Chapter 76 - 52 [Xiaogu Repays a Favor]
Chapter 52 [Xiaogu’s Repayment]
Extreme Internet Cafe has already ceased operations. The photos that should have been lit up at night are now in complete darkness.
After the proprietress rented this building entirely, the first and second floors were used as the internet café, while the third floor had three small rooms that the proprietress and her brother used as their living quarters.
At this moment, in the room at the far end of the corridor on the third floor, the proprietress was sitting at the table, carefully scrolling through the contacts in her phone, her eyes full of anxiety and disappointment.
In front of her was a take-out box meal with one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, but she had only taken two bites and it was already cold. A layer of white, greasy oil floated on the food.
The room wasn’t air-conditioned, but the proprietress felt hot due to her anxious emotions.
The ashtray on the table was filled with several cigarette butts.
Although the proprietress smoked, she wasn’t a heavy smoker and rarely smoked. However, due to her brother’s issue, she smoked so much in the past two days that her throat became hoarse.
She made quite a few calls throughout the day, trying to find someone who could connect her with the owner of Luoyun House.
But in the end, even though she was a businesswoman, she was just a small internet café owner. How big could the internet café business get? Even if she knew a few peers or business friends, they were at most computer or consumable parts vendors, or restaurant owners nearby— all small business owners.
After seeking connections all day, she still couldn’t find anyone with ties to Luoyun House.
There was no good news, but some bad news instead: she heard that the owner of Luoyun House seemed to know many influential figures, and a lot of wealthy and powerful people frequented the place.
This made the proprietress even more worried.
She was staring into space with her phone when she heard the door lightly knocked twice.
The proprietress was startled, looked up, and instinctively said, "Who is it?"
"Proprietress, it’s Xiaogu."
Upon hearing the familiar, delicate voice, the proprietress breathed a sigh of relief. She walked over to open the door and saw Gu Qingyi standing there with a plastic bag containing a takeout box.
"Xiaogu! It’s really you! After you suddenly left a few days ago without saying anything, and hadn’t come back, I thought... I thought you might have found the person you were looking for, or returned to your hometown."
The proprietress was a bit surprised and excited, pulling Gu Qingyi into the room.
After looking her up and down, the proprietress sighed with relief, "You’re alright, you look clean and well. You didn’t suffer out there."
"Yes, I’m fine, proprietress," Gu Qingyi nodded, taking the take-out box out of the plastic bag and placing it on the table. Then she turned and looked at the proprietress, "This is for you."
The proprietress was puzzled and looked at the take-out box. Her smile was a bit forced, "Xiaogu... you shouldn’t have. When you suddenly left a few days ago, I was worried and wanted to find you, but then... I got caught up with something and just couldn’t spare the time..."
Gu Qingyi nodded, pulling the proprietress to sit down, then opened the take-out box and pushed the braised pork with chestnuts in front of her, "Proprietress, have this. I remember you said you liked it."
"Yes," the proprietress grabbed Gu Qingyi’s hand and touched her forehead, adjusting a strand of her hair, "Have you found the person you were looking for?"
"Yes, I found them."
"Then..."
"I’ve taken care of everything on my end, don’t worry," Gu Qingyi pushed the take-out box again, "Eat quickly, it’s not good when it gets cold."
On the way, Young Lady Gu used Primordial Qi to keep the meal warm.
The proprietress gave a weak smile, picked up her chopsticks, and ate a chestnut, then put down her chopsticks and grabbed Gu Qingyi’s hand, "So, are you going back to your hometown soon? Do you have enough money?"
"..." Gu Qingyi stared at the proprietress’s face, her beautiful eyebrows knit together, "Proprietress, have you been crying? Did someone bully you?"
"No one bullied me, it’s just some troubles at the shop recently."
"No," Gu Qingyi shook her head seriously, "You look like you’ve been wronged."
"..." The proprietress forced a smile, "I’m really fine, it’s just... some troubles with the shop, talking to you about it won’t help. You’re just a young girl, you shouldn’t be concerned about this."
"No, your three brothers aren’t at the shop, and it’s closed," Gu Qingyi frowned at the proprietress.
The proprietress was startled, suddenly thinking of something: How did Xiaogu get up here? The shop downstairs was locked!
"Tell me, who bullied you?" Gu Qingyi stood up.
"I..."
Seeing the proprietress still hesitant, Gu Qingyi sighed lightly, placed her hand on the proprietress’s shoulder, "I’m sorry, proprietress."
"Huh?"
The proprietress was confused, but she saw Xiaogu gently blow a breath towards her. Her vision blurred, and she lost consciousness.
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A few minutes later, Gu Qingyi leaped from the rooftop, landing lightly in a back alley behind the small internet café building.
The girl’s face showed a hint of complicated contemplation.
