Chapter 58: The 58th day of quitting the circle. Isn’t it cute?
Although Meng Zhengxiang had been tortured to the point of struggling to breathe, his mind was surprisingly clear. Sang Qiqi's words, "lecture" and "borrow it for me," drilled into his ears, and he immediately guessed that he was about to become a prop in Sang Qiqi's lecture.
Having seen how cruel this woman was when she took action, Meng Zhengxiang could guess in a second how miserable he would be in the next moment.
He couldn't help but struggle, a hoarse and unpleasant scream coming out of his throat: "I've told you everything you want to know, why are you still torturing me?!"
Sang Qiqi paused.
She lifted the unidentified creature back in front of her. Her gaze darted up and down, finally landing on his eyes, which were a mixture of anger and fear. Her lips curved up as she asked gently, "When did I ever say I'd let you go if you told me everything? Did I? Didn't I?"
The three consecutive rhetorical questions made Meng Zhengxiang's thoughts stagnate, followed by an explosion of anger. Veins seemed to bulge on his forehead, and the scarlet color in his eyes as he stared at Sang Qiqi was like the blood-red setting sun, the color so rich that it was frightening.
But Sang Qiqi didn't even blink. Instead, she smiled and said, "If you had been able to hold back until death and not say a word, you wouldn't have had to endure the torture. But it's obvious that you're useless, you loser. I only tortured you for ten minutes before you gave in. You're useless alive, and you're useless as a ghost."
The girl's voice was pleasant to the ear, but it was like a sharp thorn that pierced Meng Zhengxiang's nerves.
His eyes grew even redder.
Back then, he felt that the people in the small restaurant looked down on him, so he held a grudge against them and killed them one by one, so that they would not have a good end.
And now, every word Sang Qiqi said was filled with sarcasm, letting him know what true contempt looked like.
"Save your energy. After all, the real punishment you will face has not come yet." After giving a casual reminder, Sang Qiqi quickened her pace, turned a few corners, and finally arrived at the gate of the Seventh Palace.
Unlike the First Hall, whose main function is interrogation, there are sixteen small hells behind the Seventh Hall. The doors are stained with blood, and the screams and groans of evil spirits can be heard from time to time. It is a place that most ghosts in the underworld are unwilling to set foot near.
But Sang Qiqi won’t.
She entered the Seventh Palace as naturally as entering her own home.
Pushing open the door, Sang Qiqi was ushered into the main hall by the ghost messenger on duty. She raised her eyes and glanced at the Yama of the Seventh Hall. This Yama was different from Lin Yanluo. Lin Yanluo had been working in classes for so many years that his hair had fallen out and he was almost an old man. But this Yama of the Seventh Hall was unusually young, looking no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. His appearance was ordinary, but his eyes were dark, his expression was cold, and his aura was very different.
"Lord Xin Yan," Sang Qiqi greeted him with a smile. "I've brought my demonstration props with me. Where should we hold our lecture?"
Xin Ji looked at her so-called demonstration prop. It was hard to imagine that this thing was originally a normal person. He frowned and said, "There are many evil spirits in the Seventh Palace who are about to be punished."
What this means is that you can completely change the demonstration props.
Sang Qiqi said, "I have a grudge against him, so I chose him."
Xin Ji: “…”
What a righteous statement.
But Xin Ji clearly underestimated Sang Qiqi. Sang Qiqi had a more justifiable question. She asked, "Will I get paid for giving lectures? Will I be paid for my hard work or tuition?"
Xin Ji: “…”
Is it too late for him to ask someone to invite Sang Qiqi back now?
Xin Yanjun's icy face almost gave way. He was silent for a long time, but he finally gave in to Sang Qiqi's expectant gaze: "Yes."
"That's fine. Lord Xin Yan, please call out all the executioners in your palace. Let's start as soon as possible." His tone was full of excitement and impatience.
Xin Ji did not refuse. He raised his hand and ordered the ghost to call for help.
There are a total of sixteen small hells in the Seventh Palace, so the number of executioners is naturally not small. Staring at the dozens of people in front of her, Sang Qiqi picked out Meng Zhengxiang and explained her opinion in detail: since it is a punishment, as long as the person being punished does not die, it does not matter what means are used.
