Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Betrayal

“What? Someone reported us?” Old Liao was furious.

“Who is it? Who came here to slander me?!”

“Meng Wei, do you know this person?”

Xiao Wei! How could it be him?!

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. How ironic—when I was bewitched, I wasn’t afraid; when I was cursed by the man in the colored robe, I wasn’t afraid; even when Qi and Yangzi died, I wasn’t afraid. Yet now, betrayed by my own brother, I felt a limitless terror. The feeling of being stabbed in the back made me shiver uncontrollably.

“A ghost’s heart is easy to fathom, but a human’s is unfathomable.”

I suddenly remembered the first job I ever took in the shady business, with Old Zhao, who was in transportation. After the job was done, Hu Ji left me with these words. At first, I thought it was just a summary of Old Zhao’s underhanded dealings.

I never imagined that it would become a prophecy, a true depiction of my predicament. The human heart is unpredictable—more frightening than ghosts or gods.

In this time, I’d seen too many people lose their senses for the sake of profit, and many clients willing to do anything to fulfill their desires—even dabbling in forbidden arts, unafraid of the consequences, no matter the cost. In my eyes, these people were more twisted and terrifying than any restless spirit.

Clients dying, friends betraying, ending up in handcuffs—perhaps this is the real curse.

“Hey! Hey! You can’t go in there!” A burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside. A handsome young man appeared at the door, panting, holding a file folder.

Hu Ji!

He clearly saw Old Liao and me, then gave us a thumbs-up.

Seeing his gesture, we both let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Perhaps there was still a way out.

“Officer Yezi, I hope you’ll take a good look at these materials,” Hu Ji said, handing the folder to her. Then he passed by us, whispering in a voice only the three of us could hear, “Brother Lin has found key evidence. At the very least, you two will be fine. As for who’s really behind all this, it depends on what Xiao Wei confesses.”

Old Liao and I exchanged glances and nodded. We finally had some reassurance.

Officer Yezi opened the file, took out a few photos and a USB drive, and headed into the office.

We were separated, each sitting beside an officer. My hands were still bound by “silver bracelets.”

I put on a miserable face, but when I saw Hu Ji give me a look, I steadied myself.

Before long, Yezi returned.

She handed the USB drive to the staff member in charge of materials and said to us, “The contents of the USB are being verified. If the surveillance footage is authentic, you’ll be free to go.”

Old Liao and I exchanged a knowing glance.

Yezi seemed to hesitate, as if she wanted to say something.

“Officer Yezi, if you have something to ask, please go ahead,” I said with a smile.

“I’d like you both to confront the informant in person, because the evidence suggests he’s not in a normal state.”

“Xiao Wei—what’s wrong with him?”

“His urine test came back positive.”

……

The interrogation room door was suddenly flung open. Inside, Xiao Wei sat slumped over the table, utterly dejected.

When he saw me enter, his expression flashed from shock, to fear, then to remorse.

“Brother Xu! I’m sorry!” he cried, lunging towards me in frenzy. I looked at him with disgust and sat down opposite.

A police officer calmed him, and I muttered, “Why did you harm me?”

“That’s not what I meant, I was tricked too…”

“I asked you—why did you harm me?!”

Xiao Wei burst into tears, pounding his fists on the table as he recounted the past few days.

After getting the ‘Treasure-Gathering Ghost Goblet’ tattoo from me, he spent all his time in underground gambling dens.

He quickly made a name for himself, winning big every night. People started calling him “South Guangdong’s Little Knife Chen.”

This caught the attention of the casino boss, who sent two trusted men to play at his table, trying to catch him cheating.

But no matter how they watched, they found nothing suspicious.

The boss wasn’t a fool. He knew Xiao Wei’s connections, so he invited him to dinner privately, hinting that it was fine to win some, but not to bankrupt the house. He also wanted to use Xiao Wei’s reputation to draw in gamblers from across Guangdong.

Xiao Wei understood the unspoken rules—too much success is dangerous. So, a “King of Gamblers Tournament” began quietly.

