Edited—

The people bewitched by this “Ten Ghosts Night Banquet” painting at the auction weren’t limited to Zhou Jiayu alone. The silence in the room lasted for a moment, then erupted into exclamations of surprise. Zhou Jiayu was startled by the sound, but he saw that Shen Yiqiong and Lin Jue, sitting beside him, showed no surprise on their faces at all, as if they had long anticipated this situation.

“This painting is called ‘Ten Ghosts Night Banquet,’ created by Mr. Lin Zhushui. It has the effect of warding off evil and protecting the home.” The host smiled. “I’m sure everyone is clear on this painting’s value, so I won’t elaborate further. The starting price is ten million. Guests, please begin.”

The moment the host’s voice fell, the entire auction venue plunged into frenzied bidding. It was the first time Zhou Jiayu had seen this kind of scene, and he was a bit dumbstruck. These people raised their paddles as if money were just numbers. The price of ten million shot up with startling speed, breaking one hundred million in just a few minutes.

Zhou Jiayu said in a small voice, “Shibo, what exactly is so special about this painting?”

Lin Jue smiled. “Naturally, there is something special about it, but not to this extent. It’s just that most of the people sitting here were born into wealthy families. The painting’s use isn’t limited to warding off evil; it has instead become a kind of status symbol.”

Zhou Jiayu clicked his tongue, feeling this was truly something his commoner self couldn’t understand.

“Dirty things are actually quite the bullies, afraid of the tough.” Lin Jue said, “As long as something is more powerful than them, they fear it. This ‘Ten Ghosts Night Banquet’ isn’t suitable for hanging in a residence; it’s actually more appropriate for hanging in some special places.”

Zhou Jiayu nodded thoughtfully.

After a round of fierce competition, Lin Zhushui’s painting was won at a price of one hundred and eighty million. To reach this price, the buyer clearly wasn’t simply trying to buy a painting; it was more like they wanted to connect with Lin Zhushui.

There were even people nearby sighing with regret, lamenting that they hadn’t been able to win this special painting.

This painting was the climax of the auction. The host’s face was flushed as he excitedly brought down his wooden gavel, announcing the painting’s final price.

To be able to witness such a fierce price battle, Zhou Jiayu felt the trip hadn’t been in vain.

After the auction ended, Lin Zhushui met with the buyer and personally delivered the scroll.

Zhou Jiayu saw that the buyer was a young, beautiful woman. Standing beside her was a middle-aged man. From their appearances, the two looked somewhat similar, as if they were related by blood.

“Mr. Lin.” The woman introduced herself. “My surname is Ye, my name is Ye Zhen. I’ve long admired your great name. Meeting you today, you truly possess extraordinary bearing.”

Lin Zhushui nodded and spoke indifferently, “If this painting is to be hung in a home, it can only be hung in the living room, preferably facing the entrance. Remember, it must not be placed in the bedroom.”

Ye Zhen nodded. After hesitating a moment, she still spoke the words she wanted to say: “Mr. Lin, to be honest, something has happened at my home. Could I ask you to help?” She seemed to feel that opening her mouth like this wasn’t very appropriate and added, “If you are willing to help, we will certainly offer generous thanks.”

Indeed, as Lin Jue had said, buying the painting was just a tactful, roundabout method; in the end, it was still aimed at Lin Zhushui himself.

Lin Zhushui said, “Tell me about it.”

Ye Zhen briefly explained what had happened at her home. It turned out Ye Zhen had loved raising dogs since she was little. Her family had more than a dozen dogs of various sizes, all of them expensive breeds. Her family had an old servant who was specifically in charge of feeding these dogs. This old servant had fed dogs for several decades and could be considered quite knowledgeable about them. But just some time ago, he had suddenly been attacked by the dogs and died on the spot.

When Zhou Jiayu heard this, he felt they should be looking for a zoologist—what did this have to do with Lin Zhushui?

Ye Zhen sighed lightly. “At first I also thought the dogs had a problem, but then after a few days, I discovered something strange…”

Lin Zhushui said, “What strange thing?”

Ye Zhen’s expression was a bit fearful. She swallowed heavily and said in a trembling voice, “I discovered that the dogs raised in my home began growing black fur. At first I thought their coats had simply changed color, but after a few days, the dogs’ fur grew longer and longer, making them look like people crouching on the ground with disheveled hair…”

The moment these words came out, some image flashed through Zhou Jiayu’s mind, but it flashed too quickly for him to grasp.

