Chapter 245: Heart's Blood

"A bold deduction. But suspecting a friend on that alone? I'm afraid you have no right to point fingers at me." Tearing off the Human Skin Mask, the "Tie Ningxiang" standing behind Yi Yi had completely changed in appearance. He was of average build, with shoulders broader than a woman's. A greasy chemical smeared his face, blurring his features.

"You call me a psycho? Aren't you one yourself? Keeping your closest friends under such intense suspicion... When you swung those iron tongs just now, you showed absolutely no mercy. Weren't you afraid of guessing wrong and accidentally killing the person you love most?"

He pulled the hair ties off his arms and stripped off his outer jacket. The bloodstains and scars underneath were all fake. What drew my attention even more were the several crudely drawn talismans plastered across his torso. The moment these peculiar pieces of Talisman Paper were exposed to the light, they dissolved into flying ash, releasing several Mirror Ghosts with blank, featureless faces from within.

"Did you think I'd strike to kill without absolute certainty?" I tightened my grip on the tongs. His reflexes were too fast; now that the ambush had failed, finding another opening would be difficult. To ensure Yi Yi's safety, I kept talking, trying to divert his attention.

"You left far too many flaws. Your supposedly exquisite setup was nothing but your own wishful thinking."

"Sharp tongue. You just got lucky and guessed right, that's all." The man toyed with his short knife. As if deciding that simply stabbing the girl wouldn't be satisfying enough, he instead clamped his hand around Yi Yi's throat, leaving purplish-black bruises on her delicate skin. The marks were somewhat similar to those on Xiaobei's neck back in the maze.

He yanked Yi Yi's hair back with his other hand. Seeing her pitiful, agonized state, I gritted my teeth and constantly reminded myself to stay calm.

"Guessed? It seems I really did overestimate you." I slowly closed the distance, using my words to distract him. "The stairs leading down to the Haunted House's second basement level were covered in ash from the fire. There were several clear sets of footprints left behind, but none of them belonged to Tie Ningxiang."

I was familiar with Tie Ningxiang. I still remembered our first meeting at the Anxin Hotel. I had been squatting on the ground in a sorry state, my hands clutching my head. When I heard her voice and turned to look, the first thing to enter my vision had been a pair of polished police boots.

The mastermind used his clothes to wipe the rest of the chemicals off his face. He tore away a thin film glued over his lips, revealing a massive, split mouth riddled with bloody gashes. "Couldn't she have entered from somewhere else? The Haunted House doesn't have just one entrance."

"For an outsider, finding a hidden entrance in such a short amount of time would be incredibly difficult. Besides, your flaws went far beyond that." With every word I spoke, I shifted my feet forward just a little, keeping my movements as slow as possible.

"The United Heart Jade around Tie Ningxiang's neck might not be unparalleled in the world, but it is unique in Jiangcheng. She also promised me she would never take it off."

The real Tie Ningxiang standing behind me was wearing the jade pendant, but the imposter wasn't. Knowing the jade was too rare and difficult to forge, he had simply carved a shallow cut above his collarbone to create the illusion that the pendant had been lost when its cord was slashed.

He had done it to cover his tracks, but that deliberate action only deepened my suspicion. The knife wound was right above the collarbone, extremely close to the neck.

If the killer had an opportunity to strike a fatal blow against Tie Ningxiang, why wouldn't he take it? Why just leave a shallow cut to steal the jade? It was completely illogical.

"The third point was a matter of habit. Tie Ningxiang's arm was injured, but the two of you bandaged the wound in entirely different ways. You used standard hospital first aid, while Tie Ningxiang uses the internal emergency bandaging method taught at the Police Department. There are many more details just like these. Do you need me to explain them to you one by one?"

I sneered and continued, "The reason I suspected the real Tie Ningxiang the whole time was because I overestimated you. I thought you would have improved somewhat compared to five years ago, but who knew you'd expose so many flaws the moment you appeared? As an old rival, I couldn't bear to watch it anymore. With your level of intelligence, stop trying to copy others with high-IQ crimes. Wouldn't it be better to just quietly stick to the wicked path? You had to put on airs and act all mysterious, only to end up looking like a street-performing monkey, becoming a laughingstock before experts."

The killer's face darkened completely. He quickly wiped away the chemicals, revealing his true face.

