Chapter 46: The Uncanny Jiang Si
Just hearing the name gave Ge Kai a toothache. Clutching his face, he thought with a sense of tragedy: Isn’t this Jiang Si a bit too uncanny?
How many days had he been in Ning City?
And already, two people were dead.
Equally perplexed were the police officers in charge of the accident.
Blinding white light flooded the interrogation room. This high-intensity lighting was a subtle interrogation tactic in itself; suspects accustomed to living in the shadows would feel exposed when suddenly confronted with such brightness, as if the haze in their hearts had nowhere to hide. It facilitated the subsequent questioning.
Jiang Si sat under the light, completely open and composed. He was even in a good enough mood to ask the officer for a cup of water.
“Where did you go after meeting the deceased last night?”
Jiang Si thought for a moment. “I went back to the hotel after chatting with him.”
“What did you do at the hotel?”
“Washed up, rested, and chatted on the phone with my partner.”
“That’s it?” the officer asked in a deep voice.
“That’s it.”
The officer pulled a stack of photos from a file folder and slammed them onto the table, questioning him coldly, “At 2:12 AM today, you left the hotel and took a taxi. The destination was the Binjiang Bridge, where the accident occurred.”
“Explain why you went there in the early morning. What was your purpose? Is Qin Zhansheng’s death related to you?”
The dark circles under Jiang Si’s eyes were obvious, and a layer of fatigue shrouded his brow. He cupped the water glass, took a sip, and looked up sincerely. “Officer, you don’t actually think I caused his death, do you?”
“He was just my former boss. The matter I went to discuss with him was a common civil dispute. What kind of grudge would I have to kill him? I have no motive! Besides, I just happened to witness the explosion. I didn’t have time to prepare anything in advance. How would I know his car was going to explode?”
“You think too highly of me. I studied liberal arts in high school and art in college. I’ve long forgotten everything about chemistry. Even if I wanted to make a bomb, I wouldn’t know how.”
The officer stared at him coldly but truly couldn’t find any cracks in his story. Just as he was planning to approach from a different angle, there was a knock on the interrogation room door.
Another officer in uniform entered and said, “Time’s up. Let him go.”
“…What?”
“Let him go. This case has nothing to do with him.”
Jiang Si stood up leisurely under their gazes and said politely, “If you want to ask anything else, I will continue to cooperate. Goodbye.”
He was puzzled by the sudden change in the police’s attitude, but once he walked out of the interrogation room, realization dawned on him.
A few steps away, Hai Di stood quietly with his hands behind his back, a lawyer in a suit and leather shoes speaking to him.
Seeing Jiang Si come out, Hai Di interrupted the lawyer’s report and beckoned to him. “Come here.”
“Why are you here?” Jiang Si was surprised. He walked over and stopped in front of him. “I didn’t tell you about this. How did you know?”
Hai Di reached out and patted down the fluffy hair on Jiang Si’s forehead. “Your friend sent a message.”
The only “friend” Hai Di knew about wasn’t human. No wonder “it” could touch the phone the police had confiscated.
Jiang Si said helplessly, “I would have been fine even if you didn’t come. It’s not my first time giving a statement.”
Hearing him sound like a regular at the police station, Hai Di chuckled and took his hand. “I wouldn’t be at ease if I didn’t come personally.”
“This is Lawyer Zhang,” Hai Di introduced. “He was the one negotiating with the police just now. They said you’re clear. Since you’re out, let’s go.”
Jiang Si had just said hello when he was whisked away by Hai Di. He couldn’t help but ask curiously, “It’s impressive you thought to bring a lawyer. Are you that free all day? On call whenever?”
As he finished speaking, his hand was squeezed hard. Hai Di looked helpless. “It’s because I was worried about you.”
“I just heard that the person who died was your former boss, Qin Zhansheng, right? You just asked me to investigate him yesterday, and he died early this morning. How can you expect me to be at ease?”
Jiang Si glanced at him sideways. “Do you also think his death is related to me?”
“I was worried something might happen to you.” Hai Di sighed. “First your friend, then your boss. Didn’t you say the company you worked for was a media company? Why does it feel like a criminal syndicate where people are always dying?”
“Maybe the Feng Shui is bad,” Jiang Si said. Seeing Hai Di’s worried look, he couldn’t help but reach out and tug at the corner of Hai Di’s lips.
“My fate is tough; I’m not afraid of these things. Don’t worry about it.”
Hai Di took the opportunity to kiss his fingertips, then grasped the hand that tried to pull back, attempting to lure him again. “Just move in with me. I’d feel safer.”
