Yang Zhenzhen?
As she pressed down on me like a small mountain, I stumbled and came back to my senses. This girl wasn't dead, she was very much alive, though her pink dress was rather conspicuous.
What was going on?
Curly!
This whole thing had something to do with Curly.
...
The Long-Tongued Ghost had contacted Curly through the internet, using Curly to lead me to Yang Zhenzhen. To the Long-Tongued Ghost, Curly was just a tool – easy to contact and deceive.
Since Curly was insignificant in this scheme, the Long-Tongued Ghost didn't deliver on the promised game account. Of course, the Long-Tongued Ghost might not have had such an account either.
...
Old Ghost probably contacted Curly in a similar way. However, unlike the Long-Tongued Ghost, Old Ghost was more straightforward and transferred ten thousand yuan directly to Curly. He asked Curly, who received the money, to do him a favor: find some people to report Yang Zhenzhen missing at various police stations across different districts. Each police station was compelled to respond and search for her using patrol cars.
Luo Bo had indeed turned off his phone after being threatened by the Long-Tongued Ghost. But Luo Bo was a smart man. After turning off his phone, he felt something was amiss. So, he used the action team's phone to contact the local 110 emergency number.
The seemingly chaotic arrangement played a decisive role at this moment. 110 informed them that there was a local police patrol car nearby. Thus, the police rescued Yang Zhenzhen in time, and she woke up after receiving treatment from 120.
Luo Bo didn't go to the designated location. He met up with Yang Zhenzhen and the others midway. After confirming the situation with the local police, he sought permission from Team Leader Wang and, with utmost speed, coordinated with the provincial public security department leaders to approve his request to detonate the bomb.
...
At the police station, I heard Luo Bo say that a young man was persistently bothering the police stations in various districts, asking for help finding someone. I immediately contacted Curly. Curly said a Beijing person had contacted him online, given him money, and asked him to do something. The Beijing person didn't leave a name, but the money was delivered.
After finishing the call with Curly, I put down the phone with a helpless expression. The phrase that kept echoing in my mind was: "The world belongs not to me, but is used by me."
The Long-Tongued Ghost considered this a load of nonsense, and I also felt it was like a cultivation technique from a martial arts novel – sounding profound but ultimately useless. Yet, in reality, Old Ghost had used this to break the scheme with such casual ease.
Of course, the scheme had many other elements. Old Ghost might not have broken the scheme entirely, but he could use this move to save Yang Zhenzhen's life and preserve my original intention. When I left Xi'an, Old Ghost had told me that to deal with these people, one had to live in darkness.
Now, I understood. Deceiving people wasn't living in darkness; killing was. If I hadn't been so weak, I would have already killed the Long-Tongued Ghost and been living in darkness.
It was probably unexpected that Yu Xiaoluo would wake up so quickly after being hit by a tranquilizer dart, nor that I, after practicing combat for so long and fighting four coaches alone, couldn't even stand steady against the half-conscious Yu Xiaoluo and was forcibly detained.
Was this karma, or fate? In any case, no one expected this perfect, flawless scheme to end this way.
...
"Tang Nan, the Beijing person Curly mentioned, isn't that Old Ghost? I heard you call him that on the phone."
Are these police officers only tough at home? One, barely conscious, could beat me, and another could tell what I was going to do just by me lifting my backside. The situation was so urgent then, how could I care about Luo Bo? If he heard it on the phone, he heard it.
"I don't know what you're talking about?"
"Pretend I didn't ask. I don't know what I'm asking either. Tang Nan, we both lost to the Long-Tongued Ghost. You were right, I'm a coward, weak, trash, paralyzed by some useless theory from the Long-Tongued Ghost. Your scolding has cleared my head. I won't be confused by the trivial psychological issues of natural-born criminals next time."
I smiled sheepishly, "Brother Luo, did I scold you?"
"Yes! I've noted it all down."
"Oh, come on. This is work. I've enlightened you, you can't be emotional, right?"
"I am!"
"Brother, my dear brother."
Just as I was about to reconcile with Luo Bo, Yu Xiaoluo pushed the door open, holding a teacup filled with hot water.
Is this woman human? Yang Zhenzhen, worried about my safety, came at me with a "swallow returning to its nest" embrace in her pink dress. She couldn't stand, so she knocked me down with her weight, and then she was sent to the hospital. But Yu Xiaoluo, apart from a pale complexion, seemed no different from anyone else. Now, she's holding a teacup of hot water, her hands steady, her eyes not wandering. And her complexion has nothing to do with the anesthetic; she's here for me.
"No one is allowed to talk about what you told me today."
Luo Bo, standing nearby, asked in surprise, "I can't know either?"
"No."
Luo Bo and I both looked awkward. Luo Bo, knowing Xiaoluo well, smiled and said, "If anyone asks what can't be said, just say Tang Nan scolded you."
"That's a good excuse. Thanks, Captain Luo."
I'm impressed by these two police officers!
Yu Xiaoluo and I were talking about tricking the trickster out of two hundred million. Luo Bo knew about this too. Once they compared notes, it became me scolding him. In short, I'll remember the kindness of my brother and sister.
