Star Trace Gate

On the ferry to the Love Village, Ren Ye sat on the inner side, hugging his shoulders and looking up at the sky. He looked stupid and no one knew what he was thinking.

The other three people had nothing to do and were just resting their eyes.

Suddenly, Lao Liu seemed to have thought of something, reached out and touched Ren Ye's thigh, and said softly: "By the way. There is something you still need to explain to us clearly."

Ren Ye slowly looked at him: "Are you talking about Xu Bangzi?"

"Yes, how did you find him? And how did you successfully drug him and completely control him?" Old Liu was very curious.

"Can't you develop your filthy brain and think about the details yourself?"

"If I had the ability to develop my brain, why would I still be with you?" Old Liu asked back with confidence.

Ren Ye was speechless for a long while, and then patiently replied: "First of all, anti-fraud personnel are used to doubting everything. I have never been able to get over Xu Bangzi's performance in the face of the trap in the Dragon Library. The more I think about it, the more I feel that his reaction at that time was that he was very familiar with the trap in the Dragon Library, and it didn't seem like his first time in. For example, everyone has been paying attention to why he was able to hide in the groove in the wall in such a short time. But if you think about it the other way around, is it possible that he didn't hide quickly, but was standing next to the groove from the beginning, and that angle allowed him to see the secret room and the cabinet that triggered the trap clearly. I think this behavior comes from an instinctive sense of psychological security, just like you are very familiar with the road conditions of a certain section and know which street has potholes, so when driving, you will instinctively avoid them. Do you understand?"

Old Liu nodded slowly.

"The second point. After the birthday banquet started, when Mr. Jiang and I left the table to discuss the action plan, I specifically told my beloved concubine to see if anyone would leave the table after we left." Ren also added: "And when we came back, my beloved concubine told me that Xu Bangzi left just after we left, and he deliberately mixed in with the crowd and left from the side."

"After discussing the action plan, my beloved and I went outside and found Xu Bangzi. I suddenly asked him what he was doing through voice transmission, and asked a lot of details, but he couldn't answer. But there was one situation that made me a little confused at the time...!"

"What?" asked Lao Liu.

"Before I could reveal his identity, Wang Lili came to find me, and at this time, he suddenly sent me a message. He told me that if Wang Lili invited me upstairs later, I must be careful. Wang Lili is good at using a colorless and odorless poison that can make people fall asleep unconsciously." Ren Ye looked at Lao Liu: "So when I went upstairs, I secretly borrowed the Stone of Life from you. This thing has holy light and can restrain and cleanse evil things. Also, when I left, I didn't have much time to think, and there was no way to continue communicating with Xu Bangzi, so I told my beloved concubine not to rush into the Dragon Library, and to confront Xu Bangzi before entering. Find a way to control him first. If there is no way, then kill him and give up entering the Dragon Library."

"Ah, I understand!" Old Liu suddenly slapped his thigh and turned to look at Xu Qingzhao: "So, when the two of you were in a daze in the stairwell, you were actually negotiating...!"

"Yes." Xu Qingzhao nodded. "I didn't waste time talking to him. I only gave him two choices. Either take poison and be controlled by me, or fight and we kill him together."

Old Liu suddenly realized and asked with a puzzled expression: "But I still don't understand. Why did he remind you that Wang Lili might use poison?"

Ren Ye sneered, "I didn't understand it at the time, but after it was over, if you deduce the logic of his behavior, everything will be clear. He led everyone into the Dragon Treasury to win Wang Shoucai's final trust; he transformed into the image of Butler Zhu to send away the people guarding the corridor to protect Wang Lili; after these people left, he, who is proficient in assassination and ambush, had the opportunity to hold Wang Lili hostage and take back the ghost controlled by Wang Shoucai."

"So he reminded you in order to increase his chances of success? Because you are on guard and not poisoned, then you will definitely be in the same camp with him when you resist?" Old Liu's eyes were bright.