“Not only that, their faces also began looking like humans.” Ye Zhen seemed to feel a bit cold and vigorously rubbed her arms with her hands.

“Then what did you do?” Shen Yiqiong casually asked from the side. He clearly didn’t believe Ye Zhen would do nothing.

“I killed two of the dogs.” Ye Zhen said in a low voice, “But after killing them, I regretted it…”

Shen Yiqiong said, “Why?”

Ye Zhen smiled bitterly. “Because after killing them, I have nightmares every day, dreaming that I have also turned into a dog…”

After hearing Ye Zhen’s words, Lin Zhushui only asked one question in return: “Your interest is only in raising dogs?”

Ye Zhen pressed her lips together, her expression looking somewhat conflicted.

Lin Zhushui said, “If you’re still planning to hide things even now, then I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you much.”

Ye Zhen let out a long sigh, her expression full of conflict. “As expected of Mr. Lin, you saw through it at a glance. Indeed, my interest isn’t only in raising dogs; I also like dogfighting.”

Dogfighting? Hearing this term, Zhou Jiayu was startled. He hadn’t expected that this delicate-looking girl before him would like that kind of violent thing. Zhou Jiayu knew a bit about dogfighting—it involved making two dogs fight each other to the death, and usually the scenes were extremely bloody.

“What’s the point of that stuff.” Shen Yiqiong was more direct than Zhou Jiayu. “All that blood is disgusting.”

Ye Zhen smiled and didn’t speak.

Actually, among this group of wealthy people, interests varied. Some liked money, some liked power, some liked playing with women, and of course, there were also those obsessed with blood and violence.

“We’ll need to go take a look at your kennel to know.” Lin Zhushui said.

Ye Zhen said, “My family’s kennel is in the neighboring province. If it’s convenient for Mr. Lin, I can arrange for someone to pick you up and take you there tomorrow.”

Lin Zhushui nodded.

When Ye Zhen saw that Lin Zhushui had agreed to this matter, she thanked him repeatedly, then left contentedly hugging the scroll.

After she left, Lin Jue was a bit puzzled and asked Lin Zhushui why he was taking care of this matter, saying this didn’t seem like Lin Zhushui’s character.

“Useful.” Lin Zhushui only said these two words, but didn’t specifically say what was useful.

Today’s birthday banquet ended just like that. Shen Yiqiong had booked rooms for them at a nearby hotel and planned to drive them over. But when they reached the entrance, Zhou Jiayu suddenly noticed two people standing beside a car near the entrance—it was actually Lin Zhushui’s niece and that man who had threatened him earlier.

“Shibo…” Zhou Jiayu called out.

Lin Jue said, “Hmm? What is it?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Is that girl Sir’s niece?”

Lin Jue followed Zhou Jiayu’s gaze and also saw the two people being affectionate by the roadside. She said, “Seems like it, haven’t seen her much.” She seemed to feel this wasn’t a very good thing to say and added, “Your Sir has too many nieces; I can’t recognize them all either.”

Zhou Jiayu: “Oh, well… that person beside her seems to be a scammer.” Bringing up the things he himself had done before was really a bit embarrassing. “He seems to be in the same line of work as me.”

When Lin Jue heard this, she raised an eyebrow. “You mean that girl has been deceived?”

Zhou Jiayu nodded.

“Alright.” Lin Jue was also quite formidable. After hearing Zhou Jiayu’s words, she actually got out of the passenger seat directly and walked toward where the man and girl were.

Lin Zhushui’s niece clearly also recognized Lin Jue. When she saw her, she hurriedly called out, “Aunt Lin.”

Lin Jue said, “What are you doing here? It’s so late, why aren’t you going home?”

The niece was probably from a collateral branch and wasn’t very closely related to the Lin family; otherwise, Lin Jue wouldn’t have even remembered her name. Hearing Lin Jue’s words, she was flattered. “My boyfriend and I were planning to go stroll the night market…”

“This is your boyfriend?” Lin Jue glanced at the man still wearing a suit.

The man had a brilliant smile on his face and also greeted Lin Jue. “Hello, auntie.”

“Who’s your auntie.” Lin Jue lifted her chin, her expression cold and haughty. “What thing are you?”

The moment these words came out, both the niece and the boyfriend showed embarrassed expressions. The niece seemed to want to say something, but Lin Jue directly pointed at Lin Zhushui still sitting in the car and said, “Your uncle asked me to come tell you, this man is no good—sunken eye bags, nose with three curves, thin lips and small ears—”

The niece’s face immediately changed when she heard this.

