Nian Huailin's eyes were shocked: "W-what is this?!"
Nian Huailin was just an ordinary person, and he didn't know many pet beasts, let alone one that could recognize an alienated glutton.
Gu Ling quickly explained: "Uncle Nian, this is not a thing."
"It is a pet beast called Greedy Ghost. Grandpa Nian saw the Greedy Ghost before he evolved into a Greedy Ghost when he was a child, and later became friends."
The glutton kept blinking his big eyes at the side, looking as obedient as he could.
Nian Huailin calmed down and looked at the Greedy Ghost several times: "Did it evolve from the Greedy Ghost?"
"Yes." Gu Ling nodded.
"I asked Greedy Gui before. Seventy years ago, Greedy Gui met a 14-year-old boy on the island, and that little boy should be Grandpa Nian."
"Grandpa Nian left the island and didn't have time to say goodbye to the glutton. The glutton didn't know the situation, so he waited on the island for seventy years."
"Grandpa Nian must have been thinking about Greedy Ghost these years, so he often walked to the beach and looked in the direction of the island, just to see Greedy Ghost."
Seeing that the information Gu Ling said was correct, Nian Huailin finally believed it.
"In that case, then follow me to see the old man."
"good."
Gu Ling zipped up his backpack again and walked into the hospital with Greedy Gui on his back, all the way to the door of the ward.
Before Gu Ling entered the ward, Nian Huailin called out all the other Nian family members in the ward.
Others didn't understand why, let alone why Nian Huailin suddenly came back.
"Dad's friend was found." Nian Huailin explained.
"where?"
"Found it so quickly?"
Others were a little curious about the pet animal friend mentioned by the old man, but Nian Huailin didn't want to say anything more.
The main reason is that Greedy Ghost looks a bit...well, there are children here, so it wouldn't be good if he scares them.
Nian Huailin took Gu Ling into the ward and spoke to the old man on the bed:
"Dad, I found your friend."
Hearing this, the old man's cloudy eyes seemed to light up with a glimmer of light: "...where are you?"
As soon as he entered the ward, Xianjiu jumped off Gu Ling's shoulder and walked to the corner.
Gu Ling held the backpack in front of him, walked to the hospital bed in a few steps, unzipped the backpack, and spoke softly to the old man: "Grandpa Nian, do you remember the evil spirit?"
"It's the Greedy Ghost in the Haunted House on the Island. It has now evolved into a Greedy Ghost."
The glutton's chubby hand grasped the edge of the backpack, and half of his head popped out. When he saw the old man on the hospital bed, he looked dumbfounded: "...Jie?"
The old man coughed twice, and his eyes fell on the gluttonous ghost: "...is that you? The gluttonous ghost?"
"After so many years, I can finally see you again. You are still the same as before, dressed in green, so conspicuous..."
The old man sighed, as if reminiscing about the past.
"Back then, I thought I was just away from my parents for a day or two and would be back soon, so I didn't tell you and made you wait for so long. I'm sorry...ahem!"
"Do you resent me in your heart?"
Hearing this, the glutton shook his head subconsciously.
Seeing that the glutton had expressed his stance, the old man breathed a sigh of relief, with a slight smile on his face: "...I have kept the candies that I agreed to buy for you, and my daughter just went home to get them. "
"I hope you won't dislike this gift that is decades late. I... I took a long time to pick it out. Unfortunately, the candies I bought at that time were all expired."
"Jie~" Greedy Ghost looked stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect the old man to say that suddenly.
After reacting, the glutton stretched out his entire body from the backpack, flew over the old man's head and circled twice, as if confirming something.
Gu Ling was a little confused as to what Greedy Ghost was doing. The next second, he saw Greedy Ghost look disappointed again.
"I'm very happy to see you again... Ahem, if there is a next life, I hope I can have the opportunity to be friends again..."
The old man struggled to finish his last words, then began to cough violently, with blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.
"Dad!" Nian Huailin's face changed slightly and he quickly pressed the pager next to him.
In less than a minute, several doctors and nurses walked into the ward and began to perform various examinations on the old man.
