At this moment, I saw Hu Tianshu pick up a gold-trimmed invitation from the desk with the red fur and hand it over to Empress Yuna Ji.
I glanced at it—wasn't this an invitation? The venue was Jiulong Square, and the time was 9 a.m. three days from now. Some kind of conference.
"Is this an invitation from the Daoist Sect?"
I muttered, and Hu Tianshu nodded, telling me that basically, after I entered, the next few days, Qian Ya Zi sent people to deliver the invitations one by one to the Ghost Sovereigns already gathered in the red fur office.
"How did he know these Ghost Sovereigns were willing to attend the conference?"
Hu Tianshu adjusted his glasses and looked at me.
"Qingyuan, did Qian Ya Zi give you anything?"
I exclaimed, then remembered—Qian Ya Zi had given me a white talisman. I hurriedly took it out and looked at it.
Hu Tianshu took it, examined it, and then started to smile.
"Qingyuan, this is a sensory-type talisman. I suppose, as soon as you entered, Qian Ya Zi sensed it. The aura of Ghost Sovereigns here is very dense, so he concluded that they must have already gathered together. All the invitations came from Hongyun Company."
I was a bit angry and wanted to tear the talisman apart, but after a moment's thought, I sighed and decided to wait until I found Yvonne May, then burn the talisman. I wanted Xiaoyaozi to know—after all, at this meeting, I had to find out news about the Immortality Society.
"What about Yvonne May?"
I asked, and for a moment, all the Ghost Sovereigns and the other Blue Wraiths present were speechless.
"Let me explain."
Wuming stepped forward.
"We've been searching with Uncle Bo's men for more than ten days, but there's been no sign of Lady Yvonne May. It's as if she's vanished."
"That woman always flakes at the critical moment. Who cares? The six of us can go ourselves."
Red Fur said irritably.
Loneliness—I remembered this word. Thinking back to the memory of the seven Ghost Sovereigns at the Bridge of Helplessness, Yvonne May always wore an expression that kept others at a distance. It had been that way several times before. She didn't even get close to her own subordinates, preferring to be alone.
"Isn't there any way to find Yvonne May?"
"Brother, if we can't find her, then let it go."
It was already night, but I kept feeling that Yvonne May needed to participate in this meeting. Among the seven Ghost Sovereigns, her presence was always the weakest, and the other six seemed to deliberately keep her on the outside.
Deep down, I felt uneasy. I wanted to find Yvonne May.
"Brother, if you really think she's pitiful, then go look for her. Maybe you'll be able to find her."
Yin Choujian said this, and I nodded. With a whoosh, all six of my ghost souls flew out of my body and darted out the window.
"Start from the bottom, Qingyuan."
Hu Tianshu said, and I looked at him in confusion.
"These past few days, many Blue Wraiths have been searching everywhere for Yvonne May's aura and the whereabouts of Soul Guest Inn, but basically, they've found nothing. I think, Qingyuan, you should go directly to those places where wandering souls gather and ask around. Maybe you'll get some good leads."
"Wandering souls? Come on, Yvonne May is still a noble. In life, she'd never go to those places, Tianshu, it's impossible."
Red Fur immediately asserted, and Uncle Bo nodded in agreement.
"It's really unlikely, Qingyuan. Sister Yvonne May has her quirks, you know. She has a serious obsession with cleanliness—you've seen it, right?"
I had indeed seen it. When Yvonne May woke up, Soul Guest Inn was a complete mess. She was furious and made Ji Hongjun and Qin Li clean day and night—not a speck of dust allowed.
Then Hu Tianshu smiled.
"How about I make a bet with you six Ghost Sovereigns?"
Hu Tianshu said confidently, adjusting his glasses.
"Oh, Tianshu, interesting. Go ahead, how do you want to bet? Red Fur is in."
Yin Choujian and Empress Yuna Ji joined in too, especially Yin Choujian, who seemed particularly interested.
Then Hu Tianshu patted me on the shoulder.
"Qingyuan, if you follow my advice, you should be able to find her. Don't worry."
In the end, all six Ghost Sovereigns nodded and agreed to bet with Hu Tianshu.
"My terms are simple. If I win, you must promise Qingyuan one thing, and you absolutely can't go back on it."
