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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Is someone pointing the way?
Besides you and Xiao Qingcheng, who else has this ability?
Thinking about it, this world is full of hidden talents and extraordinary people, like that Jin Manyuan. Who would have known he lived for eight hundred years? I nodded, "Let's go find Snow Aunt and ask her about the situation."
After hearing Nina talk about Snow Aunt, I unconsciously changed how I referred to her. I used to call her Snow Aunt, but now I just call her Snow Aunt directly. Perhaps it's because I dislike those who betray their friends.
Snow Aunt's hometown is in Shan Zhong Province. I don't mean to look down on the mountains, but that place is really poor. Because of the poverty, many people go out to work. Also due to the lack of resources, most of those who leave for work have not received higher education; in fact, many haven't received any education at all.
As a result, those who are luckier end up working in factories, laboring day and night on assembly lines, or they learn hairdressing in salons and begin their unique careers. Those who are less fortunate often take a wrong path; men become thugs while women sell themselves, developing their own unique theories—after all, this kind of thing doesn't wear out or break easily. They can bring it home during holidays, wash it, and it looks as good as new...
Snow Aunt was among the first group of people from Shan Zhong Province to become wealthy. After aging and losing her looks, she began to return home to recruit others. The long-standing backwardness and poverty made the people there yearn for a better life. When Snow Aunt returned home, she needed nothing but to wear a gold necklace as thick as her thumb around her neck; immediately she could attract a large group of girls to Star City—none of them had to be pretty.
I digress; anyway, after making money, Snow Aunt bought a house in Star City and settled down with a husband from her village. According to Nina, her husband looks quite honest.
The next morning, after we three gathered, we headed to Snow Aunt's house.
The taxi stopped in front of Sunshine Era in Qingxiu District. After paying and getting out, just as we were about to walk into the area, an older woman rushed over and called out loudly to us.
"Young man, wait a moment."
The woman was in her sixties but seemed quite energetic as she quickly approached us.
"What’s the matter? Um... Miss!" I hesitated to ask.
"My surname is Liu. Do you live in this area? I'm looking for someone—do you know Li Denglong? I need to find him for something." The woman spoke rapidly like a machine gun, firing off a long string of words without giving me a chance to interrupt.
However, I was somewhat surprised to hear the name Li Denglong, as he is the husband of Snow Aunt, as Nina told me.
Seeing my astonished expression, Aunt Liu smiled brightly and said, "Hey, you really asked the right person! Young Man, you must know him, right? Tell me, it's urgent!"
I smiled and replied, "We're also looking for him for something. Why don't you come with us?"
Aunt Liu hurriedly thanked us.
On the way, my curiosity got the better of me, and I casually asked Aunt Liu what the urgent matter was. To my surprise, her explanation left us both amused and bewildered.
Earlier that afternoon, Aunt Liu's grandson had caught a cold. While she was waiting in line at the hospital to get medicine, a woman named Sister Ma chatted with her casually. Sister Ma mysteriously told Aunt Liu that there was a miraculous person who could cure all ailments. She had come to ask if she could return some medicine she had bought at the hospital before...
This kind of scam is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it is precisely this type of scam that easily deceives elderly people. A few words about curing all diseases led Aunt Liu to unwittingly get scammed out of 1999 yuan. To make matters worse, after returning home, her grandson's cold actually got better. Now she was specially coming to express her gratitude and was even planning to spend more money to get a cure for her husband and perhaps even for the whole family... And this miraculous person who cured Aunt Liu's ailments was Li Denglong.
I curiously asked, "Haven't you been to his house before? How come you still don't know the address?"
"I went last time because Sister Ma took me there. With so many houses in this area, I really wouldn't be able to find it on my own. Miraculous people are definitely known by many; look, I just asked around and found the right person! You guys are also here looking for him for treatment, right?" Aunt Liu said proudly.
"Ma'am, you must have been scammed; there is no such thing as someone who is free from all ailments in this world!"
"It's not free from all ailments; it's curing all ailments. Being free from all ailments is a premium package that costs several thousand!" Aunt Liu immediately pointed out my mistake and then uncertainly added, "Scammed? No way! How could that be? My grandson's cold got better!"
"That was just a cold; it would have gotten better anyway!" Seeing the hopeful look on Aunt Liu's face made it hard for me to let her hopes turn into disappointment. It reminded me of my mother; one year when I had exams, she spent a lot of money on a memory-enhancing drink for me. Poor parents! By the way, I haven't gone home to see my parents in a long time.
I earnestly explained for quite a while and finally said, "Later you come with us and stand aside without saying anything; we will help you get your money back!"
Aunt Liu looked at us suspiciously but nodded hesitantly and followed behind us without saying another word.
Damn it, Li Denglong, huh? Scamming old people's money? Just wait until I deal with you!
Back to the point, since Li Denglong dared to do this business in his own home, there are only two explanations. One explanation is that he has a very strong backing, strong enough to act recklessly, but this can basically be ruled out. Who with a backing would do something like this? The other explanation is that he only scams those with minor ailments, such as colds or fevers. Moreover, the fee is quite clever—1999 yuan, just below the 2000 yuan threshold, which is not enough to constitute fraud.
After discussing with Fatty, we arrived at Snow Aunt's door and knocked loudly. A middle-aged man with a rather honest face opened the door. He was momentarily taken aback upon seeing us and didn’t know what we were there for. But when he saw Aunt Liu, his expression changed immediately: "What are you doing here?"
It seems this person is Li Denglong.
"What are we doing? You dare to scam my aunt's money! Are you tired of living?" Kong Xuan rushed forward and grabbed Li Denglong by the throat, delivering two hard slaps.
