Chapter 46: Planting the Evidence

"Awooo!"

Old Ou let out a miserable cry as the bowl of wontons in his hand spilled onto the ground. His clothes burst into flames in an instant, and he leaped up in agony like a rolling fireball. He then threw himself to the ground, rolled a few times, and sprinted wildly into the distance, howling until he vanished from sight in a flash.

A human figure flickered before my eyes.

Mantis Luo used his legs to push off the ground in a few swift bounds, leaping right in front of me and slamming me down onto the dirt. His gaze was murderous and sinister.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

I heard a few cries ringing in my ears.

"Big brother!"

"Meng Xun!"

Xu Qingguo and Xiaoyao's expressions changed drastically, and the two of them ran over immediately.

However, Xiaoyao had been drugged. After forcing herself to run two steps, she let out a delicate moan and collapsed to the ground, limp and in pain.

Fatty Dong hurriedly rushed over to help Xiaoyao up.

Xu Qingguo came to my side, reached out, shoved Mantis Luo away, and pulled me up.

"Uncle Luo! Don't you dare touch him!"

That fellow had no power to touch me anyway.

I was a hostage now, with a status roughly equivalent to that of a Golden Silkworm Cocoon. Jiang Sheng'er practically treasured me.

Sure enough.

Jiang Sheng'er's aged eyes turned fierce and angry as he gave Mantis Luo an order.

"A-Zhi, go find Old Ou first!"

Hearing this, Mantis Luo hurried away.

Jiang Sheng'er walked over slowly, staring straight at me.

"Little Meng, I might not kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't cripple your hands and feet!"

"Picking a fight for no reason gives the impression that you're very disobedient. You'd better give me a reasonable explanation!"

I brushed the dirt off my clothes and let out a cold snuff.

"An explanation? Please control your subordinates and stop having them steal my underwear in the middle of the night, trying to defile my purity!"

"If he dares try it again, I'll risk my life just to chop him to pieces!"

As soon as these words were spoken.

Everyone was left dumbfounded.

Even Old Man Bai, who had been watching the grand spectacle from the side, dropped the steamed bun right out of his mouth.

Jiang Sheng'er's old face twitched.

"What did you say?!"

I retorted, "Are you an illiterate who doesn't understand human speech? Your daughter studied abroad, go have her translate it for you!"

Xu Qingguo: "......"

I paid them no more mind, walked straight back to the dining table, and finished my soy milk in one gulp. Still wearing a look of intense grievance, I slammed the bowl hard onto the ground and cursed Jiang Sheng'er's mother.

This series of bizarre operations left even Fatty Dong bewildered. I guessed his brain had already started doubting the truthfulness of the underwear-theft incident.

Xu Qingguo turned to look at him.

"Dong Chuan, is this true?"

Fatty Dong swallowed hard.

"I... I don't know. I sleep like a log."

Ten minutes later.

Mantis Luo returned with Old Ou, the tomb robber.

Old Ou's hair looked as though it had been chewed on by a dog, and a charred, foul odor emanated from his entire body. His previous clothes had probably been thrown away because they were burned full of holes. God knows whose clothesline he had raided to snatch a jacket and put it on himself.

The moment this bastard saw me, he flew into a towering rage and drew a dagger.

"Second... Second Master, let me stab him!"

Jiang Sheng'er raised a hand to stop him and asked Old Ou in a cold voice.

"Last night, you stole Little Meng's underwear and tried to force yourself on him?"

Hearing this, Old Ou was completely dumbfounded. The corners of his mouth twitched frantically a dozen times, vibrating like the needle of a sewing machine.

"No, no, no! He's talking nonsense!"

I pointed right at him.

"Damn it! You dare to do it and not admit it? My underwear was hidden inside your clothes, and right there on your back near your spine is the knife mark I cut you with last night. If you've got the guts, take off your clothes and show everyone!"

Old Ou: "......"

He didn't dare take them off at all!

Just now, when I used high-proof alcohol to burn him, his clothes instantly developed huge holes.

And I had caught a glimpse of a horrifying sight!

Clinging to this fellow's back was a grayish-black soft-bodied creature resembling an octopus. Not only did it reek abominably, but it also seemed to feature a terrifying human face. In the firelight, the creature's fine hairs were instantly ignited, its body trembling violently as it frantically shrank back to hide!

Unfortunately, there was no time to look closer. Old Ou had reacted too quickly, immediately rolling on the ground to put out the fire and then running away like a madman.

The reason this bastard had sprinted into the distance boiled down to three main motives: putting out the fire, preventing the ghostly thing from being exposed in the light, and changing clothes to cover it up.

The terrifying experience in the back kitchen last night had given me a strong sense of a survival crisis. The moment Old Ou was possessed by that ghostly thing, he completely lost his humanity. There was no telling when he might stop listening to Jiang Sheng'er's orders altogether and go mad, wiping everyone out.

I had to seize the time to figure out what that thing was and find its fatal weakness.

