It turns out that Old Zhao and Grandpa Jin didn't know each other.
That day, after we took Old Zhao to the county town, Jin secretly went to find Old Zhao alone that night, gave him some money, and asked him to pretend to be a corpse ghost to deceive us.
“Young men, please stop fighting. I was really fooled by that old man. He said this was absolutely not illegal and that I was just putting on an act for him.”
"He said that you two like to mess around with supernatural things all day long, doing live streams, and always going to those graves and abandoned morgues. It breaks his heart to see you like that."
"He also said that those places are filled with yin energy, and staying there for a long time is bad for your health and luck. He thought he could find someone to pretend to be a ghost to scare you so that you wouldn't dare to do these dangerous things anymore!"
Old Zhao was sobbing uncontrollably, feeling extremely aggrieved.
“I really refused at the time, but the old man begged me with red eyes, saying that I should just consider it as helping his old father, and he gave me 10,000 yuan to help with household expenses.”
“I asked him what I was going to do, and he said it was just a simple act. He told me to secretly pretend to absorb the yang energy of that young man named Luo Tianhe in a few nights to scare you guys.”
"At the time, I saw that you didn't look too good, and I thought it might really be as he said, so I believed his nonsense and... that's why I agreed."
Old Zhao said that he ultimately couldn't resist the temptation and persuasion of money and agreed without really understanding what was going on.
At this point, fearing that Luo Tianhe would beat him, Old Zhao quickly added.
"The money is hidden in my crotch. I've been afraid of losing it. If you don't believe me, feel free to take it and see."
I reached out to pull down Old Zhao's pants.
Sure enough, there was a wad of crumpled banknotes hidden in his crotch.
Luo Tianhe raised his hand and slapped Old Zhao across the face: "You do whatever someone tells you to do, but why don't you go eat shit when he tells you to!"
I stopped Luo Tianhe and said that hitting him wouldn't do any good.
I turned to look at Old Zhao: "You've seen it yourself, my brother has a very fiery temper. You'd better not try anything funny with us, or you'll regret it!"
Old Zhao was so frightened that he shook his head frantically, his voice trembling.
"No, no, the old man just wanted me to pretend to be a ghost to lure you to Sanjiapo, and that was it. If I had known it would be such a troublesome thing, I wouldn't have dared to do it even if he offered me more money!"
“I… I was really desperate at the time. My daughter was seriously ill and couldn’t get out of bed. We had spent all our money on her treatment and were now heavily in debt. I had no other choice but to believe his lies and agree to this.”
I interrupted him impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense and tell me, how did he ask you to lead us to Sanjiapo?"
Old Zhao stammered, "That old man told me to pretend to be a ghost and absorb this young man's yang energy. Then, when you stuck the yellow talisman on me, I pretended to struggle a bit, and then that old man came to interrogate me."
"Then I told them that everyone in Sanjiapo is like me, and asked them to lead you there. That's all I know, I really don't know anything else."
Luo Tianhe pointed at Old Zhao's nose and shouted sternly, "You're lying!"
"No... I'm not lying!" Old Zhao was startled.
"You said earlier that the old man didn't want us to go to those shady places, so he had you dress up as a ghost to scare us and make us back down. But then you said that the old man had you trick us into going to Sanjiapo because it's full of people like you. Isn't that a contradiction?"
"No, no!"
Old Zhao's face turned pale with fright.
“I asked you about this too. He said there’s a master in Sanjiapo who can exorcise evil spirits and illnesses. He also said he had sent you there before, but you didn’t believe in these things and didn’t go. That’s why I tricked you into going!”
As he spoke, I kept my eyes fixed on him, carefully observing his gaze, the subtle changes in his facial muscles, and his breathing.
Old Zhao's eyes were flustered yet sincere, his facial muscles were naturally relaxed, and his breathing was steady when he spoke. All these signs indicated that he was not lying.
I told Luo Tianhe that he probably wasn't lying.
Ke Luo Tianhe sneered, "I don't believe it. There are too many loopholes. You go outside and wait. I want to examine it myself."
I knew what Luo Tianhe was going to do, so I didn't stop him.
Being soft-hearted at this time will only cause trouble for yourself.
Even if Old Zhao is innocent, and he does have a daughter who is seriously ill at home and needs money to save her life, that has nothing to do with me.
By accepting Master Jin's money, he was essentially accepting the consequences.
The bullets that hit you don't discriminate based on age or gender.
I sighed and walked out of the room.
The door to the secret room slowly closed behind them, cutting off all movement inside; not a sound could be heard coming from within.
More than ten minutes later, Luo Tianhe came out.
His hands were clean, but there were a few glaring drops of blood on his sleeves.
I glanced in the direction of the secret room and asked, "No one's dead, right?"
Luo Tianhe rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Are you crazy? I'm not a serial killer. Murder will land you in jail. I just treated him to some 'snacks.' What he said is probably true. That's all I know."
As he spoke, Luo Tianhe took off his blood-stained clothes, revealing once again the tattoo on his back depicting a confrontation between Buddha and demon.
Seeing me looking behind him, Luo Tianhe deliberately struck a cool pose and raised an eyebrow: "How about it? Handsome, right?"
I'd say it's cool, but there seems to be a picture under your tattoo. Why are you covering it up? Is it a picture of your ex?
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