Chapter 38: Retirement Day 38: Today you are my little brother, tomorrow...
Wu Wentao, a seasoned man in the underworld, certainly didn't believe the Taoist's words. Not only did he not believe them, he even spat at his feet as the Taoist finished speaking.
He sneered, "Where did this old liar come from? In this day and age, you still believe in feudal superstitions? My body is as strong as it can be, and I am not going to live long? If I have to die, you will die first."
Wu Wentao popped a cigarette in his mouth, not giving the Taoist priest another glance. He turned and walked away. As he passed through an alley, he caught a glimpse of a middle-aged man hurriedly carrying a bag. He was wearing a formal suit and had his hair styled. At the time, he looked like someone wealthy or employed.
Wu Wentao put out his cigarette, narrowed his eyes, rushed over, and grabbed the briefcase in the middle-aged man's hand.
The man looked up with panic in his eyes. Wu Wentao grinned and exerted force with his muscular arms. The middle-aged man staggered and his fingers loosened without paying attention, and the briefcase fell into Wu Wentao's hands.
After snatching the property, Wu Wentao turned around and ran away.
He was very skilled at robbing people of their money, and because he had been active in the area for a long time, he knew the terrain very well. But just when Wu Wentao thought he could make another fortune gambling, he was hit by a car that suddenly rushed out.
As he soared into the air, Wu Wentao didn't react at all, even a bit dazed. But as his body freely fell to the ground with a thud, he broke several ribs and was rushed to the hospital for treatment. The pain was so severe that he couldn't sleep or eat. With two police officers constantly watching him, Wu Wentao finally cursed—"What a bad luck!"
He even anticipated his future.
He was cured and then imprisoned for reform.
What hope is there for days like this?
But Wu Wentao obviously didn't realize at that time that his imagination of the future was still too optimistic.
Because his illness cannot be cured at all.
It was as if he had been struck by some vicious curse. Even as his broken ribs were beginning to heal, he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, meaning he had less than three months left. The police had clearly not expected their captured robber to suffer such misfortune, and they were immediately debating how to proceed with Wu Wentao.
Wu Wentao was in a daze for a while after this devastating news. Suddenly, one day, he remembered the mysterious Taoist priest he had encountered on the day of the robbery. Perhaps his mindset had changed. Initially, he'd thought the old Taoist priest, clad in a black and yellow robe and with a flowing white beard, was a truly impressive figure. But now, recalling it again, Wu Wentao had only one thought: He truly resembled an old immortal.
Moreover, he immediately predicted that he would not live long.
Wu Wentao's heart began to beat rapidly.
He didn't want to die, and he certainly didn't want to die in such a miserable state. So, late one night, while his plainclothes guard dozed off, he asked to go to the bathroom. Without giving it much thought, the guard nodded and waited at the bathroom door. After five minutes of waiting, with no movement from inside, the guard, perplexed, knocked twice, but no one answered.
With a bad feeling in his heart, the other party pushed open the door, only to find that the bathroom was empty and the window was wide open.
Crazy, really crazy, this is the sixth floor!
The plainclothes officer leaned out of the window and saw someone limping away into the darkness under the dim street light.
Wu Wentao was lucky; he managed to escape. But even if he ran, he wasn't sure if he would run into the old man again. He could only try to go to the place where he had last encountered the Taoist priest, hiding in a corner, fearing the police would arrest him while waiting for the Taoist priest to arrive.
Two days later, the old Taoist passed by that small street and was grabbed by Wu Wentao by his clothes.
The man pointed at his nose and asked hurriedly, "Do you still remember me? You said before that I was dying and needed to be saved!"
The old Taoist looked at him with his dark eyes, and didn't say whether he remembered or not, but just curled his lips.
This behavior made Wu Wentao sure that he must remember it.
Thinking of this, Wu Wentao made a quick decision and unexpectedly knelt down with his knees bent. "Master, I was wrong before. I apologize. Can you see if there is any way to save me? As long as you can save me, I will do anything you ask me to do!"