Hmm... Luoyun House? Luo Qing? Forgiveness letter?
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The sky was fully dark at about eight o’clock. If it were another commercial district, there might still be a crowd at this time.
But the commercial street where Luoyun House was located was different— doing incense and traditional folk practices business, mainly relying on the big temple nearby for traffic.
At night, the commercial street conducting these businesses would be deserted, rarely seeing people.
Only a vegetarian restaurant near the main road was still open.
The shops selling protective talismans and offering fortune-telling or face-reading services had long closed.
The tea house opposite Luoyun House had closed as well. On its rooftop terrace, a small figure squatted at the edge, eyes fixed on Luoyun House and the courtyard behind it.
A trace of coldness flickered in Gu Qingyi’s charming eyes. She took a deep breath lightly.
Turning around, she sat cross-legged on the rooftop floor and gently pointed her finger. Three small objects appeared in the air in front of her.
If there were people from the North here, they could recognize that these were three galahads: small dice-like objects made from the knee bones of sheep.
As Gu Qingyi pointed her finger, a faint golden light emerged from the three galahads.
Gu Qingyi immediately gestured with her fingers, slowly saying:
"Ancestor above, disciple, the seventeenth generation of the Gu Family’s legitimate daughter, Gu Qingyi, prays. Please grant your words!"
A few seconds later, nothing happened with the galahads.
"..."
Gu Qingyi narrowed her eyes, took a deep breath, and re-formed the hand gesture. Her tone became more serious, her voice a bit louder:
"Ancestor above! Disciple, the seventeenth generation of the Gu Family’s legitimate daughter, Gu Qingyi, prays! Please grant your words!"
Waited a few seconds, still nothing.
There was a trace of anger in Gu Qingyi’s eyes. She bit her lip hard and finally sighed helplessly, bowing her head. Her tone turned weak:
"Ancestor above, disciple, the seventeenth generation of the Gu Family’s legitimate daughter, Gu... prays, please grant your words..."
This time, she said her name quickly, almost swallowing the last two words, making them barely audible.
But just like that, a few seconds after her words fell, the three galahads began to spin in place!
Was there a response?
Gu Qingyi couldn’t help but roll her eyes, quickly composing herself and said loudly and firmly to the spinning galahads:
"Reporting to Ancestor! Disciple traveled the outside world, penniless and eating simply, fortunately received clothes and food from a kind person and a place to stay, saving me from hardships.
As the saying goes, a meal’s gratitude must be repaid, a drop of water’s grace must be returned.
Our Gu Sect’s cultivation has its code [Gratitude must be repaid, and enmity avenged]. As the legitimate daughter of the Gu Clan, I must follow the Gu Sect’s code! For receiving much kindness from others, now my benefactor faces trouble, and I must help them in Breaking the Tribulation.
Now someone is bullying my benefactor, I wish to take action, and seek your permission, Ancestor!"
At these words, the three galahads suddenly stopped spinning and quietly rested on the ground, their golden light flashing rhythmically.
Gu Qingyi spoke softly with her delicate voice: "May I ask, Ancestor, can disciple directly confront and defeat the person who bullied my benefactor?"
"......" The three galahads lay quietly, blinking with gold light.
Gu Qingyi raised an eyebrow and cautiously changed her question, "Then... can disciple spare his life, only to bury him, can it be allowed?"
The three galahads remained motionless.
Gu Qingyi’s little face puffed up— no killing then.
Her eyes rolled as she continued to say:
"Disciple will let him live, only break all his limbs, can it be allowed?"
"Disciple will break just both of his legs, can it be allowed?"
"...one leg?"
"How about just a few fingers?"
"Disciple will only remove his tongue?"
After asking several more, the galahads remained unmoved.
Gu Qingyi pouted helplessly, holding her chin with both hands, anxiously: "Then... disciple shall only give him a good beating, making him lose some money, and suffer some physical pain, can it be allowed?"
Finally, after this statement, the three galahads silently turned into golden powder and quickly disappeared.
In Gu Qingyi’s ears, it seemed she heard a mysterious voice carried by the wind.
"...Fair!"
With these words, Gu Qingyi’s face lit up with joy, her eyes finally filled with satisfaction. She leaped up from the ground.
The Ancestor’s consent meant her actions were in accordance with the Gu Sect’s code!
Gu Qingyi’s spirits lifted, she stepped into the air! Her figure, like a flying swallow, soared over the street and directly into the rear courtyard of Luoyun House!
The courtyard consisted of three sections, Gu Qingyi easily leaped and landed lightly in the innermost courtyard.
In the yard, a few steps to the left, there was a huge osmanthus tree with a thick trunk.
Gu Qingyi observed it for a while before gently walking over and hugging the tree trunk...
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