"Huh? Why? How did you know?"

Luo Tianhe looked puzzled, wondering where my confidence came from.

Sure enough, just as Li Huai's eyes bulged and he was about to suffocate, he suddenly fell to the ground.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? Li Huai is a scapegoat!"

"scapegoat?!"

Luo Tianhe's eyes widened. He wasn't stupid; with my prompting, he instantly connected the clues.

"You mean, the souls of this family are trapped here, never to be reincarnated, so they're looking for a good substitute to be reborn into, and Li Huai is that substitute?"

I nodded.

"But there are still many parts that don't make sense!"

Luo Tianhe was getting a little frantic.

Instead of explaining to him, I was thinking about a problem.

Why is Li Huai called "Li Huai"?

Li Huai rolled around on the ground several times in a disheveled state, then sat up, breathing heavily, relieved to have survived the ordeal.

"You are very smart."

The agent ignored Li Huai and looked at me with a hint of wariness in his eyes.

"I have no intention of harming either of you. You may leave now, and I promise I will not stop you in any way!"

Before I could even speak, Luo Tianhe started cursing:

"Go to hell! Do you think I'm the kind of person who abandons my friends and runs away for my own life?"

The agent ignored Luo Tianhe's insults and looked at me, waiting for my answer.

Li Huai didn't beg me not to give up on him, even though he was very scared and wanted to live. He didn't want to be the scapegoat the intermediary had mentioned!

I remained silent for a moment.

"Luo Tianhe's meaning is my meaning."

Upon hearing this, Li Huai's heart, which had been in his throat, immediately settled back into his stomach.

The agent then spoke aggressively:

"You choose the path to heaven but refuse to take it, while barging into the gates of hell when there are none!"

“My grandfather once told me that it’s not only ghosts that don’t have shadows.”

"Some people who have experienced serious illness or fright, to the point that their soul has left their body and has not returned, are also unable to project their shadows."

"For example, you shouldn't be dead, right? It's just that you've refined your soul into a ghost that you can command."

I spoke slowly.

"So what if I am? I didn't kill anyone or steal their soul. Is refining my own soul any of your business?"

The agent did not deny it; instead, he openly admitted it.

I found it strange. Soul refining is an evil art, and almost all those who practice this evil art kill people and steal their souls!

Although one can refine one's own soul, firstly, its destructive power is far less than that of other people's resentful souls, and secondly, the pain of refining a soul is said to be comparable to the eighteen punishments of hell!

Most people simply couldn't stand it!

Unless, of course, he's a good person! Someone who can't bear to torment another's soul!

But would a good person make the innocent Li Huai a scapegoat?

"I advise you not to lay a hand on us."

Since this guy isn't a ghost, he's much easier to deal with.

I took out the Mitsubishi antique needle and the specially made negative thread.

The sutures used for normal mortise and tenon stitches are made from hemp grown in shady areas.

My specially made suture is made by soaking virgin hair, black cat whiskers, and corpse oil extracted from coffin wood. It cannot be sewn up on ordinary corpses; it is specially used to sew up the soul.

"If you dare to summon your soul to approach me, believe me, I'll sew your soul into the trees over there, or into the bodies of these dead crows?"

"You are... Second Cobbler! Chen Bazhong's grandson?"

The agent squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, clearly recognizing the Mitsubishi bone needle.

"You know my grandfather?"

I wasn't surprised that he recognized me as a cobbler, but it was surprising that he also knew my grandfather!

I used to naively think that my grandfather was just an ordinary cobbler, but now it seems that my grandfather was really capable. He did so many things and knew so many people without my knowledge!

"Your earth spirit has grown? That kid Chen Bazhong actually succeeded!"

The agent murmured in disbelief.

Hearing the agent refer to my grandfather as "that kid" immediately made me unhappy.

"What qualifications do you have? You're only in your forties or fifties. How dare you call that kid 'kid'? Don't you know how to respect your elders?!"

"Hehe, this is what I looked like fifty years ago when I was refining my seven souls and six spirits. Do you think I have the right to call your grandfather that kid?"

Forty years ago?! My grandfather was only in his thirties back then!

This person looks to be in his forties or fifties, which means that his actual age is probably around eighty or ninety!

I was taken aback, and at the same time, a flash of inspiration struck me, connecting all the previous coincidences and bizarre events. I couldn't help but exclaim:

"Who is the person who bought those fourteen buildings to you?!"

The agent gave me a deep look, then said emphatically:

"He's mine, my own brother!"

Now the cause and effect make sense!

No wonder he wanted Li Huai to be the scapegoat; it turns out that the person was actually his own younger brother!

Luo Tianhe and Li Huai, who were listening to our conversation, suddenly realized what was going on.

Li Huai stood up, his voice filled with resentment:

"Just because you want your brother's family to be free, you want me to be the scapegoat? Why should I be the one to suffer the consequences!"

Because you owe him.

I said silently to myself.

I've just figured everything out, and I understand why "Li Huai" is called "Li Huai"!

As expected, facing Li Huai's accusations, the agent sneered and said, word by word:

"Because this is what you owe me!"

"What nonsense are you spouting! I don't even know you, we've never met before! Do you think you're my dad, that I owe you something? Bah!"

Li Huai immediately flew into a rage and launched into a tirade of insults.

"Have you ever wondered why your name is Li Huai?"

"None of your business! That's the name the dean gave me!"

The agent ignored Li Huai's angry outburst and continued speaking to himself:

"Even though the birth date and time are already considered very unlucky, they still used the character '槐' (huai), which has such a heavy yin energy, as their name."

The agent paused, staring intently at Li Huai:

"Because you're alive just to be this scapegoat!"

Li Huai's expression froze. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stood there, stunned.

Luo Tianhe scratched his head, came up behind me, patted me on the back, and whispered in my ear:

"What's going on? Why can't I understand it all of a sudden?"

"This director is clearly problematic. He probably has some shady dealings with the intermediary. It's likely that the intermediary was the one who got the orphanage to take in Li Huai."

I explained in a low voice that it was indeed a bit bizarre, no wonder Luo Tianhe couldn't react for a moment.

"So, without the intermediary, Li Huai might have died long ago?"

Luo Tianhe then understood what the intermediary meant when he said Li Huai owed him.

"Otherwise what? Do you think a normal person would be willing to adopt a child whose birth chart is so bizarre, with the child having caused the death of their parents at the beginning of their life?"

I countered with a question.

Twenty years ago, things were very different from now; abandoned babies were everywhere!