Chapter Twenty: Calamity

  The truth of the matter was that Li Chengdong had unintentionally seen Zhang Yanqiu at a swimming pool, and from then on, he had been thinking about her. After returning home, he couldn't sleep, turning over in his mind, although Li Chengdong wasn't a good person, but he didn't have the concept of forcing himself on women, however, it just so happened that Zhang Yanqiu's classmate's father had come to Li Chengdong's father for help. This gave Li Chengdong an opportunity, and after finding out, he found Zhang Yanqiu's classmate and threatened him, and in the end, the classmate chose benefits over friendship and sold out Zhang Yanqiu. So that day, they took Zhang Yanqiu out to play, calling up many classmates and friends, including Li Chengdong. That day was played to the fullest, during the daytime, although Li Chengdong had been teasing Zhang Yanqiu, he didn't make any out-of-line moves, although Zhang Yanqiu was very angry, she didn't do anything about it. As a result, they played until nightfall and were exhausted, so that classmate took Zhang Yanqiu to spend the night in the suburbs, wanting to share a room with her. At the time, Zhang Yanqiu didn't think much of it, after all, there were many familiar classmates, and some friends also knew each other, so they stayed at the Yigexia Hotel in the suburbs that night. However, when everyone was gathering at night, Li Chengdong put medicine in Zhang Yanqiu's juice, and at the time, Zhang Yanqiu was just dizzy, Li Chengdong thought he could take advantage of the situation, but unexpectedly, Zhang Yanqiu woke up a bit during his attempt, so she struggled with all her might. However, Li Chengdong, who was burning with desire, wouldn't give up, and wanted to force himself on her, while Zhang Yanqiu was struggling, she didn't know what hit Li Chengdong's head, at the time it just broke, this triggered Li Chengdong's violent nature, he randomly picked up a wine bottle that had just been drunk and heavily smashed it onto Zhang Yanqiu's head, only smashing a few times, unexpectedly killing Zhang Yanqiu. Seeing the dead person, Li Chengdong was also scared silly, so he took advantage of no one noticing, put Zhang Yanqiu's body in the trunk of the car, and then prepared to abandon the body in a deserted area, but on the road, due to nervousness, he hit and killed Li Dazhu who had been drinking. One sheep was also rushed, two sheep were also released, and Li Chengdong didn't care about the traffic accident anymore, so he simply put them together in the trunk and threw them into a pit at Hero Ridge. This is the cause and effect of everything that happened.

  At that time, we only knew that Li Chengdong had committed a heinous crime, killing someone in anger and then dumping the body. Later, he also killed Li Dazhu in a car accident. However, some previous events were not clear, but this did not prevent us from understanding the fundamental cause-and-effect relationship. No wonder it was just an ordinary traffic accident, Li Chengdong would still dump the body. Li Chengdong's father was a deputy secretary, and his mother had started a company early on, so they had money and influence. If it were just a traffic accident, Li Chengdong wouldn't have cared, and at most, he would have paid some compensation. If that were all, Li Chengdong would not have done something as outrageous as dumping the body. This can explain why Li Chengdong did something that left people baffled.

  Once I understand the cause and effect, I can understand why someone would frame me for reporting Da Zhu Zi's case. It's not easy to frame me, after all, there are too many suspicious points. Besides, I still have a master now. I can also understand why Li Chengdong would hire a Thai sorcerer to assassinate me. It's because Li Chengdong killed someone first and then threw the body away. To avoid exposing his crime, he must make sure I die. Once I'm dead, all the crimes will be pinned on me. It's not good to do this while I'm alive, but it doesn't matter if I'm dead. Anyway, no one can avenge me. Thinking of this, my lungs are about to explode. My face is gloomy and scary. When I knew Li Chengdong wanted to kill me, I was just confused and didn't have any intention of doing anything to him. But now, I also want to get rid of him. This kind of scum living in the world is really an insult to humanity.

  "Master, Li Chengdong can use evil spirits to harm me, are we..." My eyes flashed with a hint of anger, my voice laced with a thread of annoyance, that hatred was palpable to everyone.

  "We can't, our Quanzhen School cannot drive out ghosts to harm people. Even if someone is extremely evil, the world has its own cause and effect, it's just that the time for retribution hasn't arrived yet. The affairs of the world are naturally handled by people of the world. You're already a disciple of Quanzhen School, don't get entangled in these matters." My master's face was very calm, only gazing at me lightly, but his eyes had a strong warning. Disciples of Quanzhen School have rules to follow, Taoist methods are used to subdue demons and save the world, not for showing off strength or seeking revenge. Moreover, we're facing an ordinary person."

