Chapter 383 - The Sloppy Taoist

Qin Haodong then realized it was Wang Rubing’s birthday. He used to remember her birthday every year, but that year he had been so busy that he totally forgot about it.

He said, “Gifts are all about your love, not the price. Try your best to make her feel touched.”

Zhang Hao nodded and said, “I know. I just want to ask what she likes.”

Qin Haodong recalled and answered, “Our family used to be poor, so every spring festival, I wanted firecrackers, and she wanted a beautiful headdress.

“So I send her headdresses each year for her birthday when we grew up. Now that you became her boyfriend, you should take over the mission.”

“Great, I knew you wouldn’t let me down!” Zhang Hao said excitedly. “I’ll go to the best jewelry store and order her the most beautiful headdress.

“What kind of headdress should it be like? How about a tiara? She would be my queen for the rest of my life!”

Seeing Zhang Hao be so attentive, Qin Haodong felt happy for his sister. It was not easy for a woman to meet her true love. Wang Rubing was lucky.

For the happiness of his sister, he asked, “Do your parents know you’re dating my sister? Would they be concerned that Rubing comes from an ordinary family?”

Zhang Hao immediately denied, “No! I’ve told my father about me and Rubing. My father said he totally supported me, but he asked me about Rubing’s time of birth.”

Qin Haodong asked in surprise, “Time of birth? Why would Director Zhang care about that?”

“He cared about it much. He was a doctor, but a very superstitious one. He said I jinxed my mom to death because our time of birth didn’t match. So he had to make sure the time of birth actually matches if two people were to be a couple.”

“Oh!” Qin Haodong nodded, and then asked, “How’s you and Rubin’s result then? Is it a match?”

Zhang Hao said thrillingly, “I don’t understand that much, but the fortune teller my father hired said we’re a perfect match.”

“That’s great!”

Qin Haodong felt such a relief. Marriage opposed by the family could be troublesome. The couple wouldn’t be happy without their support.

Zhang Hao then said, “My father has already seen Rubing’s photo, and he liked her. He wanted to officially meet her for the first time at the birthday party tonight.”

“That’s really nice. God bless you!”

Qin Haodong said and poured a cup of tea. He gave it to Zhang Hao and said, “Take a sip and tell me what you think of my tea-making skills.”

“It’s so fragrant!” Zhang Hao smelled the scent of tea from afar. Then he took over the cup and praised, “You’re making such a nice cup of tea, better than any I’ve ever had before.”

Qin Haodong glanced at him and said, “So you’re left-handed?”

He had learned that the serial killer was left-handed, so he was being very sensitive. Zhang Hao just took over the cup of tea and drank it with his left hand.

Zhang Hao laughed, “Yes. It is said that left-handed people are smarter. My father passed the gene to me. He is smart, and also left-handed.”

After that, Zhang Hao drank two more cups of tea and left the TCM clinic.

There weren’t many patients in the morning. Having diagnosed a few more patients, it was lunchtime. Guangren Hospital had the staff-only canteen. Qin Haodong went downstairs to get lunch, and he ran into Fang Yuqi halfway.

Fang Yuqi looked pale and a bit tired. She greeted Qin Haodong upon seeing him, “Dr. Tang, looking for lunch?”

Qin Haodong laughed and replied, “Yes, let’s eat it together! You treated me with the 400,000-yuan feast yesterday. I’ll treat you back today!”

Fang Yuqi smiled upon hearing Qin Haodong bring out the meal last night. “Are you joking with me? I didn’t even bring enough money!”

“You’re not the one to blame. The restaurant charged us like a robber.”

The two talked and laughed. They got their own food and sat down at a table.

Qin Haodong said, “You don’t look well. Are you tired?”

“Yes, quite a bit,” Fang Yuqi had some soup and explained. “Lu Fei is off work today. I had to take over his surgery tasks. I didn’t even have the time to drink a cup of water in the morning.

“There are too many surgical schedules today. I still have two more to perform in the afternoon. I couldn’t possibly make it if without the help of the director of the hospital.”

“The director’s helping you? Is he a surgeon?” Qin Haodong asked in surprise.

“Of course he is. He used to be one of the best surgeons in Guangren Hospital. Now he seldom does any surgery because he is busy with his work as the director. The circumstances today were exceptional. Lu Fei disappeared all of a sudden, so the director had to help.”

That reminded Qin Haodong of something. He felt that something was odd, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Fang Yuqi continued, “I am so tired today. I ran into a drunken hooligan when I was shopping yesterday, and then went into a crime scene. The police even took me away for interrogation. I don’t get tired like this very often.”

She had no idea that the one sitting in front of her was the same person interrogating her the day before.

After lunch, the two separated. Fang Yuqi went back to her office. She needed to take the time and get some rest, so that she could be energetic enough to perform the surgeries in the afternoon.

Qin Haodong had finished more than ten clinical consultations in the afternoon. He received a call from Nalan Wuxia when he was about to leave the clinic.

“Hao Dong, are you off work?” Nalan Wuxia sounded exhausted on the phone.

