Chapter 98: Gu Changning is Dead
If only they had met earlier.
She would definitely have been able to discover what was wrong with Xie Yu and would not have let her die so wronged and helpless.
When she was a child in the Sang family, after being bullied, she would go back to the small courtyard alone. Sang Jing would think that if she also had a mother to protect her, it would be good. Later, when she grew up a little, she would no longer think about such ethereal things.
It was useless.
Sang Jing tightened her arms bit by bit, holding Xie Yu in her arms even tighter.
It was unclear if it was because of her thoughts that she had a dream. Sang Jing really dreamed of a living Xie Yu that night, and then they had met.
When Sang Jing opened her eyes, she saw a happy Xie Yu. She was flopped down beside her, her head resting on her palm, her raised calf swaying.
“Why are you so happy?” Sang Jing raised her hand to block her eyes and eased her sleepiness for a while. The corners of her lips also unconsciously turned up because of the dream.
“Did you dream of me?” Xie Yu reached out to touch the corner of Sang Jing’s mouth, poking her small dimple.
Sang Jing raised her arm and looked at her. “?”
How did Xie Yu know?
The confusion in her eyes was too obvious, and the question was written on her face.
It was rare to see Sang Jing with such a dazed expression. Xie Yu even wanted to go up and give her a kiss.
But she had just woken up. Sang Jing would definitely not let her kiss her.
“Do you know? You were just asleep and called my name,” Xie Yu said in a small voice, then lowered her head and rested it on Sang Jing’s shoulder, embarrassed.
To dream of herself and even call her name. What was the difference between this and a confession!
“What did you dream of?” Xie Yu pulled her head out again and stared at Sang Jing.
Sang Jing’s arm was back on her eyes. “I dreamed that we had met earlier, and you told me your name was Xie Yu.”
“That’s it?” Xie Yu raised her hand to play with Sang Jing’s hanging hand.
She hooked her fingertips, pinched her fingers, and then gently held her hand, making a lucky cat-like motion.
“That’s it. Isn’t this a good dream?” Sang Jing said as she went to catch her hand.
“It’s very good,” Xie Yu’s hand was caught. She used the momentum to move Sang Jing’s arm away and looked into her eyes. “But now is also very good.”
As long as she could meet Sang Jing, anything was good.
Sang Jing chuckled lightly, turned over, and sat up. “Time to get up.”
“Alright!”
The person and the ghost were both in a very good mood today. They even squeezed in front of a mirror to brush their teeth. Xie Yu bent down and came to Sang Jing’s side.
After washing up, before Xie Yu could ask, Sang Jing had hooked her neck and kissed her.
“Good morning.”
Xie Yu was dazed by Sang Jing’s proactive kiss. She had almost completely forgotten the control of her ghostly energy that she had just learned last night, and her ghostly energy was running rampant.
After going downstairs and having breakfast with the others, two cars set off from the villa for Lanyue Terrace.
Wei Qingyun and Hua Changge were in one car, and the remaining four were in another.
Bei Shan was still driving, and Sang Jing was in the front passenger seat. She was looking at her private messages. After the livestream last night, many people had told her about Shahe.
“Sang Sang, I’m a local of Shahe. Let me tell you about the origin of the name Shahe. I also heard it from the old people. This place used to have frequent floods, which washed away a lot of houses and land. After the floodwaters receded, the village was covered with sand and mud, and many people died. Over time, a river full of sand and mud was formed. Later, the upper reaches of the river were changed to go to Xianling, and Shahe only started to get better. Many of the houses in Shahe now were built with the sand from the river at that time. There are quite a few of them at Lanyue Terrace.”
“Sang Sang can go and see the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion! A few years ago, many people committed suicide there. It was said that it was going to be sealed, but because there were many tourists, it was eventually left alone. I went there once and felt it was cold and damp. After I came back, I started to have a fever and was sick for over half a month. That place is really not right!”
“Lotus Pond Water Pavilion! Lotus Pond Water Pavilion! Sang Sang! Go to the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion! My cousin died there. She was a very good person, cheerful and lively, and got along well with people. She didn’t have any difficulties. It’s impossible for her to have committed suicide just like that!”
