False evidence

Chapter 493 Nine Gold Bricks
"Everything else can wait," Old Li waved his hand, a half-smile on his face. "Do you know what the important thing is?"

I looked at him without saying anything.

He pointed to the notebook still in my hand, then to Wang Ben: "I've roughly figured out what's going on. You're not an ordinary person; it seems you can foresee the future, right? Okay, I'll assume you have that ability. But you seem to have overlooked a detail: the pen he used to write this was given to him by you. Why did you give him a pen? What's so special about that pen?"

I shook my head. I only told him I was the person who contacted him back then to appease the excited Wang Ben. I wasn't really that person, how could I possibly know what happened between the two of them?

Old Li waved his hand again: "The name Li Xiaoju was something my drunken father came up with randomly when he went to register my household registration. I am a chef, and I do work in a five-star hotel. All of this may just be a series of coincidences, but I think the problem still lies with that pen."

"Alright." I interrupted him, turned to Wang Ben, and before I could speak, I saw the fear in Wang Ben's eyes.

“If his tongue was cut off tonight, he should be really scared.” It was Old Li who spoke. “Alright, we can talk about some things later. Let’s go check on number 23. No, I mean number 23A. Is there something fishy going on?”

The three walked along the roadside to where they had parked earlier. Looking up, they saw a somewhat faded house number: 24A. Further down, in the center of the sign, there was a circular mark. It must have been covered by something for a long time, hence the mark.

The mirror that the driver took away must have been the mirror.

A mirror hangs above the door; the owner of number 24 doesn't seem very kind.

Crossing the street, the shop across the street, the one the man and woman had just entered, indeed had the address 23 Tanjiaqiao Lane, but with an extra 'A'.

I subconsciously shook my head. There must be a difference between No. 23 and No. 23A. Wang Xi's remnant soul clearly stated that it was No. 23, not No. 23A.

“Young man from the North, you have no idea how chaotic the house numbers used to be here, do you?” It was Old Li speaking… and it could only be Old Li. “Let’s not talk about the distant past, just ten years ago, the house numbers in some alleys and streets were a complete mess. And that was considered good. In some places, even after the street names were changed, some houses still had their old house numbers. For example, the whole alley would have a number like Wangjiaqiao Alley, but there would be one house across the street that refused to change its house number and still had the old sign that said Wangjiajing Alley.”

The phenomenon he described actually exists in some places in my hometown county, but it doesn't seem to be of much use at this time. This is because Cao Xinyun disappeared in the alley next door, and the courtyard where he disappeared is Li Heizi's house, which, according to its location, is back-to-back with No. 24A across the street.

I thought for a moment and asked Old Li, "You said you've been running a food stall here for over ten years..."

Before I could finish speaking, Old Li shook his head and said, "Don't ask me about this. I'm really not familiar with this area."

A wicked smile crept across his face as he shrugged. "Don't forget, even if I'm not a fictional character, I'm still an 'outsider.' I'm in business; why would I be wandering around alleyways for no reason?"

Wang Benxiang used sign language to communicate with me.

I understood what he meant, and I was furious. He wanted us to go in and investigate room 23A, but the front door was locked from the inside, so we had to go around to the back and climb over the wall to get in.

Remembering the strange woman and man I'd just seen, I decided to go inside and check out room 23A first. Wang Ben, however, seemed to suddenly remember something, grabbed my arm, and looked at me with a strange expression.

"Just say what you have to say!" I felt like I was about to explode. There were too many nonsensical things going on; it was enough to drive anyone crazy, or at least make a clay idol angry.

Wang Ben took out the notebook he had just used and eagerly flipped to a page to show me.

I patiently read through the passage of text he traced with his finger, and found it utterly absurd.

I shook out my trench coat and asked Wang Ben, "Is this coat, like Lao Li's, also a 'seasoning' you made up yourself?"

Wang Ben nodded and gestured: "I've written so much over the years that I forgot about this. Of all the things Li Xiaoju collected, only this trench coat is truly useful."

“You’re a fucking lunatic,” I yelled. “You really think everything you write can come true? ‘A trench coat obtained from a ghost, along with another dimension, capable of pulling magical artifacts out of its pocket at any time.’ If it could pull a master key out of its pocket, it would truly be like Doraemon’s pocket…”

Before I could finish speaking, I froze. My fingertips, which had been tucked into my trench coat pocket, touched something cold.