"Your biggest problem right now is the same as Jingyu's: you're too professional. Of course, being professional has its advantages. I admire your ability to slice the demons into thousands of pieces of the same thickness. But when you encounter some demons who are ignorant of life and death and refuse to repent, you don't have to be so particular when peeling their skin, tendons and bones. Just do whatever hurts."
She demonstrated as she spoke.
Meng Zhengxiang was prepared, but still screamed hysterically in pain.
Sang Qiqi quickly pried his jaw off: "It's a bit noisy."
All the executioners at the scene: "..."
Sang Qiqi: "Anyone want to come up and give it a try? I'll give them some personal guidance."
Executioners: "..."
The lecture lasted only half an hour, but the Seventh Palace's executioners' impression of Sang Qiqi had transformed from the sweet little girl they first met to the devilish female figure from the First Palace. They were certain that if Meng Zhengxiang hadn't been unable to hold out for much longer, the lecture would have ended in less than half an hour.
At least two hours of preparation.
"Why would such a gifted female devil go to the First Palace? If she were in our Seventh Palace, with her skills, wouldn't she have been promoted and given a raise long ago?" A young executioner muttered quietly. His sharp-eared companion, hearing this, immediately nudged his muscular friend beside him with his elbow and urged, "Old Xu, seriously, why don't we ask Lord Xin Yan to lure Sang Qiqi over from the First Palace?"
His friend looked at him expressionlessly.
He tutted his tongue. "Look at your expression. I can't tell you're mistaken for my good intentions. If Sang Qiqi really becomes the executioner of the Seventh Palace, then our team will be on the Underworld Sports Meet. You won't have to spar with her, and you won't have to be beaten to a pulp by her."
The scene of the other halls in the Underworld Sports Games last year looking horrible while the First Hall brought in benches and sat down to eat melons is still vivid in my mind and is truly unforgettable.
Friend: “…”
That makes a lot of sense.
He immediately asked, "Are you going to apply or should I?"
Half an hour later.
The two executioners quickly placed the petition on Xin Ji's desk. Xin Ji flipped through the papers. The handwriting was messy, but between the lines was a single sentence: Can Sang Qiqi be poached from the First Hall?
Xin Ji looked up at the young man sitting opposite him, leisurely sipping his tea, and said, "My men want to poach Sang Qiqi and transfer her to the Seventh Palace to be the executioner..."
"She won't."
"So sure? I think she's quite talented at torturing ghosts."
"She's even more talented at torturing her superiors." The man put down his water cup, raised his narrow eyes, and smiled. "She's dreaming now of developing her funeral business, then stepping on Shan Xuelin, dunking on Chao Song, and then finding an opportunity to sell off both of them together."
Xin Ji: “…”
He couldn't help but think of the grudge between Sang Qiqi and Shan Xuelin. Back then, Sang Qiqi had strangled him on the path that the ghosts had to take to be reincarnated. This had enraged Shan Xuelin so much that he smashed several tables and threatened to find Uncle Lin to question how their First Hall had managed to attract such a troublemaker. However, Uncle Lin, a seasoned veteran, had simply closed the First Hall's gates, saying that Sang Qiqi had been attacked by an unidentified creature after work that night and was bedridden. This silenced Shan Xuelin's wrath.
Although the incident happened a long time ago, Shan Xuelin always mocks Lin Bo whenever they encounter it over the years.
As for why he didn't mock Sang Qiqi——
He kept talking nonstop, and if Dan Xuelin dared to utter a word, Sang Qiqi would reply with ten sentences and hang him up again.
There's no way I could win the argument.
Xin Ji retracted his scattered memories and turned to the young man opposite him again: "Do you like this?"
The man raised his eyebrows: "Isn't it cute?"
Xin Ji couldn't quite put his finger on the word 'cute,' but he sincerely expressed his opinion: "You two are quite a good match."
Especially when it comes to torturing ghosts.
