novelraw Chapter 178 178: The Thief King's Ultimate Technique!
Chapter 178 178: The Thief King's Ultimate Technique!
"I am Xu Zaisen!"
At the moment he heard the shout from outside the door, Xiaoji's fist clenched tightly.
He looked at Chen Xiao with disbelief, exclaiming, "Where did he get the guts to come here on his own!"
Chen Xiao's originally grim face surprisingly broke into a smile at that moment.
"We've met a worthy opponent, a real opponent!"
"Xiaoji, open the door and welcome the guest!"
Xiaoji took a deep breath, bracing himself, and then opened the door.
At this moment, standing at the doorway was an unmistakable middle-aged man around thirty-five or thirty-six.
He was dressed in a suit and tie, with slicked-back hair, shiny and gleaming.
Upon seeing Chen Xiao, he burst into hearty laughter, "Chen Xiao!"
Xu Zaisen walked into the room completely unconcerned, even spreading his arms as if wanting to embrace Chen Xiao.
Chen Xiao blocked his hands directly, smiling, "Don't rush to reminisce about our family ties; I need to first ascertain whether to call you Xu Zaisen or Chen Xianzu!"
"Look at you, that's pointless! I've personally come to see you, of course I'm your brother Xianzu!"
Not seen for over a decade.
Chen Xianzu had indeed changed a lot.
He looked very much like a successful person on the outside and had an imposing presence.
But his eyes seemed to have grown smaller.
Though his eyes were full of smiles, the more he smiled, the more sinister it appeared.
Chen Xiao also glanced at his hands, which were exactly opposite to his face.
Very coarse!
This made Chen Xiao say, "Looking at these hands, it seems you've had quite a tough time over the years?"
"Oh, that's not tough at all. Practicing carving made them like this; oh... speaking of carving, I heard a human head popped out from the stone lion at my doorstep? And crushed my dad to death? Is that true!"
Chen Xianzu's face was full of anger, even covering his chest in a disgusted manner, pretending to look very sad.
Xiaoji couldn't take it any longer and shouted angrily, "Fuck you, don't be so arrogant!"
Chen Xianzu's expressive face immediately froze, he glanced at Xiaoji indifferently, then asked Chen Xiao, "I'm not interested in this kid, what about the other one? What's his name?"
"What, are you upset because it's all happened?" Chen Xiao retorted.
Chen Xianzu touched his head and sneered, "Somewhat uncomfortable, no one has dared to cuckold me for so many years, that kid's the first."
"Isn't that your own doing? Can't catch the wolf if you're unwilling to part with the woman!"
Chen Xianzu gave a thumbs up, "You're right. Uncle Liu also said, women are like clothes, brothers are like limbs! Come, brother... let's catch up, chat about our hometown and old friends?"
Chen Xiao actually understood the real reason for Chen Xianzu's personal visit.
Firstly, just like how he presented himself, to show the demeanor of a victor.
Secondly, Chen Xianzu absolutely had a hurdle to overcome, no matter what!
That hurdle being the fact he faked his own death!
Since he came, it meant he already had thought about a way to cope.
Xiaoji stood aside watching Chen Xianzu, his fists clenched to the point of making a sound.
Chen Xiao glared at him coldly, then said, "If you're finding it hard to stay calm, go out for some air; let us catch up properly."
After Xiaoji walked out of the room with his head lowered, Chen Xiao continued:
"When are you planning to return for a visit? You should attend your dad's funeral with mourning attire, shouldn't you?"
Chen Xianzu shook his head without hesitation, "I'm not going back. I am now Xu Zaisen. If I go back to Songshanping, wouldn't all my elders and villagers scream that there's a ghost, a ghost!"
"That's true, huh, but shouldn't you explain how you came back from the dead? And appearing in front of me like this, aren't you afraid your brother will betray you?"
Chen Xianzu chuckled softly, "Actually, I really miss my brother. Since I was young, he gave me all the good things at home. Not even my father could compare to him, he could even kill for me!"
Hearing this, Chen Xiao finally understood how he would wrap up his faked death.
"So you mean to say your brother killed Cheng Qing? But he swore he wasn't home at that time!"
Chen Xianzu nodded, "I can testify; he returned that morning. We met at the foot of Tiger Mountain. Originally, we thought it was just a regular tomb-sweeping, but I didn't expect to encounter Cheng Qing in the mountains."
Listening to these words, Chen Xiao did not interrupt but wanted to see what Chen Xianzu could come up with.
"After running into Cheng Qing on the mountain, due to Li Xue, he had a really bad attitude towards me, even glaring at me from time to time. Back then, I was young and impetuous, couldn't stand his ghostly attitude, so I mocked him a few times, calling him a poor idiot and poking him with remarks about Li Xue."