When I took it out, it turned out to be a key with a strange-looking design.

Old Li was also taken aback, but then said, "Since this isn't the real world, what strange things can't happen?"

I looked at the key in my hand, then at Wang Ben, and turned around to insert the key into the lock of the shop door.

It's called a key, but it's actually a very narrow metal plate with many serrated edges on the front and sides.

I don't know what kind of metal it is. It's very thin, but it has excellent elasticity and resilience.

The metal plate easily inserted into the keyhole, and after only a few twists and turns, the sound of the lock spring popping out was heard.

After pulling out the metal piece and examining it more closely, I began to understand how this thing unlocks. When it's inserted, the serrated teeth are bent under pressure, and when they encounter a gap, they spring back. With more force, they are bent again and pushed forward until all the spring clips are inserted and secured by the spring-loaded serrated teeth.

This method can open almost any lock except for the most modern ones, let alone an old mortise lock.

This is truly a master key.

I casually stuffed the 'key' into my pocket, then reached into my trench coat pocket, gesturing towards the unlocked shop door and looking at Wang Ben questioningly.

Wang Ben signed: Go in without worry, there's no one inside.

This time, I was thinking about the Anywhere Door, the Shrinking Flashlight, and finally, the Pencil Sharpener that could be pulled out of my trench coat pocket. I agreed that this was a magical world.

However, the truth is that apart from the master key, there was nothing else in the pocket.

Old Li also has a rash side. He also knows sign language. As soon as Wang Ben finished making the gesture, he went to push the door open.

The old shop, with its old-fashioned double wooden doors, opened with a slight creak, revealing a dark interior where the general outline was not immediately visible.

Old Li turned on his flashlight right away. Before I could even scold him for being reckless, I was already stunned by the sight inside the store.

This is a small shop selling cigarettes, alcohol, and general merchandise, the old-fashioned kind of general store.

These kinds of small shops still exist, they're not rare. What's rare is that I visited this shop just last night with Yan Fengwei and Cao Xinyun.

The counters, shelves, and all the furnishings in this shop are exactly the same as the shop where we took shelter from the rain in Sanhe County last night!
The store was indeed empty. To confirm something, I walked in regardless and went to the old-fashioned counter, peering through the glass at the cigarettes displayed inside. I had eaten instant noodles at this very counter, and as a smoker, I couldn't help but take a few extra glances. The cigarettes in the counter now were arranged in a completely different order than I had seen last night. Moreover, there were several brands of cigarettes there, which seemed to be discontinued, including Pegasus.

Wang Ben pulled me aside and pointed to a door leading to the back.

By this time, Old Li had already turned off the power. The three of them, with flashlights on, brazenly walked through the back door into the yard.

The courtyard was furnished differently from what I'd seen last night, but the layout of the houses at the back was exactly the same. "Could it be that we didn't go to Sanhe last night, but were instead bewitched and ended up here?"

I asked Wang Ben, "Has the address for No. 23A been changed yet?"

Wang Ben waved his hand: This row of houses was demolished years ago.

"That's really weird." I muttered under my breath, and seeing Wang Ben walk towards one of the rooms in the backyard, I immediately followed without hesitation.

I remember it clearly, this is the triple room we stayed in last night.

The door was also locked.

This time I didn't even bother using a master key. I just inserted a bank card through the crack in the door, swiped it up and down, and the old-fashioned lock opened.

The reason I was so blatant was because I had a fairly good understanding of Wang Ben's personality and believed some of his statements.

Whether I am currently in the 'world' he wrote about or not is another matter, but judging from Wang Ben's various actions, apart from Old Li and the scorpion under the stone slab in his yard, he is fully aware of everything that has happened.

Let's assume this is the night 21 years ago when his tongue was cut out and he became mute. Whether it's a 'story' or not, recalling that pain would instinctively fill him with fear. In fact, he hasn't stopped trembling since just now. The fact that he dared to come in and say there was no one inside most likely means that on that night many years ago, after he climbed over the wall, he indeed didn't see anyone.

But if that's the case, what about the man and woman who came in earlier? Did they also just 'disappear' like Cao Xinyun?
The moment the door opened, I suddenly remembered something, grabbed Old Li's flashlight, and hurriedly went back to the front. As soon as I shone it on the ground, my eyelids twitched.

"It really is here!"

