Chapter 53: Instigation

"Are you sure it was really Yue Fengsheng who hit her?" Qi Fei stopped his steps and muttered.

"If he can even instigate an old lady to buy medicine to assist in a crime even after he's dead, what is impossible?" Zhong Kui asked back.

The two looked at each other and turned back toward Guiyue Apartment in perfect synchronization.

The door to Room 101 was knocked open again.

"Are you sure the person who hit you that night was Yue Fengsheng?" Qi Fei asked as soon as he saw Zhou Li.

"Of course it was him, who else could it be?" Zhou Li blurted out.

"Did you see his face clearly?"

"Yes!" Zhou Li said firmly.

"We went to check the location you mentioned last time. The street lamp there has been broken for over two months... it hasn't been fixed. At the time you were running, you shouldn't have been able to see the person's face clearly. If you don't believe us, we can go take a look tonight."

Hearing Qi Fei say this, Zhou Li began to hesitate, muttering: "Strange, I just saw him..."

Zhong Kui smiled from the side: "This isn't strange. The other party wanted you to think the person you saw was Yue Fengsheng. People always fill in the blanks with what they believe. You wanted to believe that the person who hit you was Yue Fengsheng." Zhong Kui said, taking out the yoga mat Zhou Li used daily and placing it on the floor. "Lie down, I will help you find the real memory."

Zhou Li lay down on the yoga mat, half-doubting.

"Now close your eyes, relax..." As Zhong Kui guided her step by step, after Zhou Li was completely relaxed, she began to recount the situation of the day she exercised.

"That day, like usual, I ate dinner, chatted with Lao He for a while, and it was soon time to go out to exercise. It had just rained in the evening, and Lao He advised me not to go out. But I've had the habit of running for so many years, so I changed into my sneakers and that red tracksuit and insisted on going out. When I left, there was the sound of arguing coming from the fourth floor. Yue Fengsheng would argue with his wife every night when he was drunk; it wasn't strange at all. I didn't want to listen to it, so I went out on my own. Because it had rained outside, the air was very fresh, which made me temporarily forget the unpleasantness of the day before, and I unconsciously quickened my pace."

"My route is very fixed. I generally run counter-clockwise around the park across from the small bridge to the north, then run back home along the river."

"When I was almost home, because the road was broken, it was a bit hard to see. Fortunately, I was so familiar with this route that I could run it with my eyes closed, so I didn't pay attention."

"Everything happened too fast. A bicycle suddenly hit me from behind. Because I was completely unprepared, both I and the bicycle fell to the ground. That person said 'Serves you right,' viciously. It was exactly the tone Yue Fengsheng used when he was drunk!"

"I know, you were very angry, so what happened next?" Zhong Kui's voice permeated Zhou Li's narrative silently.

"My palms were burning with pain, and the skin was scraped off. But I couldn't care about that because I was furious. I had to teach Yue Fengsheng a lesson, so I immediately climbed up and grabbed his bike. I didn't care; this time I was going to fight back. But Yue Fengsheng was really strong and pushed me down again!"

"What expression was on his face at this time?" Zhong Kui continued to ask.

At this moment, Zhou Li, with her eyes closed, couldn't help but frown: "He, he was just very angry."

"Can you be more specific?"

"I, I can't say..."

"Think carefully, his eyes..."

"He seemed... to have no eyes..." Zhou Li took a deep breath. "Oh, no, that's not right. He turned his head away, not daring to face me. But the clothes he was wearing, a black jacket, I've seen it; it was Yue Fengsheng's..."

"Did you see his face?"

"I... I don't think I saw it."

"You said he pushed you down?"

"That's right..."

"Do you remember the smell on him?"

"Smell? There was no smell..." Zhou Li muttered.

Zhong Kui let Zhou Li wake up and asked He Zhixin: "You said that last time Yue Fengsheng had a conflict with you at the intersection, you punched him twice. Did he fight back?"

He Zhixin said with disdain: "That drunkard was swaying all over the place; he couldn't even stand steady without being hit, how could he fight back?!"

Zhong Kui then said to Zhou Li: "You said Yue Fengsheng hit you with a bicycle and pushed you down, but your husband said Yue Fengsheng couldn't even stand steady. This doesn't sound like the same person you encountered."

Zhou Li said in confusion: "But my husband and I have always been on good terms with everyone and never offend anyone. Besides this Yue Fengsheng, I really can't think of anyone else who would treat me like this!"

"So, actually, you didn't see that person's face clearly," Zhong Kui said.

Zhou Li nodded guiltily: "Hmm, it seems I didn't..."

"And you just said you didn't smell anything at the time. You heard arguing on the fourth floor when you went out, which means Yue Fengsheng was already drunk. And he only causes trouble when he's drunk; he's a very good person when sober. You couldn't possibly not smell any alcohol on a drunk person, right?"

Zhou Li was very confused after hearing this: "Then that's strange, who could this person be?" She looked at He Zhixin uneasily.

Qi Fei said from the side: "We also want to know who this person is."

Someone had impersonated Yue Fengsheng to hit Zhou Li with a bicycle, making the conflict between the two families even more irreconcilable.

Qi Fei, walking out of Room 201, put his hands in his pockets and looked at Zhong Kui: "What do you think of this?"

"Someone didn't want Xiao You to be taken in by He Zhixin's family. They had to ensure that He Zhixin's family and Yue Fengsheng had a complete falling out, otherwise, there would be no chance to get close to Xiao You," Zhong Kui said.

"Very interesting, it's as if someone is monitoring the deceased's life. Let's go, the scene is still sealed, let's go take another look together," Qi Fei said, climbing the stairs to the fourth floor.

Even though a few days had passed, that unpleasant smell was still there.

Yue Fengsheng's home still had the decoration style from decades ago. In fact, all the residents in this apartment had homes like this. According to the standards at the time, it was considered quite good conditions, but as time passed, it had become dilapidated.

"How did they tolerate living in such a poor environment?" Zhong Kui said, covering her nose.

"Great Immortal, not everyone has a good place to live," Qi Fei said, looking around, always feeling that he had missed something last time, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Finally, his gaze fell on the glass tabletop of the dining table. Under the glass were some old photos, one of which was a group photo of a young Yue Fengsheng with someone else.

The two had their arms around each other's shoulders, standing on a hillside, looking high-spirited.

Qi Fei had just seen the face of the person beside him—it was exactly the same as the portrait hanging in the living room of Room 202—it was Chen Liangdi's son who had died many years ago. ===== CHAPTER 54 =====