‘How arrogant!’
Liu Dongfeng narrowed his eyes slightly.
Although spirit masters possessed abilities different from ordinary people, the threshold for entering the profession was high, and there were also restrictions imposed by karma. Therefore, the likelihood of criminals appearing in this line of work was much lower than in ordinary society. But whenever someone did emerge from that extremely small probability, they would inevitably become a huge problem that left the entire Spirit Supervision Bureau overwhelmed for months.
It went without saying that more troublesome than antisocial personality was antisocial personality combined with supernatural powers. Not to mention that the nether path was connected to things like life, souls and curses. Once someone developed crooked ideas and went down the wrong path, the scale of the disaster could be imagined.
Criminals with such powerful abilities would generally also display cruelty and arrogance far beyond ordinary people. Liu Dongfeng had worked in this field for many years and had encountered a few people like this, so he had fairly ample experience.
For example, right now, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get anything else out of Fu Sang by asking questions, so it was time to bring out the equipment.
Some things were no longer advocated in ordinary society, but the Spirit Supervision Bureau was different. The authority they possessed was far greater than that of the Public Security Bureau.
After all, special people should be treated specially.
Liu Dongfeng stood up from behind the desk.
He opened a drawer and took out a small object that looked like a flashlight. Then he grabbed the end and pulled it forcefully until it extended to the length of an arm. Carrying it, he slowly approached Fu Sang and lightly lifted his chin with the end:
“Are you provoking me?”
“Not at all.” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression unchanged.
“I’m only stating a fact.”
Liu Dongfeng sneered, clearly not very convinced by his words.
He shifted the end of the long baton slightly to the side and pressed it against the side of Fu Sang’s neck. With a click, the button was pressed, and electricity suddenly struck him with intense pain.
Fu Sang felt as though every inch of flesh on his body had been scalded in hot oil, as if countless long needles had pierced deeply into his bones and blood, while his soul was tightly gripped by a pair of invisible hands.
He could clearly feel the numbness and pain brought by the electric current. It was an exceptionally long process.
Trapped in the interrogation chair, his body spasmed and convulsed from the electricity. Fu Sang clenched his fingers tightly, forcing himself not to make a single sound.
By the time the electric baton was pulled away, his entire head was covered in sweat. All the strength had been drained from his body, and he could only slump softly against the chair like a bedsheet casually tossed aside.
“Not a sound? You’ve got some tough bones.”
Liu Dongfeng silently raised the setting another level and asked at the same time:
“Are you a little more clear-headed now? If you are, let’s continue talking. What are these artifacts used for? Are you hiding a seventh-rank Crimson Evil? Where is the Crimson Evil? What did you want to do by kidnapping Zhuge Qianyi? Where is she now?”
“Didn’t I already make it very clear just now?”
Fu Sang’s face was several shades paler than before. He gently curved his lips:
“They’re just some ordinary little objects. I don’t know anything about Crimson Evils or whatever. Zhuge Qianyi has nothing to do with me. How would I know where she is? Officer, you’ve got the wrong person, haven’t you?”
“Looks like you’re still not clear-headed enough.”
“Yeah, it’s still not enough. You’ll have to keep trying, Officer.”
Liu Dongfeng sneered and directly turned the setting to the highest level, once again pressing the end of the electric baton against Fu Sang’s shoulder:
“Then let’s try harder?”
“Sure.”
Although he said the electricity wasn’t exciting enough, being electrocuted was indeed a little more exhilarating than jumping off a building.
Fu Sang recovered slightly, adjusted his sitting position, and looked up at Liu Dongfeng:
“I’m always ready.”
……
“Tick! Tick! Tick!”
In the quiet room, the only sound was the ticking of the clock’s second hand. Each sound seemed to strike Huo Wei’s heart.
It was the first time in her life she had entered the bureau, and she never expected it would be because of something like this.
She was almost in tears.
The room’s soundproofing was average. She seemed to be able to hear strange noises coming from next door. If she remembered correctly, Fu Sang was in there.
“Don’t be afraid, Miss Huo. If you cooperate fully and tell the truth, I won’t use those extreme methods on you.”