Last night, after we entered the room, Yan Fengwei said that there was a "treasure" in that inconspicuous little shop that also ran a hotel.

Yan Fengwei, who is most sensitive to antiques and artifacts, noticed as soon as he entered the store that there were nine gold bricks among the floor tiles, which were used exclusively by the ancient imperial palace.

Right now, there are indeed a few special floor tiles on the floor in front of this small shop.

The tiles, roughly half a meter on each side, are square and unremarkable due to the dust covering them. However, upon closer inspection, their rustic and weighty feel becomes apparent. Except for a few, the rest of the tiles, though similar in shape and size, are clearly made using modern techniques.

I counted them, and there really were nine gold bricks, laid all the way from the front door to the back door.

I had originally intended to pry one up to see if, as Yan Fengwei had said, there was a seal on the side of the brick indicating the dynasty that oversaw its manufacture, as well as the names of the kiln and the craftsmen. However, the nine gold bricks and the rest of the ordinary floor tiles were laid so tightly together that without the right tools, I had no idea where to begin.

"I almost missed it." A voice suddenly rang out behind me.

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned around sharply, only to find that Old Li had silently followed me.

He looked down at the ground, his expression extremely unpleasant.

I asked him, "What did you miss? You know about antiques too?"

Old Li shook his head: "I don't know anything about antiques, but besides being able to see and distinguish ghosts, I can also smell some special scents. Of course, I'm not a dog, I can smell, but I have to smell carefully."

"What do you smell?" I asked.

"The smell of dead bones," Old Li said in a low voice. "I don't know much about antiques, but seeing how seriously you're looking at them, I followed along and noticed that this row of floor tiles is different from the others. One thing is certain: the area under these tiles has a strong sense of death; it's made of dead bones."

He crouched down, ran his hand through the gap between the gold brick and the adjacent floor tiles, brought his finger to his nose and smelled it. His face grew even more grim, even showing signs of terror.

"Good heavens, I had a feeling it wasn't just one person's bones. This stuff underneath must be powdered human bones, and the ash used to fill the gaps is also bone powder. It's not just one or two, or three or four, it must be bone powder from at least hundreds or thousands of people!"

I nodded silently.

At this point, I'm 90% certain that even if we've been tricked into an illusion once again, at least Wang Ben and Li Xiaoju aren't part of the scheme.

The logic is too simple. If it's a setup, the purpose should be very straightforward. If they want my life, they can go to such lengths to set this up; killing me would be a piece of cake. If it's to buy time and mislead me, that would make sense. But Lü Xin insists that what he's experiencing now is different from last night and cannot be an ordinary illusion.

His reasoning was simpler, consisting of two points: first, intuition; second, after taking precautions, he had a special method that allowed him to determine with 100% accuracy whether he was sober. He didn't say what that method was, but he was very certain of it.

My communication with Lü Xin yielded one of the final results: Wang Ben and Li Xiaoju could not be part of the 'game'; they were simply in special circumstances.

It's special, and very special.

Wang Ben and Li Xiaoju are truly exceptional.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, I thought of someone—Blind Liu.

He is a master of feng shui and geomancy.

Feng Shui...

Why did I suddenly think of feng shui?

Old Li suddenly said, "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand."

I instinctively exclaimed "Ah!" and looked at him.

He shook his head slightly and said, "I just suddenly remembered a saying that a ghost often said: 'One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand.' I'm sure that under these floor tiles, at least this row of tiles, there are hundreds, thousands, or even more people's bone dust. Doesn't this prove the saying?"

"The person you're talking about... what ghost is that?" I myself found it awkward and strange, but I just blurted it out anyway.

Old Li said, "He was a monk, a ghost monk. About two years ago, a little over two years ago, he came to my food stall to beg for alms. I made him a bowl of vegetarian noodles for free, but I added lard to the bottom of the bowl. He even drank the soup and praised me, saying, 'I am better than the imperial chef.'"

My heart skipped a beat for no reason.

Old Li said, "Afterwards, I asked a few old folks who often ate at my food stall, and they all said they hadn't seen any monk. After that night, that ghost monk never came back. But I had a really strange feeling. This monk wasn't an ordinary monk. He always had 'One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand' on his lips, as if... as if he was saying it specifically for me. I thought he was being a bit eccentric. 'One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand' refers to a general. Before becoming a monk, was he a general? It doesn't seem likely. He looked rather weak and scholarly."

(End of this chapter)