Chapter 148: Say, can you hear me?

“I want to try,” Qiao Sang said firmly to the Old Lady.

Although the task publisher might be a difficult person to deal with, her intention in accepting the task was to train her Pet’s abilities, so the task publisher’s disposition was not within her consideration.

The Old Lady shook her head inwardly, not saying anything more to dissuade her.

She pointed to the right: “It’s the innermost room. Go ahead, I won’t follow you in.”

“Alright.”

Qiao Sang arrived at the door of the designated room.

The door was ajar. Out of politeness, she still knocked, but there was no response from inside.

She knocked again, and still no one spoke.

She knocked once more.

“Are you annoying? The door isn’t even closed. I told you it’s the innermost room, why are you still knocking for so long?” A strong voice came from inside the room.

Qiao Sang: “…”

The task publisher indeed seemed quite difficult to deal with…

Pushing the door open, a strong, unpleasant medicinal smell assailed her nostrils, mixed with a unique scent of an elderly person.

Although it was a hot summer day, the room felt damp and chilly.

On the bedside by the window, an Old Lady with silver hair, high cheekbones, and a face full of wrinkles was half-reclining.

Before Qiao Sang could introduce herself, the Old Lady inquired, “Do you have a Ghost-type Pet?”

Her gaze was very sharp; she clearly looked like an Old Lady with a bad temper.

“Yes, it’s a Treasure Hunting Ghost,” Qiao Sang replied, approaching the bed.

To ensure the privacy of both parties, the Yu Beast Center would not disclose their specific information.

“Xun~”

As if to prove its existence, the Little Treasure Hunting Ghost appeared above Qiao Sang’s head and let out a cry.

The Old Lady stared at the suddenly appearing Little Treasure Hunting Ghost, momentarily lost in thought, unsure what she was thinking of.

After a moment of silence, she picked up a photo from the bedside and handed it over. Qiao Sang took it and saw a girl in a floral dress with two dimples when she smiled.

The blue lantern-shaped Pet she was holding was precisely a Ghost Absorption Lamp.

The Old Lady only handed over the photo and said nothing.

Qiao Sang felt it was necessary to lighten the mood, so she said, “The girl in this photo is really beautiful. May I ask who she is?”

Under normal circumstances, a photo handed over at such a time would be of the person themselves.

Although the girl in the photo smiled so sweetly, she didn’t at all resemble the difficult Old Lady she was now.

But people, after all, change greatly from their youth to old age.

Coupled with the Ghost Absorption Lamp she was holding, it was not difficult to deduce that the girl in the photo was the Old Lady.

Qiao Sang silently praised her own quick wit.

She pretended not to know who the person in the photo was. The Old Lady would definitely be secretly pleased to hear the compliment. Women, even when old, still hope to hear others praise their beauty.

Then the Old Lady herself would say that it was her.

And then she would pretend to be surprised and give a few more compliments, bringing the Old Lady’s sense of satisfaction to its peak. Wouldn’t that guarantee a good review?

“This is my granddaughter.”

Qiao Sang: “???”

Why aren’t you following the normal script, Old Lady!

“Last month, my granddaughter went out to play with Ghost Absorption Lamp, and then she never came back.” At this point, the Old Lady paused, suddenly becoming sad: “Now my granddaughter is gone, and Ghost Absorption Lamp is gone too.”

Qiao Sang’s heart tightened. Her granddaughter is gone?!

Does that mean…

She slowly considered her words, then softly inquired, “Did the police find any clues later?”

The Old Lady snorted coldly, “A bunch of useless fellows! If there were clues, why would I post a task?”

Qiao Sang’s heart grew heavy. This task actually involved a person…

It was understandable if Ghost Absorption Lamp went far away and couldn’t be found; it’s a Ghost-type Pet, and its whereabouts are inherently mysterious. But for a person to disappear along with it and not be found, that’s not an ordinary missing person case.

After all, in today’s society, surveillance is everywhere, and people can’t become invisible. How could someone simply vanish into thin air?

Could it be…

A ringing sound pulled Qiao Sang back from her thoughts.

It was the Old Lady’s phone.

“Hello, Nannan… I’ve taken my medicine, Grandma is fine…”

Because the room was exceptionally quiet, Qiao Sang could vaguely hear a voice coming from the other end of the phone.

It was a girl, and her voice sounded similar in age to the girl in the photo.

After the Old Lady hung up, Qiao Sang hesitated for a moment before asking, “Was that your granddaughter calling?”

“Mm.”

“May I be so bold as to ask how many granddaughters you have?”

“One.”

Qiao Sang fell silent. After two seconds, she asked, “Then what did you mean when you said your granddaughter was gone earlier?”

The Old Lady’s sharp gaze turned to her: “She later went to Lianke region with her parents. What are you thinking?”

Qiao Sang: “…”

She wanted to change the task…

“…”

“A section of the lamp stand on the right side of my Ghost Absorption Lamp is missing. It broke when it saved me when I was 28. Also, there’s a red, fingernail-sized mark on its head. That was left when I used inferior dye on it when I was young. And also…”

The subsequent conversation proceeded relatively smoothly.

During the conversation, perhaps because the Old Lady had contracted a Ghost-type Pet, the Little Treasure Hunting Ghost kept floating around the Old Lady, as if it sensed something attracting it.

…

Qiao Sang walked out of the room and put on her shoes by the door.

The Old Lady, who had been staying in the living room, walked over, stared at Qiao Sang for a moment, and then said in a hushed voice, “I think you should change the task.”

Qiao Sang looked up, puzzled, “Why?”

During her conversation with the Old Lady, she had learned that this Old Lady was hired by the Old Lady’s son to take care of her, with no familial relation.

But even so, without any special reason, the Old Lady should be on the employer’s side.

If it was because of the Old Lady’s strange temper, she remembered having already stated that she didn’t mind at the beginning.

The Old Lady turned her head and looked inside the room, lowering her voice even further: “The Old Lady doesn’t have much time left. By the time you find Ghost Absorption Lamp, it won’t be of much use. I’m telling you this because you’re still young, just a heads-up.”

Qiao Sang was a little stunned. Although the Old Lady looked very old, she spoke with full vigor, and her mental state seemed fine.

Moreover, her gaze was very sharp, showing no signs of having little time left.

Besides, when she first knocked on the door, the Old Lady’s words clearly indicated that she had heard the conversation between the Old Lady and her in the living room.

Could an Old Lady on the verge of death have such good hearing?

Although her room was filled with the smell of medicine, but…

Wait a minute…

Qiao Sang suddenly felt that something was amiss.

The Old Lady’s room was at the very end, at a certain distance from the living room. The Old Lady’s voice was at a normal to low volume, and the door was initially ajar, but the gap was negligible.

When she first arrived, the Old Lady went inside to confirm her identity with the Old Lady.

But she hadn’t heard any of their conversation, which showed that the sound insulation was quite good…

But why couldn’t she hear clearly from the same distance, while the Old Lady could?

Qiao Sang took a deep breath and slowly asked, “You mean, can the Old Lady hear what we’re saying now from her room?”

The Old Lady was stunned for a moment: “How could that be?”

At the same time, the Old Lady lay down on the bed and covered herself from head to toe with the quilt.

A faint voice came from inside.

“Do you think I want to hear everything…”