Thriller Night Talk

Chapter 7: The young man’s observation ability is not good

Translator-Rhapsodite

Editor-simpforlife, Proofreader-Ghostie

Sāntúchuān broadcasting company had a black Jetta, but Bei Quan claimed that he did not have a driver’s license, so Wei Fuyuan was responsible for driving.

Around 4:30 p.m, Young Master Wei stopped the car at the entrance of Xiling Hutong. They stepped out of the car and found House No. 23 as per the number list.

The area was surrounded by old buildings that appeared to be almost 40 to 50 years old. Even though the exterior wall had been reinforced and renovated, it still looked very old.

Xizhimen Street Xiling Hutong No. 23 was a typical old-fashioned tube building that was seven stories high and lacked an elevator. At the center of creaking, open railed iron stairs, eight households in the shape of a ‘field’ were symmetrical distributed around the four sides of the stairs.

The two went up the third floor and came to the door of Room 303.

Bei Quan spent half a minute studying the door panel before he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The one who opened the door was a woman of about thirty years old, with an ordinary appearance, wearing washed, faded loose home clothes. She had yellow dyed hair at somes places while the roots of her hair had turned black. They were loosely tied with a big clip behind her head. She looked rather haggard.

The woman was stunned by the two men’s demeanor . After two seconds, she asked vigilantly, “Who are you?”

“Sister Feng, hello.”

Bei Quan shrugged off his usual body language. Eyes lowered, he smiled innocently, “I am a disciple of Xuanxu from Longquan Temple. My name is Bei Quan.”

Then he pulled out a business card and a certificate from his suitcase and handed them to the woman surnamed Feng.

The woman took the card and certificate through the small slit created by the anti-theft door chain and examined them carefully.

The design of the business card was simple. The beige embossed card contained letters printed with the beautiful Imitation Song style of script. The title had two lines: “Member of Fèng Xīngchéng Taoist Research Association” and “Registered Disciple of Xuanxu of Longquan Temple”

The certificate was a “conversion certificate” which proved that his master was the real person Xuanxu, and it was also stamped with the seal of “Fèng Xīngchéng city Longquan Temple”.

“You…” After a pause, she changed to a more respectful title,”What can I do for you?”

“Benefactor Feng, you came to Longquan Temple last month to ask for something, right? ”

Bei Quan gave a gentle smile, “My master sent me to inquire, how’s the situation?”

The woman let out a long sigh of relief, “It turned out to be like this.”

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She finally showed a smile and her attitude became more easy-going, “Please come in, please come in, I shall make some tea for you both.”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”

He had absolutely no idea what was going on, and he was terrified of making any mistake around Bei Quan, so he had to keep a straight face and remain silent, pretending to be a competent human effigy.

Feng Yue, the wife of Meng Mouchang, the third deceased, was 31 years old. She was a full-time housewife and occasionally worked as part-time customer service agent in an online store to subsidize her expenses.

The two had been married for six years and never had any children. The relationship between the husband and wife was rather cold.

His wife often visited the Taoist temples around Fengxing city. Longquan Temple was the most popular. She donated generously on weekdays, especially to the Xuanxu.

——These were all the bits of information that Wei Fuyuan interpreted little by little from the dialogue between Bei Quan and Feng Yue when he was listening.

At this moment, Bei Quan picked up the cup, took a sip of tea, and asked with a smile, “Have you solved that previous matter?”

“Hmm…” Feng Yue nodded at first but then sighed again, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know whether it has been settled or not… Anyway, it will not be an issue for the time being.”

Bei Quan followed her words and asked, “Can you tell me what the situation is right now?”

“Well, actually, you know I’m not the one who ran into the ghost. It was my dead husband.”

Feng Yue didn’t realize that Bei Quan was trying to get information out of her. Instead, she regarded the other party as someone who knew her situation in and out and poured out all the troubles in her heart like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

“Oh, before he died, he couldn’t sleep well for an entire night. He told me he had a nightmare and he would be killed or something.”

“At that time, I didn’t believe it. I just felt that he was angry because his work was not going well. Anyway, it’s not the first time for him to come home and fight with me when he’s angry at someone else, that man only knew how to vent his anger at me!”

“Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the devil had an accident —a perfectly fine car broke down on the road. As soon as he got out of the car, the car reversed and slammed him and the iron fence from a resident yard pierced him in the chest. When I went to recognize the corpse, I didn’t dare to look at him straight!”

Listening to Feng Yue’s tone, it seemed that she didn’t feel sad about the death of her late husband—Meng Mouchang, at all. On the contrary, it was more like she was venting out the grievances that were buried in her heart for many years.

“Actually, I wish that devil had died sooner, so that I could relax a little bit after his death!” The woman combed through her messy bangs anxiously. “But I am afraid that he would leave his rotten luck in this house!”

Feng Yue said, and looked around the small living room, “Although it’s a small and dilapidated apartment, the location of this building is very valuable to me.”

She said with a long sigh, “Last month, I invited Xuanxu to perform the Land and Water Ashram for three days and asked Taoist to come back… Although I haven’t encountered any peculiar things for the time being, I’m a widow living in this house by myself, and I always feel that there is no foundation…”

“Oh?” Bei Quan smiled. “When did Mr. Meng’s bad luck begin?”

He faced the woman’s eyes with a gentle smile, “After all, everything in this world has a cause and the effect that follows. If you can find out where the problem is, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Bei Quan was handsome and his speaking skills were impeccable, Feng Yue could only feel her ears turning hot and without any doubt, she started to think gravely according to the point shared by the other party.

