Chapter 131 The Storyteller

Ye Yang reached out, retrieved his long sword, and without sparing a glance at the ghost still pinned to the wall, turned and headed towards the stairs.

When Xia Mengying looked back, Du Fei's figure had slowly turned into drifting smoke. At that moment, the ghostly shadow sitting on the air conditioner also disappeared from my sight.

By the time Ye Yang arrived at the Criminal Police Team, the lawyer Lao Liu had sent had already completed the formalities and brought me out.

The first thing I said after getting into the car was, "Was I tricked?"

Ye Yang recounted his encounter with Qiao Gongliang, and I nodded. "That's about what I figured. Xia Xia, it looks like your friend stirred up a hornet's nest."

"Before Shi Qiu gave you the mission, she must have inadvertently revealed her identity, letting Qiao Gongliang know she was a Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren. Qiao Gongliang, being wary, took preemptive measures to set us up."

I lit a cigarette and said, "I saw a foreign short film a few days ago. It was about an old miner who used his quick wit and experience to kill twenty Grim Reapers in a row. He lived twenty years longer because of it. Fighting with death gods to keep living was the old miner's joy in life."

"Qiao Gongliang is that old miner. The Jie Ming Ren are like the Grim Reapers who are trying to drag him down to hell."

"Before, the earthbound spirits in the missions we took on either found out our identities when death was imminent, or they engaged us in close combat. Qiao Gongliang is unique in that he is laying out a plan in advance to fight us."

"This Qiao Gongliang is like a strategist."

"A shenmou guisuan?" Xia Mengying murmured, "Could it be that we've run into a descendant of the shenmou guisuan lineage? That can't be right, the shenmou guisuan should be surnamed Liu!"

Seeing that I didn't quite understand, Xia Mengying explained, "Strategists are divided into three branches: Qiankun Divine Calculation, Quzhi Ghost God, and Shenmou Guisuan. However, people in the arts only know about the Qiankun and Ghost God branches. Very few people know about the third branch."

"The Shenmou Guisuan are the most unique. When alive, the successors of the Shenmou Guisuan can only be considered ordinary strategists. Even the most outstanding are only in the upper-middle ranks. However, they become extremely terrifying after death. It’s no exaggeration to say they are masters of endless tricks, even divine and ghostly schemes."

"After death, the Shenmou Guisuan successors go to two extremes. One type is venerated by people, becoming Mao gods similar to local earth gods or mountain gods. These people have some divinity and are called Divine Calculators."

"The other type dies with resentment and transforms into vengeful ghosts after death. They possess intense yin energy, and their schemes lean toward conspiracies, ruthless plots, and frequent tricks. They are called Ghost Calculators."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but ask, "With such means, why isn't there any legend of the Shenmou Guisuan in the arts?"

Xia Mengying said, "Because the Shenmou Guisuan never acknowledge living people as their master. They either serve ghost kings or hide in the underworld devising plans. There are very few legends of them in the arts."

Xia Mengying added, "However, legend says that the Shenmou Guisuan are all surnamed Liu, and they never change their surnames. This is because the Shenmou Guisuan all claim to be descendants of Liu Bowen."

"Because their ancestor Liu Bowen planned the Ming Dynasty for Zhu Yuanzhang, but died at Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, they do not acknowledge living people as their lord."

"If the legend is true, then Qiao Gongliang can't be from the third branch of strategists."

I was silent for a moment before saying, "Let me think. I need to sort out my thoughts. We have too many clues right now, and they're all jumbled together. Let me think about how to deal with this."

"If we put aside all the smokescreens, then we're looking for a ghost who can tell stories and draw people into them—Qiao Gongliang."

"Looking at it now, Qiao Gongliang isn't afraid of us, but is leading us to find him. If we want to find Qiao Gongliang, we have to get into his chat group. You've already said how to get into the group, but when we came to find the introducer, she turned out to be a trap set for us."

"Looking at it this way, Qiao Gongliang isn't afraid of us finding him, but he won't let us find him easily. Only by solving the clues he left behind can we join his chat group."

I patted Ye Yang's car seat twice and said, "Go to Du Fei's house. I want to see what's going on with my own eyes."

After we entered Du Fei's room for the third time, my gaze immediately fell on the painting. "This painting is a smokescreen deliberately left behind by Qiao Gongliang."

"Look at Du Fei's decorating style. Her preferences lean more towards a modern, minimalist style. Her bookshelf doesn't have ancient poems. It has more foreign classics. It's clear that she's not someone who likes classical literature."

"Also, look at her tableware and tea sets, which are more Western-style. Clearly, she's someone who knows how to enjoy life."

"The painting on the wall is not only out of sync with the overall decor of the room, but the painting is also crude. Even if this painting has important significance to Du Fei, as someone with a refined life, she wouldn't put it in the most conspicuous place where it would be an eyesore."

"If I follow Du Fei's clues, I'll fall into Qiao Gongliang's next trap."

Xia Mengying said, "If we don't investigate Du Fei's clues, how will we find Qiao Gongliang?"