Elder Cousin Arrives (Part Nine)

"You're working with Ah Feng?" He Lingyu raised her eyebrows. "You scared Wu Ying to death for him, and in return, he helped you kill Shi Jing?"

Qian Hui nodded emphatically. "Exactly. It was all his idea, and he arranged and planned everything. Otherwise, with my meager spiritual power, I wouldn't even have been able to enter the yoga studio in broad daylight, let alone anything else."

He Lingyu looked at Qian Hui with a half-smile. Qian Hui wasn't particularly capable, but when it came to shirking responsibility, she was a true expert—just as she had been in life, and now in death.

According to Qian Hui's account, the reason Ah Feng wasn't afraid of her was not only because he had a consecrated protective charm, but also because he possessed another treasure: a gourd passed down through generations by the elderly couple who adopted him. Legend had it that the gourd came from Mount Longhu in Jiangxi, once belonging to a Taoist Celestial Master. How it became the heirloom of that couple was a mystery.

Ah Feng used the gourd to bring Qian Hui from the metropolis to the small town, and then secretly to the yoga studio. Before Wu Ying went to her yoga class, she had just met Ah Feng and handed over the agreed sum of one hundred thousand in cash. Ah Feng assured her that after this, he would leave the country and never ask her for money again.

Although Wu Ying felt a pang at parting with that much money, she was also relieved. Over the years, most of the money she’d received from Zhang Baofu had been taken by her parents and younger brother. Now she only hoped Ah Feng would keep his word and never come to her for money again.

Wu Ying went to the yoga studio, unaware that Ah Feng was following her. The studio was on the second floor; Ah Feng hid in a corner of the corridor. When he saw He Lingyu leaving the classroom, he mistakenly thought the students were about to leave and released Qian Hui.

Qian Hui immediately possessed Shi Yini. Liu Qian, who had something to do that afternoon, sat up around the same time. She was close to Wu Ying and disturbed her, causing Wu Ying to open her eyes. Instinctively, she looked ahead at Shi Yini, who was meditating, and instead met the ghastly, terrifying face of Qian Hui.

If it had been an ordinary person, they might have been startled, nothing more. But Wu Ying suffered from a heart condition and was abruptly awakened from sleep to such a horrific sight—her heart couldn't bear the sudden shock, and she died on the spot.

By the time He Lingyu heard the screams and rushed back, the classroom was in chaos, with students fleeing in panic. Qian Hui had already returned to the gourd, and Ah Feng slipped away before the police arrived.

That very afternoon after Wu Ying’s death, Ah Feng had the driver he’d hired in advance come to the town as well. The driver was from out of town, owing over a million in online loans and unable to repay them. He had posted on the internet about wanting to end his life. Ah Feng contacted him and struck a deal: if the man did one thing before he died, his parents, living in a remote mountain village, would receive one hundred thousand yuan, transferred directly to them.

Wu Ying never knew, even in death, that the one hundred thousand she gave her brother was used in a deal that would cost her life.

Ah Feng handed the cash to the driver, who then went to the bank and sent the money home using his own ID. After leaving the bank, the driver threw his ID into the sewer.

The next day, the driver, in a stolen car, ran over Shi Yini in the parking lot, then crashed into a marble statue, killing himself.

Wu Ying was dead. Shi Jing was dead. The driver was dead.

Li Qing, for defrauding one hundred thousand, faced a sentence of three to ten years plus a fine under the criminal code, as the amount was considered enormous. As for Ah Feng, though he was an accomplice, he only played the role of "driver," so his sentence wouldn't be heavy. With a good lawyer, he might get nothing more than probation.

Shi Jing was killed by the indebted driver; Wu Ying was killed by a ghost.

As for Qian Hui's murder, even if Li Qing accused Ah Feng, there was no evidence. Ultimately, Ah Feng would walk away almost unscathed.

After listening to Qian Hui's account, He Lingyu narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then why did you follow Li Qing to the inn?"

Previously, He Lingyu thought Qian Hui had appeared at the inn that day to seek revenge on Ah Feng, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all. Qian Hui had been brought to the town by Ah Feng in the first place.

Qian Hui didn’t expect that after saying so much, He Lingyu would still seize on such a minor detail. She had no choice but to answer, "All of this was orchestrated by that wretched Shi Jing, but Ah Feng was the one who actually killed me. I wanted revenge, but he had the protective charm and the gourd—I couldn’t kill him. I knew Li Qing and Ah Feng were going to the inn to extort Shi Jing’s cousin for money, so I thought if I made a scene, the police would catch them. That’s why I followed Li Qing there. Ah Feng may have treasures, but as a normal person, he couldn’t see me as I trailed behind Li Qing."

He Lingyu fully understood now. "You overheard Li Qing and Ah Feng planning to extort just a hundred thousand, and you knew that even if the police caught them, the punishment wouldn’t be severe—certainly not enough compared to your life. So you decided to kill a few people yourself and frame Ah Feng and Li Qing, turning it into a capital crime. You came to the inn to kill, just like you killed Wu Ying, intending to murder those inside!"

The more He Lingyu spoke, the angrier she became, and her voice grew louder. A Shu, exasperated, turned off the TV and leapt over to Wu Ying. She gave Qian Hui a hard kick in the head. "You really are vicious."

Qian Hui shrank back, terrified, and whimpered, "I only thought about it—I didn't actually kill anyone."

"That's just because you ran into me," He Lingyu snapped. "If I hadn't been there, would everyone at the inn be dead by now?"

Qian Hui fell to her knees, begging for mercy. "Celestial Master, please spare me, I won't dare again, truly, I won't. It was all Ah Feng—he forced me, it was all him. I'm innocent, truly innocent."

He Lingyu spat in disgust and said to A Shu, "Take care of her. Not in my room—she's filthy."

A Shu, itching for action, didn't hesitate. She grabbed Qian Hui and slipped out through the window crack.

The little monk fidgeted with excitement, looking at He Lingyu with longing. She shot him a glare. "You go too."

The little monk waved his hand enthusiastically and tossed his phone to He Lingyu. She caught it, and when she looked up again, the monk had vanished.

Half an hour later, A Shu returned with the little monk. He Lingyu asked, "How did you handle her?"

A Shu pulled a glass soda bottle from her pocket—except now, instead of soda, it was half-filled with a yellowish liquid that looked suspiciously like urine.

He Lingyu knew what it was. Even after two lifetimes, the sight of it made her stomach turn. It was ghost water from a Yellow Leaf Ghost, used to deal with weak little spirits.

"Keep it," A Shu said generously, handing her the bottle.

"No need, you keep it," He Lingyu replied hastily. "I'll have Si Kai get you a double-door fridge so you can store this stuff and keep it from going bad."

Suddenly, He Lingyu remembered something else—the old woman.