Chapter 164
Chapter 164
“Hmm?”
Yao Tianlin froze and looked at me strangely.
He probably couldn’t understand why I had suddenly asked those questions.
But after considering for a moment, he answered carefully.
“He truly is young. Zeng Qingfeng is the youngest among those of us with a little money. But he isn’t from Lianghe Town. He’s from the county seat and owns businesses in several large towns. So I can’t say whether his assets specifically within Lianghe Town rank among the top ten…”
I asked another question.
“Do you remember any more details about what he said at that dinner when he was drunk–about toying with a woman who had returned from the city? Any personal information about her, for example?”
Yao Tianlin thought back carefully, then shook his head.
“Probably not. The dinner wasn’t very pleasant to begin with. Zeng Qingfeng became drunk and disorderly, so many people, including me, left early.”
“Why do you ask, Young Mr. Wu? Do you have a grudge against him too?”
He looked curious.
I waved a hand.
“It’s too complicated to explain. Don’t ask, Uncle Yao. Let’s go inside the brickworks and look around first.”
“All right, I’ll knock!”
Wang Dachun volunteered and quickly walked to the large iron gate outside the factory, where he began pounding on it.
Before long, footsteps sounded from inside.
Creak.
The iron gate opened a crack, revealing an elderly face.
“What do you want?”
Yao Tianlin stepped forward and replied indifferently, “We’re here to see Zeng Qingfeng.”
The old man froze.
“You want to see our boss? Did you call for an appointment? Unscheduled outsiders aren’t allowed inside.”
Well, well?
Yao Tianlin’s face darkened as he stepped forward.
An iron gate still separated them, yet the elderly gatekeeper appeared intimidated by his presence and instinctively shuddered. He even retreated slightly.
“You had better call Zeng Qingfeng immediately and tell him Yao Tianlin is here to speak with him. If you delay, you will bear the consequences!”
As expected of a man who had spent many years in business and married a government official, even his bluffs carried tremendous authority.
Frightened by Yao Tianlin, the elderly gatekeeper immediately became meek.
He still didn’t open the gate, but hurried back to the guard booth and called the factory director’s office.
A few minutes later…
The large iron gate opened. Bowing and scraping, the elderly gatekeeper invited us inside and said the boss was waiting in the factory director’s office.
Excitement flashed through Yao Tianlin’s eyes.
He probably thought he could finally confront the damned man face-to-face.
I felt excited as well.
There was at least a ninety-percent chance that Zeng Qingfeng was the man Zhou Min had mentioned in her diary!
Not only did every detail match, but he also appeared to be a formidable feng shui master.
That made the likelihood even greater!
But I was also confused… A feng shui master shouldn’t possess the means to create a vicious corpse, should he?
We reached the rear of the brickworks near a small hill. A newly built, multistory building stood there, and Zeng Qingfeng’s office was inside.
He came from the county seat and also owned businesses in other towns, so he wasn’t necessarily in Lianghe Town every day.
We were fortunate today and had caught him here.
“Factory Director’s Office… Uncle Yao, Boss, this is it! I’ll knock.”
Wang Dachun rolled up his sleeves.
The guy had practically become a professional door knocker.
But remembering that the person inside was a villain who had used an inauspicious feng shui configuration to harm others, he knocked far from politely.
Bang, bang, bang!
He pounded three times.
“Ow, my hand hurts.”
The fool turned and looked aggrievedly at Yao Tianlin and me.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or scold him. Before I could say more than a few words, a man’s voice sounded behind the door.
“Come in!”
Yao Tianlin took the lead, opened the door, and entered.
“What kind of knock was that? No manners at all. I ought to–uh, Boss Yao, why is it you? My apologies. Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner.”
A man seated behind a rosewood desk looked up from his computer. He had begun with an angry rebuke, but the moment he saw Yao Tianlin, he immediately changed his tone in surprise.
Yao Tianlin sneered.
“Stop pretending, Zeng Qingfeng! The gatekeeper called you just now. You knew I was coming.”
At that moment, I carefully studied the man who had most likely murdered Zhou Min.
He appeared to be in his early thirties, with short hair and very thin lips.
His eyes were triangular and single-lidded.
From time to time, a crafty, vicious gleam flashed through them.
How could a man who looked like such obvious bad news make a city-wise woman like Zhou Min consider him handsome and fall for him?
It was absurd!
Back then, I still didn’t understand… Only when I grew older and experienced more did I truly understand the saying, “Women love bad men.”
The worse the scoundrel, the more girls he could deceive.
Of course, those girls generally lacked strong opinions and sound judgment.
Zeng Qingfeng glanced at Wang Dachun and me. Confusion flashed across his face–he probably didn’t understand why Yao Tianlin had brought two boys.
He piled a smile onto his face, walked over, and offered Yao Tianlin his hand.
“Don’t misunderstand, Boss Yao. I truly thought a factory subordinate had come to see me and was knocking without any manners. Now then, what brings Boss Yao to my humble establishment?”
“Hmph!”
Yao Tianlin withdrew his hand before Zeng Qingfeng could grasp it and stared straight at him.
“I can’t be bothered wasting words with you, Zeng Qingfeng. You nearly destroyed my entire family! How are we going to settle that debt?”
Yao Tianlin was certainly decisive and forceful. He couldn’t be bothered exchanging pleasantries with Zeng Qingfeng and went straight to the point, revealing the dagger behind the map!
