Chapter 154

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a summary of the clues on the little blackboard.

“The girl Yin Meng and Runsheng saved, the one who sleepwalked and nearly jumped off a building, went to Luoxin Island Amusement Park yesterday.

In the wife-murder case file Tan Wenbin brought over, the husband suspect who insists he was only dreaming is an employee at Luoxin Island Amusement Park.

The Zhou brothers work part-time at Luoxin Island Amusement Park on weekends, performing lion dances.”

The last time they had dinner with the Zhou brothers, the brothers had mentioned this at the table.

Their family circumstances were not bad, really. It was a family with tradition and real skill. The problem was that their elders were a bit rigid in their thinking and failed to account for the difference between living away from home and living at home, not to mention the difference in prices between the two places.

Their family thought the money they sent was enough for the brothers to live in Jinling in luxury, maybe even brushing the edge of a flashy, decadent lifestyle.

In reality, the brothers were martial artists, and their appetites far exceeded those of ordinary people. Their living expenses genuinely were not enough to cover food, so they often had to take outside performance jobs to subsidize their meals.

Once, a certain city leader brought his child to Luoxin Island Amusement Park on a weekend outing and was amazed by the lion dance performance. He went up to talk with them, learned they were university students, and arranged for them to participate in the city’s upcoming university arts showcase.

When the leader opens his mouth, everyone below runs themselves ragged.

But really, it was such a simple matter. Given the friendly connection from having eaten together before, Lin Shuyou only needed to visit their school and sit down with the Zhou brothers for a chat to get the full clue.

Instead, he somehow ended up fighting them first, then tracing things back step by step. He went to the school officials in charge of recommending acts, then to the event organizers. It just so happened that the former were organizing an exchange with a martial arts school, while the latter were preparing for a city martial arts association competition.

Even though Lin Shuyou was supposed to be conducting a covert investigation, he found fights everywhere he went.

All three groups had left school at roughly the same time that morning. Everyone else came back with a simple sheet of notes and still had room left on the page. Only Lin Shuyou’s experience was rich and complicated enough to fill things out.

If it had been Tan Wenbin instead of Lin Shuyou, Li Zhuiyuan would have assumed Tan Wenbin had understood his intent and deliberately taken the winding route just to give that hand even more trouble.

But since it was A-You, Li Zhuiyuan felt he was simply being his true self, and working very hard at it.

Li Zhuiyuan drew a circle around “Luoxin Island Amusement Park” and tapped it.

“It’s obvious. The clue trap that hand set for us is inside this amusement park.”

Then Li Zhuiyuan’s gaze fell on the three written reports laid out before him.

“I’ve already taken the fifth wave. Our opponent is Boqi’s manifested form.

There’s good news and bad news.

The bad news first: at the moment, we still haven’t received any river water from Boqi’s manifested form.

Now the good news: Boqi feeds on dreams, so its manifested form should share the same trait.

So this time,

we don’t need to change the script itself.

We only need to change the title.”

Li Zhuiyuan wrote “Dream Ghost” and “Boqi” on the blackboard.

The boy picked up the eraser, wiped away “Dream Ghost,” then drew a line from each of the three clues already written on the board, all pointing toward “Boqi.”

Tan Wenbin understood immediately, and a smile appeared on his face.

This time was different from last time, when they had needed to manufacture karmic clues themselves. This time, they could directly make use of the fake clues that hand had already prepared for them.

Things like truth and falsehood could only be confirmed when the lid was opened, and the one opening that lid would be the river water.

That hand wanted to guide them into searching for the “Dream Ghost.” All they had to do was shout that they were searching for “Boqi.” With the river water at work, whether it was really “Dream Ghost” or “Boqi” no longer mattered.

Because the black hand behind the scenes would naturally be defined as the evil force manipulating the Dead Sinkers.

Just like last time: when Xiong Shan’s team was about to fail, their team went up instead. It would be the same here. Even taking the worst-case scenario, even if their group failed, another team would step in after them.

That hand had wanted to slip away cleanly, but instead it would become the house sitting at the gaming table of the river water, forced to endure wave after wave of impact from it.

Tan Wenbin thought this move was brilliant. Borrowing a knife to kill was nothing. This time, Little Yuanhou was going to borrow the river itself to wipe out a whole clan.

After thinking it over, Yin Meng nodded silently.

