"Hmph, don't always act like you know me so well. I haven't been here long either!"
Outside the door, Lin Zhitong, a persistent nuisance, gracefully entered the dormitory.
Seeing Zhou Mingyuan's bloody and mangled corpse on the ground, Lin Zhitong was slightly surprised. "Who is he?"
"He's Zhou Mingyuan, a disciple expelled from your Lushan Sect many years ago. He was the mysterious attacker that day, one of Dong Ye's accomplices," Yan Shouyi explained.
Long Feicheng asked, "Sister-in-law, aren't you afraid of dead people?"
"What's there to be afraid of about dead people? I'm not even afraid of ghosts," Lin Zhitong replied, closing the door with a click. "The Lushan Sect often deals with the deceased, so we're quite used to it."
Hearing this, Long Feicheng felt a pang of disappointment. It turned out that he was the most timid one.
The clown was himself!
Yan Shouyi and Long Feicheng quickly bound the unconscious Brother Wei.
Then, Long Feicheng went to make a phone call, while Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong went to Zhou Mingyuan's body.
The two fell silent for a moment, staring at each other.
"Hurry up and get to work. What are you looking at me for?" Yan Shouyi asked.
Lin Zhitong said resentfully, "Was it very dangerous just now? You should have let me be with you."
"It was dangerous, that's why I didn't let you come," Yan Shouyi said, annoyed.
"Admit it, you care about me."
"No, it's just that if something happened to a dignified young lady like you from the Lin family, it would be hard for me to explain."
"Hmph, you're just saying the opposite of what you mean! Don't call yourself Yan Shouyi anymore, call yourself Yan Xinfei!"
"..."
Long Feicheng helplessly reminded them, "Can you two stop flirting in front of a corpse? I've already finished my call, and you haven't even started. Are we going to wait until dawn?"
Yan Shouyi coughed awkwardly and gestured to Lin Zhitong with his eyes to get moving.
Lin Zhitong rolled her eyes at him, then sat down cross-legged and gently shook the soul-summoning bell on her wrist.
*Ding-ling!*
With the first ring, stray souls depart with the wind.
*Ding-ling!*
With the second ring, passing travelers must not linger.
*Ding-ling!*
With the third ring, the deceased hear the command and return swiftly!
Lin Zhitong closed her eyes, her breathing gradually steadying as if she had fallen asleep.
Zhou Mingyuan's corpse lay unmoving before her, the scene quite eerie.
Yan Shouyi sat on a nearby bed frame, waiting patiently.
Long Feicheng couldn't help but ask, "Brother Yan, what is Sister-in-law doing?"
"Summoning souls."
"Then where are the souls?"
"Neither you nor I can see them. This is a spell from their Lushan Sect," Yan Shouyi said. "Zhou Mingyuan just died, his seventh day hasn't even passed, and his soul hasn't fully formed. That's why we can't see anything. To ask him questions, we have to let Zhitong do it."
Long Feicheng nodded as if he understood. He realized that what he had learned from Chen Dawei was barely even the surface.
While Lin Zhitong was summoning the soul and questioning, Yan Shouyi gave Long Feicheng a brief lecture:
"Longhu Mountain excels at using talismans to suppress ghosts, and Maoshan specializes in exorcising demons with magical artifacts. Besides these two major schools, other renowned Daoist sects include Southern Kunlun and Northern Chumashan, Western Wuhou and Eastern Lushan. The Wuhou and Lushan Sects are not as famous as Longhu and Maoshan but are still considered first-class sects. The Wuhou Sect is descended from Zhuge Liang and specializes in the art of Qimen Dunjia. The founder of the Lushan Sect is Xu Xun, the Nine Lords of Lushan. Their magic combines witchcraft and underworld rituals, excelling at using ghosts to control ghosts."
