To be honest, Hu Jiu has committed countless evil deeds throughout his life, but this is the first time he has encountered a victim's family coming to his door.
When he was still weak, he would disguise himself as a good person in the standard sense. Even if he wanted to harm someone, he would use extremely secretive methods. After harming someone, he would ensure that the victim would not suspect him. He would not be smug or complacent, so as not to give himself away and be found out.
Even after he gained power, he maintained this good tradition: no matter how many bad things he did in private, he had to at least appear decent on the surface and not have any major stains.
The primary responsibility for Su Jinghang's death does not lie with Hu Jiu; he was merely an accomplice who participated in framing Su Jinghang.
As for the real murderer, Yue Renchun, he should be dead by now, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
"In the past, although I was nominally involved in that Supernatural incident, I didn't actually handle it. Yue Renchun, the original person in charge of Yuzhou City, disappeared for a period of time, and your brother took his place as the new person in charge. Later, Yue Renchun reappeared and resolved that Supernatural incident." Hu Jiu deliberately shifted the suspicion towards Yue Renchun.
Su Jingtang looked distressed. "I know all of this, but Yue Renchun has been missing for a long time, and I can't find him at all, which is why I wanted to ask you for information."
Hu Jiu said, "If you have any problems, you can go directly to Headquarters for help. Headquarters is always responsible and won't ignore you."
"Heh." A hint of mockery flashed in Su Jingtang's eyes. "I want to clear my brother's name. He was such a good person. How could he bear such a huge crime after his death and be condemned by everyone? But Headquarters completely ignores me. They only tell me that what happened back then is a done deal, and my brother is the culprit who caused nine out of ten houses in Yuzhou City to be empty."
"Do you have any concrete evidence?" Hu Jiu countered.
Su Jingtang shook her head. If she had concrete evidence, she would have already made a scene at Headquarters.
Hu Jiu said, "You have no evidence. How can Headquarters believe you to help your brother overturn the case?"
Su Jingtang immediately became anxious, "That matter was handled too cleanly, I can't find any clues, but I believe my brother is really a good person, he used to often help others..."
Hu Jiu smiled without saying a word. Only an idiot would believe that someone who does one or a few good deeds is necessarily a good person and will never do evil.
Hu Jiu seems like a good person on the surface.
Su Jingtang followed Hu Jiu for a while, constantly probing and subtly probing along the way.
Her attitude really stirred up Hu Jiu's interest. Hu Jiu sometimes liked to talk nonsense, especially about things that couldn't be verified. She would say ambiguous and specious things to make things even more confusing.
It harms others without benefiting oneself, but it can bring emotional value.
They parted ways not long after they started walking.
Hu Jiu had already gained enough, so he used the excuse of declining condition to return to the entrance of the ancient tomb and leave.
Su Jingtang wanted to continue exploring. She wanted to grow stronger quickly and gain enough attention from Headquarters. Even without evidence, Headquarters would clear her brother's name out of consideration for her.
At first, she genuinely wanted to follow the proper legal procedures to seek justice for her brother. But after being in this industry for a while, she came to understand many things.
After parting ways with Su Jingtang, Hu Jiu saw two Ghost Tamers clashing and fighting to the death from afar, one of whom was the one who looked like a mummy.
They didn't notice Hu Jiu passing by, and Hu Jiu didn't want to meddle. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the mummy was initially at a disadvantage, but this disadvantage was something he deliberately created. He killed the mummy in an unexpected way—almost everyone thought the mummy was the Ghost Tamer, but in reality, the cloth wrapped around his body was his true form. The wrapped body seemed to be just a replaceable vessel used to draw fire, while the true body could find an opportunity to strike fatally.
"They're all cunning old foxes, just as I thought." Hu Jiu thought to himself.
He retraced his steps and quickly found the passageway, walking straight out without encountering any unusual events.
Upon arriving outside the ancient tomb, Hu Jiu casually found a broken rock to sit on and rest for a while, waiting for his other teammates.
Hu Jiu was probably the first to emerge from the ancient tomb. It was dark outside, and he was resting with his eyes closed like a stone statue. After some time, he heard a commotion. When he opened his eyes, he saw Fang Qingjiao and Zheng Ling leading a group of people out. They looked rather disheveled, and there weren't many of them.