“Hmm?!”
Surprise flashed deep in Zeng Qingfeng’s eyes.
But his face remained covered in smiles, and he deliberately answered in a puzzled tone.
“What are you talking about, Boss Yao? We have no grievance against each other. Why would I harm you? Besides, I run only a small business. You’re a local, and your wife is a government leader. How would I dare?”
As he spoke, he even bent slightly at the waist and adopted an obsequious posture.
Yao Tianlin naturally wasn’t fooled. He questioned him directly.
“The three smokestacks you just built face my kitchen window and form fire-form baleforce. Are you telling me that’s a coincidence?”
The moment he said that, I keenly noticed shock and disbelief flash through Zeng Qingfeng’s eyes.
The expression disappeared almost instantly, but I still caught it.
“Heh. Looks like this guy truly is behind it! The only remaining question is whether Zhou Min’s death was also connected to him. No matter. We’ll keep talking. I’ll have a way to find out soon enough.”
I sneered inwardly.
Now that I had confirmed he was a villain, I had no further reservations about how I treated him.
His fire-form baleforce had nearly killed Yao Tianlin.
Zeng Qingfeng assumed an utterly baffled expression and repeatedly shook his head.
“What are you talking about, Boss Yao? I don’t understand a word. Fire this, baleforce that… What era is this? We should believe in science and not let wandering charlatans deceive us. I suppose this sounds a little like so-called feng shui? Good grief, that’s feudal superstition. I know nothing about it.”
He even wore a regretful expression.
I had been watching the show from the side. At that moment, I suddenly sneered and spoke.
“Hypocritical! Laughable!”
“Hmm?!”
Zeng Qingfeng immediately turned toward me. A vicious gleam flashed in his eyes before he offered an ambiguous smile.
“Boss Yao, who is this young fellow? He doesn’t look very old, but he certainly speaks rudely. At your age, you ought to know that loose lips invite disaster.”
His eyes narrowed slightly and glimmered dangerously like a venomous snake’s. A baleful aura spread from him.
To tell the truth, in that era, nearly everyone who went into business had risen from rough beginnings. Most were far from clean, connected either to organized crime or official power.
Some were connected to both!
Thus, most were rather vicious, the sort who might order someone hacked apart after a single disagreement.
Men like Yao Tianlin, who had resigned from a public institution and entered private business, were actually uncommon…
But Zeng Qingfeng’s behavior delighted me instead.
This was plainly a villain!
And an arrogant one at that–the sort who practically had “I’m evil” written across his face. I loved dealing with people like him.
I could do whatever I wanted without the slightest burden on my conscience!
So I wasn’t angry at all. I merely continued.
“Are you threatening me, Boss Zeng? What, do you plan to have someone hack me apart once you catch me alone?”
Zeng Qingfeng glanced at Yao Tianlin. When the man showed no reaction, Zeng Qingfeng looked somewhat puzzled.
He probably assumed that since Yao Tianlin had brought me here, he would protect me if Zeng Qingfeng and I came into conflict. Anyone with a brain knew what normally happened when a teenage boy offended a powerful man…
But my next words made his expression change dramatically.
I spoke indifferently.
“Zeng Qingfeng, your denial is precisely why I called you hypocritical and laughable! Your brickworks contains the Reverse-Bow Fire-Metal Baleforce Formation, a configuration most feng shui masters don’t even know, yet you claim you didn’t understand Uncle Yao? You claim you don’t know what fire-form baleforce is? Idiot!”
Zeng Qingfeng was stunned.
He instinctively retreated one step and regarded me with alarm and uncertainty.
He blurted out, “How do you know about the Reverse-Bow Fire-Metal Baleforce Formation?”
He regretted the question the moment it left his mouth, but spoken words could not be taken back.
I smiled without answering.
Beside me, Yao Tianlin stepped forward and demanded furiously, “Very good, Zeng Qingfeng! A moment ago, you claimed not to understand anything I said about fire-form baleforce. Yet you can rattle off the name of an obscure, tongue-twisting feng shui configuration like the Reverse-Bow Fire-Metal Baleforce Formation? And you still claim you know nothing about feng shui?”
Wang Dachun added, “Shameless.”
Since his mask had essentially been torn away, Zeng Qingfeng stopped pretending to smile gently. He replied coldly.
“Boss Yao, so what if I lied just now? So what if I understand feng shui?”
“So what?!”
Yao Tianlin became even angrier.
“If you understand feng shui, then you know exactly how severely those three smokestacks at your brickworks affect my home! And they just happened to be completed within the past few days. Didn’t you deliberately use fire-form baleforce to harm me?”
Zeng Qingfeng stared at Yao Tianlin for a while, then burst into loud laughter.
He laughed until he clutched his stomach, then looked at the other man provocatively.
“Oh, Boss Yao. I’ll stop pretending and lay my cards on the table.”
His expression became leisurely. He even lit himself a cigarette.
“You’re right. I used fire-form baleforce against you. What can you do about it? Call the police and have me arrested? Do you think the police will believe you?”
“You’ll tell them I used feng shui to commit murder? Hahahaha! They’ll probably lock you in a psychiatric hospital instead.”
At that moment, Zeng Qingfeng finally revealed his true nature.
He no longer pretended.
He was like a cunning, venomous snake!