IWBL: Chapter 203
Wang Huai didn’t follow when Xiao Li parted ways with Wen Wenwen and the others. The reincarnators couldn’t take Xu Jiaheng to find a house so he offered to stay in the house and take care of Xu Jiaheng.
At that time, the boy hesitated for a long time. He laid on the sofa and was absent-minded. There was a problem with his mother and this was already enough for him to feel helpless. He originally thought that he could find support but even one of these foreigners had died…
Does this mean that they didn’t have the ability to stop the ghost at all? He couldn’t help but let his gaze drift to the upper floor. This was the place where He Tian had died. Wang Huai was inside the room, unwilling to let go of any corner to find a clue.
Xu Jiaheng had asked him about it and Wang Huai’s explanation was that he wanted to find clues to see who killed He Tian. He looked at the search action of the other party and felt a bit strange. Then he saw the corpse on the bed and hid back in the living room.
In fact, thinking about it carefully, he trusted these people too hastily. Was he too rash?
Xu Jiaheng bit his finger until the dead skin was bitten off. Then he picked up his phone and started to call his neighbour and deskmate. He decided to tell her what had happened recently and listen to her thoughts.
As he typed, he felt that all the breakfast he ate in the morning was digested. He got stomach cramps and quickly headed to the toilet with his mobile phone. After Xu Jiaheng went to the toilet, Wang Huai walked down the stairs. He searched the sofa first then touched the furniture in front of him inch by inch before finally stopping near the TV. He touched a protruding object and with a bit of effort, he removed it from the cabinet and placed it in his pocket.
Then Wang Huai went back upstairs again. He adjusted his suit, took the task book from He Tian and placed the item on it.
Unlike Sherlock, who didn’t like to use items, Wang Huai was very familiar with the items in the mall. He guessed that He Tian must’ve used some type of item that caused the dead-end to be triggered in advance. Therefore, he always took the opportunity to look for it.
The moment he saw the camera, he knew what it did.
Once the scrapped task book came into contact with the camera, a screen appeared. Wang Huai stared at the screen for a while before closing the task book heavily.
***
On the other side, Xiao Li finished speaking in one breath and gave Mother Xu some time to think about the story he told. In fact, he wasn’t saying it to Mother Xu before him but the ‘ghost behind the scenes.’ Unfortunately, he didn’t see the others’ existence.
Xiao Li tried to intensify his ridicule. “I suggest you to update your thesaurus or retake the Chinese language course.”
Mother Xu opposite him seemed to be stunned. He couldn’t believe her ears as she stood in place and stared carefully. Her eyes were a bit cross-eyed. A long time passed before she regained her voice. “I don’t understand what you are saying.”
“…Okay, then I won’t bother you.”
Xiao Li waited a while but didn’t see the black figure. He realized that he couldn’t squeeze out any secrets from Mother Xu in front of him. Thus, he looked at the windows of the neighbours on both sides, raised his hand and made a ‘goodbye’ gesture.
…He really looked like a polite guest—although this guest almost caused Mother Xu to stomp her foot from anger. He walked very easily. Mother Xu looked angry but she didn’t intend to catch up and intercept Xiao Li. She just stood there, watching the teenager’s back along with the two faces in the window.
***
Xiao Li walked through the town without a destination. He just took any path he saw. He integrated the clues he had received so far in his mind as he wrapped his fingers around the doll’s hair and walked.
Frankly speaking, if he didn’t regard this as an instance then this exotic town was worth visiting as a tourist. The European-style brick buildings stood next to each other in the grey mist and had a stormy temperament. It would’ve been better if it wasn’t for the weird eyes of the storekeepers towards outsiders.
Xiao Li was comfortable despite these gazes. He continued to move forward until he turned onto a street. It was a narrow street. Most of the merchants had locked doors and only a small store at the end was lit up. The door of this store was ajar and there was a feather-curtain hanging from the door. Feathers and beads were twisted together and blown by the wind from time to time.
Xiao Li got closer and realized that the light was actually coming from a candle placed at the door. The candle had already burned down halfway and wax dripped down the body of the candle, condensing into lumps.
Beyond the curtain was a black table with a cloth covering something in the middle. There was a woman sitting behind the table. Her hair was decorated with small white flowers woven through them and covered with a layer of black gauze. Her face was as white as jade but her fingers were covered with wrinkles, just like an old woman in her 80s.
She looked at Xiao Li through the curtain. “Outsider, come in. Our meeting is fate. I can foretell what you want, for you.”
Xiao Li asked, “What foretelling?”
He casually looked back and found that the street he came here by, had disappeared. It was replaced by a wall that blocked the escape route. The fortuneteller pulled off the black cloth on the table to reveal a crystal ball. This crystal ball was round, shiny and reflected her beautiful face.
“Everything.” The fortuneteller placed her hands on the crystal ball. “Your fortune, your love and your future.”
Xiao Li pointed to the way he came. “I have to ask. If I don’t agree, will I be unable to get out?”