Fang Qingjiao had a penetrating wound on his shoulder that was bleeding profusely. He looked terrible, and it seemed he had encountered some trouble in the tomb.
Zheng Ling gently treated his wounds. "Shall we leave now, or wait for the others to come out before leaving together?"
Fang Qingjiao said, "Let's wait. There's still some time before the exploration deadline. There might be ghosts roaming around the ancient tomb. I'm injured right now, so it's not appropriate to act rashly."
Someone pulled out a knife, cut down the surrounding weeds and bushes, cleared a slightly larger, clean area, and set up a tent.
Someone lit a campfire to boil water and cook rice. Although the terrain nearby was flat and there was no cover, everyone present Ghost Tamer and had no fear of wild beasts.
The night on Lanqiong Mountain was very quiet; the dark clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed, and not a single star could be seen when looking up.
The light and heat from the fire broke the silence, and people gathered around the fire, chatting idly.
Some reaped great rewards, some suffered heavy losses, and some didn't even make it out alive.
After bandaging his wound, Fang Qingjiao plopped down next to Hu Jiu and asked in a very familiar manner, "How are you? Were you in danger?"
Hu Jiu laughed and said, "I found a Supernatural Item, but then I encountered a particularly fierce ghost. I couldn't withstand it, so I retreated in time."
Fang Qingjiao glanced at Hu Jiu's bag, which was just as flat as when he arrived, almost unchanged. His mood inexplicably improved, and he said, "I also found some Supernatural Items, but I got injured too. Damn it, there's this idiot. When we encountered ghosts, I told him not to run around, but he wouldn't listen and almost killed a lot of people."
Fang Qingjiao complained, blood still seeping from the wound on his shoulder. The foul-smelling blood seemed to carry a strange fragrance. Hu Jiu inadvertently sniffed it carefully, "Brother, you smell so good!"
"Huh?" Fang Qingjiao was completely stunned.
Hu Jiu said, "Why do I smell a very special fragrance on you?"
It smells somewhat familiar.
Fang Qingqiao didn't seem to mind. "It's probably the smell of Zheng Ling's cosmetics. Girls always want to smell nice."
Hu Jiu looked at Zheng Ling. This girl had been very quiet throughout, seemingly willing to be Fang Qingjiao's shadow.
Perhaps sensing Hu Jiu's gaze, Zheng Ling suddenly raised her head, revealing a charming smile, before quickly returning to her original state, the smile so fleeting it seemed like an illusion.
Hu Jiu also hoped it was just a misperception.
The feeling of encountering an old friend is so strong, it's impossible to ignore.
Time passed quickly, and several more people emerged from the ancient tomb one after another. It wasn't until the last day that He Ming helped Tian Shan out.
He Ming was in alright; he had no injuries, just some dust on him, and looked a little tired.
Tian Shan was different; the old man was pitiful, with broken arms and legs, looking like he was about to breathe his last.
"Today is the deadline for the exploration mission. We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I won't wait for anyone who hasn't come out yet; let them fend for themselves," He Ming said coldly.
No one objected; those who wanted to object are still in their tombs.
During the break, Hu Jiu leaned closer and asked Tian Shan, "Mr. Tian, were your injuries caused by that unusual event we encountered earlier?"
"Not entirely," Tian Shan replied. "Those dilapidated stone sculptures and plazas... I continued walking for a while and did encounter a third one exactly the same, but you weren't there. Later, after studying it for a while, I realized that the space was layered, with countless identical alternate dimensions nested together. The dilapidated stone sculptures were the markers. Walking forward would lead you into deeper layers of space. Strictly following the original path back would allow you to leave."
"However, when I was leaving, the stone sculptures on one of the levels suddenly disappeared, almost causing me to get lost inside. Fortunately, that level wasn't too high, and I was able to force my way out using the Ghost Domain."
"Oh, I see." Hu Jiu said with a look of sudden realization. "I waited for you for a long time, but you didn't come back, so I went back the way I came. I didn't expect that I would accidentally avoid getting trapped inside."
The next morning, He Ming woke up early to count the number of people, as they were about to descend the mountain and leave.
