Switch Mode

Chapter 32

The day had barely started, yet it was already filled with noise and commotion. Joya, with dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, stood yawning at the street shop, waiting for the fresh meat buns to be ready. As soon as the steaming buns were handed to her, she hurried back to the car where Sun Zhou was slumped in the passenger seat, wrapped in a blanket and sleeping soundly.

“Time to eat, your favorite green onion meat buns,” Joya said, giving him a gentle push.

Sun Zhou barely opened his eyes, only to mumble, “I’m not hungry,” and drifted back to sleep.

Joya, already irritated from driving all night, snapped, “I drove all night, and I’m the one who’s sleepy! Stop pretending to be dead and eat!”

Reluctantly, Sun Zhou sat up, grumbling under his breath. Joya’s cautious driving had added hours to their trip, and despite driving through the night, they still had miles to go.

He took the plastic bag from Joya, asking, “You have the key to your uncle’s house, right?”

“Yes,” Joya replied, nodding. Her uncle, an empty nester who had moved back to the countryside, had left her the key to his city home for whenever she needed a place to stay.

“Then we’ll head there first, just to be safe.”

“Is that necessary?” Joya scoffed. “Do you really think someone from an MLM scheme is going to track you down?”

Sun Zhou gave her a withering look. “How many times do I have to tell you? It’s not an MLM. They never asked me for money or tried to sell me anything—they claimed they could cure me.”

Joya shot back, “If they were so helpful, why did you run away? And smashing things, too—what if they accuse you of intentional harm?”

Sun Zhou shook his head, biting into a bun. “Yaya, you’re too naive. The world’s a dangerous place. I played along, but I kept my eyes open. Those people were suspicious, whispering behind my back, doing things in secret. The ‘treatment’ was gross and unhygienic, and they locked me in at night. Who does that? If it’s all above board, why lock me up like a prisoner? Sure, they’re polite now, but even farmers take good care of pigs before sending them to slaughter.”

He took another bite, then suddenly stopped, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Why does this bun stink?”

Joya was surprised. “Stink? No, it doesn’t.”

She took the half-eaten bun from him and sniffed it. The savory aroma of fresh meat, oil, salt, and green onions filled her senses—it smelled perfectly fine.

“Are you messing with me, Sun Zhou? This smells great.”

But Sun Zhou couldn’t stand the smell, which only grew more nauseating the longer he held it. He pinched his nose and tossed the bag back to Joya. “Take it away. I can’t eat this.”

“Seriously!” Joya muttered angrily, “Have you eaten too much raw meat that you can’t stand the smell of normal food?”

She was genuinely frustrated. Her once-handsome boyfriend, who had always carried himself with such pride, now sported multiple scars on his face and head. His expression had changed too—his once lively eyes now drooped with weariness, making him look haggard and unappealing. Joya, who valued appearances, resolved that once they got back, she would insist on applying more face masks and, if necessary, even arrange for medical treatment to remove the scars.

Nie Dongyang’s phone call had unexpectedly stirred a deep sense of homesickness in Nie Jiuluo. After a successful negotiation with Jiang Baichuan, she had been single-mindedly pushing forward, barely giving a thought to her parents’ death anniversary. During the Qingming Festival, she would burn a few incense sticks, and on the Spring Festival, she would have her aunt prepare a couple of extra bowls of dumplings—rituals that paid only the bare minimum of “filial piety.” Her hometown, after all, was where she had spent her childhood, and that connection was inescapable.

That night, she dreamed of her hometown. She saw the trees lining the street in front of her house, recalling how, during the summer, the municipal government would spray the trees, causing countless caterpillar corpses to fall to the ground. As a child, she would wear a little skirt and retch against the wall, muttering “disgusting” as she vomited.

In her dream, she then looked up and saw her father, Nie Xihong, standing alone on the rooftop of the six-story shopping mall in the distance. His body swayed precariously, like a lightning rod about to be blown away by the wind.

Three days later, she booked a morning train ticket. However, since her hometown had no direct train access, she had to stay overnight in a nearby city and then take an intercity bus to reach her destination. The night before she left, she visited Lao Cai’s house for dinner and also to pick up a cheap imitation of her mother’s jade necklace that Lao Cai had arranged for someone to make. During the meal, Lao Cai emphasized two things.

First, Lao Cai urged her to frequently submit her work to competitions and win awards. Although Nie Jiuluo wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of chasing quick success, Lao Cai insisted, “Ah Luo, your career is not the type that becomes world-famous overnight. That kind of genius only comes around once in a few decades. You should build your talent steadily, step by step. And what are awards? They’re boosters that can help you advance three levels at a time. Winning an award will immediately increase your value and raise the price of your work.”

Although it sounded reasonable, Nie Jiuluo’s final response was simply, “You can make the arrangements.”

