"Sigh, is that really okay?" Ye Meng felt a little guilty as she watched Qi Lu busy himself. Although she wasn't particularly happy to sleep in the same room as him, he had said that he was here to protect her safety.
"I'm fine." After Qi Lu laid out the things, he stood up and picked up his sword." Do you want to go down and eat something first?”
"Alright then." Ye Meng rubbed her stomach and felt a little hungry, so she nodded in agreement.
The two of them got up and went downstairs. At this time, it was basically dark outside the house. Compared to Ningzhou City, it was really too deserted. If they were in the government office, the streets should be full of small stalls at this time. The sound of small merchants and hawkers shouting and peddling could be heard everywhere.
The restaurants and inns on both sides had long hung up a long string of red lanterns. The waiters and ladies were greeting them at the door or upstairs.
As for the East County they were in now, all they could see from the entrance was darkness and the cold wall opposite.
There was nothing. There was no one on the street so early in the morning.
Even the few people in the lobby of the inn had left, leaving only a few people in the huge lobby. Ye Meng felt that if she shouted at this moment, there would definitely be an echo.
"Sigh, do the two guests need anything to eat?”When the waiter saw the two of them coming down, he quickly went up to them.
"Is there anything else to eat here?”Ye Meng asked. The two of them found an empty table that looked clean and sat down.
"There's still more." The waiter quickly nodded." Do you want to try the signature dish here, crispy Baoji?"”As he spoke, he began to introduce the signature dishes of his restaurant.
"Alright, just a crispy Baoji and a few side dishes.”Ye Meng was dizzy from the dishes he mentioned. It was late at night, and she was already hungry after walking so far during the day. She didn't care what to eat anymore.
" Then..." The shop assistant looked at Qi Lu again, wondering if he had anything else to say.
Qi Lu just nodded at him, indicating that he should do as Ye Meng said.
"Alright." The waiter wiped the table and went to the kitchen.
"Qi Lu, have you been here before?”Ye Meng asked. He picked up a large kettle filled with hot tea from the middle of the table and poured a full cup of water for himself.
"Only once or twice." Qi Lu watched as she downed the entire glass in one gulp, and he felt a little thirsty. Actually, he had come to this place twice when he was drawing lots to patrol. However, he had always come early in the morning and had never stayed here at night.
In fact, although East County belonged to Ningzhou, it was too far away and the situation here was a little special. Therefore, East County had already arranged for some people to stay here permanently. It could be considered a small government office. Magistrate Zhang only needed to send someone over to patrol and monitor the area regularly.
"Then don't you think this place is strange?”Ye Meng looked around. Although it looked like a normal inn, she felt that something was wrong. She felt that someone was watching them.
"Yes, I am. So we have to be careful." Qi Lu nodded and whispered. Martial artists were more sensitive to the dangerous aura around them than ordinary people. In fact, he had noticed it the moment he and Ye Meng entered the inn. That was why he insisted that they only stay in one room.
At this moment, the dangerous aura was getting stronger and stronger. Qi Lu could sense that someone was slowly approaching them. He turned his head abruptly with a cautious look in his eyes. He pretended to look around casually, but he realized that there was no one else other than a few people who were eating noodles silently.
"What's wrong?" Ye Meng could feel the wariness emanating from his body. She asked softly," Did you discover something?"”
"It's nothing." Qi Lu slowly loosened his grip on his sword and clasped it with his other hand. "Let's eat first."
At this time, the waiter in the inn had already brought the dishes over. The tempting fragrance immediately inhaled into the two people's noses, making them feel even hungrier.
"Sir, the dishes have arrived.”The waiter said as he laid out the dishes.
"Waiter, may I ask, has your place always been like this?”Ye Meng stopped the waiter who was about to leave with an empty plate and pointed at the quiet and dark street outside the door.
"You two are not from East County, right?”The shop assistant looked outside the door and understood what she meant. He guessed that it might be their first time in East County.
"It's like this. The two of us came here to look for a distant relative, but we didn't know much about this place. We didn't expect it to be so quiet at night, so we were a little curious.”Ye Meng was worried that her and Qi Lu's intentions would be noticed by others, so she made up a random excuse.
"Oh, I see." The waiter nodded and did not think too much about it. There were so many people coming and going in the inn every day. It was impossible for him to know what everyone did, where they came from, and where they went. "It's like this at night.”
The waiter thought for a moment and whispered," I advise the two guests not to go out in the middle of the night if there's nothing going on.”
"Why?" Ye Meng was even more puzzled by his warning. Would something happen here at night?