Just then, there was a loud "thump"...
A figure rushed out of the ancient tomb passage; it was Hong Ying.
Upon seeing him, many people scrutinized him closely. Some even came out right on time, seemingly unconcerned about being left behind if they arrived too late.
Hong Ying, who had run out, glanced behind him with lingering fear, then breathed a sigh of relief and urged, "Captain, the exploration mission is due for today, right? Let's hurry and get going!"
He Ming waved his hand, and everyone started moving. The descent was much smoother than the ascent. They didn't encounter any ghosts, but the sky was still overcast, with a few cold raindrops occasionally falling.
When the raindrops were still half a centimeter away from Hu Jiu's skin, they seemed to be affected by some unknown force and were directly bounced away.
He Ming walked all the way to where the Ghost Bus stopped, opened the car door, got in, and sat in the driver's seat.
Everyone saw it; there was very fresh blood on the windshield.
"Captain He, aren't you afraid someone will pick up the Ghost Bus if you leave it here?" someone joked, trying to find out the pattern of the Ghost Bus from He Ming.
He Ming responded, "The Ghost Bus has a matching key. If you try to drive it without the key, the bus will eat you up and use you as fuel."
The Ghost Bus drove smoothly, and after leaving the area of the ancient tomb, the dark clouds in the sky gradually disappeared, and the warm sunshine shone on us, slightly dispelling the gloom in our hearts.
Not long after, they returned to the hotel. He Ming said, "At 2 PM, in the same conference room, everyone needs to attend a meeting. Remember not to be late. Headquarters may issue a special notice, and they may also exchange some resources for the Supernatural Items you possess."
Many Ghost Tamer eager to try their luck, their eyes shining. Hu Jiu vaguely heard someone say they wanted to exchange for several Longevity Potions...
Back in his hotel room, as soon as Hu Jiu opened the door, he sensed something was wrong. There was a faint, strange odor in the air, a smell he didn't have on himself—the stench of a corpse, unique to Ghost Tamer.
"Has someone been in my room? Or is someone lying in wait in there?" Hu Jiu looked around, then left and asked the front desk to change his room.
This is a hotel; he doesn't necessarily need to stay in that room, and he doesn't have any important belongings there. If he needs to change rooms, he should just do so to avoid trouble.
The staff immediately prepared a new room for Hu Jiu, and he moved in with his bag.
The Ghost Tamer was preparing to ambush Hu Jiu in the room was stunned. He probably didn't expect Hu Jiu to do this, and all the traps he had set up in advance were rendered useless.
If we can't do it secretly, then we'll have to go out and confront them openly!
Thump--
There was a knock on the door.
Hu Jiu pretended not to hear.
Headquarters staff communicate directly by phone when needed, and acquaintances also call directly when needed. Hotel staff don't just knock on the door silently, so... this person who's only knocking and not speaking probably has ill intentions.
Since he's an uninvited guest, don't blame Hu Jiu for making him feel bad!
The knocking continued for quite a while before stopping, probably out of impatience. A little while later, the door was pushed open.
A short-haired woman walked in. She was wearing a long black trench coat, half of her face was covered by the collar, and her eyes showed anger. But when she entered the house, she found that no one was there!
How is that possible!
She had been watching the room the whole time, and Hu Jiu hadn't come out since she went in. Why was the room empty? Where did she go?
The short-haired woman searched everywhere, then rushed into the bathroom and searched the entire bathroom bed. Apart from a faint smell of alcohol in the air, there was nothing else.
"Damn cunning!" the short-haired woman cursed under her breath, then turned and left, assuming that Hu Jiu had sensed the danger and run away in advance.
The door had just closed when footsteps could be heard inside.
Click--
The short-haired woman immediately turned and rushed back into the room, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily. Since there were footsteps, the person probably hadn't left yet, but was hiding in the room in some strange way.
Snap--
She stepped on something round and smooth, and before she could react, the short-haired woman instantly sprawled on the ground.
She fell, fell in a shameful way, and a surge of anger and embarrassment welled up inside her. A fire burning inside finally burst forth as a single word. "Fuck!"
She quickly got up, dusted off her clothes, and suddenly, a chill ran down her spine...