TGA Chapter 98

Mei Ruojing couldn’t understand their casual banter and asked, “What are you guys talking about? Why does he look like a fool who just got tricked?”

Qiao actually put down his divination tools, intending to search for the relevant laws.

Chu Qianli magnanimously reassured him, “Friend, don’t worry. You didn’t know about this—we won’t report you.”

Qiao was grateful. “…I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Tan Muxing couldn’t bear to see their foreign friend getting teased in circles. He quickly pulled Chu Qianli aside, making space for Qiao to continue his divination.

After greeting the two of them, Mei Ruojing heard a chime from the bell on her wrist and also stepped aside to perform her own divination.

As Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing wandered the third-floor hallway, they realized that after just a few exchanges with Qiao, A—who had been standing in the corner earlier—had vanished.

The hallway was now sparsely populated. They quieted their breathing, listening carefully, catching faint whispers of wind, though they couldn’t pinpoint its source.

Chu Qianli checked every room on the third floor, then stroked her chin in thought. “Just like last night—we still can’t find the site of the other murder.”

Qiao had mentioned that a dark ritual had once taken place on the third floor, but they had yet to locate the exact spot.

“We’ve gone through all the rooms, right?” Tan Muxing glanced around, puzzled. “And there’s no map either.”

Chu Qianli looked at him in surprise. “Do you really need a map for a private residence?”

Tan Muxing hesitated. “Well… I suppose there should be one…”

“That’s only something ‘star people’ with huge estates deal with—getting lost in their own home and needing a map!” Chu Qianli teased instinctively. Then, as if something clicked, she murmured to herself, “…Map? Feng Shui?”

Tan Muxing watched as she suddenly dashed toward the window and quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Chu Qianli stood by the third-floor window, surveying the scene outside. However, night had already fallen, and she could no longer make out the layout of the villa complex in the distant hills. She turned to ask, “Star, we walked around the area the day before yesterday—do you still remember where each building is located?”

“I think I have an impression.” Tan Muxing had accompanied Professor Pan and the others on the project, so he was accustomed to recording his observations. He took out his phone and started sketching. “Alright, here’s the main hall. We’re staying in Xinhe Residence. Then there’s Huoling Bureau, and over here is Xianhe Residence…”

As Tan Muxing roughly mapped out the area, Chu Qianli observed the arrangement of the stars. Back when she first moved into Xinhe Residence, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual, but now she realized that Tingfeng Xiyu Tower had an excellent stargazing vantage point. The stars in the sky aligned perfectly with the buildings on the ground, forming a complex array.

Feng Shui masters often studied celestial movements to guide construction and improve living conditions. At the same time, others exploited these techniques for eerie and sinister purposes, fulfilling their own outlandish, cruel desires.

From the moment she arrived, Chu Qianli had felt something odd about the villa complex. It wasn’t just that Feng Shui principles had been ignored—it wasn’t designed for comfortable living at all. Instead, it resembled a place that gathered negative energy, yet it didn’t allow the deceased to rest in peace.

The two of them descended from the third floor and crossed the lobby, heading outside for a better view.

Sitting by the transparent submission box, Shi Zhuoqu called out to them as they passed. He looked at them suspiciously. “Aren’t you two taking the exam?”

From his perspective, these two troublemakers had already managed to influence the selection process once. Who knew what they were up to now?

Chu Qianli waved him off casually. “Little Shi, don’t panic. We’re just taking a walk outside—no need to report to your boss.”

Shi Zhuoqu remained doubtful but couldn’t leave his post. Instead, he sent someone to keep an eye on them, only to find that they really were just pacing around outside Tingfeng Xiyu Tower.

Under the boundless night sky, the brightly lit Tingfeng Xiyu Tower stood in stark contrast to the dark, undulating hills in the distance, where only a few faint lights flickered.

Chu Qianli compared the scene to Tan Muxing’s sketch, then looked up at the stars. A thought struck her. “I think I know where the murder happened on the third floor.”

