Moving into the new courtyard was quite comfortable. This place was far from the main street and very quiet.

Better than the yamen!

In the evening, Ji Yunshu felt bored and restless, so she took a few books she had borrowed from the yamen earlier and strolled into the courtyard, planning to read and pass the time.

She had just sat down and hadn’t yet opened the book when she heard a voice in the air calling “Big brother.”

Big brother?

That voice was extremely eerie and strange, drawn out in a thin, long tone.

Oh my, how unsettling!

She looked all around but didn’t see anyone at all—it was completely empty.

Instantly, a chill ran down her back.

Not because she was afraid, but because it felt strange.

“Big brother.”

The voice came again!

Like surround sound, it circled around her ears, making it impossible to determine where exactly the voice was coming from.

At this moment, Qiao’er happened to be bringing over a basin of water.

Seeing her searching around for something, she walked over and asked, “Master Ji, are you looking for something?”

She shook her head and asked instead, “Did you hear any sound?”

“Sound?”

Qiao’er opened her ears to listen and looked around.

Apart from the courtyard and the entrance where lamps were lit, the rest was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

She shook her head. “I didn’t hear any sound. Master Ji, please don’t scare me.”

She had scared herself until her hair stood on end, and timidly shrank toward Ji Yunshu’s direction, looking around warily.

Late at night like this, please don’t let anything strange happen!

Ji Yunshu let her huddle close, then heard the voice drift through the air once more, “Big brother, I’m here.”

Where are you?

I can’t see you!

Ji Yunshu thought for a moment, then took down a hanging lantern from a nearby low stand and held it in her hand, shining it around.

The light slowly moved, and when it swept across the wall on the left, it suddenly illuminated a palm-sized face.

“Clang!”

Seeing this, Qiao’er’s body trembled, her hands shaking as she heavily dropped the water basin to the ground.

She was badly frightened, her face instantly turning pale.

“Ghost… ah!” She stumbled backward several steps.

Although Ji Yunshu had mentally prepared herself—after all, she loved horror films, American ones, Thai ones… she’d watched almost all of them and had long figured out the pattern of when ghosts appeared on screen.

Moreover, she had seen many dead people and touched countless bones. Though she’d never seen this formless, shadowless “ghost,” she wouldn’t collapse in fright like Qiao’er.

She boldly lifted the lantern higher and moved forward. She saw that this “ghost” had delicate, exquisite features, dewy and fresh. A pair of large curved eyes under the orange-red light were extraordinarily bright and large, with clearly visible thick lashes pressed down. The features seemed not yet fully developed, still carrying childish innocence.

So it was that little girl from during the day!

Xiyue!

She was leaning over the wall top with some difficulty.

“It’s you?” Ji Yunshu realized.

Xiyue quickly broke into a smile. “Big brother, it’s me. I’m not a ghost.”

Innocent and carefree.

“It’s so late—what are you doing here?”

“I’m bored.”

“Where are your parents?”

“They never mind me.” Little Xiyue’s tone showed no concern at all, as if she was used to running wild.

Qiao’er, knowing it was a “person,” let out a long breath of relief and kept patting her chest. “You scared me to death. I really thought I’d seen a ghost.”

Ji Yunshu saw that little Xiyue’s body was already shrinking backward somewhat—if this continued, she would definitely fall down—so she quickly said, “It’s dangerous up there. Hurry and come down.”

Little Xiyue shook her head. “I don’t want to. I want to play with big brother.”

“Then come down.”

She was somewhat afraid. “The wall in your courtyard is too high. On my side there’s a big box I can step on to climb up.”

Her childish voice was clear and pleasant like a little bell!

Ji Yunshu smiled. “It’s alright. Jump down and I’ll catch you.”

“Can you catch me?”

“Trust me.”

“Okay.” Clear and bright.

Little Xiyue used all her strength to climb onto the wall top and crouched there. Looking down, this wall was several head-heights taller than her, so she hesitated.

What if she fell to her death?

If she didn’t die but was half-crippled, that would be even worse.

Her watery eyes looked at Ji Yunshu, questioning, “Will you really catch me?”

Ji Yunshu handed the lantern to Qiao’er, who was still recovering from her fright, rolled up her sleeves and walked under the wall, extending her arms. “Come, jump without worry.”

Though her own strength wasn’t great, catching a child should be no problem.

“Mm.”

Little Xiyue’s small body swayed on top before jumping down.

She caught a full armful!

The small body landed in Ji Yunshu’s arms.

Although Ji Yunshu was pressed with some soreness, fortunately the child was very light. After setting her down, she flexed her arms. Then she reached out and rubbed the head of this little person before her.

“Big brother is amazing!” Xiyue looked up at her with admiration all over her face.

She smiled warmly.

The little girl’s face turned red.

Qiao’er quickly walked over and said, “Xiyue, you were really scary just now. Making sounds but not being visible, I thought I’d seen a ghost. Next time you can’t scare people like this. When people scare people, they can actually scare them to death.”

Little Xiyue showed an apologetic expression. “Sister Qiao’er, I truly didn’t mean to scare you. Don’t be afraid. There are no ghosts in this world. My father says they only exist in people’s hearts.”

Mm, your father speaks well.

But Qiao’er tilted her head and asked, “How did you know my name is Qiao’er?”

“Didn’t big brother just call you that?”

“Oh!” She responded in a muffled voice.

The two were four years apart in age, but somehow seemed similar in maturity. What they said was quite adorable.

Ji Yunshu said, “Alright, don’t just stand there. Come sit.”

She then pulled little Xiyue to sit down in the courtyard.

When she saw those books on the stone table, little Xiyue’s eyes lit up. She quickly picked up one of them and flipped through it, saying excitedly, “This is one of my favorite books.”

She couldn’t put it down!

“Oh? You read this book too?”

“Yes, of course I do. I read it two years ago.” She said, “I found this book in my father’s study. At the time I secretly took it to read for several days before returning it. The content inside is really interesting.”

She was even excited, her small hands hurriedly flipping through the book she had once read, savoring it with great interest.

In her small form, head lowered as she read, she truly had the bearing of a little adult.

The book she held in her hands was called “The Hundred Records”!

This was something Ji Yunshu had borrowed from the yamen yesterday. It recorded a hundred years of battlefield campaigns. While “Sun Tzu’s Art of War” had thirty-six stratagems, this “Hundred Records” had seventy-nine stratagems, each one superior. She had finished reading it years ago in Liu Qingping’s study, but these past few days feeling bored, she had borrowed it again to flip through.

However, she hadn’t expected little Xiyue to actually like books like this.

Qiao’er had said she was clever and knew all kinds of poetry and verses, so it wasn’t surprising that she liked books like this.