“My dead husband has always been very unlucky!” Feng Yue complained as she tucked a strand of hair behind the ear from her cheek. “Work was never smooth for him, no matter how small or big the matter was, he always had a habit of complaining. Then one day, when returning home from late-night work, he ran into a fire accident, this luck, he was probably cursed by a rotten spirit!”

Bei Quan keenly caught the keywords, and there was a gleam in his chestnut coloured pupils, “You said he got caught in a fire after getting off work?”

“It could have been last autumn. I can’t remember very well.”

Feng Yue’s attitude was quite disapproving when it came to the dead Meng Mouchang.

“In those two days, my dead husband’s car was sent to the 4S store for maintenance. He had to take the bus to move to and fro from work. One day he happened to work overtime and reached home in the middle of the night. As soon as he came in, he got mad and had a huge fight with me. Later, I asked him why he was acting so frenzied in the middle of the night and he said that he ran into a fire on his way home.”

“Oh, it really was unfortunate.” Bei Quan asked, “Was Mr. Meng injured in the fire too?”

“Um, no, he just happened to pass by it,” Feng Yue replied. “But when he came back that day, he was extremely upset and yelled about the house for a long time. He almost beat me, so I remember it vividly.”

———————————

“Well—that’s it.”

From Xizhimen Street Xiling Hutong 23, Bei Quan led Wei Fuyuan into a coffee shop nearby.

The store was located in an alley in the old city. It was in a secluded area. There were only two tables, each with chairs for the seating of two people. And, the space between each table was enough to avoid nosy eavesdropping. It was a very suitable place to talk.

After they were seated, Bei Quan called someone Wei Fuyuan didn’t know. He was talking in a very familiar tone. He simply said a few words before hanging up, “Then I am pleased.”

Wei Fuyuan hesitated, but couldn’t help asking, “This… Aren’t we going back?”

“Not yet. We do have other places to go to, but we will have to wait until dark.” Bei Quan answered as he flipped through the menu.

With that, he stretched his hand out to call for the waiter, asked for a cup of snow-topped Chocolate Latte, and pushed the menu toward Wei Fuyuan.

Wei Fuyuan didn’t even look at it and ordered a cup of black coffee.

The coffee came quickly.

Young Master Wei took a sip and the sour taste of the poor coffee beans immediately assaulted his tongue. Frowning, he pushed it aside.

“Boss, can I ask you a question?” Taking advantage of the rest period before the mission, Wei Fuyuan voiced the doubts in his mind, “Are you really a layman, or a disciple of Xuanxu?”

Bei Quan looked up from his latte.

A half-moon-shaped mustache had formed on his lips due to the snow top made of whipped cream.

“How could it be!” He answered insolently, “I’m a sincere and earnest radio host!”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”

——Could you be a little self-aware please!?

——Introspect on the things that you’re making me do! This is absolutely not what a serious radio host should be doing, okay!?

“Then, from where did you get the conversion certificate and business card?”

Bei Quan did not answer, but reached to draw out his black suitcase. He took out a large stack of various certificates and corresponding business cards and spread them out like poker cards.

“I have many more.” Then he glanced at Wei Fuyuan and touched his chin. “It seems that I have to help you get one.”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”

You even dare feel proud of these fake batch certificates and business cards!?

“Did you know Feng Yue before?” Young Master Wei continued to ask, “Otherwise, how did you know that she believes in Taoism and pretended to be the disciple of Xuanxu?”

“You, young man, are not very observant.”

Bei Quan scooped up a mass of cream sprinkled with chocolate sauce and put it in his mouth. He squinted his eyes and showed a goofy expression.

“It’s very simple, because I can see it.”

Wei Fuyuan had been inexplicably chastised for his ‘poor observation’. He became upset and asked with a sullen look on his face, “I would like to hear details.”

Bei Quan answered him with a smile.

“First of all, the Peach Wood Charms against evil on both sides of the door of Room 303 are new, and the Longquan Temple’s inscription is printed on it. Secondly, there is an Eight Diagrams mirror hanging on the door. The surface is as good as new and there are no signs of rust. So, it is obviously something that was bought recently. Hence, I guessed the people who live in the house must have visited Longquan Temple not long ago to ask for something.”

He paused. “In addition, a yellow symbol is pasted on the door lintel. Judging from the handwriting, it’s the talisman written by the Xuanxu of Longquan Temple.”

Bei Quan lifted his finger and made a slight motion in the air.

“Immortal Xuanxu is second only to the Abbot of the Longquan Temple. He must have given a lot of talismans he wrote himself to the worshippers or his acquaintances.”

Bei Quan summarised.

“So, I guessed the owner of the house must have great trust in Xuanxu. As long as I act as his disciple, it will be very easy to set up a conversation.”

Wei Fuyuan’s heart suddenly ran wildly like a horse in the muddy grass.

——Who would be able to notice the old and new of each of the wood charms against evil and the Eight Diagrams?!

——Not to mention who could recognize the handwriting from the scrawly calligraphy that resembled a donkey’s nose written to ward off ghosts??

“…”

He took a deep breath, swallowed the complaint that had reached his mouth, and changed the question, “What if this Taoist is not a real person?”

.

“I still have the conversion certificates of the other four Taoist masters of Fèng Xīngchéng city temple.” Bei Quan spread his palms and smiled calmly, “Thus, there is always one that can come in handy anytime, right?”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”