Chapter 84

 Chapter 84: Yin Soldiers [2]

Zhang Qiu knew that Professor Fang had gone out to investigate, but it seemed that there was a confidentiality agreement for what he was investigating. Even Mrs Fang didn’t know about it. Her face was full of worry, losing weight for two months. When she saw Zhang Qiu, she hurriedly asked: “Is there news from your teacher?” 

“I just returned to school and heard about the professor’s problem, so I came to see you.” Zhang Qiu told Mrs Fang not to pour him tea. “The professor didn’t say where he was going?”

Mrs Fang looked anxious, and then stood up, as if she had thought of something, “Xiao Qiu, wait for a moment.” She hurried to the study, coming back with a stack of materials in her hand, and handed it to Zhang Qiu. “Xiao Qiu, please help me take a look. I also gave these to the school, but no one has any idea. 

Zhang Qiu took a look. The first page was messy runes, frowning, he said: “This is Qinling Gumu Guoli----these are the rune pillars found in the ancient tombs discovered in Qinling this year, is the professor studying these? But something’s not right, if that was the case, the investigation would be local.”

“It’s not local, Lao Fang packed his luggage and said it was going to be wet there, it seems as though he was going to sea.” Mrs Fang negated. 

The second page was an ancient text, but it wasn’t one that Zhang Qiu was familiar with. It was like the most primitive and mysterious of words. 

“Mrs Fang, can I take a picture to show a senior brother who is familiar with the text? You may also know him, it’s Hua Ting.” When Zhang Qiu mentioned Hua Ting’s name, Mrs Fang’s hesitating heart was settled, and she nodded, “That’s good, you take the picture! I reported it to the police, but there is still no news. The contact person over there did not respond for a long time.”

Zhang Qiu took the picture and asked: “What contact person?” 

Mrs Fang had been frightened for two months. Now, when Zhang Qiu asked, she didn’t care about what Professor Fang had said about confidentiality before he left and said: “This investigation was funded by an overseas Chinese. It is said that a lot of money was given. Your professor received a deposit of 500,000 yuan.” They want to buy a house for their son in this area. With this, plus their years of savings, they can pay in full so that their son and daughter-in-law can come back from Beijing, and their grandson can stay with them. In particular, his wife was very curious about the contents of the investigation and agreed to the private work this time.

“Private?” Zhang Qiu was surprised, he always thought that this investigation was funded by public funds, so the school kept it confidential. He didn’t expect it to be private. The school was not aware of it, and the professor’s vacation had been extended. Besides, the professor didn’t return after the holidays. Although everyone was uncomfortable now that he was missing, the school may still be dissatisfied with the professor taking private business and delaying work. 

Mrs Fang’s eyes were red, “I wouldn’t have urged him to go if I had known that was the case. He is not in good health at this age……” 

“Mrs Fang, please don’t blame yourself. The professor may have been delayed by something. Maybe he will be back in the next few days.” Zhang Qiu consoled the emotionally distraught Mrs Fang. Afterwards, he took with him all of the professor’s manuscript materials that Mrs Fang had provided. 

“Xiao Qiu, if you look into it, remember to tell me, I’ll talk to the police.”

“Okay, definitely. Don’t worry Mrs Fang, as I said, the professor has good fortune, nothing will happen.”

After coming out of the professor’s house, Zhang Qiu’s heart was heavy. When he went downstairs and out of the community, he heard a beeping horn. Zhang Qiu looked over, and Xiao Jiang was laying against the car window, showing his round head from inside. Xiao Fei was sitting on top of his head, holding Xiao Jiang’s hair in his hands, and smiling gently at him. 

Li Shu got out of the car, Zhang Qiu was surprised, “Where did the car come from?” 

“Just bought it.”

Zhang Qiu’s first reaction was that Li Shu hid his private money behind his back, and was embarrassed at himself. The car was an off-road vehicle with a shiny black paint exterior. When he saw the familiar BMW logo, he turned to Li Shu, “Where did the money come from?”

“Transferred from your phone, it’s very convenient.” Li Shu appreciated, “Get in the car so we can go home.”

Zhang Qiu touched his pocket and didn’t feel his phone. Since he often runs in the pits, he didn’t use his phone as much as he had before. 