Lin Shuyou had only just finished reading what Little Yuanhou had written and was only now getting familiar with the background summary. He did not fully understand it yet, but that did not stop him from nodding thoughtfully and adding an “Oh~” for good measure.

Runsheng spoke up. “Little Yuan, you didn’t have to tell us any of this.”

Tan Wenbin immediately nodded. “Right. Better if you didn’t tell us.”

Lin Shuyou said, “Right, mm, exactly.”

What Runsheng meant was that if Li Zhuiyuan did not tell them about “Dream Ghost” and “Boqi,” and only wrote down “Boqi’s manifested form,” then aside from Little Yuan, the team would only know about “Boqi’s manifested form.”

They would not even need to change the script title, because it had no title to begin with. They could simply add one and call it whatever they wanted.

That would also make it easier for everyone to push the river water along more effectively.

In Runsheng’s view, there was nothing so bad about being an uninformed tool.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down and picked up a cloth, wiping the chalk dust from his hands.

Runsheng was right.

In truth, he should not have told them. Telling them only made it easier for things to go wrong and made it harder to push events forward in the most perfect way possible.

The boy rubbed his fingertips until they turned red.

He scrubbed especially hard, because only that could divert the pain that might otherwise show on his face.

As long as he could strike back, as long as he could get past this wave, as long as he could achieve his goal, then there was nothing wrong with using his companions as tools and sacrifices.

Everyone waited for Li Zhuiyuan to speak.

The boy was almost unable to hold his expression steady. That feeling of rejection and disgust was surging rapidly in the depths of his heart.

Self-consistency, self-consistency, self-consistency...

Li Zhuiyuan tossed the cloth aside, clenched both fists beneath the table, lifted his head, swept his gaze across the others, and said:

“We’re nowhere near that point yet. All of you have a lot of potential. Even if I were going to use you as tools, I’d wait until later, when you’re more mature and more valuable.

Killing the chicken for the eggs and draining the pond to catch the fish are things only idiots do.”

After saying that, the discomfort in Li Zhuiyuan’s heart receded greatly, and he let out a breath.

Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and Yin Meng all laughed. Lin Shuyou also joined in with a laugh to fit the mood.

If some other leader had said something like that, it would have hurt morale. But for Little Yuanhou to say such a thing, and even be willing to give a reason for it, was already no small thing.

After all, no one could expect Little Yuanhou to say outright that he would rather risk lowering their chances of success than lower their chances of survival.

If he really said that aloud, he would probably suffer himself into madness.

Li Zhuiyuan treated his companions like the grass he used to hold shifting sand in place, and that grass had in fact already grown used to the sand it surrounded.

“The Dream Ghost is definitely very powerful.

Luo Xin Island Amusement Park is the home ground chosen by that hand, so there must be even more preparations there, such as powerful formations and strange feng shui layouts.

But we still have to walk willingly into the trap, and we have to do it fast.

Right now, it’s as if we’re carrying fire on us. We need to bring that spark to them as quickly as possible. It’s the only means we currently have to stand against them with any confidence.

I’m not naive enough to think that once this is done, we’ll be able to wipe out a deeply rooted family or sect. Beings at that level are absolutely not so easy to destroy.

But at the very least, we have to make it hurt. We have to make it howl. We have to make it cut off its own arm to survive.

This is the first claw that has reached for us from the shadows.

Only by chopping it off brutally

can we minimize the chances of more trouble like this appearing in the future.”

After saying all that, Li Zhuiyuan took a stack of Calming Talismans from his pocket, then pulled a pocket watch hanging around his neck out from under his collar and placed it, chain and all, on top of the talisman papers.

The watch was new and not valuable. He had simply taken it from the shop earlier. It was made by Jiangnan Watch Factory.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan reached up and touched the clear, lustrous bone ring on his fingertip. It was a gift from Ah Li. Not only was the sentiment genuine, the craftsmanship was beyond reproach.

“Tan Wenbin stays. Everyone else go upstairs and wait. After Tan Wenbin comes out, send the next one in.”

...

The little yellow pickup truck was already parked outside early. Tan Wenbin sat in the driver’s seat, while Lin Shuyou and Runsheng sat in the covered bed in back.

Li Zhuiyuan and Yin Meng walked out of the shop.

Yin Meng raised a hand to shield her eyes. “The sunlight feels so harsh today.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “That’s because we stayed in the basement too long.”