At this time, the old man had already passed out. If the electrocardiogram instrument connected to the side did not still show a beating, everyone would have thought that he had...
Seeing this scene, Gu Ling knew it was time to leave.
When Xian Jiu next to him heard this, he turned and jumped on Gu Ling's shoulder.
"Uncle Nian, let's go out for now."
Nian Huailin thought about the old man's body and nodded casually: "Okay, okay..."
Gu Linggang was about to call Greedy Ghost, but Greedy Ghost just floated out of the window without saying a word.
Seeing this, Gu Ling quickly chased out with Xianjiu.
…
After leaving the ward, Gu Ling was thinking about where to find the glutton. While waiting for the elevator, he happened to meet Gu Mingsheng coming up in the elevator.
"Second Uncle..." Gu Linggang wanted to say that Greedy Ghost had already recognized Grandpa Nian.
Unexpectedly, Gu Mingsheng spoke first and confused Gu Ling with just one sentence.
"Xiao Ling, we may have found the wrong person."
Gu Ling: "Huh?"
Gu Mingsheng told the information that he had gone out early in the morning and asked his friends at the Pet Beast Guild to investigate:
"The old man's family was well off when he was a child. His parents sent him to the city to study since kindergarten. The Nian family even bought a house in the city. Usually the old man is either in school or living in a house in the city. He only lives in the city during the New Year. During the holidays, I only occasionally go back to my hometown for a few days."
"So judging from the time, it is impossible for the old man to stay on the island for a long time and still make friends with gluttons."
Hearing this, Gu Ling became even more confused.
If the little boy the glutton talks about is not the old man, then why does the old man know about the existence of the glutton? Are you still thinking about finding the glutton?
Moreover, the old man also knew all about the private candy agreement with the glutton.
Gu Mingsheng continued: "Back then, when the old man had a car accident, he did not return to Ping'an Town alone. He was accompanied by another friend of the same age who also came from Ping'an Town."
Friends of the same age? Is your hometown also in Ping'an Town?
Gu Ling felt as if he had learned some kind of truth.
"Second uncle, is Grandpa Nian's good friend the little boy that the glutton really wants to wait for?"
Gu Mingsheng nodded: "It's almost the same."
After receiving Gu Mingsheng's affirmation, Gu Ling's mood suddenly dropped: "That person now..."
"Died in that car accident." Gu Mingsheng sighed slightly.
"After the accident, all the passengers fell into the sea. The old man basically lives in the city, has not had much contact with the sea, and does not know how to swim. But the old man's friend is just the opposite. He is a native of the seaside and has been growing up since childhood. Just know the nature of water.”
"The old man was rescued by his friend."
"After rescuing the old man ashore, the man went to rescue two more people, but in the end he died at sea because he had no strength."
Act bravely and save three people in a row.
Newspapers at the time also highlighted this incident, otherwise Gu Mingsheng might not have been able to find out the cause and effect so quickly after so many years.
Gu Ling couldn't help but guess: "Why did Grandpa Nian lie? Is it because of his friend?"
Gu Mingsheng: "Since the two of them are friends, I think they will mention Greedy Ghost when they get along, so the old man can know some inside information."
As for why he chose to pretend to be his friend...
It is estimated that only the old man himself knows this.
"But..." Gu Ling's expression was complicated.
The old man wanted to hide the fact that the real "little boy" had died long ago, but the ghost beast could see the unique soul aura of each person.
The old man is not a beast master, and he has been confused for decades, so he probably doesn't understand this.
After realizing it, Gu Ling suddenly understood that when the glutton saw the "friend" he had been looking for for a long time in the ward just now, he was not as happy as Gu Ling imagined. Instead, he was full of weirdness.
Originally, Gu Ling thought that the glutton was sad that the old man was about to die...
"Second uncle, I'm going to find the glutton first. If the old man wakes up, help me ask him why he did this."
Seeing another elevator going up to this floor, Gu Ling hurriedly left a few words and took Xianjiu into the elevator.
…
In the ward.
The doctors and nurses were checking the old man's various physical data.
The old man was lying on the bed, thinking about his life in a hazy state of consciousness.
