After being forced into a marriage of convenience, a master of metaphysics manipulates a cold and al

The two people in the photo and the portrait are very different in age and appearance.

But Ye Bai was basically certain that the two people were definitely the same person.

It's perfectly normal for people to change age, since the photo is from over a decade ago.

Changing one's appearance is even simpler; whether it's disguise or plastic surgery, it can be done easily.

Only the eyes are something that is very difficult to change.

Now, the only thing Ye Bai needs to do is ask Song Fuling if the man in the photo is indeed Qi Shang.

If Qi Shang really is Shang Sanning, the third member of the "Five Scoundrels," then many things can be explained.

For example, the strange man in black robes who appeared by Song Fuling's bedside in her "dream," and Hua Zhenghao's murder.

Shang Sanning's strength is no less than Lu Sita's, and killing an ordinary person with his internal force would be a piece of cake for him.

The reason for killing Hua Zhenghao is quite simple. According to their previous conversation, Director Hua clearly knew Qi Shang and had even seen him not long ago.

Whether it was to silence him or to prevent him from having his woman, Qi Shang had every reason to kill Hua Zhenghao.

As expected, Ye Bai was right.

When he showed the photo to Song Fuling and asked if Hua Shang was in it, she pointed to the man on the far right and gritted her teeth, saying, "That's the beast!"

According to Song Fuling, the three young men in the photo were all children she grew up with, classmates from kindergarten all the way through high school.

They are childhood friends in every sense of the word.

Among them, Song Fuling and Hua Shang had the best relationship, and could even be described as childhood sweethearts.

Perhaps because they were too familiar with each other, they never managed to develop a romantic relationship.

After the college entrance examination, the fates of the four people began to change in different ways.

Song Fuling and her two childhood friends all got into their desired universities, but Hua Shang failed the exam.

Then, there were many years of no news from them.

When Song Fuling saw him again, it was when she had become the deputy director of the Department of Herbal Medicine at the medical school.

Although they hadn't seen each other for many years, and Qi Shang's appearance had changed dramatically compared to before, their childhood friendship remained, and the two quickly regained their familiarity.

Song Fuling was overjoyed. Over the years, her reputation for bringing bad luck to men had spread far and wide, and her two childhood friends were terrified of her, avoiding her at all costs, and had long since lost contact with her.

Although Song Fuling had come to terms with reality and no longer longed for love, she still desired friendship.

Qi Shang's sudden return instantly filled this void.

So it wasn't long before the two became as close as one person, and Qi Shang became Song Fuling's best male friend with whom she could talk about anything.

It wasn't until the tragedy occurred that she truly saw the other person's true colors...

Listening to Song Fuling finish speaking with reddened eyes, Ye Bai's lips twitched, realizing that this Director Song was quite naive.

How can there be pure friendship between a man and a woman?

They either lust after the other person's body, or they covet their money, or both.

This is also why Ye Bai has never understood why such a peculiar creature as a "male best friend" could exist.

Song Fuling is over thirty years old, yet she still believes in such childish things, which is truly speechless.

Because Qi Shang was mentioned, the atmosphere at the meal was noticeably tense.

Song Fuling barely touched her chopsticks; she really had no appetite.

Seeing that even her own boss wasn't eating, the timid Jiang Ai dared not eat anymore, only taking two bites of vegetables and eating a small half bowl of rice.

Only Ye Bai and Shen Lu, these two foodies, one big and one small, seem to never have a bad appetite.

In addition, the food cooked by Song Fuling and Jiang Nuai was really delicious, so almost all the dishes on the table ended up in their stomachs.

Looking at Shen Lu's blissful face and her big, starry eyes, she was practically shaking Ye Bai's hand and saying, "Young master, let's come over for meals more often, okay?"

Ye Bai patted the little girl's head and gave her an approving look.

In terms of culinary skills, Song Fuling and Jiang Nuai certainly couldn't compare to the private chefs at the Qin family's old residence who catered state banquets.

But just like a grand meal has its own deliciousness and a snack has its own unique characteristics, foodies don't make choices; they want them all.

Therefore, it's perfectly necessary to come to Song Fuling's place for a meal whenever you have the chance.

After eating and drinking their fill, Song Fuling took Ye Bai to the bedroom where the statue with the animal body and human head was located.

Because it was still uncertain whether this thing was truly suppressing or disrupting the feng shui, Song Fuling dared not take it out lightly.

According to the old man, the efficacy of this thing would be greatly reduced if it were moved.

Song Fuling's bedroom was very clean and had a pleasant fragrance. Ye Bai didn't see any seductive lingerie or similar items lying around.

"The material is exactly the same..."

Ye Bai leaned closer and examined it carefully.

The animal-bodied human-headed statue is not large, about 20 centimeters tall, and is made entirely of bronze.

In many places, there is also copper rust, which makes it look like it's been around for a long time.

However, the counterfeiting techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated every year. Those so-called Eastern Zhou and Western Zhou goods are basically from last week.

Leaving aside others, the bronze key that Feng Tianji helped Ye Bai replicate was so realistic that it was indistinguishable from the real thing.

Therefore, these so-called bronze artifacts are most likely fake.

If it's genuine, those guys wouldn't need to waste their time on Song Fuling; they could just find a way to sell it.

Bronze artifacts have always been hailed as national treasures, and their value is self-evident.

But Ye Bai had to admit that even if it was fake, the forgery technique was extremely sophisticated.

Even he couldn't tell the difference between the real and the fake; he was at least on par with Feng Tianji.

The bronze statue's animal body is not a wild beast, but a snake.

Layer upon layer, coiled up, eventually forming a human head at the top.

Compared to the snake's body, the human head looks even more bizarre.

The face was not only somewhat distorted, but also wore a very eerie smile.

Especially those eyes; they were clearly just inanimate sculptures, yet they seemed to move.

No matter what angle you are in, you can vaguely feel that you are being watched by the eyes of this statue.

On the forehead of the statue was a black fish Bagua diagram that Ye Bai was familiar with.

The pattern on the black fish Bagua mirror and the incense burner in Chen Jingmei's Buddhist temple is exactly the same.

This confirmed Ye Bai's suspicion that the three items were together and belonged to the same batch of artifacts.

Adding the one that Little Peach's mother, Qu Yunting, is holding, that makes a total of four items.

Whether there are any more, Ye Bai doesn't know for the time being.

However, judging from the fact that Qi Shang is Shang Sanning, this thing is probably inseparable from the scum of the Xuanmen.

But strangely enough, this leader of the Xuanmen sect was unaware of this information.

"Teacher Xiao Ye, is this... this feng shui talisman helping me or harming me?"

Seeing Ye Bai standing there with his expression constantly changing but remaining silent, Song Fuling began to feel nervous.