Hu Tianshu said, and I let out a sound of surprise, looking at him.
"Alright, I agree. So, Tianshu, if we win, what do we get?"
Hu Tianshu took off his glasses, thinking carefully for a long time before speaking.
"If you win, you can take your time to think about how I can be of service."
At that moment, Hu Tianshu pulled me out of Red Fur's office and said:
"Qingyuan, do you remember when Yvonne May saved our Ghost Burial Squad, and we released the imprisoned vengeful ghosts?"
I nodded. That did happen.
"But what does that have to do with you telling me to check out places full of wandering souls?"
Hu Tianshu smiled.
"See for yourself, Qingyuan. My mind is already starting to recall what happened back then."
I made a sound of acknowledgment. My ghost network extended out, piercing into Hu Tianshu's body, and gradually, I lost consciousness.
It was the third basement level of the Ghost Burial Squad. In large jars frozen by special talismanic water, vengeful ghosts were sealed inside. Old Stone stood nearby, smoking, with Hu Tianshu beside him. Yvonne May walked slowly toward the sealed ghosts.
In an instant, I was stunned. On Yvonne May's usually icy face, a warm smile appeared. She walked up to one jar, waved her hand, and the jar cracked open.
As the ice melted, the imprisoned evil ghost inside emerged, screeching instantly.
Talismanic water and other filth splashed onto Yvonne May, but she didn't care at all. Instead, she floated up and gently stroked the evil ghost's forehead with her hand.
"There, don't cry anymore. No one will seal you away again. Come with me."
Yvonne May spoke, and the black aura of resentment around the evil ghost began to dissipate. I was amazed—the resentment was actually gone, and the evil ghost obediently followed Yvonne May.
Yvonne May then broke open the jars one by one, dispelling all the resentment from the evil ghosts inside.
"In the future, if you catch any more ghosts, bring them to my inn."
Yvonne May turned around, and the tenderness on her face vanished, replaced by coldness.
"That's only natural. If our people get hurt..." Old Stone said, and Yvonne May nodded.
"Of course I'll heal them. One for one."
Yvonne May meant that for every ghost the Ghost Burial Squad brought, when someone was injured, she'd heal one of Old Stone's people.
"This way, we can save a ton on medical expenses, haha."
Old Stone joked, but Yvonne May remained serious. At that moment, the memory broke off, and I suddenly woke up.
"Tianshu, do you think Yvonne May..."
"You saw it, didn't you? The gentle expression Yvonne May showed—just like someone caring for stray kittens and puppies. Kind and full of love. So, what do you think someone like that would do?"
Suddenly, I understood. What Hu Tianshu meant was that wandering souls had no home and lived miserable lives, so Yvonne May was very likely to show up in those places.
"Thank you, Tianshu. But how did you make that bet with them?"
"Qingyuan, these guys—I'd suggested a gentler way to let you know, but they decided to make you swim across. That place is dangerous, the River of Three Crossings. Luckily, you were fine. So this time, if I win, all six of them will have to obey you once. You’ll finally get to turn the tables, right? No more getting teased by them all the time."
I smiled knowingly and floated up. My six ghost souls had already reached the nearby gathering place of wandering souls.
After leaving Hongyun Company's headquarters, I flew west toward the old city, where many wandering souls gathered, all homeless. My ghost souls had begun to inquire, but none of the wandering souls near the city center had heard of Yvonne May or seen her.
I took out the Bing app and started asking around. The answer was that there were 27 places in West City where wandering souls gathered, all marked on the map.
With my six ghost souls plus myself, seven in total, we could search quickly. I first arrived in the west of the city, where old houses clustered and alleys crisscrossed—there were plenty of wandering souls here.
As soon as I landed, I sensed just how many there were.
Many pale figures flashed through the alleys. I saw several discouraged ghosts fighting over offerings. I approached and landed, releasing some ghostly energy. They stopped, frightened. I wrapped them with my baleful aura and connected my ghost network to their souls, but they hadn't seen her.
I sighed and took out some spirit money, handing each one a bill as payment for their information.
I kept searching, handing out plenty of spirit money, and asked Hu Tianshu to burn me some more.
"Looks like she isn’t here."
Just then, I saw a crowd of wandering souls suddenly surge in one direction. Curious, I followed.