Chapter 19 Spiritual?

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When a person lay down, their perspective involuntarily lowered, and the scene they could see was decidedly different from when they were sitting or standing.

*It was a bit like the perspective of a young child.*

*Children easily noticed the legs of adults, the trash under tables, and the snacks and toys hanging at ground-level in small shops.*

When Zhou Xuan lay down, he easily saw the villagers' tiptoeing feet and the shadows that the sun couldn't cast...

*When he was a ghost, he had these characteristics.*

That is to say,

nearly a third of the villagers watching the play were not "people."

He quickly got up from the long bench and went backstage to find Yu Zhengyuan.

At this time, Yu Zhengyuan was sitting on a long bench with Mr. Dai, chatting enthusiastically.

"Mr. Dai, you are a media mogul, and when reporters interview you, they speak so humbly without daring to ask sharp questions... You have no idea, those reporters usually aren't like that, each one is very harsh. Back in March, my client was a movie star who was made to cry by reporters on the spot..."

"Ha, people have to grow up. When I first started my business, I was nervous facing reporters, but I can hold my composure. Don't mind my hands trembling in my sleeves like a sieve, my face shows nothing.

Composure, that's the most commendable skill I have in my life."

Zhou Xuan found Mr. Dai's self-praise very strange.

On the way here, Mr. Dai was quite normal, just an ostentatious businessman. But ever since they arrived at Corridor River, words of conclusion like "in this life," "my entire life," "how many seasons left in life," popped out of his mouth one after another.

*It was as if he had a premonition of something.*

"Senior brother, your wife called you over."

Zhou Xuan casually lied, using Xu Li's name to call Yu Zhengyuan out for a chat.

Upon hearing that his wife called, Yu Zhengyuan hurriedly apologized to Mr. Dai.

Mr. Dai waved his hand, saying, "Take care of what you need to, I'll take this time to study my script again, being older, I can't remember the text well."

"Hmm."

Yu Zhengyuan responded, leaving backstage with Zhou Xuan.

"Where is Xiao Li?"

"Your wife didn't call you, it was me," Zhou Xuan admitted openly.

"In such a serious occasion, you play pranks on senior brother?" Yu Zhengyuan brushed his sleeve and was about to return backstage.

Attending to Mr. Dai was his sole objective today.

After years of business in Ping Shui Prefecture, Yu Zhengyuan had garnered an excellent reputation. There were no fewer than twenty companies and factories trying to recruit him as a professional manager.

This was entirely due to Yu Zhengyuan's dedication, focus, and thoughtful approach to his work.

Zhou Xuan tugged at his sleeve and said, "Senior brother, look at those people watching the play, pay attention to their feet!"

Not knowing what Zhou Xuan was hinting at, Yu Zhengyuan looked down and scanned the area, observing for a while until he noticed the peculiarity.

"You mean that!? It seems normal."

"Normal?"

Among the hundreds watching the play, nearly half had their heels raised without casting shadows, and you call that normal.

Then what constitutes abnormal?

"Yes, it's normal. The villagers around Corridor River have known poverty well. A few years back, they were reliant on tree bark for sustenance, and even now they haven't abandoned their frugal living habits.

For example, they don't like wearing good shoes, preferring home-made straw sandals, and some don't wear shoes at all... Xiao Xuan, I must say, even though the troupe is making good money and accumulating wealth, we shouldn't look down on people who wear straw sandals just because we wear leather shoes..."

*What nonsense!*

*Have we changed topics again?*

Senior brother, I meant for you to look at their heels. Who cares about whether they're in straw sandals or leather shoes?

"Take a closer look at their heels, many people's heels are raised," Zhou Xuan pointed out the key detail.

In his bones, Yu Zhengyuan was someone willing to listen. Without any impatience, he bent down again and observed, nodding in agreement.

"Now that you mention it, there are indeed some who tippy-toe, which is also normal. Though Corridor River has few true opera fans, there are more onlookers, yet a few genuinely love opera.