"Ugh ugh ugh!" Li Denglong couldn't speak as he was choked; one hand desperately tried to pry away Kong Xuan's fingers from his neck while the other hand pushed against Kong Xuan's chest.
Kong Xuan was playing the role of Aunt Liu's nephew quite well. He pushed Li Denglong hard, causing him to fall to the ground. Kong Xuan stepped on Li Denglong's chest and said fiercely, "You bastard, give back the money!"
After saying this, Kong Xuan shook his head at me. At first, I thought Li Denglong was some sort of cultivator, which is why I wanted Kong Xuan to test him out regarding the Spirit matter. I didn't expect Kong Xuan's approach to be so straightforward and decisive. His shaking head indicated that Li Denglong was not a cultivator.
"A Long, what's going on?" A woman rushed out from inside the room; it was none other than Snow Aunt.
"Who are you? Let go of my husband!" Snow Aunt shouted at Kong Xuan. Then she turned and saw me and Fatty, gasping in surprise: "Ghost Brother, Fat Brother, what's happening?"
"Oh dear, what a coincidence! It turns out we all know each other!" I slapped my forehead dramatically and said, "Kong Xuan, stop hitting him; we're all on the same side!"
Aunt Liu beside us turned pale. Fatty quickly leaned over and whispered a few words to her. Only then did Aunt Liu nod in a daze.
"What do you mean 'same side'? First give back the money." Kong Xuan showed no mercy and kept his foot on Li Denglong.
"Give it back! Give it back!" Seeing Aunt Liu standing nearby, Snow Aunt naturally understood what was going on. Knowing Lingfeng's relationship with us, she dared not offend us. She ran back into the room and took out her handbag, counting out 2000 yuan for Aunt Liu while repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! We were blind."
With Snow Aunt saying this, Aunt Liu naturally realized she had encountered a scammer. She counted the money with a relieved expression and thanked me repeatedly. I quickly waved my hand for her to leave first.
With this incident, our original purpose for visiting Snow Aunt became less obvious; otherwise, I wouldn't have known how to ask her. ‘Hey, how did your mask end up on Nina?’
If you ask like that, only a fool would tell the truth.
Thanks to Aunt Liu, sometimes helping others is really helping oneself.
After Aunt Liu left, I pretended to chat for a bit and gave Kong Xuan a look. This kind of thing needs someone who isn't too familiar with the situation to take the lead.
"Since we're all acquaintances here, I won't hold back!" Kong Xuan cleared his throat and boldly pointed at Li Denglong. "I have a brother whose old man was also deceived, talking about spirits possessing people and such. Was this your doing?"
Li Denglong was rubbing his chest, and Kong Xuan's sudden aggression startled him. He quickly replied, "Not me, not me!"
"Are you sure you're not lying to me?" Kong Xuan threatened, elongating his voice.
"I really didn't! I just tricked some old folks and kids into eating some flour dumplings; I absolutely wouldn't do anything else. Wait... what did you just say about spirits possessing people?" Li Denglong frowned slightly.
"Yeah? What's up?" Kong Xuan raised an eyebrow.
"Well, my wife was possessed by a spirit a few days ago, and I happened to know some things about spirits, so I managed to drive it away!" Li Denglong said proudly.
Drive it away? He probably framed Nina for it! Wait, no, isn't this guy supposed to be clueless about cultivation? I suspiciously glanced at Kong Xuan, who also looked astonished and angrily shouted at Li Denglong, "You motherfucker, do you think you're a deity? How do you know about this?"
Li Denglong hurriedly replied, "I read it in a book! Snow Sister, go get that book from the room." Snow Aunt responded with an "Oh," turned around, and brought out a book to hand to Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan took the book and glanced at it before casually handing it to me. When I received it, I distinctly felt the book trembling.
How could a book tremble?
The only reason a book would shake is if the hand holding it is shaking. A book that could make Kong Xuan so excited that he trembled must be extraordinary. Could this book... be exceptionally rare?
I took a glance; the material of the book was strange, as if woven from golden threads but exceptionally dense. At first glance, it shimmered with golden light. The cover had four traditional Chinese characters: 《Yin Yang Essays》. If the character for "yin" wasn't next to "yang," I wouldn't have recognized it at all.
Kong Xuan cleared his throat, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then casually asked Li Denglong, "What book is this? Where did you get it?"
"This was left to me by my grandfather. It's just some random stuff about ghosts and gods. At first, I thought it was gold, so I went to a pawn shop to sell it. Turns out it's not gold, so I've kept it all this time," Li Denglong replied with a laugh. "Good thing I didn't sell it; otherwise, Snow Sister would definitely have been possessed by a Spirit."
"Damn!" Kong Xuan cursed and said to Li Denglong, "Since there’s some introduction about Spirits in the book, I’ll take it back to show my brothers! I’ll return it once I confirm it has nothing to do with you!"
Li Denglong looked troubled and was about to say something when Snow Aunt quickly interjected, "It's not worth anything anyway, Ghost Brother. You can take it! No need to return it."
Hearing Snow Aunt say this, Li Denglong stopped talking.
Kong Xuan didn’t press further and seemed to completely forget the purpose of our visit to Snow Aunt. Fatty and I naturally didn’t know what else to ask, so we had no choice but to take our leave.
Once outside Snow Aunt's house, Kong Xuan snatched the book from my hands, his face full of excitement as if he had been injected with adrenaline. "Zheng Nan, we’ve hit the jackpot! We’ve struck gold! This book is 'Yin Yang Essays,' damn it, it's a rare treasure throughout history!"
Damn, I knew it. It really is a once-in-a-thousand-years find!
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