Her Immortal Love - Chapter 3

Qin Changsheng walked with intermittent pauses, eventually stopping in front of a place called Yousi Youth Hostel.

Around Jishan, due to the mysterious deaths that had occurred earlier, many tourists still flocked to the area. It seemed people had a curiosity for the bizarre, such eerie and strange events didn’t instill any sense of reverence in them but instead drew crowds clamoring for a closer look.

Qin Changsheng opened her phone and saw a message from Xu Jing, asking with concern whether she had found a place to stay and suggesting they set a time to meet the next day so she could take her to Jishan.

After a moment’s thought, Qin Changsheng typed “8 a.m.” on the keyboard. Going too early or too late, neither felt quite right.

She stepped inside the hostel. Soft, slow melodies filled the air, sounding like a vaguely sung folk song.

Outside, the sky had darkened. Qin Changsheng instinctively glanced at the empty space beside her when, suddenly, an umbrella opened behind her. Someone passed by, casting a shadow over her like a gloomy cloud drifting overhead.

She turned to look, it was the girl she had seen earlier in the trinket shop. She was still wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts, her fair, slender legs straight and her expression cool, eyes lowered as if completely unaware of Qin Changsheng beside her.

But she was holding an umbrella.

It wasn’t raining outside. When Qin Changsheng had seen her during the day, the girl seemed to have nothing but a phone on her. Now, out of nowhere, she was carrying an old-fashioned black umbrella, holding it properly as she walked step by step past Qin Changsheng.

Qin Changsheng glanced outside. Though evening was falling, there was no sign of rain in the sky.

The dark “cloud” brushed past her. It seemed the girl hadn’t noticed Qin Changsheng at all, her gaze fixed ahead as she walked seriously, passing by and entering the hostel.

At the front desk sat a young man in a shirt, seated on a chair and checking bills on the computer with his phone in hand. When he saw the young woman entering with a black umbrella, his first reaction was surprise.

Qin Changsheng shifted her attention away from the girl and also approached the counter.

Beneath the black umbrella, a cool, detached face was revealed. The young man, startled by the umbrella at first, stood up and instinctively looked outside. Seeing no rain, his surprise deepened.

But that surprised expression soon turned to one of admiration. The young man enthusiastically asked the girl under the umbrella, “Checking in?”

Qin Changsheng moved closer to the counter as well, maintaining a polite distance from the girl with the umbrella. The young man, beaming, nodded at Qin Changsheng too. “Are you together?”

Qin Changsheng herself was quite attractive, though not as striking as the girl beside her, she had a delicate charm. Before Qin Changsheng could shake her head, the other girl didn’t deny it either. Seeing two beauties at once, the young man felt doubly pleased, his smile widening as he pointed to the price list on the wall. “Standard rooms are 120, with hot water and WiFi all day. Please show your ID for registration.”

Qin Changsheng glanced at the girl who hadn’t spoken a word from start to finish, then said to the young man behind the counter, “We’re not together. Please book a separate room for me.”

The young man was taken aback for a moment. He glanced at the girl under the black umbrella, whose expression remained completely unchanged, then looked at Qin Changsheng and asked hesitantly, “You’re not together?”

Qin Changsheng nodded.

He sat down, checked something on the computer, then looked up and said with some confusion, “But… there’s only one room left. It’s a twin room. How about you two share it? I’ll give you a discount, one hundred, how’s that?”

Qin Changsheng hesitated slightly, but the girl with the black umbrella had already taken out her phone and said calmly to the young man behind the counter, “Fine.”

She produced her ID card, then lifted her head and glanced at Qin Changsheng, her expression making her meaning clear.

It was already late, and Qin Changsheng didn’t want to waste any more time. She had traveled a long way and was genuinely exhausted. If she didn’t get a good rest today, she would have to climb the mountain tomorrow with no time to recuperate.

Qin Changsheng also rummaged through her bag for her ID card, pulled out a pink banknote, and handed it to the girl.

The girl picked up the ID card and handed both to the young man behind the counter. Holding the IDs, the young man read them aloud softly, “Jiang Zhongxue? Qin Changsheng?”

Qin Changsheng gave a quiet “Mm.” The young man joked with her, “Changsheng? Someone actually named their child ‘Long Life’?”

Qin Changsheng recognized the good-natured teasing and replied calmly, “My parents hoped I’d live a long life, so they named me Changsheng.”