The Taoist priest handed Wu Wentao a small brocade pouch. He opened it and found a strange-looking golden statue inside. At first glance, it resembled a bodhisattva sitting cross-legged on a mat. But a closer look revealed it had a tail and unusually long, sharp nails, reminiscent of some wild spirit. Wu Wentao didn't care. He carefully tucked the pouch into his chest and limped away.
The Taoist priest chose Wu Wentao's younger brother, Wu Wenlin, as his fate swap partner. Therefore, Wu Wentao had to return to Yangyuan City before the police arrived. However, his previous robbery had failed, and he had little money on him, so he had to borrow money from his former acquaintances.
It turned out that the acquaintance was connected with the group of people who had borrowed high-interest loans from Wu Wentao before. As soon as he saw Wu Wentao, he called them. Then a van of people came from the opposite direction and almost beat Wu Wentao to death.
It was also at this moment that Wu Wentao realized that if he didn't run away, it would be too late.
"After that, he went through untold hardships to return to Yangyuan City, his hometown, and then killed Wu Wenlin in the dead of night while he was sound asleep, killing two birds with one stone." Sang Qiqi emphasized the words 'through untold hardships,' which sounded quite ironic. She continued, "Not only did he save his life, but he also evaded the pursuit of the loan sharks and the police by assuming the identity of Wu Wenlin."
Kong Xingyan: “…”
Li Li: “…”
The two police officers looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes.
Kong Xingyan: "In exchange for your life?"
Li Li: "Still alive?"
Acting in a TV series!
Sang Qiqi looked at them innocently and nodded, "Yes, if you don't believe me, why don't you ask the police officers who arrested Wu Wentao over 20 years ago and diagnosed him with advanced lung cancer?"
Li Li glanced at Sang Qiqi, then at Kong Xingyan. He had taken possession of all of Wu Wentao's hospital records and remembered them clearly. Although Wu Wentao was nearing death, the medical reports clearly did not mention lung cancer. If they wanted to verify Sang Qiqi's claims, they would need to interview the police officers and review the reports.
Kong Xingyan had worked with Li Li for so long that he could naturally see what he was thinking. He nodded at him, and Li Li immediately ran away.
Kong Xingyan pretended to be calm: "I'm sorry, Miss Sang, this is the first time I've heard of such a motive for murder. We need to investigate it thoroughly."
Sang Qiqi waved her hand, indicating she didn't care. "I've asked everything I need to ask. I'll be heading back first. Captain Kong, do you want to come with me? Your car is still parked in front of my shop."
Kong Xingyan glanced in the direction of the morgue and shook his head: "I have to stay here tonight. I'll drive tomorrow morning. Then I won't see you off. Be careful on your way back."
"Don't worry, no one can beat me, whether they are humans or ghosts. They are the ones who need to pay attention to their safety." Sang Qiqi said as she walked forward, but waved her hand casually to Kong Xingyan behind her, and then drove her black pickup truck back to the funeral service.
Kong Xingyan: “…”
Wait a minute, this picture seems familiar.
It's a bit like the blurry surveillance video in front of Chengjiang Public Security Bureau.
The person in the video seemed to have left the Taoist priest named Tongxuan in the same posture, and then left without any fame or achievements.
Kong Xingyan: “…”
Could it really be related to Sang Qiqi?
Before Kong Xingyan could figure it out, he got the answer to Li Li's question three hours later: "I contacted the veteran detective over there. He said he remembers it very clearly. When Wu Wentao was arrested, he was indeed diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. At the time, they all thought the illness was too strange and suspected Wu Wentao had bribed the doctors. But after going to another hospital for examination, they found the same symptoms. Moreover, the doctors who examined Wu Wentao's pathology confirmed that his cancer had spread rapidly and that he would not live for more than two months."
After saying that, both of them were silent.
Since they were not in the hospital at the moment, Kong Xingyan took out two cigarettes, handed one to Li Li and one to himself.
He lit the cigarette with a lighter, a tiny crimson light flickering in the silent night. Kong Xingyan exhaled, "So what Sang Qiqi said is true."
