Chapter 152: Chapter 147 Can you hear me?

“I’d like to try,” Qiao Sang said firmly to the auntie.

Although the task initiator might be somewhat difficult to deal with, her intention in taking on the task was to train her pet beast’s abilities; the task initiator’s attitude wasn’t within the scope of her concern.

The auntie shook her head secretly, saying no more to dissuade her.

She pointed with her finger to the right: “It’s that room at the very end, go ahead, I won’t go in with you.”

“Okay.”

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, still no answer.

Once more.

“Are you annoying, or what? The door isn’t even closed, I already told you it’s the one at the end, and you’re still knocking like an idiot,” a hearty voice came from the room.

Qiao Sang: “…”

The task initiator did seem quite tricky to deal with…

She pushed the door and entered, a strong and unpleasant medicinal smell hitting her nose, mixed with a unique scent that seemed characteristic of the elderly.

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It was clearly the hot summer, yet the room felt damp and cold.

On the bed by the window laid an old lady, her hair silver throughout, with high cheekbones and a face covered in wrinkles.

Before Qiao Sang could introduce herself, the old lady asked, “Do you have a spectral-type pet beast?”

Her gaze was sharp, the look of an old person with a difficult temperament.

“Yes, it’s a Treasure-seeking Ghost,” Qiao Sang answered, approaching the bed.

To ensure both parties’ privacy, the Beast Taming Center didn’t disclose detailed information about each side.

“Treasure~”

As if to prove its existence, the Xiao Xunbao appeared above Qiao Sang’s head, calling out.

The old lady looked at the suddenly appearing Xiao Xunbao, lost in thought for a moment, seemingly reminded of something.

After a moment of silence, she picked up a photo from beside her bed and handed it over; Qiao Sang took it and saw it was a picture of a girl in a floral dress with dimples smiling back at her.

Cradled in her arms was a blue lamp-shaped pet beast, which happened to be a Ghost-absorbing Lantern.

The old lady handed over the photo without a word.

Qiao Sang felt that the mood needed to be lightened, so she initiated, “The girl in this photo is really pretty, may I ask who she is?”

Normally, a photo handed over like this would be of the person themselves.

Although the laughing girl in the photo looked nothing like the old lady now being so difficult.

But people change a lot from their youth to old age.

Plus, holding the Ghost-absorbing Lantern, it wasn’t hard to guess that the girl in the photo was the old lady herself.

Qiao Sang silently gave herself a mental high-five for her cleverness.

By pretending not to know who was in the photo, the old lady was bound to feel secretly flattered by the compliment–after all, even in old age, a woman still hopes to hear others say she’s beautiful.

Then the old lady would reveal that it was indeed a picture of herself.

Next, Qiao Sang would pretend to be surprised with more compliments, ensuring the old lady’s gratification reached its peak; how could she not leave a good review then?

“This is my granddaughter.”

Qiao Sang: “???”

Why aren’t you following the usual script, ma’am!

“Last month my granddaughter went out to play with the Ghost-absorbing Lantern, and since then, she never returned,” the old lady paused, suddenly becoming sorrowful, “Now my granddaughter is gone, and so is the Ghost-absorbing Lantern.”

A chill ran through Qiao Sang’s heart. Gone?!

What that meant was…

She pondered slowly, asking softly, “Did the police find any clues afterward?”

The old lady snorted coldly, “A bunch of useless fools, if there had been clues would I have bothered posting a task?”

Qiao Sang felt a heaviness in her chest, realizing this task involved a person…

An errant Ghost-absorbing Lantern might be understandable, given it was a spectral-type pet beast with a naturally mysterious presence, but the girl being missing too was not just a typical disappearance case.

After all, with surveillance pervasive in society, and people unable to turn invisible, how could someone just vanish into thin air right on the spot?

Could it be…

A burst of ringing pulled Qiao Sang back from her thoughts.

It was the old lady’s phone.

“Hello, Nannan… I’ve taken the medicine, Grandma’s okay…”

Because the room was especially quiet, Qiao Sang could faintly hear the voice on the other end of the line.

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 before asking, “Was that call from your granddaughter?”

“Mhm.”

“May I boldly ask how many granddaughters you have?”

“One.”

Qiao Sang fell silent for two seconds before asking, “Then what did you mean when you initially said your granddaughter was gone?”

The old lady’s sharp gaze pierced over, “She later left with her parents to the Lian Ke Area. What are you thinking?”

Qiao Sang: “…”

She wanted to switch tasks…

“…”

“The rod on the right-hand side of my Ghost-absorbing Lantern is missing a piece; it broke and saved me when I was 28. There is also a red mark the size of a fingernail on its head, left from when I was young and used cheap dye on it, not to mention…”

The subsequent conversation went relatively smoothly.

Perhaps because the old lady had contracted a Spectral-type Pet Beast before, Xiao Xunbao seemed to hover around the old lady during their talk, as if attracted by something.

…

Qiao Sang left the room and came to the doorway to put on her shoes.

The auntie who had been staying in the living room came over and, after watching Qiao Sang for a while, whispered, “I think you should change tasks.”

Qiao Sang looked up in confusion, “Why?”

During her talk with the old lady, she had also learned that this auntie was hired by the old lady’s son to take care of her and that there was no blood relation.

Even so, without any particular reason, the auntie should be on the employer’s side.

If the old lady’s quirky temperament was the reason, Qiao Sang remembered making it clear at the beginning that she didn’t mind.

The auntie turned to glance at the inner room, her voice dropping another degree: “The old lady doesn’t have much time left. By the time you find the Ghost-absorbing Lantern, it won’t be of any use. I see you’re young, so I just want to give you a heads-up.”

Qiao Sang was somewhat taken aback. Though the old lady looked quite old, she seemed full of energy while speaking, and her appearance looked alright.

Moreover, her eyes were sharp, and she didn’t show any signs of having little time left.

Besides, the old lady’s response when Qiao Sang first knocked indicated clearly that she had heard the conversation between the auntie and her in the living room.

Could an old person on the brink of death have such good hearing?

Although her room had a medicinal scent, but…

Wait a minute…

Qiao Sang suddenly felt that something was off.

The old lady’s room was located at the very back, at a certain distance from the living room. The auntie’s volume was low and normal, and the door had initially been left ajar, but the gap was negligible.

When she first arrived, the auntie had gone inside to verify her identity with the old lady.

But she hadn’t heard any of their conversation, which should have indicated good soundproofing…

So why couldn’t she hear clearly at the same distance when the old lady could?

Qiao Sang took a deep breath and asked slowly, “Can the old lady hear what we’re saying right now in her room?”

The auntie was taken aback for a moment, “How could that be possible.”

Meanwhile, the old lady lay down in bed and covered herself from head to toe with a blanket.

A faint voice came through from inside.

“You think I want to hear everything…”