ebookland Chapter 73: From Left to Right
Chapter 73: From Left to Right
“Don’t go near him!”
With a cry of warning, Zhang Kui lunged forward, clutching a talisman in his fist. He tackled Qiao Ya to the ground, pinning him with his weight. His other hand slammed the talisman onto Qiao Ya’s forehead, hoping to see sparks of thunder.
But nothing happened. The talisman was useless, and Qiao Ya kept thrashing under him.
“Damn it!” Zhang Kui cursed, tossing the talisman aside. He gripped Qiao Ya’s arms with both hands, trying to restrain him. He looked over his shoulder at Yu Xiao and said: “This thing doesn’t work on him!”
Yu Xiao and Zhao Lan hurried to his side, while the others watched with shock and confusion. Why did Zhang Kui attack Qiao Ya? Wasn’t he a generous and kind person? Did he hate Qiao Ya so much that he wanted to hurt him?
Or was there something else going on?
Yu Xiao crouched down and examined Qiao Ya’s face. He was covered in dirt and sweat, and his eyes were wild and bloodshot. He twisted and turned on the ground, as if he was in pain or rage.
“He might not be a ghost.” Yu Xiao said softly, feeling a strange intuition.
A ghost who disguised as a human would try to blend in and avoid suspicion. Qiao Ya had done the opposite in the past two days. He had been rude, gloomy, and provocative.
“But he’s the only one who lives on the left side.” Zhang Kui argued, still holding Qiao Ya down. “The night before last, I heard it. Last night, you heard it. The ghost always came from the left side.”
That was the part that puzzled Yu Xiao. She didn’t think Qiao Ya looked like a ghost, but the evidence seemed to point to him.
“What if we do this.” Yu Xiao proposed: “Let’s tie him up, and today we’ll follow our plan to find that bastard. Tonight, we’ll have someone watch him. If nothing happens tonight, then he’s the ghost.”
“Wait, what?” Jiang Wu interjected, baffled by the conversation. “You think Qiao Ya is a ghost?”
“Yes.” Zhang Kui nodded and said: “Did I tell you yesterday that I heard footsteps outside in the middle of the night?”
“You did.” Jiang Wu said: “You also said you went out to check, but you found nothing. Then you bumped into Yu Xiao.”
“Right, and last night Yu Xiao heard footsteps too…” Zhang Kui explained their reasoning, and the others nodded slowly, as if they understood.
They all nodded in agreement, whether out of fear, suspicion, or annoyed for Qiao Ya. It seemed like the most plausible explanation.
Qiao Ya, pinned to the ground by Zhang Kui, let out a maniacal laugh. “You’re all going to die… you’re all going to die…”
Zhou Xiao Zhen felt a twinge of pity in her chest. “Even if he’s not a ghost, he’s crazy.” She said, “Let’s tie him up and leave him alone.”
The others scattered to find a rope, while Yu Xiao stayed behind, deep in thought. She had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.
Zhao Lan leaned close to Zhou Xiao Zhen and whispered: “What’s the matter? Do you feel sorry for him?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen shook her head, but her voice was uncertain. “No, not really. I just think he might not be the ghost. I… I was thinking about us. If something happened to you, I would probably lose it too.”
Zhao Lan didn’t say anything. She rested her head on Precious shoulder and looked away.
They managed to tie up Qiao Ya, who was still laughing and struggling. Then they decided who would watch over him. They chose Jiang Wu, who had been at the third hospital for a long time. He had a lot of experience and a handful of talismans. He could handle Qiao Ya.
The rest of them continued their
Qiao Ya was not the ghost!
Yu Xiao felt a chill run down her spine. The ghost was not on the left. It was on the right. That’s why it passed by her ward every night. Because it was going back to its own room on the right after murdering someone.
She bolted out of bed and slipped out of the room, leaving Zhou Xiao Zhen to her snores.
She crept to the right, scanning the wards on that side. The fourth ward was hers, the third ward was Misty’s. The first ward belonged to Jiang Hai (江海) from the Fourth Hospital, the second ward to Jiang Wu (蒋武) from the Third Hospital. If there was a ghost among them, it had to be one of them.
(tn: They don’t have the same surname, it’s just written the same in English. :P)
She reached the door of the first ward. She recalled that when Gu Shu first claimed that one of them was not human, everyone pointed fingers at Jiang Hai, because he was the only loner here.
She was about to peek inside, when she noticed a box of tea leaves on the floor in front of Gu Shu’s door. How nice, the morgue ghost had switched to black tea today.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she bumped into the wall behind her. “Ow…”
There was a sound from Gu Shu’s room. Yu Xiao remembered what happened last time. She didn’t hesitate. She ran for her life.
Gu Shu opened the door and looked around. He spotted a familiar silhouette darting away in a panic. He glanced down. There was a box of pricey black tea at his doorstep.