Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Ding Ruoning was ruthless.
By controlling Jiang Nan and making him kill Jiang Xiaoyu, she had made sure Jiang Nan was going to prison.
He wasn’t mentally ill, and the law didn’t recognize ghost possession, so Jiang Nan would definitely be locked up. On top of that, he would have to bear the crime of murdering his own son and be spat on by everyone.
Ding Ruoning had returned every bit of injustice she had suffered to Jiang Nan.
Once Jiang Nan woke up, he would wish he were dead.
And Jiang Nan’s wife had watched her own husband kill her own son right before her eyes. Her life was probably ruined too.
After we finished giving our statements, Brother Liu personally walked us out of his unit.
Before we left, he grabbed me, looking a little excited, and said the reading I’d done for his mother before had been frighteningly accurate.
Back when Meng Yifan had been arrested by the police, I had asked Brother Liu for help and gave his mother a reading in return. At the time, he hadn’t known whether his mother had intestinal cancer or not, and I had calculated that she didn’t.
“Turns out my mom really didn’t have intestinal cancer. It was exactly like you said-just chronic enteritis!”
“Bro, you’re seriously accurate. It’s incredible!”
He slung an arm around my neck. Our relationship no longer seemed all that distant. “If I need anything in the future, can I come to you again?”
I nodded. “Sure. Of course.”
It was always easier to get things done when you knew someone. Otherwise, with us getting dragged into a murder case tonight, there was no way we would have been able to get out so quickly.
After Brother Liu went back inside, Seventh Master sighed and said to Zhang Bo, looking rather apologetic, “This was on us. We ruined a deal for you.”
Zhang Bo waved it off, not seeming to mind. “Success depends on people, but plans depend on Heavenly God. If Heavenly God doesn’t want me to earn this money, I’ll just go with the flow. Besides, with the way this family ended up, you could call it karma.”
“I didn’t know the truth before. If I had, I definitely wouldn’t have taken this job.”
The two of them exchanged a few polite words. Zhang Bo didn’t blame us, and after saying goodbye, he left.
Once Zhang Bo was gone, Seventh Master looked at the three of us with a cold expression.
I quickly said, “This time, I really didn’t cause trouble. I didn’t do anything. Jiang Nan was possessed by Ding Ruoning, and only Brother Tian and I were there at the time. The two of us weren’t a match for her. We couldn’t stop it…”
Song Xiaotian said, “Seventh Master, this really wasn’t our fault. If you want to blame someone, blame Anning…”
Anning shot him a glare and said nothing.
Seventh Master shook his head without saying a word. He got into the car and drove off, leaving the three of us behind again.
It was already too late. By the time we finished giving our statements and came out, the sky was almost bright.
The three of us got into the car too. Song Xiaotian planned to take Anning home first. We weren’t going to the shop during the day; even if we went, we wouldn’t have the energy to work. We might as well sleep at home.
In the car, Song Xiaotian chuckled and said, “Anning, you’re pretty clever. You even knew to lure Seventh Master and Zhang Bo away. If those two hadn’t left, Ding Ruoning really wouldn’t have been able to kill Jiang Xiaoyu.”
Being praised, Anning naturally grew smug again.
I said, “Seventh Master and Zhang Bo aren’t that stupid. They might have done it on purpose.”
The moment I said that, Song Xiaotian and Anning both froze.
Anning frowned, her delicate brows drawing together as she glared at me. “What do you mean? This was clearly my contribution.”
I analyzed it for them. “Think about it. After Zhang Bo finished putting up the Talisman, why did he go out of his way to tell us the Talisman couldn’t touch anything filthy, or it would lose its effect?”
“Under normal circumstances, which one of us would go touch a Talisman stuck on a door?”
“If he was going to warn anyone, he should have warned Jiang Nan’s family, because they didn’t understand this stuff and might inevitably get curious. But we do understand. Telling us that was basically like telling us we need chopsticks to eat and that we have to take off our pants before taking a dump. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
After hearing me say that, both Song Xiaotian and Anning realized what I meant.
“You mean… he said that on purpose, to get us to sabotage things?” Song Xiaotian asked, a little stunned.
I nodded. Although the deal had fallen through, Zhang Bo didn’t look the least bit regretful. He could still smile, which meant he had never intended to earn that money in the first place.
“And another thing. After Ding Ruoning showed up, neither Seventh Master nor Zhang Bo knew who Ding Ruoning had attached herself to.”
“We don’t know Zhang Bo well enough to know what he’s capable of, but we do know what Seventh Master can do.”
I said, “Seventh Master had countless ways to tell who Ding Ruoning was possessing, but he just wouldn’t say. Instead, he used the most troublesome method to verify it. He even said that whoever ran was the one with the problem.”
Song Xiaotian was so shocked that he hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. He turned to stare at me in disbelief. “You’re saying Seventh Master was turning a blind eye too?”
I nodded again. “Exactly. If Seventh Master hadn’t said that whoever ran had a problem, Anning wouldn’t have run. He said it first, which gave Anning the idea, and then Anning ran out.”
“But he couldn’t be sure who would run. He only said that to hint to us. Anning was the only one who understood.”
Song Xiaotian froze for a long moment, then looked at Anning. “Is that how it was?”
Anning hid her face behind her backpack, unwilling to admit it.
But refusing to admit it was as good as admitting it.
The truth was, she had run because Seventh Master had hinted at it with that line.
“Seventh Master is sharp as a tack. He wouldn’t fall for Anning’s trick so easily unless he chose to.”
“Damn, that old man!”
Song Xiaotian looked completely baffled. “Before, he thought we were in the wrong. He wouldn’t let Ding Ruoning take revenge. And now he’s pulling this behind the scenes?”
I said, “Seventh Master has always stood by what he believes. This time, he merely stood aside and watched. My guess is that when we met, the things Jiang Nan said disgusted him.”
“Zhang Bo too. Maybe at first, they both intended to protect Jiang Nan’s family. But after hearing what Jiang Nan said, they changed their minds.”
Everything Jiang Nan had said earlier was inhuman.
Not only had he shown no remorse, he had also said a great deal of shameless nonsense.
Maybe it was those words that enraged Seventh Master and Zhang Bo, leading the two of them to silently agree to turn a blind eye.
In the divination I performed earlier, I had calculated that Jiang Xiaoyu would be in danger, but I hadn’t determined whether he would live or die. I had also calculated that someone would save him.
The Month Builder and Day Builder in the hexagram showed one force generating and one force restraining. Interpreting it now, I figured they must have represented the split-second change of heart in Seventh Master and Zhang Bo.
If Jiang Nan hadn’t said those things, Seventh Master and Zhang Bo would have come to protect them. But after Jiang Nan said what he did, Seventh Master and Zhang Bo became people who simply stood by and watched.
The law had given Jiang Xiaoyu one chance. The deaths of the other two children had also given Jiang Xiaoyu one chance. Seventh Master and Zhang Bo had given him a chance too.
It was Jiang Nan himself who ruined his son’s three chances to live.
So the one who caused Jiang Xiaoyu’s death was Jiang Nan himself.
Song Xiaotian grumbled, “That rotten old man. Day in and day out, he’s such a hypocrite. He won’t let us do it, but he does it himself.”
I said, “Let’s just pretend we don’t know. Seventh Master won’t let us do this for our own good. Rules are meant to be followed. After all, nothing can be accomplished without standards.”
“Our temperaments aren’t settled. We’re young and hotheaded, so we’re bound to stir up trouble. We might not be able to hold ourselves back.”
“He’s experienced and sees farther than we do. He can hold the line.”