Chapter Thirty-One: Wu Siling

When An Mingshan and I arrived at our destination—P Village—it was already past three in the afternoon. I bought some glutinous rice nearby, then met up with Liu Shan, and we checked into a hotel. An Mingshan insisted on having a single room, and neither Liu Shan nor I felt we could object. So Liu Shan and I shared a room, and An Mingshan stayed alone.

Once inside the room, I immediately opened my suitcase to inventory our belongings and noticed one of the Taoist robes was missing. Seeing the robe, Liu Shan exclaimed, “Great! I was just worried about where to find a Taoist robe, but now we’ve got one ready-made.” Hearing that, I silently cursed An Mingshan’s ancestors up and down.

I told Liu Shan to calm down and cast a divination. The result revealed that one of us would suffer a bloody calamity tonight. When Liu Shan asked for the details, I only told him that our side would have the upper hand this evening.

After settling in, we went to An Mingshan’s door and knocked. I noticed Liu Shan giving me a strange look, tinged with a mischievous grin. We waited a long time, but An Mingshan did not come out. Just as I was about to pick the lock, she returned, carrying a cloth bag that looked stuffed with something inside.

Trailing behind her was a stunning beauty—truly a great beauty, with a figure and appearance to match—though slightly shorter than An Mingshan, who stood at about 1.7 meters. The woman was maybe 1.65 meters tall, with flawless skin as supple as silk. Even so, I was unmoved. Liu Shan and I reacted quite differently upon seeing her. I maintained my composure, adopting the demeanor of a gentleman who passes through a flower bed without plucking a single blossom—after all, I already loved someone else, though she was no longer with me. But Liu Shan’s eyes practically popped out of his head. I quietly nudged him and whispered, “Fatty, keep your image intact!”

Suddenly, I felt a weight on my shoulder and discovered Liu Shan had fainted, drooling and bleeding from the nose all over me! I was speechless. It turns out that a beauty can not only outshine fish and birds and eclipse the moon and flowers, but also instantly hypnotize a 250-pound big guy!

I said, “Sorry for the spectacle. My name is Li Shucheng.”

I heard the beauty whisper to An Mingshan, “So elegant, so refined. Truly handsome! A male god!”

An Mingshan retorted in the same tone, “Male god? More like male lunatic.”

I said, “An An, this is…”

An Mingshan said, “Her name is…”

The beauty quickly interrupted, “I’m Wu Siling, sent by the bureau chief to assist you. You can call me Lingling. Uh, this is…” She then showed her credentials, which I checked and found to be valid.

Liu Shan suddenly straightened up, wiped the drool from his mouth with his sleeve, and said, “I’m the director of the Paranormal Bureau…”

Wu Siling interrupted, “That can’t be right. I thought the director was an old man.”

Liu Shan replied, “…assistant. Liu Shan, Jack Lau. You can just call me Jack.” As he spoke, he put on a pair of sunglasses.

Wu Siling asked, “Is he blind?” An Mingshan and I were speechless.

I said, “Alright, enough joking around. An An, help Wu Miss get settled. Later, we’ll all meet in our room to discuss the plan for the next few days. You can keep that Taoist robe if you like, just don’t get it dirty.” An Mingshan smiled sheepishly at my words.

Half an hour later, at 3:30 p.m., in Liu Shan and my room:

I said, “We still don’t know anything about the situation here. How about we go out and gather some information? What do you all think?”

Liu Shan said, “Of course. Let’s dress up and do a little undercover reconnaissance.”

I said, “Uh, never mind the makeup. Let’s split up and act separately…”

Liu Shan jumped in, “Okay, I’ll divide the teams. Li Ge and An An will be one group. As for me, naturally, I’ll be with…” He glanced at Wu Siling and continued, “of course, Miss Wu. That’s settled. Let’s go!”

An Mingshan and I then went out to a restaurant. She ordered a huge amount of food, but I didn’t order anything.

As I sipped the water they brought, I asked, “An An, how do you know her?”

An Mingshan said, “I met her at the supermarket, at the checkout.”

I said, “Be honest! Where exactly did you meet?”

An Mingshan hesitated, “Well… um… actually, I met her in the hotel lobby. Really, she recognized me first.”

I called the bureau chief to confirm An Mingshan’s story. It turned out that the director had arranged for Wu Siling to rendezvous with An Mingshan. He had known we would be at this hotel and had Wu Siling wait in the lobby to meet An Mingshan upon her return. I asked the director to send me Wu Siling’s file, which arrived a few minutes later.

Reader Q&A:

Q: Author, can you drive?

A: No. I don’t have a driver’s license, and driving requires intense focus, which I can’t handle. I only ride bicycles and motorcycles.