"Other sects, such as the 'Corpse Driving,' 'Gu Poisoning,' and 'Cave Woman of Fallen Flowers,' known as the 'Three Evils of Xiangxi,' each have their own formidable strengths. Their ultimate skills are beyond the reach of even first-class sects, but due to various limitations, their development has not matched that of the top sects."
Long Feicheng meticulously absorbed this knowledge, almost reaching for a notebook to write it down.
At this moment, Lin Zhitong opened her eyes, stretched, and said,
"I've found out. His altar is in an abandoned factory outside the northern third ring road of Rongcheng."
"Thank you for your hard work. Did he give you any trouble?" Yan Shouyi asked.
Lin Zhitong shook her head. "He knew I was a disciple of the Lushan Sect and didn't trouble me. He told me everything truthfully... Speaking of which, it's strange, why didn't he resist at all?"
Yan Shouyi was silent for a moment.
It seemed that this Zhou Mingyuan truly took pride in Lushan.
His fawning over the Bai family was genuine, as he truly wanted to return to the Lushan Sect and continue being a Daoist priest there with legitimacy.
Unfortunately, he used the wrong method and fell into Yan Shouyi's hands.
Looking at the mess before them, Yan Shouyi frowned and said, "Although Officer Xia Zhi believes us, we might still run into a lot of trouble. Zhitong, can your family help resolve this? I'm in a hurry to find Zhou Mingyuan's altar and can't afford to be delayed too long."
Even if Zhou Mingyuan hadn't handed over Chen Dawei's soul to the Bai family yet, those residual souls wouldn't last much longer. If Yan Shouyi and the others were taken for questioning, Chen Dawei's residual souls might disappear directly.
Lin Zhitong nodded. "Don't worry. After all, you have nothing to do with Zhou Mingyuan's death. Besides, even if we told the truth, no one would believe us except Officer Xia Zhi. In the end, this matter still needs to be resolved through connections."
"It's good that you understand," Yan Shouyi said with a smile, revealing his white teeth.
"But there's still one more person we haven't dealt with," Long Feicheng said, pointing at the female ghost.
The culprit behind this tragedy, the big star Dong Xi, was still scheduled to give a live speech tomorrow.
A murderer could openly become an idol.
Long Feicheng could not accept this injustice.
Yan Shouyi said, "Don't worry, he can't escape. There will be a good show tomorrow."
...
In the dimly lit interrogation room, Tang Hongkai sat on the cold interrogation chair.
Before him, the bright lights made it impossible for him to see the faces of the police officers interrogating him.
"Tang Hongkai, this is our final warning: confess and be lenient, resist and be severe. The nature of your case is extremely serious. If you continue to deliberately conceal the facts, the consequences will be beyond your ability to bear!"
Facing their questioning, Tang Hongkai merely sneered, showing no intention of confessing.
At this moment, one of the police officers received a phone call. After a brief conversation, the officer said to Tang Hongkai,
"My colleagues just called and mentioned two names: Liu Weiwu and Zhou Mingyuan."
Tang Hongkai's smile visibly froze.
"After our colleagues' in-depth investigation, Liu Weiwu, realizing his scheme was exposed, killed Zhou Mingyuan with a homemade explosive device. He was subsequently apprehended by helpful citizens and has now been handed over to our colleagues. Tang Hongkai, this is your last chance. If you still refuse to speak, we won't be able to help you anymore."
Tang Hongkai lowered his head, remaining silent for a long time, his expression shifting constantly as if he were engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
Finally, he slammed the table, his clenched fists gradually relaxing.
He sighed and said, "Back then, Huang Song reported Wan Ninghong for pocketing kickbacks during the construction of the playground. I was also involved in this matter. Wan Ninghong threatened me with this, forcing me to find someone to eliminate Huang Song..."
The police officers sitting opposite Tang Hongkai were visibly stunned.
Wan Ninghong?
Isn't that the principal of Shanghang Art School?!
The target of Huang Song's report back then was not Tang Hongkai, but Wan Ninghong!
The mastermind behind the entire affair was none other than Wan Ninghong!!