The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 35: The Thief

Song Jianqiu never would have imagined that on her way home, she would encounter such a bizarre scene: not far from her front door, a petite, curvaceous girl was pinning a large man firmly to the ground. The man was wailing in distress; no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t get up, while the girl was scolding him sternly. Her scolding was probably along the lines of “What are you doing here? Are you trying to steal something?” Song Jianqiu didn’t pay much attention to it, but the man’s voice sounded somewhat familiar. However, since his entire face was pressed against the ground and she couldn’t see it, she had no way of recognizing who he was. She hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should go over to ask what was going on or call the police. So she started walking toward them. However, after taking just a few steps—whether because the girl had run out of strength or had deliberately loosened her grip—the man lifted his head. That’s when she saw his face and realized it was none other than that real estate agent, Wang! Song Jianqiu suddenly understood—no wonder the cries of pain sounded so familiar; it turned out to be someone she knew! However, she didn’t care for this acquaintance at all. She immediately decided not to get involved, adjusted her course from the direction she’d been heading, and continued walking toward her front door. After all, that girl looked pretty and cute—she surely couldn’t be a bad person. Wang Yiting, on the other hand, was no good at all—raising a ghost infant and draining people’s vital energy. If she hadn’t lost control of her Buddhist prayer beads or lacked confidence in her own abilities, she would have intervened long ago to send his spirit to the afterlife! However, just because she didn’t want to get involved didn’t mean others would leave her alone. Although Li Qingshu and Wang Yiting weren’t directly blocking Song Jianqiu’s path home, they were positioned right on her right-hand side, along the longer leg of the T-shaped intersection. If Song Jianqiu was heading home, she would inevitably have to pass right in front of these two. So even though she walked by acting as if it were none of her business, she was quickly spotted by Wang Yiting, who was lying on the ground. Although his ghost infant had been lost at the Song family’s residence, he had absolutely no idea whether the enemy was male or female, what it looked like, or even whether it was human at all—or merely a magical artifact. Given that Song Jianqiu was so young—still in middle school—Wang Yiting had never really suspected she was behind this. When he saw her approaching with her backpack, he immediately looked as if he’d found a savior and began shouting at her: “Little sister! Little sister! It’s Uncle Wang! Do you remember me?” Hearing the man’s shouts below her, Li Qingshu looked up and saw a cute-looking girl with a backpack walking toward them, seemingly just passing by. Strange—does this guy really know this family? Li Qingshu wondered to herself. She had already asked around and learned that the man at her feet was named Wang Yiting. He claimed to know the family living across the street and said he was just looking around to see if anyone was home. That was his explanation, but such a one-sided account was clearly not enough to be taken at face value. Li Qingshu felt it was most likely an excuse—perhaps he was just a petty thief scouting the area. Now, seeing him shout at the girl and acting as if he really did know her, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. The captain had said she tended to act impulsively, and she agreed. Take this incident, for example: if the captain had been in her place, she would certainly have observed the situation for a while, waiting until the suspect was in the act before catching him red-handed—rather than, like her, saying nothing and simply pouncing to pin him down. It wasn’t until after the fact that she realized this, but by then it was too late to regret it. She decided to see it through to the end: she’d interrogate the suspect first. If she was right, then there’d be no question about it—she’d simply take the person straight to the police station. If she was wrong, she’d just have to bow and apologize, and pay some compensation! After all, that was far better than letting a criminal get away, wasn’t it? Looking down at the person still screaming beneath her feet, Li Qingshu began to suspect that the person might actually know this family, so she instinctively eased up on the pressure of her foot. Wang Yiting immediately sensed this change. He knew the police officer who’d mistaken him for a thief was starting to have second thoughts. As long as that girl came over and said she knew him, he’d be saved! You see, although he raised ghosts and was a Taoist practitioner—and he was naturally very confident in his magical abilities when compared to ordinary people—hand-to-hand combat was not his strong suit. In reality, aside from having slightly stronger vital energy and blood than the average person, his physical strength was not much different from that of a normal person. In fact, his body had grown somewhat weak due to the recent continuous depletion of his essence and blood to sustain the spirit altar. This was why he’d been so easily thrown to the ground by a girl. Aside from the fact that she claimed to be a police officer and had undergone some combat training, it also had to do with his own physical weakness and depleted vital energy. Song Jianqiu had originally intended to walk by quietly and ignore the whole thing, but she hadn’t expected the other person to see her and actually call out to her. A thought flashed through her mind—this guy probably still didn’t know that she was the one who had performed the funeral rites for that ghost infant that night. That was actually a good thing—it’s always better to have the enemy in the dark and yourself in the light than the other way around. However, that didn’t mean she was going to help him. “Little sister, do you live here?” Seeing Song Jianqiu approach, Li Qingshu felt it necessary to ask for clarification to avoid any mistakes. “Mm-hmm!” Song Jianqiu nodded, taking a quick look at the girl. She was quite young—judging by her appearance, only in her twenties. She was a bit petite, but she had a great figure! Watching her bend over, one hand gripping Wang Yiting’s left hand while one foot rested on his back—with that hand pressed against the soft curve of her chest—Wang Yiting was really getting the better of the situation, wasn’t he? If it were some pervert in his place, he’d probably be over the moon! Song Jianqiu would never admit that she was a little envious! Seeing the girl nod in acknowledgment, Li Qingshu continued, “My name is Li Qingshu, and I’m a police officer! I live right next door to you!” Hearing this, Song Jianqiu turned her head to glance at the house next door, but it didn’t really register with her. After all, in this day and age, neighbors were practically strangers, and she hadn’t been living here very long—how would she know who lived next door? If Li Qingshu hadn’t mentioned it, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed the house next to the Song family’s. “You probably haven’t seen me before, young lady! I just moved in here today.” Seeing Song Jianqiu turn to look, Li Qingshu thought she might be doubting her words, so she offered an explanation. Then she continued, “When I was cleaning the windows on the second floor, I saw this guy lurking around your house, looking around suspiciously. I thought he was a thief, so I caught him! But he claimed he knew someone in your family?” Actually, during the questioning, Wang Yiting had mentioned the names of both Song Jianqiu and her husband to prove he really did know the family—but looking at it another way, couldn’t that also prove he’d been planning this for a long time? Li Qingshu, who had long since written Wang Yiting off as a bad guy, naturally wasn’t going to believe a word he said so easily. (End of Chapter)