“We’ll see, we’ll see.” Jiang Si’s gaze drifted, landing on the car parked by the road. He urged, “Let’s get in the car. I’m so tired. Let’s eat first and then I need to catch up on sleep.”
He didn’t tell Hai Di the truth. If Hai Di knew more people were going to die, there would be no end to his worrying.
Hai Di went along with him, taking him to a nearby restaurant first.
It was a high-end private restaurant, quite famous in Ning City. The decoration was entirely Chinese style—elegant but not solemn. The private rooms had excellent soundproofing; once the door was closed, no outside noise could be heard.
Jiang Si had been tossing and turning from yesterday until today, then summoned to the police station early in the morning. He hadn’t had five hours of sleep in total.
So, after only two bites, he propped himself up on the table and closed his eyes to doze off.
Hai Di turned his head, his hand freezing in mid-air as he was about to serve him food. He watched Jiang Si’s head bobbing like a chicken pecking at rice for a while, finding it somewhat amusing.
He hardened his heart and woke him up. “This isn’t a place to sleep. If you’re really sleepy, go nap in the car.”
Jiang Si looked up, realizing he hadn’t eaten much himself. He waved his hand. “It’s okay, let’s eat first. I’ll sleep later.”
Hai Di called the waiter over and ordered the food to be packed. He pulled Jiang Si up. “Don’t force it. Go back and sleep.”
Listening to him, Jiang Si propped his chin up, lazily watching the waiter pack the dishes into boxes one by one. Thinking of the request from Qin Zhansheng’s wife, he looked up and asked, “Last time you mentioned Baiyun Temple… do you know any masters there who are both familiar and capable?”
“I do, but why do you ask?”
Jiang Si smiled. “I want to hire someone to perform a ritual.”
In front of outsiders, Hai Di didn’t ask much. It wasn’t until the waiter left and he stopped Jiang Si, who was about to follow, that he asked, “Who are you performing a ritual for?”
His eyes held a probing look as he scanned Jiang Si’s expression.
“Helping a friend,” Jiang Si tried to gloss over it vaguely.
Hai Di didn’t give him the chance. Holding his wrist, he continued to ask in detail, “Is it that ghost beside you?”
“…No,” Jiang Si answered honestly. Seeing Hai Di wanted to dig deeper, he manually silenced him, warning fiercely, “No more questions. I’ll tell you when I have time.”
Hai Di nodded noncommittally, taking Jiang Si’s slender fingers down from his mouth, unmoved. “Tell me honestly, does dealing with ghosts for a long time affect you?”
Any normal person would have bad luck for a few days after being touched by a ghost. Hai Di simply didn’t believe there would be no consequences for someone like Jiang Si who stayed with ghosts every day.
Not to mention, even a natural-born Celestial Master like Shen Hu wouldn’t do such things.
Jiang Si: “…”
Current Hai Di was getting harder and harder to fool.
He really missed the amnesiac version of him.
“A little bit,” Jiang Si emphasized repeatedly. “Really, only a little. And I don’t deal with them every day, only occasionally.”
“As long as I don’t get involved in their karma, I’ll be fine.”
“Master Xiang is in Ning City. I’ll ask him to take a look at you,” Hai Di warned. “A gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall. Jiang Si, you are the most important thing. No one is worth sacrificing yourself for.”
“I know, I know.” Jiang Si quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Hai Di’s stern aura just now was comparable to his high school dean.
It instantly made him feel like he was back in middle school being scolded by a teacher. Simply terrifying.
Unaware of Jiang Si’s thoughts, Hai Di spoke of other matters as they walked. “The hotel isn’t convenient for eating. Go to my place to sleep for a while. After you eat, I’ll take you back.”
Jiang Si was just about to say the hotel had a microwave too, when he suddenly heard a surprised male voice from the side.
“Jiang Si!”
Jiang Si looked over and couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. It was them.
“Why are you here?” Ge Kai was wearing a formal black suit, with Zhang Shuo following beside him.
It looked like they were here to discuss business, and they just happened to run into Jiang Si and Hai Di coming out.
“Is this your restaurant?” Jiang Si asked back.
Ge Kai choked. Ever since he learned that Jiang Si had met with Qin Zhansheng, he had been absent-mindedly thinking about this person repeatedly. Who knew he couldn’t even think about him without actually seeing him?
Looking at him now, Ge Kai felt that Jiang Si exuded weirdness from head to toe.