He was not a good son, a good father, a good husband... When his family needed him the most, he had been in a state of confusion for decades and became a burden to everyone.
His parents, his wife... all left this world before him in the past few decades.
The old man murmured in his heart: "Hua Zi... at least I have accomplished something decent."
Now, I can go find you with peace of mind.
The old man felt that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, as if he was being held tightly by an invisible hand, unable to open them.
His tired body seemed to have fallen into the cold deep sea. The water kept rushing towards him. It seemed as if countless tentacles stretched out from the depths of the sea, pulling his hands, feet and body, trying to drag him down completely. …
Just when he was about to give up his struggle, a figure swam towards him and pulled him up to the water.
"Wake up! Guard! Wake up quickly..."
It seemed like someone was slapping him in the face.
When the old man regained some consciousness, he only felt that there was a lot of noise nearby, and various noises were mixed with the sound of police sirens.
There are still many people talking about something...
"It's a pity that I saved three people, but I couldn't come up..."
"Oh, what a pity..."
"..."
There was darkness in front of him, nothing could be seen or touched.
Suddenly, the sound of two people talking could be heard in my ears.
'Shou'an, I'm going back to my hometown with you this year, just in time to visit my friends. '
'Is it that wild pet beast you've been talking about? Maybe it won't be there when you go back, or it may have forgotten you. '
'No, our relationship is strong! I also told it that when I have the opportunity to go to a big city in the future, I will bring it back novel candies with various flavors. '
'Since you two have a good relationship, why don't you go back to find it earlier? Although you are not a beast master and cannot contract pet animals, there was a new adoption policy last year, and ordinary people can now keep pet animals. '
'Harmful! I couldn't take care of it myself before, I was afraid that I couldn't take care of it...'
'That's right. Your parents ran away with a lot of debt, leaving you to work alone to pay back the money. You don't even have time to eat. Have those debt collectors come to see you recently? '
'Stop talking about this, please help me choose which candy is delicious? I haven't been back for so many years. My friend was so angry that I had to buy one that tasted good and take it back to bribe it. '
'Okay, I'll help you choose...'
'...'
drop--
"The patient's various physical data are declining!"
"Get to the emergency room!"
"...Prepare for electrotherapy!"
"..."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It seemed like something was beating slowly.
In memory——
Before the bus crashed into the sea.
The passengers in the car were all panicked.
"...Stop the car quickly! Stop the car quickly!"
"Hahahaha! Are you afraid now? You are a bunch of bastards! Let's go to hell with me!"
Some people tried to open the door and jump out of the car, some tried to persuade the driver to calm down, and some directly grabbed the steering wheel...
Nian Shou'an had a smooth life since he was a child, and the people and things he met around him were harmonious and beautiful. This was the first time he encountered such an unexpected situation, and his whole mind went blank.
At this moment, the man next to Nian Shouan's seat suddenly said: "...Shou'an, if you are a brother, please do me a favor."
"If I can't go back this time, you can go to the island to find it for me."
"Anyway, we haven't seen each other for so many years, and it doesn't recognize what I look like. Just pretend it's me, hand the gift to it for me, and say 'I'm sorry' for me..."
What?
Nian Shouan didn't react. The next second he saw the person next to him pick up a fire hammer and smash the glass of the car.
"...come here quickly!"
But before the two of them could jump out of the car to escape, the whole car fell directly from the bridge...
…
In the hospital.
After Gu Ling went downstairs, he walked around but couldn't find any sign of the glutton.
"By the way, Greedy is still wearing a suppressor!"
The pet beast suppressor has a positioning function. Gu Ling quickly took out his phone and checked the current location of the gluttonous ghost.
"……found it."
On his way to find the glutton, Gu Ling stopped in his tracks when he saw a little girl in hospital clothes holding her mother's hand to buy snacks from the canteen.
Then he turned around and went to the canteen, paid for a can of candies with shiny sugar coating, and then went to find the glutton.
The glutton floated to the small square next to the hospital and sat alone on a bench, with his head lowered and staring at the ground unhappily.
Suddenly, a jar of shiny candies appeared in the glutton's sight.
"...Jie?"
(End of chapter)
