A clever scheme to deceive the calligraphy and painting demon
Shuyi remained asleep. Shen Zhizhou silently took his father's body to be cremated. The moment he watched his father being put into the crematorium, Shen Zhizhou finally burst into tears, pounding on the glass and repeatedly calling out, "Dad! Dad, look at me again!"
Sheyang couldn't bear it, turned her head away to secretly wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and choked back sobs as she helped Shen Zhizhou up and hugged him. Shen Zhizhou clutched Sheyang's clothes and burst into tears.
When Shen Zhizhou carried the urn and raised the funeral banner, he was already emaciated. Because the Shen family was in the eye of the storm recently, not many people came to mourn and see him off. Apart from Uncle Zheng, there were only a few uncles who had a good relationship with his father. When they saw Shen Zhizhou's appearance, they swallowed back the words they wanted to say, and just patted Shen Zhizhou's shoulder to encourage him to cheer up.
Uncle Zheng pulled Sheyang aside and instructed him, "Keep a close eye on him recently, and make sure nothing happens to him. As for Brother Shen's matter... I can only offer my condolences."
Sheyang glanced at Uncle Zheng, who was holding the urn, and sighed. After seeing Uncle Zheng off, she busied herself with making arrangements for the funeral with Shen Zhizhou.
Shen Zhizhou buried his father and mother together. Looking at the bright smiles on their faces on the tombstone, Shen Zhizhou stroked the photos on the tombstone with his hand, and tears streamed down his face like a torrential rain.
Shen Zhizhou thought that perhaps he would never be able to get over the dampness and heartache of personally sending off his loved ones on this day.
But more important than the current despondency and self-abandonment is...
He wants to find out who the real culprit is.
...
Shen Zhizhou took Sheyang and Shuyi back to his home, where Ji Yao's traces had been erased. Sheyang noticed the problem as soon as he stepped inside and, recalling the recent events, asked Shen Zhizhou with trembling hands.
"Is it Sister Ji?" As soon as the words left her mouth, She Yang shook her head and denied it, "No, it shouldn't be. Sister Ji has always treated you like her own child. She wouldn't do this. She has her reasons. She was framed, right?"
Shen Zhizhou remained silent, simply tucking the blanket around Shuyi's neck and wiping her body. Sheyang, increasingly anxious, grabbed Shen Zhizhou, demanding an explanation: "What the hell happened? You better explain yourself clearly!"
"I know why they killed my mother back then, I know now."
"You know? How do you know? How much do you know?" She Yang was stunned for a second, somewhat incredulous: "So you suspect it's Sister Ji? But at that time she was a retainer of the Shen family, there's no reason for her to do these things..."
Shen Zhizhou ignored She Yang and continued to take care of Shu Yi. He didn't know how to answer She Yang, but Ji Yao's departure might prove everything; at least he had a harbor to escape to temporarily.
Neither Shen Zhizhou nor She Yang had any appetite that night. She Yang was so shocked by Shen Zhizhou's reply that she needed time to recover, while Shen Zhizhou seemed like a machine, unaware of fatigue.
Sitting on the edge of Shuyi's bed, Shen Zhizhou finally dared to reveal some of his true feelings: "I don't know who to believe now. I want to tell Sheyang the truth, but I'm afraid he'll deceive me like Sister Ji did. Today, when Sheyang asked me if Sister Ji had her reasons, I didn't know either. I don't know whether to say I hope she has her reasons or I hope she was just using me from beginning to end, so I can hate her completely..."
Shen Zhizhou took a deep breath, his eyes so sore that he couldn't shed a single tear. Suddenly, he felt his clothes being tugged. Shen Zhizhou quickly turned around and saw Shuyi unconsciously gripping his clothes tightly.
Holding Shuyi's hand in his own, and pressing his face against the back of her hand, Shen Zhizhou began to reminisce about the days when Shuyi would chatter away in his ear.
Perhaps feeling tired, Shen Zhizhou released Shuyi's hand and put it under the covers, then tucked her in, turned off the light, and left.
Shen Zhizhou paused as he passed by Sister Ji's room. He heard some noise inside and guessed that Sheyang was searching for answers. Without thinking much of it, he was about to leave when he heard a monster's inner voice.
"Where is it? Where is it at all?"
Shen Zhizhou gripped the doorknob, opened the door, and rushed inside. He immediately saw the curtains billowing in the wind, Ji Yao's room ransacked, and the windows wide open, indicating she had escaped through one of them.
Shen Zhizhou searched the room for any signs of monsters but found nothing. Amidst the mess, he found the birthday gift box his father had given to Ji Yao.
There were many, piled up like a small mountain.
Now they're all scattered on the floor.
Shen Zhizhou walked over, picked up the box, and smelled it. He frowned slightly, as he seemed to detect a trace of cinnabar in the tonic herbs.
However, the scent was faint, and Shen Zhizhou couldn't be sure. He had no choice but to put a wooden box in his pocket and wait for Shuyi to wake up so she could smell it and search the room. Since nothing had been taken away, Shen Zhizhou covered the room with talismans to prevent the monster from invading again.
After dealing with everything, Shen Zhizhou locked Ji Yao's room, turned around and knocked on the guest room door. She Yang, wearing a bathrobe and drying the water from her hair with a towel, opened the door: "What's wrong?"
Shen Zhizhou glanced at her and said, "I've locked Sister Ji's room. Don't go in for now."
She Yang said "Oh" and continued drying her hair. Shen Zhizhou reminded her, "Remember to dry your hair before you sleep, otherwise you'll have a headache the next day."
