Ghost Catching System

Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Laozi Calculated Your Death_1

Hearing this, the crowd was in an uproar.

The paunchy Mu Chenglang hurriedly said, ”Grandmaster Zhuge, what exactly is going on?”

Zhuge Dao adopted an air of unfathomable profundity. He stroked his mustache and said, ”It’s very simple. There are no ghosts here at all. This lad arranged this stage trick, leading all of you into his trap. He’s here to swindle money.”

Looking at this youngster, he doesn’t have any real skills, yet he dares to try and swindle my client. Let’s see how I deal with you, Zhuge Dao thought.

”This... This can’t be possible, can it?” Mu Chenglang hesitated.

After all, everyone had witnessed yesterday’s events, and they had seemed far too realistic.

Zhuge Dao said, ”Boss Mu, did you see a ghost last night?”

Mu Chenglang shook his head.

The rest of the Mu family also shook their heads.

Chu Hao remained silent, arms folded, watching Zhuge Dao’s performance.

The sickly young man said in astonishment, ”But! I clearly did those things yesterday.”

Zhuge Dao chuckled. ”That’s nothing but a little trick. According to my calculations, someone possessed by a ghost should fall severely ill. Yet you, Young Master, are not only fine but even appeared refreshed the next day. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

The members of the Mu family fell silent. The expressions of Mu Chenglang and the noblewoman beside him now held a trace of coldness.

”Then... Then what’s wrong with me?” the sickly youth hurriedly asked.

”Quite simple, it’s hypnosis. Generally, people who have been hypnotized feel refreshed the next day,” Zhuge Dao stated.

At this, the sickly young man’s expression changed, and he glared angrily at Chu Hao.

Zhuge Dao stroked his mustache. ”So! There is only one truth. He used a stage trick to lead you all astray, and then proceeded to deceive you.”

Chu Hao had to admire the old Taoist’s ability to twist truth and falsehood; he was the spitting image of Heshen!

Nearby, Mu Yuxun bit her lip, clearly conflicted.

The Mu family members’ expressions shifted from disbelief to doubt, their hearts equally troubled.

The noblewoman was furious. Compared to Chu Hao, she was more inclined to trust the elder Zhuge Dao. Pointing at Chu Hao’s nose, she said angrily, ”I knew it! How could someone so young possess such abilities? You really are a swindler!”

Chu Hao glanced at the noblewoman, his eyes filled with disgust. He spoke, ”I must admit, I admire you.”

A smirk played on Zhuge Dao’s lips. A minor swindler trying to compete with me? I was in this business when you were still nursing. You dare try to steal my major client?

The crowd’s gaze intensified. Could everything Zhuge Dao said be true?

Chu Hao sneered, ”I must admire your ability to invert right and wrong. ’Only one truth,’ really? Do you think you’re Zhuge Conan?”

”PFFT!”

Mu Yufei laughed, her smile blooming like a flower, exceptionally beautiful.

Zhuge Dao stared at Chu Hao, pointed at his nose, and rebuked, ”How audacious! I’ll give you one more chance. Return the money you swindled from the Mu family, and then get out of here.”

Mu Chenglang quickly said, ”Grandmaster Zhuge, this Master Chu... Master Chu didn’t take our money.”

”Ah... How could that be?” Zhuge Dao was stunned.

He didn’t take the money! This left Zhuge Dao at a loss. He had confidently asserted that Chu Hao was there to swindle money, but it turned out the young man hadn’t taken a dime. The situation was awkward.

Zhuge Dao’s eyes darted around as he tried to find a way to save face. He said, ”This lad concocted this conspiracy. A few tens of thousands of yuan are too little for him; he’s coveting the bigger prize behind this.”

Mu Chenglang looked sheepish. ”Grandmaster Zhuge, yesterday I offered two hundred thousand, and Master Chu didn’t take that money either.”

He referred to Chu Hao as ’Master Chu,’ a diplomatic choice so as not to offend him, nor to slight Zhuge Dao.

Zhuge Dao gasped, looking at Chu Hao in disbelief.

Chu Hao, arms still crossed, said coldly, ”Are you done speaking? Now it’s my turn.”

”You’re Zhuge Dao, right? At thirteen, a Taoist priest recognized your potential and took you up the mountain to learn the arts. However, you were too playful, and after three years, you had learned nothing. Then you were kicked out. You drifted in society, got involved with the underworld, and even committed robberies.”

Chu Hao’s voice wasn’t loud, yet everyone heard him clearly.

All eyes instinctively turned to Zhuge Dao.

The so-called Grandmaster Zhuge’s face changed color. He stammered in astonishment, ”You... How do you know that?!”

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

Chu Hao continued, ”You kept drifting until you were thirty, still having achieved nothing. Then you remembered the skills you’d acquired on the mountain and switched to Feng Shui and fortune-telling, thus starting on this path. You’re forty this year and should have some assets by now. But you love to gamble. In all these years, you haven’t saved a penny; instead, you’ve incurred considerable debt.”

When the crowd looked at Zhuge Dao again, they saw his face was deathly pale and unsightly.

Chu Hao said coldly, ”You call me a con artist? I think you’re the real con artist, aren’t you, Zhuge Conan?”

Feeling Chu Hao’s stare, Zhuge Dao backed away in fear, his heart pounding with shock.

Indeed, he had gone up the mountain at thirteen and come down at sixteen. He had struggled in society for over a decade before changing his profession at thirty.

But in his younger years, he had become addicted to gambling, accumulated significant debts, and found himself at a dead end.

Incredibly, Chu Hao had gotten every detail right.

”You! You!”

Chu Hao’s gaze was piercing. He snorted, ”What about me? I was in a good mood today, but societal scum like you ruined it. Since that’s the case, this Taoist Master will reveal some of the shady deeds you committed in your youth.

”At nineteen, you and your accomplices robbed a restaurant. Your group slashed the owner’s thigh, severing the femoral artery. To this day, the owner is still confined to a wheelchair.

”At twenty-three, you were deep in gambling debt. Out of desperation, you considered becoming a human trafficker. But before you could even start, the traffickers’ den was busted by the police, and you luckily escaped.”

Fight me! I’ll calculate your demise, Chu Hao sneered inwardly.

DING! Host has successfully shown off, gaining 1 Pretentiousness Point.

Zhuge Dao was already scared witless, completely at Chu Hao’s mercy. Panicking, he stammered, ”I... I was just confused at the time.”

DING! Host has successfully shown off, gaining 1 Pretentiousness Point.

Chu Hao, inwardly delighted, continued, ”At twenty-seven, you harbored malicious intent. Seeing a wealthy young woman pass by, you kidnapped her.”

Zhuge Dao hurriedly knelt. ”Master, Master! I didn’t kidnap her! She kicked me and ran away! Please, Master, stop talking, please stop!”

Chu Hao glared at him and waved a hand dismissively. ”This Taoist Master hasn’t finished. Why are you interrupting? That girl developed psychological trauma. The next day, she accidentally fell from a building and was briefly brain-dead. At that time, her soul sought you out.”

”AH!”

Zhuge Dao remembered something eerily peculiar from that year.

When he had looked into the mirror, his own reflection had smiled back at him like a Ghost Phantom. It had scared him so much that he hadn’t dared to return home for several days.

Chu Hao snorted. ”Fortunately, the girl survived. That brief death was a fated calamity in her life. Filled with resentment, her spirit transformed into a Fierce Ghost to find you.”

Zhuge Dao had already gone limp with fear.