The woman responsible for interrogating Huo Wei was a female officer from the Spirit Supervision Bureau. She had a stern expression, making her seem very cold.
She tapped the table with her knuckles:
“We know that you and Zhuge Fusang have been good friends for many years. Sharing blessings and hardships is normal between friends, but if he commits evil and you help him conceal it, then the nature of the matter is different. Now, tell us everything you know, and we can still help you obtain lenient treatment. This is your only chance, so you must seize it.”
“But he didn’t do anything bad at all…! I’m a very righteous person, okay? If he really had done some evil business, I would definitely be the first to stand up and report him, even if it meant putting righteousness before family! But he didn’t! How do you expect me to confess to things we never did? Should I obediently take someone else’s blame?”
Huo Wei was so anxious that she wanted to stand up and walk around in circles, but she was trapped in the chair and could only angrily stomp her feet:
“Didn’t I already make it very clear? Qianyi is also my good friend. We didn’t kidnap her. She chose to leave home entirely of her own accord. We even had lunch together yesterday.”
“I don’t know why she disappeared from the hotel, but for her to vanish without saying a word, she must have encountered danger. So what you should be doing now is questioning that Zhao Yong’an, who is full of lies, and working hard to find Qianyi’s whereabouts, instead of wasting time on us, asking about things we didn’t do and don’t know anything about, okay?!”
“Fine. Since you say these things have nothing to do with you, then I have another question. If the Zhao father and son have no enmity with you, why would he frame you for sending a ghost to frighten his child?”
The female officer narrowed her eyes and observed the subtle changes in Huo Wei’s expression.
“It was Zhuge Lin! Zhuge Lin! The ghost that frightened them was his daughter Li Guizhen, who died twenty years ago. I don’t know what method he used to bring Li Guizhen back and turn her into a sixth-rank Violent Nightmare, then he took her around to vent his anger on his former son-in-law!”
“Zhao Yong’an must have been coerced by him, which was why he pinned the blame on us. Is that really so difficult to understand? Zhuge Qianyi also disappeared while she was beside Zhao Yong’an. This matter definitely has something to do with Zhuge Lin. It might even have been Zhuge Lin provoking Qianyi to leave home from the very beginning… Can you stop making assumptions and at least listen to what I’m saying?!”
Huo Wei listened to the sounds occasionally coming from next door, her eyes already red with anxiety:
“…Did you use electricity on him? Could you tell your colleague not to do that? He only got out of the ICU a couple of days ago. His body can’t take this kind of treatment…”
“If he cooperates sufficiently and has no intention of resisting, my colleague won’t casually use electricity. He’s been in this line of work for many years and knows his limits. You don’t need to worry about your friend, Miss Huo. Rather, you said… all the charges currently against you are actually you taking the blame for Zhuge Lin?”
“If not, then what? Haven’t I repeated it many, many times?!”
“But how could that be?”
The female officer frowned slightly:
“From the beginning, it was Zhuge Lin who came to the Spirit Supervision Bureau and said that his disciple Zhuge Fusang had resented him for many years and had serious antisocial tendencies, and that he suspected Zhuge Fusang was planning something that would threaten other people’s personal safety.”
“Later, he participated in the investigation and handling of the case from beginning to end. From Qinxi, to Jingda University, and then Yongfu, Qianzhou, and the Miao villages, he devoted himself to gathering evidence and cooperating with the investigation. I saw all of this with my own eyes. The information and evidence we collected were sufficient to prove that Zhuge Fusang was carrying out some shady plans.”
“Let’s set Zhuge Qianyi’s matter aside for now. Are you saying that Zhuge Fusang never forced anyone to swear blood oaths, never concealed the truth and had others file reports under their names for him, and never took away key physical evidence or magical artifacts from the cases? And he never plotted against Zhuge Lin’s life?”
“…” Huo Wei was stumped.
She couldn’t answer.
Because everything the other woman had said was indeed true.
In this world, half-true and half-false lies were the hardest to expose. By the same logic, a half-true and half-false scapegoating was the same.
They were in the wrong to begin with, so it was difficult to explain.
By this point, Huo Wei also understood that this blame had not suddenly been pinned on them. It had been carefully planned months ago.
