nyslfriends Chapter 113 The fake master's charade is exposed!
Chapter 113 The fake master's charade is exposed!
The black Rolls-Royce drove smoothly on the mountain road in Jiangzhou, and the sky outside the car window gradually darkened.
Lin Zhengxiong sat in the passenger seat, his hands clenched tightly together, his knuckles turning white. He glanced back at Lu Jingchen in the back seat every now and then, his eyes filled with anxiety and unease.
"Master Lu, we'll be there in ten minutes." Lin Zhengxiong's voice trembled slightly. "Mengyao... she hasn't opened her eyes all day, and hasn't had a drop of water. I'm so scared..."
Lu Jingchen gently patted Su Muyue's hand to soothe her nervousness, then nodded to Lin Zhengxiong: "Don't worry, I'm here, she'll be fine."
Su Muyue leaned closer to Lu Jingchen and whispered, "Lu Jingchen, that Li Xue... will she really hurt Mengyao? Aren't they best friends?"
"Once resentment takes hold, it becomes impossible to distinguish who is who," Lu Jingchen said calmly. "However, her target isn't Mengyao, but Chairman Lin and the person who killed her. By clinging to Mengyao, she simply wants to force Chairman Lin to give her justice."
Hearing this, Lin Zhengxiong's face showed even deeper remorse. He sighed heavily and slammed his fist into his thigh: "It's all my fault! It's all my fault for being so foolish and protecting that beast Wang Qiang! If I had handled things impartially back then, Li Xue wouldn't have died, and Mengyao wouldn't be in this state now!"
Just then, the car slowly came to a stop in front of a detached villa.
The villa, nestled halfway up the mountain, was luxuriously decorated, yet it exuded an inexplicable eeriness. The flowers and plants in the yard were wilted; despite it being early summer, there was no warmth to be felt, only a chill in the air.
As soon as she got out of the car, Su Muyue couldn't help but shiver: "It's so cold... Why is the temperature here so much lower than down the mountain?"
"The yin energy is too heavy." Lu Jingchen looked up at the second floor of the villa. The curtains were drawn tightly, and not a single ray of light could get through. "The entire villa is shrouded in resentment, especially the bedroom on the second floor, where the resentment is strongest."
Lin Zhengxiong quickly pushed open the door and led Lu Jingchen and Su Muyue inside.
The living room was a mess, with yellow talismans and burnt incense ash scattered on the floor. A middle-aged man in a Taoist robe with a goatee was jumping around an incense burner, holding a peach wood sword and chanting incantations.
Two young apprentices stood beside him, holding bells that jingled and rattled, looking quite serious.
"Master Zhang! How is she? Is my daughter any better?" Lin Zhengxiong rushed over and asked anxiously.
The man known as Master Zhang stopped what he was doing, stroked his goatee, and said in a pretentious tone, "Don't worry, Chairman Lin, I have already laid a net that will soon subdue that vengeful ghost. However, this ghost is quite powerful, and another ritual will be needed to completely eradicate it."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Lu Jingchen and Su Muyue, sizing them up with a disdainful expression: "Chairman Lin, who are these two? Didn't I tell you? Outsiders can't be allowed in when I'm performing rituals, otherwise they'll disrupt the evil energy and ruin my magic!"
"Master Zhang, this is Master Lu Jingchen. I specially invited him to help." Lin Zhengxiong quickly explained.
"Master Lu?" Master Zhang scoffed, his eyes full of mockery. "I think he's just a greenhorn, isn't he? Chairman Lin, have you been fooled? Metaphysics is all about seniority and skill; it's not something just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can call himself a master."
His two young apprentices also chimed in:
"Exactly! My master comes from Longhu Mountain; he's highly skilled in Taoism. What kind of fierce ghosts hasn't he seen?"
"This kid looks like he's not even twenty years old. What could he possibly know? Is he just trying to scam me?"
Lin Zhengxiong was somewhat embarrassed and was about to explain when Lu Jingchen spoke first. He looked at Master Zhang indifferently, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "From Longhu Mountain? How come I didn't know that disciples of Longhu Mountain would use peach wood swords made of poplar wood and perform rituals with printed talismans?"
Upon hearing this, Master Zhang's expression instantly changed. He instinctively hid the peach wood sword behind his back, shouting with feigned bravado, "What nonsense are you spouting! This is a genuine thousand-year-old peach wood sword, invincible in slaying demons and monsters!"
"Really?" Lu Jingchen took a step forward, pointing to the peach wood sword in his hand. "Thousand-year-old peach wood is hard, deep red in color, and has a faint fragrance. Your sword, on the other hand, is painted red, smells like paint, and the wood is soft and will break easily. If you don't believe me, try breaking it."
Master Zhang's face flushed red and then turned pale. He gripped the peach wood sword tightly in his hand, but dared not break it.
Everyone around was stunned. Lin Zhengxiong was also dumbfounded. He had always thought that this Master Zhang was really capable, but he never expected that he was a fraud.