Back in his room, Shen Zhizhou couldn't sleep. For some reason, he remembered the box hidden under the study floor. He got up and went to the study. After confirming that there was no trace of any demonic presence in the house, he tiptoed and closed the study door.
After prying open the floorboards, he took out the box and began to study it. He even carefully examined the mortise and tenon structure and the inside of the keyhole. He tried to open it with a key using the iron sheet, but it was still impossible.
The keyhole even swallowed a piece of metal, leaving Shen Zhizhou at a loss for what to do.
Having not eaten for a long time and under mental stress, Shen Zhizhou felt dizzy and his vision blurred. Suddenly, he felt some liquid dripping onto his hand and looked down.
I discovered that I had a nosebleed.
Shen Zhizhou frantically searched for tissues to wipe the blood off the box, which dripped onto the box, making the mother-of-pearl inlay on the wooden surface even more dazzling. In the silence, he heard a faint click from the keyhole.
He put his ear close to the keyhole, but heard no sound. It seemed like Shen Zhizhou's imagination, but he trusted his sixth sense.
So Shen Zhizhou cut his finger with a piece of iron and smeared the blood on the mother-of-pearl inlay and keyhole. After a while, the mother-of-pearl on the surface of the wooden box seemed to come alive and arranged itself on the box, and finally a creaking sound was heard.
The wooden box was opened.
Shen Zhizhou stared blankly at the gleaming scale in the wooden box, then took it out and examined it against the moonlight. The palm-sized scale shimmered with iridescent light under the moonlight, and its sharp edges could easily cut through human skin, proving its hardness and sharpness.
Shen Zhizhou examined the scales in ancient books for a long time before discovering that they were scales from a dragon that had failed to ascend and transform. This particular scale must have been left behind after it molted and transformed.
But why would the mother carefully preserve this scale in such a hidden place, and why would it require her own blood to open it?
Shen Zhizhou felt as if he had stumbled upon some earth-shattering conspiracy, and his mother... was silenced precisely because she discovered the truth.
So what really happened back then?
Shen Zhizhou had a splitting headache. He sat on a futon, clutching his head and panting heavily. Blood kept flowing from his nose and wouldn't stop. Shen Zhizhou then lay sprawled on the floor, deep in thought.
The matter of the demons must be asked of the demons themselves to find out the truth. It is likely that the painting and calligraphy demon knows some inside information. However, the black-robed demon is now searching everywhere for the painting and calligraphy demon. Although he has sealed him in his home, once the seal is broken, he will probably come knocking on the door immediately.
Shen Zhizhou's dark eyes flashed with a cold light. He wanted them to come knocking on his door and reveal more clues so that he could find the mastermind behind it all.
He stuffed his nose with a tissue, put everything into his Qiankun bag, tidied up the study again, and went to Shuyi's room, wanting to see Shuyi one last time.
But to his surprise, Shu Yi was not on the bed. This startled Shen Zhizhou, who searched the room for her.
"Don't bother looking, I'm here." Shu Yi gulped down a large glass of water, wiped the water from her mouth, and squatted on the table in her original form as the Treasure-Spitting Rat.
Shen Zhizhou ran over and saw a tiny Shuyi standing on the table. He gently poked the body, which had become somewhat thin due to his recent coma, with his finger.
"Although I'm awake, I can't transform into human form, and I don't know how long I'll have to show my true form..."
Good news, Shuyi has woken up.
The bad news is, I can't turn back into a human.
Shen Zhizhou thought that as long as he woke up, that would be fine. He clasped his hands together, palms facing up, and carefully picked up Shuyi. Shen Zhizhou's eyes welled up with tears, and his nose felt stuffy.
Shuyi communicated with Shen Zhizhou telepathically, reaching out a paw to touch Shen Zhizhou's cheek and saying, "What's wrong? Did something upset you?"
Shen Zhizhou always liked to use a joking and laughing face to cover up his true feelings. He wouldn't be so sad if he hadn't really encountered something.
"Dad is gone...Mom, I think I've found out the truth about Mom's death..."
Shu Yi was stunned. She really hadn't expected that so much had happened during her coma. And Shen Zhizhou was facing so much alone; was he also suffering inside...?
Looking at Shen Zhizhou, their eyes were filled with unbearable heartache, and the two little bitter gourds huddled together.
"Since we have no way out, let's risk everything to find the real culprit and take revenge!"
After discussing it with Shen Zhizhou, Shu Yi and Shen Zhizhou began to act. They first covered Shen Zhizhou's room with talismans, and only after confirming that the talismans were effective did they lift the seal and release the painting and calligraphy demon.
Shen Zhizhou took out the scale from his Qiankun bag and held it up in front of the painting demon. The painting demon's expression changed drastically upon seeing the scale, and it dared not approach.
Shuyi and Shen Zhizhou exchanged a glance.
Sure enough, the painting demon did know about the scale.
"To be honest, you know... he's been looking for you."
The calligraphy and painting demon swallowed hard, pointed at the scale, and said in a panic, "Tell me first, where did you get this scale from!"
A moment later, as if realizing something, the Book and Painting Demon cursed at Shen Zhizhou: "You lied to me all along, trying to drag me onto your pirate ship, didn't you? If you wanted to know everything, you could only find a breakthrough through me. Snake Lao wasn't looking for me at all, was he!"
"So the owner of this scale is called Snake Man..."
Shen Zhizhou looked at the scales, repeating the name that the painting demon had just blurted out in a fit of anger.
The calligraphy and painting demon's face turned deathly pale.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com