Chapter 29: Damn, He’s a Real Genius

The third photograph was of the tall, thin-faced man.

Current host: Zhang Kun
Host type: Human
Host level: Black Iron
Forbidden Domain type: Living Domain
Forbidden Domain sequence: Moderately dangerous
Forbidden Domain name: Demon Spirit Flash
Forbidden Domain effect: Ignores spatial distance and obstacles, instantly moves in the direction of the gaze, up to five meters, with the landing spot unobstructed.
Forbidden Domain interval: Two minutes between uses, maximum twenty uses daily.

“This Hanged Man really knows how to pick his subordinates. If you combine the abilities of these three, no ordinary person could withstand them.”

“First, the fat one weakens you, leaving you half crippled. Then the security guard bursts forward, and if he doesn’t finish you off, the skinny one flashes over to deal the final blow. Who could survive that?”

“No wonder Huang Liu is a rapist. If he used his power on women, even female police officers wouldn’t be able to resist.”

Shang Yi was still contemplating how to deal with these three, when Xue Ling returned.

The Hanged Man’s three subordinates had already been scanned; only the most troublesome Hanged Man and Fang Liang remained.

Shang Yi pondered for a moment and asked Xue Ling, “If you appear near Fang Liang, can he sense it?”

Xue Ling shook her head, saying nothing.

Shang Yi frowned. “Is it that he can’t, or you don’t know if he can?”

Quietly, Xue Ling replied, “I don’t know. Based on my previous interactions with him, I think there’s a high chance he can.”

“That complicates things. So how do we scan Fang Liang’s Forbidden Domain?”

“Maybe you should go?” Xue Ling’s voice was low.

Shang Yi forced a bitter smile. “Are you sure a ghost of Fang Liang’s level wouldn’t sense a living person approaching?”

Xue Ling immediately shook her head. “I’m not sure. So what now?”

Shang Yi let his imagination run wild. “If only we had a drone...”

Xue Ling was bewildered. “What’s a drone?”

Several ideas flashed through Shang Yi’s mind—such as having Tang Bohu bite the scanner and stop at Fang Liang’s door, or tying the scanner to a rope and lowering it from the rooftop to Fang Liang’s window, or wrapping the scanner in a towel and tossing it to his door.

These methods would ensure that neither he nor Xue Ling needed to approach Fang Liang directly, while the scanner could get close.

But there was an unsolvable issue: if the scanner picked up data, retrieving it might mean the information would disappear before he could see it, rendering the effort futile.

Also, even if these methods brought the scanner close to Fang Liang, they couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t be detected.

After much thought, Shang Yi decided he’d have to bypass Fang Liang for now and deal with the Hanged Man first.

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Once the Forbidden Domains of the three ghosts reset, he could then consider how to deal with Fang Liang.

Recalling Xue Ling’s description of the Hanged Man’s immunity to attacks—any human who attacks him will miss the target—Shang Yi had originally planned to have Tang Bohu launch a surprise attack to see if he could injure him.

But on reflection, there were many issues. The only certainty was the element of surprise—Tang Bohu’s sudden emergence from the pet compartment in his portable space would likely catch the Hanged Man off guard.

However, Tang Bohu was neither human nor ghost, and although he qualified as an attacker, he wasn’t a police dog. How could Shang Yi ensure Tang Bohu would attack the Hanged Man the moment he appeared? It was a difficult problem.

Tang Bohu might even claw at Shang Yi instead of the Hanged Man when released.

He hadn’t learned honey badger language yet, couldn’t communicate or direct Tang Bohu.

Tang Bohu’s attack on White Shadow likely stemmed from feeling threatened.

But the Hanged Man looked completely normal, and expecting Tang Bohu to attack him untrained and undirected was unrealistic.

If Tang Bohu wasn’t an option, and the current ghosts lacked combat ability, would he have to close his eyes and stab the Hanged Man himself?

If Xue Ling’s intel was wrong, closing his eyes would be useless.

Launching an attack could mean his own death.

He had no way to deal with Fang Liang, and couldn’t attack the Hanged Man—how could he break this deadlock?

After making so much progress, he was faced with another impasse.

Shang Yi mentally reviewed his progress since entering the apartment:

1. Through conversation and paperwork, he lowered the Hanged Man and black-faced security guard’s vigilance; they wouldn’t attack him before dawn.
2. He rescued Tan Gong and Xiong Xia, earned Xue Ling’s trust, and turned the three ghosts into allies, learning of the Hanged Man and Fang Liang’s immunity to attacks.
3. He stole the Hanged Man’s Forbidden Domain scanner and successfully scanned his three subordinates.
4. He contacted the police via Tian Yuan, sent them videos of the Hanged Man and security guard’s conversations through livestreaming, successfully prompting police action.
5. He accidentally discovered the location where the Hanged Man’s group hid the bodies.