“What have you been learning from face-reading?” Lin Jue said. “Break up with him quickly.”

“Okay, auntie.” The niece actually didn’t argue either and directly nodded. She then said to the man beside her, “We’re breaking up.” Her attitude was unexpectedly so decisive that Zhou Jiayu, sitting in the car, was dumbfounded.

Lin Jue turned around and left after speaking. The man was so angry he was about to explode, but he also knew Lin Jue’s status and didn’t dare act rashly against her. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zhou Jiayu sitting in the car, currently watching through the window like a melon-eating spectator.

“Fuck your mother!” Having painstakingly set up a scheme that was destroyed just like that, the man also lost his composure. He rushed directly to the front of the car and yelled at the people inside: “Zhou Jiayu, you fucking sold me out. Aren’t you also a scammer? Didn’t you scam fewer people than me—”

Zhou Jiayu sat in the car listening to these words but couldn’t retort. He felt choked and awful. He was just about to say something when he saw several people get out of the car behind them—it was actually Shen Chaosan and Shen Musi and the others. Shen Chaosan had a large build, and the moment he got out of the car, the man cowered and planned to retreat. But Shen Chaosan didn’t give him this opportunity. He stepped forward in a few strides and grabbed the man’s collar, glared at him and said, “Who the fuck are you talking about?”

The man’s legs went soft, and he nearly fell to the ground, but he was still talking tough: “Zhou Jiayu is a scammer!”

Shen Chaosan couldn’t be bothered to speak and directly punched him. The man let out a miserable scream, his right eye turning black.

Shen Yiqiong was on the phone in the car, saying, “Yes, yes, yes, there’s a scammer here. The amount involved is probably quite large. Could you please send someone over to arrest him directly?”

The man hadn’t expected Shen Yiqiong to call the police directly. He trembled all over in fright, but his mouth still stubbornly bit onto the fact that Zhou Jiayu was also a scammer. He clearly hadn’t expected that these people would directly stand up for Zhou Jiayu upon hearing these words, rather than becoming suspicious of Zhou Jiayu.

Shen Musi sneered coldly. “What kind of person he is isn’t for you to run your mouth about.”

Zhou Jiayu was extremely moved seeing this scene. Actually, he had always been quite worried about his identity as a scammer and always felt that besides Shen Yiqiong, there was somewhat of a barrier between him and Lin Zhushui’s other disciples. He hadn’t expected that at a time like this, they would be willing to stand up for him.

Shen Yiqiong was still shouting: “Beat him, beat him. Beat him until even his mother doesn’t recognize him.”

Shen Chaosan listened and began rolling up his sleeves, but he was only deliberately scaring this man and had no intention of actually making a move in broad daylight.

Zhou Jiayu looked at Shen Chaosan’s thick, muscular arms and thought of how he had been beaten until even his mother didn’t recognize him when he first arrived. A burst of sighs welled up in his heart…

The police arrived very quickly and took the man away directly.

Shen Yiqiong even called out a couple of sentences, saying this person needed to be properly investigated and had definitely committed quite a few things. Before leaving, the maliciousness in the man’s eyes as he looked at Zhou Jiayu completely turned into terror, as if saying: What kind of methods did you use to make the Lin family protect you like this?

Zhou Jiayu quietly celebrated in his heart.

After the man left, the group continued toward the hotel.

Zhou Jiayu told them about the conversation he had with the man in the restroom. After hearing it, Lin Jue directly told Zhou Jiayu that if he encountered this kind of thing in the future, he should rush up and give them a “quality eighteen-hit combo,” and if anything happened, Sir would cover for him.

Zhou Jiayu glanced at Lin Zhushui beside him, whose face showed no expression, and nodded heavily.

After getting their respective room cards, Lin Jue called out to Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu had originally thought she had something to tell him, but he saw her lean over to his ear and say a sentence: “We already knew who you were a long time ago. Don’t worry so much.”

After hearing this, Zhou Jiayu’s eyes were full of disbelief: “You knew?”

Lin Jue said, “Yes.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “When?”

Lin Jue said, “Do you think Zhushui would have kept you here if your identity hadn’t been discovered?”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” That made quite a lot of sense.

Lin Jue sighed: “Don’t underestimate their intelligence. Although Shen Yiqiong is careless and thoughtless, he’s actually the smartest when it comes to certain matters. His intuition is very accurate; he knows how to seek advantages and avoid harm.”

