vstars Chapter 407 Just One Glance Away
Chapter 407 Just One Glance Away
Manager Hu, who was holding onto the edge of the table, heard the voice outside the door calling "Sister," and the blood from the splinter on the back of his hand slid down the lines of his palm.
She didn't even care about the pain, only clutching the broken coin from her sleeve into her palm.
"Shuang'er?"
Old Zhou raised his hand and pressed down on the old boat sign, his throat feeling like it was full of dry sand.
"Don't answer her."
Manager Hu stared at the crack in the door, the color draining from his face little by little.
"She was calling for me."
Mo Chengyue raised his hand and pressed it on Manager Hu's shoulder. The red lines on his palm were drawn out by the moisture outside, and the red light crawled out through his fingers, but he pressed it back into his flesh with Yin-Yang True Essence.
"She's calling the name of the person you most want to hear."
A woman outside the door chuckled softly. The laughter brushed against the wooden planks, went around the door frame, and slipped in through the crack in the window.
"Sister, have you even forgotten my voice?"
Shopkeeper Hu's lips moved, and the word "Shuang'er" almost rolled out of her throat. Mo Chengyue increased the force in his hand and pulled her back half a step.
"Don't call me by my old name."
Manager Hu took a breath, his eyes reddening.
"I know."
The woman outside the door spoke again.
"Sister, I've been freezing in the river for twenty years. I dare not bask in the sun during the day, and at night I can only hear people closing their doors on the shore. When the osmanthus flowers bloom in the backyard of the inn, I can smell them, but I can't go back."
Old Zheng felt a chill run down his spine and switched the iron spoon in his other hand.
"Uncle, is that really her voice?"
Old Zhou didn't look at him, he just stared at the crack in the door.
"The first rule the dead taught me is: don't acknowledge a relative who comes back from the water at night."
Xiao Liu held the cleaver across his chest, trying to maintain his composure.
"What if you've made a mistake?"
Mo Chengyue glanced at him.
"Admitting your mistake might cause you some heartache, but admitting you're right could drag your whole family down with you."
Xiao Liu immediately shut his mouth.
The woman's voice outside the door lowered, sounding like she was about to cry.
"Sister, I didn't blame you back then, and neither did Mother. I was just cold, I was really cold."
The Soul-Suppressing Coin in Manager Hu's hand dug into her flesh. She was about to walk towards the door when her toes touched the spreading array patterns on the ground, and she was grabbed by Mo Chengyue.
"Let go."
Mo Chengyue looked at the door panel and spoke decisively.
"If I let you go, she'll have one more family member slot."
Manager Hu asked through gritted teeth.
"Didn't you hear her say she was cold?"
Mo Chengyue slapped a soul-protecting talisman into her palm. As the talisman touched the blood droplet, white smoke immediately rose from the edges.
"I heard it, and I heard it cutting into your softest spot."
Manager Hu spoke in a hoarse voice.
"What if she really is outside?"
Mo Chengyue turned his face, his tone even harsher than before.
"The person who would risk their life to bring your mother back to shore would never ask you to go out and clear the way for the demon ship when it arrives."
Shopkeeper Hu's hand, which was about to break free, froze in mid-air. The fragments of copper coins hanging from his sleeve gently collided together, making a soft clattering sound.
It was quiet outside for a while.
Old Zheng swallowed.
"Did it hear you?"
Xiao Liu whispered a reply.
"It must have heard it; the immortal master never insults people behind their backs."
Mo Chengyue pushed the array plate to the center of the table, and the array patterns under the table legs extended towards the doorway.
"This is client communication."
Old Zhou twitched the corners of his mouth, but didn't actually laugh.
"You'd better not communicate with it too much; it's not as good-tempered as you think."
When the woman's voice sounded again from outside the door, the sobbing had subsided, and while it remained gentle, it was now damp as she spoke close to his ear.
"Sister, don't you want to see me?"
Shopkeeper Hu closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his fingers were still trembling, but he did not take another step forward.
"If you are Shuang'er, tell me where I hid the soul-suppressing money when I was a child."
A soft gasp came from outside the door.
"You hid the money in your pillow, afraid that your father would take it to exchange for wine."
Manager Hu swayed slightly on his shoulder.
Old Zhou's expression also changed.
"I didn't know anything about this."
Manager Hu raised his head, and finally, struggle appeared in his eyes.