He realized the first four points were already settled, with no further potential to exploit, but the fifth point held much to analyze and consider.

“This body hiding spot—could it be a new breakthrough?”

He stared at the pit before him, and suddenly his eyes lit up. “Got it! That’s the plan! I really am a genius.”

He acted immediately, turning on his phone’s flashlight and snapping several photos of the pit’s depths.

Then he opened Palm Messenger, sent the photos to Tian Yuan, and shared his exact location.

He typed to Tian Yuan: “Send these photos and my precise location to Captain Yuan Qi. Tell him I’ve found many victims’ bodies at Yong’an Apartment, in the deep pit under the big tree at the southeast corner.”

Tian Yuan replied promptly: “Got it, Boss Shang. Your skills are off the charts—I’m in complete awe.”

Putting away his phone, Shang Yi looked at Xue Ling. “Give me the scanner, then go to the bedroom and bring a bedsheet. Also, grab several fruit knives and kitchen knives from the kitchen.”

“Pick the sharpest fruit knives with the finest points, at least five, and the heaviest kitchen knives, at least four, then come back here.”

Xue Ling eyed Shang Yi, feeling puzzled, but obediently handed over the scanner and walked toward the main building.

Shang Yi placed his phone at the tree root, pulled a multi-tool shovel from his portable space, and began reshaping the pit’s bottom and top according to his plan.

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He then took out a military climbing hook and tossed it up into the branches of the large tree.

Once the hook caught a sturdy limb, he swiftly climbed halfway up the tree, pulled out wire cutters, trimmed several long branches, then packed away the hook and cutters and slid down the trunk.

Soon, Xue Ling returned with a bedsheet, five fruit knives, and four kitchen knives.

Shang Yi jumped into the pit, took the fruit knives, and used his shovel to bury their handles deep in the soil at the pit’s bottom, leaving only the tips exposed.

Climbing out, he used the wire cutters to trim the branches, tossing the unnecessary ones into the pit.

He arranged several long branches across the pit’s mouth, spread the bedsheet over them, and weighted each corner with a kitchen knife.

Finally, he used the shovel to scatter soil evenly over the bedsheet.

After a while, the trap’s surface was almost indistinguishable from the original ground. He hauled the excess soil to a distant grass pile, then stowed all his tools in his portable space.

By now, even if Shang Yi hadn’t explained a word, Xue Ling understood what was happening.

The trap perfectly circumvented the Hanged Man’s ability—no one watching him attack, so if he fell in, it would be his own doing.

But how could they get the Hanged Man to fall in willingly?

Xue Ling was at a loss; she couldn’t simply say she’d found many bodies and invite him to take a look.

Without a very special reason, why would the Hanged Man come to such a remote, corpse-hiding spot?

While Xue Ling was still lost in thought, Shang Yi finished his preparations.

Unless it was broad daylight, even at night with a flashlight, it would be hard to spot the trap.

“Xue Ling, I need you to go up to the fourth floor and speak to the Hanged Man. Tell him this:”

Shang Yi paused for a few seconds, then whispered, “Say you saw me leave with a shovel, got curious, and followed me.”

“You saw me digging under this big tree, then I screamed and collapsed unconscious beneath it. Tell the Hanged Man to come down quickly.”

He thought a moment more and continued, “Your task is to lure the Hanged Man to this trap, let him fall in and get injured by the fruit knives, then observe whether your Forbidden Domain resets immediately.”

“However, there could be many unforeseen events during this plan.”

“Unforeseen events?” Xue Ling felt the plan was already perfect, unsure how anything could go wrong.

“From my analysis, the chances of something unexpected happening are higher than not.”

“The problem isn’t the Hanged Man refusing to come, but him bringing someone else.”

“What if he’s cautious and calls the black-faced security guard? What if the one who falls in is the security guard instead of the Hanged Man?”

“In the worst case, the Hanged Man brings all three subordinates and Fang Liang. The situation would be chaotic.”

“Who falls in, or whether anyone does, can’t be predicted.”

Xue Ling was suddenly enlightened. “Indeed, we can’t guarantee how the Hanged Man will respond after hearing your message.”

“If he doesn’t fall in, what do we do then?”

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