"You are Xue Qiuqiu," Lao Fu suddenly said. Everyone froze in pce. Lao Fu saw the confusion on their faces, so he continued, "We can be Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai, so Xue Qiuqiu could naturally become Xiao Xiang." He believed that he didn′t need to expin further; everyone would understand. Since Xue Qiuqiu could make face masks for Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai, she could surely make one for Xiao Xiang as well.

  Everyone understood.

  "Was it for revenge?" Lao Fu asked.

  "Yes! It was for my dead husband and those two friends!" Xiao Xiang's eyes fshed with a burst of rage. She widened her eyes and said angrily, "Back then, when they saw you being killed by Master Xu Neng, they helped you out of sympathy, but you killed them!" At this point, Xiao Xiang started to pant heavily, and a tear filled with hatred rolled down her cheek.

  "You've been poisoning the pickled vegetables every time, always thinking of how to kill me," Lao Fu said with a bitter smile. He knew that the real Lao Fu had died by his own hands.

  "That was just a way to vent. The more I did that, the more you trusted me, because you knew I couldn't really poison you, so you'd let me show you the poison," Xiao Xiang said.

  She was right. Lao Fu had to admit that he never suspected her.

  "So, you arranged all of this for revenge?" Xu Mama asked.

  "Exactly. That day, when the account book was exchanged, I found out from Lao Fu about the old dy sending a female corpse. I knew the opportunity had come, and I decided to use it to carry out my pn!" Xiao Xiang said.

  "The corpse in the coffin was Xiao Xiang's!" Xu Mama didn't understand the reasoning behind it.

  "I think that corpse was Xiao Xiang's," Mo Bai looked at Xiao Xiang with a disappointed expression in his eyes and said, "Xiao Xiang actually died the day Xiao Xiang died, and the person who has been alive all this time is someone who has become Xiao Xiang."

  "Exactly, I have always been Xiao Xiang," Xiao Xiang smiled.

  "Your pn must have been in the works for a long time, right?" Lao Fu suddenly thought of the bck account book.

  Xiao Xiang gnced at Lao Fu and smiled, "You're smart, indeed. That account book was something I tampered with. Even when I prepared the face masks for you twenty years ago, I had already prepared that account book."

  "Did you kill all those people in the opera troupe?" Mo Bai asked in disbelief. He never imagined that such a frail and delicate woman back then could be so ruthless.

  "That's right, to avenge my husband and friends, I'll do anything!" Xiao Xiang said fiercely.

  "That letter was written by you, wasn't it?" The old woman suddenly felt like she had been deceived.

  "Did you pn all of this from the beginning?" Xu Mama asked.

  Xiao Xiang continued to smile.

  "Yi Kong and Er Duo were your accomplices?" Lao Fu thought of them.

  "They were my helpers, raised by me personally," Xiao Xiang replied.

  "Er Duo's appearance was arranged by you, and the Lao Fu and Xiao Xiang we saw in the tailor shop were also disguises of yours. Yi Xian and Yi Jing were killed by Yi Kong at your command. All these haunting events were orchestrated by you. Since Yi Kong is your assistant, who you raised from childhood, it′s only natural that he could mimic your appearance and voice so well. The deaths of Fu Zhuo and Chu Mengjun were also at your hands," Lao Fu said calmly.

  "You're absolutely right; everything was arranged by me," Xiao Xiang smiled again.

  "You lured us here because your husband and friends died in this ancient tower, so you want us to be buried here with them."

  "Yes, I want all of you to die here!" Xiao Xiang's voice suddenly rose by an octave. After saying that, she smiled and slowly retreated from the room, closing the door behind her.

  The smoke grew thicker, and everyone felt their minds starting to go numb, as if they were about to fall into a deep sleep. But it wasn't sleep—it was poison gas...

  Xiao Xiang and Yi Kong stood quietly by the water, watching as Er Duo floated up from the water.

  "Has anyone been here?" Xiao Xiang asked softly.

  "No!" Er Duo answered with certainty, but his heart was filled with doubt. He still didn't understand what had happened back then, nor did he know what connection the woman before him had to those past events. Er Duo believed she would tell him the truth because she had raised him, and their bond was closer than blood.

  Xiao Xiang smiled with satisfaction and said, "We can go retrieve that thing now."

  Everyone had fallen asleep, except for Lao Fu, who sat dumbfounded, leaning against the wall. Because he had mistakenly come to this temple all those years ago and misidentified Master Xu Neng, it had led to such an unfortunate outcome. Lao Fu couldn't help but sigh. Xiao Xiang was dead, Fu Zuo was dead, Chu Mengjun was dead... Suddenly, a shock ran through Lao Fu's heart. No, something was wrong!

  He had become Lao Fu, but Fu Zuo was not his biological son. He was actually Xue Qiuqiu's biological son. Xue Qiuqiu had taken revenge for her husband, but how could she have killed Fu Zuo? How could she have known that Xu Neng had a wife? How could such a weak woman have killed so many people? And what about the needles on the woman's body and the appearance of Lao Fu at the tailor shop? If all of that had been Xue Qiuqiu's doing, how could she have learned such skills?

  Suddenly, Lao Fu seemed to recall something. His mouth dropped open, his hands stretched out, and with all his strength, he shouted:

  "I... I know... I know who you are! You... you're not... Xue..."

  Everything fell into silence. No one could hear the final words Lao Fu tried to say, not even Lao Fu himself.