strange.

But in this environment, when you suddenly see it, it is definitely very strange, so strange that it makes goose bumps. Because that smile is obviously the faint smile of someone listening to another person’s story. How could she have that smile alone?

I closed my eyes and carefully felt it. I was sure I didn’t feel any negative magnetic field, that is to say, I didn’t smell any ‘ghost smell’. In the end, I came to a conclusion, that is, is there something wrong with this woman’s brain?

At this time, Qin Huai slapped me on the shoulder, his eyes full of excitement and emotion. He said, “Chengyi, who used to watch beautiful women with me, is finally back!”

I looked at him speechless. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about whether the woman was pretty or not.

But Qin Huai was already looking forward to the alley and said, “I really don’t know if we will ever meet this beauty again?”

“Come on, do you expect to see every beautiful woman you’ve seen and meet her again?” I said helplessly.

But Qin Huai looked at me seriously and said, “Yes, how do you know?”

Then I was speechless and had to walk forward in silence. But as I walked along the way, my heart was also uneasy. After all, after so many years, the city has developed to such an extent. After passing through this alley, does the house where the fortune teller used to live still exist?

I absolutely don’t believe that I can see that empty lot again and see the real ghost market. That kind of ghost market can’t possibly be in this kind of place, or it’s already moved to somewhere else.

I just came to take a look, I didn’t have high hopes, but I didn’t understand why I was so nervous at this time.

Finally, we walked out of the alley, and sure enough, the vacant lot was gone, replaced by a row of residential buildings. Although they weren’t very tall, they represented the change of the times.

I sighed in disappointment and looked around casually, but the next moment my heart began to beat violently.

What I didn’t expect was that Qin Huai had finally been right about one thing.