Hao Wenming's body trembled violently. He glanced at Sun Fatty, about to speak, but before he could get a word out, Sun Fatty interjected, "Let's hear Old Gao out first…" Hao Wenming paused, swallowed his words, and turned his gaze mechanically back to the video of Gao Liang.
Gao Liang was saying:"To be honest, I always saw Hao Zhengyi as my successor. That was the plan—until Wu Ren'di joined the Bureau. He noticed something about Hao Zhengyi—something similar to himself. I pulled some strings, tried to get Wu Ren'di to turn Hao Zhengyi into someone like him. But in the end, just before taking the medicine, Wu realized Zhengyi's constitution clashed with it. It all fell apart.
"Since he couldn't become someone like Wu Ren'di, I gave up the idea. Hao Zhengyi, disheartened, asked to travel for a while. I figured it wouldn't hurt to let him see more of the world, so I agreed. It was during those years away that Huang Ran appeared."
At this point, Gao Liang gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, then went on:"I was blind when it came to Huang Ran. He played his part too well—I had no idea he was from the Religious Affairs Commission's side. I paid dearly for that oversight. Fatty, you know my temper—if I didn't turn the Commission upside down, I wouldn't be Gao Liang.
"So I started planning to place Hao Zhengyi into the Commission. It took longer than expected, but the results were unexpectedly good. He was supposed to just become a member, but he ended up squeezing Huang Ran out and taking the top seat as Chairman. My plan was to have him work from within while I applied pressure from the outside—to dismantle the Commission entirely. But then Lin Feng showed his true colors."
As Gao spoke Lin Feng's name, the smile on his face froze. He let out a long sigh before continuing:"Just days before Qiu Bulao was killed by Lin Feng, Lin had already reached out to Hao Zhengyi. And not just to him—he wanted the entire Commission behind him.
"Hao Zhengyi told me everything about Lin Feng's plan. He thought I would prepare accordingly and strike Lin Feng down at the critical moment. But I had already used divination—consulted my ancestors—and I knew I would die by Lin Feng's hand that day. Still, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. I didn't want to be laughed at in the afterlife by someone like Xiao Sanda. So I rewrote the script. If all went well, I would die by Hao Zhengyi's hand instead.
"But doing that meant I betrayed Hao Zhengyi… and probably Wenming too. Fatty, when the time comes, please tell the two brothers I'm sorry. I spent my life scheming—and in the end, I even schemed myself into a corner."
At this point, the video ended. The progress bar hit the final frame, and the screen went dark.
"My brother… did he know he wasn't the one who killed Gao Liang?" Hao Wenming choked out the question. He'd been crying silently halfway through the video and was now barely able to hold back the emotion in his voice.
"He probably knew later on," Sun Fatty replied, staring blankly ahead. "That old guy on the ship likely told him. I think he did—but he still couldn't accept it. That's probably why he chose to go down with Lin Feng."
At this point, Hao Wenming could no longer hold it in. He covered his mouth and began to sob uncontrollably. Watching him, I let out a long sigh and muttered, "All this for Lin Feng… Gao Liang gone, and now Hao Zhengyi too. Was it worth it?"
Hearing my words, Hao Wenming suddenly shot up from his chair, eyes red as he stared at Sun Fatty."Exactly! All this for Lin Feng—was it worth it?!"
Sun Fatty met his gaze, and tears streamed down his own face. He wiped them away and said,"To Old Gao, it was. As long as the Bureau survived, any price was worth paying. If I'd been there… maybe I'd have been the one to send him off."
Hao Wenming slowly shook his head and collapsed back into his chair, staring blankly ahead."The Endless Naraka… Couldn't they have just killed Lin Feng? Did it have to end like this? Huh?"
Sun Fatty's mouth moved slightly as if he wanted to say something, but for some reason, the words stuck in his throat. He gave me a glance, and the two of us tried to comfort Hao Wenming together. Sun Fatty then called Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian over, who helped Hao Wenming back to the dormitory to rest.
