TEFSCBSS Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Focused Deduction (Part 3)

“Yeah, I was just there to make up the numbers,” Gu Qing said with a sigh, casting a resentful glance at Zhao Wen. “Originally, Zhao Si didn’t plan to bring so many people. He only took Li Tiezhu because the village chief specifically requested it.”

“But then Zhao Wen kept asking about the supernatural records left by the original owner. He was hoping Zhao Wen would give up, but instead, he ended up running into me—someone desperate to find their parents. He had no choice but to take both me and Zhao Wen along.”

Zhao Wen rubbed his nose, feeling like Gu Qing was subtly pointing at him…

“However, it was precisely Zhao Si’s cautious behavior that tipped off those monks. To prevent him from disrupting their quest for immortality, they colluded with the village chief to kill him. And to avoid raising suspicion, they had someone impersonate Zhao Si.”

“In other words, the Zhao Si we met after leaving the Earth God Temple was already a fake.”

…

After exchanging information, everyone had more or less pieced together the whole picture—the monks’ motives, the background, and the sequence of events.

But…

“Speaking of which, how did Wuzhen die?”

Wang Bokao tapped his chin with his folding fan. Who would have thought that the mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows, the ever-elusive Wuzhen, would end up dead?

Zhao Wen shook his head. “I have no idea. I’ve already told you everything I experienced.”

Wan Niang nodded as well. “Same here. When I stepped out earlier, I only met Cui Yixue. That’s it.”

Everyone turned their gaze to Li Tiezhu, who had been silent the whole time. “What about you? What happened on your end?”

Li Tiezhu furrowed his brows as he recalled his actions. “I didn’t do anything either. I was just with the other villagers, waiting for the ritual to finish.”

“Besides, there were so many villagers around me. If I had moved or done anything suspicious, someone would have noticed.”

The group nodded. That made sense. It was pitch dark; just walking around without tripping was difficult enough, let alone sneaking out to commit murder.

But then, Wang Bokao turned his gaze toward Gu Qing. “While we were lying on the rooftop earlier, I heard some noises from your side. What were you doing?”

Gu Qing looked at Wang Bokao in disbelief. “Wait, aren’t we partners? Are you suspecting me now?”

“Partners are partners, but when it comes to finding the culprit, we can’t mix things up.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, admiring Wang Bokao’s impartial stance. “That’s right, justice above all!”

Gu Qing gritted his teeth. “Fine, fine! Just remember, you were the one who begged me to come along in the first place.”

“What nonsense! Who begged you?”

“Alright then, next time something like this happens, don’t come looking for me.”

“Uh… well… about that…”

But Gu Qing ignored him. He closed his eyes, looking utterly dejected. “It’s nothing. Just something trivial. While we were on the rooftop, I saw someone in the crowd who looked like me, so I went down to take a closer look.”

“I suspected that man might be my father, and the woman beside him might be my mother.”

“Turns out I was right. But they didn’t recognize me at first. It took me a lot of explaining before they finally acknowledged me. Then they pulled me aside and told me to wait for them at home. After the ritual was over, we’d be reunited as a family.”

Everyone was stunned. “Your parents?”

After a brief silence, they remembered that Gu Qing had mentioned his backstory earlier. Realizing this, their suspicion toward him faded.

But then, Gu Qing turned to Wang Bokao. “And what about you?”

“When I was tearfully reuniting with my parents, I saw you climbing down from the rooftop too. What were you up to?”

Wang Bokao leisurely fanned himself. “Me? I was completing my task, of course. I threw the longevity lock into the coffin.”

“Didn’t you all hear that ghostly wail just now? That must have been the female ghost, overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of her child’s longevity lock, crying out in sorrow.”

Wan Niang frowned. “Coffin? What coffin?”

Wang Bokao pointed toward the one in the center of the altar. “That one.”

“The villagers wanted to conduct the ritual to free themselves from the ghost’s torment. If that’s not her coffin, then whose could it be?”

Wan Niang’s expression grew even more peculiar, but after a moment’s thought, she decided to stay silent. After all, she couldn’t very well admit that she had been inside that coffin—otherwise, she’d be caught in a lie, and the suspicion of killing Wuzhen would be impossible to shake off.

Zhao Wen sighed. “Why does it feel like we’ve hit a dead end? There’s no trace of a body either. If we had that, at least we’d know how Wuzhen died.”

Just as he finished speaking, Wufei approached from the distance, his expression dark as he glared at the group.

“Have you found the murderer yet?”

Everyone exchanged glances before collectively shaking their heads.

“Hah! Then that means all of you are the culprits! None of you are leaving—you’re all going to be buried with my senior brother!”

With that, Wufei raised his Demon-Subduing Staff and charged at them, ready to strike. The group quickly scattered—none of them had a weapon to defend themselves.

Seeing Wufei wield his staff with such force and precision, no one dared take a direct hit.

In the blink of an eye, the altar was deserted, and only the sounds of battle echoed into the distance.

“Creak—”

A noise came from the center of the altar.

The coffin lid began to move—slowly, from the inside—until a narrow gap appeared.

A pair of eyes peered out through the crack, scanning the surroundings. Seeing that no one was around, the person inside finally pushed the lid open completely.

“Damn, I am a genius. Hiding in the coffin early on let me hear the whole story.”

Jiang Liang crawled out, rubbing the large bump on his forehead. He clenched the Longevity Lock in his hand, gritting his teeth.

“That bastard Wang Bokao! Did he have to throw it that hard? If this leaves a scar, I’m not letting him off the hook!”

With a huff, he tossed the Longevity Lock aside, carefully put the coffin lid back in place, and stealthily climbed onto a nearby tall building.

“Hmph! I’m done playing with you guys. No idea what Grand Chancellor Su wants Li Tiezhu to do, but my job is to burn down this script shop. Now that there are neither people nor ghosts around, I’d better hurry up, set a fire, and find my way out.”

Jiang Liang scanned the area until his gaze landed on a dark, slightly reflective surface.

“Hmm, that must be the big iron gate.”

Memorizing the direction, he quickly climbed down, grabbed some canvas from around the altar, and arranged it carefully. Then, he pulled out a fire striker from his pocket and started setting everything flammable ablaze.

The tiny flames flickered, creeping toward the large painting in the center. Jiang Liang grinned.

“Heh, this painting is so important in the script—must be where the female ghost is attached. Let’s see how she likes being burned to ash!”

“With no one here, the fire should spread fast. The entire script shop will be up in flames in no time. If I’m lucky, it might even take a couple of people with it. By the time Su Li is left with nowhere to run and gets locked up, Grand Chancellor Su can swoop in as her ‘savior.’ Not only will he bring her back to the chancellor’s manor, but he’ll also destroy her engagement with the Third Prince in one move.”

Jiang Liang smirked.

“Though honestly, I don’t get why the Grand Chancellor is going through all this trouble. If it were me, I’d just kill Su Li outright. Wouldn’t that end the engagement immediately?”

“Maybe this is just how big-shot officials think. Tsk tsk.”

With that, Jiang Liang wasted no more time and dashed toward his escape route, leaving the raging inferno behind him.

…

A few figures emerged from the shadows, looking confused.

A burly man with a thick beard scratched his head and turned to the person beside him. “Xiong Laosan, weren’t we hired by Boss Zhao to start this fire? Who the hell beat us to it?”

The man called Xiong Laosan looked just as bewildered, holding his fire striker in hand. “No idea…”

“So… should we still start the fire or not?”

“Uh… I don’t know…”