Climbing the mountain at night was no easy feat, especially for someone like me with broken limbs. I inquired, and it turned out not to be that difficult. Legends say wishes made on Mount Tai are very potent. Many gravely ill people would come to make wishes, and those with leg problems would be carried up by two people.
I hired four teams of people to carry me up the mountain from the back, along a secluded path. Fortunately, grave-robbing legends weren't prevalent here. In the dark, they weren't afraid; instead, they were quite cheerful. Firstly, they had more people, and we only had one healthy woman. Secondly, the money I offered was substantial, and with everyone taking turns, we made good progress.
…
I saw a faint candlelight emanating from a mountain cave and knew I was in the right place. As I entered the cave, I saw Zhang Si sitting cross-legged. Although Yu Xiao Luo was supporting me, and the carriers had brought me to the vicinity of the cave entrance, I still felt exhausted after walking a few steps on the mountain path. I sat down cross-legged at the cave entrance. The inside was different from what I had seen before; new talismans were pasted on the walls. Wang Ren seemed to be inside a strange circle drawn with animal blood.
"Zhang Si, I believe you when you say the highest realm for a schemer is cultivation."
"How did you get here?"
Zhang Si's face was grim. He had given me a choice, but I had abandoned it to come here, which displeased him greatly. The old man's face was practically turning blue with anger.
"Do you know why I came? Someone once told me that if, within a scheme, someone does something completely unexpected, it will surely make the schemer scramble. However, if that person does ten unexpected things, then they won't do anything that isn't unexpected. This statement might sound convoluted, but that person called it a 'habitual flaw.'"
"Did Li Jiu teach you that?"
"Yes!"
"Do you think you can beat me?"
"If it were me, I would definitely beat you. The moment I survived after jumping from the cable car, I truly surpassed the highest realm of 'All things in the world are not mine, and all things are for my use.' From that moment on, I am unstoppable; gods will be killed if they obstruct me, and Buddhas will be slain if they block my path."
Zhang Si didn't immediately retort; he was deep in thought.
"Such is the nature of momentum. The reason you were able to defeat me was that you displayed a miracle right before my eyes. You made me believe you were a god, surpassing the highest realm of a schemer. I suppose you used the same method to shake the confidence of Old Ghost and Teacher Wang Ren. However, after I truly became a god, I realized you were merely a false god who had tampered with a coin."
"Who are you trying to fool?"
"If you don't believe me, give me your coin."
Zhang Si actually threw me the coin, smiling and saying, "I've lived for over seventy years, and no one has ever played tricks on me before. It's true, this coin has been tampered with. This only proves that neither of us is a god."
I ignored Zhang Si and took out my own coin for comparison. The two coins looked identical, but the weight had been altered. "Zhang Si, I'll give you two choices now. The first is to use my coin to bet on heads or tails. If it's heads, I'll let you go. If it's tails, I'll have you and Teacher Wang Ren leave together."
"Tang Nan, you've always been very clever. Have you gone stupid? Do you think an ordinary coin can land vertically?"
I paid no attention to Zhang Si and continued, "The second choice is to use your coin. If it lands vertically, I'll let you go. If it lands on either heads or tails, I'll take you to the police station. Grand Martial Uncle, I truly want to let you go. Don't forget, your coin always lands vertically."
Zhang Si remained silent. I laughed heartily, "Scared?"
"Scared of you? I'll make sure you lose convincingly. Use your coin. I don't believe you can make an ordinary coin land vertically."
"I said, I am now above everything. I kill gods and slay Buddhas who obstruct me. In this state, all things in the world submit to me; even luck must bow down to me."
Zhang Si looked at me. He had used such deceptive words to trick me before; how could he believe me now?
"Let's flip the coin!" Zhang Si said.
"Is that fair?" I asked with a smile, handing my coin to Zhang Si. "You flip it."
"Hmph, overconfident."
Zhang Si walked up to me, took the coin from my hand, and flicked it into the air without hesitation. The coin spun and fell before me, landing steadily on the ground.
"This is impossible?"
Zhang Si couldn't believe this. His entire life's honor was built on the lie of becoming a god, defeating Old Ghost and Wang Ren. Now, I had not only exposed his lie but also become a true god. I burst into laughter, pointing at the coin on the ground, and roared with laughter, "I am the God of Schemers; even luck must submit to me."
"So what if you are the God of Schemers? You are a cripple. Even when you were healthy, I could make you jump off the cable car. Let alone now..."
Zhang Si finished speaking and punched towards me. Yu Xiao Luo, who was beside me, swiftly nudged him, causing him to stagger.
This was an old man who knew martial arts; he had trained. His attacks were vicious. He had tricked me onto the cable car, intending to kill me with force and force me to jump off. This time, enraged, he was resorting to the same tactic.
Unfortunately...
"Sis, he knows martial arts, be careful... Alright, forget I said anything."
Although Zhang Si was old, he often climbed Mount Tai, so his stamina was good, and his flexibility was also excellent. Subduing a woman would be easy. Even if this woman was a police officer, what of it? Were they all as skilled as portrayed on television? If that were the case, Luo Bo wouldn't have been captured. Therefore, Zhang Si was confident.