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Li Li still nodded vigorously.
In fact, Wu Wentao's belief in the idea of exchanging lives and then killing Wu Wenlin did not surprise them. What surprised and made them unbelievable was that after exchanging lives, Wu Wentao really got better!
He actually recovered from a terminal cancer patient to a healthy person!
Although my health deteriorated over the years, perhaps as retribution for my sins in my youth, there is no doubt that I recovered from cancer.
Kong Xingyan wiped his face with his palm and said, "Alright, since it's the truth, let's announce it truthfully."
At twelve noon the next day.
While the discussion about Sang Qiqi and Wu Haohua was still in full swing and various Weibo topics were emerging one after another, the official public security account of Fuping District in northern Beijing finally posted a police report.
"According to Ms. Sang's friendly tip, the police have conducted an in-depth investigation into the 'Wu Wenlin's numerous crimes' case. They can now confirm that 22 years ago, Wu Wentao, believing a street vendor's so-called "kill for life" plot, killed his own brother, Wu Wenlin (Wu Wenlin's body was found in the yard of the Wu family's old home). He then, protected by his parents, used Wu Wenlin's identity and lived with the Wu family for 22 years, evading police pursuit. Wu Wentao has now been pronounced deceased due to a long-standing illness."
This Weibo post suddenly appeared clearly in front of many netizens. Netizens read the content word by word in disbelief. When they realized what the police report said, they took a deep breath.
[Oh my god! This is for real! ! ]
[He really did a lot of evil? Or did he kill his brother and switch identities?]
[Help! This is too much to complain about. Just because he believed a Taoist priest who said killing someone could save his life, he killed his own brother? Damn, is his own brother such a traitor? Shouldn't Wu Wentao have a brain check?]
[Regarding Wu Wentao needing to go to the hospital for brain treatment, I reminded him when he was having a fit and lashing out at Jiang Zhen, but he didn't listen. /doge]
[I saw that the police in Yangyuan City also issued a joint notice, which is much more detailed than the one in Fuping District. It says that Wu Wentao was a bad person when he was young, including gambling, adultery, rape, robbery, and theft... I'm not surprised that he would do something like killing his brother.]
Wu Wentao's family was surprised when a group of police officers arrived at the Wu family's home that day and dug the ground with shovels. Late that night, they heard that human bones had been dug up from beneath the cement field... Everyone speculated for a long time about what had happened, but they didn't realize it was the older brother who had killed the younger brother, and the parents were helping to cover it up.
[These parents are not smart people either]
[Laughing. Growing up with a murderer as his 'father', his grandson is bound to be raised in a bad way. Now thinking about Wu Haohua extorting money from a famous anchor, it seems completely natural, okay?]
[Is there no one praising Sang Qiqi? She's amazing! How did she figure out that Wu Wentao was being punished for his many evil deeds?]
[Praise her, of course I shouldn’t! I was typing away like crazy with my friends praising her, but thinking about this is a little creepy / wiping sweat]
[Don't worry about my sister Sang's business, as long as she's awesome!]
[Funerals always have some weird abilities, that's normal, haha]
[I heard that it was Sang Qiqi who first discovered that Wu Wentao had a wound on his ear, but Wu Wenlin didn't, and then realized that the two had been switched.]
How did she know that? Does that make sense? Doesn't it? Forget it, I bought some paper figurines from her house, burned them, and the next day my mom came to me in my dream... It doesn't make sense, but I trust her anyway. / Cute.
[Why bother with so much? It's a good thing that the bad guys are caught!]
In an apartment in northern Beijing.
Jiang Zhen, who constantly monitored the trends on Weibo, breathed a sigh of relief after reading the police report. He'd been genuinely worried that Sang Qiqi would get herself embroiled in a scandal because of her offer to help him. Now that he'd read the police report and learned that Wu Wenlin... and Wu Wentao were just as evil as Sang Qiqi had claimed, he could finally relax.
