Chapter 15 Infiltrating Zeng Mansion

He Da died the second day, and Zhou Wu brought Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai for a visit to Zeng Mansion.

As Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai stood before Mr. Zeng, he was filled with inner turmoil and confusion.

Originally, when Zhou Wu introduced them as "hermits from beyond this world," Mr. Zeng was quite excited. However, what arrived were two young men, who appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, outfitted in ill-fitting Daoist robes sourced from who knows where.

One might think they were con artists… but given what Mr. Zeng knew about the arrest officer Zhou Wu, he was not the type to introduce frauds.

Yet to say they truly were hermits from beyond this world… they looked nothing of the sort.

Nevertheless, since they had come, Mr. Zeng, being a man of decorum, received them graciously.

"Two sages… Daoist," Mr. Zeng thought for a moment and decided that "Daoist" was a more appropriate address, "May I inquire about your esteemed names and where you studied?"

"Nice to meet you~" Such dialogues were Sun Yixie's forte, and he started smoothly, "I am the closed-door disciple of Daoist Zhang Sanfeng, the director of the Wudang Mountain office at Lingyin Temple, known as the Jade-Faced Flying Dragon, Sun Honglei."

He lied without blinking, adding as he pointed to Huang Donglai beside him, "This gentleman here is the sole contemporary disciple of Jiang Ziya under Yuanshi Tianzun from Kunlun Mountain's Yuxu Palace, known as Xudong Old Immortal, Huang Xiaose."

For cons like these, using real names was unthinkable to Sun Yixie—common sense really, especially since there were no photo IDs back then that would allow anyone to verify.

This left Mr. Zeng utterly stunned and increasingly convinced of their unreliability. Who claims to be an "old immortal" at such a young age? Yet, brought by Zhou Wu, he couldn't abruptly break decorum, so he withheld his comments.

"Er… pardon me, pardon me…" Mr. Zeng smiled wryly, bowing with hands clasped, "Well… Officer Zhou has already briefed me about your intentions, but are you truly confident in your ability to exorcise spirits?"

"Ha!" Sun Yixie laughed heartily, saying, "I understand, Mr. Zeng thinks us too young to be truly capable, right?"

"This…" Mr. Zeng gave an awkward smile, not spelling it out but implicitly admitting it.

"Hehe... no worries." Sun Yixie laughed generously and added, "Commoners are prone to misjudgments about us; we're quite used to it." He then turned to Huang Donglai, "Mr. Huang, shall we demonstrate something modest to enlighten Mr. Zeng?"

"Heh… sure." Huang Donglai had been waiting for this cue. At these words, he chuckled lightly, then waved his wide sleeve and suddenly produced a large fireball from his palm.

This unexpected spectacle startled Mr. Zeng, causing him to step back in shock, and even the house servants by his side were too stunned to support him.

It was Zhou Wu, quick on his feet, who stepped forward to steady Mr. Zeng.

Actually... it wasn't that Zhou Wu was exceptionally calm, but rather he had already seen Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai rehearse before his arrival. They had even explained the trick's principle, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him.

Quicker than words can tell, Huang Donglai directed the fireball towards Sun Yixie who, miming severe constipation, shouted and performed a 'fiery embrace,' snatching the fireball "into his hands" and with a turn and a tilt of his neck, "swallowed" it.

A moment later, as the smoke and flames dissipated and the two of them stood there, neither cough prevailed nor did their expressions alter.

"Hehe..." Watching Mr. Zeng and a few Zeng Mansion house servants gawking, Sun Yixie proudly smiled, "How was that, Mr. Zeng? Mr. Huang and my 'Creating Flames from the Void' and 'Swallowing Fiery Fire'—are they acceptable?"

