By the time I pressed the button to open the elevator door, my T - shirt was already soaked with cold sweat.
Si Jiangchen clearly had a good grasp of my movements. I was afraid he was already somewhere in the hospital at this moment!
Thankfully, neither he nor his subordinates were in the elevator...
I took the elevator down to the first floor. The elevator let out a "ding" as the doors opened, and a crowd of people rushed in. Instantly, I felt a sense of security.
Si Jiangchen would surely have bodyguards when he went out, and he would never squeeze into a public elevator with so many people.
I let out a soft sigh of relief, lowered my head, and tried to act as if nothing had happened. I slipped away to pick up my luggage and fled the hospital all the way.
After this false alarm, I didn't dare to go to any of the places I used to frequent.
I believed that even if Si Jiangchen didn't go there himself, he would send his subordinates to monitor those places, just waiting for me to walk into the trap.
Dragging my suitcase, I walked aimlessly on the small street near the hospital.
It was already past noon, and my stomach had long been growling.
I randomly found a noodle restaurant and ordered a bowl of beef noodles.
The clear soup was dotted with a few green scallions. A few slices of beef with the round noodles rich in wheat aroma finally soothed my protesting stomach.
I buried my head in eating the noodles, completely ignoring the constant beeping sounds from my phone, which made the diners beside me keep looking at me.
But my mind was constantly turning... I couldn't go back to my old profession.
To be a master, one needed a good reputation. With Si Jiangchen's far - reaching connections, it didn't matter if I wasn't very famous. As long as I was still in this line of work, I was afraid he would track me down along any clues.
After finishing the bowl of noodles, I made a decision: to hide myself first.
Women were just disposable items to Si Jiangchen. He would use them and then discard them. Even the mother of his son, Si Tong, had disappeared without a trace. For a so - called fortune - teller like me, who was just a passing fancy to him, he would probably forget about me in a few days.
As for finding his son, Si Tong... I believed that with his status, he would surely find a more powerful yin - yang master. It should be no problem to find the so - called three souls and seven spirits.
"Boss," I took the opportunity while paying the bill and asked the noodle restaurant owner, "Are there any houses for rent around here?"
This was the area around the hospital. Du Wenzhong and I always adhered to the principle that the most dangerous place was the safest. We always tried to survive right under the noses of the bad guys!
"Sure. How much are you willing to pay, miss? Do you want to share a room or rent the whole place?"
The noodle restaurant owner was in his fifties. He was as kind - hearted as Landlady Xu, the previous landlady.
This was a small street next to a well - known neurosurgery hospital in Beijing. On both sides were privately - built small buildings with little value for demolition. Many family members who needed to take long - term care of patients would rent houses in this area. It was convenient for taking care of the patients and could also save a lot of accommodation costs.
"I want to rent a place alone. The cheaper, the better."
In my luggage, besides some change of clothes, the rest were all kinds of strange things. There was the soul - storing jar with A Jian in it, the folding umbrella that trapped Lu Dayong, and now there was also a female ghost who was about to turn into a red - clothed ghost, trapped in a soul bottle...
If anyone shared a room with me and was a bit curious, I was afraid they would be scared to death.
"Hey, what a coincidence!"
The landlady slapped her thigh. "Just so happens that a friend of mine has a small one - bedroom apartment. It's really cheap, only 2,000 yuan a month. This is Beijing! This price is an absolute steal! My friend just wants to find a clean girl as a tenant... It's only a five - minute walk from here, in the Lvyuan Apartment up ahead."
"Oh, thank you, boss!"
I was amused by the landlady's enthusiastic sales pitch.
Judging from my observation skills learned from Du Wenzhong, this house was most likely owned by the noodle restaurant landlady herself.
The rent was almost half of the market price, which indicated... this house was definitely unusual.
In today's world, there was no one who would do a loss - making business.
This house... was most likely a haunted house!
Wasn't this just the right thing?
I was carrying a group of ghosts with me. If it was really a haunted house, I could let A Jian and the others out, let them fight it out and see who was more powerful. The most powerful one could be the boss in that room!
So, I didn't expose the landlady's little plan. Instead, I happily dragged my suitcase and went with her to look at the house.
The Lvyuan Community was right across from the back wall of the inpatient building of the brain hospital where Du Wenzhong lived.
It was an apartment community with only two buildings.
The street - level shops were mostly stores selling funeral supplies such as shrouds and coffins. They all operated around the clock. The blue - background white - lettered advertising signs looked solemn and desolate.
The landlady's small apartment was on the third floor of the building facing the street. It wasn't very high. The corridor was clean, and the room was also clean.
As you entered, there was a small foyer. In the square - shaped living room, there was a dining table and two chairs. There was also a misty - blue two - seater sofa against one of the walls. Further inside were the bedroom and the bathroom. The bathroom was the place in a house most likely to hide dirt. I specifically pushed open the door and took a look inside. It was clean.
By "clean", I meant clean in "that" sense.
Seeing that I was quite satisfied, the landlady took everything upon herself. She said she could make all the decisions on behalf of her friend. She even changed the original rent payment method of one - month deposit and three - month advance payment to one - month deposit and one - month advance payment.
Of course, this was fine with me. I could save half of the prepayment at once, and that would be my living expenses for a month!
I immediately finalized the rental contract and got the key to the house.
The landlady was also very happy. She kept praising me for being a straightforward and decisive girl.
As the scorching sun gradually set on the horizon, the landlady excused herself, saying she still had to attend to business in the store. She left me alone in the newly - rented room and rushed away in a hurry.
After closing the door, I threw myself onto the soft little bed in the bedroom. Only then did I feel as if my bones were about to fall apart.
Since I took on Si Tong's commission, it seemed that everything had gotten out of my control and was sliding towards an unknown future...
I disliked this feeling the most. Maybe it was because I had been wandering in society with my grandpa since I was a child. Although he was very kind to me, this sense of unknown and drifting had left a deep mark in my heart.
I didn't like an uncertain future, and I disliked a restricted life even more.
This feeling was painful and tiring, just like being locked in a narrow and transparent box. I could see the outside world, but I could never feel it!
After being tormented by Si Jiangchen all night last night, I finally relaxed when I lay in bed. My eyes felt as if they were glued shut and I couldn't open them anymore.
Just as I was falling into a sweet slumber, I seemed to have a real feeling that I had given my first time to that bastard who liked to bite...
It didn't matter... I comforted myself. Anyway, my grandpa said I couldn't fall in love, get married, or even get too close to others, or I would cause great harm to them.
I was destined to be alone for my whole life. Having such an extremely unpleasant experience once wasn't a big deal. Just think of it as being bitten by a dog!