Chapter 21: Lonely Fate

The tone and manner in which Zhong Kui said this were full of scholarly air, completely different from her usual somewhat arrogant appearance, as if she had been possessed by another person.

Immediately, she said to Qi Fei very politely: "I'm sorry, excuse me for a moment."

As she said this, she hurriedly walked into the inner room and locked the door from the inside. Before long, faint whispers could be heard from inside the door, as if she were on the phone, but Qi Fei knew there was no signal in this place, and she was indeed talking to someone, back and forth, unable to hear what they were arguing about.

Not long after, the bedroom door opened, and Zhong Kui appeared before Qi Fei once again, appearing somewhat cautious, and said to Qi Fei not without courtesy: "I'm really sorry, a deceased client suddenly possessed me. Did I scare you?"

Qi Fei looked at her full of doubts, not knowing whether to believe her acting was too superb or to subvert his own worldview and believe that ghosts and gods existed in this world.

Zhong Kui acted as if nothing had happened, sat down opposite him, looked at the monster pattern on the dining table that was about to dry up, and said: "Qi Fei, since you can find your way here, I want to ask you, are you willing to catch this monster with me?"

"Of course, you catch evil ghosts, I catch bad people; the two are nothing more than a breath apart. It's just that you have to tell me what this pattern means," Qi Fei said, watching Zhong Kui's every move. Everything seemed too abnormal, but he was so sure that Zhong Kui knew the origin of this pattern.

"How could this be? I should have already died," Zhong Kui sighed suddenly, the desolation in her words was unprecedented, and then she repeated that whisper again.

"What language are you speaking? What does it mean?" Qi Fei asked while focusing on observing her expression.

This time, Zhong Kui explained this strange language: "This is Ancient Greek. It roughly means that people spend their whole lives looking for their other half. The pattern you drew is not a monster; it is the first generation of humans created by the gods in legend, born of the moon, hermaphroditic, and later split into two halves, which is why there is a distinction between men and women. They are separated, but they want to reunite, so they start looking for the lost half as soon as they are born. This legend is about the fatalism of love, believing that in this world, there is always someone destined to combine with another person; they were originally one body. Very romantic and persistent..." Speaking of this, Zhong Kui sighed softly, "I once liked this story very much, but I didn't expect that this story eventually gave birth to a monster. Or rather, the monster you think of is the person who drew this pattern, a monster created by me." Zhong Kui said, that deathly tone seemed to come from another world.

"You know Xu Wei?" Qi Fei asked immediately, looking at Zhong Kui who was still immersed in her emotions, and then changed the question, "Or is it that someone else drew this?"

Qi Fei's voice trembled; he always felt that the answer he had been chasing for so long was about to come out, and his heart beat faster with excitement.

However, Zhong Kui fell into an anxious silence again, her expression changing strangely, and suddenly she shouted: "Enough!"

Immediately after, she looked at Qi Fei with tears in her eyes: "Don't believe me, remember, don't believe me!"

After saying this, she disappeared like a whirlpool on the lake surface and returned to calm. She wiped away the tears that were about to flow out, flirtatiously brushed her hair, and said contemptuously: "Heh! A dead ghost is really hard to deal with!"

"Who was that just now?" Qi Fei looked at Zhong Kui vigilantly. Whether it was a performance or real, the woman who just talked about Ancient Greek legends was definitely not Zhong Kui.

"Just a dead person, it's nothing," she said lightly.

"But she recognized the origin of this monster, saying something about people being destined to find their other half. It seems she knows that the person who drew this picture is not Xu Wei."

"Is that so? Maybe it's just Xu Wei possessing you to confuse your hearing. Sometimes these drawings and symbols can be mediums." Zhong Kui seemed to have no intention of continuing this topic and filled Qi Fei's wine cup with yellow wine. "Tonight we only drink and don't talk about these boring topics."

Qi Fei was a bit surprised: "You found me, isn't it because you wanted to ask about the progress of the case?"

Zhong Kui smiled: "Since you think so, why did you open your mouth and tell me so much?"

"I..." Qi Fei was stumped.

Zhong Kui seemed to like seeing Qi Fei in such an embarrassed state and smiled slightly: "I just wanted to find someone to drink with."

"Don't you have friends?"

"I thought we were friends," Zhong Kui blinked at Qi Fei, her slightly tipsy cheeks carrying the pink of peach blossoms. "'Eating God controls the Seven Killings,' this is your destiny... Do you want to know my destiny?"

"Zhong Kui, you make me feel very split. You just talked to me about Greek mythology, and now you're talking to me about destiny. Who exactly are you?" With the effect of alcohol, Qi Fei was a bit dazed. "Let me tell you the truth, all these gods and ghosts are bullshit. I hate people pretending to be gods and ghosts the most!"

Zhong Kui didn't get angry when she heard this and laughed: "But?"

"But, I can't hate you." When he said it, he seemed to know he was drunk and muttered, "My alcohol tolerance is not good, I'm a bit drunk..."

"'Seven Killings sitting alone,' this is my destiny. It's a very lonely fate, Qi Fei..." Zhong Kui looked at Qi Fei who was already lying on the dining table and reached out to touch his head.

When Qi Fei woke up again, he was already at the Huang Daxian Temple, and neither Zhong Kui nor the old woman was in the temple. Everything last night was like a dream, both true and false.

The aftereffect of the yellow wine was very strong, and Qi Fei rubbed his temples, his head aching severely.

He walked out of the temple gate unsteadily, along the bluestone road, toward the direction of his car.

Before he arrived, he saw someone waiting by the car from a distance.

He remembered this person—it was Gu Ruyun's father, that stubborn old man.

Unlike last time, Gu Laotou actually took the initiative to walk up to him when he saw him this time.

"You are that Nancheng police officer, right?" The old man even had a guilty look on his face. "People from your side came to notify me earlier, saying that the person who killed that beast had been found. Seeing your car parked at the entrance of the town, I wanted to apologize to you."

Qi Fei looked at the dew on his hair: "Have you been waiting for me here for a long time?"

Gu Laotou continued: "I'm sorry, I was very rude when you and that girl came over last time."

"That's nothing," Qi Fei said magnanimously. After all, in his line of work, he had encountered all kinds of people. "However, I would like to understand why you were unwilling to accept the investigation. Logically speaking, Yang Jinhan's death has nothing to do with you; you don't need to be so excited?" ===== CHAPTER 22 =====