-
Sang Qiqi, holding the money from the Seventh Hall in one hand and Meng Zhengxiang in the other, was in a good mood, humming a tuneless little song as she came to the Second Hall. According to the interrogation rules of the underworld, after the interrogation in the First Hall, Meng Zhengxiang would be punished in the various small hells in turn.
"I've brought him here." After handing Meng Zhengxiang over to the executioner in the Second Hall, she repeatedly emphasized, "We can't let him die."
The executioner made an OK gesture and said, "Don't worry, Lord Lin Yan has already instructed us that we will take care of his safety."
When the executioner mentioned the word "life safety," his tone became heavier, causing Meng Zhengxiang to shudder again. At this moment, he finally began to realize what it meant to be unable to live or die, and he finally began to regret it. If he had known this would happen, he should not have impulsively killed people.
But regret is useless.
The executioner threw Meng Zhengxiang into the small hell, folded his arms and smiled at Meng Zhengxiang: "Enjoy it."
Sang Qiqi stood at the door and instructed again: "Bypass the Fourth and Eighth Palaces, and then send the people directly to the other palaces."
She has grudges against Shan Xuelin, the Yama of the Fourth Hall, and Chao Song, the Yama of the Eighth Hall. Although these two old guys are very old, they are extremely narrow-minded. It is hard to guarantee whether they will show mercy to Meng Zhengxiang's men just because they dislike her.
This is not what she wants to see.
The executioner from the Second Hall clearly knew everything and nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry."
After finishing the explanation, Sang Qiqi stepped out of the ghost gate and returned to the funeral service.
As soon as I walked in, I saw Zhang Lin pressing his calculator with a clacking sound, his fingertips rubbing against the keys so hard that sparks were practically flying. In front of the cashier, a line of more than ten people had formed, all pushing carts crammed full of paper crafts.
"sister!"
I caught a glimpse of Sang Qiqi's figure from the corner of my eye. The little kid, who seemed a little allergic to the word "sister", shouted so loudly for the first time.
Zhang Lin's eyes lit up as he nimbly turned over from the cashier counter and shoved a calculator into Sang Qiqi's hand. He then pushed Sang Qiqi's shoulders towards the cashier counter, whispering, "I don't know what's going on, but there are so many people here today. I'm a bit overwhelmed."
Zhang Lin’s main responsibility in the funeral service is to do miscellaneous work.
He was not familiar with the prices of many funeral paper products, so it was not easy for him to work as a cashier, especially when there were many customers.
My head is about to explode.
Sang Qiqi also understood, so she sent him to pack up the things and took over the cashier job herself.
Skillfully pressing the calculator key, she smiled at the girl in front of her: "The total is one thousand two hundred and thirty-six, just give me one thousand and twelve, and scan here to pay."
"Okay, okay." The girl's eyes lit up. After paying, she pointed at the group of people behind her and said, "We made an appointment to come together. I was a little disappointed to see you weren't here."
"Yeah, yeah." The girl with two pigtails leaned forward and asked excitedly, "We've seen a lot of people online saying that if you buy paper figurines of Qiqi and burn them for family members, you'll dream about them. Is that true? I haven't dreamed of our teacher since she passed away!"
Sang Qiqi caught the key words in the conversation and asked, "Is it for your teacher?"
"Yes." The girl who paid the money replied gently, "In fact, she is also our sponsor."
Sang Qiqi listened to their conversation for a while, finally understanding what had happened. The teacher the girls were talking about was an old professor who, after retirement, had been sponsoring girls from impoverished areas across the country. The girls were also very hardworking, having been admitted to universities in northern Beijing and settled down there to work and live. However, the old professor passed away last year. Seeing many netizens praising Sang Qiqi's funeral home, and with it being the anniversary of the old professor's death, the girls decided to come together to buy some paper offerings to burn for him.
"According to the saying in my hometown, after death, people go to the underworld and then wait in line to be reincarnated. So I don't know if your teacher has already been reincarnated. If she has, I probably won't dream of her anymore."
"Hey, there's this saying in my hometown too!" one of the girls exclaimed.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
Then our hometowns are definitely not the same hometown.
"That doesn't matter. We have to buy what we need anyway."
