I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 55 - 44 Yin Ghost Jade

In ancient times, officials like Di Gong would set up mock trials in the underworld to crack adultery cases, and Bao Longtu would disguise himself as King Yan to scare the real perpetrators into confessing.

But these methods at most could be considered tricks, not truly able to consult the underworld to determine the real culprits.

Similarly, Xu Qing did not possess the ability to question the underworld, but he could read the Sutra of Salvation to view the deceased’s memories, returning to the crime scene to watch a replay of the government official’s death.

The government official who died under mysterious circumstances before him was named Wei Fang. Since his grandfather’s time, his family had been in this line of work. By his generation, it could be considered a well-established tradition.

With this background, Wei Fang naturally had intimate knowledge of all government office affairs, knowing what money could be pocketed and what couldn’t with just a slight contemplation.

For instance, regarding the unclaimed bodies in the government office, Wei Fang would find two familiar partners to sell them to corpse collectors in the funeral business without ever asking what they did with the bodies.

As long as there was money to be made, it didn’t matter to him if the corpses were used as stuffing for buns.

One day, through Li Si from the broker’s office, Wei Fang received a lucrative job — delivering a corpse to a newly opened funeral shop on Underground Street.

The young shopkeeper at this funeral shop was an interesting person, generous and principled. Once Wei Fang discovered this channel, he never sold bodies to anyone else.

That day, after Wei Fang and two quick-response government officials delivered the body, they were about to return to the government office when they heard an exclamation nearby. It turned out a gambler had stayed at an inn opposite the gambling house, and for unknown reasons, had died in his room early in the morning.

Having just sold a body and with nothing else on his hands, Wei Fang led the two partners to the crime scene.

The deceased had no visible wounds, his eyes wide open and mouth agape, as if he had seen something terrifying, causing him to die of fright on the spot.

Wei Fang wasn’t concerned about the cause of death; his eyes zeroed in on the Pixiu Jade Pendant tightly gripped in the deceased’s hand.

Hey! This jade pendant looks valuable.

Upon inquiring, he learned the deceased was a gambler with no family, someone who wouldn’t even have anyone to bury him.

Wei Fang’s mood improved immensely, seeing this as a windfall. The jade pendant was valuable, and so was the body!

He promptly dispersed the onlookers, instructed one government official to report to the government office for the coroner and Civil Office to arrive and examine the scene, and another partner to guard the inn, keeping outsiders away.

Wei Fang himself closed the door and pocketed the jade pendant from the gambler’s hand before acting as if nothing had happened.

Initially, there was nothing unusual about this, as there were plenty of government officials who weren’t clean-handed and had never faced punishment for taking items from the dead.

But this day’s events were different.

That evening, upon returning home, Wei Fang eagerly took out the Pixiu Jade Pendant to admire it under the lamp.

The pendant glittered, and the carved Pixiu beast seemed almost alive, dancing in the lamplight.

The more Wei Fang looked, the more mesmerized he became. Finally, feeling sleepy, he placed the jade pendant on his chest and lay down to sleep.

Seeing this, Xu Qing thought the Sutra of Salvation would skip this trivial scene, but around midnight, Wei Fang suddenly got out of bed, went outside, and started giggling in the courtyard.

"Hehe, my points are higher than yours. I win, all this silver is mine!"

"One more round? Sure, but this time, let’s bet bigger, ten taels of silver..."

"Your luck is bad, fifty taels this round..."

"One hundred taels..."

In the middle of the night, Wei Fang, dressed in thin clothes, squatted in the courtyard, shaking his empty hands as if he held a dice cup, laughing foolishly.

As the bet reached five thousand taels, a new voice suddenly sounded in Wei Fang’s ears.

"Your luck is excellent, let’s bet bigger. If you win, I’ll give you all my silver, but if you lose, give me your life..."

Wei Fang laughed foolishly and replied, "Sure, but if you lose, don’t renege."

As the saying goes, ten bets, nine cheats, not betting is winning.

Wei Fang gambled alone in the courtyard until late into the night, the cold wind chilling him to the bone, but he remained oblivious.

Until sudden laughter rang in his ears.

"Hehe, you lost, your life is mine!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Fang was jolted awake, but by then, half his body was already frozen. He couldn’t move his numb limbs, and the last breath he held onto dissipated as he accepted his loss.

Ultimately, Xu Qing faintly saw in the final frame a ghostly figure emerging from the Pixiu Jade Pendant, consuming Wei Fang’s last breath!

The ghostly figure was none other than the deceased from whom Wei Fang had stolen the jade pendant!

Afterward, Xu Qing briefly glanced at the Sutra of Salvation’s rewards, including a minor skill for Tracking and Hunting and a bottle of Tracking Powder, which when sprinkled on a target could reveal their whereabouts.

He quietly put away the rewards and turned his attention back to the body before him.

Wei Fang no longer had the Pixiu Jade Pendant on him.

Reviewing the autopsy records, there was no mention of the jade pendant either.

Xu Qing considered the possibility that another opportunist had taken the pendant.

It could have been the first person to discover Wei Fang’s body or a clerk examining the scene!

Xu Qing glanced at Wang Lingyuan, who was engrossed in a book nearby, pondering.

Could it be his senior brother took the sinister jade pendant?

"Senior brother, when you examined this body, did you notice any items on it?"

Xu Qing preferred not to guess and directly asked.

Wang Lingyuan put down his book and said, "All items on the deceased are stored in the evidence room as per usual, and there are detailed records in the case files for you to consult."

Hearing this, Xu Qing felt relieved, seeing no signs his senior brother had pocketed any evidence.

He put down the case files and approached another body.

This body was that of the gambler from whom Wei Fang had stolen the Pixiu Jade Pendant.

"A gambler, a gambling ghost, what is their connection?"

Xu Qing, like an avid viewer, was eager to see the next episode.

Uncovering the shroud, he saw the gambler’s terrified face with mouth agape and eyes wide open.

Xu Qing recited the incantation, covering the gambler’s rigid face with one hand, bringing back long-forgotten memories like shadow puppets reanimated on a screen.

The gambler’s life wasn’t worth watching, having lost his family fortune, sold his children, lost all his dignity and wealth.

Unable to bear the daily gossip and insults, he sold his wife to a broker and traveled south to Linhe with silver notes.

There was a fortune-teller near Shuimen Bridge in Linhe. The gambler thought his losses were due to bad luck, not the casino.

If his fortune was right, he could win big, and if it wasn’t, he’d cause trouble and demand compensation.

Thinking himself clever, he clapped his hands and approached Shuimen Bridge, where the fortune-teller scrutinized him and began sighing.

The gambler wondered what trick the fortune-teller was playing.

The fortune-teller said, "I know what you seek. If you want to win money, I can give you a tip."

"What tip?"

The gambler was intrigued, thinking the fortune-teller had real skills to read his intentions.

Meeting a true master, he eagerly sought guidance.

The fortune-teller grinned and said, "Go to Cuiyun Building, find the old procuress there, and buy the ghost in her possession. It’ll ensure you win big!"