The mastermind had arranged everything long in advance, removing himself from suspicion and waiting for them to step into the trap he had meticulously prepared today.
“Is there anything else you want to argue?” the female officer asked.
“…” Huo Wei sighed and ultimately, could only repeat weakly, “It really wasn’t us…”
For the sake of this major case, the Spirit Supervision Bureau had established a special task force and secretly investigated for a long time. Now they had chased the two suspects all the way from the capital to Ganlan, working overtime until late at night in a foreign place to successfully bring them into custody.
Another half hour passed. The female officer came out of the interrogation room and happened to meet Liu Dongfeng, who was opening the door of the room next door.
“You used electricity? Take it easy. That’s a patient,” the female officer said, looking him up and down.
“It’s fine. I know what I’m doing.” Liu Dongfeng furrowed his brows and clearly needed someone to complain to:
“The guy in there is quite something even among the difficult ones I’ve encountered.”
He gave the female officer a thumbs-up gesture:
“I can’t get anything out of him. Whatever I ask, it’s ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I didn’t do it.’ What can you do? I turned the electric baton all the way up, and he didn’t even make a sound. Not only did he not beg for mercy, he kept provoking me. It’s as if he can’t feel pain at all… What a lunatic.”
Liu Dongfeng sighed and shook his head:
“What about you? What did you get?”
“Nothing. She kept denying it too, saying they didn’t do it… Actually, I think that girl really wasn’t lying. Unless she has logic so convincing that falsehoods look real and acting skills that are extremely good, there really is something going on and they were wrongfully accused.”
The female officer always felt that something was wrong with this matter:
“You know who she said the culprit was?”
“Who?”
“Zhuge Lin.”
“She’s saying the person who reported the case and claimed to be the victim is the culprit? Interesting.”
“The old men of the main branch are full of tricks. It’s not impossible for them to be shouting ‘catch the thief’ while being the thief themselves.”
“Fine. I’ll tell Xiao Ma and the others to keep an eye out later.” Liu Dongfeng nodded.
“But compared to that… I think we should first consider what we’re going to do if there really is a Crimson Evil beside Zhuge Fusang. If he wants to make a move then, how are we going to deal with it?
“Don’t forget, when he was five, he used an evil curse to cripple his senior brother. According to what Zhuge Lin said, when he was twelve, he even placed a blood curse on the entire Zhuge family, though it failed. Now more than ten years have passed, so his abilities will only be stronger. I had already prepared myself for mutual destruction. Who would have thought we’d be able to arrest him so easily this time? Xiao Ma even said he barely resisted at all… That’s what surprises me most. I’m wondering if he’s using our plan against us, and entering the Spirit Supervision Bureau is actually one part of his plan. Could there be some other trump card waiting for us later?”
“Who knows? Even if that’s the case, what can we do? We can only take things one step at a time.” The female officer sighed, lowered her head to look at the time, and put her hands on her hips.
“…It’s past three. That’s about enough, right? We won’t get anything else out of them even if we keep at it. What should we do with them?”
“Put the girl in a separate detention room for now. As for Fu Sang… This lunatic seems to have plenty of energy. I’ll wear him down for a few days and nights. I don’t believe I can’t pry his mouth open,” Liu Dongfeng said.
“You…” The female officer shook her head. She was about to say something else when she looked up and saw a young woman running over from the end of the corridor, panting heavily:
“Sister Zhang, Brother Liu, the main branch called!”
“The main branch? What did they say?” Sister Zhang frowned and asked.
The young woman hesitated:
“They said not to touch these two people for now. The main branch will send people over first thing tomorrow morning. They said to wait until they see them before handling it personally.”
……
Fu Sang probably slumped in the chair and slept for a while, or perhaps he had been unconscious for some time. He himself wasn’t quite sure.
In any case, he was eventually awakened by the sound of the door opening.
Fu Sang opened his eyes and looked up at the time on the wall.
The short hand had passed several marks. It was already ten-thirty in the morning.
He looked at Liu Dongfeng as he walked in and slightly curled the corner of his lips:
“What good method have you come up with this time to pry my mouth open, Officer?”