The second topic was about introducing her to a potential boyfriend. The man was the son of Lao Cai’s business partner. He had selected two of Nie Jiuluo’s home decor artworks, and Lao Cai, pleased with the transaction, had praised her work to him, even showing him photos from her phone. The man fell in love with the artwork first and, subsequently, asked Lao Cai to set up a meeting with the artist.

Lao Cai had been insistent: “Ah Luo, good men are hard to find these days. You have to meet a few, just like when you pick melons—don’t you listen to a few before you choose the best one? You need to experience these encounters first, figure out what doesn’t work, and then when you finally make your choice, the success rate will be much higher.”

Nie Jiuluo listened, feeling confused about whether Lao Cai was more interested in brokering a deal or genuinely helping her find someone. In the end, she vaguely replied, “I want to go back to my hometown first. We’ll talk about it when I return.”

Lao Cai’s house was close to Nie Jiuluo’s residence—only a five-minute drive or a twenty-minute walk. Normally, Nie Jiuluo would take a taxi, but that night, feeling a bit full and having chatted more than usual, she decided to walk home instead. Lao Cai didn’t insist on seeing her off—after all, she lived in the city center, where the streets were well-lit, people were constantly passing by, and security booths were scattered along the road.

As she walked, Nie Jiuluo’s thoughts drifted back to the idea of “having a boyfriend.” She didn’t really have an ideal type, and the man Lao Cai mentioned could wait. If he was interested only in her looks, she would find it superficial; but if he admired her work first, there might be something more to it.

Without realizing it, she had already reached the entrance to the alley where her house was. In the distance, she noticed a man leaning against the wall beside her door, his head lowered, seemingly waiting for someone. There was something at his feet—maybe a dog? She thought to herself, “Dog walkers shouldn’t be using my doorway as their playground.”

As she approached, her mind buzzed, and she suddenly stopped, her face darkening.

Xing Shen heard her approach and looked up, immediately straightening up when he saw her. “Ah Luo,” he greeted.

Nie Jiuluo struggled to contain her anger. She glanced around to ensure no one was nearby, then walked closer, lowering her voice but unable to hide the anger in her tone. “I made it very clear to Jiang Baichuan that I am different from you. We should keep our distance and mind our own business. What do you mean by blocking my door now? And with this…”

She pointed at the creature crouching behind Xing Shen, her fingers curled like claws as she suddenly leaned down.

The grasshopper, terrified, shrank back even further behind Xing Shen. When it saw her sudden movement, it was so scared that it bolted to the side wall, clambering up with sharp claws. However, its feet, hindered by the shoes it wore, slipped repeatedly. Finally, it kicked off the shoes and scrambled up the wall with the agility of a wild cat, trembling as it perched on the top, shivering in fear.

Xing Shen hurriedly said, “Ah Luo, don’t scare it!”

Nie Jiuluo didn’t move, coldly watching as the two white thick-soled children’s shoes smashed into the ground one after the other. It was truly ironic—they were even a famous brand.

“Xing Shen, you don’t understand the rules. How dare you bring this kind of thing into a crowd?”

Xing Shen raised his hand to reach up high. The grasshopper hesitated for a moment but finally trembled and ran down, prostrating itself at Xing Shen’s feet, not daring to make a big move, trembling all the while.

Xing Shen sighed, “Ah Luo, listen to me first. Sister-in-law Hua is dead, and the lame father is missing. You’re in too much danger now, and since you’ve refused Uncle Jiang’s arrangements, I’m thinking I can help as much as possible—the other party is likely the same kind of grasshopper. With grasshoppers and me, things will be easier to handle…”

Nie Jiuluo interrupted him, “I don’t need it.

“Xing Shen, the rules are made by everyone and must be followed. I rejected Uncle Jiang’s arrangement because I know what I’m doing, and I’ll bear all the consequences. As for you, before you try to be a do-gooder, shouldn’t you ask the other party’s opinion first instead of…”

As she was speaking, a pedestrian passed by. Nie Jiuluo stopped talking and leaned sideways, trying to cover the grasshopper.

The passerby was probably curious as to why someone was wearing sunglasses at night, so his attention was entirely on Xing Shen, not noticing the “thing” at his feet.

Once the man walked away, Nie Jiuluo decisively said, “Take it away immediately. I’m serious. If I see this thing in a place it shouldn’t be again, you’ll just have to collect its body.”

With that, she walked to the door and rang the doorbell.

After a while, Sister Lu’s voice came from inside, “Hey, hey, coming.”

Xing Shen stood still, pausing before he softly asked, “Ah Luo, if it weren’t for the unpleasant trouble we had, would you have… accepted my help?”

Nie Jiuluo turned her head and glanced at him.

Xing Shen looked dejected. His head was slightly lowered, and his shoulders and back slumped, making him appear quite pitiful.

She said, “Xing Shen, the lives we live now are all our own choices. No one forced anyone, and no one owes anyone anything. I’m living well, and I hope you are too.”

The door opened, and Sister Lu smiled, “You just texted saying you’re tired of eating out and coming back from a walk. I made you some hawthorn soup.”