“Should we go back, then?” Tan Muxing glanced toward the building. “But the third floor is getting crowded.”

Unnoticed by them, more and more people had gathered on the third floor, while the crowd near the elevator had thinned.

Chu Qianli shook her head. “Even if we go back now, we won’t find it—it’s hidden in a place that can’t be seen.”

Tan Muxing asked curiously, “So what do we do next?”

“Let’s go submit our answers!” Chu Qianli said enthusiastically. “I never dared to turn in my test early during the college entrance exam. Finally, something I excel at!”

Shi Zhuoqu watched as the two returned to collect answer sheets. To his surprise, they hadn’t even gone back upstairs. They had simply wandered around outside for a while before confidently writing down their answers. He couldn’t understand what taking a stroll had to do with solving a haunted house murder mystery.

Tan Muxing watched as Chu Qianli effortlessly wrote down her answers. Silently, he pulled her aside, temporarily moving out of Shi Zhuoqu’s line of sight, and hesitantly spoke. “I just realized something.”

Chu Qianli blinked. “What is it?”

Tan Muxing looked confused. “I don’t actually know metaphysics… so how did I pass the preliminary selection?”

Mei Ruojing had bypassed the test with the help of her Infant Stone artifact, and Chu Qianli had secured her spot by defeating the examiners. However, after causing a scene alongside Chu Qianli, Tan Muxing had somehow ended up in the second round without understanding how.

Back then, Shi Zhuoqu and the others had yielded to Chu Qianli, partly because they acknowledged her abilities, partly out of concern that Mei Ruojing might be taken away, and partly due to the influence of the Sanqing Bell, which served as a key. They had simply assumed that Tan Muxing also had some skill and never considered that he knew nothing about metaphysics.

Chu Qianli had been right to criticize Lin and the others for their messy selection process—even Tan Muxing himself didn’t know how he had gotten through!

“If you don’t know it, you don’t know it. No big deal.” Chu Qianli casually stuffed an answer sheet into his hands. “Here, take this one. You submit this, and I’ll write another.”

The answer sheet bore Tan Muxing’s name. He stared at it for a moment, surprised that she had written his answers before her own. He hesitated. “Is this okay? Didn’t they say that people with detailed information also have to present their answers?”

He still remembered that those with complete information would be allowed into the conference room. If he submitted her answers under his name, wouldn’t that take someone else’s spot?

“But even if they present in the second round, only the person with the most votes gets a badge. That means the rest of the people in the conference room won’t be treated any differently than those outside.” Chu Qianli confidently argued, “It’s just like a VIP ticket for the inner section of a concert—so the star can have a close-up view!”

“A close-up view of what?”

Chu Qianli answered matter-of-factly, “A close-up view of me winning the whole thing! So you can cheer me on!”

“…You’re already assuming you’ll take first place?”

“If not me, then who?” Chu Qianli tilted her chin up smugly. “Who—else—could—it—be?”

Tan Muxing remained silent for a few seconds. He turned to grab a fresh answer sheet. “Maybe I should just write my own…”

Chu Qianli immediately objected. She clung to him desperately, nearly throwing a tantrum as she pleaded, “No, no, no! I want Star to be there in person to watch me win! It’s so rare that I get to beat up my peers—wait, no, I mean participate in an academic competition! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

Her eager anticipation made Tan Muxing hesitate. He didn’t fully understand her mentality, but it reminded him of some classmates back in school—those who loved playing basketball and would start showing off their slam dunks the moment someone passed by, just to flaunt their skills.

Tan Muxing hesitated. “This…”

Chu Qianli whimpered, “Boohoo, I copied Star’s homework so many times before, and I always wondered how I could ever repay you. Now I finally get to let you copy mine, and you won’t even give me this tiny chance…”

“…You don’t have to be that grateful.”

In the end, Tan Muxing submitted the answer sheet written by Chu Qianli. Perhaps because she had boasted about being the best for so long, she was now eager to prove that she hadn’t been exaggerating. She was determined to have him watch her performance up close.

