Chapter 124
"Open the door," Dong Qi collected herself and commanded, putting on the imposing manner of a young miss .
The two men hurriedly unlocked the door . After the three of them filed in, they once again shut it .
"Phew… what a precious thing to guard . Finally, the mission’s complete," one of the men couldn't help but heave a soft sigh of relief .
"This Holy Fame Plaza has gotten more and more eerie lately . I wonder what’s going on . I get a thoroughly unsettling feeling each time I’m here," the other complained . "Next time, if I’m sent here for a mission, I’ll definitely refuse it over my dead body . If we were to meet with something unclean here…"
"Touch wood, touch wood! Can’t you keep your mouth shut? Be careful lest your inauspicious words really summon those unclean things!"
"That’s right, that’s right," the other person quickly slapped across his own mouth lightly .
After the trio including Lu Sheng entered the room, they swiftly made their way to the copper back of the stained-glass mirror .
Xu Chui unfurled a piece of yellow paper, on which they had traced out the standard form of the three words . Lu Sheng held it over for a comparison .
He caressed the scratches on the back of the mirror and scrutinized it in detail .
The three standard characters were neatly and clearly written in uniform script . On the other hand, although one could clearly distinguish that the three words at the back of the mirror were of the same form, they were written in a slanted and twisted manner, as if by someone unfamiliar with the words . It was akin to the writing of a young child who had yet to learn to grasp the brush properly .
"Count to ten…" Lu Sheng stroked the scratches carefully . These scratches had been carved deeply and viciously . "If they were really carved by a child, then such deep scratches… under what circumstances would a little child be able to carve out such deep scratches with a small knife?"
He muttered to himself under his breath, although he seemed to be directing the question to the other two at the same time .
Xu Chui hesitated a moment .
"Copper isn’t considered too tough . Maybe the child used a sharp blade . It depends on how old the child was…"
"What about a girl of seven or eight years old?" Dong Qi suddenly interjected and asked .
"If it were a seven- or eight-year-old… it would perhaps take all the strength in her body to be able to carve out something like this…" Xu Chui shook his head . Looking at Dong Qi, he saw that beads of perspiration had formed on her forehead and her face had distorted into an ugly expression; clearly, she was frightened .
Lu Sheng rose . Seeing that they weren’t able to uncover any leads that day and it was getting late, not to mention that Dong Qi was in very bad shape, he said, "That’s it for today . Get some rest . Early tomorrow morning, we’ll go visit the sect master’s remains and see if we find anything amiss . Also, if the upper echelon of Tea Sect come over to see the mirror tonight, Young Miss Dong Qi, if you notice any of that, you must remember to alert us . "
"Yes! Many thanks, esteemed representative!" Dong Qi nodded vigorously .
"Go rest, you look terrible," Lu Sheng said impassively . "If you notice anything strange at night, come look for us immediately . "
"Yes . Thank you, thank you, esteemed representative . The two guest rooms have been prepared . I'll get someone to bring you there now," Dong Qi gushed gratefully .
Each of them returned to their rooms to rest . After Lu Sheng finished his meal and meditated to cultivate his inner force for a while, fatigue gradually washed over him . Sleepy, he lay down and pulled over the covers, slowly slipping into a slumber .
He slept differently from the common man . Even when he was asleep, as long as there was the slightest movement in the wind, or the smallest blade of grass that moved, he could awake instantly in alarm .
Initially, he hadn’t intended to sleep . Even though it was unlikely that he would land in big trouble given his hard body skills, as well as inner Qi that constantly protected his body, it was nevertheless easy to be caught off guard . Therefore, when he went outside on missions such as this, he usually meditated rather than slept .
Yet, on this trip, he had been unable to shake off that sense of drowsiness once it struck him . He thus lay down and gradually fell asleep .
***
In the dead of the night, Lu Sheng awoke groggily as he seemed to sense some sort of noise .
He slowly got up from the bed and opened his eyes . Drowsiness washed over him, but he could hear faint movement sounds travelling constantly from the window .
Lu Sheng exhaled deeply and looked in the direction of the window .
Curtains hung over the window ledge . Moonlight shone in from outside .
That was when Lu Sheng noticed a small head bobbing up and down outside the window, attempting to peek into the room through the curtains .
'What's that?' Lu Sheng sat upright and stared hard at the window .
The black silhouette of a young girl reflected distinctly in the curtains . She was jumping up and down, as if she were standing outside the window and trying to jump high enough to see what was within the room .
"Who’s that?" Lu Sheng asked .
Instantly, that little girl stopped moving . She stood still outside the curtains, looking silently in the direction of Lu Sheng and not moving an inch .
"If you want to come in, you can knock," Lu Sheng got off the bed, arose and walked over to the window .
The little child’s shadow beyond the curtains remained unmoving .
"SWISH!"
He pulled back the curtains with a flourish . . . only to find nothing beyond the window ledge . There wasn't a single soul to be found in the entire courtyard outside; there weren’t even any guards on the night watch . It was coldly desolate and stark empty .
Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes . Glancing to the left and right, he gave a cold harrumph before pulling back the curtains once more .
***
Dong Qi took to heart Lu Sheng’s instructions and lay on her bed, fully clothed . She intended to rise in the middle of the night to check if those people came again, but unwittingly, she also gradually fell into a slumber .
It was actually rather odd . She was initially feeling rather alert, yet the moment she reached her bed, waves of drowsiness instantly flooded her violently . It was almost hypnotic; after barely a moment, she had fallen asleep .
"I’ll count to ten~~"
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three…"
"Four…"
In a daze, Dong Qi felt as if there was someone by her side, calling out .
It was a very young girl .
Mustering all her strength, she opened her eyes and looked beside the bed . She could very faintly see a little girl dressed in blue, who was presently standing by the bed and staring at her .
Her face was white as ivory, though her eye sockets were pitch-black . Her long flowing hair was also jet-black .
"Five…"
"Six…"
"HOO!!"
Dong Qi hoisted herself up violently and shot straight up from her bed . Drenched all over in her perspiration, she panted heavily .
She looked to the bedside . There wasn't anyone, nor anything, in sight .
‘I… I…!’ her heart thumped vigorously like a drum . Her face was as pale as a sheet .
"PA . "
Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out from the window .
Dong Qi’s eyes flashed in that direction; what she saw gave her a fright .
‘I clearly closed the window before I slept, why has it…’
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