TRYMBPIETM 101: Revival of All Things (22)

Chi Qingzhou had no impression of this young man.

He didn’t remember what he had done half a year ago, let alone the details of the fortune he had told for the other party.

However, when the man prayed, he was very careful not to mention his benefactor’s name even once, clearly having been instructed by someone.

Chi Qingzhou suspected that half a year ago, the reason he gave the man this divination was to lead him into the temple of the ghost deity.

It was very likely that he himself couldn’t even see the temple of the ghost deity, let alone enter it.

Was the ghost deity deliberately avoiding him, or was there some conflict between their powers?

Chi Qingzhou tilted his head, thinking seriously for a long time.

Before he realized he had been targeting this ghost deity all along, what he had done was simply healing his injuries and improving his own strength.

This behavior, in a way, weakened the ghost deity’s power. It was hard to say whether their cultivation paths had some similarities.

If their powers were in a relationship of mutual exclusivity, then this matter became interesting. The actions of Qing Zhi and the others would also become much easier to understand.

But Chi Qingzhou wasn’t sure if this was the truth.

Just like how he couldn’t be sure whether losing his memory was simply the price of rescuing Xing Shuangzhan, or if there were other considerations mixed in.

For example, was it only by not remembering the ghost deity that he could avoid attracting its attention to some extent?

The young man was still rambling on.

“Great immortal, you heard my wishes just now, right? Please help my benefactor achieve his goals. I am willing to lose five pounds of fat as an offering…”

As he spoke, he lowered himself onto the prayer mat and bowed his head.

His girlfriend finally couldn’t hold it in anymore: “Have you considered that the immortal might not need you to lose weight as an offering?”

The young man couldn’t say that his benefactor had specifically told him to make strange wishes, so he answered vaguely, “It doesn’t matter. Sincerity brings results. This is also a way of showing my respect to the immortal.”

His girlfriend gave him a sidelong glance, her eyes full of “I’ll just watch you make things up.”

The two were busy chatting away and didn’t notice the faint white light that flashed in the eyes of the deity statue above.

Chi Qingzhou, who was observing from a third-person perspective, noticed it.

He thoughtfully tapped his elbow.

Perhaps everything he had done wasn’t to avoid the ghost deity’s attention but simply to buy himself time.

The illusion constructed by the system began to collapse.

Chi Qingzhou gazed silently at the statue, once again feeling a strong desire to recover his lost memories.

He was a little curious—was the illusion construction function of module 16594 also part of his purpose in pulling the system down from the heavens?

And what exactly was this ghost deity?

Was it something that had stolen faith and incense offerings, or…

Like the system, was it some kind of visitor from beyond the heavens?

—

Chi Qingzhou woke from the illusion to see the police officers and Daoists working together to help Shen Wenxu up.

Shen Wenxu grimaced as he moved his ankle, apologizing to the police and saying he hadn’t meant to disturb the scene.

“I don’t know why I suddenly tripped. It felt like something caught my foot.”

He pointed at the ground, hesitated for a few seconds, and then added softly,

“It felt like a wire or a string.”

Upon hearing this, the detectives immediately crouched down to look and soon found two thin nails embedded in the concrete floor.

These two nails were almost completely buried, with only a small part of their heads exposed. A transparent fishing line was tied between them. If they hadn’t been deliberately searching, they wouldn’t have noticed it at all in the dim lighting.

One of the Daoists frowned in confusion. “What is this for?”

They had never heard of such an arrangement in the Wan Ying Temple.

Even if this temple worshiped wandering ghosts, this setup seemed too strange.

The police also asked, “What does this symbolize?”

Shen Wenxu scratched his head hard, thought for a long time, and then said awkwardly, “I don’t know. I’ve never encountered this situation before. Normally, this kind of thing shouldn’t be in a temple.”

The detectives’ expressions grew more serious.

Since this setup was completely out of place in the temple, it might just be a breakthrough in the case.

They carefully collected the items and sealed them in an evidence bag.

Shen Wenxu took the opportunity while everyone’s attention was on the fishing line to glance at Chi Qingzhou.

Chi Qingzhou smiled at him.

Behind him, hidden by his sleeve, a yellow talisman suddenly ignited without fire. But as if everyone had turned blind, no one noticed the flicker of flames.

Within seconds, the talisman burned to ashes.

Shen Wenxu’s shoulders relaxed, and he let out a small smile.

The next moment, he composed himself and continued chatting with the police. Under his guidance, the Daoists also started recalling anything useful, successfully keeping everyone occupied at the Wan Ying Temple.

Chi Qingzhou subtly stifled a yawn.

It was already past eleven-thirty. At this time of night, he was usually asleep.

In his shadow, Xing Shuangzhan chuckled: 【Was my guess correct, Qingzhou?】

Chi Qingzhou’s lazy expression instantly turned obedient: 【I don’t know.】

Xing Shuangzhan indulgently replied: 【It’s okay if you don’t know. You’ll have to go home sooner or later.】

Chi Qingzhou’s expression froze for a moment before he casually averted his gaze.

Of course, he knew he couldn’t stay away from home forever. But wasn’t it better to enjoy his freedom for as long as possible?

After all, Brother Su wouldn’t really do anything to him.

With this thought, Chi Qingzhou regained his confidence.

In the shadows, Xing Shuangzhan’s expression carried an amused smirk.

Wasn’t this precisely why he kept indulging his little contractor?

If he didn’t let him lower his guard, he might not have the chance to feed himself well.

The atmosphere between them grew subtly quiet for a moment. Meanwhile, Shen Wenxu finally finished stalling and explaining everything that could be handled on-site.

