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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
"There is another one inside this box." I also don't have the Book of Life and Death, which has seven pages. I even suspect that the Yang Family doesn't know what this is called; they just vaguely mentioned, "Very few people know about this thing, and it is of no use to ordinary people."
Could it really be the trouble caused by the Book of Life and Death? From what I currently understand, although not many know about the Book of Life and Death, there are definitely not few. The Tang family and the Huang Family certainly know about it. As for whether Lingfeng and Guo'er have mentioned it to their family, even if they did, I can't blame them because I have no secrets in front of them.
Moreover, I don't think this is something that needs to be kept secret. To me, the importance of the Book of Life and Death is far less than the pack of napkins I carry.
All along, I have never taken this Book of Life and Death seriously, but others definitely do not think so. Once a person has everything, they will pursue some ethereal things. For example, many ancient emperors studied alchemy with Taoists in hopes of achieving immortality.
When one is well-fed, they think of desires; wealth brings love. This means that a hungry person is unlikely to be interested in Adult Film, just as someone who has not resolved their basic needs will not have the mood to talk about love. The pressure of life has already suffocated them. Sending flowers? Are you talking about scallions or broccoli?
I digress; it's really about different positions leading to different perspectives on issues. I don't care about the Book of Life and Death, but others do.
Thinking this way made everything clear; it is indeed possible that the trouble stems from the Book of Life and Death. Those conspiracies against me are likely aimed at obtaining my Greedy Wolf Scroll. As for why they don't threaten me with force? Tsk tsk, I am a once-in-a-thousand-years Yin-Yang Physique. If they kill me, who will summon their Judgment of Life and Death?
Next, I need to see how things progress with Cui Gu Yi. With these thoughts cleared up, my lethargy lifted instantly: "Yang Zi, let me help you find a place to stay; it's a friend's place, a master, rare to find."
"Okay." Yang Zi didn't ask much why.
The more she acted like this, the more I wanted to explain: "That person is named Kong Xuan; his martial skills are on par with mine, and it's relatively quiet there—no one will pay attention."
"Alright, thank you." Yang Zi must think I'm brushing her off. Facing a weapon like Li Feidao, passing the buck is what a normal person would do.
The second time I took Yang Zi to Qifeng Temple, upon seeing Kong Xuan, he immediately shouted angrily: "No way! Absolutely not! Damn it, this isn't a nunnery!"
I felt a headache coming on; I had no way to deal with Kong Xuan. I couldn't beat him up, nor was there anything to tempt him. He was neither greedy for money nor lustful. The only threat—the Yin-Yang Ancient Coin—had been taken away by Qing Qiu's grandfather. To this day, Kong Xuan is still pressing me for repayment...
"You, what do I have to do for you to keep her?" I could only act shamelessly.
Kong Xuan squinted at me and chuckled, "You should shave your head..."
...
An hour later, I returned to Qifeng Temple with a shiny bald head and barged into Kong Xuan's room. Kong Xuan was talking to a middle-aged man wearing glasses, while Yang Zi sat quietly beside them. Seeing me like this, Yang Zi couldn't help but laugh, but Kong Xuan maintained a serious demeanor and said, "Please knock before entering next time."
Noticing there were outsiders present, I didn't say much and just sat quietly beside them.
After listening for a while, I learned that this middle-aged man was Director Huang from Star City University. He had come to ask Kong Xuan to bless a book of his, which he intended to keep as a family heirloom.
I found it somewhat amusing; the idea of a book being a family heirloom was quite peculiar for a scholar.
Kong Xuan, however, was evasive, making various excuses about the auspiciousness of blessing the book or that scholars are not of the same family. Eventually, Director Huang gritted his teeth and said, "Two thousand dollars; if that's acceptable, let's make a deal!"
"Alright, since you're so sincere, I'll help you out. Just leave the book here and come back tomorrow," Kong Xuan reluctantly agreed with a frown.
Director Huang took out a book from his briefcase, and I caught a glimpse of the cover. It depicted a red building—wait, I feel like I've seen this cover somewhere before. Just as I thought this, I shook my head with a wry smile. I rarely read books; at most, I would look at Cao Dama Zi's Zhong Kui's Diary online. How could I possibly remember the cover of such a book? It didn't make sense.
I shifted my gaze back and noticed Yang Zi staring blankly at Kong Xuan's bookshelf. Suddenly, an idea struck me—I remembered the photo on my phone where Guo'er was staring at the bookshelf. Wasn't that book on the shelf the one with this cover?
Thinking of this made my heart race. I couldn't help but walk over and glanced at the books on the table. The background featured a large red auditorium with four large characters above it: "Star City University."
Clearing my throat lightly, I said, "Ah, this book is beautifully bound; Director Huang is truly wise to seek a blessing for it."