Moments later, all the candidates had turned in their answers. Shi Zhuoqu and his team selected ten individuals and informed them to proceed to the conference room for the second round of presentations. At the same time, they briefed everyone on the past cases of Tingfeng Xiyu Tower.

“Thirteen years ago, businessman Fang purchased this villa complex for a large sum of money and moved into Tingfeng Xiyu Tower with his wife at the time, Zhang,” Shi Zhuoqu explained. “Due to Fang’s busy work schedule, Zhang spent more time living here. However, on a rainy night, she accidentally fell into the elevator shaft and died.”

“This case has never been publicly disclosed in detail,” Shi Zhuoqu added. “But when the corporation acquired the villa complex from Fang, they learned some information about the incident. Using this knowledge, we selected the ten candidates whose answers were the most relevant.”

“Surveillance footage showed that Zhang appeared extremely panicked inside the building that night. She desperately pounded on the elevator doors, ignoring the danger. When the elevator had not yet arrived, she stepped forward into empty space and fell to her death.”

“However, there were no outsiders or intruders present at Tingfeng Xiyu Tower that day—not even the housekeepers noticed anything unusual. The tragedy was only discovered after a loud noise was heard. Police suspected that Zhang was in poor mental condition at the time. The reason? She had been taking certain special medications, and the stormy night may have caused hallucinations that led to her fatal fall.”

Tan Muxing seemed to have an epiphany. He had read Chu Qianli’s answer sheet, and much of the information aligned with the real events.

A female victim, thirteen years ago, a rainy night, an elevator, a wealthy yet frequently absent spouse, a history of insomnia or mental illness—these all matched what Shi Zhuoqu had just described.

Chu Qianli had even guessed that the deceased’s surname was Zhang, and somehow, that turned out to be correct as well.

“Will the candidates whose numbers appear on the screen please proceed to the conference room for the second-round presentation?”

Tan Muxing glanced at the screen and, as expected, saw both his and Chu Qianli’s numbers. However, he noted something else. “But they didn’t mention the other murder case.”

Chu Qianli replied, “Most people are lucky to catch one case. The second one is more of an advanced challenge.”

At the conference room entrance, they met up with Mei Ruojing. The three of them entered together, only to find that most of the seats had already been taken.

Chu Qianli’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and she muttered, “These seats aren’t great…”

On the left side of the conference table sat candidates numbered 1-5: a white woman, a Chuma Xian shaman named Huang Jue, the British “Panda Gentleman” A, Joe, and a gypsy-styled woman.

On the right side were candidates 6-10, including two Daoist practitioners from the Qian sect. The remaining empty seats were beside them.

Mei Ruojing didn’t want to sit near the Daoists, so she headed straight for seat number 10, where she found herself facing a smiling gypsy-style female fortune teller.

The woman greeted her cheerfully, “Hello, I’m Lilith.”

Mei Ruojing wasn’t skilled at small talk in such settings and stiffly replied, “…What should I say back?”

“Hello!” Chu Qianli answered on her behalf, then sighed. “Ruojing, you really don’t make friends often, huh?”

After greeting them, Lilith turned to chat with Qiao. The two seemed to know each other, which explained why she had been so friendly to Chu Qianli and her group.

Huang Jue, possibly unwilling to sit with the Daoists, was now surrounded by a group of foreigners, making him stand out even more.

Tan Muxing took seat number 8, and Chu Qianli took seat number 9. Once everyone was seated, the session officially began.

“It is now the second-round presentation. Translators will convey what each of you says, and the candidates outside will also be able to watch this session. We will start with Candidate #1.”

The white woman received the signal to begin. She remained composed and spoke in a calm manner, “Hello, everyone. My name is Loya, and I am a psychic. I have just communicated with the spirit of the deceased. This is a cursed house—not only will those who live here meet an untimely death, but even we, who have come to uncover the truth, will also face misfortune…”

Loya’s gaze turned cold as she swept her eyes across the room. Then, in a stern voice, she declared, “I fear that the next victim will be one of us sitting here!”

I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.