False evidence

Chapter 74 Plain Noodles (Part 2)
Bai Jing seemed to be seeing this person for the first time as well. She looked Jiao Tong up and down and asked Chen Zudao:
"Ancestor, how come I've never seen him before? The dog market... isn't that where they sell dogs?"

Chen Zudao chuckled: "Of course, the dog market is for selling dogs. Twenty years ago, one of my wolfhounds died. I haven't kept a dog since. Ten years ago, I suddenly had a whim to keep a dog again. So, naturally, I had to go to the dog market to buy one."

That day, I searched the entire dog market but couldn't find a dog that caught my eye. At the very end, I saw a group of punks, around fifteen or sixteen years old, surrounding a child and urinating on him. I chased those bastards away and asked the bullied child what was wrong, only to learn that he was mute.

Chen Zudao pointed at Jiao Tong: "Back then, his mother was still alive, suffering from a serious illness and unable to earn a living. This kid supported his mother by collecting scraps and begging. That day, he took the two puppies born to his family's yellow dog to exchange for money. As a result, those little bastards killed the puppies by throwing them to their deaths, and they still felt they hadn't bullied him enough!"

Bai Jing sighed, anger flashing in her eyes: "Ancestor, all you did back then was chase those thugs away?"

"Would I let them off so easily?"

Chen Zudao looked at me but didn't continue. His eyes clearly asked me: Have you thought about how he dealt with those rascals?

I said, "Those who bully others will never have a good ending. Those thugs will probably be traumatized every time they relieve themselves from now on."

Chen Zudao clapped his hands: "I knew it. If you were me back then, I would have done the same."

He has a really good memory; he didn't forget to explain to Bai Jing:

"I didn't manage to buy the dog, but this little mute boy caught my eye, and I adopted him as my godson. Unfortunately, his mother was already terminally ill at that time, and even Li Si couldn't save her. He only used strong medicine to give that girl a comfortable year and a half, but she still went to see the King of Hell. I'm an old man with hands and feet, and I can walk and move around normally, so I don't need him to serve me. I just let him watch the shop for me. Now that I'm inconvenient, shouldn't I ask him to come and take care of me?"

As he spoke, he waved to Jiao Tong: "Your Uncle Lü... your Uncle Sanqi only ever eats at the table. You can carry me outside."

Jiao Tong immediately nodded, grabbed the armchair where Chen Zudao was sitting from behind with both hands, and without uttering a sound, lifted Chen Zudao and the chair and walked out.

Bai Jing and I exchanged bewildered glances, both of us speechless. Jiao Tong didn't look particularly strong, but his arms were incredibly powerful.

Chen Zudao originally intended to have Jiao Tong cook, but I stopped him.

I asked him to look after Chen Zudao and then called Bai Jing to the kitchen.

As soon as she entered, Bai Jing exclaimed, "I never would have guessed that Jiao Tong was so strong."

"Not surprising, don't forget, your ancestor was his godfather." I looked at Bai Jing with a half-smile, and didn't say anything more.

Bai Jing glared and said, "Yes, you're still his Uncle Sanqi! I'm telling you, how old are you? Is it fun to make jokes like this?"

She glanced outside, then suddenly lowered her voice: "It seems this matter is far more complicated than I imagined. There's something I must remind you of."

"explain."

"You may no longer be yourself."

I paused for a moment, added two ladles of water to the pot, squatted down, and silently lit the stove.

"Don't you realize something's wrong with you?" Bai Jing asked me.

"My throat hurts, just say what's on your mind."

"So now you know that the male corpse in the charcoal kiln was Lü Xin?"

Bai Jing squatted down beside me and whispered quickly, "The mark on your back can be described as a curse, but more accurately, the appearance of the mark means that you have been possessed by an evil spirit. This evil spirit was possessed by Lü Xin before."

In the end, Lü Xin was completely controlled by the evil spirit. Letting him live would be to condone the evil spirit's evil deeds. Therefore, as a last resort, the Huang family's shrine devised a plan to lure him to the charcoal kiln. Using the lives of eighteen Huang family shamans, combined with the five elements' energy within the kiln, they set up a magic array to fight Lü Xin's fate while simultaneously suppressing the evil spirit there.

The magic array is not eternal, but the evil spirit is immortal. The patriarchs of the Hu and Huang families calculated that the magic array would soon fail. To control the evil spirit and prevent it from causing harm, they could only find someone with a predominantly yin constitution and transfer the evil spirit into that person.

I chuckled dryly: "I'm the unlucky guy you were talking about."

"You don't believe what I said?"

"letter."

Bai Jing looked at me suspiciously: "You really believe that?"

We locked eyes, and she suddenly leaned forward, our noses almost touching. "If I didn't know physiognomy, I would have died at least twice since I met Chen Zudao! Tell me, at this point, what is there left for me not to believe?"

Bai Jing didn't react for a moment. When their breaths touched, she suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly stood up. In the instant she turned her head, I saw that her ears and neck were as red as fire.

After a long silence, she turned her back to me and said:

Do you think you're normal right now?

“I told you, I have a sore throat.”

She finally turned around. "You've changed, especially when you first woke up. You didn't feel like the person you used to be, but someone else."

"It must be Lü Xin."

"You figured it out?" Bai Jing asked in surprise.

Seeing that I remained silent, she became very anxious: "That evil spirit must have possessed you. But even the patriarchs of the Hu and Huang families probably didn't expect that after a full sixty years, although Lü Xin's soul had dissipated, his consciousness still remained! Perhaps a part of his consciousness had already merged with the evil spirit at that time. Now, it has transferred to you along with that evil spirit!"

"Do you know how serious this is?" Bai Jing stamped her foot. "How can you still act like you don't care at all?"

What kind of reaction do you want from me?

I glanced at her, took out four large bowls from the cupboard, and muttered as I added seasonings, "Apart from the plain noodles, plain noodles are the simplest type of noodle dish. But the simpler something is, the harder it is to make well. There are only three kinds of seasonings, but the proportions must be just right."

"You...you're going to tell me what happens next?"

"Heh, what else?" I suddenly stopped smiling. "I believe everything you said! The only thing I don't believe is that you said you could save my life! What I can do now is not listen to your nonsense! But follow your every step carefully, and be extremely cautious in everything I do, just to save my own life!"

Bai Jing was shocked. "You...who exactly are you? What do you know?"

I pointed to the stove and said, "The noodles are ready, please take them over."

Seeing that she remained unmoved, I leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"No matter what, Chen Zudao probably already thinks I am the reincarnation of Lü Xin. If I want to save myself, I must start with him. Starting with this bowl of plain noodles."

(End of this chapter)