Both Kong Xuan and Director Huang looked at me in surprise. Kong Xuan was puzzled about my intentions while Director Huang seemed confused. After a moment, he replied, "This book cannot simply be described by its beautiful binding; let me tell you, it is a limited edition with only five copies printed in total—that is its true value."
I expressed an envious look, which was not feigned but genuinely heartfelt. After spending some time at Golden Blade Advertising Company, I had learned a bit about printing. The costs involved in printing—from design to final output to actual printing—accumulate at every stage. If the print quantity increases, the unit price decreases; conversely, if the quantity is low, the unit price rises. For such exquisite books, if only five copies are printed, the cost alone could reach over a hundred thousand, meaning each copy would cost around twenty to thirty thousand, not including additional value such as signatures or calligraphy within the book.
I exclaimed in admiration, "Director Huang, this book must cost several tens of thousands!"
Seeing my envious expression and hearing my words, Director Huang felt quite pleased and nodded at me with a smile. He then turned to Kong Xuan and said, "Look, this brother knows his stuff. I won't have any issues leaving the book with you, right?"
Kong Xuan frowned, clearly reluctant to take on that risk. He picked up the book and said, "In that case, I'll go ahead and bless it right now. Tsk tsk, what a huge loss!"
After Kong Xuan left, Director Huang chatted with me about various trivial matters, mostly about how Star City University has produced many talents. Once I learned that there were only five copies of this book in the world, I felt something blocking my thoughts. It took me a moment to realize that Guo'er was being held in a room where this book was present. If I could find out who the five people with this book were, it would be easy to investigate one by one.
After some flattery, I indirectly asked about the other four owners of the books. They were all high-ranking figures at Star City University: Principal Li, Old Principal, Zhou Principal, and another Principal. Including Director Huang, that made five people in total. Yes, just five. I planned to visit each of them tonight. Then I looked at Director Huang suspiciously; he was still passionately recounting his glorious past. I wondered if this guy might be involved in something shady.
After bidding farewell to Kong Xuan, I called Lingfeng. There was no progress on their end regarding the website situation. I informed him of what I had just learned and asked him to help me find out the home addresses of those five principals. Lingfeng sighed and said, "Zheng Nan, these five individuals are all principals; do you really think they only own one house? Many properties are registered under other people's names."
I was taken aback; that was indeed a problem. But what could I do? I couldn't let this lead go cold. I steeled myself and said, "Whatever you can find out will help; having some leads is better than having none."
"That's true; I'll get you the addresses by tomorrow at the latest," Lingfeng replied before hanging up.
Then I called Fatty to prepare for our plans. After hanging up, I got ready with some climbing tools. First and foremost was to deceive if possible; if that failed, I'd climb over walls. Although there were cameras everywhere now, for Guo'er’s sake, I couldn’t worry too much about that.
Later that night, I received a call—not from Lingfeng but from Isolated from the World.
"Hey there, Manager Zhong! It's been a while since we last connected; have you missed me?" Isolated from the World said with a strange laugh. This time I noticed a change in its voice; although it still sounded like an electronic synthesis voice, there was a variation in tone that allowed me to discern its mood.
"Send me a photo of Guo'er first!" was my immediate response.
Surprisingly, Isolated from the World readily agreed: "No problem! After this call ends, I'll send it to you via WeChat. By the way, we haven't added each other as WeChat friends yet? Tsk tsk... never mind; I'll send you a multimedia message instead—what a waste of money!"
"What is it this time?" I interrupted him. "You don't plan to have me keep doing this at the Golden Blade Advertising Company, do you?"
"Can't I just call you to chat?" Isolated from the World chuckled lightly. "When did our relationship become so utilitarian? It's heartbreaking! Well, since you insist on this, I'll reluctantly give you a task."
"Okay!"
"Xu Qingyu, you have a decent relationship with him, right?" Isolated from the World said with a light laugh.
"Mayor Xu? How could I possibly know him?" I denied outright.
"Zheng Nan, a lying child's nose will grow longer. Listen, a man's certain part is proportional to his nose. Are you intentionally lying to cover up some deficiency of yours?" Isolated from the World clicked his tongue. "The hidden camera I installed in Master Cang's room was so obvious; you must have seen it, right? Xu Qingyu had already arranged to go to Master Cang's room but didn't go afterward because you warned him over the phone, didn't you? The original script was meant for you to do a favor for Xu Qingyu, and yet you claim not to know him. You've really disappointed me..."
My mind felt like it had been struck by lightning; so that's how it was. I thought I was blocking Isolated from the World's good intentions, but in reality, everything was part of someone else's scheme. He was only trying to get me to win Xu Qingyu's favor.
"So what do you want me to do?" I asked hoarsely.
"Very simple: get close to Xu Qingyu and steal a key," Isolated from the World said in an unusually serious tone. "This is very important. If you succeed, I'll release Yang Guo'er immediately."
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