“Where the hell did you come from?! Do you think you can just barge into the interrogation room at the Spirit Supervision Bureau headquarters like that?!”
When the man saw Fu Sang suddenly charge in, he was initially startled. Once he recovered, all that remained was anger.
Where did this brat come from? He has no manners at all. Did he think headquarters was the vegetable market downstairs from his home? It was already the twenty-first century, and he still wanted to imitate those prison-break scenes from historical dramas?
Kicking the door open was bad enough, but then he had the audacity to tell him to get lost. How arrogant! Just for damaging public property and causing trouble, that was already enough to…
“Xiao Wang.”
Xiao Wang hadn’t even finished that thought when he saw another person hurry in behind the young man.
Xiao Wang froze.
“Boss? This is…?”
Liu Dongfeng had gauze wrapped around his head and his arm in a cast. Despite his injuries, he was still stubbornly wearing his uniform and remaining at his post. Fu Sang had already praised him when he first saw him, saying that his spirit was truly admirable.
That night, Liu Dongfeng was dug out from beneath the rubble. He had injuries all over his body, both large and small, and one of his arms was broken. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it was still agonizing.
The higher-ups originally wanted him to rest and recuperate properly. However, as someone who was involved in this incident from beginning to end and knew all the twists and turns behind it, Liu Dongfeng didn’t dare slack off. He insisted on getting out of his hospital bed and taking over as head of the special investigation team. For days, he led his subordinates in cleaning up the aftermath, investigating the people involved, and arranging subsequent operations. Every day, he was as busy as a spinning top.
When he first heard that the disaster caused by the destruction of Cui Xing Gate was stopped only because a seventh-rank Crimson Evil sacrificed himself, and that Zhuge Fusang had also jumped into Cui Xing Gate, Liu Dongfeng felt terrible. Although he didn’t say anything, he was indeed upset for several days.
He originally planned to wait until things had settled down and he had a little free time to burn some paper money and gold ingots for Fu Sang. They had known each other, after all, and he hoped Fu Sang would have a smooth journey. Who would have thought that before he could go and pay his respects to his deceased friend, the deceased would come looking for him first?
Half an hour ago, when Liu Dongfeng received Fu Sang’s call, he thought he was dreaming.
For a brief moment, he even wondered if that day had finally come.
After Zhuge Fusang’s death, had he really turned into a vengeful ghost and returned to take revenge on the entire world?
The disaster at Cui Xing Gate had only just been brought under control and things had finally settled down. Was a natural disaster in the form of someone named “Zhuge Fusang” about to take advantage of the chaos and add fuel to the fire?
Fortunately, it turned out that Liu Dongfeng was simply overthinking things. Although he didn’t know exactly how it had been accomplished, Fu Sang really was still alive.
However, the call Liu Dongfeng received wasn’t to tell him this good news or to reminisce about the bond they had formed through sharing hardships. It was to demand an explanation, accusing him of arresting his person.
When Liu Dongfeng first heard this, his head was full of question marks.
He was at the Xuangu Mountain Range all along, and as soon as he heard about it, he immediately called headquarters to verify the situation. But after checking, his subordinates told him that everyone they had arrested came from a list he had already confirmed with them. They didn’t arrest anyone extra or make a single mistake. Furthermore, apart from one Shaosi who had just been arrested at noon, headquarters hadn’t taken in anyone new for three days.
A Shaosi? Zhuge Qi?
If Liu Dongfeng remembered correctly, this was the person Fu Sang had specifically named as a target at the time, saying there was something wrong with him.
Zhuge Heng also clearly stated, and Liu Dongfeng heard it with his own ears, that this Shaosi was the lifeline of the main family. The direct line daughters who had died before had all been killed for various reasons to prolong his life.
Such an evil existence that exchanged lives for lives should be brought to justice. Why was Fu Sang unhappy now that they had actually caught him?
Wasn’t that Crimson Evil his person? Since when did he acquire another person named Zhuge Qi?
Liu Dongfeng had many questions in his mind.
But when he saw Zhuge Qi’s face clearly in the interrogation room, all those questions disappeared.
For a moment, only one thought remained in his mind.
So that’s how it was.
