SES Chapter 188 Part 2

Then he muttered to himself, “That doesn’t make sense. Modern science is so much more advanced. Why would ancient people know something we don’t?”

The Mystic shot him a cold glance. “Not necessarily. Many things ancient people knew have been lost over time. Guiguzi’s astronomical calculations and divination, Zhuge Liang’s wooden oxen and flowing horses, Lu Ban’s flying wooden birds—and overseas, how were the pyramids built? How was Stonehenge erected?”

Cao Yanhua shrank back and fell silent.

Luo Ren murmured, “If ancient people truly understood that the Big Dipper had an ominous influence on Earth, then the seven points where the murder slips are distributed could be seen as seven corresponding receivers. And the series of murders occurring around those points is like triggering or completing some kind of mechanism…”

He suddenly looked up. “Yafeng once mentioned the number seven-seven. The murder slips forming a Big-Dipper-like pattern is one ‘seven.’ A murder occurring at a specific point is another ‘seven.’ Leopard’s ancestors completed this entire sequence. Is it possible that after completing it, something about them changed?”

He remembered how Yafeng had answered their questions before, cryptic and suggestive.

“Many people in Cao Family Village are different.”

“How are they different?”

“Different from birth.”

“What about you?”

“I’m evil at heart.”

And that line: “In the end, you’ll become just like us. We’re all the same.”

They must have been able to change in some way. Otherwise, how could she say, you’ll eventually be like us?

In the silence, Yan Hongsha suddenly said, “Leopard’s ancestor was activated.”

Everyone looked at her.

She stammered, “No—no, not fully. Partially activated.”

She’d always been the brainless one, and blurting this out made her unsure of herself.

But the Mystic was intrigued. “Go on.”

Yan Hongsha fumbled. “I—I’m just guessing. It feels like every murder slip comes with a murder. Maybe once the slips are in place, they require bloodshed to activate. After seven cases, it’s like beep—the light turns on. If all the murder slips complete seven cases, then beep beep beep—all the lights turn on.”

She rambled, her face flushing red, convinced her words made no sense and that they’d laugh at her.

But strangely, no one did.

After a moment, Luo Ren said, “That’s not wrong.”

The Mystic nodded as well. “In Yin Erma’s letter, there’s a line about ‘the seven stars shining long.’ Could that mean that once the murder slips are in place, the corresponding stars light up, and as murders keep happening, the seven stars ‘shine continuously? At that point, the seven keys must be…”

He glanced at the wooden pieces in his hand. “The seven keys must be sent to Guansi Pailou—to find someone to stop it…”

Everything suddenly clicked for Luo Ren. “Wan Fenghuo found out that after the Seven-Person Pond incident in Leopard’s ancestor’s hometown, four or five outsiders showed up and dragged her ancestor out. Those outsiders…”

The Mystic cut in, “They were sent by Guansi Pailou!”

No one spoke. An uncanny feeling circulated through the room.

Yes. The Mystic’s initial guess had been right—everything was connected.

Yin Erma’s role was like an advanced lookout. He observed. When the murder slips moved chaotically, there was no disturbance at the Bagua Observatory. But once all seven murder slips were in place, the seven stars would “begin to shine,” and if no one intervened, they would “shine continuously.”

At that dangerous moment, his task was to find a way to send the seven keys to “Guansi Pailou beneath the Yunling Mountains.”

And inside Guansi Pailou, someone must have been waiting to receive the keys. What the keys unlocked might be a secret, or a method. After that, people would be dispatched across the land to subdue the murder slips.

An unknown but long-running, carefully designed cycle—operating in the shadows.

Luo Ren murmured, “The master of Guansi Pailou is Plum Blossom Ninth Lady. She intended to pass her legacy on to Mu Dai. The secrets of that sect—not even Zheng Mingshan knows them.”

“That night, she summoned Mu Dai…”

“Mu Dai is the successor of Guansi Pailou.”

If that night’s transmission had gone smoothly, Mu Dai might already possess part of the secret. Now the keys were with them, and the secrets to be unlocked were with Mu Dai. If the two sides could reunite, the long-standing mystery of the murder slips might finally be revealed.

So where was Mu Dai now?

Leopard stood face to face with Mu Dai.

She gazed at her inscrutably, as though looking into a mirror.

The same outfit—black leather jacket, mid-heeled boots. Leopard was even surprised to realize that their height and build were similar.

The special-effects makeup artist she’d hired was smoothing Mu Dai’s hair. Leopard marveled at the power of special-effects makeup. God shaped humans from flesh and bone, but humans possessed hands just as skillful, able to reshape faces again and again—whether with knives or perfectly fitted materials.

Leopard picked up a photo of Luo Ren and slowly held it in front of Mu Dai.

Mu Dai frowned instinctively. The subtle movement and her gaze couldn’t hide her disgust.

“Still not quite right,” Leopard said.

Casually, she grabbed an ice pick from the ice bucket on the coffee table and thrust it straight toward Mu Dai’s right eye—then suddenly stopped. The woman fixing Mu Dai’s hair screamed and shrank back. The tip of the pick nearly touched Mu Dai’s eye. Mu Dai didn’t blink. Her expression remained calm, her clear eyes like a still lake, reflecting the ice pick.

Leopard chuckled to herself. “No, that won’t do. If he sees through you, you’ll still have to fight him. Missing one eye would seriously reduce your combat effectiveness.”

With a clang, she tossed the ice pick back into the bucket.

She asked, “Who am I?”

Mu Dai answered respectfully, “My master.”

“And who is Luo Ren?”

Killing intent surged in Mu Dai’s eyes. “An enemy.”

Leopard smiled, suddenly leaning closer and lowering her voice. “Where exactly are the five-star slips hidden?”

An apology filled Mu Dai’s face. “I really don’t know. Luo Ren hid them.”