At this point, Luo Bo coughed, and Yu Xiaoluo also sat down solemnly.
"Tang Nan, we lost, but we must catch the Long-Tongued Ghost. Yang Zhenzhen's hospitalization was handled discreetly and won't make the news. And I've also instructed Curly not to spread rumors."
I understood. Luo Bo, even after rescuing Yang Zhenzhen, had asked his superiors to detonate the bomb, causing a sensation in society. He did this to make the Long-Tongued Ghost believe the scheme had succeeded.
...
The Long-Tongued Ghost's scheme was incredibly intricate, with each step interlocking, leaving no weaknesses. Perhaps because of this, things swung to the opposite extreme, making the Long-Tongued Ghost overly confident. At that time, Teacher Gao Qiang, grateful to me for helping him pay for his son's surgery, came back specifically to expose Zhang Ying. This was something that could have been discovered with a little effort, but the Long-Tongued Ghost never knew. He was too confident in his scheme, believing that only Gao Ji's violent solution was the correct approach.
...
This was the Long-Tongued Ghost's fatal flaw. Moreover, when I called him that time, he was clearly unstable. The Long-Tongued Ghost wouldn't suspect his scheme had been broken.
Indeed, just as dawn broke, the Long-Tongued Ghost called me. This time, instead of being hysterical, I asked in a low voice, "Where are you?"
The Long-Tongued Ghost gave me an address and asked me to kill him. After I told Luo Bo about this, I bought a lighter shaped like a handgun from a shop that opened early.
"What's this for?" Yu Xiaoluo asked me in surprise.
"Revenge!"
Luo Bo glanced at me from the front seat and sighed, shaking his head.
...
The Long-Tongued Ghost stood there, wearing a white polyester shirt, matching trousers with creases, and leather shoes. He wore glasses and his face was haggard. His health was already poor, and the lack of sleep had accelerated his decline.
Upon seeing him, I rushed at the Long-Tongued Ghost like a madman and pointed the lighter pistol at him.
"Where did you get the gun?"
"Stole it from the police station."
"Kill me. Only by killing me can you complete your soul's transformation."
I was surprised. I'd forgotten I was acting and asked him seriously, "Old Ghost said you also experienced a desperate situation like mine back then, which led to this. Did you kill your opponent? Why didn't you ask Old Ghost for help then? Your junior brother is much more powerful than you."
"Nonsense. Ever since we followed Teacher Wen De to learn scheming, he has never once defeated me."
"I don't think so. I'll tell you a fact now: he always went easy on you, but you were too foolish to ever realize it."
The Long-Tongued Ghost sensed something was off. This wasn't what someone about to kill would say. He looked at my lighter pistol. I had to go through with it, or the purchase would be in vain.
*Click*
I pulled the trigger. The suddenly appearing flame singed the Long-Tongued Ghost's scholarly beard. The Long-Tongued Ghost instinctively reached for his beard. I laughed heartily and punched him, knocking him to the ground. I looked down at him, "I won't let you kneel before me. I'll beat you to the ground. If you dare lick my foot, I'll crush your long tongue."
Saying that, I extended my foot!
The Long-Tongued Ghost, of course, didn't lick my shoe. From the lighter pistol to extending my foot, it was all my childish 'revenge.' I hadn't defeated the Long-Tongued Ghost, but I needed some catharsis.
...
At this moment, Yu Xiaoluo charged over. Before the Long-Tongued Ghost could stand up, she delivered a fierce kick, followed by punches and kicks, muttering, "Using a tranquilizer dart, strapping a bomb to me, you've angered me. Using a tranquilizer dart, strapping a bomb to me..."
At first, I didn't think anything was wrong. It was just venting anger, right? I noticed Yu Xiaoluo was getting more vicious. The Long-Tongued Ghost looked like he was barely breathing. I quickly rushed over and hugged Yu Xiaoluo's waist, pulling her away. She still tried to kick, nearly knocking me over.
Luo Bo also arrived with the action team. They couldn't have been slower than Yu Xiaoluo; they must have done it intentionally. I looked at Luo Bo and complained, "Knowing my sister has a temper, you didn't stop her."
"If we don't let her vent, will our lives be any easier these past few days?"
Yu Xiaoluo glared at me. I was startled and quickly explained, "Sister, look, he's almost dead."
I just said it casually. Luo Bo went to check and saw that the Long-Tongued Ghost was indeed almost dead. Defeated, he had lost all his vitality. He didn't say a word, and his eloquent arguments were gone.
...
Luo Bo took the Long-Tongued Ghost to the hospital. He was in the late stages of lung cancer. Even if he confessed to all his crimes, he wouldn't live long enough to be sentenced. This pathetic old man wanted to parasitize his twisted theories onto me, but I was too resilient and weathered it.
Luo Bo told me, "Tang Nan, Chang Sheng Gui wants to see you before he dies."
"No!"
"He said he will tell you what happened back then?"
"I don't want to know. I know a living ghost already. Please convey a message for me: if he gets to be reborn as a human in his next life, tell him never to be a schemer."