"Brother, Sang Qiqi is amazing." His cousin sat cross-legged beside him, holding his phone and reading with great interest the posts of netizens analyzing how Sang Qiqi knew the secrets of the Wu family. He sighed, "I saw they shared a post and suspected Sang Qiqi could read faces and fortunes, which is why they knew there was something wrong with Wu Wentao."
Not only that, this incident also reminded everyone of the viewer in Sang Qiqi's live broadcast room who posted a comment saying that Wu Haohua had a sunken palace of children and would be childless for his entire life. After being exposed by some professional and powerful people, it was discovered that the other party's true identity was actually a disciple of a Taoist temple in Huaihe Mountain.
As we all know, the Huaihe Mountain Taoist Temple is famous all over the world, and the Taoists there are extraordinary.
"They said Sang Qiqi is a lay disciple of the Huaihe Mountain Taoist Temple!"
Jiang Zhen: "...not really."
He remembered that when he went to Sang Qiqi's one-stop funeral shop, he didn't see any of the iconic items belonging to Taoist disciples, such as peach wood swords, whisks, wooden fish, and command flags. There was nothing there.
Cousin Jiang ignored the words and continued to read various posts. After a while, he said, "Someone online did some statistics. From the time the Fuping Police Department issued the police report until now, Sang Qiqi's account on Lizi Live has gained over 100,000 followers. It's still growing rapidly and will soon reach 300,000."
The speed of increasing followers is indeed quite fast.
Jiang Zhen nodded, thinking that from now on he probably wouldn't be the one advertising for Sang Qiqi, but would be the one taking advantage of Sang Qiqi's popularity.
Cousin Jiang: "Everyone is waiting for Sang Qiqi to start broadcasting. I wonder if she will start today."
Jiang Zhen didn't seem too concerned. He simply took out his phone and sent Sang Qiqi a formal thank you, offering to treat her to a meal. Sang Qiqi had just returned from a delivery in her pickup truck when she received the message. She picked up her phone and replied, "No problem, no need to bother." Then she asked, "Wu Haohua hasn't come to see you again, has he?"
Jiang Zhen couldn't help but laugh and said, "No. The police were investigating a homicide a few days ago, so he didn't have time to look for me. Now that it's been confirmed that his father isn't his father, he probably isn't in the mood to look for me."
Furthermore, Wu Wentao's murder case also involves the old couple of the Wu family, which means that all the Wu family members except Wu Haohua will have to go to jail. Now Wu Haohua is probably extremely anxious and has no time to extort money.
Sang Qiqi replied: That’s fine.
Sang Qiqi was quite willing to help Jiang Zhen. After all, Jiang Zhen had visited the shop when it first opened. Regardless of the reason, he had helped make Sang Qiqi's one-stop funeral service famous. So Sang Qiqi was happy to help him out with this minor problem. As for gratitude, if she wasn't afraid of scaring him, Sang Qiqi would have liked to tell him—no need for dinner or anything like that. Instead, she hoped that after a hundred years, when he entered the underworld, he would write her a thank-you letter and give her a five-star review.
This is what really works.
After a brief exchange with Jiang Zhen, Sang Qiqi saw Bai Yingxin leaning against the window, waving at her vigorously. Sang Qiqi glanced at the empty front door of her shop, then turned and headed for the haunted house next door. As soon as they met, Bai Yingxin eagerly took out all her snacks and handed them to Sang Qiqi, then asked hopefully, "Can you tell me how you discovered Wu Wentao's evil deeds?"
Sang Qiqi ate Bai Yingxin's shrimp chips and said with a confident tone, "Nonsense! Who knew I'd guess it right?"
The smile on Bai Yingxin's face froze slightly. After a long while, she pointed at her nose and asked, "Do I look like a fool?"
He actually fooled her like this!
Sang Qiqi's expression remained calm: "You really guessed it right. At most, I can only read faces a little bit."
She did not miss the fact that many netizens had attributed her to the identity of a lay disciple of a well-known Taoist temple after analysis. Although she had nothing to do with Taoist priests and had no good impression of Taoist priests because of things like Tongxuan, being mistaken for a Taoist priest was better than knowing that she was a ghost.
