At that moment, Sun Fatty suddenly turned to me and said, "Lazi, we have to clear something up first. Gao Laoda's message got ahead of itself—he brought up the matter of me stepping down as Bureau Chief a bit early. Not that I'm complaining, but just look at how scared Secretary Yang is now. I bet he's been knocking on my door every day since."
As Sun Fatty cracked a joke about Secretary Yang, the video of Gao Liang on the screen suddenly glitched oddly. His posture and expression changed in an instant. When I looked up at the smiling Sun Fatty, I realized the video had been edited. That strange detour just now was clearly meant to distract me.
Gao Liang now had a handgun in his hand. On camera, he removed the magazine and then picked up the Dragonborn Divination Shell from the desk. He said, "Fatty, I know you've had your eye on this little thing. Trust me—knowing what's going to happen to you isn't as great as you think. For your sake, and for the Bureau, I'm going to make the decision for you."
As he spoke, Gao Liang flipped the handgun around and used it like a hammer. He slammed it down hard onto the Dragonborn Divination Shell. Unsurprisingly, the tiny turtle shell shattered into over a dozen pieces, scattering across his desk.
Gao Liang let out a long breath, as if that one blow had drained the last of his strength. After a moment, he continued, "Alright, I've said everything I can say—things I should and shouldn't have said. After I'm gone, the Bureau is in your hands. Fatty, one last piece of advice: let the Bureau reflect your way of doing things. Don't try to imitate me. My era is over—yours is just beginning."
I had assumed that was the end. Judging from his words, it sounded like a final testament—at most, some last wishes. Nothing as ominous as Sun Fatty made it out to be. Just as I was about to say something, the screen flickered again—another video had started playing.
This time, the man on the screen was Blind Jin, who had recently acted as a mediator. The setting had changed too—from Gao Liang's office to a tearoom. Blind Jin was being helped into a seat in front of the camera. The first voice to be heard, however, was Sun Fatty's.
"Mr. Beihai, apologies for last night. Not that I'm trying to disrespect you, but Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi stirred up such a mess, and with Gao Laoda dying at the hands of Hao's people, I had to put on a proper show—otherwise, I'd never be able to explain things to the Bureau."
Throughout the clip, only Blind Jin appeared on screen—there wasn't even a shadow of Sun Fatty. From the look of it, Sun Fatty had secretly recorded the conversation. The camera was probably hidden on his person. Judging from the timing, this meeting likely happened the day after Gao Liang's funeral. The night before, Sun Fatty had taken the opportunity to wring a heavy price out of the Religious Affairs Commission.
Blind Jin gave a faint smile and replied, "Director Sun, no need to be so courteous. I'm merely a go-between. Now that both sides have come to an understanding, I've fulfilled my duty as a mediator. What I didn't expect was for you to show such respect to someone like me. You could've just spoken plainly—there's really no need to treat a cripple with such courtesy."
After he finished, Sun Fatty's voice returned. He chuckled a little and said, "Alright then, I'll skip the pleasantries. Mr. Beihai, I invited you here today to ask about something. I remember you brought Ma Xiaolin to the Bureau a little over two years ago, didn't you? Not that I'm being nosy, but—what was the reason for that visit again...?"
Sun Fatty dragged out the last word deliberately. Though I couldn't see his face, knowing him, he was closely watching Blind Jin's reaction. As expected, Blind Jin's expression changed slightly—he looked just a bit uneasy, even if it was only for a second. But Sun Fatty caught it.
He chuckled again and said, "Mr. Beihai, to tell you the truth, Gao Laoda kept a diary while he was alive. I came across it while sorting through his belongings. But the entries about the days you visited the Bureau were oddly vague. Not that I'm making accusations, but I asked you here today because I'd like to know—aside from treating Ma Xiaolin's illness, was there anything else you did during that visit?"
After a few moments of silence, Blind Jin slowly removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of pale, waxy-white eyes that looked like they were covered in candle grease. He stared straight at the source of Sun Fatty's voice.
The camera trembled slightly—it seemed Sun Fatty had been startled by the sight, and the jolt made the hidden camera shake along with him.