After Sun Fatty's office was left with only the two of us, I looked at him and said, "Fatty, what were you about to say just now? Something related to that old man and the youngster on the ship?"
Sun Fatty glanced at me and replied with a question instead of an answer, "I was too far away to see clearly back then. But if I'm right, when Hao Zhengyi and Lin Feng died together, that old guy and the little one probably had no intention of stopping them, right?"
"Not only did they have no intention of stopping them, they even stopped me from getting close," I said, recalling the scene from yesterday, feeling that something was off. Sun Fatty squinted his eyes and nodded, then said, "That old guy is not simple. He must have been the one who hinted for Hao Zhengyi and Lin Feng to die together. Even The Endless Naraka might have been chosen by him."
"What benefit could Hao Zhengyi and Lin Feng dying together possibly bring him!" I couldn't help but stand up and shout. Sun Fatty looked up at me, his pupils suddenly contracting sharply as if something had suddenly dawned on him. He jumped up from his seat and looked at me, saying, "Damn! That old bastard has the ability to fish people out of The Endless Naraka!"
After saying this, Sun Fatty stopped paying attention to my stunned expression. He took out his phone and dialed a number: "Yang Xiao? Come over to my place, good news—company dividends!"
Moments later, Yang Xiao appeared in front of Sun Fatty. The deputy director smiled and handed him a check. Just as Yang Xiao was confirming the amount, Sun Fatty suddenly said, "Yang Xiao, wasn't it that Gui Bugui who pulled you out of The Endless Naraka last time?"
Yang Xiao shuddered all over, his face stunned as he looked at Sun Fatty. Although he didn't admit it, his expression was no different from admitting the fact. Sun Fatty smiled satisfactorily and continued, "Don't look at me like that. I'm just guessing. To be honest, I still don't quite understand what The Endless Naraka really is. But I believe that wherever you can go in, you can also come out."
After a moment, Yang Xiao regained his composure and said, "Are you sure Wu Ren'di didn't tell you?"
"There's something involving Wu Ren'di too?" Upon hearing Wu Ren'di's name, Sun Fatty's eyes nearly squinted to a slit. Seeing Sun Fatty's expression, Yang Xiao sighed with some reluctance and said, "Forget it, even if I don't say it, you probably won't give up. Actually, it's not a big deal. Back in the sixth year of the Yongzheng era, I was fleeing the forest fire out at sea. That time, luck was against me. When I threatened the crew to change course, I was stopped by Gui Bugui and Ren San.
"At that time, I was young and arrogant, and had just caused a few deaths on the ship. Naturally, I didn't take Gui Bugui and Ren San seriously. I was a bit harsh, so Gui Bugui threw me into the sea. I thought it was nothing—just changing clothes. But unexpectedly, when Gui Bugui threw me into the sea, he also opened The Endless Naraka. I struggled inside for who knows how long. When The Endless Naraka opened again, Gui Bugui pulled me out.
"Do you know how long it took someone to pull me out after I was thrown in? Less than an hour. But it felt like I'd lived through hundreds of years. Since then, I've never dared to look back at the scene. Even just thinking about it now makes me shiver."
I looked at Yang Xiao and asked, "Didn't you say even a Daluo Golden Immortal couldn't get out?"
At that moment, the office door of the deputy director suddenly echoed with loud knocking. Then Nicholas Hugo rushed in and said directly to Sun Fatty, "Sun, come out quick and see what happened to Hao!"
"Has Hao Tou'er passed out?" Sun Fatty and I didn't dare delay and ran outside the Bureau with Hugo. At the entrance to Room Three, we saw a soaking-wet man lying on the floor. At first glance, it wasn't Hao Wenming's slim figure. As we got closer, we were shocked to see that it was Hao Zhengyi—who had fallen into The Endless Naraka yesterday!
Hao Zhengyi's eyes were open. After looking around at the surroundings in confusion, he said, "Who am I?"