False evidence

Chapter 491 Despicable

The numbness in my left hand instantly spread to my arm. I was filled with shock and rage, and grabbed Wang Ben: "I'll kill you!"

"It wasn't me!" Wang Ben waved his hands frantically, his expression full of panic. "I didn't know there would be scorpions down there!"

I stared at him for a moment, then slowly released my grip. He took two steps back in a panic, pointed to the ground, and said, "I just wanted to get my weapon. I really don't know how such a poisonous insect could grow up here."

Following his gaze down, they discovered that the bottom layer was not a stone slab, but a frame made of stone strips. The mystery could not be seen unless the top stone slab was lifted.

Wang Ben glanced at my expression, hesitated, then squatted down and started digging in the dirt. After a moment, he unearthed a long, narrow wooden box, about a foot long. When he opened it, he found a dagger inside.

Looking up, he saw me staring intently at him. He swallowed hard and said, "This dagger was given to me by you. Now, should I return it to its rightful owner, or..."

"Pull it out," I whispered.

Wang Ben gritted his teeth, stood up, took a few steps back, and pulled out the dagger. The dagger didn't look particularly special at first glance, and once pulled out, it was more than just unremarkable; apart from the wooden handle, the entire blade was covered in rust.

Wang Ben was also taken aback for a moment, but then seemed to gain more confidence for no reason. He waved the dagger and said, "It's true that it's been buried underground for more than 20 years and it's rusted, but this is a genuine piece of equipment."

"Who do you want to use it against?" I asked.

Wang Ben shook his head, then suddenly revealed a gritted-teeth expression, glaring at me and saying, "If I had the temper I had when I was young, I would definitely have stabbed you to death with it. But now I'm not young anymore, and I know that the one who caused me to become like this is not someone else, but myself."

He let out a long sigh of relief and asked, "How's your hand?"

I shook my head. Actually, after being stung by the scorpion, my entire left arm went numb almost instantly. I didn't try to grab the dagger, firstly because I was afraid it might have hidden mechanisms, and secondly because I was now completely convinced that this partner, Li Xiaoju, was in cahoots with Wang Ben. If a fight broke out, one against two, a dagger might not be much more lethal than a brick.

Wang Ben nodded: "It's good that you're alright. Don't delay, let's go!"

I followed them outside, and as I passed the next door, I subconsciously looked at the door number, only to see that the door next door was marked as number 25.

This time, as we walked, Wang Ben said to me, "After that incident, I lay in the hospital, vowing that once I was discharged, I would find you, and even if it cost me my life, I would kill you!"

Old Li looked at him and me: "What grudge do you two have that you have to fight to the death?"

Wang Ben smiled bitterly: "We not only have no enmity, but he also saved my life."

Old Li asked in surprise, "So you want to kill him? That's a damn car!"

Wang Ben glanced at me: "He's not an ordinary person. He could have told me directly, but he didn't..."

I interrupted him and asked, "Where are we going now?"

"Weren't you looking for Number 23?" Wang Ben looked at me with a half-smile and said, "You said I would suffer a fate worse than death, and that if I became disabled, I should do as you said, and twenty-one years later, I could see you again and have the chance to become a healthy person again. You're not an ordinary person; everything you said has come true. But why couldn't you just tell me that back then? If you had been willing to be frank, how could I have become this inhuman, ghostly state?"

I said, "Since you have the time, why don't you start from the beginning?"

“It would take too long to explain from the beginning, there’s not enough time.” Wang Ben shook his head. “But I can tell you that the world you are in now is not the real world, nor is it the present moment, but rather the night twenty-one years ago when the incident occurred. Everything here looks real, but it’s all written down by me. In other words, once you leave my house, everything you see is an illusion.”

He paused slightly, glanced at Old Li to the side, and lowered his voice: "Except for you and me, it's real."

My heart skipped a beat. I looked at Old Li, who was also looking at us with a puzzled expression: "You mean, I'm fake? I don't exist?"

He did hear what Wang Ben said, and he wasn't exactly a blockhead; in a short moment, he understood the hidden meaning in Wang Ben's words.

A hint of doubt flashed in Wang Ben's eyes.

"Boom!"

A door suddenly opened to the left front.