  I didn't argue with Master, although I'm not a bad person, but I'm also not a good person. I have my own set of principles for being human. What Master said, I won't refute, and I'll listen, but it doesn't stop me from being flexible. At this moment, I've already made up my mind. Seeing Master looking at me, I just nodded heavily: "Master, I won't make things difficult for you. Absolutely no magic will harm people, nor will I do anything that goes against the principles of heaven and reason."

  The master was clearly dissatisfied with my words, still staring at me, the warning in his eyes grew thicker. I helplessly sighed and nodded: "Alright, Master, I won't use magic to fight back or take revenge, but if others want to harm me, I also won't just accept it quietly, that's not my personality."

  "And didn't keep you waiting to death—" Master glared at me, not satisfied with my attitude. I really don't know why the seemingly open-minded master is so stubborn about these things, as soon as he mentions the Quanzhen sect rules, he becomes so serious.

  I looked at the master, then turned to Zhang Jianchen and said in a low voice: "Captain Zhang, we need to find a way to expose Li Chengdong's crimes and bring him to justice, let the law punish him."

  But to my surprise, Police Officer Zhang Jianchen shook his head and his expression immediately turned gloomy. He looked at me and sighed: "Liu Hai, brother, it's not that I don't want to help you, but this is going to be very difficult. Although we know the truth, there's no solid evidence, and just based on this one incident, we can't do anything to Li Chengdong. Moreover, investigating him won't be easy either. I was transferred from the criminal police team to the public security brigade, and then from the public security brigade to the 110 alarm center, all because I suspected that Li Chengdong had killed my sister and I went after him. Without some extraordinary means, it's impossible to get evidence. And there are people within the Public Security Bureau who are helping him. The little evidence I found was secretly destroyed, and all the witnesses from that night were coached to have a unified alibi..."

  Zhang Jianchen's face was bitter, six months had made him taste the coldness of human relationships. Not only had his sister's case not progressed in the slightest, but he himself had been excluded from the bureau and constantly worn down by petty tricks. Even his wife had been demoted from the office to the archives room. All this had almost made Zhang Jianchen lose confidence. However, seeing his elderly parents, he never gave up, secretly searching for evidence, wanting to find the truth and bring Li Chengdong to justice. But every time he found some clues, they would be stolen and destroyed in secret. By the time Zhang Jianchen realized it, everything was too late, the evidence was gone, and it was impossible to find it again. Even though he knew that Li Chengdong was involved at this point, he had no way to do anything about it. Now, Zhang Jianchen even wanted to take a gun and kill Li Chengdong to put an end to it.

  Zhang Jianchen's words were a blow to me, but I still didn't want to give up. Even if I had reached the Yellow River, I wouldn't have given up. Of course, my top priority at the moment wasn't how to deal with Li Chengdong, but rather how to get out of there. After some deliberation, I suddenly looked at Master: "Master, if I use magic to investigate the evidence, would that be considered a violation of our sect's rules?"

  The master was stunned, but had never thought about these problems. The Taoist code of conduct did not mention them either. For a moment, the master could not answer, but I had already put my mind at ease and couldn't help but laugh. However, the master's next sentence struck me like a ton of bricks: "The Taoist code of conduct doesn't have any rules about this, but what can you do now?"

  I rubbed my head and smiled wryly, but didn't take it to heart. Then, with a sudden change of expression, I turned to Master Wang with a smile: "Master Wang, you may not be willing to help deal with Li Chengdong, but can't you think of a way to get your disciple out of here?"

  The master glanced at me and hummed, "Everything goes with fate. When it's time for you to leave, you can't stay even if you want to. Don't worry about anything, someone will send you out soon. Just be quiet for two days."

  I let out a sigh, but didn't say anything. In my heart, I was cursing Master. Everything is fate, so why bother doing anything? Everyone just sits around and waits for fate to take its course. If we all did that, wouldn't everyone starve to death? But if I said this out loud, Master would definitely scold me, so I kept it bottled up inside.

  Everyone knew, and the rest of what they wanted to know, Zhang Yanqiu couldn't remember either. The matter was temporarily settled for now. Master only took a talisman paper, casually threw it away, and it had already burned into ashes on its own. Immediately after, a symbol flashed and disappeared, falling onto Zhang Yanqiu's body. Zhang Yanqiu's figure transformed into a wisp of green smoke that entered the paper person. Master put away the paper person and solemnly handed it to Zhang Jianchen: "You take back your sister's soul and raise her well. In a few days, it will be July 14th. After midnight on July 14th, you burn the paper person, and your sister can go reincarnate. Although your sister had become an evil ghost, she didn't have any evil karma, so she should be able to be reborn into a good family. This is also the only way we can help her."

  Zhang Jianchen carefully took it in his hands, and again thanked Master Li a thousand times. He then bid farewell and left, but as he passed by me, he lowered his voice and said: "I'll think of a way to get you out of here, and when the time comes, we'll work together to deal with Li Chengdong. We must make this beast get what's coming to him."