"It's like this. It's very lively here at night. Although it's not as prosperous as the streets in Ningzhou City, there are still small merchants and hawkers.”The waiter shook his head and recalled," It's just that a year ago, a few people said in the middle of the night that they encountered…some dirty things.”
"Dirty things?" Ye Meng exclaimed in surprise," Just because of this? Could it be that he was not mistaken, or rather, he was just fooling people?”
"Sigh, originally, everyone just treated it as a story to listen to. Just like the lady, they didn't really believe in these things. However, as more and more strange things happened, everyone had no choice but to believe it.”The shop assistant sighed. He recalled that the entire East County was in chaos during that period of time.
There were always a few people who would disappear in the middle of the night. Some families even had chickens and ducks die inexplicably overnight. The cause of death was especially strange.
Later on, those who lived on both sides of the street could still hear the sound of the bell in the middle of the night. No one dared to look at what it was. A few brave ones peeked and died the next day.
Therefore, the people here would consciously close the door and turn off the lights to sleep at night. Only their inn would be a little late.
"Then why don't you think of reporting it to the authorities?”Ye Meng still felt that there were no ghosts in this world. She believed that these things were probably man-made. As long as he caught that person, these strange things wouldn't happen.
"How can there be no one to report it to the authorities?”The waiter put the white cloth on his shoulder. "Previously, there was also a person who had an accident at home. The next day, he went to report it to the authorities. In the end, he didn't return after reporting it to the authorities. He was killed on the way, and his family members were all killed. The villagers simply helped them collect their bodies, but no one dared to report it to the authorities.”
"Isn't there a small government office here? Why didn't they report this matter to the government of Ningzhou and ask them to send someone over to investigate?”Qi Lu asked. He remembered that there had been people patrolling here during this period of time, but no one seemed to have reported this.
"How would I dare to say that? The people in the government are also humans. They are also afraid of these things.”The waiter understood the people from the government very well. Normally, if someone caused trouble and robbed, the people from the government would deal with it in time.
However, this matter was related to those things, so even the people in the government could not do anything about it. However, some people had invited some martial arts practitioners, Taoist priests, and monks. But in the end, they all returned empty-handed, and a few even died.
The entire East County was in a state of panic. Fortunately, they later discovered that although those " dirty things " were scary, they were only active at night. They were basically safe during the day.
As long as he didn't run around outside at night, he would be fine.
"This is too ridiculous." Ye Meng rolled her eyes in her heart. What was wrong with the officers here? They didn't think of a way to find the people who were playing tricks, but instead believed in ghosts with everyone else and let those people continue to do whatever they wanted.
"Anyway, for the sake of your safety, you should try to stay in your rooms at night.”The waiter saw the disbelief on Ye Meng's face and knew that she would not believe him no matter how much he said. He reminded her again and left.
"Ye Meng, do you think there are really such dirty things in this world?”Qi Lu felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the waiter's story. Ye Meng had always told him that it was just a corpse that would not be touched every time he went to the morgue. But after all, neither of them had seen a ghost, so he was not sure if there were really no ghosts in this world.
"What, are you afraid?" Ye Meng didn't even look at him. She only used her chopsticks to pick up the piece of chicken in front of her. She put it in her mouth and chewed it twice. The meat was firm and the juicy fragrance was really delicious.
"I'm not afraid." Qi Lu touched the back of his neck guiltily.
"Alright, do you think I don't know you?" Ye Meng put some vegetables into his bowl and urged him to eat quickly. "Since you're not afraid, hurry up and eat. We still have work to do tomorrow.”
Ye Meng paused for a moment before she remembered that she had forgotten to ask the waiter about the disappearance of the imperial envoy. However, if she asked him to come over now, it would seem too deliberate. It would be easy for others to suspect their intentions in coming to East County.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Ye Meng had to put down her doubts and continue eating.
After they had their fill, the two of them drank a few more cups of tea before they went upstairs in satisfaction. At this moment, the door of the inn was tightly shut.
The boss was probably worried that he would encounter danger if it was too late. Everyone here was really careful. It seemed that closing the door to sleep at night had become a custom here.
"If there's anything you need, just call me.”The waiter who was busy packing up the things reminded them when he saw that the two of them were about to go up.
Ye Meng nodded at him, indicating that she understood. She then pushed the door open and entered the room. Qi Lu followed closely behind her. After closing the door and blowing out the candles, the two of them lay down and rested.
In the middle of the night, a crescent moon hung in the sky. The cold moonlight shone through the window, and the sound of bells came from the streets outside the inn.
They came from the distance to the inn they were staying in. As they got closer, the sound became louder.
"Qi Lu." Ye Meng opened her eyes and whispered.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。