Sang Jing read through them from top to bottom and found that most people were talking about the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion. Very few people mentioned Lanyue Terrace. Even if they did, they only said that Lanyue Terrace was very beautiful at night and was very suitable for taking pictures.
Is the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion the ghost-raising place in Shahe?
Sang Jing had asked Zhu Yun to go and see the place in Xincheng. She suspected Jing’an Temple.
Sang Jing rested her head on her hand and began to sort out her thoughts.
Chaoyang Community in Xianling, Sophora Tree Park in Nancheng, the ancient town bridge in Liangshui, the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion in Shahe, and Jing’an Temple in Xincheng.
From Chaoyang Community, she had discovered the raising of a ghost king, and Xie Yu had accidentally entered the yin-gathering formation. In Sophora Tree Park, she had discovered that the person behind this was using ghosts to practice spiritual medicine, and a formation within a formation had pulled Xie Yu into the water that had been tampered with in advance. At the ancient town bridge, there was a double-nine formation and the one body, two souls Qin Ge. Yang Yan was exposed, Xia Changqing came forward, and Yan Chuan was framed, wanting Xie Yu to devour the vicious ghost that had been released. And later, in the main Sang family, she had discovered the fate-swapping formation map…
Xie Yu, raising a ghost king, one body, two souls, swapping fates…
If Xie Yu was the ghost king they wanted to raise, what did they want to do by raising a ghost king?
Assuming that her mother had been expelled from the Xuanmen because of the fate-swapping formation map, and half of the formation map was in the Sang family, then would the other half be… with Gu Changning? After all, some of the old seniors of the Xuanmen did not know the real reason why her mother had been expelled from the Xuanmen. Only Gu Changning knew.
Gu Changning had fallen ill and had already retired from the position of chairman. At that time, she had known about the fate-swapping formation map. Who would she swap fates with…
Sang Jing’s eyes suddenly lifted. The answer was already in her heart.
Mother.
She took two deep breaths to calm down. This was her guess, and there was no evidence.
But Gu Changning was definitely related to the fate-swapping formation map.
If Gu Changning was behind all this, then those interlocking formations would have an explanation. To be able to do something so powerful, her strength must be above hers. That would be a nine-coin Celestial Master and a ten-coin Celestial Master. In the current generation, it was probably only Gu Changning.
Hua Changge had said that the spiritual medicine skills of the person behind this were gradually becoming proficient. A Xuan Master who studied formations would usually be proficient in talisman techniques and would not have the conditions to learn spiritual medicine well. Their hands could not be so nimble.
A flash of inspiration in her mind, Sang Jing thought of what Shen Lan had said that day—
“When I first met her, she was a teetotaler. She said it was to keep her mind clear for learning incantation law. This is similar to Hua Changge.”
That night, they had been drinking in the courtyard. Sang Jing had been observing them. She remembered that Xia Changqing’s hands were very well protected, clean and delicate, very similar to Hua Changge’s.
It matched. Xia Changqing and Hua Changge had also been from the same sect and had spent a lot of time together. There was a chance to learn her spiritual medicine techniques. Learning from Hua Changge might not have been for the purpose of framing her, but because she was a very good learning object. Learning spiritual medicine from her would save a lot of detours and would be faster.
Swapping fates was for living. Then what about one body, two souls and raising a ghost king?
“Why do you think Lady Hei asked you to go to Lanyue Terrace?” Bei Shan suddenly started a topic and asked.
Sang Jing was still immersed in her own thoughts.
Right, there was also Lady Hei.
For her to be so familiar with these places where incidents had happened, was she investigating or deliberately luring them over? After all, from Chaoyang Community, they had been led to investigate this matter.
Bei Shan took a moment to glance at Sang Jing. She was holding the steering wheel with one hand and waving with the other. “Hey.”
Sang Jing came back to her senses and looked at her. “What’s wrong? Are we there?”
“We’re not there yet. I’m asking you a question,” Bei Shan said in confusion. “What are you thinking about? You’re so engrossed.”