Liu Dongfeng glanced at him without saying anything.
Only then did Fu Sang notice that Liu Dongfeng hadn’t closed the door after entering, there were other people behind him.
An old man leaning on an exquisite and imposing dragon-headed cane walked in. Judging by the material, it seemed to be precious golden silk nanmu.
He had a beard, hair that reached his shoulders, a medium build, and wore a gray Tang suit. He had a square-shaped face and a solemn expression that naturally inspired awe.
Fu Sang recognized him.
He hadn’t expected that his little matter could actually alarm this person…
The current head of the Zhuge family, Qianyi, Buhuo, and Buyi’s grandfather, Zhuge Lin’s older brother, Zhuge Heng.
Zhuge Heng did not enter alone. A middle-aged woman followed beside him, carefully helping him sit down.
Fu Sang recognized that woman too. In fact, he had a general impression of every person in the Zhuge family’s main branch.
The woman before him was Zhuge Heng’s eldest daughter and Zhuge Qianyi’s mother, Zhuge Mingyun.
It seemed that Zhuge Qianyi really was quite important to their family. The moment the “kidnapper” had been brought in, her grandfather and mother couldn’t wait even one day and had personally come to demand an explanation first thing in the morning.
Fu Sang closed his eyes again, too lazy to look at them anymore.
“Hello, Fusang.”
In the end, it was Zhuge Heng who spoke first.
To Fu Sang’s surprise, after opening his mouth, the old man did not aggressively demand his granddaughter. On the contrary, his tone was quite gentle, and he even took the initiative to strike up a friendly conversation:
“Do you still remember me? When you were very young, we met once. I remember you very well.”
“You mean the time I crippled Zhuge Can? That was too long ago. Almost twenty years have passed. I have no obligation to remember you.” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Of course.”
Zhuge Heng had held a high position for many years. Yet now, when faced with such an impolite junior, he wasn’t angry. Instead, he took the initiative to introduce himself:
“Then let’s get reacquainted. I am the current head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Heng.”
“Fine. If you’re here to ask me where your granddaughter is, I have nothing to tell you. Whatever interrogation methods you have, bring them out quickly. I’m really tired. Let’s finish early and let me sleep early.”
Fu Sang was truly too lazy to listen to these irrelevant people spout nonsense, so he made his attitude clear first.
“No, you misunderstand, child. I didn’t come here today because of that. I know Qianyi isn’t in your hands.”
Zhuge Heng sat in the chair, both hands resting on his cane as he looked directly at Fu Sang across from him and slowly said,
“I came to make a deal with you.”
Fu Sang had been trapped in this broken chair for a full ten hours and had listened to quite a lot of people babbling. Only this sentence from Zhuge Heng truly piqued his interest.
He raised an eyebrow slightly and finally looked directly at Zhuge Heng:
“Let’s hear it.”
“I know more things than you imagine. For example, you found the thousand year old main formation of the Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison at Black Mountain Pass. You destroyed it, released the Crimson Evil inside, and also took out the thing suppressed in a nearby auxiliary formation, namely the black long nail you carry with you.”
“During this period, you have been traveling everywhere in order to find the artifacts left behind in the other six auxiliary formations. You have already found three of them: the coin, the long ruler, and the doll.”
In the cold room filled with cold white light, for a moment, only Zhuge Heng’s old and heavy voice remained:
“What I can tell you is that of the remaining three artifacts, one is in Zhuge Lin’s hands, one is in the main branch, and the other has been lost outside and has yet to be located.”
“Next is the sincerity I have prepared for this deal. No matter what you intend to do with these things, as long as you agree to cooperate with me, the bell in Zhuge Lin’s hands will belong to you. Not only that, the artifact in the main branch is a teacup. This teacup is the Zhuge family’s treasure for guarding the clan. There is no way I can directly give it to you, but as long as you need it, you may use it unconditionally at any time. I will never ask what you intend to use it for.”
“You should know that all ownerless artifacts in the world related to the Nether Path belong to the Zhuge family. If one is privately concealed, the Zhuge family will pursue responsibility to the end. But for this final artifact, I will go with you to find it. The Zhuge family will not interfere, much less stop you.”
