"No! I didn't!"
Li Xinrui was terrified by my sinister words and burst into tears, desperately trying to shirk her guilt.
"The incense was given by a Taoist priest! I had no idea what it was for!"
"A Taoist priest?! Could it be Li Chengxian?!"
I suddenly remembered the "One - Eyed Buddha Mother" enshrined in Li Chengxian's office downstairs. The "Buddha Mother" was in charge of the five desires, and the fragrance was one of the "desires for taste".
All the ghosts that Li Chengxian used to sacrifice to her were raised in the spa.
No wonder the illusion Fang Jie was trapped in was also drowning in the spa.
"I just lit that stick of incense in the office. How could I know that Wang Fang would die!"
Li Xinrui roared hoarsely, "She drowned herself. What does it have to do with me!"
...
Li Xinrui joined Hanyu Planning three years ago. Yang Fan and Wang Fang, the two original veterans in the Executive Department, didn't get along well. They argued fiercely every day about the budget for materials.
When a new employee joined, both of them tried their best to draw her to their side.
Yang Fan was shrewd and knew well how to use the superior - subordinate relationship to create all sorts of workplace ambiguities. He made Li Xinrui, a fresh graduate from campus, feel flustered. Finally, during a business trip, they crossed the line.
After they had a physical relationship, Li Xinrui began to follow Yang Fan's orders.
Taking advantage of their positions, they cooperated with each other and made quite a lot of kickbacks from the company every year.
Although Wang Fang knew there was something fishy going on, she was helpless.
Yang Fan and Li Xinrui couldn't get extremely rich, but the continuous stream of small income still satisfied them.
It wasn't until this year that Hanyu, through the relationship of the boss Dong Jianhui, got an offer for a summer music festival event.
This was a large - scale week - long event. They not only had to rent a venue that could accommodate tens of thousands of people but also invite dozens of star musicians and bands. The budget quoted was nearly eight - digit.
Yang Fan thought this might be the only chance in his life to make a fortune!
With just a few manipulations, he could make the budget for materials and labor amount to a sum that he couldn't earn in a lifetime of working.
However, if the matter was exposed, the crime of duty encroachment alone could land him in prison!
He had to plan meticulously.
So, after a few days of consideration, he proposed to Li Xinrui under the pretext of celebrating her birthday.
Li Xinrui was hesitant. She wanted to stay in Beijing, but it was obvious that Yang Fan couldn't give her a stable home. They were both employees. Even though Yang Fan was a department manager, his monthly salary couldn't afford a small apartment in the capital city where every inch of land was extremely expensive.
Yang Fan tried his best to perform. In the hotel bed, he told Li Xinrui his whole plan. As long as they succeeded, they would live a care - free and superior life for the rest of their lives.
When Li Xinrui heard that they could get so many kickbacks if they succeeded, she didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement.
Next, they had to deal with the obstacle in front of them.
Wang Fang was an old employee of the company, and it was said that she had some round - about relatives with the boss Dong Jianhui.
Yang Fan never thought of pulling her into their scheme. His direct thought was to get rid of Wang Fang.
Before taking action, he went to have his fortune told. The Taoist priest who read his fortune directly said that as long as he got rid of the person in front of him, he could make the biggest fortune in his life.
As for how to make Wang Fang die... of course, it was best to make it look like an accident!
The Taoist priest gave Yang Fan a kind of incense, saying that it was a sacred object that had been enshrined in front of the gods for many years. As long as one lit it and smelled it, they would fall into a hallucination. With a little hint, they would act according to the hinted plan!
So, Yang Fan and Li Xinrui pretended to go out on business, leaving Wang Fang alone in the office.
Wang Fang was a rather lazy woman. When she worked overtime until night, she wanted to take a lazy break.
The timer set by Li Xinrui had already been turned on when they left. The heating incense burner placed in her drawer was working.
Unconsciously, Wang Fang inhaled a lot of the hallucinogenic incense. She was muddled in her mind and wanted to find a store for a SPA. So, what came to her mind was the spa in the Haiyue Building many years ago.
But she had forgotten that the spa had long been closed. It was said that even the employees had been taken abroad by the boss to do other business.
The office door had already been locked by Li Xinrui.
Wang Fang walked back and forth in the Executive Department's office, then plunged headfirst into the basin that collected the air - conditioner's condensed water and drowned herself.
Before she died, Wang Fang was in a deep hallucination, so she thought she was in the spa. In fact, she never took a single step out of the office!
It wasn't until the next day when everyone came to work that they found Wang Fang dead.
Dong Jianhui compensated Wang Fang's family a large sum of resettlement fees, and this matter was finally put to rest.
Li Xinrui had already thrown the burned - out incense and the burner into the garbage dump.
Everything was done secretly. Just as they were about to start their plan to make a fortune, Dong Jianhui arranged me to the Executive Department.
What happened next was what I had experienced before. All the targeting and exclusion were because Yang Fan and Li Xinrui had a guilty conscience.
After they found out that I seemed to have a close connection with Wang Fang, they even wanted to kill me in the building in the same way...
In fact, now that I'm analyzing the whole incident, I'm afraid these two guys were both puppets of Li Chengxian. Their greed was incited by him, which led to the thought of murder. Finally, they dragged themselves into an irredeemable situation.
"Has nothing to do with you?"
I elongated my voice and gently lifted my finger on her eyelid. "The law of heaven is clear, the law of earth is spiritual. The mirror of yin and yang reveals the true form quickly..."
As I loudly recited the incantation to open the celestial eye, a thin mist seemed to rise in front of Li Xinrui's eyes. In the hazy mist, a water - soaked and pale face gradually emerged. Wang Fang stared at her with wide - open eyes, almost touching Li Xinrui's nose.
"Ah——!!!"
An uncontrollable scream came out of Li Xinrui's mouth. "Sister Fang! Sister Fang!! Why are you still here?! Help!!"
She grabbed my arm incoherently and hid behind me. "Du Xinghe, save me. I don't want to see her!"
"If you don't want others to know, don't do it."
I coldly stepped aside. "The moment you lit the incense, you sold your soul to the evil ghost of desire."
"No!! It's all Yang Fan's fault! He threatened me! If I didn't do it, he would..."
Li Xinrui still tried to argue. Since Yang Fan wasn't here now, she could shift all the blame onto him. If Wang Fang wanted revenge, she could just go after the one who came up with the idea! She was just a small follower who had only been a bit greedy for money and made some false accounts!
At this moment, Wang Fang had climbed onto Li Xinrui's back. Her water - soaked hair fell on Li Xinrui's head. She opened her mouth, and countless streams of water flowed out, sliding down Li Xinrui's head and face. The bone - chilling cold made her teeth chatter. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry... I'll never dare again!!"
Li Xinrui's shrill plea didn't gain Wang Fang's forgiveness. With a ferocious face, Wang Fang pried open Li Xinrui's mouth...