“What else can I be thinking about?” Sang Jing raised her finger and hooked the ear cuff, stroking it casually.
When Bei Shan looked over, she happened to see it and couldn’t help but ‘tsk’.
Who didn’t know that Xie Yu was attached to the ear cuff? Sang Jing was now so blatant and unrestrained. Playing with an ear cuff was like flirting.
“Who went to the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion yesterday?” Sang Jing suddenly asked.
Bei Shan said unhappily, “Me. What’s wrong?”
“You didn’t find anything?”
When it came to business, Bei Shan’s mood changed quickly. “Mm, it was calm. So normal it was a little abnormal.”
Sang Jing sent a screenshot of the private message she had just seen to the group of a few people. “A lot of people have jumped there.”
Logically, a place where people had died would more or less have a bit of an ominous aura, not to mention that people often died at the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion.
Bei Shan sighed. “Yes. Team Leader Wei and I also learned about that place yesterday. That’s why we said it was so normal it was a little abnormal. We couldn’t feel any yin energy at all. Team Leader Wei suspected that it might have been covered up by the popularity, or that there was a formation or something. Team Leader Wei has already communicated with the person in charge there. No one is allowed to enter the Lotus Pond Water Pavilion tonight. We’ll go and see again at night.”
“Alright,” Sang Jing nodded in agreement.
As expected, it was much more convenient with people from the Special Investigation Team.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at Lanyue Terrace.
Sang Jing got out of the car and was a little silent when she saw the crowd of people.
Why are there so many people? Lady Hei didn’t even say a specific time. Is she sure it’s during the day?
Lanyue Terrace was a fountain square, surrounded by a circle. In the very center was a crescent-shaped platform. It was said that at night, the crescent-shaped fountain in the center could spray a water column of over a hundred meters. If it was a night with a bright moon and sparse stars, and you looked up, the water column would look like it was holding the moon.
It was still daytime now, and only the small fountains in the surrounding circle were spraying. Even so, there were still many people taking pictures.
In the fountain square, it was inevitable to get wet. Sang Jing raised her hand and put on her hat.
She sent a message to Lady Hei’s account on her phone.
【I’m here. Where are you?】
No response.
Sang Jing prepared to wait patiently.
“Are you… Sang Jing?” someone suddenly said from the side.
Sang Jing looked over, and the other party was instantly excited. “Sang Jing!!! It’s really you!”
Sang Jing: “…”
Her voice was not loud, but many people on the side looked over and swarmed over. The others who didn’t know the situation thought it was some celebrity and also followed.
In a few seconds, Sang Jing was squeezed in the crowd.
“…”
“Sang Sang, I like you a lot. Can I have an autograph?”
“Where’s Assistant Xiao Xie? Didn’t she come with you?”
“Sang Sang, are you in Shahe because something happened here?”
“Is the Encounter at the White Whale Live gala really a fake? Were you alluding to her in your livestream last night?”
Help…
Sang Jing’s head was aching from the noise. She couldn’t even smile. She said with a straight face, “Everyone, believe in science.”
The crowd was silent for a second, then chose to directly ignore her words and started to ask questions again.
“Make way, make way.”
She was already standing at the very edge and couldn’t see anyone, and she was even being patted on the shoulder and told to make way. The girl turned her head unhappily. “On what grounds?”
Bei Shan showed her an ID. “The Special Investigation Team is on a case.”
The ID of the Special Investigation Team was a bit like a police ID. The unhappy girl was immediately happy and smiled, making way for Bei Shan.
Relying on the ID to clear a path, Bei Shan successfully dug Sang Jing out.
“I didn’t expect you to be so popular. You can be surrounded just by going out.”
Sang Jing’s clothes were mixed with all kinds of fragrances, which made her frown.
“There’s one more thing I have to tell you,” Bei Shan said with a look of regret. “Gu Changning is dead. Team Leader Wei and Chairman Hua just received the news and have already left.”
“Who?” Sang Jing didn’t react for a moment.
“Gu Changning is dead.”