"Don't be afraid. When I was young, I was possessed by an evil spirit. After I was saved, nothing else was affected—except these eyes. They never recovered. But maybe that's a blessing. I rely on these ghost eyes to perceive the will of Heaven," said Blind Jin, as if he could actually see. He stared directly at Sun Fatty and continued, "I know what you're trying to ask. After that visit, I cast a divination for myself and saw that one day I'd be brought face to face with you because of it. Back then, I swore an oath in front of Gao Liang. But since you insist, I'll break that oath and tell you."
Sun Fatty cut in while Jin was catching his breath. "An oath, huh? After all that's happened, won't breaking it bring down some big trouble?"
Blind Jin let out a cold snort. "This is my line of work. If I can swear an oath, I can break one too. Whatever divine retribution I suffer—that's my problem, not yours, Director Sun. Just consider it a favor you owe me. When I run into trouble someday, you'll lend me a hand. Deal?"
Sun Fatty had no objection to that kind of vague IOU. After he agreed to the favor, Jin Beihai began his account: "Originally, I came to the Bureau to treat Ma Xiaolin. But after your people took him away, Gao Liang asked me to divine his fate. What I saw was a great calamity within two years—one with absolutely no chance of being avoided, not even the slightest."
At that point, Sun Fatty suddenly interrupted, "Hold on—Mr. Beihai, can we please put those sunglasses back on while you're talking? When you 'look' at me like that, I can't focus on what you're saying."
Blind Jin smiled faintly, then put his sunglasses back on and continued, "After I revealed the result, Gao Liang kept his composure. He didn't panic. Even the words I offered to comfort him were met with just a smile. I thought he was just putting on a brave face… but then he pulled out something I never imagined he'd have. Do you know what it was?"
As he spoke the last few words, Jin's voice began to tremble, and his tone rose involuntarily. Just as he was about to answer his own question, Sun Fatty interjected bluntly:
"You mean that 'Dragonborn Divination Shell'—that turtle shell thing, right?"
"Turtle... shell…" Blind Jin gritted each word through clenched teeth. The veins on his forehead stood out, visibly throbbing. But perhaps realizing Sun Fatty's status wasn't one to offend lightly, he forced himself to calm down and said begrudgingly, "Let's just stick with Dragonborn Divination Shell. It sounds more dignified."
He went on: "I used that legendary artifact to perform another divination for Gao Liang. The results were identical to what I got before—only more detailed, more vivid. To me, it was like watching Gao Liang's final days unfold in front of my eyes. What's more, the shell didn't just reveal the calamity—it offered him a chance to rewrite fate."
That last point clearly caught Sun Fatty's attention. Before Jin could say more, he jumped in, "That's the part I want to hear—Mr. Beihai, please explain that part in detail."
Recalling the moment, Jin Beihai became visibly excited. "Gao Liang's fate was tied to the Bureau's future. If he chose to alter his fate and survive, then the Bureau would suffer a devastating blow. There was no other way."
After those words, Sun Fatty fell silent for a long time. Eventually, he asked, "Did Gao Laoda know the specifics of his own demise?"
"He knew even better than I did," Jin replied with a strange smile. "The shell's method of use is simple—he probably had already divined his fate long ago. He just didn't like what he saw. Maybe he was hoping I'd find something different. But it was no use—whoever uses the shell gets the same result."
At that point, the screen finally went dark.
I turned to look at Sun Fatty, who was unusually quiet. I recalled the scene of Gao Liang's death and asked, "He knew how he would die… did he walk into it on purpose?"
Sun Fatty let out a long breath and nodded. "Yeah."
I exhaled too, and after a moment's hesitation, asked again, "What about Moyes and those investigators from Section Three? Gao... Liang must've known about them too, right?"
After another long silence, Sun Fatty looked up at me and said quietly, "Which temple doesn't have a few wronged ghosts?"（Note: The meaning of this proverb is that among the deceased beings worshipped in every temple, there are inevitably some who died unjustly. It is inevitable that innocent people will be affected.）