Chapter 36: The True Colors Revealed

Just as Ma Wenwen finished speaking, Butler Ma regained his composure. He touched a spot on his chest, took a deep breath, and the unease in his eyes was replaced by a manic glint.

He kept his head lowered to hide his expression, leaning sideways against the heavy wooden door. The moment the last person, Xiao Zhang, stepped into the room—

"BANG!!!"

A dull, thudding sound that seemed to stop everyone's heart echoed through the space!

That heavy wooden door, plastered with yellow paper talismans, was slammed shut by Butler Ma with brutal force. The sheer impact shook dust from the doorframe in a cascading flurry. Simultaneously, it cut off the last sliver of light from the hallway, sealing everyone inside in a suffocating, deathly silence.

"Ah—!"

The thunderous slam sent Boss Hu, already on edge, into a state of sheer terror. He let out a high-pitched, distorted scream. "Who?! Who closed the door?! Old Ma, what the hell are you doing? Can’t you be a bit gentler?!"

In the darkness, no one replied.

Only the sound of uneven, ragged breathing filled the room. A few seconds later, a cold beam from a flashlight cut through the dark. Like a spotlight on a stage, it landed precisely on Butler Ma’s expressionless face.

He had donned a pair of thin black leather gloves at some point and was meticulously smoothing out the final crease on them.

The beam shifted slowly, illuminating Hou Kui, who stood beside the butler.

The hulking, bald man no longer wore his usual look of simple-mindedness or ferocity; his face was twisted into an undisguised, naked grin. He, too, was leisurely putting on a matching pair of black gloves, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists like a beast preparing to tear its prey apart.

"Old Ma? Hou Kui? Master Ma is in the middle of a ritual, and you two are standing there glaring and grinning? What are you doing? Turn on the lights, don't interfere with the rite for my father..."

Boss Hu, failing to grasp the situation, pushed past Le Dong, whose expression had drastically changed, and spoke with irritation.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

Butler Ma’s cold, lifeless laughter echoed through the pitch-black, death-scented funeral hall like a serpent flicking its tongue. Once the laughter subsided, his next words carried the cruel, vindictive satisfaction of someone who had finally dropped their mask:

"Boss, at this stage, stop worrying about your dead-as-a-doornail father... You’d better start worrying about yourself."

As soon as these words left his mouth, the color drained from Boss Hu’s face, leaving it as pale as paper.

He stared in horror at Butler Ma, then at the grinning Hou Kui, and finally scanned the endless darkness surrounding Le Dong and Cai Kun. His body instinctively recoiled.

"O-Old Ma?! W-what do you mean?!" Boss Hu’s voice trembled violently as he huddled between Le Dong and the others.

"What do I mean?"

Butler Ma’s lips curled into a grotesque smile. There was no trace of his usual subservience, only the bone-deep resentment suppressed for decades and a near-maniacal glee.

"It means that your good days, Hu Xiansheng, are over!"

He stepped forward, the flashlight beam swaying to illuminate his twitching, excited cheeks. "Do you remember the Baoding Bridge thirty years ago? Remember the family of three by the bridge?!"

At these words, Boss Hu seemed to recall something, and his gaze toward Butler Ma turned one of utter disbelief.

"Heh, that’s right. I’m that wretch you broke the legs of and threw into the river. I’m the loser whose wife you snatched away. I’m the father you cursed as a mongrel! You’ve likely forgotten—after all, drowning one person, stealing a woman, and discarding a child meant nothing to you. You just threw money at it; no one would blame or punish you..."

Veins bulged on Butler Ma’s forehead, every word dripping with blood and tears as he spat them onto the stunned face of Boss Hu.

"You didn't expect me to survive, did you? To work like an ox for your Hu family for decades, living like a shadow in the wake of you and your dead father! Watching Yufen bear your children, watching your family live in luxury—while I? What about my son? We lived like rats in the sewers!! Why?!"

His voice rose sharply, piercing and shrill, echoing through the cramped hall until it made their eardrums ache.

Boss Hu was paralyzed by the madness in the butler's eyes, his lips quivering as he failed to utter a single word.

"You used money to kill me once; I wonder what price you'll offer today?" Butler Ma sneered. As the flashlight swept over Le Dong, Cai Kun, and the weak, gasping Ma Wenwen on the floor, he couldn't help but mock them.

"Heh, Hu Xiansheng, look at them. They are all here because of you. I can't help but laugh when I think about you arranging a ghost marriage for your son..."

Butler Ma covered his mouth, shoulders shaking with exaggerated laughter, seemingly desperate to vent years of repressed emotion.

"Do you know how your son and daughter-in-law died? I strangled them with my own hands. I even peeled the skin off your daughter-in-law’s face and wore it to scare you, you beast who violated your own daughter-in-law! Hahaha..."

"It’s just… their vengeful spirits actually appeared. I owe that old fortune-teller from the vegetable market. You might not know him, but you’ll recognize him by another name—Master Zhao! I hired him with a hundred thousand yuan to help me trick you... 'A ghost marriage to appease the resentment of your son and daughter-in-law'? Pfft!"

Butler Ma spat on the floor and pointed at Le Dong and Cai Kun.

"That was just to give their resentment a place to go so they wouldn't interfere with my plans! And, by the way... once the resentment of that bastard Hu Dawei and his wife drains these two dry, not only will their spirits surrender to me, but these two will make perfect scapegoats!"

He turned to Boss Hu, ignoring the shock and fury on Le Dong and Cai Kun’s faces, and roared with laughter.

"Hahaha, think about it: a gambler and a desperate man crushed by his son's medical bills, killing you for money—isn't it logical? The police will believe it!"

He grinned, the flashlight beam finally settling on Le Dong’s face. His eyes were like poisoned ice picks. "Tsk, tsk, but you, Le Dong, are just too meddlesome. Not only did you ruin my plans, but you crawled like a rat into places you shouldn't have..."

Le Dong’s heart sank to the bottom of a well.

Indeed! The old fox had known all along! His own desperate hopes seemed laughable now.

"Originally, I wanted to wait. I wanted to wait until my son appeared 'just in time' with the police..." Butler Ma’s voice suddenly turned cold, filled with a viciousness born of total irritation.

"Too bad, a traffic jam on Yingbin Road? A suspected drug dealer sighting? Heh... Le Dong, this was your doing, wasn't it?"

Every word made Le Dong feel a chill creeping up his spine. This old monster saw everything!

"Plans never keep up with changes."

Butler Ma took a deep breath, his face returning to that cold, calculating state of total control. "Since the witnesses can't come, the scapegoats are no longer obedient, and the spirits of Hu Dawei and his wife have been beaten half-to-death by this blind kid next to you... you are all useless to me now."

He glanced dismissively at Ma Wenwen. "Then, how about... you all just die now."

"You... what do you want to do?!" Boss Hu finally found his voice, screaming in despair. "Old Ma! I’ve treated you well all these years! Do you want money? Gold bars? I’ll give you everything! Take it all!"

"Money?" Butler Ma laughed a low, bone-chilling laugh, as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. "The price you offer... is too vulgar!"

"Do it! Send them on their way!"

Butler Ma’s two sharp commands followed one another in quick succession. His triangular eyes, like a viper fixated on its prey, locked onto Le Dong and the others.