Part 2
“Eh? What?” Zhang Sanfeng was bewildered. “No, wait, what do you mean kill someone? Luo Shannü, stop playing around. Mr. Jiang has official business.”
“No rush.” Luo Shannü wiped a smudge of dry lipstick from her lip, looking regretfully at the dark brown mark on her fingertip. “This skin of yours is quite nice. How about you let me wear it for a while?”
Zhang Sanfeng finally realized what was happening and hurriedly stood in front of Jiang Si, warning her, “Don’t you dare. My master will be back any minute. If you touch him, my master will never let you off.”
He then whispered to Jiang Si, “Rakshasas have a particular fondness for good-looking people. Once they see one, they can’t help but try to steal them.”
According to Buddhist records, Rakshasas were born from Brahma’s feet and fed on evil ghosts. They were divided into male and female; the males were ugly while the females were beautiful. Rakshasa girls were particularly enchanting and shared a love for beauties, consuming human flesh and traveling by wearing human skins. However, according to the Lotus Sutra, the Rakshasa girls were enlightened by Buddhism and became guardian deities.
It appeared that this Rakshasa girl had been recruited by the Celestial Masters Association.
But in essence, she remained a creature of both good and evil; stories of Rakshasa girls killing people had been common since ancient times.
“Shen Hu, eh…” Luo Shannü sneered. “He’s no match for me.”
“Holy crap, isn’t eating potato chips enough for you? Why do you have to eat people?” Zhang Sanfeng said, reaching for a peach-wood sword nearby, intending to find a weapon for self-defense.
Unexpectedly, Luo Shannü seemed determined to seize Jiang Si’s skin. She reached out through the air toward the two men.
In the span of a millisecond, the wooden sword was kicked into the air. Luo Shannü’s hand touched the peach-wood sword and was instantly burned, breaking her offensive.
Jiang Si gripped the hilt, applied a bit of force to change its direction, and hurled the peach-wood sword directly at Luo Shannü. The tip of the blade brushed past her face and embedded itself into the wall behind her with a sharp thud.
Though it didn’t injure her, it severed several strands of her hair. The black hair fluttered gently to the floor.
“Holy shit.” Zhang Sanfeng was thrown into disarray by the sudden turn of events, unsure whether to look forward or back.
“You actually know how to fight.”
“Nonsense. How else would I have survived all these years without some self-defense?” Jiang Si looked at Luo Shannü. “I just don’t practice Taoist arts; I never said I couldn’t do anything else.”
Luo Shannü glanced at the sword on the floor and suddenly covered her mouth with a laugh. “It was just a joke! Don’t take it to heart. I’ve been a vegetarian for hundreds of years; how could I kill anyone?”
She hopped onto the sofa and sat cross-legged, picking up her potato chips with an air of indifference. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see Gong Tianye? He’s right inside.”
“I told you, we’re all colleagues. Why would a colleague eat another colleague?” Zhang Sanfeng let out a sigh of relief and patted Jiang Si’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go see Gong Tianye.”
Jiang Si gave Luo Shannü a few more glances. Seeing that her attention was indeed back on her video, he relaxed. He followed Zhang Sanfeng deeper into the suite and pushed open a door.
The windows of the room were sealed tight, with only the electric lights providing illumination. There was no bed or table, and certainly nothing sharp. A large rug covered the floor, topped with a set of bedding. In the corner against the wall, Gong Tianye was leaning back, appearing to be asleep.
“Gong Tianye.” Zhang Sanfeng called out in a low voice. “Look who’s here.”
Gong Tianye muttered a curse in Japanese and turned his head. The moment he saw Jiang Si, he actually started laughing, speaking in fluent Mandarin. “Truly, any stray cat or dog can come to see me now.”
Jiang Si didn’t get angry. He signaled for Zhang Sanfeng to step out, wanting to chat privately for a while.
Zhang Sanfeng hesitated. “Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
“Look, there’s a camera right there, isn’t there?” Jiang Si smiled. “Don’t worry.”
