love on the turquoise land

Chapter 7

What's stealing a man?

Nie Jiulo was distracted, and the travel agency's words went out the window.

"It's weird, lying to say you're going to play cards and not come home all night..."

"Her man went to pick her up, oh my, someone's going to get killed..."

"Miss Nie, how about this? We'll arrange a driver to pick you up nearby immediately, and we'll contact Sun Zhou as soon as possible to understand the situation..."

It seems like this is all we can do for now.

Nie Jiulo's mind is elsewhere, but at this moment, she's actually more interested in the gossip floating around. Objectively speaking, she's not a gossipy person, but since the gossip has reached her ears, pretending not to hear it is unnecessary.

She mumbled a couple of vague responses, hung up the phone, and walked a few steps closer to the women playing cards.

The women were chatting enthusiastically and passionately, not feeling that Nie Jiulo's appearance was abrupt at all. They actively welcomed her into the discussion and asked for her opinion after speaking a few sentences: "What do you think, Miss?"

Soon, Nie Jiulo understood the ins and outs of this rural scandal.

It turned out that last night, a woman said she was going out to play cards and didn't return home all night. Her husband suspected she had developed a gambling addiction and stayed overnight at a friend's house, so he didn't take it seriously.

As a result, until this morning, the woman hadn't shown up, her phone was still off, and her husband was not happy about it. He went to find her and only then did he realize that she hadn't gone to play cards at all.

And things went south. The woman was missing, unreachable by phone, and her husband, furious, threatened to call the police. Her card-playing friends, fearing trouble, told the truth: playing cards was just an excuse, she had actually gone to see someone she had feelings for in a neighboring village.

The woman's husband exploded in anger, gathered a couple of family members, and rode motorcycles aggressively to the neighboring village to catch them in the act.

As of now, there's been no update on the outcome of this "showdown," but the women are convinced that it will be a violent confrontation, to put it bluntly, "someone's going to get killed."

***

In the afternoon, Nie Jiulo's ride arrived to pick her up, but the rural scandal was far from over—there was another twist.

It's said that the woman's husband and his group found the man she was seeing and beat him up, forcing him to kneel and beg for forgiveness. In the midst of it all, he revealed another twist: they had actually arranged to meet that night, but when he waited and waited and she didn't show up, not answering his calls either, he didn't think much of it and assumed something came up at her end.

In simple terms, the scandal was transitioning into a missing persons case.

As for the direction of the missing persons case, Nie Jiulo didn't pay any more attention. She had a moderate curiosity about people and events, enjoying a good novel or movie when they came her way, but she didn't focus on them if they suddenly disappeared halfway through.

The new driver, named Lao Qian, in his forties, repeatedly apologized to Nie Jiulo on behalf of gis friend during the journey back.

"This is Sun Zhou's personal behavior," Nie Jiulo said, not intending to hold anyone else accountable. "Have you been able to contact Sun Zhou?"

Lao Qian looked embarrassed. "Not yet, his phone is on, but he's not answering."

He muttered that Sun Zhou was a sturdy young man, wondering how he could be frightened into this state.

The notions of zombies, monsters, and psychopathic killers were all jokingly speculative. After all, the likelihood was low. Upon reflection, the possibility of seeking revenge or being pressured by gambling debts seemed more plausible.

Nie Jiulo asked, "Did he offend someone or owe someone money?"

Lao Qian answered cautiously, "It's hard to say."

Indeed, they were just ordinary colleagues, so how would they know about each other's private lives?

***

Originally, Sun Zhou was staying at the hotel with Nie Jiulo, but Lao Qian was sent by the travel agency 'locally' and being a local, he had a place to stay in the village. So, after dropping Nie Jiulo off at the hotel, he returned, saying that if they couldn't reach Sun Zhou later in the evening, he would take over the rest of the itinerary.

With plenty of time left, Nie Jiulo returned to her room, took out her pen and sketchbook, and quickly immersed herself in her work.

Her next piece was preparing to sculpt a witch. She had started several sketches, all of which were abandoned halfway through. The only reason for discarding them was one: they were beautiful but lacked a sinister quality.

This time was no different. Just as the facial features of the character were starting to take shape, she became dissatisfied. After careful consideration, she threw down her pen and leaned back in her chair, lost in thought.

Suddenly, she remembered something and quickly sat up again, importing the photos she had taken of the dilapidated temple in here over the past two days into her computer, enlarging and examining each one.

Her original intention was to use these photos as a source of inspiration, but as she looked at them, she found herself getting distracted.

In temples across the village, statues seated in main or honorable positions are usually solemn or compassionate, occasionally displaying an angry expression, intended to depict the wrathful gaze of a vajra, dispelling evil spirits. Very rarely would there be statues depicting a seductive or bewitching appearance.

Also, the figures being worshipped must have a background. There are figures like Laozi, the Queen of the Ninth Heaven, Lü Dongbin, and Erlang Shen, but after countless observations, she couldn't recognize the statue in the dilapidated temple. Could it be a local deity or spirit?

As she pondered this, her phone rang, signaling an incoming message.

Nie Jiulo opened a self-destructing app and found a new message in the form of an envelope icon, sent by someone with the nickname "That Side."

She double-clicked the envelope, and the contents appeared: "The seventh day, safe." At the same time, a ten-second countdown to message destruction appeared at the bottom.

As soon as the ten seconds elapsed, a burst of flames suddenly erupted, instantly engulfing the text. After the text vanished, a gray mist slowly dispersed.

The current app was indeed sophisticated. Nie Jiulo was about to put down her phone when she paused again. After a moment's hesitation, she sent the license plate number of the white SUV and added a note:

See if the owner of this car has any previous records, like gambling or loan sharking. Just send the information to my email.

If Sun Zhou couldn't be found, the police would eventually get involved, and they would surely come to question her. Nie Jiulo had a hunch that the owner of that yellow duckling car wasn't highly suspicious, but there was still something fishy about it.

Setting aside her phone, she continued with her own tasks until her hunger became unbearable. Only then did she remember to order takeout. It was a close call: she placed the order at 9:25, and in another five minutes, the restaurant would stop taking orders.