A man walked out, braving the rain, strode out, turned around, and stood there without saying a word.

I just saw this person; he's the minibus driver from last night, the bald guy who played mahjong with the old lady.

He looked at least ten or twenty years younger, and he just stood there facing the door we had come from, his face gloomy, not even glancing at us.

Wang Ben suddenly sighed, "I never knew where I went wrong, but now that I'm in the thick of it, I realize I was really wrong. I hurt Da Niu, and I hurt his wife even more."

I can't think of any questions to ask him now. First, I have too many questions; second, the numbness in my left arm is making half of my body uncomfortable; and third, as soon as Wang Ben finished speaking, another woman slowly walked out of that door.

"Da Niu..." The woman's eyes were red as she walked a few steps to the man, trying to pull him up. But before her hand could touch him, the man, seemingly powerless, resolutely pushed her away.

The man entered the room, dragged out a large leather suitcase, and opened an umbrella at the same time. He handed the umbrella and the suitcase to the woman, raised his hand and pointed to the end of the alleyway we were facing. After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "Don't let me know whether you're doing well or not with him."

After saying that, he went straight back inside and closed the door.

The woman, too, never looked at us from beginning to end. She stood outside the door, holding that seemingly insignificant umbrella, motionless for a full ten minutes before finally making a move.

She didn't turn in the direction the man had pointed, but instead turned and walked towards us.

When I saw her face clearly, the image that appeared in my mind made me sigh inwardly, while I glared fiercely at Wang Ben.

Watching the woman drag her suitcase, hold up her umbrella, and stumble back the way we came, Old Li sighed and said, "That's how the world is. Every day people come and go, coming and going, in an endless cycle. I really want to know what lies at the end of this road."

After sighing, he suddenly bowed to everyone around him, saying, "Fellow men and women, brothers and sisters, please take good care of her on the way, considering she is a woman. I, Li... Li Xiaoju, thank you all."

“The man’s name is Da Niu, and that’s his wife.” Wang Ben’s voice was somewhat suppressed and hoarse, quite unlike the strong voice he had when he said he would ‘kill me’. “Da Niu works as a truck driver, and his wife works at the company. She’s having an affair with a leader…”

"I know!" I interrupted him abruptly. "You saw it! If you consider Da Niu a friend, or even just a neighbor, even if you couldn't hold it in, you could only talk about this with him privately! But you, in the teahouse, in front of so many people, told them about their family affairs as if it were a story. What room for tact did they have? You've ruined someone's life!"

Wang Ben lowered his head.

The instant I met the woman, through her conversation, I witnessed the entire incident. Just as Wang Ben had said, Da Niu was a truck driver, and his wife was an ordinary employee. Not long ago, she had been framed and bullied by a cunning so-called leader at her workplace. Da Niu's wife wasn't willing; she had been drugged and given alcohol. Unfortunately, Wang Ben witnessed this. Wang Ben had a penchant for spying on people's privacy; not only did he spy on her the entire time, but afterwards, he acted like a storyteller, publicizing the incident in front of everyone.

Although he changed his name, he paid meticulous attention to detail. The people 'listening to storytelling' in the teahouse were all neighbors; how could they not be seated appropriately?
This guy, despite his rough appearance, is actually a really good person. Hearing the rumors, he confronted Wang Ben about it "not long ago," but upon returning home, he didn't make a scene; he simply asked calmly.

Da Niu's wife was already feeling uneasy, and when asked, she immediately told the truth. She begged her husband for forgiveness, but how could a man tolerate such a thing?
Da Niu has parents to support, so he can't possibly fight someone to the death. He's a reasonable man and could have forgiven his wife and handled things through other means. But the problem is that because of Wang Ben's (the storyteller) extensive publicity, not only do the neighbors know about it, but even his own mother says that this daughter-in-law is no good.

Da Niu is a rough man, but he cares about people and is a real man.

He cleared everything up with the woman and finally told her he wanted a divorce, with no room for negotiation. He didn't let her leave with nothing, and instead of hitting her, he gave her the new house he had bought in the city, which he had saved up to afford.

His only request was: no matter how well or poorly you live in the future, don't let me know.

But he still did something irrational. He used the woman's phone to call her boss and ask him to come and pick her up.