“How did you know the password?” He had never said it. 

Li Shu looked at Zhang Qiu with a smile. Zhang Qiu’s face burned when he thought of the password, and he said: “I was just messing around.” The password was the date when he first visited Gumu country in Qinling.

Sitting in the car, Zhang Qiu was about to be scratched by Li Shu[1], then Li Shu finally looked away and started the car. After a while, Zhang Qiu remembered, “You have a driver’s license?” Even if this thousand-year-old big Zongzi was so incredible, it’s impossible to get a driver’s license in a day.

“No, you need a driver’s license to drive this thing? Is it not as good as it could be?” Li Shu calmly overtook the turtle-like car in front of them.

Zhang Qiu was about to explode, and hastened to carefully explain the theoretical knowledge[2], “You must always watch the traffic lights---” Zhang Qiu felt bad when he saw Li Shu frowning, “You can’t run the red light!”

“There was no car at the intersection just now.” Li Shu explained, and then looked at Zhang Qiu, “You have a driver’s license right? It’s simple, I bought it with your ID. Okay baby, let’s not talk about it, we’re going home.”

The new campus was located in the southern suburbs of the mountain. There are a few spacious cars on the road around the mountain, and Li Shu drove as neatly as the others. Zhang Qiu beat his chest in the passenger seat. Fuck! His driver’s license had not been used much, and now he has been completely tossed by Li Shu. How many points are deducted for running a red light?

The whole journey, Zhang Qiu’s heart hurt for his driver’s license. In passing, he grabbed Li Shu and gave him good tutoring knowledge. Li Shu was in a good mood today, he smiled and nodded the whole way. After going north from Huanshan road, Zhang Qiu realised that something was wrong, “Where are we going? Aren’t we still staying at the hotel?” The address was wrong. 

Before long, coming to a spacious road with green trees on either side, one by one, beautiful villas came into view in front of him. Zhang Qiu glanced at Li Shu and said: “The greenery here is pretty good.” Unexpectedly, the next second, Li Shu drove directly in. 

“This isn’t what I thought?!”

They had arrived. Li Shu parked, turned the car off, and said: “I bought a model house. It is said to be the king of the buildings, it is furnished. If you don’t like the furniture, we can change it.” The entrance door had been replaced with a fingerprint and a password. Xiao Jiang jumped to enter the password and happily said, “Dad, this is as beautiful as Huahua’s house.” 

King of the buildings! The best landscape in the entire villa community, the price is also expected to be remarkable. 

Zhang Qiu already expected Li Shu to spend money like water. Forget it, if it’s bought, it’s bought. Fortunately, the decoration of the house was not the kind of towering European style, but was modern, concise and fresh. The large floor-to-ceiling windows provided good lighting, which just so happened to be facing a clear, sparkling lake. 

“It’s not bad like this, the furniture and sofa will be changed, the others go too.” Zhang Qiu saw that the sofa was made of cotton cloth and might have been washed, but he felt that it still was not very clean. 

Xiao Jiang took his dad’s hand and dragged him upstairs, Zhang Qiu followed. The second bedroom was a well-designed children’s room, with good lighting and a small bathtub. Xiao Jiang was especially fond of it. Afterwards he went to the pink, little princess-like room next door. Xiao Jiang pointed to his head, “Didi!”

“Me!” Xiao Fei said with a smile, his eyes bent in crescents.

Zhang Qiu: ……

“It’s good that you guys are happy.”

Because they bought a house, Zhang Qiu checked it carefully, and soon fell into the happy atmosphere that he and Li Shu had a home. After making a list, the family went to the furniture centre and wandered around. When Zhang Qiu paid, he felt very excited and refreshed. When they returned home, everything was sent to the housekeeping company to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.  

They have a home.

That night Zhang Qiu saw the neatly washed and dried sheets. He felt a sense of accomplishment, placing his hand on his waist. Li Shu touched the man’s waist. In the end, the two of them rolled in the still warm sheets and did it hard. 

The next day, the alarm clock woke him up. Li Shu was already preparing breakfast, it was ready made, heated up frozen baozi and milk.

After breakfast, Li Shu drove Zhang Qiu to school. It took only ten minutes to arrive, but he was still late. His scalp was numb when the professor stared with interest. 