Only then did Zhang Sanfeng leave. Once the door was closed, Jiang Si walked over leisurely, not caring that he was stepping on the other man’s bed with his shoes.
“You bastard, you’re still wearing your shoes!”
Jiang Si turned a deaf ear, squatting down to get a clear look at the blue stubble on Gong Tianye’s face. “First, some good news. You’re getting out soon.”
Gong Tianye’s angry expression softened immediately, replaced by doubt. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. I expect Shen Hu will be here soon to tell you as well. Congratulations; your great-grandfather is personally coming to Huaxia to collect you.” Jiang Si smiled. “I didn’t realize you were so valued by your family.”
“You don’t need to say another word. My family is very close-knit,” Gong Tianye retorted. “Is that all you came to say?”
“There is one more thing. I wanted to ask if you’ve seen this before.” Jiang Si took out his phone, enlarged a photo, and held it up in front of him.
It showed half an enlarged human face and a pitch-black room. That was all Gong Tianye could make out.
“What is this?” Gong Tianye asked, confused. “How would I know what that is?”
Jiang Si glanced at it and pointed to the red-clothed hanging man in the corner. It looked like a person, but the neck was twisted, and the arms were wrenched backward and upward, as if hanging in mid-air from something.
Gong Tianye squinted, studying it seriously, yet still asked, “What is it? A ghost?”
“You don’t recognize it?”
“Why should I?”
“This is a photo of a player from the Box Bride script-kill game created by Hirakawa Haruhara. This thing appeared in the shot.”
Hearing the familiar name, Gong Tianye’s eyes snapped open as he looked at Jiang Si. “How do you know about Hirakawa?”
“Take a guess.”
“…I don’t know what that thing is.” Gong Tianye frowned. “Even if I did, why would I tell you?”
Jiang Si mused, “It wouldn’t have been easy for a foreigner to smuggle those things into the country. You must have helped him set up an illusion. You used funerary figurines to deceive the eyes of customs, allowing several boxes containing remains to be brought in. But why did you do it? How much did he pay you? Or rather, what did you want from him?”
“But he was just an author with very little money, let alone any treasures. Were you helping him, or were you using him to conduct an experiment in Huaxia?”
“What nonsense are you talking?” Gong Tianye found it ridiculous. “Mr. Jiang, your imagination is far too vivid.”
“He gave me money, I solved his problems. Isn’t that perfectly normal?”
“I’d really like to believe you.” Jiang Si looked sincere as he knelt on one knee, slowly scrolling through other photos. Just as Gong Tianye was looking at him with an expression of speechlessness, he showed him another one. “If it weren’t for a recent event, I might not have noticed. You recognize him, too, don’t you?”
The photo showed a man in a black robe, with blood on his lips and a deathly pale complexion that contrasted sharply with his black clothes. He was slumped on the ground, clearly long dead.
“The Nanling Ghost Master. He should be your fellow apprentice. After all, you both play with insects.”
Gong Tianye finally dropped his façade. His sinister gaze shifted from the phone to Jiang Si’s face, but he remained silent.
“He kills ghosts; you kill people. What exactly are you looking for in Huaxia?”
“I don’t know.” Gong Tianye simply closed his eyes, refusing to answer any more questions. He adopted an attitude of a ‘dead pig unafraid of boiling water’; after all, no one here could use torture to interrogate him, or they would be violating international conventions.
Seeing he wouldn’t get anything more, Jiang Si didn’t get discouraged. He casually tucked a thin slip of paper under the rug and stood up to leave.
Zhang Sanfeng hadn’t expected him to finish so quickly and hurried forward. “How did it go? Did he say anything?”
Jiang Si pursed his lips and shook his head.
“Eh, no worries. We already know what we need to know; the rest is just minor details,” Zhang Sanfeng comforted him.
Just as Jiang Si nodded, he heard Luo Shannü let out a cry of surprise. “Whoa! Now this is a show worth watching.”
“What show?” Zhang Sanfeng leaned over to look. Luo Shannü moved aside to let Jiang Si and Zhang Sanfeng see the computer screen clearly.
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