"Yes, I had a fight with Zhou Congcong, and he has seen my fighting ability." Ren also nodded.

After the words were spoken, the cabin became unusually quiet.

After reviewing all the details in his mind, Lao Liu suddenly said, "You guys... your brains are too dirty and too sinister."

Ah Pu stared at Ren Ye blankly: "You are scarier than beef."

"Ah."

Ren also glanced at the two of them proudly: "They are all foils for teammates."

When the ferry was about to arrive, Lao Liu suddenly asked, "What is our idea for returning to the Love Village this time? We can't just look around blindly, right?"

"There are three places you must visit." Ren Ye replied.

"I can think of two. Xu Bangzi's house, and the area around Shen's house..." Ah Pu blinked: "What about the other one?"

"Haha." Ren Ye smiled mysteriously.

……

It's past one in the morning.

After entering the Love Village, everyone kept looking for ghosts to ask for directions, and soon found out the location of a house.

The nights here are just like before I left, with ghosts everywhere and heavy rain falling from the sky.

After spending less than half an hour, the four of them sneaked into a rather grand and luxurious house.

Strangely, there was not a single ghost in the house, and it seemed very empty. However, the scenery and decorations in the house looked high-end and classy, ​​and many rooms were lit with dim lights.

After Ren Ye entered, he led everyone with a clear goal and sneaked into the room where the Dong family lived and started searching quickly.

During the search, Lao Liu, Xu Qingzhao and others discovered that many valuable items in the house had been taken away, and even the ornaments on the cabinets in the bedroom had disappeared, giving a sense of a deserted house.

You know, in this star gate, every night when the night falls, the Desire Village will return to the way it was when the bloody night happened. There will be heavy rain in the sky, and the old and abandoned houses will be the same as before.

This means that when the bloody night happened, the people living in this house fled in advance and took away the valuables in the house.

After searching for more than 20 minutes, Ah Pu shouted in the study room used by the owner: "Come here, I found it."

The other three immediately rushed to the study and saw that the items in the room were arranged in a somewhat messy manner, with a lot of papers and debris scattered on the floor, as if they had left in too much of a hurry and had not tidied up carefully.

Ah Pu stood beside a wooden frame, turned his head to look at them, and pointed with his finger: "Look."

The three of them looked up and saw three exquisite masks hanging sporadically on a wooden shelf that was nearly one meter wide.

Ren Ye immediately rushed over, picked up a mask and looked at it carefully, his eyes bright as he said, "Look carefully again."

"What are you looking for?" asked Lao Liu.

"Find shoes, shoes for adult men, quickly." Ren Ye urged.

When everyone heard his words, they started searching the study, bedroom, bathroom, etc. in a slightly perverted manner.

Soon, Lao Liu shouted, "I have a pair here that are not for children."

Ren Ye immediately ran to the cabinet at the door of the study and saw Lao Liu pulling out a pair of 70% new leather shoes from underneath.

“What are you looking for this thing for…?” Old Liu was puzzled.

"brush!"

Ren didn't reply, and immediately summoned a pair of cloth shoes from his consciousness space.

When Old Liu looked at the pair of shoes he had taken, his scalp tingled and he said, "Fuck, you kept all of these?"

The pair of cloth shoes was exactly what Ren Ye and others found in the No. 1 ancient house where the female ghost was imprisoned when they first entered the Love Village, and Ren Ye took it out specially when he went there for the second time.

He squatted beside the cabinet, put the soles of the two pairs of shoes together, and whispered: "The toes of the leather shoes are slightly longer, but the size is the same. Hehe, this clue point has been confirmed. We can go to the second point."

After a while, the four left.

When he reached the gate, Ren also turned around and glanced at the plaque of the mansion, on which was written the words - Zhou Mansion.

……

2:30 in the morning, around the ruins of Shen’s house.