I had been searching for this painfully ordinary face for five whole years. Seeing it again, memories from five years ago flooded my mind like a tidal wave. It felt as if I had returned to that cramped, claustrophobic secret room.

His expression turned gloomy. The hand gripping Yi Yi's throat sank into her flesh like an eagle's talons. "How boring. I was planning to have some fun with you."

Pressing his short knife against Yi Yi's cheek, he turned his head and shouted into the depths of the corridor, "Lu Xing, stop hiding and come out!"

Tie Ningxiang and I both frowned at the name. "Lu Xing?"

An iron door slid open, revealing a face that was half handsome and half hideous. Holding his sharp knife, Lu Xing stepped out of the darkness.

The dim passage felt even more suffocating with his appearance. His frenzied, hysterical eyes locked onto me, carrying a hint of amusement mixed with sheer malice.

"I told you long ago that you couldn't fool him. This guy dared to go against the Buddha even before his dantian was open. Did you really think he was just some ordinary person?" Lu Xing walked over to Yi Yi but maintained a cautious distance from the other man, seemingly wary of him. "Senior Brother Qiu Ren, we've had our fun and played our games. Isn't it time to get down to business?"

'Senior Brother Qiu Ren?' The way Lu Xing addressed the man sent a shock through my heart. 'The killer from the rainy night serial murders five years ago is Lu Xing's senior martial brother, and he's also connected to the Two-Faced Buddha! If that's true, then the motive behind those murders five years ago and Lu Xing's current killing spree are likely the exact same. Are they both doing this for the Eight Characters Divine Fiends?'

Five years ago, my coincidental interference had caused Qiu Ren's plan to fall short at the final hurdle. Now, five years later, having been hired by the Underworld Live Show as a Streamer, I had once again stumbled upon and shattered the Two-Faced Buddha's conspiracy.

"I fought him five years ago, so I'm naturally aware of what he's capable of. I don't need you to tell me that." Qiu Ren's attitude toward Lu Xing was rather subtle. His tone held a trace of disdain, yet he seemingly had no choice but to follow the other man's orders.

There was no way Lu Xing hadn't picked up on his tone, but he simply didn't care. Pushing aside the knife in Qiu Ren's hand, Lu Xing dragged Yi Yi over to himself. "Gao Jian, this marks our second meeting. Can we talk?"

Lu Xing wanted to negotiate, but I had no idea what kind of scheme he was brewing. You could only believe half a sentence out of every ten this man spoke; I couldn't afford to be careless.

"Negotiating doesn't seem like your style." Knowing I couldn't save Yi Yi right now, I took a few steps back to stand beside Tie Ningxiang.

Lu Xing laughed, the scars on half his face quivering in a terrifying display. "I have no choice, either. Who asked my senior brother here to be incapable of success, but more than capable of failure? He spent five years meticulously laying out this supposedly flawless trap, only for you to see right through it in the blink of an eye. This makes the next phase of my plan very difficult to execute."

"The next phase of your plan?" I scrutinized every word Lu Xing said. "What were you going to do if I hadn't seen through him right away?"

"Are you that curious?" Lu Xing patted Qiu Ren on the shoulder. "My senior brother disguised himself as the General Star Divine Fiends to confuse your line of sight and mislead you into killing the General Star Divine Fiends with your own hands. We were going to record the entire process of you killing the person you love most and then let you go, leaving you to be tortured by that regret and agony for the rest of your life."

Lu Xing's malicious gaze swept over me and Tie Ningxiang. "We were so close. You really are lucky, Gao Jian. Every single time, you survive by just a hair."

Lu Xing's stare sent shivers down my spine. From the corner of my eye, I observed the surrounding architecture, mapping out escape routes in my head. "Luck? I don't think so. You want to talk, then let's talk."

When you were trapped in hell and wanted to secure a sliver of survival, the only way out was to negotiate with the devil. I could gamble many things in this transaction, including my own life.

Lu Xing was highly satisfied with my answer. The hand gripping Yi Yi's hair slowly loosened. "I can give this girl back to you, but I need you to exchange one thing for her."

"What is it?"

Lu Xing's greedy gaze settled on Tie Ningxiang. "I need the heart's blood of the General Star Divine Fiends. Not much. Just a single drop will be enough."