"Xiaoyu, you're here."
It was two days later when Qin Yu walked into his cousin Zhang Hua's office once again. Since Li Weijun said he would try to resolve the issue, two days had passed without any news. During these two days, Qin Yu stayed at a nearby five-star hotel, not because he was indulging in luxury, but because Li Weijun had arranged the room for him. Qin Yu would have been content with a smaller hotel closer to the construction site.
Qin Yu glanced around the office and noticed that besides his cousin, there was a young woman sitting at the desk, entering numbers into a ledger using the keyboard.
"This girl should be the accountant my cousin hired," Qin Yu remembered his aunt's repeated instructions on the phone yesterday, asking him to take a look at the girl and consider bringing her home if he found her suitable.
"Xiaoyu, this is Tong Min."
Seeing Qin Yu's gaze fixed on the girl, Zhang Hua had no choice but to introduce her to him.
Tong Min had been recording data and lifted her head upon hearing Zhang Hua's voice. She smiled at Qin Yu.
"So you're Qin Yu. Zhang General Manager often mentions you. It's an honor to meet you."
"Not bad. You look quite virtuous and pretty. My cousin has good taste," Qin Yu subtly appraised her and smiled.
"What are you saying? My cousin never speaks highly of me. On the other hand, Miss Tong, my cousin often mentions you in our phone conversations. He says you're beautiful and capable. Anyone who can marry you would be extremely lucky."
Since Qin Yu thought Tong Min was a good person, he naturally wanted to help his cousin. Hearing his words, Tong Min's gaze briefly swept over Zhang Hua beside her, and her face blushed slightly. Qin Yu was delighted to see this, as it seemed that Tong Min had a little bit of interest in his cousin. That's good. As long as his cousin made more effort, there was a chance for him to win over this beautiful woman.
"I'm going to take a walk outside the construction site!"
Leaving behind a cousin with a silly smile on his face and a blushing Tong Min, Qin Yu walked alone out of the office and headed towards the construction site.
The construction site was nearing completion, with many buildings already constructed, leaving only some interior decoration work. However, Qin Yu noticed that many balconies of the buildings were filled with clothes and bedding. This was because some workers were living inside, and they had hung out their belongings to dry.
"Stinky beggar, nobody wants you, following the beggars to pick up junk..."
"I'm not a beggar, and I'm not stinky."
Just ahead of Qin Yu, a group of children was surrounding a little girl, mocking her with a rhyme.
The girl timidly retorted, but it only drew louder laughter from the children.
"Alright, let's go. Don't play with the smelly beggar that nobody wants." A boy who seemed to be the leader waved his hand, and the group of children instantly scattered, leaving the little girl standing alone.
"Qiaoqiao, do you remember me, your brother?"
Seeing the frail figure of the little girl standing alone, Qin Yu couldn't help but feel a surge of tenderness. He walked up to her and greeted her.
"Yes, it's your brother. I remember you. You were with Uncle Zhang Hua," Qin Qiaoqiao replied, looking up at Qin Yu with an innocent smile on her face.
Qiaoqiao's eyes were pure and clear. She remembered this big brother. Her delicate face lit up with a smile, revealing two little tiger teeth.
"Qiaoqiao, how about I take you to the amusement park to play?"
For some reason, when Qin Yu saw Qiaoqiao, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. It was like seeing a family member, and it made him have the desire to take care of her.
"Thank you, big brother, but Grandma doesn't let me go with others," Qiaoqiao replied, her innocent eyes initially brightening but then dimming as she remembered her grandmother's instructions.
"Then let's play here together, how about a game of 'Find the Object'?"
Qin Yu pointed to a pile of sand in front of them. When he was a child, he often played this game with a group of kids in the town. They would bury an object in the sand, and one person would try to find it. Sometimes, they buried it too deep, and even they couldn't find it. In desperate situations, the group of children would end up digging up the entire sandpile, often earning scolding from the owner of the sandpile.
"Qiaoqiao, you bury this rock in the sand and let's see if I can find it."
Picking up a fist-sized rock from the ground, Qin Yu placed it in Qiaoqiao's small, chubby hand. Then he turned around and instructed her to call him when she had buried it.
"Big brother, I've hidden it," Qiaoqiao's crisp voice came from behind, and her pure and transparent eyes nervously stared at Qin Yu.
"Qiaoqiao has hidden it. Now, big brother will come to find it."
Qin Yu turned around and noticed that although Qiaoqiao's eyes were fixed on him, she would occasionally glance at a certain spot in the sandpile. Qin Yu smiled inwardly; the little girl's eyes had given her away. However, instead of going straight to that spot, Qin Yu pretended to dig in other places on the sandpile. He even loudly exclaimed:
"Is it here?"
"It must be hidden here."