Xiao Wei, with the power of the ‘Treasure-Gathering Ghost Goblet’ on his wrist, was the reigning champion. Challengers came from far and wide.

The secrecy was impressive; the police hadn’t caught wind of it. Many wealthy bosses came to watch. Xiao Wei, with his extraordinary luck, swept through the competition, winning most matches and leaving his opponents penniless.

The casino boss began to suspect something. After all, no one wins forever—eternal winning defies all logic.

Fortunately, Xiao Wei made the boss a lot of money this time. Still, the boss grew cunning. If Xiao Wei stayed, things were fine, but if he left, there’d never be such easy profits again.

So, the boss secretly spiked Xiao Wei’s tea.

Xiao Wei eventually realized he’d been drugged, but the physical craving overtook him, and he sank deeper…

Last night was the final event. After the last round, only four remained.

During intermission, Xiao Wei went to the restroom. Suddenly, a piece of paper fluttered down from the stall.

He picked it up.

“Yin-Yang Embroidery Zhang Xu wants your life!”

The message, written in blood-red characters, was shocking.

Xiao Wei flushed the note down the toilet in terror.

Hardened by society and a life of crime, Xiao Wei had become suspicious and selfish. He didn’t stop to consider whether the note was true. He just wanted out.

He found the boss, saying he wanted to quit.

But the boss refused. “If you leave, you’ll never get any more goods from me.”

Xiao Wei couldn’t refuse this condition.

So, he decided to wait until the event was over.

The second half of the competition went smoothly. Xiao Wei, full of arrogance, gathered his chips, laughing wildly.

The winner from the other side emerged—it was the man in the colored robe!

He sat at Xiao Wei’s table. “How about it? Do you dare play a round with me?”

…

That was the scene I’d sensed—the man in the colored robe slashing at Xiao Wei.

“The note said you wanted to kill me! And that man in the colored robe really tried to kill me!”

“You believed a scrap of paper over your brother since childhood…”

Xiao Wei fell silent, but then blurted out, “But I think I heard your voice at the scene!”

I was taken aback—was it the moment Brother Lin rescued Xiao Wei that he sensed through me?

Smack! Officer Yezi slammed a stack of photos in front of Xiao Wei.

“Take a good look! We’ve already raided that gambling den! These photos were taken on site. All I see is you partying with gamblers—where is this colored-robed man?”

Xiao Wei stared blankly at the photos.

I hurriedly took them too. Sure enough, every shot showed Xiao Wei clutching chips and drinks, swaggering around the casino. There was no trace of any man in a colored robe.

But that’s impossible. I saw the man in colored robes attack in my vision. Brother Lin even had a brief confrontation with him—so why is there not a single trace?

A police officer entered and handed the USB to Officer Yezi, whispering a few words to her.

Yezi nodded. “The contents of the USB have been authenticated, and we compared them to the surveillance footage from the raid. There’s no sign of tampering.”

This meant that Old Liao and I were basically in the clear. I let out a long breath.

Yezi turned on the projector and played the video.

The whole hall was shrouded in smoke and neon lights, decadent and lavish. Xiao Wei sat at the central table, surrounded by dozens of gamblers—as if he were an emperor.

One gambler after another slumped in defeat across from him. As Xiao Wei’s pile of chips grew, he became manic, standing on his chair, even tossing chips to the dancing girls.

Suddenly, his eyes went blank. He stared in terror at the opposite table, backing away frantically. The people around him looked at him in confusion.

“Help! Help!” Xiao Wei shouted madly, retreating until he was pressed into a corner. After a few minutes, he calmed down, and the hall returned to normal.

I looked at Yezi in confusion. “This footage is strange. No one seems to be threatening him.”

I wondered to myself—could it be that, like me, the man in the colored robe wasn’t really there in person?

Yezi stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Was he high—hallucinating?”

Xiao Wei’s eyes widened in panic. “Impossible! If it was a hallucination, how do you explain the wound on my face?”

Looking closer, I saw a thin scar, seven or eight centimeters long, on the right side of Xiao Wei’s face.