"I was just venting my anger, but I didn't expect him to pounce at me like a mad dog. My brother cherished me too much to allow him to harm me, so he blocked Cheng Qing and pushed him back hard."
"With just that push, no one expected Cheng Qing to be so vulnerable, falling onto a sharp branch, piercing his heart."
"Both my brother and I were terrified at the time, it took us a while to react. My brother told me to stay passive while he dealt with it!"
"My brother was really good, even then he was thinking about calming me down first before handling Cheng Qing's body. But I was in torment, my education and conscience told me not to cover it up."
"On one side was my brother, who was deeply kind to me, and on the other was the law. Those days I lived like I was soulless, but eventually, I made a choice: to escape! I knew my brother feared I'd expose him, so I faked my death myself. After faking death, I left far away, and Chen Xianzu ceased to exist in this world."
When Chen Xianzu finished speaking, Chen Xiao laughed:
"Beautifully said, truly beautifully said!"
Chen Xianzu gestured dismissively, "These are facts! Once I tell you everything, I'll turn myself in. I concealed a murderer for family, I'm guilty and I regret it! I even consulted my legal team, they told me my case is severe and I could be considered an accomplice!"
"I feel I deserve punishment, no matter how long I'm locked up. But my legal team slammed the table at me, questioning why I hired them! My god, such a team turning a blind eye to right and wrong, I immediately fired them all, a bunch of conscienceless scoundrels!"
Seeing Chen Xianzu spitting as he spoke, Chen Xiao remarked, "Sounds like you've had a tough life, tormented inside."
"You don't say. When I first came to Xiangdu, I knew nothing. Guilt was one thing, life wasn't any less unfortunate. Let me tell you, all the money I painstakingly earned was stolen five or six times! Money I needed to survive, those damn thieves. Later, to guard against them, I went and learned thievery tricks!"
Chen Xiao's gaze instantly sharpened, "You learned what?"
"Thievery! The ability to pickpocket! There are eleven tricks: covering, cutting, snatching, bumping, shifting, splitting, lifting, swapping, coloring, anesthetizing, pinching! Look, your phone is right here in my hand! Huh, you weren't recording secretly!"
Chen Xianzu triumphantly waved Chen Xiao's phone, but upon seeing Chen Xiao, he found him smiling at him intently.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I learned these things for self-defense, I'm about to turn myself in, you can't possibly still want to check if I've stolen anything, right?"
Chen Xianzu exaggerated as he spoke, but Chen Xiao coldly laughed and asked, "Have you heard the phrase 'showing off the ax in front of Guan Gong'?"
After saying so, Chen Xiao extended his hand, revealing Chen Xianzu's phone in his own hand!
The latter's eyes flashed with shock, gasping, "You've learned thievery skills too?"
"Just like you, fighting poison with poison, but you reminded me, Chen Xianzu... you really reminded me!" Chen Xiao's tone started to show a trace of excitement.
Chen Xianzu frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Among the eleven tricks, which one is known as the thief king's must-kill skill?"
"Of course, it's splitting."
"What does splitting mean?" Chen Xiao pressed on.
Chen Xianzu's face immediately changed dramatically, and his original rosy complexion suddenly lost a lot of color!
Chen Xiao sneered, "You won't say? Fine, I'll answer for you! The simplest meaning of splitting is to use illusions to attract the target's attention, thereby distracting the target's self-protection focus!"
"And what have you done all this for? You've been using splitting on me invisibly! You've always been paying attention to the movements in Dongzhou. From the day your dad was crushed to death, you've known someone would investigate you! Especially since I've been on Dongzhou's newspaper, a member of the Chen Family, you rightly determined that I would personally come for that case!"
"So the root reason why you never touched Lu Yuling is that you needed her to reveal your work to me! Letting me know you preserved the remains of wrongly dead people, finding those remains would nail you down as guilty!"
"You placed stark evidence before me, making me so excited that I couldn't extricate myself. But you were absolutely certain, once I got the news of a Zong Yuanmao family elder being cremated, I would inevitably think you'd destroy evidence by way of cremation!"
"After all, you had previously used death to escape. Doing it again with another dead person to achieve rebirth is reasonable... too perfect to fault!"
"But Chen Xianzu, you overreached. You absolutely shouldn't have come to see me! Before you came, I really almost thought there was no way to deal with you! But I didn't expect your guts to be this big, daring to come seek me out! Why did you come? Because you wanted to deepen the illusion of cremation, your arrogance and swagger were all to tell me you'd destroyed all evidence!"
"But in reality, you're unwilling to part with your works, nurtured with blood! You want to gamble to change fate, not only making others think you'd only face a sheltering punishment but also preserving your hard work!"
"Chen Xianzu, you almost succeeded! But what you shouldn't have done was steal from me in front of me. That might truly push you into the abyss!"