"She knows."
Mo Chengyue reached out and touched the edge of the array plate, and fine golden lines crawled onto the threshold.
"It probably knows all the old stories about the waterside in the inn."
The woman outside the door spoke softly.
"Sister, I also know that when you were fifteen, you stole half a bag of my osmanthus sugar and then lied to me, saying that a mouse had gone into the cupboard."
Shopkeeper Hu's lips twitched, but tears fell first.
"That half-pack of candy was the one I gave you later."
"I know."
The woman outside the door answered too quickly, her gentleness sending chills down one's spine.
"You also said that on my wedding day, you would buy me the most beautiful red veil in the whole town."
Shopkeeper Hu could no longer stand. She braced her hands on the edge of the table, causing the cold teacup to tilt. The tea spilled onto the array pattern, immediately producing red foam.
Mo Chengyue slammed the teacup shut.
"Old Zhou, you're not very particular about how you put this tea."
Old Zhou stared at the red water seeping from the bottom of the bowl, his face grim.
"I didn't fill it up."
Xiao Liu raised the kitchen knife.
"Can tea betray us?"
Old Zheng shoved the kitchen knife down.
"Don't chop randomly, the immortal master didn't order you to attack."
The water seeping in through the crack in the door grew increasingly red, starting as a thin line and then climbing up the wooden planks, gathering into a damp outline on the inside of the door.
Manager Hu looked up, but the sound in his throat was blocked.
Old Zhou said in a deep voice.
"Don't stare at it for too long."
Mo Chengyue did not retreat. Instead, he pulled out a thunder talisman and held it between his fingers. The purple light on the talisman's surface was dimmed by the red water.
Red water spread across the door, condensing into half of the girl's face.
Her face was delicate and beautiful, with the features of a seventeen-year-old bride still intact. Her lips were pale from being soaked in the river, but a small frost-leaf pattern appeared at the corner of her eye. The light from the red lantern shone through her skin, making her cheeks glow like paper lanterns.
Manager Hu raised his hand to cover his mouth.
"Shuang'er".
The girl pressed half her face against the door panel, her eyes turned to Manager Hu, her smile gentle.
"Sister, I'm back."
Mo Chengyue stuck the thunder talisman on the door. The talisman's light burned away the red water, which was quickly replenished by more red water.
"Come back through the main entrance first, don't sneak in through the crack. Didn't you graduate from etiquette class?"
The girl's gaze shifted to him, and the slight fragility she had shown earlier vanished. Her face was still beautiful, but the corners of her mouth were turned up in an unnatural way.
"Groom, you're really nosy."
Old Zheng felt his hair stand on end.
"It's not installing anymore?"
Xiao Liu shrank behind Lao Zheng.
"You were pretending to be relatives just now, and now you're calling me in-laws?"
Mo Chengyue ignored the two of them and simply pasted the second thunder talisman under the door beam.
"I have no marriage agreement with you on this ship, only a complaint relationship."
The girl laughed, and red liquid dripped down her cheeks, landing on the array patterns on the threshold, where it was burned by the golden light and emitted black smoke.
"The wedding invitation has been signed with blood, the wedding dress has been altered to the correct size, and the bride's name has been engraved on a bone needle. The groom still claims there's no marriage contract?"
Mo Chengyue looked at his palm. The red lines were illuminated by her words, and the thin lines, like lamp wicks, burrowed towards the base of his fingers, only to be intercepted by the Yin-Yang True Essence.
"Unilateral forced buying and selling is called a 'take-it-or-leave-it' clause in my hometown."
The girl turned her head to look at him.
Where is your hometown?
Mo Chengyue looked up.
"Show your business license before asking about your household registration."
Xiao Liu couldn't help but whisper.
"Even ghost ships require identification from the immortal master."
Old Zhou glared at him.
"Shut up, don't give it any instructions."
The girl wasn't angry; instead, the half of her face, flushed red, was closer to the door, and the frosty lines around her eyes were tinged red by the lamplight.
"It's no use being stubborn. The wedding is only half finished. You've already heard the lights, seen the wedding dress, touched the bone needles, and let the red light recognize your blood."
Mo Chengyue held the third thunder talisman in his hand, not in a hurry to stick it on.
"What's missing?"
The girl spoke softly.
"I'm just waiting for you to take a look at the cabin."