“If it isn’t our celebrity! I thought you were going to be an internet celebrity and not come to class.” 

Zhang Qiu quickly apologised sincerely. The professor didn’t say much at first sight, anyway, those who have been absent from class for so long will fail. 

After class at noon, Li Shu had driven to pick him up. When Zhang Qiu arrived at the school gate, he saw Xiao Jiang holding a can of milk and sipping, his cheeks ballooning. Next to him, there were several girls chatting with Li Shu. 

He came to the school to recruit bees and butterflies![3]

The vinegar jar in Zhang Qiu’s heart was knocked over. After he muttered, he heard Li Shu say: “...I came to pick up my wife.”

“If it isn’t Xiao Jiang! I know his dad, Zhang Qiu from our department, we have lectures together.”

Li Shu glanced at the girl who was in Zhang Qiu’s class, concluding that she was not as good-looking as him, he took back his gaze. 

“Big dad, I have finished drinking and I am hungry. When will dad come out? I want to go home to have lunch.” Xiao Jiang said softly.

The girl who had just spoken was stunned. Dad. Big dad. Xiao Jiang’s sentence was so informative!  

Zhang Qiu was not eating vinegar now, he was embarrassed. He hurried over and glanced at the shocked eyes of the girls. He picked up his son and hurriedly got into the car. When Xiao Jiang was in the car, he dangled his short legs and drank his milk.

“Is it not finished?”

“Who let them look at big dad strangely, I don’t like it.” Xiao Jiang said with a snort. 

Zhang Qiu never knew that his son sometimes had low EQ and was sometimes particularly clever, but--- “Lying makes you a bad boy.”

“I know dad, I have finished drinking my milk now!” Xiao Jiang said while nodding his head. 

After eating lunch, he had no classes in the afternoon. Recently, he asked for all kinds of homework papers at the end of term, but he couldn’t catch up with it now. He could only fail this semester and continue next year. Back at home, Xiao Jiang and Xiao Fei sat on the floor and played with toys. The villa had heating, and the floor was covered with thick carpets, so it wasn’t cold. Zhang Qiu spread all the materials on the carpet and opened his computer video to communicate with Senior Brother.

“I’ve looked at what you sent, I learnt something about furs from the professor before. The encrypted language of the Qin period was especially used by spies.” On the video, Hua Ting lifted up the materials Zhang Qiu had sent, “The professor wrote here that there should be a few medicinal ingredients, combined with the current names of traditional Chinese medicine that can be found, there are female ginseng[4] and Mongolian milkvetch[5], and others that I can’t distinguish, but they should also be the names of medicinal ingredients. 

“What does the professor’s investigation have to do with medicinal ingredients…” Zhang Qiu thought sullenly.

Hua Ting shook his head, also unable to figure it out, “What’s more, what you’re going to do next is very messy. I can’t piece it together, but I can guess that the professor’s destination should be at sea.”

“The sea?” Zhang Qiu brought up the map. There are only a few large provinces along the coast in China. But to find the specifics was like finding a needle in a haystack. Is it in the East or the South? 

The two studied for the whole afternoon, on the other side, Lu Feng called Senior Brother to eat. Zhang Qiu felt embarrassed and said: “Senior Brother has been held up all afternoon, you should eat first.”

“Don’t say that, I also want to do my best when the teacher is missing. Contact me if you have any news.” Hua Ting heard his son calling his dad to eat, and quickly ended the video call. 

Zhang Qiu stretched out and turned his head to see that his two sons were asleep on the carpet. In particular, Xiao Jiang, who was sleeping on his stomach with his ass in the air. He looked very funny. Xiao Fei was like a sleeping beauty. The red fog seemed like it was afraid of them being cold and it covered his and Xiao Jiang’s stomachs like a quilt.

“Good sons.” Zhang Qiu passed by and kissed them both. 

Li Shu came out of the kitchen. Zhang Qiu smelled something strange, and asked: “What did you do?”

“It’s nothing, I originally wanted to prepare some dinner, but I didn’t expect to fail.” Li Shu calmly ignored the black lacquer that he had just thrown away and said: “I ordered a take-away hotpot. It’s really convenient at this time.” 

