TRYMBPIETM 102: Revival of All Things (23)

The short, fat cultivator had an expression of sheer despair.

Because he was being watched by the police, he dared not pay much attention to Shen Wenxu, quickly glancing at him before his gaze fell on Chi Qingzhou.

He cursed Chi Qingzhou inwardly but did not suspect Shen Wenxu.

Having been brothers with Shen Wenxu for many years, he thought he knew fellow disciple very well, and never once did he consider that Shen Wenxu might have the nerve to plot against him and his master.

Just thinking of Shen Wenxu’s face full of shock and anxiety earlier made the short, fat cultivator feel a headache coming on.

He couldn’t help but look down on his fellow disciple.

This fool had always been indecisive. Only when their master gave a direct order would he seem more decisive.

This time, their master sent him to help cover for them, and he thought this would be an easy task. Even if Shen Wenxu couldn’t do it well, he wouldn’t have messed things up so badly. Who would have thought Shen Wenxu couldn’t even handle this?!

To make matters worse, Shen Wenxu had exposed such an obvious guilty expression. Was he trying to make it so obvious that something was wrong?

The short, fat cultivator truly had no words for him.

This junior brother of his was more likely to cause problems than solve them.

Fortunately, their master was always cautious and hadn’t mentioned the true purpose to Shen Wenxu. He only told him that the Wan Ying Temple might contain some strange formations and that it was better to clear out all outsiders before dealing with it.

This disciple of his was so naive. As soon as he heard that there were too many ordinary people in the temple, potentially triggering the formation, he immediately agreed without a second thought.

He didn’t even dare to ask any more questions.

The short, chubby cultivator steadied himself and looked at the police with a face full of confusion. “Hey, what are you doing? I’m Shen Wenxu’s senior. My master sent me here because he thought there might be some special formations in the temple that need checking.”

He glanced at the few priests, showing them an expression of helplessness.

“You priests must know, some cults like to set up chaotic formations, and they could hurt people if they’re not careful.”

The priests hesitated for a moment before nodding toward the police.

The police still didn’t release him.

The years of experience in handling cases made it hard for the detectives not to suspect the short, fat cultivator.

The short, fat cultivator feigned confusion and asked, “What exactly do you suspect me of? If I were guilty, would I still come into the temple after seeing the police cars?”

At this point, he paused slightly, becoming more assertive.

“Don’t hold me down anymore. Let me change positions. It’s really uncomfortable lying on the ground like this.”

The police were, in fact, fairly cooperative.

Although they didn’t release him, they did lift him up as he requested.

He breathed a sigh of relief inside.

The fact that they were still considering his request meant their suspicion of him wasn’t deep yet.

The short, fat cultivator firmly claimed that he was only here to check the formations, nothing else.

The police remained noncommittal, though the team leader asked one more question, “Why didn’t you turn on your car lights earlier? The road was so dark, could you see?”

The short, chubby cultivator immediately replied, “Oh, I have excellent night vision. I didn’t think the road was that dark. There are so many streetlights—how dark could it be?”

“Besides, ever since I, uh, took up Taoism, my senses have become much sharper. I can see the road clearly without turning on the lights. It also saves gas.”

He spoke confidently, even daring to throw a glance at Shen Wenxu.

Shen Wenxu still looked tense.

Upon noticing the glance, Shen Wenxu froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded, stammering, “Yes, yes. My senior really does have great eyesight.”

The short, fat cultivator instantly wore an expression that was hard to watch, muttering things like, “What is this nonsense?”

His overly direct and confident reaction actually made him seem more convincing for a moment.

The police hesitated but replied, “This is the modern era. You should stop with all the superstitions.”

The short, fat cultivator’s smile faltered, and a pained expression appeared on his face.

“Alright, alright, I understand, Officer.”

The police let go of him, but since he seemed to know something, they still asked him to come to the station to give a statement.

The short, fat cultivator’s eyes darkened for a moment, but then he quickly raised his smile again, “No problem, no problem. It’s the least I can do.”

He then gave Shen Wenxu a glaring look, filled with frustration.

“Did you tell the police everything that Master asked you to?”

Shen Wenxu quickly nodded, “I told them, I told them.”

He seemed to have been convinced by his senior’s words, his earlier nervousness fading as he became more lively. He even leaned toward his senior, speaking softly about what he had done earlier.

The short, fat cultivator was also curious about what had happened, so he listened seriously when Shen Wenxu began explaining that he had tripped on fishing line and injured his leg.

Upon hearing this, his face changed slightly, and he put in a lot of effort to suppress his sudden shock and alarm.

Nails? Fishing line? Where did those come from?

He and his master had set up this Wan Ying Temple together, and there had never been anything like that inside!

Had someone else tampered with the temple?

What about the statue at the bottom of the Bone pagoda? Could it have been disturbed?

The short, fat cultivator’s thoughts raced, but on the surface, he continued to listen to Shen Wenxu, his mind drifting far away.

Meanwhile, Shen Wenxu took the opportunity to exchange a glance with Chi Qingzhou.

He was trying to delay time and have the police encounter his senior, but his intention was not to have the police interrogate him.

