Chapter 199: South City Charity House
In the bedroom.
It's no longer as charming as before.
Lin Ye just looked at Miss Xue'er, and Xue'er was very frightened by Lin Ye's gaze.
"Tell me, why did you cooperate with her to kill people?"
After knowing about the twin vengeful ghosts, Lin Ye was able to guess how those rich young men died.
Killed by Xueer.
To be precise, he was killed by Xue'er who was possessed by the phantom.
Twin vengeful ghosts are a very special kind of vengeful ghost. They are not twins, but two people who have lived together since childhood and are inseparable like sisters. After one of them dies, she can possess the body of the other living one.
The special thing about the twin vengeful ghosts is that the possessed one will not be eroded by the vengeance, and the dead one will not be wanted by the underworld for being a ghost that harms people.
It's like being in a lawless area where the underworld doesn't care and the order in the world of the living is difficult to trace.
"Because those people deserve to die!"
Xue'er showed a resentful expression on her face. Now that things had come to this point, she didn't intend to hide it anymore.
"Twenty years ago... Sister Hong and I were adopted by our master..."
It is not uncommon for baby girls in other worlds to be abandoned, especially by poor families who originally wanted a son but ended up giving birth to a daughter. Unable to raise the baby, they had no choice but to abandon the baby in front of rich families' doors or on the street.
This was the situation with Xue'er, and the same thing happened to her sister Hong, who were both left at the door of the troupe.
The owner of Tingxue Tower at that time was Liang's father, and the person who adopted Xue'er was the mainstay of Tingxue Tower at that time.
Xue'er's master adopted two baby girls. In addition to Xue'er, the other one was named Hong'er , who was three months older than Xue'er.
At that time, Tingxue Tower was doing very well, and Xue'er and Hong'er lived happily in the troupe. When they were young, they helped with odd jobs, and when they grew up a little, they followed their master to learn to sing opera.
"Sister Hong is more talented in singing than I am. She can sing after just one time of being taught by her master, while I have to sing many times. At that time, we all thought that Sister Hong would become the next pillar of the stage."
Xue'er hummed in a low voice, recalling that beautiful and happy life, with a happy smile on her face.
Lin Ye looked at Xue'er calmly. All stories have a beautiful beginning, but will eventually end in misfortune.
"When she was ten years old, the master took Sister Hong on stage to sing. It was Sister Hong's first time to sing on stage, and she received cheers from the audience."
"When she was twelve years old, Sister Hong was given the title of Lady Hong. People who like to listen to operas know that a Lady Hong has emerged from Tingxue Tower and she will definitely become a great figure in the future."
"But within a year, everything changed. The government suddenly closed down Listening Snow Tower, saying that it was because we sang a banned play. They arrested the entire troupe and detained us for a month before releasing us."
"I initially thought that the government let us go because they knew we were wrongly accused, but later I found out that it was the old boss who gave all his money to the officials in the government to rescue us."
"After what happened to Tingxue Tower, many people left. Only the old boss and Master, as well as Sister Hong and I, remained. Master definitely did not leave because Master was not only the old boss's apprentice, but also a childhood sweetheart of Master Liang. She was originally planning to marry Master Liang this year, but this blow made the old boss sick and she died two months later."
Since the elder has passed away, the wedding naturally cannot be held.
"After the old troupe owner was buried, troupe owner Liang took over the position of troupe owner. But for some reason, fewer and fewer people come to Tingxue Tower to listen to opera. If this continues, Tingxue Tower will go bankrupt. However, Tingxue Tower is the lifelong work of the old troupe owner. Both troupe owner Liang and the master do not want Tingxue Tower to go bankrupt."
"In order to prevent Listening Snow Tower from closing down, Master wanted to take the troupe to various places to perform and earn money to maintain Listening Snow Tower, but troupe owner Liang disagreed and had a fierce argument. I could hear it from across the courtyard. But in the end, troupe owner Liang compromised, because the next day, Master took Sister Hong and several people from the troupe to other places."
"I wanted to follow, but the master refused, saying that I was still young and my singing skills were not good enough, so I should stay at home and practice hard. That time, Liang Banzhu didn't go either. After the master and the others left, I saw Liang Banzhu sitting alone on the steps of the eaves, wiping tears and sobbing. At that time, I thought Liang Banzhu was worried about the safety of the master and the others, and I comforted Liang Banzhu a few words. Now think about it..."
