Chapter Sixty-Seven: Breadth of Knowledge

"Alright, consider yourself lucky this time. But you must never entertain such wicked thoughts again! Otherwise, your luck will never turn for the better in this life!" Duan Yong gave Li Xuelin a stern lecture.

Li Xuelin nodded and bowed repeatedly, expressing that he had taken the lesson to heart, and then asked, "Master, about that red cloth and everything you mentioned, I've found people to get them ready these past few days. Could you help me perform the ritual now? Would that be alright?"

"Let fate decide. If we cross paths again, we'll talk then," Duan Yong replied vaguely.

Li Xuelin wasn't suspicious, thinking that his own disobedience had angered the master, so he smiled obsequiously and settled for second-best, saying, "Then... could it be that I've picked up something unclean from that male student? Since you're here today, could you please help me out and see it through to the end? I'm begging you! I've been feeling chills running down my spine these last few days!"

Duan Yong was just about to refuse—at this point, he certainly didn't want to get involved in another scheme and add to his own charges—but before he could speak, Kang Ge cut in first.

"That's not difficult. Let me give you some advice that will guarantee your peace," he said mysteriously to Li Xuelin. "Give the hotel a good clean; hire someone to thoroughly tidy it up until the windows sparkle. Get a large speaker, set it at the entrance, and play some music. Find some excuse to run a promotion and attract more people—then it'll be fine!

And remember, when guests check in, put some bottled water in each room beforehand, set out a plate of sunflower seeds, and a few seasonal, inexpensive fruits. That's basically it. And treat your customers a bit better."

Li Xuelin was utterly bewildered by this. When Kang Ge finished, he asked in confusion, "Protector Master, I don't get it. What is it exactly that you want me to do? Didn't we agree you’d help me drive away the evil spirits?"

"Isn't this helping you drive away evil?" Kang Ge shot Li Xuelin an impatient look, as if blaming him for missing the point. "With plenty of sunlight, the place is filled with positive energy. A lively crowd brings even more positive energy. Evil spirits fear places bustling with life, so as long as your hotel is lively and busy, any evil spirits will be scared away. Besides, they weren't targeting you in the first place!"

After hearing this, Li Xuelin thought it over and found it made sense. He quickly agreed, nodding and bowing to thank Kang Ge, then politely saw the three of them out.

As they were leaving, Duan Yong still felt uneasy, worried that Li Xuelin might misinterpret his words again and end up dragging him down as well. He carefully admonished him once more, warning that he must never again harbor thoughts of harming others for profit, or else the retribution would come back on him doubly.

Li Xuelin believed Duan Yong's words completely. The thought that he had narrowly escaped disaster made him so frightened that his face changed color. He nervously saw them off, repeatedly swearing and promising Duan Yong that he would mend his ways.

After leaving Li Xuelin, Kang Ge and Yan Xue escorted Duan Yong back to the detention center. Now, Duan Yong no longer needed to keep up the act of a charlatan and had reverted to his previous timid self, looking like a completely different person.

"Officer Kang, Officer Yan, I did alright today, didn’t I?" he asked them with a fawning smile. "Please make sure to tell the officer in charge of my case about all the help I gave today, and give me credit for it!"

"Don't worry. No one will blame you for what you didn't do, and nothing you did do will be overlooked," Kang Ge nodded at him.

After returning Duan Yong to the detention center, Kang Ge and Yan Xue finally relaxed a bit. Although neither of them thought Duan Yong would do anything outrageous while outside, nothing in life is guaranteed, and no one dared to make absolute promises.

Now, with a major matter neatly wrapped up and both having obtained the information they wanted, they could finally rest easier.

After all the running around, they had even missed lunch. After dropping off Duan Yong, Kang Ge made a phone call to order food for delivery, and the two headed back to the station. When they arrived, most of the others had just come back as well—some were eating, some resting.

The meal Kang Ge had ordered had already been delivered and was waiting on his desk. He called Yan Xue over, opened the lunch boxes, and the delicious aroma filled the air.

"Got something good there?" Luo Wei, eating instant noodles nearby, couldn't resist the smell and came over with his bowl.

Kang Ge smiled and nodded at him. "I knew there’d be a bunch of foodies here, so I ordered extra for everyone! Come on, whoever hasn't eaten yet, join in and let's make do together!"

The others, hearing this, immediately gathered around in high spirits. Kang Ge was well known in the detective squad for his high standards when it came to food, and the dishes he picked were always excellent. No one stood on ceremony; they all tucked in together, chatting merrily as they ate.

Quietly, Kang Ge swapped a portion of stir-fried lamb with scallions and chicken with mushrooms in front of Yan Xue to make it easier for her to reach the dishes.

Yan Xue was taken aback at first, recognizing the familiar dishes from their last meal at that restaurant.

"When we ate with Gao Yang last time, I noticed you liked these two dishes," Kang Ge said softly.

With so many people around, Yan Xue was too embarrassed to say much, so she showed her gratitude in action—she heaped generous helpings of both dishes into her own lunch box.

"Kang, boss, Yan Xue, guess what? I think I finally figured out the truth behind Xu Wenrui’s endless talk of that female ghost!" Luo Wei said excitedly as he stuffed his mouth with food. "Last night, when I got home from work, some relatives were over, and a few kids were locked in a room watching a horror movie. I walked in just as a female ghost appeared on the screen, and the kids nearly jumped out of their skins.

Looking at that ghost, can you guess what she looked like?"

"Long hair, white dress, pale face, blood on her dress and legs?" Kang Ge said, sipping his tea.