Fu Sang nodded, somewhat perfunctorily:
“Sounds good.”
“That’s not all.” Zhuge Heng lowered his voice and continued:
“The lives of Zhuge Lin and Zhuge Can also belong to you. I will personally help you avoid and resolve the karma. However you want to deal with them, it’s up to you.”
Liu Dongfeng, who was standing nearby, seemed shocked by these words. He looked at Zhuge Heng with a complicated expression, wanting to speak and then wanting to stop himself, but in the end, he said nothing.
If the previous condition regarding the artifacts had only made Fu Sang slightly tempted, then this condition had aroused his interest to the greatest extent and truly made him begin considering the possibility of cooperating with Zhuge Heng.
This old man really understood what he wanted.
“This still isn’t everything.”
Zhuge Heng continued to raise the stakes:
“From now on, the Zhuge family’s main branch will always be open to you. Whether it is the library or Yunling Mountain Residence… You can enter wherever you want. From now on, you, Zhuge Fusang, will be one of the core members of the main branch. I won’t pursue the blood oaths you placed on Buhuo and Buyi, nor will I demand that you undo them. You should know that I intend to give Buyi the title of young family head. When the time comes, he will inherit my position, but he will carry your blood oath. You should understand what that means, so there’s no need for me to explain further, right?”
“…” Upon hearing this, Zhuge Mingyun’s entire body trembled almost imperceptibly.
How could she not understand?
Zhuge Heng’s casual sentence meant that Fu Sang would be allowed to control the next family head, which was equivalent to handing over the entire Zhuge family from then on.
“I’m not particularly interested in that.”
Apart from the books in the main branch library, the other matters and people of the Zhuge family were, to Fu Sang, were more or less at the level of things that could simply be bundled up and sent straight into the garbage recycling station.
He yawned sleepily:
“Anything else? If not, tell me what you want me to do. A deal has to involve both giving and receiving. You’re offering this much, so I assume you want quite a lot in return.”
“That’s a long story.”
Zhuge Heng narrowed his eyes very slightly:
“I know you’ve always hated Zhuge Lin, and by extension, our entire Zhuge family. But I think you should have heard that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That is also why I think there is room for us to shake hands and make peace.”
“You probably already know that twenty-six years ago, Zhuge Lin’s only daughter died in childbirth. There were some misunderstandings involved, causing Zhuge Lin to hate me. Now, he wants me to lose my only granddaughter as well… No, not just that. He wants the entire Zhuge family to be buried alongside his daughter. My younger brother has an extremely obsessive and extreme personality. He is capable of doing such a thing.”
“I roughly know what he wants to do, but this involves the Zhuge family’s core secrets, so it isn’t convenient to say it here. We can discuss it in detail after we return to the main branch.”
“There are two things I want you to do. First, stand on the same side as me and use your abilities to help the Zhuge family get through this calamity. After Zhuge Lin is captured alive, I will hand him and Zhuge Can over to you and let you deal with them however you wish.”
“As for the reason you entered this interrogation room today, whether the accusations are true or deliberately fabricated, I can settle everything for you. As long as you agree, you and your friend can leave here in ten minutes. No one will ever trouble you over these matters again.”
“Ahem…” Liu Dongfeng finally couldn’t listen any longer:
“Family Head, aren’t some of the things you’re saying a little inappropriate?”
“What’s inappropriate about it?” Perhaps in order to demonstrate his status and abilities to Fu Sang and improve his own competitiveness, Zhuge Heng spoke extremely arrogantly:
“The current director of the Spirit Supervision Bureau is my personal disciple. I, Zhuge Heng, haven’t spent all these years accomplishing nothing. When it comes to matters within the Nether Path, this old man still gets to call the shots.”
Having power and influence really did mean one could walk sideways.
Fu Sang watched his impressive performance and gave an inscrutable snort of laughter without expressing an opinion. He only asked, “What’s the second thing?”
“The second thing…”
Zhuge Heng returned to the main point. This time, he remained silent for slightly longer.
When he spoke again, he said,
“I need the seventh-rank Crimson Evil in your hands.”