Indeed, the one who had first shown kindness to him was Shen Yiqiong. Zhou Jiayu had originally thought it was just his personality. Now thinking about it, Shen Yiqiong’s personality was actually the type that was rough on the outside but fine on the inside. If he had really been a scammer, Shen Yiqiong definitely wouldn’t have changed his attitude toward him just because of one meal.

Zhou Jiayu had previously guessed that Lin Zhushui already knew he had reincarnated, but he hadn’t expected that it wasn’t just Lin Zhushui—practically everyone in the room knew.

“So don’t have any psychological burden.” Lin Jue said, “Do what you should do. Sins that don’t belong to you don’t need to be carried by you. You’re not inferior to them.”

Zhou Jiayu was extremely moved in his heart and thanked Lin Jue repeatedly.

“Alright, sleep early.” Lin Jue said, “We’re going somewhere else tomorrow.”

Zhou Jiayu nodded.

That night, Zhou Jiayu slept very soundly. He felt like he had thrown off a huge burden, completely shaking off his identity as a scammer.

The next day, Shen Yiqiong took off his suit and transformed back into the Hei-zai that Zhou Jiayu was familiar with, wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops, looking very casual.

Ye Zhen also came early to the hotel entrance. That middle-aged man was still beside her. When Zhou Jiayu got in the car, he learned this man was Ye Zhen’s maternal uncle. It was just that no one knew why he hadn’t spoken much from beginning to end. Ye Zhen explained that he had problems with his speech and found it rather difficult to talk. As for exactly what the problem was, she didn’t elaborate, and it wasn’t very appropriate for outsiders to ask.

Although it was already the end of August, the weather was still somewhat excessively hot. And Lin Zhushui didn’t even want to touch a bite of food. In the morning, afraid he would go hungry, Zhou Jiayu borrowed the kitchen and specially made him a sumptuous breakfast and a bento box, directly bringing it into the car.

Ye Zhen looked a bit curious upon seeing this but didn’t dare ask.

Ye Zhen’s hometown was right next to Shen Yiqiong’s city, not too far away. It took just over two hours driving on the highway to get there.

In the car, Ye Zhen said some more about her family’s situation. It turned out she had still been hiding things about her family. She wasn’t just playing with dogfighting; her family had even opened a small-scale fighting arena and held dogfighting competitions… When she said this, her expression was somewhat apprehensive, clearly a bit afraid that Lin Zhushui would turn on her because of her concealment.

But she hadn’t expected that after she finished speaking, Lin Zhushui wasn’t surprised at all. He only casually made a faint “mm” sound, as if he had already guessed.

Only then did Ye Zhen breathe a sigh of relief.

However, although Lin Zhushui didn’t mind, Lin Jue was a bit unhappy. Previously she had been fairly polite to Ye Zhen, but for the rest of the journey her face was dark.

A few hours later, they arrived at Ye Zhen’s home. To be able to buy Lin Zhushui’s painting, Ye Zhen’s family was also quite well-established. The old residence looked quite luxurious, but one could clearly feel that its style was still somewhat inferior to Shen Yiqiong’s home.

“Mr. Lin, would you like to rest first, or… go take a look at the kennel?” Ye Zhen smiled very ingratiatingly. “The kennel is right nearby, just a few steps away.”

“Let’s go see the dogs that had the incident first.” Lin Zhushui said.

Ye Zhen nodded and said okay, looking very happy. She clearly wanted to resolve this matter early to avoid any complications.

Ye Zhen’s kennel was not far from her family’s old residence. The kennel was built very beautifully; from the outside it was hard to imagine that it was a place specifically used for raising dogs. But before Zhou Jiayu even entered, he could smell a bloody odor from afar. This stench was very uncomfortable to smell, as if it were the product of something that had accumulated for a long time.

“This way, please.” Ye Zhen led everyone.

The few of them entered the kennel one by one. The kennel was still in use; faintly one could hear the suppressed roars of dogs. On both sides of the kennel path were cages. Some cages were empty; some cages held dogs. When these dogs smelled the scent of strangers, their emotions instantly became frenzied. Zhou Jiayu noticed that a dog beside him had been using its paws to scratch at the cage, baring its teeth and growling at him, looking very ferocious.

