False evidence

Chapter 23 The Dog in the Hospital

The day after I was injured, Li Ping, Meng Chao, and Monkey came to my temporary residence.

Li Ping and Meng Chao's arrival must have been due to Monkey's notification. Although the brothers had reached the point of being able to talk about anything, due to the special circumstances that had happened to me at this time, after exchanging a few pleasantries, they all fell silent.

In the end, I broke the silence despite my pain.

"Brother Ping, come upstairs, I have something to tell you."

Upon entering the study on the second floor, Meng Chao exclaimed, "It's so antique. The original owner of this study must have been an old pedant... no, a scholar."

"The truth is, the owner of this study is an old man who is as strange and stubborn as can be," Li Ping said somewhat resentfully.

I took a breath and interrupted him, saying, "The surname of the head of the family is Yang?" We hadn't actually discussed this before.

Li Ping nodded, not finding it strange, because he had already told him on the phone that he had been to this study. Learning about the owner's identity through certain details was nothing unusual to anyone.

"Can't sit or lie down?" Meng Chao chuckled when he saw the sign on the daybed. "Isn't this bed for people..."

Seeing that he was about to lie down, I grabbed him and pulled him up. "Don't do anything reckless!"

Li Ping looked at me strangely, and after a while said, "Why do I feel like you look a bit like Grandpa Yang? Oh, my uncle's surname is Yang, and this room originally belonged to his father. The old man had this problem back then: he would take up this room upstairs and sleep downstairs, which is the room you're living in now. There's only so much space, so my cousin has been sleeping on a makeshift bed in the living room all this time. He wouldn't even let his son or grandson touch this daybed."

“It really is him!” I nodded.

Because I was afraid of aggravating my wound, I didn't dare to say much. Instead, I opened the bookshelf, took out an old book, and handed it to Liping.

Li Ping took the book with a puzzled look, opened the cover, glanced at it, and then stared at me in astonishment.

Meng Chao and the monkey leaned over, and after just one glance, they both looked at me. Meng Chao blurted out, "This painting... is it you?"

The monkeys asked in unison, "Did you draw this?"

I know perfectly well why they have this question. In fact, when I first opened this book, my surprise and doubt were ten times greater than theirs.

This is a very old book, and on the title page, there's a simple sketch of a human head drawn in ballpoint pen. The portrait doesn't really resemble anyone, but the scar at the corner of the mouth is incredibly lifelike. Anyone who has seen what I look like now would recognize that it's me.

I opened the desk drawer, took out a piece of letter paper, and handed it to Li Ping.

The three of them watched at the same time, and after a moment, they all showed expressions of disbelief.

The monkey's eyes flickered, and he asked me, "The signature is Yang Wudao. I think I heard you mention this name when we had dinner with those two police officers last time."

He and Li Ping exchanged a glance. "Actually, I had met Grandpa Yang before, but he was an elder and we didn't have much contact. I really don't know his full name."

Li Ping smiled wryly: "It's not just you. We're just cousins. I don't even remember the old man's name."

Seeing that the two were somewhat blank, Meng Chao coughed lightly: "I mean... can I interpret it this way? This is a will. It was left by the original owner of this study, Yang Wudao. When his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson decided to immigrate as a family, he had already developed Alzheimer's. He was afraid of burdening his children and grandchildren abroad, and also, since he was a fortune teller, he was afraid of losing his lineage abroad, so... so..."

I nodded: "He didn't go abroad with them, but instead claimed he was going back to his hometown in the countryside. The truth is, he did live in the countryside for the first few years, but after the Lunar New Year this year, he returned to his hometown and rented a house in Xiangbi Lane. His purpose was to find someone who could inherit his skills."

Li Ping said, "It's written very clearly here, I understand it all, but since he has Alzheimer's disease, and it's been more than three years, how can he still..."

I said, "In my understanding, he couldn't remember many things two years ago. However, the physiognomy he studied is quite unique."

"Wait a minute," Meng Chao interrupted me. "You mean, the reason you can 'predict the future' is because you learned Old Master Yang's physiognomy skills?"

"To be precise, it is the art of physiognomy."

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Normally, this esoteric art can only reveal the current situation of the original owner by observing people and their appearance. However, because my senior brother has Alzheimer's, he was afraid of losing the inheritance, so he used all his power to calculate the events of the past four years. He wrote down all of these 'foreseen' events in a notebook he always carried with him, and every day when he opened his eyes, he did everything according to the record, including—every word."

"and many more!"

"and many more!"

Monkey and Meng Chao said at the same time.

"Xiangyu? What's that?" Meng Chao asked.

The monkey looked puzzled: "Senior brother? Did I mishear?"

Of the three, only Li Ping did not ask a question.

He just looked at me with the same eyes he would give a patient, which was in line with his style and profession.

Facing my own family, I had to do my best to explain.

I first recounted the story of burning incense the night before, then pointed to the wall above the daybed, which had once again become blank:
"Face reading is a side branch of physiognomy, and it's quite obscure. It basically means... that by looking at a person's facial expressions, it's possible to see something about that person... their so-called future, through another special state that we don't understand."

I told Liping that I remembered the events of the night before very well, so as soon as I got home yesterday, I went upstairs. Based on my memory of the night before, I looked through the books that Yang Wudao had written and drawn. In addition to finding this suicide note, I also learned some other things about xiangyu (a type of divination).

"When you told me about meeting that old rogue... that bulbous-nosed old man repaying a meal's kindness, I found it intriguing. But I never imagined that the 'master' you met would actually be my relative." Li Ping shook his head with a wry smile, then asked me, "Putting everything else aside, Master Yang is my grandfather's generation. How did you become his fellow apprentice? Does that make me your grandson?"

I glanced at the blank wall, then looked around, and finally pointed to the treasure cabinet on one side: "These eight wooden carvings are Li Si... They are all disciples of Master Guigu. There is a rule in the Guigu school that the direct transmission can not exceed two generations. The knowledge passed down by the old master cannot be lost. Yang Wudao and Senior Brother Yang can be considered the previous 'direct disciples'. As for me, Senior Brother Yang is considered to be taking on disciples on behalf of the master, so he is just my senior brother."

"Depend on!"

The monkey jumped up, "So, you're a disciple of Guiguzi? Not only Yang Wudao... but even these people on the shelf... Su Qin, Xu Fu... are all your fellow disciples?!"

I wanted to deny it, but in the end I pointed to the book in Li Ping's hand: "The portrait with the split mouth on the title page must have been drawn by Senior Brother Yang before he left home. Brother Ping, I don't want to hide it from you. All the teachings that Senior Brother left behind are in this book. It's just that the way to view them is a bit special."

Li Ping rolled his eyes. “Master Yang went to great lengths to find you as his successor, so it’s definitely because I’m not suitable for him to teach me. But... everyone’s curious. If it’s not taboo, can you tell me how to read this book? Actually... I’ve read this book before, but I just flipped through it randomly and didn’t even see the portrait on the first page.”

"A cut-in-the-gap item!"

I said directly, "If you turn all the pages over and over, they all contain content."

For the next period of time, Li Ping, Meng Chao, and Monkey focused intently on studying the yellowed pages of the book.

Finally, Li Ping shoved the book into my hands, saying, "I can't understand it!"

I gave a wry smile: "I've figured it out, but I don't know why I can understand these 'ghostly scribbles'. By the way, Brother Ping, Senior Brother Yang is dead, and his ashes are at the West City Funeral Home."

Human nature is actually the most mysterious thing in the world.

The moment I spoke the truth, not only Li Ping, but also Meng Chao and Monkey unconsciously revealed greed in their eyes.

But in this world, there is more than one emotion that can suppress greed.

Li Ping said casually, "You can stay in this house for now, there's no rush to sell it. Anyway, my aunt and uncle aren't short of money. Don't worry about my car, even if it doesn't crash, it'll only be worth scrap metal!"

The monkey put its arm around my shoulder and led me outside. "You've been dawdling for ages. Hurry up, I'm going to give you an injection and an IV."

Meng Chao followed behind, muttering, "Twenty-one, take a look at my face when you have a spare moment. If you're having a run of bad luck lately, shut up. If you're lucky... what will the next lottery result be?"

…………

For the next few days, I regularly went to the monkey's clinic for IV drips. It wasn't just for the inflammation; the main reason was that my mouth was cut open, so I could only drink liquid food through a straw, and I wasn't getting enough nutrition.

That day, Lin Dan brought over the car that Li Ping had repaired. He said a few words and left in a hurry. Just as I was about to turn back, Monkey snatched the car keys and forced me into the car.

"Where are we going?" A mischievous thought suddenly popped into my head. "Bro, can't hold back anymore? How about going to the red-light district for some fun?"

The monkey threw a tissue at my chest. "What nonsense! Go to the Second Hospital! Even if you're a veterinarian, you should have some common sense, right? How many days has that wound been there? There's no sign of it healing at all. You have to go to a big hospital for a thorough check-up, just in case that knife got some kind of germ on it."

Perhaps it was because things had been too peaceful for a short period of time, but when I got to the city hospital and had my blood drawn, my old problem flared up again. Just watching the dark red blood being drawn through the tube into the test bottle made me feel dizzy.

Left with no other option, the monkey simply pawned my ID card to borrow a wheelchair and pushed me through the remaining examinations.

"I've already spoken to my old classmates, and the test results should be out in two hours at most. Don't bother going back and forth, just wait here for a bit."

As the monkey spoke to me, it picked up a large piece of meat from the takeout container with disposable chopsticks, smacked its lips greasyly, and said, "It smells pretty good, but your 'cherry lips' can't handle it."

For as many days as my mouth was injured, I was 'starving' for just as many days. When he provoked me, I couldn't help but glare at him 'viciously'.

However, once that glare was directed out, the eyes darted around rapidly, and the gaze couldn't be taken back.

The monkey chuckled: "Don't be stubborn, I'll chew it up for you and feed it to you with a spoon..."

"Cross your legs!"

I suddenly yelled, curled my legs into the chair, and without thinking, pulled the monkey's upper body back.

In the nick of time, a fully grown German Shepherd, baring its teeth and barking, darted over.

I only put my arm around the monkey's upper body, and he still didn't understand what I meant and didn't pull his legs back.

The large wolfhound encountered the patient and suddenly ducked under the chair, bumping its head into the monkey's calf.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Amidst the screams of the crowd, several security guards rushed past carrying riot control equipment.

Still shaken, I instinctively looked at the monkey and saw him slumped in a stainless steel bench with a bowl of rice over his face.

"Brother, it's just a piece of meat, is it necessary to treat me like this?" The monkey straightened up, stuffing the food off his face into his mouth as he complained.

I glanced down the other side of the corridor and muttered to myself, "How come there are wolfhounds in a hospital..."

(End of this chapter)