The fortuneteller covered her lips with her fingers and smiled. “What do you think?”
Xiao Li, “…”
The last one who had tried to prophesize about him ended up cold.
The fortuneteller looked at him greedily. It was like he was walking, bloody food instead of a human. Since he couldn’t leave, Xiao Li simply walked in, pulled out a chair and sat opposite the fortuneteller.
The moment Xiao Li was seated, the fortuneteller couldn’t wait to lean forward, her tongue that looked like a snake’s tongue licking her lips back and forth. “Fortunetelling isn’t for free. I will need to charge something.”
“What is it?”
“Your youth.” The fortuneteller’s eyes became stickier. “Your face, your flesh.”
“Is this why your face can maintain its youth?”
He hadn’t felt it when he was further away but now that the fortuneteller was in front of him, the face looked like an 18 years old girl while the neck down was covered with wrinkles and old spots.
After being unmasked so bluntly, the fortuneteller glared at him. She couldn’t wait to sit back in her original position and her hands were about to touch the crystal ball in front of her. “Shall I start?”
“Wait a minute.” Xiao Li touched the little yellow book, put it on the table and casually said, “I forgot to introduce myself. I am also an amateur fortuneteller.”
The fortuneteller, “???”
A colleague?
Xiao Li told her, “I reluctantly rely on a divination item to perform divination but I prefer to call it a prophecy.”
The fortuneteller controlled her expression and carefully examined Xiao Li. “An item?”
“Yes, so I want to make a deal with you.”
Xiao Li didn’t give the fortuneteller any chance to interject as he continued, “It is better this way. We will both tell each other’s fortunes and the one who made a relatively accurate prediction will win. If you win then you can take away my youth. If I win then you will have to give me a clue.”’
He still looked like a teenager. His dark hair had grown a bit and hadn’t been cut. It was just hanging over his eyebrows. Since there were too many ghosts on his body, he gave off more of a sense of distance than before. If he looked at people then he gave them the illusion that they were clearly reflected in his eyes but they weren’t in his eyes.
There was some credibility if such a person claimed to be a fortuneteller. The fortuneteller hesitated for a moment. Then the appeal of living human flesh and blood was so strong that she couldn’t help licking her mouth. “…Yes, you come first.”
She could decide at her own discretion what to do next.
“Okay.” Xiao Li didn’t shrink back. He picked up a pen and wrote a line in the little yellow book.
The next moment, a coffin suddenly appeared behind him in the room. A crack was opened in the front of the coffin. From the perspective of the fortuneteller, she vaguely saw an old man lying inside with a mirror in his arms. This is the coffin of Ouroboros. Xiao Li’s name was forcefully carved on it and they had been forcibly connected ever since.
Xiao Li walked over and tapped on the coffin lid with his knuckles. “I want to ask to borrow the mirror.”
The mirror of prophecy couldn’t be any worse than a random fortuneteller in an instance.
The coffin ghost was originally staying in its own world, lying comfortably in the coffin while waiting for the next unlucky ghost to arrive. Then Xiao Li’s knock directly knocked his three souls away. This sound… was so familiar?!
The moment Xiao Li spoke the second word, the coffin ghost opened his eyes. By the time Xiao Li finished the sentence, the coffin ghost sat up like he had seen a ghost. He held the mirror of Ouroboros in his arms and shook his head.
Ye Zeqing would be able to hear the ghost’s thoughts if he was three. [You are dreaming. If I give it to you, will you return it?]
Xiao Li didn’t insist. He turned around and pointed to the fortuneteller. “Then come and make a prediction for her. What aspect do you want to predict?”
The fortuneteller looked at the coffin and the old man in it and a bad feeling rose in her heart. This mirror and coffin had detached themselves from being ghosts. There was even the smell of some gods on them. This was a divine tool.
The coffin ghost looked in the direction that Xiao Li pointed and saw the crystal ball in front of the fortuneteller. He could sense the ghostly energy and power of the other person. As the custodian of the artifact, his intelligence was extremely high. He immediately understood the current situation.
The old man pushed open the coffin board in front of him. He glanced at Xiao Li and then his expression became solemn as he brushed a hand over the mirror. The mirror in his hand shimmered and large words were formed on them.
[Run away!!!]
He was afraid the fortune teller wouldn’t understand so he specifically added three exclamation marks. This was the greatest kindness he could show to the later generation. He did his best.
The author has something to say:
@Say it to Sherlock bot
[Is this Sherlock? He didn’t say he was Sherlock! He didn’t say it! He introduced himself as an amateur fortuneteller. When did Sherlock become a fortuneteller?!]
From the mobile phone, that an angry fortuneteller snatched from a passerby.
Comment: [Today’s headlines: Sherlock has joined the divination industry. Other industries are cheering!]
[Shocking! In order to avoid the divination world being destroyed by Sherlock, an old man actually did such a thing!]
[Good, kind old man. I’m in tears.]
Proofreader: Tofu