A bunch of young girls spent nearly ten thousand yuan on paper figurines. Seeing it was difficult for them to carry them, Sang Qiqi asked them to leave their addresses and she would deliver them to their homes in her pickup truck. Upon hearing this, the girls bowed repeatedly in gratitude and even treated Sang Qiqi to a cup of milk tea.
Zhang Lin was also lucky enough to get a cup. He bit the chewy pearls and stared at the girls' backs in a daze.
Sang Qiqi poked his shoulder and asked curiously, "Envy? Do you want to go to school too?"
Zhang Lin immediately shook his head and answered truthfully, "When I died, I did think that if I could live again, I would definitely study hard and repay my parents. But now I don't think about that anymore. The most important thing now is to make money so that my parents have money to spend whether they are in the world or in the underworld."
"Then why are you daydreaming?"
“I just feel that this world is quite warm.”
The sudden words made Sang Qiqi pause, and then she looked up at the huge sun outside, interrupting the child's life reflections for a second: "The temperature today is 39 degrees, and you're only feeling warm now? I suggest you go outside and bask in the sun for a while."
Zhang Lin: “…”
After finishing her milk tea, Sang Qiqi threw the cup into the trash can and said to Zhang Lin, "I have to go out, so I'll leave this to you."
Zhang Lin nodded obediently.
It was a rare occurrence for so many girls to come and buy paper figurines together, as they had just done. Normally, as long as there weren't many people, his cashier work was still acceptable. It took a little longer at best, but the customers were generally very easy to talk to.
Seeing this, Sang Qiqi left with peace of mind.
She planned to look for the Taoist priest named Qingcheng who was behind Meng Zhengxiang.
Although she acted quite optimistic in front of Lin Yanluo, it was still a bit unreliable to pray that Qingcheng would rush over to kill her without any brains.
The information provided by Meng Zhengxiang stated that Qingcheng was approximately 26 or 27 years old this year and currently lived in Huxi, in the villa owned by the wealthy man that Meng Zhengxiang possessed.
Just a minute or two after arriving at Huxi's suburban villa, Sang Qiqi looked at the information and compared it with the houses in the villa complex. After walking for a while, she saw the sign for Building 12. To her surprise, two men were standing in front of the door of Villa 12.
Both men were wearing neat suits, but compared to the taller man, the shorter one looked very tired, with a noticeable bruise under his eyes. He rubbed his swollen and aching brow and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you sure this Taoist Qingcheng isn't a liar?"
This was like stirring up a hornet's nest.
The taller man immediately looked at his friend with disapproval: "How dare you say such things in front of the Taoist priest's house? I've seen Taoist priest Qingcheng's abilities. How could he be a liar? Besides, don't you know that if it weren't for the Taoist priest, I wouldn't have a son?"
The short man fell silent for a moment, thinking that was true.
His good friend, Yin Fengmao, was a well-known wealthy man in Huxi. However, despite his wealth, he faced a difficult situation with regard to having children. The reason for this difficulty can be traced back to Yin Fengmao's previous wife.
Yin Fengmao and his first wife were schoolmates. Their journey from school uniforms to wedding dresses, and finally marriage, was the envy of others. However, this enviable life didn't last long. Just two years later, Yin Fengmao orchestrated a scheme to shut down his father-in-law's company.
Everyone then realized that all this campus romance was unbelievable, and Yin Fengmao approached his wife purely for her family's company.
But Yin Fengmao's wife was not easy to deal with either. After learning the truth, she broke into the company with her bag, kicked Yin Fengmao in the lower body, and sent him directly to the hospital. From then on, no matter how many women Yin Fengmao found, none of them got pregnant.
Until the last two months.
Yin Fengmao met a Taoist priest from Ma Jiancheng. When the Taoist priest heard about his troubles, he said without hesitation, "It can be solved."
Afterwards, the Taoist priest Qingcheng cast a spell and made Yin Fengmao's wife drink a bowl of talisman water. A month later, she was found to be pregnant.
Moreover, Taoist Qing Cheng solemnly assured: "The baby in your wife's belly is the son you have been waiting for."
Upon hearing this, Yin Fengmao and his wife were ecstatic.
