Chapter 031: Have You Seen Me Before? Keep Me By Your Side

After I asked the question, I stared at the little girl with utmost seriousness. The hostility she had once shown me was completely gone, and she quickly answered. She said she had seen me before; Xuan Yi had told her that one day I would come to take her away, and Xuan Yi had asked her to stay by my side.

I thought carefully and asked her when she had seen me. She replied that when she was younger, she would see me almost every day, but then I suddenly disappeared. She cried every day after that, and Xuan Yi reassured her that one day I would come back for her.

Not long ago, Xuan Yi brought her to the courtyard, gave her some instructions, and told her she would see me very soon. That, along with her obedience to Xuan Yi, was why she always hid in the courtyard and never left. Her words left me a little astonished.

According to her, Xuan Yi raised her in a forest near Sansong Temple, and except for this time at the entertainment venue's courtyard, she had never left the mountain. If she had never left the mountain, let alone the harbor district, and this was my first time coming here, I was certain she could not have seen me before.

Yet the contradiction was clear: she recognized me and could call me by name. Luo Feng came up to my side and tried to approach the little girl, but her face immediately twisted into a fierce snarl, baring sharp teeth like a beast ready to attack.

Luo Feng could only shrug helplessly and stayed by my side, not daring to get any closer. He was curious too, and asked if I had ever been to the harbor district before. Luo Feng knew my history well. In my early years, I attended the police academy, and after being expelled, I drifted in the capital, where I soon met Luo Feng and became close friends.

If I had ever come to the harbor district, Luo Feng would know.

I probed further, asking the little girl if she might have remembered incorrectly. She shook her head, insisting she was absolutely sure. Yet upon detailed questioning, her memories seemed hazy—she could not recall what happened when she saw me, only that there was a time when she saw me every day.

That made it even more impossible, for I had never spent an extended period away from the capital.

I asked if Xuan Yi had told her why she should follow me. She shook her head—no, she just knew she had to. Luo Feng grew anxious and pulled me aside, whispering, “You’re not actually planning to bring this strange child along, are you?”

The proprietress was watching me too, but unlike Luo Feng, her expression seemed eager for me to take the girl away at once. After a moment’s thought, I told Luo Feng I would take the girl with me for now, because I could sense many things were targeting me. Since I couldn’t avoid them, I might as well take the initiative and investigate.

Luo Feng shrugged, not objecting, though he was clearly worried the girl might harm me.

I turned to watch her. Her exact age was unclear, but she was about ten. Raised as a wild creature, many of her behaviors were strange, but her answers showed a mind slightly more mature than that of an average child.

“Let’s observe for now. Find Xuan Yi as soon as you can—I want to know if those two are really father and daughter,” I said to Luo Feng.

Then I left with the girl. She walked slowly, telling me she preferred crawling. I had seen her crawl with Luo Feng before—she was fast, just like an animal. Even as we got into the car and returned to the hotel, Luo Feng and I were still reeling.

It was bewildering: a girl raised as a beast, now brought along by me. She could speak just fine and told us that the pile of rotting meat at the fire escape was thrown out by her in secret.

She didn’t venture into the venue through that small hole often. Each time she stole meat, she took a lot, and it accumulated until it rotted. As the pile grew, she had to dispose of it. She also admitted the “ghost eyes” people spotted were hers.

She was always hidden, lurking in corners. If found, she’d slip away in an instant. Sometimes she couldn’t escape, but people were too afraid to investigate. I soon understood why: everyone in the venue trusted Xuan Yi’s words.

He claimed there were ghosts—who would dare investigate? They’d rather flee.

I asked the girl many questions about Xuan Yi, but she couldn’t answer most of them, not even where he’d gone. She didn’t know who Xiao Mei was either. When Xiao Mei and I were in the room, the girl was outside—I felt oddly embarrassed, knowing she saw Xiao Mei sitting on me.

At first, I was highly cautious of her, and Luo Feng was worried she might harm me, keeping a close eye on her. But the entire night passed without incident, which put me at ease. When I woke the next morning, she was already awake, crouched by the bed staring at me. I sat up at once and she smiled at me.

I chided myself for being careless—the past few days had left me exhausted, and I had fallen asleep unguarded. Yet this reassured me; if she meant me harm, she could have bitten through my throat with her sharp fangs as I slept.

I rubbed my temples and asked her name.

She thought for a moment, then said that Xuan Yi called her “Ghost.”

I felt a headache coming on—I couldn’t imagine why Xuan Yi would teach a child such things.

“I’ll call you Little Ghost,” I said. She agreed at once.

She was filthy, and I hadn’t cleaned her up since bringing her back to the hotel. I prepared some clothes and pushed her into the bathroom, running a bath before stepping out. While she was bathing, Chen Fan walked in, looking at me in surprise. “Han, I heard you brought back a ghost girl?”

“She’s human. Enough questions—any progress on the case?” I asked.

Chen Fan sighed. The police still had all their attention on Yun Qing, each officer eager for her to confess so the case could be closed and the public satisfied. Chen Fan had been watching Yun Gao closely; he noticed Yun Gao was in frequent contact with the police, trying to see Yun Qing, but she refused.

Other than that, Chen Fan saw nothing unusual about Yun Gao.

I paced a few steps, then had an idea. I told Chen Fan to find Luo Feng and investigate whether Yun Gao had ever been to that entertainment venue. Luo Feng and I had already deduced that the rumors about the venue’s uncleanliness must have been spread by someone of influence—otherwise, such talk would never reach their important clients.

Yun Gao fit that profile perfectly, and he was already highly suspicious.

Chen Fan grinned, about to offer me some flattery, when the bathroom door opened.

Little Ghost’s hair was wet and messy, but now she was clean and dressed in new clothes. Her skin was pale and her eyes large—if not for her ferocious expression at times, she could even be considered cute.

Chen Fan stared, then tried to pat her head, saying with a laugh, “She’s not a ghost girl at all, she’s adorable!”

But in the next instant, his face went deathly pale as Little Ghost’s expression turned vicious. She lunged at his outstretched hand, baring her teeth to bite. If I hadn’t pulled his hand away in time, she might have bitten off his fingers.

Seeing her sharp teeth, I had no doubt she could have chewed through his fingers in no time. Chen Fan’s legs nearly gave out from fear. I said coldly, “Don’t touch her. Leave, and report to me immediately if you find anything.”

As Chen Fan stumbled out, Little Ghost’s smile almost made him trip again.

I dried her hair with a towel and tied it up; aside from her sharp teeth, she now looked much like any ordinary girl. I knelt in front of her, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. She allowed only me near her. Smiling, she said, “Brother Fang Han, I’m hungry.”

I brought her food, but she couldn’t eat—she wanted raw meat.

Under my insistence, she ate a few slices of bread, but soon began to vomit violently.

I rushed her to the hospital at once. When the results came back, the doctor’s voice was trembling. He told me he had found a large number of parasites in her stomach and body, including some that were dozens of centimeters long.

I was shocked by his words, but upon reflection, it was not surprising.

She had eaten raw meat since childhood; survival alone was a miracle, and a body full of parasites was only to be expected.

The doctor wanted her hospitalized, but she refused to stay. In the end, I could only take her back to the hotel with a bag full of medicine to expel the worms.