After getting in the truck, Li Zhuiyuan said to Tan Wenbin, “Drive slower. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry. Got it.” Tan Wenbin started the engine.

Their destination was Luoxin Island Amusement Park.

The trip was not very far, but to prevent fatigued driving, Li Zhuiyuan had Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin switch off driving partway through.

The amusement park was on an island in the middle of a lake. Visitors could buy tickets and take a boat out to the island, but there was also a bridge that let cars drive directly across.

At the entrance to the bridge sat a security booth. An old white-haired guard sat there holding a white porcelain tea mug.

When he saw the vehicle approaching, the old guard shouted, “The park’s closed. Not open today!”

Outside the booth stood a notice board that read: Facilities under maintenance. Temporarily closed to the public.

Mainly because several accidents had happened in the amusement park recently.

Tan Wenbin stuck his head out the window and slapped the truck door as he said, “Sir, can’t you tell? We’re the maintenance crew sent over.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The little yellow pickup really did look like a work truck, and the two guys sitting in the back did indeed look like capable laborers.

“Then go on in.”

The old guard lifted the barrier to let them pass.

Tan Wenbin stepped on the gas and drove in.

But very soon, in the rearview mirror, Tan Wenbin saw the old guard staggering after the truck, waving one hand and shouting something. The wind outside the window was a little too loud to hear clearly.

“Little Yuanhou, that old man seems a little strange. Should I stop or not?”

“You get out and take a look.”

“Okay.”

Tan Wenbin stopped the truck, opened the door, and got out.

At once, a wave of heat that should not have existed in this season hit him in the face. Along with it came blowing grit that stung the eyes.

“HONK!!!”

A large cargo truck sped past in front of him, kicking up dust. The blazing sun hung overhead, making an inexplicable irritability rise in his chest.

“Hey! No running, no running! School isn’t out yet, you little punk!”

Tan Wenbin turned around and saw the old school security guard chasing after him. In the distance stood the gate of Shigang Middle School.

His head felt a little woozy, as though he had not slept well last night, as though he had studied late into the night.

Then Tan Wenbin laughed.

How could he possibly have studied late into the night? Staying up all night reading wuxia novels and comics was more like it.

Tan Wenbin scratched his head. He had just climbed over the school wall and run onto the road, nearly getting hit by that arrogant, blustering truck, and he had almost forgotten why he had climbed out in the first place.

Oh, right, now he remembered.

Damn it, he had to hurry!

“Sir, I’m not feeling well. I’m going to the hospital for an IV drip!”

With that, Tan Wenbin broke into a sprint.

Panting, both hands braced on his knees, the old security guard watched as Tan Wenbin ran off into the distance and cursed, “Yeah right, little punk. If you’re sick, how are you running that fast?”

Tan Wenbin ran all the way to the entrance of a billiards hall. Inside, several young men in black T-shirts with tattoos showing were playing pool.

Crying in the corner nearby was Zheng Haiyang, and his face was covered in clear slap marks.

Zheng Haiyang’s parents were sailors and made good money, so he usually had plenty of spending cash. But because his parents were away all year and he lived with his grandparents, he had gradually developed a timid personality.

A soft temperament and a pocket full of money naturally made him the perfect fat sheep for thugs to extort.

That morning, Zheng Haiyang had not come to school. Tan Wenbin had assumed he was sick, but another classmate had told him they had seen Lin Sanhou and his gang drag Zheng Haiyang away on the way to school.

“Damn it, I already said Zheng Haiyang is under my protection!”

Even faster than the words came Tan Wenbin’s flying kick.

There were three of them and only one of him, so obviously he had to take one down first.

Bang!

A flying kick landed squarely in one man’s side, sending him to the ground, unable to get back up for the moment.

Then Tan Wenbin grabbed a cue stick and whipped it across another man’s face with a sharp whoosh.

Bang!

The guy let out a scream, clutched his face, and fell to the floor.

The third man had been on the far side of the pool table. Seeing that, he jumped straight onto the table to come over.

Tan Wenbin snatched up a billiard ball from the table and hurled it directly at the guy’s crotch.

Smack!

“OHHH!!!”

The man grabbed himself and hopped around on top of the table, the surface caving in beneath his feet.

Tan Wenbin seized the chance, grabbed the man by the ankle, and yanked downward, making him crash onto the table.

“Damn it, bullying people, are you?”