Zhang Qiu also forgot about the strange smell in the air.

When they finished eating hotpot that evening, snowflakes were falling outside. Xiao Jiang was so happy that he put Xiao Fei in his scarf and went out to play at the gate to the yard. Because it was a new environment, Zhang Qiu would not be at ease if he didn’t follow. He was pulled by Li Shu and put on a coat before going out. Just after leaving the door. Xiao Jiang ran over, holding a note in his hands, “Dad, an uncle just gave this to me.”

“What uncle?” Zhang Qiu looked at the yard, there was no one around. 

Xiao Jiang gestured towards the sky, “A very tall uncle, he praised me for my good looks.”

Zhang Qiu opened the note, his family’s Xiao Jiang was happy as long as someone praised him. With the weak light from the door, he was stunned when he saw the words on the note.

【Fang Xin’s original life expectancy was 73, but now it has changed to 60,136 days.】

Fang Xin is the professor’s full name. In October of this year, Zhang Qiu and Mrs Fang celebrated the professor’s 61st birthday. Pinching his fingers to calculate the time, the time mentioned above happened to be at the end of this month[6], and the professor had lost contact. 

Zhang Qiu frowned and went to give the note to Li Shu, but his fingers warmed, and he quickly let go. The note he had just held in his hands suddenly burned, and strangely, there were no ashes. 

“Who’s prank is this?” In his heart, he didn’t believe it. 

Li Shu thought for a moment, “Knowing the lifespan of humans, should be Bai’s boss.”

Bai Shengsheng’s boss? Isn’t that King Yama[7]?!

Zhang Qiu's eyes widened, so it seems that the note was most likely true, “The professor is in danger, we must find the professor as soon as possible.” But where did he go?

During the two plus months when he was worried about Li Shu’s disappearance, Professor Fang was very kind to him and Xiao Jiang. When he mentioned the professor, Xiao Jiang raised his head and looked at him, “Did Grandpa Fang get into an accident? Dad, let’s go help Grandpa Fang!”

Business card!

Zhang Qiu thought of Bai Shengsheng’s business card he gave to Er-Ge. In the end, Er-Ge had given it to him. He immediately burnt it. Soon after, Bai Shengsheng, who had a very white face, arrived at the yard gate, in formal clothes, still with an ugly face, and asked coldly: “What’s the matter?”

“Your boss just came here and gave me a note that burnt after I read it---” Zhang Qiu hadn’t finished speaking, but he saw Bai Shengsheng’s face change, and he whispered: “I can’t even borrow it to toy with. I’m not just casually tearing up The Book of Life and Death.”

Was the note just then torn from The Book of Life and Death?

Zhang Qiu was stuck, it was from The Book of Life and Death, so it turned out to be like this. He explained the professor’s problem, and asked: “Do you know where the professor is now?”

“There is only one way we can know where he is, that is, as soon as that person dies, we can sense it, otherwise, there is no way.” Bai Shengsheng said: “Every day the workload is too much, even the Boss himself won’t know, otherwise he wouldn’t remind you that you are looking for him. But why would he say that?” 

Zhang Qiu also didn’t know why King Yama would send him that note. Bai Shengsheng said with a straight face: “I’ve exhausted my business knowledge. I’m on vacation today, so remember to pay overtime.” He took out a business card and handed it over, “Next time you have a problem, find him.”

“Sorry for the interruption.”

“Anyway, you gave money.” Bai Shengsheng disappeared after speaking. 

Zhang Qiu looked down at the business card. The name on it was Hei Qian[8]. It was a simple two words that didn’t need an introduction. Zhang Qiu felt that these two words were really magical. He didn’t know what this person’s parents thought about it, Hei Qian. 

Thinking again of Bai Shengsheng’s surname, Bai, was this Hei Qian, Hei Wuchang? 

“It is said that Hei and Bai Wuchang are a CP. Today I have seen it. No wonder Bai Shengsheng loves money so much.” As soon as Zhang Qiu finished speaking, he suddenly heard a smiling male voice, “I like smart humans like you.”