With their spots being further back, blocked by others up front, they can't see the actors clearly, leaving them only with standing on tiptoe. There's a saying, 'Standing tall sees far.'

What Yu Zhengyuan said was sincere and detailed, and Zhou Xuan naturally didn't think he was just glossing over things.

But,

why,

did the scenes they witnessed differ so entirely?

"Senior brother, take a closer look, do those few people who are tiptoeing in your view have shadows?"

Yu Zhengyuan glanced again and said, "Yes... your words are peculiar too. If a person loses their shadow, wouldn't they become a ghost?"

"Hmm... Maybe I saw wrong, thought I was witnessing something extraordinary."

Zhou Xuan didn't continue the argument.

The disparity in their perception had only one explanation when neither was lying: Zhou Xuan could see "things" that normal people couldn't.

Like,

*seeing filth, spiritual perception?*

A new ability, or a strange ailment akin to the white noise? Whatever it might be for now.

Zhou Xuan could not be sure if once revealed, this "ability" would expose his "fake Zhou Xuan" identity.

If his identity got exposed, just with his sister's methods...

*From an emotional standpoint, he wished to help the Zhou Family's Troupe—after all, it was his investment, and future stability depended on the troupe's operation.*

*But enjoying stability required him to be alive.*

*A dead man wouldn't enjoy anything.*

Zhou Xuan disliked risks, so he didn't push the topic any further.

"I'll go back to attend to Mr. Dai first, Xiao Xuan, don't take it to heart... everyone misjudges sometimes, and you have that strange ailment too."

Speaking of strange ailments,

Zhou Xuan suddenly remembered that the white noise hadn't occurred since he woke up.

*This was unreasonable.*

The outbreaks yesterday were frequent, and yet today it was silent.

Thinking of the unusual calm of the white noise, he sat back on the long bench and retrieved a card from his pocket.

The card was gilded and finely crafted, with the back depicting a temple housing a Maitreya Buddha.

*But the statue felt odd,*

although it had a big belly and squinting smile, Zhou Xuan always found the statue strangely effeminate.

*Its aura felt wrong.*

No matter how he described it, he couldn't pinpoint where it felt wrong.

He turned the card over—Ping Shui Prefecture Shande Hospital, Pharmacy Physician Du Kaili.

From the name, it suggested the hospital was operated by the Shande Society.

Mr. Dai was one of the Shande Society people.

Hospitals these days weren't so divided and usually had only a few sections.

Outpatient, convalescent, general ward, pharmacy.

Hospitals with good service and ample funding might also have a Cooking Medicine Room.

The pharmacy was the section for dispensing medication.

Could someone responsible for dispensing medicine treat white noise, an ailment affecting the brain?

Zhou Xuan doubted, and he was more skeptical of Mr. Dai's motive; it could be a trap waiting for him.

"I'll arrange a visit with sister," he decided.

With a spiritually adept figure like Zhou Lingyi accompanying, no trap scared him.

*Absolute strength overcame all.*

Zhou Xuan put away the card and after obtaining a program list from the announcer, listened to a few scenes from the play, then compared them with the list to realize that this ghostly play had just two segments left.

Currently, those "people" tiptoeing without shadows showed no unusual movement, each standing with heads bowed in place.

*Perhaps they were just a group of opera-loving "filth."*

*When he was a ghost, though his will summoned him to the Soul Shepherd City, he would still pause to watch interesting activities he encountered along the way, resisting the urge to move on.*

*Ghosts had been people, and everyone had their preferences.*

*Why worry about them? Once the play ended, they would disperse.*

While Zhou Xuan pondered, cheers erupted in the theater.

"Here he comes, here he comes, the wait was worth it!"

"Indeed, it's Liu Jiaotian, no doubt this is a performance arranged by Mr. Dai."

"That's right, Mr. Dai's connections are impressive. I heard last time Liu Jiansheng's mother passed, and even a sum of thirty thousand couldn't bring out Liu Jiaotian."

The "people" with lifted heels caused no commotion, but the live audience shouted louder and louder, heating the theater with their booming voices.

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