He was simply using this method to create an environment where Chi Qingzhou could approach his senior without raising too much suspicion from their master.

The police might not extract much information, but with Chi Qingzhou’s methods, he would certainly find out what he wanted to know.

Chi Qingzhou curved the corners of his lips into a smile.

He tilted his head towards Shen Wenxu, and the smile in his eyes spread.

It seemed that occasionally having a friend who wasn’t particularly special wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

He withdrew his gaze contentedly and looked at the shadow beneath his feet.

【System, your illusion-building function can extract memories from the living seamlessly, right?】

System: 【Huh? Huh??】

What? It had something to do with it?

The system quickly reviewed its operation logs and confirmed that the illusion-building function had just been triggered using a memory from a living person.

The activated talisman’s function wasn’t fully detailed in the logs, but the system speculated that it was some sort of tool used to establish a connection.

At that moment, its illusion-building port linked to a person named Zhu Ying, and using wish-making and incense-burning as keywords, it had searched through memories to construct an illusion.

So, this meant…

The system hesitated and said: 【I… should be able to?】

Chi Qingzhou’s smile grew warmer.

【That’s good. I hope this time you can succeed on the first try. You can do it, right?】

The system shivered: 【I—I’ll try my best, Host.】

…

The short, fat cultivator anxiously got into the car, following the police to the local police station.

Just to be safe, two criminal police officers accompanied him, and as a result, he couldn’t find any chance to contact Qing Zhi along the way.

Chi Qingzhou and another officer took a separate car and followed behind the main group.

The person driving was still the cousin that Yi Shangxiao had arranged. Upon seeing the police in tow, the cousin didn’t seem particularly surprised but reminded Chi Qingzhou to disguise himself a little.

“Apologies, Officer, but our Mr. Chi is a celebrity, so he needs to be more cautious in these matters.” The cousin said apologetically. “He’s recently been trending on a few hot searches, and I’m worried there might be paparazzi following him.”

Chi Qingzhou wasn’t a suspect, so the police were naturally not unreasonable.

They readily agreed to the cousin’s request and kindly provided Chi Qingzhou with a casual jacket of theirs.

Chi Qingzhou declined the offer and casually pulled out a distinctive large cloak from his shadow.

Since it was obscured by the back of the car seat, the police officer didn’t notice anything unusual but showed a complicated expression.

Chi Qingzhou donned the cloak and eagerly introduced, “This cloak is a traditional garment of the Danlin tribe.”

The officer nodded and asked, following up with his question: “Does anyone in your family belong to the Danlin tribe?”

Chi Qingzhou smiled meaningfully, “I’ve heard there might be some.”

The officer didn’t press the issue, and they chatted briefly before the topic shifted.

“Mr. Chi, did you only drive to Hengming City tonight?”

Chi Qingzhou honestly responded, “Yes, I left Hexing City around ten.”

The officer immediately straightened up, his demeanor stern.

“Mr. Chi, why did you suddenly come to Hengming City at this time? Based on what you said earlier, even if you were suspicious of the Wan Ying Temple, it didn’t seem like there was any reason to come here in the middle of the night.”

When Chi Qingzhou had explained the situation to them earlier, the officer had already felt some suspicion. However, when Shen Wenxu and the others showed up, he hadn’t had the chance to ask in detail.

When the cousin mentioned paparazzi following Chi Qingzhou, he found it even more suspicious.

If Chi Qingzhou didn’t want paparazzi to take photos, why would he come to Hengming City in the dead of night?

Many famous paparazzi capture explosive photos late at night. If they were trying to avoid paparazzi, this wouldn’t make sense.

The officer didn’t believe that Chi Qingzhou, being a public figure in the entertainment industry, wouldn’t be aware of paparazzi habits.

He observed Chi Qingzhou’s every expression carefully.

Chi Qingzhou remained calm, not hiding anything at all: “Before coming to Hengming City tonight, I was with my manager and two seniors. We were leaving work, and when we reached the underground garage, we were attacked.”

“I caught the three attackers, and they told me that Ma Xiayang had recently gone to Wan Ying to make a wish, hoping that the temple would kill me.”

The officer was taken aback, immediately asking, “Didn’t you report it to the police?”

Chi Qingzhou tilted his head, “No, I didn’t.”

The officer furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you report such a dangerous situation? Why come here yourself? You should know that many criminals are ruthless and deceptive. It’s too reckless and dangerous for you to come here alone to investigate!”

Chi Qingzhou had a look of innocence. “I couldn’t report it to the police. The three attackers I caught weren’t human.”

The officer paused, “What?”

Chi Qingzhou repeated his words.

The officer laughed and said, “How could they not be human? You caught them, didn’t you? They must have been pretending to be ghosts.”

Chi Qingzhou spoke earnestly, “I’m telling the truth.”

Seeing the officer give a perfunctory nod, Chi Qingzhou sighed and repeated, “I’m telling the truth.”

Helplessly, the officer turned his gaze away, and Chi Qingzhou bent down, pulling three ghostly creatures from his shadow.

A surge of Yin energy filled the air.

The three bruised and battered ghostly figures appeared before the officer’s eyes.

The officer froze, mouth agape in disbelief.