Li Shu heard that his son was looked at by bad eyes.[9]

There was a man in a black coat at the yard gate. He was wearing sunglasses at night. He was very tall and strong-looking, he was even taller than Xiao Lin. He came over with a smile, “Don’t be angry, I was just sent by the Boss to help you. My God, it’s so late, it’s time to go to bed. I’m going to stay at your house tonight.” Walking to Xiao Jiang’s side, the man touched Xiao Jiang’s head, “This handsome young man is really good-looking, just like Shengsheng.”

Xiao Jiang was so happy that he jumped up and said, “Tall-Gege!”

Zhang Qiu: ……

Son, you face-freak, who’re you shamelessly following!

When the man saw Zhang Qiu’s guarded look, he pointed to the business card in Zhang Qiu’s hand, “Hei Qian, it’s me.”

Hei Wuchang!

Zhang Qiu looked at Hei Wuchang, who acted like the master while he was staying in their home. Unlike Bai Shengsheng’s ugly facial expression, Hei Qian is always smiling, but he never took his sunglasses off, from the yard to the living room, or even the bedroom. 

Sure enough, business in the Underworld is quite special. 

Zhang Qiu still hadn’t recovered when he returned to the bedroom, sitting cross-legged on the bed, “Our family lives with Hei Wuchang, it’s so fantasy-like that TV dramas dare not write it like this. 

“Tenth time.” Li Shu’s voice was cold.

Zhang Qiu was still immersed in the few words that Hei Qian had just said, gossiping: “I think this Hei Qian must have something to do with Bai Shengsheng.”

“Eleventh time.” Li Shu’s face was black.

Gossiping meant that someone else should participate. Zhang Qiu had been one-sidedly gossiping, while Li Shu was counting. He couldn’t help but look up at Li Shu, and suddenly the alarm bells sounded in his heart. When Li Shu’s face was like that, then someone was unfortunate, but he was the only one in the room----

“I beg you to understand.” Zhang Qiu was tearful but did not struggle. 

Li Shu’s black face smiled coldly, “You just mentioned another man’s name ten times[10].” 

Fuck!

Zhang Qiu saw Li Shu pounce on him. He just wanted to eat that fucker Li Shu’s vinegar. Tonight, his old waist would not be saved!

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Translator's note:

Hiya!! Here is Chapter 84!! As you have probably noticed, there are a few phrases that may not make too much sense, and that is because I am working on this alone, and I have no one to check, so I am doing my best to make it as accurate as I can. Another thing that I would like to mention is that I am starting my first year of Uni soon, so I will not have much time to work on this. I will continue to do my best to get them out as soon as possible. 

Thank you for your support!! 

~ Jia

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[1] Here is the first of the two: 坐在车上张丘被离殊看的要挠人时, I am not entirely sure who is supposed to be scratching(?) who, but from what I understand, it is Li Shu scratching Zhang Qiu? If anyone else knows, then please don’t hesitate to let me know. 

[2] Teach him about the ways of the road.

[3] A saying: 'to flirt/attract the opposite sex.' 

[4] Female ginseng (or Dong Quai) - Scientifically known as Angelica sinensis is indigenous to China’s mountainous regions. For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_sinensis 

[5] Mongolian milk vetch (or Huang Qi) - Scientifically known as Astragalus propinquus is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astragalus_propinquus 

[6] The maths just doesn't work out, 60,136 days is around 162 years, and if the professor just turned 61, then, 61 years is only 22,265 days...Nowhere near 60,136...Eh, might be another explanation for it, but this is what I got, so…...Yeah, moving on.

[7] In East Asian and Buddhist mythology, Yama (sometimes known as the King of Hell, King Yan (Yam) or Yanluo (Yamla) ) is a dharmapala (wrathful god) said to judge the dead and preside over the Narakas ("Hells", "Hell Realm" or "Purgatories") and the cycle of afterlife saṃsāra. More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama_(Buddhism) 

[8] Black Money can also mean underhand payment or illegally acquired money.

[9] Last of the two. 离殊听到喜欢儿子眼神不善的看了过去。- Another one that doesn't make the most sense. Did Xiao Jiang look at the guy with bad eyes, or was Xiao Jiang looked at with bad eyes? I choose the latter. 

[10] Either Li Shu sucks at math, or his memory is failing him. It is eleven times, not ten…...

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