Tan Wenbin grabbed the guy by the hair, lifted his head, and smashed it against the edge of the pool table. Lift, smash, lift, smash!

Blood immediately streamed from the man’s nose, and his consciousness began to blur.

By then, the two men who had been knocked down earlier had gotten back up and rushed toward Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin let go of the one in his hands and lunged forward. He slammed his shoulder hard into one man’s chest while grabbing his arm with his right hand, flinging it backward, dragging it down into a lock, then following up with a kick to the knee. The thug dropped to his knees, completely pinned by Tan Wenbin.

“You like bullying people, huh? I’ll show you bullying people!”

Tan Wenbin pressed his knee against the guy’s neck and drove his face into the nearby wall.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood was already smeared across the wall.

Seeing this, the third thug began trembling in fear.

When Tan Wenbin lifted his head and glared at him, the man was so frightened he did not dare come closer and instead turned and ran.

Bastards who bullied the weak and feared the strong often crumbled fastest when they ran into someone truly ruthless.

Tan Wenbin let go, and the thug beneath him toppled forward and passed out.

He reached over, picked up a pack of cigarettes from the pool table, took one out, lit it with a nearby match, and drew in a long drag.

“Hiss... whoo~”

From the corner, Zheng Haiyang asked in astonishment, “Brother Bin, when did you get this good?”

Brother Bin had always been brave before, willing to step in to protect classmates, but usually that just led to mutual brawling. It had never been like today, where he dealt with these guys in a few clean moves.

“This good?” Tan Wenbin looked in confusion at the two unconscious thugs, one on the table and one on the floor. “Yeah, I guess I really did get stronger. Or did they just get weaker? They can’t even take a beating.”

Tan Wenbin took another drag and blew out a smoke ring, then glanced at the cigarette between his fingers. Huh. Since when had he started inhaling all the way into his lungs?

Back then, he had often stood in front of the mirror at home, combing his hair to make himself look like an adult.

He had bought cigarettes too, pretending to light one stylishly, but whenever he inhaled, he would cough and gag, so every time he only drew the smoke into his mouth and blew it out again. That made the smoke look thicker and made it easier to pose.

“You okay?” Tan Wenbin looked at Zheng Haiyang.

“I’m fine, Brother Bin, hehe.”

Tan Wenbin reached out and touched Zheng Haiyang’s face.

Zheng Haiyang had been slapped hard, and when Tan Wenbin touched the bruised skin, he sucked in a sharp breath of pain, but he did not pull away.

Tan Wenbin kept feeling his face over and over until Zheng Haiyang’s eyes watered from the pain.

“Brother Bin...”

“Oh, good. If you’re fine, let’s head back to school.”

“You can’t go! My pool table! Pay for it, pay for it!”

The billiards hall auntie came downstairs screaming.

She tried to stop Tan Wenbin from leaving, reaching out to grab his collar.

Tan Wenbin shot her a glare and deliberately stepped toward her. Somehow, the woman was so frightened that she staggered backward again and again.

“Go make those two grandsons pay for it! I’m not the one who broke the table!”

Then Tan Wenbin left with Zheng Haiyang.

Getting out of school meant climbing the wall, but getting back in was easy enough through the front gate. The security guard would not stop a student in school uniform pants from going in for class.

But just as they reached the classroom door, they saw class monitor Zhou Yunyun coming out with a stack of homework in her arms.

Tan Wenbin raised his brows at Zhou Yunyun and said with admiration, “Class monitor, you’ve got a strangely sweet look about you today.”

The stern look on Zhou Yunyun’s face instantly flushed red. She lowered her head, composed herself, then glared at Tan Wenbin and snapped, “Bah! Nothing good ever comes out of your mouth!”

“You really do look pretty today. Being young is nice. Ah...”

Tan Wenbin let out a sigh. He himself had no idea why he was sighing.

“Tan Wenbin, if you keep talking slick like that, do you believe I’ll report you to the teacher?”

Tan Wenbin frowned. What was wrong with him? Usually he only liked trading barbs with the cold-faced class monitor, acting like a thorn in her side just to annoy her. So why was he saying things like this today?

Even he felt that what he had just said was a little too frivolous. If he got in a fight, his dad would only whip him with a belt. But if he harassed a female classmate, his dad would probably drive a police car straight into him.

At the thought of his father, Tan Wenbin could not help shivering.