Chapter 1244: I Want to Make You Stay (122)

"If that's the case, I could have just killed you guys when you found the staircase and made it to the exit. Why would I have let you leave? Besides, I didn't kill that man too, did I?"

Remaining calm and composed, An Xiaoning questioned, "Could you tell me how that archeologist died in there, then?"

"This is exactly what I wanted to tell you in private tonight, yet you just bombed my home because you were afraid that I would harm you! If I hadn't sensed that something was amiss and rushed out immediately, I probably would have died tonight."

An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan looked at each other, feeling perplexed and uncertain if they should believe her words. After all, her statement seemed to have made some sense.

"How did that man in the tomb die?"

"Will you believe what I say? Don't you already take me for a murderer now?" the woman gibed indignantly.

"How can I deduce whether or not you're telling the truth if you don't speak up?"

"You'll be able to tell if I'm speaking the truth?"

An Xiaoning nodded firmly and said, "Of course. As long as you tell me everything that you know, I'll have my own ways to determine if what you said was true."

"Will you set me free once you validate my statement?"

"To be honest, I haven't thought about what I should do with you just yet. However, one thing's for sure: I won't lay a finger on you if the murders really have nothing to do with you."

"Okay. Have a seat," the woman said while turning around and taking a seat on the straw mat on the floor.

An Xiaoning sat opposite the woman and said, "Speak."

"The person who killed the archeologist is the one who left the tomb together with you."

An Xiaoning scoffed and quipped, "You're kidding me, right?"

If Zong Jingyi was really that invincible, why would he need to beg me to help him take revenge and clear his name?

Besides, he even got on his knees before me.

Doesn't seem like it at all...

The woman said firmly, "I'm not kidding you, I saw it with my very own eyes. He's aware of my existence, but he doesn't know if I'm human or a ghost. Little does he know, I had witnessed him killing someone."

The smile on An Xiaoning's face stiffened and faded. "How did he kill the man?"

"I saw him placing his hand on the crown of that archeologist's head, after which the archeologist immediately collapsed. He then picked the archeologist up again. However, I knew that he had already killed him."

"I'll verify if your statement is true," said An Xiaoning, who then rose from her seat.

"Are you going to question him personally? Do you really think he'd admit to it?"

"No, I won't question him. I have other ways of proving the truth."

"What ways?"

"By asking the deceased."

Thinking that she had heard An Xiaoning wrongly, the woman asked in disbelief, "What? Ask the deceased? He has already been dead for several days. He must have already reincarnated."

"I have my own solutions, so you'd better be speaking the truth."

She then left the room together with Jin Qingyan.

"She's right, he's already been dead for so many days. Is there still a way for you to question him?"

"After being brought back to the netherworld by the reapers, spirits will definitely have to be interrogated and put through a trial before they can reincarnate. People like that archeologist who did not commit any major sins would most likely be reincarnated as humans again. These spirits will be put in a queue where they'd have to wait for their turn to reincarnate. Hence, he won't be reincarnating so soon. I'll make a trip down to the netherworld," An Xiaoning explained. She then headed to the ritual room while Jin Qingyan waited for her on the couch in the living room.

"Young Sir, have you had dinner yet?"

"No. Auntie Chen, please prepare some food. Xiaoning and I have yet to have our dinner."

"Alright."

By the time dinner was served, An Xiaoning was still yet to come out of the room. Realizing that it had been a long while, Jin Qingyan made his way to the ritual room and opened the door to see that An Xiaoning was kneeling on the praying mat, remaining as still as a statue.

Not daring to disturb her, he closed the door again gently.

He finally heard some noises after waiting outside the door for close to twenty minutes.

An Xiaoning exited with cold sweat all over her forehead, appearing much paler than before. Jin Qingyan picked her up in his arms and carried her to the dining chair. "Have your dinner first," he said.

She picked up the glass of milk and chugged it down all in one go before saying, "At least I didn't make a wasted trip."

"Did you see his spirit?"

"Yes, I did. I already know what happened," An Xiaoning said feebly.

Jin Qingyan was not in a hurry to ask her for the details and decided to talk to her about it in depth after dinner.

They headed upstairs and took a shower together. As soon as she lay down in bed, she called Pan Zhenghui to inform him of her findings. "The big fire tonight is definitely going to spark speculations amongst others. Find an excuse to cover this matter up. I'm already handling the owner of the tomb, whom I took away with me."

"Bravo, Xiaoning, I knew we could count on you to crack all kinds of cases. You're the talent that we need."

"Enough, stop sucking up to me. Come tomorrow, tell Wang Jinsheng to arrange for the deceased archeologist's parents to look me up. I've gone down to the netherworld and I met the archeologist's spirit. I have something to tell his parents."

"Got it."

An Xiaoning ended the call and plugged her mobile phone to the charger. She then snuggled up to Jin Qingyan and said, "The truth is really unexpected. This is going to be a long battle."

"Are you confident about winning it?"

"No, but I think it should be fine with you around," she said, looking up at him.

"Could you tell me what you and the deceased talked about when you met him?"

"Of course. I was already planning to tell you anyway." An Xiaoning wrapped her arms around his waist and continued, "When I first met him, he was flabbergasted and appalled to see me in the netherworld. He thought that I had died too. However, the moment he heard that I had gone there specifically to look for him, he immediately told me everything that had happened. Turns out, he and a few of his colleagues were discussing and contemplating about whether or not they should raid the tomb for treasures, thinking that it would be safe since it looked rather unassuming. His greed had gotten the better of him and he decided to trespass on his own. As soon as he entered, he instantly regretted his decision and tried to get out. However, he simply could not find his way out and kept going around in circles. After being trapped inside for a long while, he finally heard some footsteps approaching, which greatly startled him. He stood rooted to the ground in shock and only felt a sense of relief when he discovered that it was a human. He got excited and wanted to talk to the fellow human. Yet, before he could even do so, he felt the man's hand on the top of his head. Moments later, he felt all his blood rushing up to his head and soon blacked out after feeling an excruciating pain. The next thing he knew, he had been brought to the netherworld by the reapers. According to his description of the perpetrator, I'm very certain that it's Zong Jingyi."

"Does that mean Zong Jingyi tried to frame the owner of the tomb in order to cover up for himself?"

An Xiaoning deduced, "That's very obvious. I'm guessing that everything he had told me were lies, apart from the things that had happened to him. He was definitely lying about Liu Dasheng showing him my photo and that he was waiting for me inside the tomb. In reality, he was the one who had been mysteriously calling me at 5:08 am every single day. He already knew who I was long ago."