"You're so silly, big brother," Qiaoqiao giggled with a tinkling laugh. The children at the construction site didn't want to play with her, and during her days in front of the construction site, she spent most of her time lying in bed due to illness. Now that Qin Yu was willing to play with her, the little girl's heart was filled with joy.
Seeing the radiant smile on Qiaoqiao's face, Qin Yu deliberately touched his nose and pretended to be frustrated. He pointed to the area that Qiaoqiao had been scanning with her eyes and said, "Qiaoqiao, you hid it so well. If big brother can't find it this time, I'll admit defeat."
When Qin Yu started digging in that sandpile, Qiaoqiao's face revealed a nervous expression. Her eyes darted around, and this expression, exposed to Qin Yu's eyes, made him find the little girl even more adorable.
Qin Yu intentionally sifted through the sandpile with his hands, but there was still a bit of distance from where Qiaoqiao's eyes were fixed. Seeing the nervous expression on the little girl's face, he stopped and shook his head, saying to Qiaoqiao, "Qiaoqiao, big brother admits defeat. Tell me where you hid the stone."
"You're really silly, big brother," Qiaoqiao pouted her small mouth and walked to the spot where Qin Yu had dug earlier. She rolled up her sleeves and reached into it. After a while, she pulled out a stone and waved it in front of Qin Yu.
"Qiaoqiao, you're amazing! Oh!"
Qin Yu reached out and patted the little girl's head, praising her. But suddenly, he grabbed the little girl's hand, his expression filled with shock.
He hadn't noticed before, but when the little girl rolled up her sleeves, her tender arm revealed a pattern on the inside—a set of seven red stars arranged in a triangle. Under the sunlight, it emitted a strange glow.
"Big brother, you hurt me."
The little girl's fragile voice sounded, and Qin Yu snapped out of his shocked state. He quickly let go of her hand, and indeed, there was a red mark where he had grabbed her arm.
"I'm sorry. Big brother hurt you. Qiaoqiao, can you tell me how you got this pattern on your hand?"
Qin Yu's gaze was intense as he stared at Qiaoqiao, and his inner turmoil couldn't be calmed. He eagerly awaited Qiaoqiao's answer.
"These seven stars, they are..."
"Qiaoqiao, didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers? Come here immediately."
Just as Qiaoqiao was about to answer, a cold and weary voice echoed, and a hunched figure wearing a hat, covering the entire face, appeared not far away.
"Grandmother."
The person who suddenly appeared was Grandma Qin, and her eyes were fixed on Qin Yu. Qin Yu felt like he had fallen into the icy winter of December. Those eyes lacked any emotion, with the whites occupying two-thirds of the eye sockets. The cloudy irises seemed to have no focal point, but Qin Yu had a strong intuition that he was being stared at.
Upon hearing Grandma Qin's voice, Qiaoqiao forgot to answer Qin Yu's question and ran to her grandmother's side. Although her grandmother was very kind and loved her dearly, she disliked Qiaoqiao interacting with strangers the most.
"Let's go!"
Grandma Qin held Qiaoqiao's hand, covering the location of the triangular seven stars, blocking Qin Yu's inquisitive gaze. Qiaoqiao turned around and gave Qin Yu a sweet smile before following her grandmother and walking away.
"The Seven-Star Soul-Sealing Meridian... How could it appear on Qiaoqiao?"
Qin Yu remained rooted to the spot, murmuring to himself, his brows tightly furrowed. He couldn't comprehend how the mystical art of the Seven-Star Soul-Sealing Meridian, known only in the Xiangxi lineage, could manifest in a living person.
When Xiangxi is mentioned, the first impression that comes to mind is corpse driving. The Xiangxi lineage has a lot to do with the dead. Ancient people believed in finding peace in burial, and even those who died far from home hoped to "return to their roots." As a result, there were mystical sects specializing in corpse driving.
"When a person dies, their soul departs."
Corpse driving is not just about transporting the deceased's body. The most important aspect is preserving the soul of the deceased, allowing it to return to its hometown along with the corpse. Only then is the mission considered complete. The Xiangxi lineage possesses a unique technique called the Seven-Star Soul-Sealing Meridian.
When this technique is performed on a corpse, seven bright red stars appear at the pulse point, forming a triangular pattern. This is a unique method of the Xiangxi lineage. Humans have three souls and seven spirits, and the triangular pattern represents the three souls, while the seven stars symbolize the seven spirits. With the presence of the triangular pattern of seven stars, the three souls and seven spirits remain intact.
Seeing this Seven-Star Soul-Sealing Meridian was not what surprised Qin Yu the most. What puzzled him the most was that this mystical art appeared on a living person, a young girl who was only eleven or twelve years old.
A living person naturally possesses three souls and seven spirits. Did they really need the Seven-Star Soul-Sealing Meridian?
"This Grandma Qin is not simple!" Qin Yu narrowed his eyes, watching the figures of the elderly and the young girl disappear, his eyes flashing with an indescribable complexity.