There was a self-deprecating expression on Xue'er's face, but Lin Ye had actually already guessed it in his heart.
"It's not that easy to perform in other places. It's like competing with local opera troupes . How could they agree to it? The only way is to perform in some remote villages. But how many villagers in such villages are willing to spend money to watch opera?"
"So, the master and the others can only sing seductive songs in those brothels in other places to entertain the dignitaries."
Lin Ye looked at Xue'er's last words uttered with gritted teeth, his expression also somewhat emotional. After Xue'er performed a seductive song, he had already guessed what it meant.
This skill is definitely very popular in brothels.
Locally, Xueer’s masters wouldn’t do it because they would be scolded, so they could only go to other places and work for a few days to earn some money to supplement the theater expenses.
"At that time, I didn't understand why Sister Hong was so cold to me after she went out with the master. The master obviously loved her more and was willing to take her out to perform operas, but he didn't let me go out."
"Now that I think about it, Sister Hong resented me at the time. Master asked me to stay in Listening Snow Tower so I could practice with peace of mind, but she let Sister Hong follow her out. If I were Sister Hong, I would also resent her."
"Thanks to the efforts of the master, the troupe gradually recovered. The master and Sister Hong no longer went out to perform. It seemed that the troupe was about to return to its former bustle. But one day, a few young men suddenly came. As soon as they arrived, they were attracted by Sister Hong. After that, they not only often came to the theater to listen to the opera, but also often invited Sister Hong to their homes to perform the opera."
When Xue'er mentioned these young masters, her face was full of resentment. Lin Ye roughly guessed that those young masters were the ones whose hearts were dug out.
"Everyone in the theater says that Sister Hong is amazing, and that some of these young masters must be in love with Sister Hong, but Sister Hong never mentions these young masters. When someone mentions these young masters in front of her, she always looks stern. But because Sister Hong is very cold to me, I haven't talked to Sister Hong much in the past two years, and I don't know why Sister Hong doesn't want to mention those young masters."
"Then one day, I was practicing opera in my room, and suddenly someone ran in and told me that Sister Hong fell off the stage while performing at Mr. Chang's house and accidentally fell into the water and drowned."
"I was stunned when I heard the news. When I ran out of the room, I saw Master walking in with red eyes, holding Sister Hong's body . Sister Hong was soaked and covered with water plants. She looked like she had fallen into the water."
"Although Sister Hong and I haven't talked much recently, in my heart Sister Hong has always been my good sister. I was very sad about Sister Hong's death. On the last night of Sister Hong's burial, I couldn't fall asleep at all. I just wanted to go to the mourning hall and take one last look at Sister Hong. But when I got there, I found that Master and Boss Liang were there. It was also on that day that I learned the truth of everything."
A line of tears rolled down from Xue'er's eyes. This truth was too cruel for her.
That night, she saw her master and Mr. Liang arguing, and only then did she understand what her master and the others were doing.
What she didn't know was that they were released from prison because the old owner found the county magistrate at the time, because the county magistrate liked to listen to operas, and he especially liked to listen to Sister Hong's opera.
During the month they were imprisoned, Sister Hong stayed in the county magistrate's mansion for a month.
What made Xue'er feel even colder was that the reason those young masters noticed Sister Hong was because when Sister Hong followed her master to perform in brothels in other places, one of the young masters saw Sister Hong.
Those young masters threatened Sister Hong and forced her to go find them.
Because once the young master tells this matter to others, Tingxue Tower will be completely finished.
It is easy to imagine how Sister Hong was tortured by these young masters. Sister Hong did not really die from falling off the stage and drowning in the water. Instead, she could not bear the humiliation and jumped into the river to commit suicide.
The truth is so cruel.
But what made Xue'er even more unacceptable was that this matter could not be told to anyone, because Sister Hong did commit suicide. Even if they took the matter to the government office, it would not be a big deal for those young masters. At most, they would be fined some money, which was nothing to these young masters.
On the contrary, if the truth were to be revealed, Tingxue Tower would definitely not be able to continue operating.