“The dogs inside are the best.” Ye Zhen introduced. “All the breeds here have been specially trained by professionals. Their ferocity has been completely stimulated. I also have an undefeated champion; there’s not a single dog in the fighting arena that is its match.” When she said this, her face carried a proud expression, clearly pleased that she could raise such a dog.

“Where are the dogs you said mutated?” Lin Jue wasn’t very interested in this. She didn’t like Ye Zhen, who concealed information, nor did she like the awful atmosphere of this dog farm. Naturally, it would be best to resolve the problem early and leave.

“They’re inside.” After hesitating a moment, Ye Zhen said in a small voice, “My favorite dog also changed…”

She led everyone around a few bends and entered an indoor area.

The moment they entered the room, Zhou Jiayu saw several huge cages and the dogs crouching in the corners of the cages resting. Those dogs had massive builds, their entire bodies covered in tangled, bulging muscles. But what attracted the most attention wasn’t their size; rather, it was the black hair draped behind them. If someone who didn’t know came in and looked, they would probably mistake these dogs for people crouching on the ground at first glance.

“T-this is it.” Previously, when Ye Zhen faced the dogs, her eyes were full of pride and uncontainable smugness. But when she saw the giant dog before her, her eyes revealed very obvious fear. She said, “Its hair is growing longer and longer, and its face is also starting to… look a bit like a human.”

As she spoke, the giant dog that had originally been facing away from them slowly turned its head. Seeing its appearance, everyone’s breathing slightly paused. It turned out Ye Zhen had been telling the truth. This dog’s face had actually begun transforming toward a human’s. Its nose was collapsing downward, its lips were also beginning to retract backward, and the fur on its face had all fallen out, revealing pink skin.

A layer of goosebumps rose on Zhou Jiayu’s arms. He finally remembered where that strange sense of familiarity had come from when Ye Zhen described these dogs earlier—this kind of dog, he had seen when his soul left his body. It was seventy to eighty percent similar to that strange creature that had confronted the underworld officer on the street.

“Just this one?” Lin Zhushui asked.

Ye Zhen shook her head, pointed at a door beside them, and said in a small voice, “There are a few more behind that door.”

“A few?” Lin Zhushui’s brows rose.

Ye Zhen laughed awkwardly a couple of times. “S-several dozen…”

Lin Zhushui said, “Which dog was the first to start changing?”

Ye Zhen said, “The one inside. It’s about to die now. Mr. Lin, would you like to go in and take a look?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Let’s go.”

Originally Zhou Jiayu had been wondering why Ye Zhen wanted to hide the number of dogs. But the moment he entered that room, he showed an expression of shock. This Ye Zhen had actually locked several dozen dogs all inside the same cage. Although the cage was quite large, the bloodstains on the ground and walls all indicated that this group of dogs didn’t get along well. In the corner Zhou Jiayu even saw some damaged fur…

“You locked fighting dogs together?” Lin Jue’s reaction was about the same as Zhou Jiayu’s, and her tone even carried a bit of anger.

“I had no choice.” Ye Zhen said, “What if this is some kind of infectious disease? What if it infects the other dogs?”

“If this is an infectious disease, wouldn’t you be the first one infected?” Lin Jue sneered coldly.

Ye Zhen bit her lip and didn’t speak.

Several dozen fighting dogs in the cage had all grown black hair, and their faces were also transforming toward humans. They sat in the shadows of the corner, sizing up the visitors with gloomy eyes. From beginning to end, they didn’t make a single sound. This scene made one’s scalp go numb.

“Which one was the first to start changing?” Lin Zhushui asked.

“The one inside.” Ye Zhen said in a small voice, “The skinniest one, brown… a pit bull.”

Zhou Jiayu looked toward the deepest part of the cage and indeed saw a pit bull huddled in the corner. Its build was clearly a size smaller than the surrounding fighting dogs. It was facing away from everyone, and the black hair had almost completely wrapped around its body.

“Open the cage.” Lin Zhushui spoke. “I’m going in.”

The moment these words came out, Ye Zhen’s eyes instantly widened. “B-but these dogs are very dangerous. They’ll attack humans, and they killed the caretaker…”

Lin Zhushui repeated indifferently: “Open the cage.”

Hearing this, Ye Zhen was rather hesitant, but in the end she still did as Lin Zhushui said and pulled out the key from her pocket.

__

Author’s Note:

Lin Zhushui: Besides me, no one else is allowed to bully my little stupid fish.

Zhou Jiayu lay on the bed being bullied until his eyes were brimming with hot tears. He crawled forward weakly but was forcibly dragged back…