Luo Wei choked. "Boss, you never let me keep any suspense!"

"What can I say? Any thinking person could guess the answer from your question!" Kang Ge shrugged. "I’d already thought Xu Wenrui’s description of the ghost sounded familiar, so this makes perfect sense now. Xu Wenrui must have seen similar horror movies before, so the image of the ghost was buried in his subconscious. After he was poisoned and started hallucinating, those frightening images surfaced from memory."

"Exactly! That's what I thought when I saw that scene. The ghost Xu Wenrui saw is just the classic female ghost from Asian horror films! When we first heard his description, we all thought of that right away! The only reason we didn't settle on that explanation earlier was because we had to consider the possibility that someone was deliberately trying to scare him and seize the opportunity to harm him.

Now that we've basically ruled out the idea of someone faking a haunting, I'm pretty sure Xu Wenrui's hallucinations were just the projection of that ghost from his memory!" Luo Wei nodded repeatedly.

"Did you write down the times Li Xuelin mentioned just now?" Kang Ge asked Yan Xue.

Yan Xue replied, "Don't worry, I've got them all—exact times and places. As soon as we finish eating, we can start checking the surveillance footage from those periods. Based on Li Xuelin’s account and the general description, we pretty much know who it is, and it matches the information we already have. We just need to confirm it.

That means our next steps are clear. As we discussed, we’ll check the person's spending habits, what they've bought, and the times and frequency of their visits to Xu Wenrui’s home. None of that should be hard to verify."

"The objective facts are easy enough to confirm. It’s the subjective aspects that are trickier," Kang Ge sighed. "For example, knowledge gaps—they’re worth considering.

Luo Wei, you’re a W City native, right? Born and raised here?"

"Yeah, except for a few years away at college, I've always lived here. Why?" Luo Wei asked, puzzled.

Kang Ge didn’t answer directly, but turned to Qi Tianhua. "What about you? Same situation?"

Qi Tianhua nodded as well. "Pretty much. My parents were transferred to W City when I was in first grade. Except for leaving for school, I’ve lived here ever since."

"Then tell me, both of you—what local mushrooms and fungi are specialties of W City? Which ones are especially delicious, and which ones should absolutely never be tried?" Kang Ge asked.

"Huh? How would I know?" Luo Wei shook his head without hesitation. "I hardly ever have time to buy groceries. I only recognize things once they’re cooked—not when they’re raw!"

"I don’t know much about that either," Qi Tianhua said, waving his hand. "I can identify most fruits and vegetables, and I can cook basic home-style dishes, but with mushrooms, aside from the common varieties, I can’t tell one from another. Analyzing footprints or fingerprints is probably easier than identifying mushrooms."

Kang Ge looked at Yan Xue, who quickly waved her hands. "I don’t know them either! I always buy groceries at the supermarket or fresh market, and everything there is labeled. If there were no labels, I probably wouldn’t recognize the different mushrooms."

"You see, this proves my point," Kang Ge said, unsurprised by their answers. "Our knowledge beyond textbooks is closely related to our daily lives. The more you encounter something, the more you know; if you never come across it, you know little about it."

Qi Tianhua and Luo Wei seemed thoughtful after hearing this, but Yan Xue was the first to catch on. She put down her chopsticks and lunch box and got up.

"Yan Xue, aren’t you going to finish eating?" Qi Tianhua asked.

Without turning her head, Yan Xue waved her hand. "You guys go ahead and eat. I'll eat later! I need to confirm something first, or if I wait too long, the bank might close before I can call!"

"You have time to eat first!" Luo Wei called after her.

Kang Ge patted him on the shoulder. "If she could stay seated and finish her meal, she wouldn't be Yan Xue!"

"Hey, Kang, you just asked us, but what about you? You’re from W City too! Do you know the local mushroom specialties?" Luo Wei asked, curious.

Kang Ge chuckled, picking up Yan Xue's chopsticks and packing more of her favorite dishes into a separate container while replying, "Of course I do! Our parents’ generation knows way more about this kind of thing than we do. They have much richer life experience, and with my mom working in the food industry for so many years, I’ve picked up more than you guys just by being around her."

At this point, everyone knew what needed to be done next. No one in the detective squad was much of a slow eater, so they quickly finished their meal and got back to work. Kang Ge took Yan Xue’s lunch box over to her, suggesting she move aside to eat: "While the food's still warm, eat now—cold food’s bad for your stomach. Leave the rest to me. Surely you don't think I wouldn't know what to do?"

Yan Xue moved aside as told and took the lunch box, noticing it was still full of her favorite dishes. She paused, glanced at Kang Ge, who was already focused on the tasks she’d left unfinished, and said nothing, simply continuing her meal.

Though Kang Ge always seemed unhurried, he was extremely efficient when it came to work. By the time Yan Xue finished eating, he had already contacted everyone he needed to. The two of them immediately set out, and by seven or eight in the evening, they had gathered all the necessary information. They went to Xu Wenrui’s neighborhood and asked the property manager to pull surveillance footage from the elevators during the relevant time periods.

After checking and securing the footage as evidence, Kang Ge requested to see the footage from another building. There, he quickly saw that Gao Yang hadn’t stayed at school today, but had gone home. Around six o’clock, the entire Gao family returned cheerfully from shopping, bags of groceries in hand.

"Perfect. Let’s go pay them a visit!" Kang Ge said to Yan Xue with a smile after seeing the footage. "Let’s hope they’ve already finished dinner, otherwise... they might lose their appetite."