"For the sake of the theater, Master and Boss Liang finally kept the matter secret. Master was also upset about it and died of illness within a few months. I became the new pillar of the theater. Perhaps because they felt guilty, those young masters never came to Listening Snow Tower again. It was not until Master Lin showed up that Listening Snow Tower began to flourish."
When Xue'er said this, she looked up at Lin Ye. She was very grateful to Lin Ye. Without Master Lin, there would be no Tingxue Tower today.
"Thank you for killing me?"
"I didn't want to kill Master Lin, it was... Sister Hong..." Xue'er explained, and then sighed, "A month ago, I saw Sister Hong's spirit. Sister Hong said she was unwilling to die like this. She wanted revenge and wanted the lives of those beasts who caused her to commit suicide. Sister Hong said she needed my help, and I agreed to her request."
Xue'er agreed to Sister Hong's request, because Sister Hong told her that if she wanted revenge, she had to possess her body. So she let Sister Hong possess her body, and then killed those young masters to get revenge.
"I... I didn't want to kill Master Lin, but Sister Hong said that Master Lin was as hypocritical as those beasts. I said that Master Lin was not that kind of person, but Sister Hong didn't listen. She said that if Master Lin was not that kind of person, then she wouldn't kill you. If Master Lin was that kind of person, then she would do it."
Lin Ye frowned when he heard Xue'er's words. This matter was not that simple. Xue'er's senior sister had been dead for many years, but she suddenly found Xue'er and started to take revenge recently.
The most important thing is that there is also a mention of the Ghost King.
At first, he had no intention of being cruel to Xue'er's senior sister, because he had guessed that something tragic must have happened to his daughter. She killed those rich young men just for revenge, and she felt that she was avenging himself for those young men.
The real reason why he took action was that the other party mentioned that he wanted the hearts and livers of ten men.
The hearts of ten innocent men.
This is no longer revenge, but the indiscriminate killing of innocent people. This is the real reason why he took action.
It is obvious that Xue'er's senior sister did not leave after taking revenge because she had other purposes, and this purpose was related to digging out a man's heart and liver.
"Is it the Ghost King's request?"
Lin Ye speculated in his mind and asked, "Has your senior sister always been possessed by you?"
"No... no, Senior Sister doesn't possess me usually, only those few times when I took revenge, and today when I came to your house, Young Master Lin." Xue'er answered truthfully.
"So where does your senior sister usually stay?"
"Normally..." Xue'er looked thoughtful. After thinking for a while, she said, "I don't know, but my senior sister told me that if I encounter any problems, I can go to the charity cemetery outside the south of the city to find her."
South City Charity House?
Lin Ye wrote down the name of this place. In the other world, every county town has a charity cemetery, which is usually set up outside the gate and is used to store dead bodies.
The folk customs in the other world are similar to those in ancient times. They all emphasize returning to one's hometown. If a person dies in another place, the body will be transported back to his hometown for burial if possible. The person in charge of transporting the body naturally cannot bring the body into the city. Instead, the body will be placed in the charity cemetery in each city, and the body will continue on its way after resting.
There were also some homeless people and beggars who had no relatives or friends. After their death, their bodies would be sent to the charity cemetery by the government, and the cemetery would find a place to bury them.
Therefore, few people went to the southern part of the city, and people in the city often used the charity cemetery to scare children.
"That's the end of this matter. You can go back now."
"You...you let me go and won't let the government arrest me?"
Xue'er looked at Lin Ye in surprise. She thought Lin Ye would report her to the police to have her arrested. After all, it was Sister Hong who possessed her and killed her.
"I'm not a constable from the government, so why should I arrest you? I just want to satisfy my hobby of eating melons." Lin Ye smiled, and seeing Xue'er's frowning expression of confusion, he didn't explain too much.
Watching Miss Xue'er's departing figure, Lin Ye looked towards the south of the city. The charity cemetery...
However, before going there, he had to go somewhere first.
…
Qingfeng Temple.
The old Taoist was adding scented oil to the oil lamp in the main hall. When he saw Lin Ye come in, his hands trembled and he poured a few more drops of scented oil, with a look of pain on his face.
"Master, what is the situation at Chengnan Charity Manor? It's time to tell your disciple."
As soon as Lin Ye entered the hall, he asked directly, "Even if you want me to be your sword, you must make it clear to me."