The police thanked him for his cooperation. After leaving the temple, they discussed with Chi Qingzhou about heading straight to the station to make a formal statement.

Chi Qingzhou said, “Alright. I don’t have any engagements tomorrow morning either. If you need my cooperation for anything, you can call me.”

Seeing how agreeable Chi Qingzhou was, the police relaxed a little, even showing faint smiles.

They asked Chi Qingzhou how he had arrived. When they learned that he had a car and a driver, they planned to assign someone to guide him to the station.

Before they could split up, a faint noise came from the road near Wan Ying Temple.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads.

At the end of the curve, a dark-colored off-road vehicle emerged.

Perhaps its engine had been modified, as the car made almost no noise while driving. In the surrounding clamor, or from a slightly greater distance, it would be nearly inaudible.

By now, it was close to midnight. Although streetlights lined both sides of the road, the lighting was not particularly bright. The vehicle had not turned on its headlights, relying instead on the dim streetlights as it moved, driving straight toward the temple.

This series of incongruous actions immediately put the police on alert.

For some reason, they instinctively chose to hide.

Signaling for everyone to remain silent, the officers led the group back into temple, finding suitable hiding spots to quietly set up an ambush.

Less than two minutes later, a person stepped out of the parked off-road vehicle.

This man was short, barely over 170 ( 5’5) cm tall, and covered in fat. His beer belly stuck out sharply, making him quite eye-catching.

However, his movements were astonishingly agile, completely mismatching his rotund physique.

After exiting the vehicle, he circled the roadside, carefully inspecting the police and Dao Association’s vehicles one by one, touching each engine area while clicking his tongue in apparent surprise.

“There’s a stench of death. No way… Was the killing intent really this strong?” he murmured in an extremely soft voice. “Cleaning this up is going to be such a hassle.”

“Sigh, but since Master assigned this job, I have to do it no matter how troublesome it is.”

His voice was so quiet that aside from Chi Qingzhou, Xing Shuangzhan, and the system, no one else even noticed he was speaking.

Chi Qingzhou raised an eyebrow. So this guy was also Qing Zhi’s disciple?

He glanced at Shen Wenxu from the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw no trace of surprise on Shen Wenxu’s face—only a bit of satisfaction, as if his goal had been achieved.

It seemed that Shen Wenxu had been stalling for time just to wait for this person to appear.

The short, fat cultivator clearly had no suspicion toward Shen Wenxu.

He pulled out a talisman and swept away the lingering death energy from the cars. Once he confirmed that he had cleaned up the aftermath, he clasped his hands behind his back and headed toward the temple.

The detectives, who had been holding their breath, finally exhaled slightly.

After instinctively hiding inside the temple earlier, they had started to regret it.

Their vehicles were still parked outside. If this person was really connected to the murder case, he might flee the moment he saw the police cars, and they wouldn’t have time to chase him down!

The officers felt a pang of frustration, but it was too late to change their decision.

However, to their surprise, despite clearly seeing the police cars and even studying them closely, the man still chose to walk straight into the temple.

Had they misunderstood his identity and purpose?

The detectives hesitated.

Moving with unexpected speed, the short, fat cultivator reached the entrance of Wan Ying Temple and immediately noticed the police tape and Ma Xiayang’s corpse.

“Hiss—this still hasn’t been cleaned up?”

Clicking his tongue, he rolled his eyes but still showed no signs of suspicion.

His master, Qing Zhi, had indeed sent his junior brother, Shen Wenxu, to divert attention. But he knew very well that with his junior brother’s soft-hearted nature, he would never be able to handle such a serious matter.

That was precisely why his master had placed an old ghost on his junior brother.

He had worked with that old ghost before—it had an insatiable thirst for killing. Through constant slaughter, it was now on the verge of advancing to the “Calamity” level.

“And after ‘Calamity,’ the next stage is ‘World-Ender.’”

The short, fat cultivator muttered under his breath. Confirming that there were no living presences around, he carelessly stepped into the temple.

Shen Wenxu raised an eyebrow and looked at Chi Qingzhou.

Chi Qingzhou curved his eyes slightly, concealing his achievements and reputation.

The short, fat cultivator had a clear objective. The moment he entered, he headed straight for Ma Xiayang’s corpse.

The detectives’ expressions darkened. They pulled out their handcuffs and lunged at the man.

“Freeze! Hands up!”

“Holy shit! Where did you all come from?!”

The short, fat cultivator was startled. Instinctively, he reached for a yellow talisman, ready to throw it, but the officers tackled him to the ground before he had the chance.

His cheek scraped against the rough ground, immediately burning with pain.

He let out a miserable scream. As he lifted his head, he saw the officers pinning him down and the Daoists standing nearby, glaring at him furiously. His face turned green.

Damn it!

What the hell was going on?!

Hadn’t that old ghost killed everyone? There were no living auras around—where did all these people suddenly pop up from?!

The short, fat cultivator was both shocked and anxious. His eyes darted around instinctively, scanning the crowd.

Soon, he spotted Shen Wenxu and Chi Qingzhou standing to the side.

Shen Wenxu’s face was full of shock and fear, his eyes wide with apparent urgency—his expression practically screamed, Senior Brother, why are you here so soon?!

Chi Qingzhou, on the other hand, watched him curiously, his entire being unconsciously exuding a thick, oppressive ghostly aura.

The short, fat cultivator opened his mouth but found himself at a complete loss for words. His gaze grew increasingly vacant.

So the reason he hadn’t sensed any living presence earlier… was because Chi Qingzhou’s ghostly aura had drowned it out?

He had assumed that aura came from the old ghost!

Damn it! Chi Qingzhou really was his nemesis!