“Yes, what can I do for you?”

“Now that your day job is done, I’ve got another job for you.” Nalan Wuxia said, “Four men have been killed in a row. Our supervisors have attached great importance to this case, and commanded us to solve it as soon as we can.

“But we don’t have any solid evidence now, so we could only start by investigating those Taoists. Can you come and investigate them? See if they’ll crack.”

“Okay. On my way.”

Qin Haodong hung up the phone, shaking his head and smiled. He knew Nalan Wuxia had to be quite anxious at the moment, or she wouldn’t ask him to do that. She needed his Mind-manipulating Skill, or the interrogation would be hard, no matter how many people she had.

Qin Haodong took a cab and headed to the crime squad. He removed the Polymorph and became Qin Haodong again. Then he arrived at the Detention Room.

He couldn’t help laughing upon seeing what was going on there. More than ten Taoists were locked in there, young and old. Some were at their twenties or thirties, even at their seventies; some looked sophisticated, and others looked sloppy.

Nalan Wuxia said, “I’ve run out of options. Just try to find some clues from these people.”

Qin Haodong nodded and entered the interrogation room with Nalan Wuxia. Two policemen brought a 20-year-old young man, then he began the interrogation.

In order to save time, Qin Haodong applied Mind-manipulating Skills directly and asked, “Do you know the Invoking Figure Talisman?”

The young Taoist answered, “I’ve heard stories about it, but I’ve never seen a real one.”

“Did you kill anybody days ago?”

“I’ve never heard about it, and I’ve never killed anybody.”

Qin Haodong asked him a few simple questions and he was sure there was nothing wrong about that young Taoist. Nalan Wuxia had someone release him and brought in another Taoist in his forties.

Qin Haodong asked him, “Do you know the Invoking Figure Talisman?”

The Old Taoist shook his head. “I don’t know what that is.”

“Aren’t you a Taoist? Why haven’t you heard about it?”

The old Taoist said, “I’m a fake one. I made the robe and wear it in order to cheat people out of money.”

Nalan Wuxia then realized the man was a fake Taoist, a scammer. She called two colleagues in and commanded, “Take him to the police station and arrest him as a scammer.”

Later they interrogated dozens of Taoists, only to draw a blank.

Just then, the two policemen took in another Taoist. He looked quite sloppy, with ragged clothes on. Wrinkles extended on his face, and it was hard to tell his exact age.

He acted like a lunatic, with quite the resemblance to those beggar Taoists in TV shows.

Upon entering the door and before Qin Haodong said anything, the old Taoist looked at Nalan Wuxia and said, “Ma’am, do you need fortune-telling? I was called the Divine Fortune Teller, knowing the past 500 years, and the future 500 years. 200 per consultation, no joke.

“Now that destiny crossed our paths together. I’ll do it for you free of charge today.”

Qin Haodong found it interesting that the Taoist dared to lure a cop in. Instead of stopping him, he stood aside and watched.

The sloppy Taoist’s inanimate eyes checked Nalan Wuxia’s body and said, “You were born in a rich family. You’ve never had any worries about food and clothes, and you’ll definitely be able to find your true love, but there is just one thing that will be hard…”

Nalan Wuxia didn’t care what he said until he came to the part of marriage. She couldn’t help ask, “What?”

The Taoist said, “Your husband has so many affairs. Women keep throwing themselves at him wherever he goes. But rest assured, excellent men are always chased by beautiful women. You don’t need to worry too much.”

Nalan Wuxia was thinking about what he said while her eyes were on Qin Haodong. The man was flawless and always surrounded by beautiful woman, that seemed to be true.

“Young man, I’ll do it for you for free, too!”

He said and stared at Qin Haodong with his inanimate eyes. Suddenly, a strong light flashed in the two dark holes. The light disappeared so soon that even Qin Haodong could’ve failed to see if he didn’t have his powerful soul.

Qin Haodong was astonished inside, he was sure that the sloppy Taoist was a hidden powerhouse, whose realm was beyond his imagination.

Ever since he stepped into the Covert Power Realm, he could easily see through the cultivation level of supreme powers with the help of his powerful soul; however, he failed to see through the old Taoist that time, which meant that the man might be above the supreme power realm.

The Spiritual Qi on earth was so thin that it was nearly impossible for one to get to that realm. Qin Haodong wondered if he had made a mistake.

But he was sure that he shouldn’t apply Mind-manipulating Skills on the man. The Mind-manipulating Skill was very convenient, but its disadvantage was also very obvious. The user would either crush the opponent on mental force or it would backfire badly.

While Qin Haodong was guessing, the old Taoist looked confused, too. He muttered, “That’s odd… how come I failed to tell his fortune by his appearance…”

Nalan Wuxia had no idea what was going on in the two people’s mind. Seeing the old man stopped talking, she asked, “Why are you stopping? How’s his destiny? How many women would he be through?”

That was the question she was most concerned about. She asked him because she thought the old man was really capable of fortune-telling.