False evidence

Chapter 470 Painted Skin (20)

The fat man started rambling again when a cell phone rang. The skinny man, who had fallen asleep halfway through the journey, woke up and took out his phone.

He mumbled a few words into the phone, then hung up and swore.

The fat man asked, "What's wrong?"
Judging from the fact that the skinny guy had sobered up considerably by now, he was a completely different person from before, and he started cursing and swearing:

"The old geezer has been resuscitated! But he's been sent to the intensive care unit again!"

"Damn it, isn't this just messing with people?" the fat man cursed.

The two complained for a while longer, and then the fat man asked what to do now.
"What else can we do? There are no cars left to take us back."

The skinny guy slapped the back of Tong Xiangnan's chair hard. "Brother, do us a favor and take us to XX Road."

Then, he said to the fat guy, "Buy some cold dishes, and we'll continue drinking back at the dorm."

The fat man readily agreed, adding that he was a carnivore and that cold dishes alone wouldn't suffice; he needed to buy at least half a braised duck.

He suddenly patted my shoulder, pointed out the window, and said:
"Little friend, look carefully, this is Lai's Shop! Tell me, where is your inn located?"

We were indeed passing through a cemetery. There were no inhabited buildings in the area, only a gate serving as the entrance.

And I also saw a sign on the roadside – Lai Family Shop.

The fat man was still teasing me when Tong Xiangnan suddenly laughed and said:
"Sanhe's braised duck is absolutely amazing. Hearing this brother mention it has really whetted my appetite. How about this, my treat, let's find a restaurant together for a late-night snack?"

Both the fat man and the thin man were heavy drinkers. When they heard that someone was treating them, they were overjoyed and kept saying nice things to each other. They almost became sworn brothers with Tong Xiangnan on the spot.

Arriving at a small restaurant, Tong Xiangnan ordered four main dishes, a whole braised duck, and a bottle of high-quality baijiu.

When the braised duck arrived, he picked up a duck leg and, while gnawing on it, gave me a meaningful look.

After two cups of wine, the fat man became even more carried away, lecturing me like a senior before picking up his glass to have a drink with me.

The skinny guy immediately declared generously, "I'll go with one!"

I put on a stern face, picked up the cup, and gulped it down. After sitting there for a while, I puffed out my cheeks, got up, and ran outside.

Behind him came the teasing laughter of the two men, one fat and one thin: "Young man, if you can't hold your liquor, don't pretend."

I threw up the alcohol as soon as I went out, and Tong Xiangnan followed me out shortly after.

"If you can't drink, then don't drink. Are you feeling better now?"

When Tong Xiangnan was shouting loudly, I glanced into the shop and saw the fat man and the skinny man raising their glasses to drink again. Then I turned and ran to my car.

Tong Xiangnan got into the car, stepped on the gas, and the two sped away.

"Two good-for-nothings, thinking they're something special!" Tong Xiangnan laughed heartily.

The thought of those two guys looking miserable as they paid the bill completely dispelled my anger.

We drove back to Laijiapuzi. Tong Xiangnan pulled the car over to the side and said to me, "You drive."

I breathed on my palm and said, "I wonder if they'll be checking for drunk driving on this road."

Tong Xiangnan insisted that I drive, so I had no choice but to switch seats with him.

Seeing me using my phone for navigation, Tong Xiangnan shook his head: "You're not familiar with this area at all?"

I looked outside and said I was sure I hadn't come here last night.

"Let's switch back! I'll drive."

"Uncle, if you just want to confirm whether I came or not, you can just ask directly. All this trouble will prevent us from meeting up with Brother Yan and the others."

Tong Xiangnan sat back in the driver's seat and slowly started the car, saying, "Silly boy, with your hands on the steering wheel, are you afraid of missing the car?"

On the way back, the rain intensified again.

I couldn't help but ask Tong Xiangnan, "In your opinion, what exactly happened to Erpang, Zhao Qi, and Liang Yuan?"

"Have you ever played a maze game?" Tong Xiangnan asked, seemingly unrelated to the question.

He said, "First of all, you need to understand one thing: the bigger the maze, the more people it can trap."

"Are you using a maze as an analogy?"

"I suppose so," Tong Xiangnan said. "The best way to avoid getting lost is not to explore, but to be out there from the beginning, to have a bird's-eye view and a comprehensive overview."

I said, "Uncle, don't beat around the bush at a time like this." Tong Xiangnan smiled and didn't say anything more.

I don't know why, but from this moment on, I suddenly had a strange feeling.

It felt like there was an invisible person on the bus...

Yan Fengwei called to say that he and Cao Xinyun had arrived and asked if I had arrived yet.

Before I could answer, Tong Xiangnan interrupted, "Tell...tell them to wait at the little restaurant from yesterday."

After hanging up the phone, that strange feeling from before became even stronger. "Uncle, why...why are you stuttering?"

Tong Xiangnan glanced at me, smiled, and extended a hand to me:

"Hello... I'm called Old K, and I'm... a friend of your uncle."

This time I was truly shocked.

Because not only did he stutter, but his voice also changed.

Looking at his profile, he still looks the same, but to me, this is not Tong Xiangnan, but a complete stranger.

"Old K?"

I tentatively asked, "What's your real name?"

He chuckled. “Just call me… call me Old K. Actually, this… was taught to me by your uncle. I have a condition where I get nervous in front of strangers, I stutter and tremble. Your uncle said that when dealing with strangers, only using their nicknames will… alleviate these symptoms.”

"When did you arrive?" I asked.

“I’ve always been here. I’ve heard everything you’ve been through.”

I felt a chill in my heart.

Lu Xin is conscious now, and my ghost hand is not reacting.

Tong Xiangnan could not have been possessed by a ghost.

He said he was Old K, could it be that...?

I suddenly remembered that Tong Xiangnan had said before that he had already thought of a way to 'cure' me.

He also said that to completely cure a mental illness patient, one must delve into their mental world.

Could the treatment plan he mentioned be his own attempt to develop schizophrenia?!

The moment that thought popped into my head, I broke out in a cold sweat.

When he arrived, Tong Xiangnan kept saying "almost there," and now he has overcome that "almost there" and succeeded!

He successfully split himself into another personality—Old K!

To further confirm this, I tentatively asked:
"My uncle said you're a magician?"

"Yes... it's the prop master."

"So you must be able to do magic tricks too?"

"know a little."

"Then can you conjure one up for me to see?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he handed me a wallet.

I was stunned for a moment before I took it. He flipped his hand and pulled out a wallet.

My heart skipped a beat for no reason. I opened one of them, took out the ID card from the hidden compartment, and was even more dumbfounded when I saw it.

He hurriedly pulled out his ID card from another compartment, only to be completely dumbfounded.

These two wallets belong to those two drunkards!

"You stole something!"

Whether he is truly schizophrenic or not, the wallet certainly couldn't have been given to him by the fat man and the thin man.

He smiled, then his expression suddenly hardened as he stared at the car diagonally ahead and said, "That car..."

(End of this chapter)