The short man thought about these past events, exhaled, and turned his gaze back to the closed door of the villa in front of him. He said to Yin Fengmao, "I don't doubt Taoist Qingcheng's ability, but it's not just that you can't contact him, but no one answered your call to Taoist Qingcheng's house. This is really strange."
In particular, Ma Jiancheng, who introduced Taoist Qingcheng to Yin Fengmao, was nowhere to be seen.
Sang Qiqi listened to the two of them talking for a long time. When she heard the words "can't contact the person", her expression finally loosened. She turned her head sharply to look in the direction of the villa and immediately walked through the wall and went in.
The spacious villa was so quiet it seemed uninhabited, the floor so clean it reflected light, not even a speck of dust visible. Sang Qiqi went up to the second and third floors, unlocked all the doors, and checked inside. She found the bedroom to be just as clean as the living room. She then opened the closet, but it was completely empty... It seemed Qing Cheng was not only incredibly perceptive, but also incredibly quick-witted. He'd made a clean getaway, leaving nothing behind.
But this is not surprising. Qingcheng is a Taoist priest, so he naturally knows that a powerful Taoist priest can easily track him down with just a strand of his hair or a piece of his clothing.
Sang Qiqi sighed twice and was about to leave with regret when the whispering voices of the two people at the door reached her ears again. She suddenly thought of something and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.
Two days later.
A piece of news shocked the entire Huxi.
It is rumored that Ma Jiancheng, the wealthy man from Huxi who made his fortune in building materials, has passed away.
Yin Fengmao was drinking with others at the time. Upon hearing this, he immediately waved his hands and retorted with an expression that said, "What nonsense are you talking about?" "How is that possible? I just met with Mr. Ma a while ago."
"Boss Yin also said it happened a while ago, but this news came out two days ago. I heard that you went to look for Boss Ma a few days ago, but you didn't see him, right?"
"It's not just Mr. Yin. Mr. Zhang hasn't been able to contact Mr. Ma either. Mr. Ma even introduced Mr. Zhang to a Taoist priest named Qingcheng. That Taoist priest took money from Mr. Zhang, but the job hasn't been done yet! And now that Taoist priest has disappeared!"
"Isn't this Taoist priest a liar?"
Yin Fengmao was overwhelmed by the constant chatter of discussion. He had initially believed the rumor was a joke, but now he felt a bit unsure. He quickly pulled the person who had just spoken over and asked with a frown, "Mr. Zhang hasn't been able to contact Mr. Ma either?"
"No." The man had just finished speaking when he heard his cell phone ring. He took it out and looked at it. He was so shocked that he stood up from his chair immediately.
The chair made a sharp sound when it hit the ground, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
Without waiting for anyone to ask what happened, he pointed at his phone and couldn't help but raise his voice: "It's really, really dead!"
Dead? What dead?
The people at the table were stunned at first, then a white light flashed through their minds and they all took out their mobile phones.
Yin Fengmao was also reaching for his phone. He was panicking, his hands shaking. It took him a while to get his phone out and unlock it, and the next second, a notification popped up on his screen: Ma Jiancheng, chairman of Huxi Building Materials, had been murdered in his home. He was only fifty years old!
When he clicked on the related topic, a familiar and young face appeared in front of Yin Fengmao.
"this--"
"That's the Taoist priest!" The friends at the table came over to take a look, then pointed at Qingcheng's photo and said, "The police report said this guy was involved in Mr. Ma's murder, and they said he was a fake Taoist priest. I hope everyone doesn't get fooled."
"A fake Taoist priest?!" Yin Fengmao's head, which had been drowsy from the alcohol, suddenly cleared up, and his brain nerves seemed to explode in an instant. He supported himself on the table with one hand, but his body was still staggering and he almost fell. "No, it's impossible?"
"How can it be impossible? The police said so." The friend muttered to himself. The next second, when he saw Yin Fengmao's pale face, he was startled. "Old Yin, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?"
Yin Fengmao couldn't hear what he said clearly, and his mind was filled with only one thought:
If Taoist Qingcheng is a fake Taoist priest, then how did the child in his wife's belly come about?
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