Chapter Thirty-Five: The Mysterious Letter

The old woman was astonished to see that the blackened area on Guo Ting's arm had faded; she had never imagined that glutinous rice could have such an effect. However, although the corpse poison had been expelled from Guo Ting's arm, she had been bitten for so long that the poison was deeply entrenched, and it was very likely that it would eventually attack her heart.

"Granny, do you have any more glutinous rice at home? We’ll reimburse you at the original price," Lin Ran asked, glancing at the still-unconscious Guo Ting and at Fan Beixiao, whose body was covered with wounds. He then turned to the old woman. The wounds on Fan Beixiao were also beginning to show a faint black tint; if not treated, he might succumb to the same fate.

"There’s a few dozen pounds left. You want it all?" the old woman asked in surprise, astonished that so much could be used.

"Yes," Lin Ran nodded.

"Ran, the water’s boiling!" At this moment, Fan Beixiao walked over, sweat still clinging to his brow.

"Alright, you should take a break," Lin Ran replied, nodding.

"And Guo Ting?" Fan Beixiao looked at Guo Ting, who was still lying unconscious on the heated bed, his expression heavy.

"Don’t worry, she’ll be fine," Lin Ran tried to reassure him, though he himself had no idea of her true condition.

Fan Beixiao nodded, his face relaxing a little, and sat down by the bed to tend to Guo Ting. Lin Ran went to fetch the glutinous rice from the old woman, then poured all of it into the pot to cook. Before long, a pot of thick, sticky rice porridge was ready.

Lin Ran ladled out a bowl, filtered the broken grains from the porridge, leaving half a bowl of rice broth to cool by the side. The old man found a large wooden tub for bathing, filled it halfway with fresh water, and Lin Ran poured all the glutinous rice into it.

Testing the water and finding the temperature just right, Lin Ran instructed Fan Beixiao to get in and soak, to draw out all the corpse poison. He was to stay in until the water turned completely black. Fan Beixiao had assumed it would be a normal bath. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, he let out a miserable howl and tried to leap out, but Lin Ran pressed him back down, not allowing him to escape.

Now Fan Beixiao’s features were twisted in pain, and waves of agony swept over his body. Only after a long while did his expression ease, and Lin Ran finally turned away, having stayed to keep watch in case Fan Beixiao couldn’t bear the pain. He hadn’t expected Fan Beixiao’s endurance to be so strong.

Lin Ran took the cooled rice broth and brought it to Guo Ting, feeding it to her. This, he hoped, would dispel the corpse poison from her body.

Yet after administering the rice broth, Guo Ting still did not regain consciousness. Frowning, Lin Ran glanced at Fan Beixiao, who was soaking in the tub, and was plunged into deep confusion. What exactly had they experienced the night before?

Just then, a knocking sounded at the courtyard gate, but no one went out to answer. Puzzled, Lin Ran wandered around the yard, but could find no sign of the two elderly people. No wonder the place seemed deserted—they were gone.

At the gate, Lin Ran noticed a sheet of white paper that looked like an envelope. Curious, he picked it up and looked around but saw no sign of whoever had left it.

Turning the envelope over in his hands, Lin Ran’s pupils suddenly contracted at the sight of the three words written on the front: “For Lin Ran.”

He hurriedly tore it open. A few sentences appeared before his eyes:

"So, you’ve managed to cure your girlfriend’s corpse poison, have you? I knew from the very first moment I saw you that you had this ability. Impressive! But you never expected that, while the poison has been expelled, your girlfriend has not woken up. That’s because I have taken her living soul. If you want it back, come to Ghost City. The game has already begun!"

Lin Ran’s face darkened instantly as he read the note. A figure flashed through his mind. He never expected that Guo Ting’s living soul had been taken away.

A person is said to have three souls and seven spirits; the three souls are vital—lose any one, and disaster follows. The living soul is the principal soul; without it, a person is a living dead, exactly Guo Ting’s current state—what medicine would call a vegetative state. In her case, only by retrieving her principal soul was there any hope of awakening.

As Lin Ran’s face shifted through a range of emotions, hurried footsteps sounded at the door.

"They’re in my house, they’re in my house!" The shrill voice of the old woman reached Lin Ran’s ears.

He was in no mood for this, and frowned toward the entrance, where a group of figures appeared. Three police officers, one of whom Lin Ran recognized—it was Li Feng from the Northern District precinct.

"Captain Lin? What are you doing here?" Li Feng asked in surprise.

"There was an incident last night. Guo Ting and Fan Beixiao were injured. Guo Ting is unconscious," Lin Ran replied.

"What happened? Are the injuries serious?" Li Feng asked anxiously.

"Police business. I can’t disclose details," Lin Ran replied coldly, shooting Li Feng a glare. He was already in a foul mood, and Li Feng’s prying only made it worse. The three of them were always a special case; the cases they handled could never be made public. Even under normal circumstances, that was all Lin Ran could say.