The young man chuckled, scanned the IDs, accepted the pink banknote, and processed the payment from Jiang Zhongxue’s phone. He then handed Jiang Zhongxue a room key and the change.

At some point, Jiang Zhongxue had closed her black umbrella. She passed the change to Qin Changsheng without a word, then turned and headed toward room 1302 with the key.

Qin Changsheng followed behind her. Seeing that the girl didn’t utter a single word, she instinctively felt that this girl was arrogant and aloof. But then she thought, with a face so stunning it could make others dizzy, perhaps arrogance was justified. With that, she let it go.

After all, it had nothing to do with her. They were merely temporary roommates sharing a room for one night. After tomorrow, the two of them would likely never cross paths again. This aloof Jiang Zhongxue wasn’t costing her a single cent, so there was really no need to dwell on it.

As Qin Changsheng reconciled with the thought, she followed Jiang Zhongxue into the room. A cold breeze swept in from behind. She glanced sideways, her gaze sharp and cold, and the breeze instantly vanished.

Inside the room, Jiang Zhongxue inserted the key card into the slot by the door, closed her umbrella and placed it to the side, then took out her phone and sat on the bed.

The lighting was warm and yellow, and the decor was quite nice. Qin Changsheng entered, changed her shoes, and asked Jiang Zhongxue, who was sitting on the bed, “I’ll take a shower first.”

The bathroom had a transparent glass door, the latest trendy revolving style. Qin Changsheng noted that while the inn looked unremarkable from the outside, the interior was well-decorated. She picked up her slippers, tied up her hair, and headed into the bathroom.

Jiang Zhongxue didn’t respond. She kept her head down, her expression serious and focused, staring intently at an image on her phone.

As Qin Changsheng passed by her, tying up her hair, her eyes flickered slightly and landed on the phone screen. The image was in black and white. As Jiang Zhongxue swiped her finger, it changed to the next picture, one with extremely grim and stark colors.

Pale gray, the overflowing corpse oil dripped from the stretcher. Beneath the white sheet, a raised body contour was visible, marked with a sinister black talisman. On either side, a chaotic crowd gathered, accompanied by cameras and reporters, clearly, the scene was a significant one.

Qin Changsheng’s heart skipped a beat.

Jiang Zhongxue lifted her head, her fingers pressing lightly on the side of her phone. With a soft click, the screen went black. Under the warm yellow light, her face appeared dreamlike and flawless, yet cold as an ice sculpture. Her pupils were pitch-black, devoid of any light.

Qin Changsheng’s footsteps froze in place.

She still held her hair up, her expression unusually grave, as if facing a formidable enemy. Staring at Jiang Zhongxue’s expressionless face, her mind grew increasingly unsettled and suspicious.

Is she from the Yu family?

Or a competitor?

She had never heard that the Yu family had sought outside help regarding Yu Yin’s matter.

Jiang Zhongxue remained seated on the bed, leaning forward slightly as she asked softly, “Qin Changsheng?”

Her tone betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

A chill ran down Qin Changsheng’s spine. She stared at Jiang Zhongxue, her mind a whirl of suspicion and alarm, yet she quickly composed herself and asked, “Who are you?”

On the raised white sheet, the dark, damp stain spread around that eerie black talisman. Beneath the pale gray corpse oil soaking the cloth lay Yu Yin’s body.

This image was the very one Yu Yin’s family had shown Qin Changsheng after painstakingly tracking her down. They had informed her of Yu Yin’s death, this picture was the only one the police had reluctantly provided after her bizarre demise, and it was strictly confidential.

That black talisman was the sole reason Qin Changsheng had come to this place she had never heard of nor had any connection with.

Jiang Zhongxue looked at her, and for the first time, a trace of emotion surfaced on her ice-sculpture-like face. Her dark eyes gradually focused, revealing a sorrow so profound it had settled into calmness. She said quietly, “Stop this.”

Qin Changsheng stood rooted to the spot, her fingers stiffening momentarily as another shiver ran down her spine. She glanced at the empty space beside her, then silently returned her gaze to Jiang Zhongxue.

Jiang Zhongxue sat on the bed, holding the phone whose screen had just gone dark. She tilted her head slightly to look at Qin Changsheng, as if about to say something. But after a brief pause, she swallowed her words, placed the phone beside her, and adopted a different expression. “From now on, Yu Yin’s matter has nothing to do with you. Stay out of these affairs and return to your Qin family.”