"You're really good at reading faces! They said online that you might have practiced in a Taoist temple before joining the circle, and it's actually true!"
Sang Qiqi: “…”
Bai Yingxin leaned closer to Sang Qiqi and asked with increasing curiosity, "Can you take a look at me? Or do you need to charge me? I can pay. I heard that Taoist fortune-telling can't be free. Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for you."
Sang Qiqi was silent for a long time, then asked, "What do you want to see?"
Bai Yingxin: "Career, marriage, and whether I can live a hundred years."
Sang Qiqi thought to herself that with Jingyu around, she wouldn't be unemployed. Even if this shabby haunted house was losing money, he could still keep running it. After all, he had just taken so much gold from her. As for marriage...she probably didn't have any bad luck in love, and even if there was, Boss Jing would immediately snatch it away.
If you live a hundred years...
I don’t know whether Bai Yingxin means being a human or a ghost.
She simply nodded repeatedly: "You can find a good partner in your career and marriage, and living a long life is not a problem."
Bai Yingxin: "..."
Why does it sound so perfunctory?
Just as she was about to speak, there was a knock on the lounge door. Jingyu walked in with strange makeup on his face. He said to Bai Yingxin with a tired look on his face, "There are two guests. Please receive them."
Bai Yingxin looked at his embarrassed appearance, exclaimed, and asked, "Were you beaten by a customer again?"
For those who work in haunted houses, especially those who play the ghost themselves, it would be a real nightmare to encounter customers who are timid but have quick reactions, strong explosive power and great strength.
Jingyu: "Remove the word 'again'."
Bai Yingxin shrugged and turned away.
As she left, the door automatically closed. Jingyu met Sang Qiqi's indescribable gaze, walked to the table expressionlessly, and wiped off the ghost makeup with a wet towel. But once the heavy makeup was wiped off, his whole face became extremely scary, with the powder that had not been wiped off completely and the huge panda-shaped eye circles. Sang Qiqi finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Even a dignified executioner of the Third Palace has to be beaten like this one day. Two more blows and your eyes will fall out."
Jingyu touched his eyes and felt no pain. He curled his lips and said, "Then change another one."
He didn't plan to discuss this with Sang Qiqi. Instead, he brought up Wu Wentao's case and asked Sang Qiqi, "What's going on with the Taoist priest?"
Sang Qiqi shook her head. "I don't know. Wu Wentao couldn't explain it clearly. He just said he happened to meet the Taoist priest and was surprised that he was willing to help. I confirmed it, and he wasn't lying. But I went to his house and found the brocade bag and golden statue he mentioned."
He took out a brocade bag and a golden statue from his pocket like magic.
The strange golden statue of a wild monster suddenly appeared in front of Jingyu. Sang Qiqi raised her chin and said, "Putting aside its leprous appearance, this golden statue is somewhat similar to the evil golden statue in Tongxuan's hand. I suspect that the old Taoist is one of the members of the organization that Lin Yanluo asked me to investigate."
Jing Yu picked up the golden statue with his pale fingers and shook it, frowning: "After so long, there is still such a strong ghost aura?"
Sang Qiqi nodded.
Although Wu Wentao didn't reveal any useful information, Sang Qiqi could guess a few things. If nothing unexpected happened, the Taoist priest must have hidden an evil spirit within the golden statue. The spirit was brought back to Wu Wentao's hometown and, at the time of Wu Wenlin's death, replaced the fates of both, allowing Wu Wentao to escape cancer and survive. It's impossible to determine exactly when the spirit departed. However, its presence remained trapped within the golden statue, corroding Wu Wentao's body day by day.
This is the main reason why Wu Wentao’s health is getting worse and worse.
Jing Yu returned the golden statue to Sang Qiqi and raised his eyebrows: "It seems that you are getting closer to taking the position of the second-in-command of the underworld."
Sang Qiqi: "How about it, do you want to be my little brother? Today you are my little brother, tomorrow you will be my chief steward!"
Jingyu's face froze, and he refused without hesitation: "I'm not interested in being a eunuch."
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