Back when the two of them were still at the main family, when Fu Sang first proposed a deal, he had made it very clear: anything else was negotiable, but nobody was allowed to touch his ghost.
Although Liu Dongfeng didn’t know what happened or how it had been accomplished, it seemed that the ghost had indeed become a person. The special pardon Fu Sang originally requested for the Crimson Evil now needed to be applied to Zhuge Qi in its entirety.
“Let him go.” Liu Dongfeng gave a slight cough.
“This matter has nothing to do with Zhuge Qi. I’ll act as his guarantor and submit a report to the higher-ups myself later. You don’t need to concern yourself with this anymore.”
“But, Boss, he’s the Shaosi…” Xiao Wang stared at Liu Dongfeng in disbelief.
“I know he’s the Shaosi, Zhuge Qi. But as for this matter… Just let him go for now.”
Xiao Wang wanted to argue, but when he saw Liu Dongfeng frown at him, signaling him to stop and obey the order, he reluctantly lowered the stun baton and took a key from his pocket to unlock the handcuffs and ropes binding Zhuge Qi.
During this time, Liu Dongfeng secretly glanced at Zhuge Qi several times. Only after confirming that the man was not injured did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, this matter would not have been so easy to put behind them today. Fu Sang was a lunatic who fiercely protected his own. He wasn’t someone just anyone could afford to provoke. He was so anxious after hearing the sound of the stun baton that he kicked the door down. If he came in and discovered that the electricity had actually been applied to Zhuge Qi, that kick would probably have landed on their heads instead.
What a strange person. When he himself was sitting in the interrogation room, being shocked until he could barely remain seated, he didn’t utter a sound. But when it came to someone of his own, he wouldn’t even allow a single strand of their hair to be touched.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, Liu Dongfeng didn’t think about it any further. He raised a hand and patted Fu Sang on the shoulder.
“Can we talk privately for a moment? There’s something I need to confirm with you.”
Fu Sang glanced at him without saying anything, then walked out of the interrogation room on his own, which counted as his consent.
Liu Dongfeng then led Fu Sang to the headquarters’ break room. Using his one good arm, he struggled to make Fu Sang a cup of coffee before getting down to business.
“What exactly is going on? I heard that the situation at Cui Xing Gate was brought under control because your Crimson Evil sacrificed himself. In that case, shouldn’t he have… How did he become Zhuge Qi again after a few days?”
Actually, Fu Sang was very reluctant to tell other people too much about Qi Changying.
But the situation was special now, and he had no choice but to explain.
“For the twenty-one years before that night, Zhuge Qi wasn’t a real ‘living person.’ He was just an empty shell without a soul. If you ask the guards who were around him, they’ll give you the same answer. My guess is that my ghost didn’t successfully sacrifice himself that night. Otherwise, there wouldn’t still be so much resentful energy and so many underworld spirits around Cui Xing Gate. If my ghost died, those things would have disappeared along with him.”
“As for what actually happened… I think that before he completely dissipated, some kind of force guided him to find his physical body, which was Zhuge Qi. His soul and body then merged, the Crimson Evil disappeared, and Zhuge Qi ‘came alive.’”
“…” Liu Dongfeng nodded.
“I understand. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why would the Zhuge family use the lives of so many generations of their own daughters to preserve the physical body of a ghost who had absolutely nothing to do with them? Was it to keep the seventh-rank Crimson Evil in check? It doesn’t seem to have worked.”
“Because they wanted to steal his fate.”
Fu Sang replied:
“My ghost had an excellent fate pattern. While he was alive, the Zhuge family’s ancestors did everything in their power to steal his fortune, but they failed. Only later did they come up with this method. They trapped him in the Zhuge family forever and turned the fortune that originally belonged to him into nourishment for their own clan. So, Officer Liu, don’t worry. I haven’t asked you to bend the law for personal reasons. He really has nothing to do with this matter. He’s a victim. If anyone accidentally hurts him, then that would truly be…”
After hearing all this and recalling what he saw when he entered the interrogation room just now, Liu Dongfeng broke out in a cold sweat.
“…Sorry. Young people in this line of work tend to be hot-headed and quick to hate evil. That kid was a little reckless in how he handled things, but at least he didn’t actually hurt anyone. Don’t hold it against him.”
