I laughed and looked at Wen Yiliao and said, "If I wasn't prepared to hear it, I wouldn't have come to you."

Wen Yiliao said, "Back then, Shen Ping did come to me to ask me to be his scapegoat. However, when I saw the amount of karmic entanglement around him, I didn't dare to act. What surprised me, though, was that Shen Ping actually survived."

"I'm sure someone used a substitute life technique to save him. And that person used a dark art."

Wen Yiliao said, "You also know that the tribulations one is destined to face will definitely come. There's no such thing as being able to turn bad luck into good fortune with secret techniques. You can only rely on your own fate and luck to get through them."

"The substitute life technique can only delay the arrival of the tribulation; it doesn't resolve it. To put it simply, the so-called substitute life is just buying the client some time to prepare."

Wen Yiliao paused and said, "When Shen Ping came to me, I divined that his tribulation would come within a month. Moreover, there was nowhere to hide, no way to avoid it."

"But when I saw him later, he had survived. However, there was also an additional wronged soul behind him. I suspect that a sorcerer used the method of substituting a living person to save him."

"However, although using this kind of dark art on oneself can temporarily save one's life, when the retribution comes, the consequences will be disastrous."

"I've never heard of any experts in the provincial capital who are good at using dark arts to substitute lives, and I'm also curious about who Shen Ping used to exchange for his own life. So, I've been observing Shen Ping."

"But every time I thought he was about to die, he survived. And I never found that expert."

I looked at Wen Yiliao and said, "Is this what you mean by 'afraid to hear'? A dark arts sorcerer who substitutes lives? Do I need to be afraid of him?"

"No!" Wen Yiliao shook his head. "I have a bad habit. Once I become curious about something, I must get to the bottom of it."

"After I followed Shen Ping for a while, I finally discovered that when his tribulation was near, he would go to the Stone Well Temple in the suburbs. There are no gods in that temple, only a well."

"I suspect that Shen Ping made some kind of deal with the ghosts and gods in the ancient well."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but frown slightly, "Ghosts and gods in the ancient well? Do you mean there's a Xingzha Po in the ancient well?"

In Taoist classics, in addition to the righteous gods and righteous ghosts, there are also seventy-two irregular ghosts that Heaven does not accept, Earth does not govern, the Five Mountains do not control, the mountains and seas do not restrain, that do not follow great virtue, do not aid true virtue, and love killing and chaos. They are also known as the seventy-two spirits.

Although the seventy-two spirits are not ghosts and gods, their strength is by no means weaker than ghosts and gods.

Xingzha Po is one of them. Legend says that Xingzha Po is black in color, coiled around the wellhead, and anyone who sees it will fall into the well and drown. Some say that Xingzha Po is transformed from a wronged soul who drowned in the well, but most sorcerers believe that Xingzha Po has gone beyond the scope of a wronged soul.

Wen Yiliao shook his head and said, "I don't know. This is exactly what I can't figure out."

"If there is a Xingzha Po in the Ancient Well Temple, then why wasn't Shen Ping dragged into the well and drowned? How could he make a deal with Xingzha Po to help him avoid his tribulations?"

"If there is just a more powerful wronged soul in the ancient well, then what does it rely on to help people avoid tribulations?"

Wen Yiliao shook his head slightly as he said this, "Later, I didn't dare to investigate further. The things Shen Ping was involved in were too big. If I continue to investigate, I'm afraid I'll lose my own life!"

I said with a half-smile, "Does Brother Wen still have times when he's afraid?"

Wen Yiliao laughed, "If I were a brave person, I wouldn't have become such a useless drunkard."

I avoided the other party's topic, "By the way, Brother Wen, have you met Xie Sanbao, the rich man in this city? He and Shen Ping are close friends. Does he have any problems?"

Wen Yiliao shook his head again, "According to my observation, Xie Sanbao and Shen Ping never appear at the same time."

"I also specifically inquired about this matter. Although Shen Ping is Xie Sanbao's old subordinate, they rarely hang out together, even during meetings. When Xie Sanbao is present, Shen Ping definitely won't appear."

"This matter is no longer a secret in Xie Sanbao's company."

I touched my chin and said to myself, "Aren't they brothers? The things here are a bit interesting."

I stood up and cupped my fist at Wen Yiliao, "Thank you, when the business is done, I'll treat you to a drink."

Wen Yiliao poured himself a glass of wine, "I suspect that Xie Sanbao helped Shen Ping clean up his messes. After Shen Ping survived those tribulations, several homicides occurred in this city. The deceased all died in the city's sewers."

"The police have never found any clues. Later, the sewer deaths suddenly stopped, and a person playing the violin appeared in the provincial capital."

"That person plays the violin, always sitting on a manhole cover, and he won't leave until midnight."

I was immediately shocked, cupped my fist to say goodbye to Wen Yiliao, and immediately contacted Ye Yang, but his phone couldn't be reached, and the communication talisman had also lost its effect.