Chapter 024: Down with Feudal Superstitions!

Chapter 024: Down with Feudal Superstitions!

Chi Shen took a pen from the holder, circling Zheng Ming's name, and asked, "Is it him?"

His shadow shifted slightly, and Ji Xingchen's voice emanated from it: "It's him."

With that confirmation, Chi Shen continued perusing the material. He had only briefly skimmed it earlier, getting a general sense of its content. Now, he flipped back to the beginning to read it in detail.

This file had a specific number, hinting at its meticulous organization.

Violent Homicide Case 023.

The Hong City Carpenter Serial Murders.

Suspect: Huang Liu Qiang.

Gender: Male.

Age: 32.

Occupation: Carpenter.

Family Background: Orphaned, wife left him, lost his daughter.

Criminal's Statement:

"Yes, I killed them all. You've caught me; I guess my bad luck continues. If you were in my shoes, you'd either end your life or take another's. Do you know that killing can change your fate? Wouldn't you kill then?

By my count, there are six, plus my daughter, that's seven. Seven offerings, and it's still not enough? How many must I kill? I wonder, is even the God of Wealth greedy?

I know what they say about me - that I'm mad, possessed. Every day someone asks me, what was I thinking. Don't bother asking; it's simple. I've been cursed with misfortune since birth."

While I was still in my mother's womb, a famine struck. Most of my family passed away. Not long after I was born, my mother also died. They said it was because of me, a curse I brought with me. And as I grew older, they found out one of my ears was deaf. Look at you all, born perfectly normal, while I was born with a disability. Isn't that just unlucky? I'm a cursed star, always with issues.

I learned carpentry from my father, tried to earn some money. But then, I was swindled. Lost all my money, and it drove my father to his grave. Alone and struggling, I worked making furniture. I couldn't even find a wife, and when I did, she wasn't much to look at. She bore me a daughter, whom I wanted to throw into the river out of frustration. But my wife stopped me. In a few years, she left, leaving me with the burden of raising our daughter.

That's just my luck. Others would gamble and make money effortlessly, while I could never win a thing.

I believed I couldn't be unlucky forever, so I sought a fortune teller. He advised me to be more devout to the gods. So, I crafted a statue of the God of Wealth and worshiped it daily. Surprisingly, my luck began to change.

One night, I won fifty at cards. That's money I'd have to craft many chairs to earn. Yet, the very next day, I lost it all.

I then remembered that I had forgotten to pray to the God of Wealth that morning. Thinking that my neglect required a special offering, I poured out some wine. That night, my luck returned, and I won my money back. That's when I realized there truly were gods and spirits, and if I devoted myself, the God of Wealth would bless me.

What I didn't expect was the God of Wealth's increasing demands. First, wine sufficed, then it became a chicken, followed by a pig's head. Even after all these, my luck didn't improve. One night, after borrowing money for a game, Zheng Ming, a fellow bachelor, came demanding repayment. I wondered, if the God of Wealth wouldn't accept a pig's head, maybe he'd accept a human's. Using my woodcutting axe, I decapitated him and buried his head beneath the statue and the body on a hill. That night, I won three hundred.

But one head wasn't enough. A few days later, I was broke again. There was a local old woman whose children worked in the city. Believing her absence wouldn't be noticed, I cut off her hand as an offering.

Still, my luck didn't change. Then, I thought of a young woman from our village who worked at the hydroelectric station. She had this allure about her. I drained her blood for a soup offering for the God of Wealth. I also found a vagrant and used his organs. Another time, a mother and daughter who had seen my gruesome rituals met a similar fate.

As for my own daughter, I tried to involve her in the worship, but she resisted. In anger, I struck her with a wooden plank, breaking her leg. Yet, my luck remained terrible.

Just as I was about to destroy the statue of the God of Wealth, you captured me. The statue is still in my main room.

Upon examining the file, Chi Shen couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. Though he had witnessed plenty of evils in the death game, these details still made him feel a physical discomfort.

The following pages contained information on the victims and crime scene photos. He took a cursory glance before setting them aside, deciding to finish his lunch first and then review them again later.

"Do you believe in the fate of the 'Doomed Lone Star'?" Chi Shen inquired.

"No, his life has nothing to do with that," Ji Xingchen replied, standing beside him and perusing the same report.

Chi Shen gave a faint smile, "Why do you say that?"

Ji Xingchen gazed at the report and said, "His previous inability to find a wife was because of his gambling habits. The whole village knew about it, and hence no one wanted to marry him. He bought his wife from a poverty-stricken area. She ran away because he abused her. He'd strike her whenever he lost money. He considered the birth of a daughter unlucky due to his misogynistic beliefs. His father's money was gambled away by him, and that heartbreak led to his father's demise."

At this point, Ji Xingchen adjusted his glasses and continued, "He's not cursed with bad luck. He just made mistakes and blamed it on fate. Had he led a normal life, it would have been an ordinary one. In fact, he's luckier than his siblings because he's still alive, whereas they did not survive till now."

A cup of hot tea was placed on his desk. Ma Caijin, who had just returned from the pantry, brought another cup for Chi Shen.

"Have some water. Focus on something light-hearted. We'll have lunch soon; don't let this ruin your appetite."

Chi Shen expressed his gratitude, picking up the tea but not hurrying to drink it.

The little girl accompanying Li Xu was now leaning curiously over his desk, watching him.

With just her head and hands resting on the edge of the table, and her body behind it, she appeared as an ordinary little girl, giving no hint of her being a ghost. Her curious eyes were fixed on Chi Shen's desk.

Chi Shen closed the file.

He took a sheet of paper and folded it into a paper candy.

At the Bai family's old mansion, preparations of cinnabar and yellow papers were almost complete. Bai Ran followed the others into the mansion.

Accompanying Bai Ran was another younger member of the Bai family, who smiled and made a gesture upon entering, "After you, young master."

Bai Ran modestly replied, "Please, cousin, after you."

Another person entered first, looking back at the two, "Why be so courteous to him? He's an outsider now."

Bai Ran still wore a smile, but he gritted his back teeth so hard that they almost drew blood.