"And these talismans of yours." Lu Jingchen pointed to the scattered talismans on the ground. "Real talismans are drawn with cinnabar and yellow paper, and they must be drawn by a master to have spiritual power. These talismans of yours have neat edges and even ink, clearly printed by a printer. Forget about slaying demons, they can't even drive away a mosquito."
"You...you're spouting nonsense!" Master Zhang shouted angrily, pointing at Lu Jingchen. "I think you're deliberately here to cause trouble! Let me tell you, today I'll show you what I'm capable of!"
As he spoke, he raised his peach wood sword and slashed at Lu Jingchen.
Lu Jingchen dodged to the side, then casually reached out and grabbed his wrist, giving it a gentle twist.
"ah--!"
Master Zhang let out a scream, and his peach wood sword fell to the ground. Lu Jingchen casually shoved him, and he crashed to the ground like a broken sack, landing face-first in the dirt.
"And that bowl of talisman water you gave Lin Mengyao." Lu Jingchen walked to the coffee table, picked up the bowl of dark talisman water, and smelled it. "You added sleeping pills and cinnabar to it. Drinking too much will damage your nerves. No wonder she's been in a coma. You used this method to deceive Chairman Lin into thinking you were suppressing a vengeful ghost, but in reality, you were trying to kill her."
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhengxiong's face instantly turned ashen. He glared at Master Zhang, his eyes filled with rage: "Master Zhang! Is this true? How dare you lie to me!"
"I... I didn't..." Master Zhang got up from the ground, still trying to argue.
Lu Jingchen sneered, took out his phone, and dialed the police: "Hello, is this the police? There's someone here swindling people and intentionally injuring someone. The address is No. 18, Half-Mountain Villa."
Upon hearing that the police were being called, Master Zhang turned pale with fright. He scrambled to his feet and shouted at Lin Zhengxiong, "Chairman Lin! I was wrong! I'll never do it again! Please, please let me go!"
After saying that, he took his two apprentices and ran away in a sorry state, not even bothering to take the things.
Lin Zhengxiong watched them flee, trembling with rage: "I'm so angry! I actually let these swindlers fool me for so long! And I even spent hundreds of thousands! If I had met Master Lu sooner, Mengyao wouldn't have suffered so much!"
"Alright, enough of that. Take me to see your daughter," Lu Jingchen said.
"Alright, alright! This way, please!" Lin Zhengxiong hurriedly led Lu Jingchen and Su Muyue up to the second floor.
Pushing open the door to the second-floor bedroom, a bone-chilling cold rushed out. The room was dark, with thick curtains drawn, except for a dim nightlight.
Lying on the bed was a young girl, Lin Mengyao. Her face was deathly pale, her lips were blue, her eyes were tightly closed, and she was motionless, looking like a porcelain doll, lifeless.
Seeing her like this, Su Muyue couldn't help but cover her mouth, her eyes filled with heartache.
Lu Jingchen walked to the bedside, stretched out his fingers, and placed them on Lin Mengyao's wrist.
After a while, he withdrew his hand and said to Lin Zhengxiong, "Her three souls and seven spirits have already been entangled by the yin energy, losing one soul and one spirit. If we had come a few days later, even if a god had come, he wouldn't have been able to save her."
"Oh? What should we do, Master Lu? Please, you must save her!" Lin Zhengxiong was so anxious that he almost knelt down.
"Don't worry, I'll dispel the yin energy in her body and wake her up." Lu Jingchen said, taking out a silver needle pouch from his pocket.
He took out several silver needles and quickly inserted them into several acupoints on Lin Mengyao's philtrum, Baihui, and Yongquan.
Then he gathered a faint trace of true energy at his fingertips and injected it into the silver needle.
Lin Mengyao's fingers twitched slightly, and her complexion slowly regained some color.
After a few minutes, she slowly opened her eyes.
"Mengyao! My daughter! You're finally awake!" Lin Zhengxiong was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He rushed to the bedside and held her hand tightly.
Lin Mengyao looked around blankly, but when her gaze fell on Lu Jingchen, a glimmer of clarity flashed in her eyes.
She opened her mouth and said in a weak voice, "Uncle Wang... Uncle Wang pushed me down..."
"He also buried someone... under the floorboards on the 18th floor..."
After saying that, her head lolled to the side and she fainted.
"Mengyao! Mengyao!" Lin Zhengxiong shouted anxiously.
"Stop shouting, she's just too tired, she'll be fine after a nap." Lu Jingchen pulled out the silver needles and said calmly, "It seems things are more complicated than we thought. Li Xue didn't commit suicide, she was pushed down by Wang Qiang. Moreover, there are other things buried below the 18th floor."
Lin Zhengxiong's face turned deathly pale. He gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "That beast Wang Qiang! I will make him pay!"
"Everything will be clear once we get to the Cloud Top Hotel tomorrow." Lu Jingchen walked to the window, drew back the curtains, and looked out at the city in the distance.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his face, and his eyes became deep and thoughtful.
He could sense that the resentment within the Genting Hotel was far greater than he had imagined.
Li Xue's death was just the beginning.
There's definitely more than one secret buried beneath the 18th floor.