Nie Jiuluo was pleasantly surprised, “Really? I have to drink some; my stomach is upset.”

She leaned over and stepped through the threshold.

The door soon closed, and the light that had just spilled out like a fleeting elf vanished once more.

Xing Shen stood in the dark for a while. Hawthorn soup—he wondered if it was thick or thin. It must be very light since he couldn’t even smell it over the strong odor surrounding him.

The grasshopper finally dared to get up. It staggered a few steps before picking up its shoes to put on.

Xing Shen beckoned to it softly, “Let’s go.”

Yan Tuo accompanied Lin Xirou to stay at the plantation for a while.

Nominally, Lin Xirou said she was tired of city life and wanted to enjoy the countryside for a few days, but Yan Tuo knew she was waiting for Xiong Hei to extract something from the lame father.

Every morning, he could see the workers hurrying and clocking in. Inside and outside the fields, there was a peaceful atmosphere, calm and dull, as if there were no secrets at all—sometimes, he really admired Lin Xirou for arranging so many shady dealings while maintaining perfect stealth.

In his spare time, he would constantly revisit what he had overheard that day, breaking it apart and analyzing it repeatedly.

Nie Jiuluo said that the “Dog Tooth” is not a ground owl but is likely a close relative or variant because the ground owl is a beast, not a human.

Actually, things could be simplified: Dog Tooth, Lin Xirou, and the like are ground owls. The question is, how do they manage to look exactly like humans?

Lin Xirou must have done something.

In the second basement of this plantation, he and Lin Ling had seen a woman with sticky silk on her back in the mini plastic greenhouse. What was that woman for? Where did she go after that?

His EXCEL sheet with numbers and character registrations was originally copied by Lin Ling from Lin Xirou’s computer and is currently updated to No. 017, Zhu Changyi. However, it’s worth mentioning that this table doesn’t go in order from No. 001 to No. 017; it starts at No. 003, and every two or three, a code is missing.

No. 003 is Daimyo Sun Xiong, aka Xiong Hei.

He and Lin Ling had been pondering over this table for some time when one day, Lin Ling suddenly made a discovery. She pointed out that the surnames of the people in this table correspond to the order of surnames in the ancient Chinese text “Hundred Family Names.”

For instance, the sequence “Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Zheng Wang” places “Sun” third, which matches No. 003, Sun Xiong. Similarly, “Wu” ranks sixth, corresponding to No. 006, Wu Xingbang. Further along, No. 014 is Shen Lizhu, and No. 017 is Zhu Changyi.

Could these people all be terrestrial owls who have perfected their appearances? Lin Xirou may have coded them and assigned them names. But why disperse them across the country? Perhaps to reduce risk, ensuring that all her “eggs” weren’t in the same basket?

As for Dogtooth, it currently lacks a proper name, known only by a crude nickname, “Zhu Qin Youxu.” The pattern continues with “Qin” following “Zhu.” Could Dogtooth eventually become No. 018, bearing the surname Qin?




It was nearly dusk, and the more Yan Tuo thought about it, the more his head ached. He dusted off his hands, stood up, and used his foot to erase the large pile of notes and analysis he had drawn in the mud with small stones.

He noticed a figure in the distance, trotting towards him—it was Xiong Hei.

Xiong Hei got closer, panting, and if Yan Tuo wasn’t mistaken, a trace of embarrassment and panic appeared on his face.”Yan Tuo, where is Sister Lin?”

“She didn’t sleep well last night and said she had a headache this afternoon, so she’s making up for it.”

Xiong Hei let out an “oh,” and from Yan Tuo’s absent-minded tone, he could tell that Xiong Hei wasn’t really concerned about Lin Xirou. He hadn’t come looking for her at all.

Yan Tuo asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ever since Yan Tuo had “shown his heart” to Xiong Hei that night, Xiong Hei had become much more agreeable, viewing Yan Tuo in a more favorable light and feeling closer to him. After hesitating for a moment, he finally lowered his voice and confessed, “Yan Tuo, something bad has happened again… The old man’s medicine—I’ve taken too much.”


To Buy Coins, please Register and Login before purchasing any chapter! Please join our Discord to get updates on normal and locked chapters! Also, Illustrations are available for some novels!
An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

Love On The Turquoise Land (Drama)
Score 8.0
Status: Ongoing Type: , Author: , Artist: Released: 2020 Native Language: Chinese
Over two thousand years ago on a deep night, Xu Fu* set sail to the eastern seas in a treasure ship to search for immortality, but few people knew that at the same time, a group of black-turban soldiers secretly entered the vast and dense Nanbao forest
 A millennium later, the dark legend continues to slowly grow in the shadows. XĂș FĂș: Qin dynasty court necromancer and was tasked by Qin Shi Huang to look for the elixir of life between 219 BC and 210 BC. He never returned after departing on his second mission in 210 BC.

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset