False evidence

Chapter 465 Painted Skin (15)

As I passed by Liang Yuan's house, I called him again, but no one answered.

Just as I stepped out of the street, a Jeep pulled up in front of me.

Gao He poked his head out: "Get in the car!"

On the way to Tong Xiangnan’s house, Gao He asked me, as usual, if I had something to say to him since I invited him over.
I'm too lazy to play games, so I'll just say that when I met Tong Xiangnan, you can listen to whatever I said to him.

I didn't try to fool him. When I arrived at Tong Xiangnan's house, I laid out the food I had brought. After eating only a few bites, I began to tell Tong Xiangnan about my experiences over the past two days.

Gao He was very principled, but from beginning to end he was merely a figurehead, simply listening.

Tong Xiangnan, being more professional, listened quietly to my confessional 'chronological account' without saying a word.

When I finally finished speaking and showed the photos on my phone, Gao He leaned forward to look at them, but Tong Xiangnan didn't even glance at them.

He smiled and said to me, "You came to me with these questions because you've been thinking about a major question."

I nodded.

He nodded in agreement. “I’m very happy because you didn’t attribute all the irrationality to ghosts and gods, but rather leaned more towards rationality. To put it simply, you focused more on using your brain.”

"Uncle, stop praising me. I'm almost driven crazy by people."

Tong Xiangnan shrugged. "The thing that makes me most happy is that you've come to the conclusion that you were being played by someone, not by a ghost."

Gao He tapped the table twice with his backhand: "Gentlemen, may I say a word?"

Tong Xiangnan smiled and said, "You started talking from the third and seventh parts without interrupting once, which is not like you. But I noticed that you seemed to have two more little habits today. One is that you kept looking at your phone, and the other is that you kept checking your watch. This means that you are actually very nervous about something, or someone."

"Great!"

Gao He took his phone, swiped it a couple of times, and handed it to me.

The screen displays a text message from Zhao Qi, containing the following content:
—If Sanqi contacts you, it means something's wrong with me, maybe even my life is in danger. I'm a human being, and my life and safety are directly related to you, the captain. So, if he really does contact you, then congratulations, you're in for a lot of work.

Gao He raised his chin at me and looked at me silently.

I shook my head with a wry smile.

Even now, I still think that Zhao Qi was the one who played me the worst.

After thinking for a moment, I said to Gao Hezhi, "If I'm going to ask you any questions, I think I should ask you about Zhao Qi's background first."

“You had the opportunity to ask Zhao Qi himself, but you didn’t.” It was Tong Xiangnan who spoke.

He put down his chopsticks, clapped his hands, interlaced his fingers, and braced his palms with his back to the ground. “Nephew, I believe in your language skills and memory. You should have already mentioned all the details you noticed.”

However, I think you've overlooked something. You don't need to rack your brains anymore; I personally don't think you can think of anything more. How about this, since I'm in the mood to go out, let's be straightforward. Let's repeat what you experienced last night.”

"Are you physically okay?" I asked.

Tong Xiangnan scoffed, "I'm not a saint, but I don't want to die an ordinary death. If I could..."

I quickly chimed in, "If you get chopped into eight pieces, I'll have to give Zhai Yutian an extra red envelope so she can sew you back together!"

"Do you think I need your cleverness?"

Tong Xiangnan glared at me, then glanced at the antique clock. "It's still early. Why don't you listen to a story first?"

Gao He lit a cigarette, blew smoke rings, and said, "Before you begin your speech, I'd like to ask you something: what preparations should I make?"

Tong Xiangnan made a gun shape with one hand, pulled back the bolt with the other, and fired two shots at me. Then, clutching his chest, he leaned back in his chair and said sullenly:
"Waaaaah... Did you hear that? The police are here. I can't run away, and neither can you."

"Damn, you weren't this unserious before!" Gao He said, both amused and exasperated.

Before I finished speaking, I made a gun shape with my hands, aimed at him, and opened my mouth twice with a "bang".

Gao He, who had been laughing, suddenly jolted at the sound, almost jumping up. The siren blared, and both he and Tong Xiangnan gave me strange looks.

"Voice acting? That's amazing?" Gao He picked up a chopstick and pretended to pry my mouth open.

I smiled and moved next to Tong Xiangnan, saying to the two of them:

"I'm furious that I was tricked. But there are people with even bigger tempers than me."

Gao He raised an eyebrow: "Who?"

I shrugged: "What's more infuriating than being cheated by a competitor?"

Neither Gao He nor Tong Xiangnan asked any further questions.

They understood what I meant.

Looking back, it seems that only the two of them have ever communicated with Lü Xin 'directly' in an unconventional way.

Last night's experience was terrifying, but it was precisely because it was so terrifying and so unbelievable that I was completely bewildered... It even felt like I had watched a magic show that combined elements of horror.

So, after the initial shock, I felt even more like I had been tricked.

In this respect, Lü Xin was more sensitive than I was.

He was a conman who had been fooled all night, and he was even angrier than I was.

Most importantly, I'm convinced I was tricked last night because of a conversation I had with him when I woke up this evening...

"I'm uncomfortable!"

"How exactly do you feel uncomfortable?" I asked in surprise.

“Sometime last night, I noticed your will was starting to weaken. I didn’t want to replace you, but I couldn’t help wanting to take the lead. At that moment, I tried to temporarily take your place, but I must have gone through the same thing you went through.”

I didn't understand what you meant.

"I didn't drink!" Lu Xin said firmly. "Don't ask me why I'm so sure."

I said, "Well, as a con artist, you have to make sure you're sober first."

Lu Xin said: "But at some point, I thought I... or rather you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs."

I said, "I also have my doubts about that, but if we go for testing now, not only might it not show up, but it might also cause us trouble."

"Then let's just assume one thing: we really didn't drink any alcohol. Even if we did, it was because we were forced to drink it later. And during that time, we don't know why, we entered a semi-conscious state. There were even a few periods when we were almost completely unconscious."

At this point in the conversation, I finally asked another question that I considered quite important.

The question wasn't directed at Lü Xin, but at Liang Kaiyuan: "Liang Kaiyuan, where have you been? Why haven't you said anything?"

Lu Xin answered me: "I haven't been able to sense his presence since last night. If he's still here, he must still be fast asleep."

The main reason I sought out Tong Xiangnan to tell my story was because of this conversation.

In addition, there is one more detail that needs to be added.

This detail was provided by Lü Xin.

He said, "Brother Kaiyuan, Liangyuan, Shen Fangyun, and others... all of us, except for you and me, have probably fallen into someone else's trap. But one thing I'm sure of is that among our group, besides me, there was another person who was sober last night. However, I don't think I've seen this guy before."

"Who?" My heart started racing for no reason.

Lu Xin replied, "I should be very familiar with him, but I have never seen what he looks like. He may not even be human."

(End of this chapter)