CHAPTER 745: CHAPTER 728 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES_2

"He is a peddler, traversing streets and alleyways, and has passed through many villages. He knows where the landscapes are the best. Knowing that I came for an educational tour, he took me to many scenic spots. In this way, he sold his goods, and I saw many beautiful scenes. We both gained from this, and he was a good talker. He had also studied before, which deepened our communication."

Qin Liuxi glanced sideways and said, "What communication? Your background information was thoroughly extracted."

If it weren’t for Qiu Zibai currently making a ghostly face, he would probably have turned red.

Because, just as Qin Liuxi said, he felt Li Kui was like his own brother, so he disclosed everything, even his birth dates, because Li Kui suggested they become sworn brothers.

"You even became sworn brothers?" Qin Liuxi asked, looking at him like he was a fool. "You didn’t also talk about sharing fortunes and such, did you?"

Qiu Zibai nodded shyly.

Mrs. Yu asked, "Is there some significance to this?"

"Sometimes becoming sworn brothers is akin to making a binding oath. The oath itself may seem simple, but if some methods are used, like taking personal belongings or one’s own hair and nails, and binding them together, it equates to sealing a Heaven and Earth Contract, voluntarily giving one’s possessions to the other person, be it Qi Fortune or lifespan. The recipient, having received these, will face lesser repercussions for their actions as they were given voluntarily."

Everyone was shocked. Is such a thing possible?

Qiu Zibai said blankly, "I...I even pulled out two strands of my hair and wrapped them in red paper for him to burn."

Qin Liuxi shook his head and said, "With your family background, you should have some wisdom; you even studied the saintly books. How could you be so naive?"

Qiu Zibai felt somewhat ashamed.

"Mr. Qiu might be too trusting, but surely the other person was skilled in sweet-talking," Cheng Ruolian recalled the conversations she had with the impostor, who was indeed very persuasive. "At the time, I felt something was off. How come his words were slightly different from what my brother said? Turns out he was an impostor."

Qiu Zibai bowed to Miss Cheng. "Miss Cheng is wise."

"Anyway, no matter what, you were naive and got tricked. Your life was taken, along with your identity," Qin Liuxi said coldly.

Qiu Zibai: "..."

Even though I know the facts, must you be so harsh with your words?

Mrs. Cheng, now bold enough to speak to Qiu Zibai, asked, "And then you asked him to kill you?"

Qiu Zibai replied, "Yes, we had just become sworn brothers. How could we not celebrate? He picked some poisonous mushrooms and cooked them with several non-poisonous ingredients into a soup, and made Beggar’s Chicken, as well as opened a jar of wine. I ate that mushroom soup, and then there was no thereafter."

"Naive you may be, at least you died with a full belly," Qin Liuxi muttered.

Everyone was stunned: "!"

Qiu Zibai, holding his breath, said, "After I died from the poisoning, he first hid my body in a cave, stripped me completely to check for anything valuable, and then he returned to his hometown briefly, sold all his property, and ostentatiously declared he would venture to Shengjing. Subsequently, he found an old woman, and had a red mole tattooed on the same spot on the earlobe, went back to the cave, buried the body and disguised himself, taking over all my belongings, completely assuming my identity, and returned to the Prefecture School."

Mrs. Cheng frowned and asked, "Didn’t you have a servant? Didn’t he accompany you to Zhang County for the educational trip, staying by your side?"

Qiu Zibai: "Guess it was my time to die. When I went to nurse my teacher in sickness, my servant Chen Fugui broke his leg. They say it takes a hundred days to recover from bone and tendon injuries. I’m not someone who has servants manage everything because I’m overly delicate, so I went alone to Zhang County. Actually, Chen Fugui didn’t break his leg by accident but was beaten by people from the gambling house because he had lied to me. He also discovered that Li Kui was an impostor, but he blackmailed him for a sum of silver to settle his gambling debts, otherwise, he would expose him."

Everyone guessed what would happen next. Given Li Kui’s calculated intentions to replace and impersonate someone, how could he allow such a threat to linger, as such blackmail would only be the first of many.

"Li Kui was ruthless and decisive. When Chen Fugui asked for silver a second time, Li Kui paid him, but it was actually life-saving money," Qiu Zibai sneered. "It was Chen Fugui’s own greed; his gambling addiction was strong. Even after getting the silver, he lost it all and caused a scene at the gambling house. He was nearly beaten to death, and after he left the gambling house, Li Kui stabbed him. Since Chen was my personal servant, and his death occurred near the gambling house and involved gambling, no one suspected ’me’ of killing him."