Even if he was scared and dared not set a trap for me, he could still kill me and Yu Xiao Luo in a more direct manner.
I can only say he was overconfident. Yu Xiao Luo was not an ordinary woman, nor an ordinary police officer. Although she came from the Criminal Investigation Bureau, she was from the Special Police force.
*Crackling sounds...*
Within a few exchanges, Zhang Si was sent sprawling onto the ground like a dog eating dirt. Yu Xiao Luo did not subdue him quickly as she might normally do when apprehending a criminal; instead, she watched him with cold eyes. I smiled and reminded Zhang Si, "Grand Martial Uncle, don't run off. Come back with us, and confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be treated strictly. Oh, by the way, I wonder if Boss Wan can still cover for you now that you've been caught..."
Hearing this, Zhang Si scrambled to his feet and ran. Yu Xiao Luo's lips curled as she waited for him. She stuck out her foot, tripping the fleeing Zhang Si, and then rushed forward, stomping hard on his lower leg.
An old man in his seventies, no matter how healthy his limbs, would have brittle bones.
"Ah!~"
Accompanied by a scream, his leg broke. Yu Xiao Luo rushed forward, twisted Zhang Si's arm behind his back, and with a snap, his arm also broke.
If he hadn't resisted arrest and tried to escape, Yu Xiao Luo wouldn't have used such heavy force. It was I who taught her to use significant force after giving a criminal a chance to escape. After breaking one leg and one arm, Yu Xiao Luo finally handcuffed Zhang Si.
"Sis, thank you for your hard work. Drag him over."
Yu Xiao Luo dragged Zhang Si over. Zhang Si glared at me. I sat on the ground, grinning at him. "Grand Martial Uncle, let me play a game with you." With that, I picked up the coin from the ground, flicked it, and it spun in the air, landing vertically before sliding and sticking into a crack in the ground. Seeing this, Zhang Si's face turned ashen. "That's my coin!"
"Exactly. When I was yelling maniacally, 'I kill gods and slay Buddhas who obstruct me,' I had already switched the coin. What God of Schemers? What 'all things in the world are not mine, and all things are for my use.' Li Jiu is the most formidable schemer. True planning also requires science. This is game theory, like rock-paper-scissors. I tell you I'm going to use scissors, and if you use rock, you win! If you don't use rock, I win. This seems simple, but it contains many truths! Human choices, scientific theories like Schrödinger's cat—Li Jiu wrote a lot about these in his books, but you wouldn't understand!"
"What if I had won back then?" Zhang Si regretted it immensely.
"Who knows? All I know is that if you lost, you would attack me. You didn't know your sister's strength, so naturally, you saved your attack as a last resort. But honestly, in that situation, your only way to escape was to take Teacher Wang Ren hostage and force us to let you leave. Unfortunately, because you had won against me before, you became obsessed with martial arts and couldn't extricate yourself."
"You..."
Zhang Si was so enraged he couldn't speak.
…
Yu Xiao Luo contacted the police in Tai'an. They had rescued Luo Bo from Zhang Si's restaurant. Moreover, Boss Wan had also turned traitor and confessed everything. He would likely serve some prison time, but even if Zhang Si wasn't sentenced to death, at his age, he wouldn't survive in prison.
The rescue team soon arrived and transported me, Zhang Si, and the unconscious Wang Ren down the mountain. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, I rushed into the hospital. As soon as I reached the intensive care unit, she hugged me tightly and cried loudly.
I also cried, unsure if it was from emotion or pain, as I had broken an arm!
Old Ghost, still in the intensive care unit, had not woken up. The doctor said he was at the end of his rope, and his survival was a miracle. Lin Han said she was also locked in another part of the dungeon, and the teleportation device sent the gruоl to Old Ghost first, then to Lin Han.
After more than a year of only eating gruоl, Old Ghost was on the verge of death. Old Ghost would definitely guess that Lin Han's appearance was my probe. In this situation, all he had to do was stay alive to be rescued.
This was Zhang Si's designed human trap. In the face of life and death, no one would consider others. It was probably Zhang Si's plan that even if I eventually found Old Ghost and Lin Han, Lin Han would already be dead.
However, Old Ghost, in that situation, still suppressed his humanity. He only drank half a bowl of gruоl each time, and he didn't change even when he was dying. When the dungeon was opened, his last breath finally relaxed, and he fell unconscious.
…
I looked through the window at Old Ghost in the intensive care unit, thin as a skeleton. This was truly his tribulation, someone who loved food so much.
Old Ghost, please don't die!
Just then, Lin Han escaped from the ward and leaned on my wheelchair. She was also emaciated after more than a month, but thankfully, she believed I could save her.
"Zhang Si said you were pregnant?"
"What pregnancy? I, how could I be pregnant? I'm still a young girl."
"You, a young girl?"
"Of course. Even though I've been running around, I'm a virgin!"
"What? You're a virgin? Then who was it that night?"