Chapter 122: [Harboring a Ghostly Secret] Night Visit to the Ji Family
Bai Cha didn’t bring Xu Shengsheng, mainly because she wanted to go to the neighboring courtyard.
It was too risky.
She couldn’t set such a bad example for Xu Shengsheng.
She didn’t care about herself, but she couldn’t let Xu Shengsheng learn from her.
Especially since their destined paths were different.
Xu Shengsheng’s personality wasn’t suited for deducing plot relationships from details.
As long as she could roughly grasp the main points, take precautions, and survive, that would be enough.
When Bai Cha went out, she found Wang Jiangtao looking around outside.
In fact, most of the players tonight had chosen to go out and take a look at the village.
Because tonight was likely the only peaceful night.
Of course, this peaceful night also had its dangers. It’s just that the danger level would definitely be lower than what came later.
When Wang Jiangtao saw Bai Cha, his eyes lit up, then he made a shushing gesture and beckoned her over.
“What are you doing here?” Bai Cha asked in a low voice.
“I’m waiting for Zhang Feng. We plan to go to the temple to take a look. Do you want to come with us?”
“I want to go take a look at Ji Xiaolan’s courtyard.”
Bai Cha’s words made Wang Jiangtao pause for a moment, then he gave her a thumbs up.
“I wanted to say this before, you’re quite bold. Isn’t going to her place too risky?”
After all, she seemed to be the most important character in the entire plot.
“It is a bit, but isn’t the temple dangerous too?”
Bai Cha also looked around and lowered her voice.
“To be honest, when I interacted with Ji Xiaolan today, I discovered that she…” Bai Cha didn’t say the words “pregnant with a ghost fetus,” but simply patted Wang Jiangtao’s stomach.
Wang Jiangtao didn’t react at first, touching his own stomach, and then his eyes widened suddenly.
“Could it be…”
Bai Cha nodded.
Wang Jiangtao gasped.
Looking at it this way, the title of this instance seems to be literal, rather than the meaning of the idiom itself?
But actually, it’s not certain. It’s possible that both meanings apply.
However, it was indeed as Bai Cha said, if Ji Xiaolan was pregnant, and with a ghost fetus, then that temple would have another meaning.
Zhang Feng came out at this time.
“You’re here too? Did you leave your sister there by herself?”
“Yeah, it might be safer inside the house.”
Actually, it wasn’t certain.
There might also be danger, but compared to them going out to explore, it was slightly safer.
Bai Cha didn’t really intend to protect Xu Shengsheng completely.
She had items and her own skills. And her skills were indeed very useful at critical moments.
So, if the level of danger encountered indoors wasn’t too high, it would be better to let her face it.
Zhang Feng and the others naturally wouldn’t say anything about the sisters’ affairs.
Bai Cha also told him the information she had just told Wang Jiangtao.
“So I plan to go to her courtyard to find her. Do you want to come along?”
Zhang Feng pondered, “Since you’ve told us this information, we can’t hide anything from you. The reason we initially chose the temple is because I have a skill that can identify important clues. I obtained this skill in a previous instance.”
Bai Cha was taken aback.
So skills could be acquired later…
“No wonder you want to go to the temple,” Bai Cha nodded.
In the current apparent clues that everyone had speculated about, there seemed to be no connection to the temple.
“Then how about this? Let’s go to Ji Xiaolan’s house first, and then go to the temple.”
Bai Cha glanced at the time.
“It’s three in the morning now, no rush.”
However, her phone battery only had half its charge left, and without electricity here, it definitely couldn’t be charged.
So, she casually sent a text message to Xu Shengsheng.
“Turn on power saving mode, contact via text or phone.”
Meanwhile, Zhang Feng and Wang Jiangtao had already discussed it in low voices beside her.
“Okay, let’s go together.”
So the three of them arrived at the neighboring courtyard.
Bai Cha knocked on the door.
Silence reigned inside.
The knocking sound was quite loud in the quiet night.
Bai Cha patiently knocked for a while longer.
The door finally opened.
It was Ji Xiaolan’s grandmother.
“What do you want?”
A red lantern hung above the door, making Ji Xiaolan’s grandmother look even more eerie in its glow.
“We wanted to talk to Xiaolan. Is she asleep?”
Ji Xiaolan’s grandmother glanced at the three of them, her voice cold and hard.
“It’s too late, let’s wait until tomorrow.”
“But…” Bai Cha sighed, looking like she had something difficult to say.
“Seriously, back in school, we had a great relationship. Later… anyway, after she went to the countryside to teach, we lost contact. I just saw that she looked a bit haggard. Isn’t she about to get married? I’m worried something might be wrong, so I came over to ask.”
She stammered through the first part, but the latter half showed genuine concern.
Then, changing the subject, she directly asked Ji Xiaolan’s grandmother, “Grandma, is Xiaolan really getting married? And to whom?”
It was hard to discern much emotion on the old woman’s wrinkled face.
She stood there silently for a moment.
“Come in and talk.”
Her hunched figure led the way.
Bai Cha and the other two entered the courtyard, taking the opportunity to look around.
To be honest, it wasn’t much different from the one they were staying in, equally desolate.
There was also a well in the yard, and a “double happiness” character was now pasted on its cover.
Double happiness characters were plastered all over the doors and windows of the house, but it didn’t feel festive at all.
The old woman opened the door to the living room and lit a candle lamp.
The light was dim, flickering on the old woman’s face.
“That child is already asleep, so don’t disturb her.”
The old woman sighed, her deep-set eyes looking at the three of them.
“She is indeed getting married, otherwise what are these lanterns and red papers for?”
“As for the groom…”
She lifted her eyelids slightly and said casually, “Don’t you know her fiancé?”
Wang Jiangtao felt a tightening in his scalp.
He subconsciously looked at Bai Cha.
Bai Cha’s expression was very natural, she hesitated slightly, and then took out a photo from her pocket.
It was a group photo of everyone.
“Of course I know who her fiancé is… so are they getting married?”
She handed the photo to the old woman.
“I didn’t expect them to actually make it work, but why didn’t I see him today? I asked Xiaolan today, but she wouldn’t say.”
Wang Jiangtao felt increasingly admiration.
This girl’s ability to remain calm in the face of danger was truly impressive.
The old woman picked up the group photo and looked at it carefully. Her thin, bony fingertips brushed over Ji Xiaolan’s face and then lingered on the unknown boy.
Bai Cha took all of this in, confirming that the unnamed boy was Ji Xiaolan’s former boyfriend.
Then what was the situation with the child in Ji Xiaolan’s belly?
“I specifically brought this group photo. I changed my old phone number before, so I’ve hardly contacted her anymore… It’s also my fault for being so busy with my own things and neglecting my friends.”
Bai Cha blamed herself slightly.
“If it’s really them getting married, then I’m very happy for them, but I… Grandma, I really don’t mean anything else. It’s just that Xiaolan doesn’t look too well. Shouldn’t getting married be a joyous occasion? Why does it look like…”
After these words, Ji Xiaolan’s grandmother sighed heavily.
“Since you’ve said this much, there’s no point in me hiding it from you anymore.”
Grandma: Since you sincerely asked, I will mercifully tell you.
