Feng Ruoxing said, "You mean Chen Laotou intentionally demolished the bell tower."

"Exactly!" I affirmed. "Furthermore, there's another detail: where did the bell from the Chen family's bell tower go?"

"The bell is the key magic artifact. A tower without a bell can only suppress wandering souls; it can't help them pass on."

"However, Chen Xiaobao never mentioned the bell, or rather, he's never seen it. That means the Chen family removed it long ago. The bell's whereabouts are also a clue."

I said in a deep voice, "If we look at our current clues, Old Chen wanted to solve the problem of Weizi Lane outside the lane. The person solving these problems is Chen Lao-er, who mysteriously disappeared."

"So, to break the deadlock of Weizi Lane, it also has to be done outside the lane. Your side is the real focus."

I thought for a moment and said, "You don't need to pursue Yu Xuelin's lead anymore. Be careful not to be led astray by him. First, he's lived in Weizi Lane for so long; no one can guarantee he's still alive."

"Second, we can't determine if the people and ghosts in Weizi Lane are still the original residents. At least, those substitute evil things can easily replace the ghosts entering the lane."

"If I'm not mistaken, those substitute ghosts appeared at Feng Shui Residence to hunt down Yu Xuelin. The clues he left behind might be to make you scapegoats. Don't look for him; go directly to the bell tower. You must find out the secret of the bell tower before Yu Xuelin does."

"I'll wait for you here in Weizi Lane."

Feng Ruoxing said, "You and Lao Liu be careful," and was about to cut off the connection.

I stopped Feng Ruoxing and said, "Tell Leng Gou to trust himself more and not give me face. Too much face is too much to bear, I can't talk so much without getting tired."

Ye Yang's voice came over, "I'm afraid your mouth will get numb from not bragging."

"Guard Weizi Lane well, don't let me have to save you, I'm busy!"

Nothing but rubbish comes out of Ye Yang's mouth!

I know that although Ye Yang doesn't like to use his brain, it doesn't mean he doesn't have one.

He can guess about seventy percent of what I can guess, maybe even more. It's just that some details need me to correct them.

It's not that Ye Yang can't make the assumptions I'm making now; he's just tacitly dividing the work with me.

My staying put in Weizi Lane is like using a calculated move, holding down Weizi Lane to buy him time.

However, Ye Yang would rather switch roles with me, because it's more dangerous here than outside.

After listening to Feng Ruoxing, I guessed what Ye Yang was thinking, so I simply spoke out loud in the house without any reservations, cutting off Ye Yang's thoughts.

I reckon Ye Yang's face isn't looking too good right now!

Lao Liu and the Xu brothers also had equally unpleasant expressions.

Lao Liu was waving his fan without saying a word, but I tapped the table twice to tell him: only when we pose a threat to the dead people in Weizi Lane will Chen Xiaobei be safer.

Success or failure doesn't depend on whether this is a ghost den, but on whether we can leverage the life-and-death situation in the lane.

Lao Liu nodded slightly, "Master, what should we do next?"

"Open the door and welcome guests!" I turned to look at the door. "It's time for the friends outside to come visiting."

"Master Li, think twice!" Xu Er said anxiously, "If we don't open the door, we can still have some resistance. If we open the door, aren't we inviting ghosts in?"

In the eyes of ordinary people, a door is probably just a tool to isolate a private space, at most to keep out petty thieves. But in the eyes of a sorcerer, a door is the boundary between life and death. A sorcerer can do many things with a door.

Once someone opens this door, the sorcerer loses a barrier and goes directly from strict defense to close combat, which is bound to be even more dangerous.

Xu Er naturally has his reasons for not wanting to open the door.

I looked at Xu Er and said, "Brother Xu, let me be blunt. I want to ask you: should a sorcerer fear life and death?"

"It's understandable for ordinary people to be afraid of ghosts. When a sorcerer is afraid of ghosts, ghosts can become gods and dominate your life and death, and the sorcerer is no longer a sorcerer."

"You've been in Weizi Lane for so long, I don't believe you haven't noticed anything about Weizi Lane. At least you've seen the abandoned car in the yard next door. You're not moving because you're afraid! Am I right?"

Xu Er's face turned red and white, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

Xu San said, "Second Brother, I've wanted to say this to you and Big Brother for a long time, but I don't say it as well as Master Li."

"The three of us have borrowed our lives, so you cherish your lives especially. But have you ever thought about it? The more we cherish our lives, the less we can borrow them!"

"After we completed a prefecture-level secret order back then, you were scared. You've been assisting people ever since, picking up scraps and being happy to get a sip of soup. Can that work?"

"Like this time, you didn't even struggle. When you saw Master Li's methods, you wanted to give up the secret order. Have you ever thought about how long we can live if we keep giving away tasks like this?"

"Master Li is right! Instead of living so uselessly, we might as well fight it out! What do you say?"