That was why I had suddenly set Old Ou on fire this morning, and before doing so, I had already plotted the frame-up in advance, calculating that Old Ou wouldn't dare lift his clothes to prove his innocence!

Seeing that Old Ou remained silent, Jiang Sheng'er's gaze sharpened.

"Speak!!!"

Terrified, Old Ou shivered all over and squatted down, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands.

"Second Master, I... was wrong."

To avoid exposing the creature possessing him, this bastard had indeed chosen to endure the false accusation!

Jiang Sheng'er was so furious his lungs felt like they were about to explode, and he abruptly kicked Old Ou.

"Dog shit!"

The kick was extremely heavy.

Old Ou let out a miserable cry and tumbled several times.

I walked over and warned Old Ou in a cold voice.

"I'm letting you keep the underwear! If you dare pull any more tricks, I will definitely kill you!"

Old Ou didn't say a word, a deep, inhuman malice flashing in the depths of his eyes.

Everyone got back into the vehicle and continued the journey.

In the car, Xu Qingguo and Xiaoyao exchanged glances. The two of them wanted to say something, but they held it back.

After a long while, they simply couldn't hold it in any longer and started giggling, covering their stomachs with their hands.

Even Wu Ping, the zombie-faced man who was concentrating on driving, raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

I said, "This is not funny at all!"

Xu Qingguo laughed until her shoulders shook, eyeing me up and down repeatedly with a playful expression.

"It's hilarious... What kind of charm do you have that could make Old Ou fall for you? Hehe!"

I: "......"

Fatty Dong chimed in from the side.

" Eldest Miss Xu, our classmate Little Meng is a walking hormone, irresistible to both men and women!"

"If you saw him looking all bulky in just a pair of shorts after taking a bath, your whole body would go limp too!"

Xu Qingguo snorted dismissively.

"I'm a doctor, I'm already immune to that!"

Fatty Dong raised his pinky finger at her.

"Immune or not, I can just tell you love his type!"

"Otherwise, why were you acting so worked up, like a mother dog protecting her pups, when you saw him about to get beaten just now?"

Xu Qingguo's pretty face actually flushed slightly.

"Get lost!"

That evening, we checked into a hotel in Kun City.

I pulled Xiaoyao aside and whispered instructions to her.

" Lass, when you and Qingguo go to sleep tonight, don't turn off the lights. Make sure to keep a high-power flashlight inside the blanket."

Xiaoyao looked completely baffled.

"Why?"

I explained to her.

"Old Ou swings both ways, and there's no guarantee he won't make a move on you two."

"However, he has the flaw of wilting in the light, so this way you won't get hurt."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyao clenched her pearly white teeth and cursed Old Ou as a perverted deadbeat.

Entering the room, I caught Fatty Dong drawing talismans with a brush, muttering curses under his breath.

"This Taoist priest is a dignified Yujing Guardian and Palace-Protecting Guard, yet I actually got beaten by a ghost. It's the ultimate humiliation!"

"If I don't smash it to soul-scattering pieces tonight, I'll have no face to face my grandmaster after I die!"

The talisman paper and brush had been bought while passing through a marketplace during a break in the day. Aside from those, he had also bought a broken erhu.

I said to him, "Stop drawing, it's not a ghost."

Fatty Dong frowned and asked, "What did you say?"

I recounted everything from why I burned Old Ou this morning to what I saw inside his clothes, telling him the whole story from start to finish.

Fatty Dong stood frozen for a long time.

"You brat... This Taoist priest thought you burned him to get revenge for last night, but who would've guessed you had another motive? This dirty water you splashed is just too damn brilliant!"

I lit a cigarette.

"Old Ou's tomb-robbing skills are exceptionally exquisite, and he is deeply trusted by Jiang Sheng'er. If he weren't possessed, things would be quite difficult to handle. But now, not only have we discovered the secret on him, but we've also grasped the ghostly thing's major weakness—its fear of firelight. This is undoubtedly a great opportunity for us to turn the tables, one we've been waiting for all along this journey!"

Fatty Dong asked, "What do you plan to do?"

I thought about it.

"When Old Ou was possessed last night, his combat prowess was terrifying and he showed no regard for kin. We need to figure out a method: while Jiang Sheng'er is completely off guard, we'll guide Old Ou to start going crazy the moment we enter the tomb, letting him use the element of surprise to deal with the old man!"

"The biggest problem right now is that we still don't know enough about the ghostly thing, and I don't have a good idea yet on how to guide it to attack others. According to the schedule, we'll be entering the tomb tomorrow night, and time is too tight. So I plan to test the waters myself later and provoke it!"

Fatty Dong's eyes widened.

"That's freaking too dangerous!"

I crushed out the cigarette butt fiercely.

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch its cubs? It's settled!"

Fatty Dong paced back and forth in the room, muttering words like "octopus," "afraid of firelight," "corpse stench," and "dug up from a ghost tomb."

Suddenly!

The fellow slapped his thigh hard, his eyes flashing with brilliance.

"Damn it! This Taoist priest knows what it is!"