“Young people?” Fu Sang scoffed, his words carrying an implication.
“Officer Liu isn’t young either. When you interrogated me, weren’t you just as hot-headed and quick to hate evil?”
Liu Dongfeng was reminded of how he had nearly electrocuted Fu Sang to death in the interrogation room before.
He felt somewhat guilty.
“That was because you kept provoking me.”
“Then you really don’t have much self-control. No wonder the people you train reach for the stun baton at the slightest provocation. Anyone who didn’t know better would think the Spirit Supervision Bureau’s special investigation team was a training class for the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning.”
“…”
“Be glad that the stun baton hadn’t been pressed against his neck yet. Otherwise, this matter wouldn’t have ended here.”
“Understood.”
Liu Dongfeng nodded.
“I’ll explain Zhuge Qi’s situation to the higher-ups. Nobody will bother him again for the time being. But there’s one thing I need to make clear beforehand.”
“Go ahead.”
“What you just told me has no evidence.”
Liu Dongfeng’s expression grew serious.
“There’s no evidence proving that Zhuge Qi was truly unconscious for the first twenty-one years of his life. There’s no evidence proving that the Zhuge family kept him alive to steal his fate. And there’s no evidence proving that he’s a victim. At present, the only established fact supported by witnesses and recordings is that the conspiracy involving the deaths of the main family’s legitimate daughters was intended to prolong Zhuge Qi’s life.”
Liu Dongfeng sighed softly.
“Even if I act as his guarantor, I can only delay things for a while. I reported the matter concerning you and your ghost to the higher-ups beforehand, but a ghost is a ghost, a person is a person, a Crimson Evil is a Crimson Evil, and Zhuge Qi is Zhuge Qi. You don’t even have evidence proving they’re the same person. Everything you just told me is merely your own speculation, right?
“I’m very willing to trust you, but the higher-ups might not be. We’re people who operate within the law. Whatever we do still has to be based on evidence. If we can’t uncover the entire sequence of events behind this matter, sort it out, and prove that Zhuge Qi is innocent or even a victim… the situation won’t be optimistic. This incident is extremely serious, and someone must take responsibility. As things stand, the first person is Zhuge Mingyun, and the second is him.”
Hearing this, Fu Sang raised an eyebrow and gave a cold laugh.
“I’ll kill you all.”
“…Don’t be like that.” Liu Dongfeng looked somewhat helpless.
“This is a society governed by law. If you kill us, you won’t get anything good out of it. You’ll have to spend the rest of your life hiding like a fugitive. It would be better for us to work together and resolve the problem first. We can use the limited time we have to dig deeper, look for evidence, and try to uncover more details or find a way out.”
“Fine.”
Fu Sang frowned slightly, as though he had suddenly remembered something.
“Zhuge Qi has no identification documents. He’s an undocumented person. Shouldn’t you resolve that problem for me first? Even if you’re going to convict him, you’ll still need those documents, won’t you?”
“Okay. That’s not difficult. I’ll arrange to have them issued for him as a priority.”
“Alright. Anything else?”
“Nothing for now.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“I’ll see you out.”
Liu Dongfeng led Fu Sang out of the break room and toward the headquarters’ exit.
“During this period, if you make any new discoveries or have any new questions, call me anytime. You can also come straight here to find me. But next time, please don’t kick the door down. It gives a bad impression. Oh, right. There’s something else.”
As if he suddenly remembered something, Liu Dongfeng asked Fu Sang to wait a moment. He hurried back to his office and returned shortly afterward carrying a paper bag, which he handed to Fu Sang.
“I’m returning these to their rightful owner.”
Fu Sang took it and opened the bag to look inside.
It was actually his set of white-bone magical artifacts.
Bone coins, a bone ruler, a doll, a bone bell, and even the fragments of the Soul-Transferring Lamp.
He hesitated, then raised his eyes to look at Liu Dongfeng.
“Since they’re made of bones, our technical department conducted DNA tests on them. It’s actually a little frightening. When they compared the results, they discovered that all these bones belonged to you. I got goosebumps all over when I saw the report.
“Originally, all of these were evidence and shouldn’t have been released. But I just approved an application for you to become an external investigator. Since they’re all yours anyway, keeping them with you should make things a little more convenient.”
