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Chapter 148: Can You Hear Me?
Chapter 148: Can You Hear Me?
"I want to give it a try", Qiao Sang said resolutely to Aunt.
Although the mission issuer might be a difficult person to deal with, her purpose in accepting the mission was to train her familiar's abilities. The nature of the mission issuer was not within her consideration.
Aunt shook her head silently and did not say anything more to dissuade her.
She pointed to the right side: "It's the room at the very end. Go in, and I won't follow you."
"Alright."
Qiao Sang approached the designated room. The door was ajar, and out of politeness, she knocked. There was no response.
She knocked again, but still, no one answered.
She knocked once more.
"Are you annoying or what? The door isn't even closed. I already told you it's the room at the very end, and you keep knocking", a robust voice came from inside the room.
Qiao Sang: "..."
The mission issuer did seem quite difficult to deal with...
Pushing the door open, a strong, unpleasant medicinal smell hit her, mixed with the distinctive odor of an elderly person.
Despite the scorching summer, the room felt damp and cold.
By the window, on a bed, lay an Old Lady with silver hair, high cheekbones, and a face full of wrinkles.
Before Qiao Sang could introduce herself, the Old Lady asked: "Do you have a Ghost-type Companion Beast?"
Her eyes were sharp, clearly indicating she was not someone with a good temper.
"Yes, it's a Treasure Seeker", Qiao Sang replied as she approached the bed.
To ensure privacy, the Beastmaster Center did not disclose specific details about either party.
"Seek~"
To prove its existence, the Treasure Seeker appeared on Qiao Sang's head and called out.
The Old Lady stared at the suddenly appearing Treasure Seeker, lost in thought for a moment, as if remembering something.
After a brief silence, she picked up a photo from the bedside and handed it to Qiao Sang. Qiao Sang took it and saw a young girl in a floral dress, smiling with two dimples, holding a blue lantern-shaped familiar, the Ghost Lantern.
The Old Lady only handed over the photo and said nothing.
Qiao Sang felt she needed to ease the tension and said, "The girl in this photo is really beautiful. Who is she?"
Under normal circumstances, a photo given at this moment would be of the person herself.
Although the girl in the photo had a sweet smile, nothing like the Old Lady's current difficult demeanor, people do change a lot as they age.
Moreover, the presence of the Ghost Lantern made it easy to deduce that the girl in the photo was the Old Lady.
Qiao Sang silently praised her own cleverness.
By pretending not to know who the person in the photo was, the Old Lady would definitely feel secretly pleased at the compliment. Women, even when old, still enjoy hearing that they are beautiful.
When the Old Lady reveals that it is herself, Qiao Sang could then pretend to be surprised and praise her further, ensuring the Old Lady's satisfaction and a good review.
"This is my granddaughter."
Qiao Sang: "???"
Why aren't you following the normal script!
"Last month, my granddaughter took the Ghost Lantern out to play, and they never came back", the Old Lady paused, suddenly becoming sorrowful. "Now my granddaughter is gone, and the Ghost Lantern is gone too."
Qiao Sang felt a chill. The granddaughter is gone?!
What she meant was...
She carefully considered her words and asked softly, "Did the police find any leads?"
The Old Lady snorted coldly, "A bunch of useless people. If they had any leads, why would I have posted this mission?"
Qiao Sang felt a heavy weight in her heart. This mission involved a person...
While it was understandable that the Ghost Lantern could wander off and be hard to find, given its nature as a Ghost-type Companion Beast, the disappearance of a person alongside it was not a simple case of getting lost.
After all, security cameras are everywhere these days, and people can't just vanish into thin air. How could someone disappear right in front of everyone's eyes?
Unless...
A ringing sound snapped Qiao Sang back to reality.
It was the old lady's phone.
"Hello, Nuan Nuan... I've taken the medicine, Grandma is fine..."
Because the room was particularly quiet, Qiao Sang could faintly hear the voice on the other end of the line.
It was a girl, and her voice sounded about the same age as the girl in the photo.
After the old lady hung up, Qiao Sang hesitated for a moment before asking, "Was that your granddaughter calling?"
"Yes."
"May I ask how many granddaughters you have?"
"One."
Qiao Sang fell silent, then after a couple of seconds, she asked, "So when you said your granddaughter isn't here, what did you mean?"
The old lady's sharp gaze fixed on her. "She went to Lianke Region with her parents. What are you thinking?"
Qiao Sang: "..."
She was starting to reconsider this mission...
"..."
"My Ghost Lantern is missing a part of the lamp stand on its right side. That happened when it saved me when I was 28. There's also a red mark the size of a fingernail on its head. I used a cheap dye on it when I was younger, and it left that mark. And..."
The conversation continued, and it went relatively smoothly.
During the talk, the Treasure Seeker seemed to be drawn to the old lady, perhaps sensing something that attracted it. This might have been because the old lady had bonded with ghost-type companion beasts before.
...
Qiao Sang walked out of the room and put on her shoes at the door. The aunt, who had been in the living room the whole time, came over and stared at Qiao Sang for a moment before lowering her voice. "I think you should change your mission."
Qiao Sang looked up, puzzled. "Why?"
During their conversation, she had learned that this aunt was hired by the old lady's son to take care of her and had no family ties.
Even so, the aunt should be loyal to her employer.
If it was because of the old lady's peculiar temperament, Qiao Sang had already made it clear that she didn't mind.
The aunt turned her head to look at the inner room and lowered her voice even more. "The old lady doesn't have much time left. By the time you find the Ghost Lantern, it won't be of much use. I'm just giving you a heads-up because you're young."
Qiao Sang was taken aback. The old lady looked quite old, but she spoke with a strong voice and seemed to be in good spirits.
Her eyes were also sharp, and she didn't look like someone who was on her last legs.
Moreover, when she first knocked on the door, the old lady had clearly heard the aunt's conversation with her in the living room.
An elderly person on the verge of death wouldn't have such good hearing, would they?
Although the room was filled with the smell of medicine, something didn't seem right.
The old lady's room was at the back of the house, some distance from the living room. The aunt had spoken in a normal, low voice, and the door had been slightly ajar, but the gap was negligible.
When she first arrived, the aunt had gone inside to confirm her identity. Yet, she hadn't overheard their conversation, which indicated good soundproofing...
So why could the old lady hear them so clearly from the same distance?
Qiao Sang took a deep breath and asked slowly, "Do you think the old lady can hear us talking right now?"
The aunt was taken aback. "No way."
At the same time, the old lady lay down on the bed and covered herself from head to toe with a blanket.
A faint voice came from under the blanket.
"I can hear everything you're saying..."
(End of Chapter)
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