Chapter 12 The Actual Situation Reconstructed

"Are you planning to summon the soul of the paper shop owner?" Ding Kan asked, looking at the paper replica of the shop that was gradually taking shape.

"No, I can't summon his soul. The Half-Fox is a demigod. It can kill people and ghosts. If I summon the paper shop owner's soul now, it will immediately dissipate. Since they want to cut off my leads, they'll definitely erase everything."

"Then what are you planning to do?"

"Reconstruct the actual situation," I said, word by word.

"Holy shit, are you tired of living?" Ding Kan cursed directly.

Ding Kan's reaction was normal; this was indeed a way to shorten one's life.

I was going to use術法 (Shu Fa, incantation) to replay what happened in this shop, performing a spell more powerful than any surveillance camera.

Surveillance cameras can only capture one angle, but this spell could reconstruct the scene in 360 degrees.

The price was that I would lose at least ten years of my life. If the scene involved a practitioner of great power, I could turn into a senile old man after just one ritual.

"There's no choice. The opponent is too strong. If I insist on using ordinary methods of investigation, more people will die because of this. Rather than implicate so many innocent people and burden myself with karma, I'd rather contribute ten years of my life."

"Even if you're willing to sacrifice your lifespan, you'll probably only be able to reconstruct one day, right? How do you know which day holds the key information? Maybe what happened in this shop isn't important at all. You'll just be wasting your time, taking a few extra steps towards the grave."

"Since I dare to gamble my lifespan, I'm naturally confident that it won't be wasted. They think they've achieved perfection, but they don't know that they've already left clues in the shop. They're destined to lose this game. Even if that thing really is half-fox, half-god, I'll kick her off her divine throne. Trying to play me was the worst decision she's ever made." I said with a smile, my eyes full of determination, acting like I was already in control of the situation.

Even Ding Kan thought that I must have been absolutely certain to dare to play this kind of "heroic sacrifice" reconstruction. Once I saw what happened in the shop that day, I would not only know who was manipulating everything, but I would also have a ninety percent chance of dealing with them.

The illusion I was trapped in yesterday was indeed magical. However, such a magical place, blessed by the heavens, would definitely not actively seize the soul of a living person. If the master of that illusion really wanted to take me, Ding Kan wouldn't have been able to pull me back.

It was the White Fox who dragged me in using the Fox Ancestor's 法咒 (Fa Zhou, incantation); they wanted me dead, but they didn't want to be tainted by the karma, so they went through so many twists and turns, tampering with the paper.

I'm not exactly someone with an extremely noble destiny, but my family still has that person in the ice, who is also a remarkable figure, involving a lot of karma. They didn't dare to kill me directly, so they could only use a knife from someone else, trying to trap me to death in that illusion.

Originally, I wasn't sure if there were any clues at the paper shop owner's place, but these people, who were originally acting in a low-key manner, actually killed his entire family to cut off the clues. So, even if there were no clues in that shop, it became a clue, or at least, they thought there were clues there.

"Good luck," Ding Kan patted me on the shoulder and went upstairs again.

"Thanks, I'll definitely have good luck."

I placed the paper shop and all the furniture inside it, and then picked up my scissors to start cutting out paper figures.

One, two, three… I cut the paper figures very slowly. Each time I finished one, I placed it in the paper shop.

The paper figures were cut very simply, without even facial features, but as soon as a paper figure was placed in the shop, it could immediately find its position, as if it had always lived there.

"Little brother, you're the owner of this shop, right? You help people with their problems, don't you?"

A young girl of about eighteen or nineteen walked into my shop, stood in front of the counter, and leaned forward to look at me, who was cutting paper figures in the back.

Here she comes, finally here. It seems my act wasn't in vain. Spending so much time with Ding Kan has turned me into a good actor.

"I'm sorry, I'm busy today and can't take any business for the time being. Please come back another day," I said, suppressing the joy in my heart and putting on a rejecting attitude.

"But the shop's door is clearly open," the girl said, unwilling to give up.

"No, my shop's door is closed. You just pushed it open." I still didn't intend to take the girl's request.

"You clearly have a sign saying 'Open for Business'. Don't think I don't know, funeral shops are different from other shops; they operate with the doors closed. 'Open for Business' means 'Open for Business'. Don't lie to me."

As she spoke, the girl threw my "Open for Business" sign in.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to take the sign in. I really have something to do right now. If you can wait, wait until I finish. If you can't wait, please move to another shop and try your luck."

"No, only you can solve my problem. I can't go to anyone else. I can only find you," the girl said, her voice already cracking.

"Why?" I asked casually without even looking up.

"You'll know when you go."

"If you don't tell me, why should I go?"

"I don't want you to waste ten years of your life. I want to save you, don't you understand?" The girl seemed to finally break down. She suddenly opened her arms and hugged me tightly, so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

"Please, if you're not planning to strangle me to death, I think it would be better if you let go."

"Uh?" The girl looked embarrassed and sheepishly let go.

"Okay, tell me, what do you want from me?" Only then did I put the paper figure in my hand aside, making a gesture to listen to her.

"The White Fox is back. It wants to kill you," the girl said.

"And then?"

"I know where the White Fox is. You just need to come with me. There's no need for you to waste your lifespan on divination," the girl said.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"I, I have no reason to lie to you, right?" the girl said.

"But you have no reason to help me either. Unless you're afraid that I'll figure out something you don't want me to know."

"I need your help. My grandfather's soul has been taken away, taken to a mysterious place. You're the only one who can come back from there. I need you to help me bring my grandfather back. If you waste this life energy, you'll become a useless old man and won't be able to help me at all. Is that reason enough?"