As he spoke, Liu Dongfeng raised his eyes and looked toward a certain spot:
“Alright, the lobby is just ahead. Go on. He’s waiting for you.”
Hearing this, Fu Sang was slightly taken aback.
Following Liu Dongfeng’s gaze, he saw Zhuge Qi standing quietly in an inconspicuous corner not far away, looking in his direction.
When he saw the person clearly, Fu Sang’s lips curled almost imperceptibly, and for some inexplicable reason, his mood improved just a little.
“Got it.”
He closed the paper bag and strode toward Zhuge Qi.
Zhuge Qi had been watching him the whole time. When he realized that Fu Sang was walking in this direction, he looked around. Only after confirming that there was no one else nearby did he realize that Fu Sang was coming toward him.
“What are you standing here for? Still reluctant to leave? Want to stay here a little longer?”
Fu Sang looked him up and down with a cold expression and asked.
Zhuge Qi smiled at him.
“I’m waiting for you.”
“Did I ask you to wait for me?”
“I wanted to wait for you.”
“.”
Such a familiar feeling.
Once again, this person easily and gently blocked his sharp words.
Fu Sang rolled his eyes slightly.
Skipping that topic, he asked:
“What about the group of people following you?”
“I don’t know. They’ve probably already gone back. They aren’t supposed to stay by my side and watch over me every moment anyway.”
As he spoke, Zhuge Qi added:
“Thank you, Fu Sang.”
“For what?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
Fu Sang scoffed.
“This is the Spirit Supervision Bureau, not the Eighteenth Level of Hell. Is there really any need to use the word ‘save’?”
Zhuge Qi lowered his eyes and shook his head.
“From what they said, it seems the crimes I’m supposed to bear are quite serious. I originally thought that once I came in, I wouldn’t be able to leave or see you again. But you came. I didn’t expect you to come. When I saw you, I was very happy. Fu Sang, that room was very dark, but you were like a ray of light.”
“?”
Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Will you die if you don’t say such pretentious, affected things?”
Zhuge Qi couldn’t help laughing.
“Does it sound pretentious and affected? But that’s what I genuinely thought, so I wanted to tell you exactly as it was, without hiding anything. I hope you can fully understand my thoughts and feelings.”
“…”
For some reason, Fu Sang felt as if his entire body were covered in thorns, and he felt uncomfortable all over.
He avoided Zhuge Qi’s gaze and, as usual, responded with cold words.
“You’re overthinking it. Don’t flatter yourself by thinking I did it for you. Helping you was just something I happened to do. I simply didn’t want other people getting their hands on what belongs to me. What does that have to do with you?”
“Alright.” Zhuge Qi answered gently, then asked as if he wanted to confirm something:
“Do I belong to you?”
“Whose do you want to belong to?”
“Before I met you, I thought I belonged to myself.”
“…”
Qi Changying always had a way of leaving him speechless.
While Fu Sang remained silent, Zhuge Qi looked at him with a faint smile.
Fu Sang couldn’t stand that look, so he started walking toward the exit.
The person behind him seemed to follow, but he didn’t turn around to look. He simply walked straight ahead with his head lowered.
The headquarters of the Spirit Supervision Bureau wasn’t far from Fu Sang’s rented apartment. He could take the subway, a taxi, or even a shared bicycle to get home. But Zhuge Qi was a bit of a problem.
He had no ID, no phone, and certainly no money in his pockets. The group of guards who followed him everywhere in the past had also disappeared. What now? Was the esteemed Shaosi supposed to walk out of the city and all the way back to the Xuangu Mountain Range?
…Whatever.
He could walk or climb for all he cared. What did it have to do with him?
Fu Sang thought coldly.
He didn’t want to deal with this person anymore. Every time he opened his mouth, he said something that made people uncomfortable…
“Fu Sang.”
His thoughts came to a halt as Zhuge Qi’s voice came from behind him.
Fu Sang stopped walking.
Frowning, he turned around and saw Zhuge Qi following a few steps behind him.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you…”
Zhuge Qi looked at him with a very gentle expression, his soft gaze resting on Fu Sang.
“I think I really like you.”
