Chapter Sixty-Five: Tangled to Death

“Please wait, both of you!” Chen Jin flashed his white teeth in the darkness.

“Gah…” One of the men choked in fright.

“Run.” The braver one threw out the words and took off, legs pumping.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Chen Jin spoke lightly.

Before Chen Jin’s words had even faded, the man abruptly fell backward, returning to stand before Chen Jin, his back to him, leaving two dragged marks on the ground.

“Turn around.”

And so the man slowly turned, this time of his own accord, not because Chen Jin had pulled him back.

“Sir… Taoist master… Whatever you want to ask, we’ll answer. Please, ask anything.” The man forced a flattering smile.

Chen Jin nodded with great satisfaction.

“Who are you? And what’s your connection to him?” Chen Jin pointed at the corpse lying on the ground, dead beyond doubt.

“I’m Gao Jiu, he’s Gao Kang, we’re all commoners from Gao Village, including him.” The sycophantic smile on the man’s face grew even more pronounced.

“And?” Chen Jin pressed on.

“We’re sworn brothers, blood brothers.” Gao Jiu blurted out.

“Really?” The words didn’t sound convincing at all.

“It’s true, truly! Truer than gold itself.” Gao Jiu nodded furiously.

“You shut up, I’m asking him.” Chen Jin casually sealed Gao Jiu’s mouth with a flick of primordial energy, rendering him mute.

He then turned to Gao Kang, who was still hiccupping.

This fellow had an honest face, and a simple fright from Chen Jin had left him hiccupping. He was clearly easy to scare—unlike Gao Jiu, who looked slippery and unreliable, every word dripping with deceit.

So… honest people are easy to bully. Even if Chen Jin had never eaten his rice, anyone normal would choose to bully the honest one…

Chen Jin tapped Gao Kang, smoothing out the breath caught in his throat and stopping his hiccups.

“Thank you, Taoist master!” Gao Kang said gratefully.

So he really is an honest man…

“No need for thanks, just answer truthfully from now on,” Chen Jin waved it off.

“….” Gao Kang first glanced at Gao Jiu, who, face frozen, nodded.

“Alright,” Gao Kang agreed.

Honest people really are easier to handle…

“Who did the three of you provoke?” Chen Jin asked.

“I don’t know, it was just a shadow,” Gao Kang tilted his head, thinking before replying with difficulty.

“Why did you provoke him?” Chen Jin followed up.

“We didn’t… he came to us…” Gao Kang answered weakly.

“Oh? Then why did he approach you?” Chen Jin’s curiosity was piqued.

“He… he asked one of us to breed… and said he’d give us ten taels of silver each, ten taels for each…” Gao Kang said, embarrassed.

“If Gao Chuqi was the one to breed, why were you paid too? Are you leaving something out?” Chen Jin seized on the inconsistency.

“No… no… it’s just that… after the breeding succeeded, he wanted us to kill… kill Gao Chuqi…” Gao Kang, intimidated by a glare from Chen Jin, hurriedly explained.

“Hm? Then…” Chen Jin’s mind spun with confusion.

So, this murder wasn’t the act of a single person, but two different parties?

Wait—if the shadow Gao Kang mentioned wasn’t the demon, but Chen Sanquan’s cuckold enthusiast club’s top member?

“Is this how he kills?” Chen Jin asked, pointing to Gao Chuqi’s corpse.

“Yes, all the recent deaths were done this way,” Gao Kang nodded.

“How do you know?” Chen Jin pressed.

“The shadow told us,” Gao Kang replied honestly as ever.

“…And you believed him?” Chen Jin couldn’t help but retort.

Though Gao Kang, being so honest, might believe it—but Gao Jiu certainly wouldn’t.

“We only agreed because we saw him kill someone…” Gao Kang continued.

“Who did he kill?” Chen Jin asked again.

“Granny Zhang from Yuyuan Town,” replied Gao Kang.

Yuyuan Town was the town they’d been to before.

“When?” Chen Jin asked.

“Half a month ago…” Gao Kang replied.

…

So, Granny Zhang died half a month ago, yet Chen Sanquan and his wife went to see her ten days ago, and then ‘Granny Zhang’ died again three days ago.

What’s certain is that Granny Zhang actually died half a month ago. Afterwards, the one who killed her assumed her identity, helped the Chen couple with their problem, and then orchestrated the real Granny Zhang’s “death” three days ago.

This was Chen Jin’s deduction.

But why do all this? Was it just to help the Chen family? But Chen Sanquan is dead now.

There must be a motive—no one would go to such lengths without reason. If it was mere madness, it would be easier to kill openly in the street. Why bother with such elaborate schemes?

Wait—Gao Kang just said that after the breeding succeeded, they were to kill Gao Chuqi. So… did the breeding succeed?

“Were you two called here to kill Gao Chuqi?” Chen Jin asked Gao Kang.

“Yes, yes!” Gao Kang nodded rapidly.

“But Gao Chuqi is dead! Do you think he was the one who did it?” Chen Jin probed.

“Yes, yes…” Gao Kang kept nodding.

“It wasn’t me.” A voice came from behind Chen Jin in the darkness.

The newcomer wore a robe and had his face covered with a black cloth, revealing only his eyes and forehead.

Chen Jin wasn’t startled. Although he hadn’t sensed anyone behind him, cultivation at least trained the mind for composure in dangerous moments.

He turned to face the newcomer.

“You… are you the mastermind?” Chen Jin asked tentatively.

The man had cultivation as well, though his path appeared different from orthodox Daoist methods, so Chen Jin couldn’t quite discern his level.

“More or less,” the man replied with a resigned shrug.

“You claim you didn’t kill him? You didn’t kill him?” Chen Jin pressed.

“I only killed one person—Granny Zhang,” the man said firmly.

“How can I trust you?” Chen Jin narrowed his eyes.

“But you did kill someone,” Chen Jin pointed out.

“Granny Zhang deserved to die, so I killed her. I haven’t harmed anyone else,” the man replied with certainty.

“You impersonated Granny Zhang and disrupted moral order—what were you after?” Chen Jin demanded.

“To continue the Chen family line,” the man answered, sounding both sorrowful and helpless.

“But that child isn’t really of the Chen bloodline, is he?” Chen Jin countered.

“If we say he is, then he is. Three men make a tiger—conviction shapes reality,” the man declared resolutely.

“So, you succeeded?” Chen Jin pressed.

“Yes,” the man nodded.

“Then was it you who killed him?” Chen Jin returned to the main point.

Chen Jin felt he was about to tie the whole matter into a knot once again.

…