When Jiang Si first came to the company, he discovered a corpse on the elevator.
He met with the company’s Vice President, and a few hours later, the Vice President died.
Seeing Jiang Si now, Ge Kai couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild. Surely, it wasn’t his turn next?
“Who knows what you’re doing here. I heard President Qin only saw you before the accident. Maybe you had a hand in his death.” Zhang Shuo didn’t have as many complicated thoughts as Ge Kai; he just said whatever came to mind.
Hai Di’s face instantly turned cold. He wanted to speak up to defend him, but Jiang Si beat him to it.
“Now that you’ve seen me too, I wish you the same fate as him tonight.” Jiang Si smiled, not feeling the slightest bit offended.
“Since I happen to be in the funeral business, you’re welcome to be my customer.”
Zhang Shuo’s face turned green, his neck stiffening as he failed to find words.
After holding it in for a long time, only one sentence came out: “Are you sick?! Who the hell wants to be your customer!”
Jiang Si felt it was a pity. Several months had passed, yet not only had Ge Kai made no progress, but Zhang Shuo was the same.
He lost the upper hand as soon as he opened his mouth, leaving Jiang Si with no desire to counterattack.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Si couldn’t be bothered to talk to them anymore and pulled Hai Di to turn and leave.
“No wonder you looked down on Qin Zhansheng. Turns out you found a higher branch to climb.” Zhang Shuo continued unwillingly, “I’m going to give a statement tomorrow. I will reveal everything about you and him. I want to see if the police will suspect you. Where do you get the nerve to fight me for the movie—”
Before he could finish, a crisp slap echoed through the corridor.
Jiang Si’s palm was half-numb, hanging by his side. The corners of his mouth, usually carrying a smile, were pressed into a straight line. His jaw was tight as he said coldly, “I’ve been tolerating you for A-Xi’s sake. Don’t push your luck.”
“Who do you think you are? Do you really think that by stealing someone else’s work and carving your name on it, it becomes yours? It’s just a movie. If I can make the first one, I can make more.”
At this moment, everyone present was silent.
Ge Kai’s eyelids twitched wildly. He subconsciously imagined Jiang Si stabbing someone with a knife. The impact was so strong that he completely ignored the “A-Xi” Jiang Si mentioned.
No one dared to speak.
Hai Di calmly stepped forward, took Jiang Si’s hand, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped his fingers one by one with extreme patience.
Only then did he give Zhang Shuo a glance. His voice was gentle, but he was speaking to Jiang Si. “If you don’t like him, there are plenty of ways to deal with him. Why dirty your own hands?”
Jiang Si paused for a moment and didn’t speak.
Zhang Shuo touched the half of his face that had been slapped and sneered, “Sounds so nice. Giving face to A-Xi? Does she know you care about her so much?”
“Oh right, she’ll never know.”
Hearing this, Ge Kai suddenly reacted and tried to pull him back. “Stop talking nonsense! Shut up!”
Zhang Shuo pushed him away, his face full of malice. “A-Xi is dead. Didn’t expect that, did you? Hahahahahaha—”
He was too agitated to notice the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Jiang Si with wide eyes, waiting for his reaction.
“What did you say?” Jiang Si froze.
“No… A-Xi, A-Xi she, she…”
Ge Kai’s voice gradually faded. He had already cursed Zhang Shuo hundreds of times in his heart.
This jinx! He had to fire him sooner or later!
Contrary to Zhang Shuo and Ge Kai’s expectations, Jiang Si’s reaction was even more subdued than before. He remained silent, as if in a daze.
Hai Di sensed something was wrong with his mood. Just as he wanted to clarify the situation, the door to the private room opposite them suddenly opened, accompanied by a voice.
“Why is everyone at the door and not coming in—”
“…Boss!”
Hai Di’s assistant, the only one who didn’t know what was happening, was also the person Ge Kai and the others were here to negotiate business with.
He was incredibly shocked that his boss was here. Others were shocked by his words.
Ge Kai felt his body was like a rusty machine tool; his neck made clicking sounds as he turned.
Just in case he heard wrong, he asked repeatedly, “President Hai?”
Zhang Shuo’s satisfied smile froze on his lips, equally in disbelief.
Hai Di asked his assistant, “Is this the media company we are cooperating with?”
“Yes,” the assistant replied, confused.
“Good. Very good,” Hai Di said. “I didn’t expect such a coincidence.”
His gaze swept over the two uneasy men. Hai Di said, “Is this the sincerity your company shows when discussing cooperation?”
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