TEFSCBSS Chapter 126

Chapter 126: The Haunted Lady Painting (Part 3)

Just as everyone was discussing the strange events, saying they were heading out to capture Liu the Butcher, someone turned back—and saw a flash of light as the Lady Painting disappeared.

No one had ever seen or heard of such a bizarre occurrence. Now, everyone was starting to believe it might really be something supernatural.

Right at that moment, Player Eight arrived with a group of monks, including Master Wuzhen and Wufei.

It turned out the monks from Jingang Temple had taken on a spiritual cleansing ritual at a wealthy patron’s house. Wuzhen and the others were preparing for it, which explained why they hadn’t been around for the last few days. Luckily, they still had a bit of time to come take a look at this supposedly haunted painting.

Player Eight pushed through the crowd, waving to Wuzhen. “Master! This is the haunted Lady Painting I told you about!”

But Wuzhen just looked puzzled. “What Lady Painting?”

Player Eight blinked. He turned around and saw that the painting was now just a blank scroll hanging on the wall.

Assuming the others had taken it down for safekeeping, he rushed over to the main group. “Come on, bring it out! I brought the master monk!”

“Uh… it’s gone.”

Player Eight looked confused, and the surrounding crowd immediately jumped in to explain what had just happened.

Wufei’s eyes widened. Does this kind of thing actually happen?

He had grown up at Jingang Temple and had been on several ghost-catching missions before. But in all of them, the so-called “ghosts” had turned out to be misunderstandings—people with frayed nerves or troublemakers playing tricks.

This was the first time he’d heard of something vanishing into thin air.

Thankfully, Wuzhen remained calm. “Amitabha. Everyone, please remain calm. Let us first examine this scroll.”

What poise! What composure! No wonder he was the head monk of Jingang Temple and the only one who could keep Wufei in line.

Without paying attention to the others, Wuzhen stepped over the bloody footprints on the floor and carefully examined the scroll.

Hmm… It looked just like an ordinary scroll.

But…

He thought he noticed a few scorch marks on the surface.

He boldly reached out, touching the scroll as the crowd held their breath. Then he raised his hand to his nose and sniffed it.

The scent was… familiar.

The scroll had been coated with a special fire-resistant substance—something commonly used in temple rituals to protect sacred items from burning. This type of material was often employed in… well, let’s say, persuasive spiritual ceremonies.

He explained his findings to the others, and Player Five stepped forward to examine the scroll more closely.

“So, it’s not haunted? This was someone’s doing?” he asked.

Wang Bokao was skeptical. “Wait, you’re saying someone coated the scroll with fire-resistant material, stuck the Lady Painting on top, and then burned it when no one was looking?”

Player Two nodded. “That seems to be the case.”

Wang Bokao wasn’t convinced. “But that painting was huge! You can’t just burn something that size instantly.”

“We all saw it—it disappeared in a flash! Like—whoosh, and it was gone!”

“When I burn paper at home, it takes a while, and there’s always a smoky smell. That painting was way bigger. How could it vanish without a trace or even a puff of smoke?”

The crowd nodded along. They agreed—it didn’t seem manmade.

With public support behind him, Wang Bokao grew bolder and more smug.

“Also, if we say it was someone’s doing, that means whoever was here in the bookstore just now might be the arsonist?”

“This is a public place—who’d have the skill to pull that off right under everyone’s noses?”

“Would the culprit seriously stick with us like this, solving clues together, hiding in plain sight?”

To be fair, Wang Bokao did make some decent points.

“Exactly,” someone chimed in. “We’re just regular bystanders. How could we pull something like that off?”

“And we were all walking around together. If someone had tried to start a fire, wouldn’t we have noticed?”

“Did any of you see anyone pull out a fire-starter?”

“Nope.”

“Did anyone notice anyone acting suspicious?”

“Nope.”

Everyone chattered at once, backing Wang Bokao’s reasoning.

Wang Bokao gave a smug little smile, fanning himself and returning to Han Yueyi’s side like a victorious general. “See that? Who’s the smooth talker now?”

Player Five and the others had no solid evidence to refute him. They fell into thoughtful silence.

This culprit was no ordinary trickster. Their skills in illusion and deception were practically masterful.

While the investigation group mulled things over, the bookstore owner was beside himself with worry, torn between fearing his store was truly haunted and fretting over his missing nephew.

He cried and wailed, clinging to Wuzhen’s robes, nearly kneeling in front of him, begging the monks to exorcise the evil spirits and help him find Zhao Xiaogou—dead or alive.

Player Five’s mouth twitched. He’d always thought monks were supposed to be all about compassion and humility. But now it seemed Wufei’s greediness wasn’t an anomaly—Wuzhen had probably taught him well.

Before they even figured out if this was a ghost or a prank, they were already selling exorcism services—and all the ritual supplies had to be purchased from Jingang Temple. Each item is pricier than the last.

At this rate, the temple might not need to take another commission for six months.

Shady. Very shady.

Wuzhen, unaware of Player Five’s thoughts, would’ve probably just responded, “Everything is voluntary, my friend. This is all about fate with Buddha. You’re too fixated on the form.”

While the monks performed their noisy rituals and some searched for more clues, back in the script shop, tension was high.

Chunya’s eyes were red with anxiety. “Have you seen the boss?”

Zhao Si wiped the sweat from his brow. “Nope, haven’t seen her at all.”

“She’s not in the little coffin room? It’s already past lunch—she should’ve come out to eat by now.”

“Maybe she went out to watch the commotion?”

“No way. I was guarding the door. If she’d left, I would’ve seen her.”

“So what do we do now? She couldn’t have just vanished!”

Zhao Si gritted his teeth. “Alright, go get those contestants back here. Tell them the boss is missing!”

“I’ll stay here. No matter what ghost or demon shows up, no one’s getting through this door until you return!”

Working at the script shop had taught him well—rule number one was to protect the scene.

Chunya nodded fiercely and ran out, wiping away tears as she went.

Boss, please don’t let anything happen to you!

So, where was Su Li?

She was staring silently at the tightly bound Liu the Butcher, lost in thought.

Had she been kidnapped by the killer?

Liu the Butcher: “Boss! Miss Su! Lady! Ma’am! Why are you just staring off into space? Come untie me!”

Also, why am I all tied up like a dumpling, and you’re lounging on a cozy little bed? You’ve been napping for hours!

What’s with this double standard?!

Waaahhh… I just want to cry…