This doesn't make sense, since the man already has a family. But any man in this situation, if he remains fully conscious, is more dangerous than any unscrupulous person.

I asked Wang Ben, "You said you wrote this 'world,' so can you tell me yourself what happened to Da Niu's wife?"

Wang Ben's lips trembled, and he remained silent.

I stopped pressing them with questions. I had already seen the result through divination, just like before.

As a result, I don't know whether the woman's boss came to pick her up or not, but in her despair, instead of seeking a 'way out,' she dragged her suitcase, along with the property certificate for her new house that had been haphazardly stuffed into it, and went to the food stall.

Over there, past the food stalls, and not far away, across a small road, lies a river.

The next morning, Da Niu, still hungover, rushed to the riverbank upon hearing the news and wept uncontrollably over the woman's body. Afterwards, his mother heard about the incident from others, which further damaged her mental health.

On one hand, I was taking care of the old lady; on the other hand, I was filled with worry and regret...

For various reasons, Da Niu never remarried and remained a bachelor until his death.

“Brother, I’ve seen this woman before.” Old Li… Li Xiaoju suddenly said to me, “She offered herself up to be a substitute for the water ghost, and she’s still at the bottom of the river. Actually, she had many opportunities to find a substitute, but she didn’t. I heard from the rumor ghost that she said, ‘A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl; I have to stay with my husband’s family for life. As long as Da Niu doesn’t get married, I won’t leave.’ Brother, you’re also a water ghost, so you can communicate with her more. Could you… could you persuade her? This isn’t really his fault; if anyone’s to blame, it’s…”

He paused, glancing at Wang Ben.

Wang Ben glanced at him for a moment, then turned his eyes to me. His previously complicated expression suddenly turned to terror: "I was wrong!"

Before he could finish speaking, a noisy argument broke out from behind another door on the right.

I could vaguely hear the voices of one, no, at least two women.

One was crying, and the other was crying too; their emotions were rising and falling, but the conversation was rather strange.

"Child, please don't tell your father, I beg you..."

"you……"

"Please, I'm begging you. If you tell him, our family is finished..."

"You...you...ah!!!"

Not far away, the door on the right opened, and Li Heizi's 'younger version' wife, whom I had seen not long ago, rushed out. She glared at the door with red eyes, then took off running towards the other end of the alley, opposite Da Niu's wife, until her figure disappeared from my sight.

I instinctively quickened my pace, walked to the gate, and peered inside through the open gate.

In the courtyard, a middle-aged woman was kneeling, dressed... in a way that was far too flamboyant.

In her forties or fifties, wearing a miniskirt... she knelt in the courtyard, hands on the ground, head raised, her face filled with despair, her makeup washed away by the rain... looking as ugly as a ghost.

Not far behind her, under the eaves, stood a portly man, his clothes disheveled.

"Yu Xian, I have to go now..." The man ran out, pulling up his pants, and came face to face with me.

Instantly, images flashed through my mind again.

Since my left hand was immobile, I slapped him across the face with my right hand.

However, my hand passed over his face, and even his head, yet we could not make contact at all.

In the rain, a strong gust of wind blew by, causing the courtyard gate to close shut.

Wang Ben leaned closer, hunched over, and peeked through the crack in the door: "Wow, this woman is something else, she... she went to wash her face!"

Old Li listened with a puzzled look, glanced at me, then leaned closer, peeked through the crack in the door, turned and shook his head at me: "I've been wondering all these years, how could there be a water ghost in this alley? Now I know."

He straightened up, made room for me, and gestured for me to see it myself.

I leaned closer and peered through the crack in the door. I saw a woman, her face buried in a basin of water next to a hand pump, her body and legs at about a 90-degree angle, her legs stretched straight out, her upper body completely still…

Old Li leaned closer to me and said, "His mind was already in a mess, and then the cold water hit him, and he died instantly. It was a stroke."

I turned my head and looked at him.

Old Li and I looked straight at each other, his eyes slowly moving as he said in a low voice, "I know this stuff well, because the door was open. I've seen it all."

He pointed inside the door, "That old woman is filthy. She cheated on her husband and her daughter caught her. She later developed mental problems. Her daughter, the girl from earlier, was influenced by what she saw and heard, and ended up becoming a scumbag too."

(End of this chapter)