The four of them searched together, and whenever they saw a ghost, they would start to interrogate it fiercely. If it didn't listen, Xu Qingzhao would go up and give it a big nose that could hit the ghost.

The direction of their questioning was all directed at Shen Yuan, such as his age, height, weight, appearance, what color clothes he liked to wear, etc.

Some of the ghosts lived next to the Shen family, so they told everything they knew; others knew nothing and were released after being beaten.

After half an hour of investigation, Ren could basically conclude that Xu Bangzi did not lie.

Then, everyone left the place together.

……

At around 3:40 in the morning, everyone found the home where Xu Bangzi lived when he was young, which was the blacksmith shop of Lin Bo and Wang Po, according to the location given by Xu Bangzi.

After Ren Ye was admitted to the hospital, he immediately went to confirm the information given by Xu Bangzi, and all of them were unpopular.

These include which direction the toilet door faces and how to open it; where the泔水 is usually poured; and where Uncle Lin gets his tools when he works, where the hammers, axes, and fire-starting tools are, etc.

It took more than twenty minutes for Ren Ye to confirm more than ten pieces of information one by one, and finally confirmed that Xu Bangzi was indeed not lying. He must have lived here in his childhood, and for quite a long time.

Returning to the main room of the Lin family, Ren also saw Lao Liu standing with his hands behind his back against a wall, looking up at a huge portrait.

"What are you looking at?!" Ren Ye frowned and said, "I asked you to find some account books, but you were lazy again."

"A portrait of the Three Pure Ones. Haha, this blacksmith actually believes in Taoism." Old Li said.

Ren was also stunned when he heard this, and suddenly turned his head to look at the wall. He saw that the painting was indeed the portrait of the Three Pure Ones.

He blinked and asked again, "Have you found anything else related to Taoism?"

"Yes." Old Liu responded softly, "There is a small house next to it, which is used to worship tablets. Inside are tablets for the Three Pure Ones and Taoist immortals. It's quite formal...!"

"Whoosh!"

Before he could finish, Ren had disappeared.

After a while, he came to a small room of only seven or eight square meters, which looked more like a storage room, and saw tablets of various Taoist gods, some daily offerings, and some blessing talismans that needed to be burned in the Taoist temple.

Ren Ye rubbed his chin with his hand in a daze.

"I looked around, but there's no account book." A Pu shouted from the hall, "There's nothing useful over there at the blacksmith's furnace."

"No, no... no need to look for it." Ren Ye stared at the tablet and said word by word: "We still have to go somewhere."

"Where are you going?" A Pu turned around and asked.

"Xishan Taoist Temple."

……

It was past four in the morning, the sky was almost bright, and the entire Erotic Village was about to return to its dilapidated and desolate state.

After Ren Ye rushed to the Xishan Taoist Temple, he acted like a madman, searching non-stop in the ruins.

"Zhu Zigui, what are you looking for?" Xu Qingzhao asked in confusion.

"Stop making noise!! Stop making noise, don't disturb me." Ren Ye was so focused that he actually yelled at the female thigh.

"......!" Xu Qingzhao was not angry at all. He just looked at Ren Ye's crazy state with an unusual look in his eyes.

"Why does he act like a madman?" A Pu commented with a frown.

Lao Liu gave a professional answer: "This is how the case handlers are."

After more than ten minutes, Ren Ye lifted a large stone and dug out a deformed and dusty small iron door from inside.

He searched the iron gate carefully, and finally saw a seal that craftsmen usually used to leave words in a very hidden position on the back.

During the Republic of China period, there were no logos or machine-printed production numbers. All ironwork was done by hand, and generally good blacksmiths and carpenters liked to stamp on the finished products to show off their craftsmanship and the buyer's taste.

The seal reads: "Lust Village - Lin."

Seeing these words, Ren Ye's brain exploded, and he sat down on the ground, looking at the heavy rain falling from the sky, and shouted: "I know, I know everything!!"