Although he framed it impressively, their act was really just a minor sleight of hand…

Before entering, Huang Donglai and Sun Yixie had applied a fire-proof ointment to their hands. The "fireball" was merely a cotton ball soaked in alcohol; after igniting it, Huang Donglai used the angle of his palm to create the illusion of holding a fireball. Sun Yixie, after taking the "fireball", turned around and pretended to "swallow" it by stuffing it down his collar, extinguishing it with his fire-proof armor by depriving it of air.

This trick, once its method was known, could be performed by anyone; with some refinement in details, it might even seem more impressive and mystifying than their own performance.

However, for the time being, to deceive Mr. Zeng, this little trick was sufficient...

"Oh my! I have been blind to recognize someone of great stature..." Mr. Zeng, having recovered his senses, quickly bowed deeply, "Such remarkable skills, excellent!"

Everything had happened so fast, and Mr. Zeng, being both startled and afraid, had backed away, unable to detect any flaws. He assumed these two truly possessed the powers to manipulate the five elements and consume fire and water ex nihilo.

"Heh... Please, Mr. Zeng, stand up." Seeing an opportunity, Huang Donglai promptly stepped forward to help Mr. Zeng up, adding, "As Mr. Sun said, being misunderstood is common for us; please don't take it to heart." He switched gears, "As long as you trust us from now on, that is all that matters."

"I do! I believe!" Mr. Zeng rushed to respond, "To be honest, I have also been terrified by the strange occurrences in our residence lately. I sincerely beg you, sages, to save my family and property... After the success, I will certainly reward generously..."

"Ah, such words..." Sun Yixie interrupted Mr. Zeng, practically shoving the words back into his mouth, "Mr. Huang and I are hermits, not here for wealth. Our sole purpose is to eliminate devils and act for heaven. Please, let's not talk about rewards again."

Sun Yixie said this to make Mr. Zeng feel more at ease.

Because Sun Yixie understood the con business well, he knew that all cons ultimately revolved around money or sex; regardless of how convincing the preliminaries of a scam were, at some point, it would come down to money. The cleverest cons didn't need to ask; they made you willingly offer...

At this moment, although Mr. Zeng seemed convinced, only he knew what he truly thought; even if he believed now, he might change his mind once he calmed down or someone advised him differently... After all, with the vast estate of the Zeng family, it was unlikely that no one understood what was going on.

Sun Yixie had thought this through thoroughly, hence his focus on getting the details right by preemptively declaring they wouldn't accept any compensation, stabilizing trust more effectively.

Of course, even if the worst came to pass... Sun Yixie's family was very wealthy indeed, and he genuinely didn't care about the money.

.......

That day, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai settled into Zeng Mansion.

Mr. Zeng treated them with great hospitality, inviting them into fine guest rooms and providing an exquisite vegetarian feast.

That afternoon, Huang Donglai wrote a list of various items needed for "setting up the altar" and specifically instructed the Zeng Mansion's butler, Zeng Su, to personally go out and buy them.

He did this because he suspected Zeng Su...

Undoubtedly, the butler Zeng Su was the primary suspect in the case. He seemed to be involved in everything; even if he wasn't the murderer, he might have some connection to the murderer or knew something that others didn't.

Thus, Huang Donglai sent Zeng Su away deliberately, then gathered the remaining servants of Zeng Mansion for interrogation. Meanwhile, Sun Yixie seized the moment when everyone was distracted to stealthily slip into Zeng Su's room for a search.

Regrettably, Sun Yixie found no useful clues. It seemed either Zeng Su really was innocent, or he was extremely cautious and had left no trace...

Of course, it was also possible that Sun Yixie was merely ineffective.

So it was, until the evening.

At midnight, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai met quietly in Huang Donglai's guest room.

By then, both had shed their Daoist robes, donning tight-fitting night clothes, ready with a few fire-starters, geared up for action.

Following their prearranged plan, Zhou Wu should have been waiting by now near the back wall of Mingjiao Temple.

The three had agreed on a strategy: tonight, they would—Secretly explore Mingjiao Temple, cunningly navigating the Glassy Carp.