I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

"It's dawn. I'm afraid the Village Chief will come right over."

As if to verify Zhou Ting's words, no sooner had he spoken than there was a knock on the door outside. The voice of the old Village Chief rang out, "Gentlemen officers, it's morning. Did you sleep well last night?"

Inside the house, Tian Lin and the others exchanged glances.

Mei Xiangu couldn't help but say, "Do you think this old man is testing us? Maybe the old watchman has already told him about 'Wang Yuanji's' disappearance, so now he's here to search for people."

Once Mei Xiangu finished speaking, the female True Disciple beside her immediately disagreed, "Apart from killing, Evil Spirits don't think that much. You're overthinking it."

In terms of stance, Zhou Ting would certainly stand by the female True Disciple, as he wasn't familiar with Mei Xiangu.

But this time, he agreed with Mei Xiangu, saying:

"The old Village Chief's cultivation is lesser than a Nascent Soul. Such Evil Spirits cannot be judged by common logic. I think most of the villagers in this village have spiritual intelligence."

The female True Disciple remained unconvinced and couldn't help but sneer, "If these villagers truly had wisdom, how could they not recognize that we're not officers? If they really could think, they wouldn't need to pretend with us; they could just kill us outright. Why bother with such intricate tricks?"

Zhou Ting shook his head:

"You can't say that. These Evil Spirits are born of grievances and die of resentment. They are incarnations of resentment; unless they become Ghost Immortals, they can't escape this karmic curse. So they can't kill randomly. As long as we understand their rules of conduct, not only can we avoid death, but we can even kill them."

Seeing that the female True Disciple was still unconvinced, Zhou Ting smiled and said:

"Of course, these are just my guesses. Even if what I say is true, figuring out their rules of conduct, finding out what they avoid and fear, is not a difficult task."

Mei Xiangu, already tired of his lengthy speech, said simply, "So what now, do we open the door outside or not?"

This question was somewhat redundant because the banging on the door was getting louder, clearly showing that even if they didn't open it, they couldn't escape having it forced open.

"The door should be opened, and we can use our 'officer' identities to order them not to search the house, just like Brother Tian dealt with that old watchman last night.

But once the door is opened, if the old Village Chief invites us to see the mummified corpses again, we shouldn't all go with him. We should split into three groups: one to follow the Village Chief to avoid angering him,

one to search the village for useful information,

and another to stay in the house as a precaution."

After Zhou Ting finished speaking, he looked at Tian Lin and Mei Xiangu and others.

Tian Lin said, "Those Evil Spirits first addressed me and Brother Zhou as officers, indicating that our identities as officers are confirmed. Of the remaining six people, Junior Sister Wang Yuanji is undoubtedly unrobed—"

He continued, "Brother Zhou and I can split into two groups, striving to ensure that each of the three groups has someone with the identity of an officer! I think ensuring unrobed individuals' safety depends on having an officer by their side.

Historically, apart from major criminals, how would petty crooks dare to commit crimes in front of officers?"

Zhou Ting nodded and said, "One of us will stay here with Junior Sister Wang Yuanji, while the other goes with Miss Mei to see the old Village Chief, and the rest go to the village to gather clues."

Tian Lin smiled, "Brother's arrangement is indeed proper, ensuring that every team has an 'officer.'

Alright, I'll take Senior Sister Mei to see the Village Chief."

Mei Xiangu objected, "No, meeting the old Village Chief is the most dangerous task. Why are we the ones to go?"

Zhou Ting then said, "Then let me take Miss Wang to see the old Village Chief, and Brother Tian can stay here with Junior Sister Wang Yuanji."

Among the eight people, there are a total of four with officer identities, with Tian Lin and Zhou Ting occupying two spots, leaving two among the remaining six people.

Since each of the three groups must have one 'officer,' and without knowing who the other two officers are, to play it safe, Tian Lin and Zhou Ting must be separated.

Between the remaining six, Wang Yuanji is confirmed unrobed. So among the remaining five, there are two officers.

No matter who is picked alone from these five, there must be at least one officer among the remaining four.

Thus, Tian Lin praised Zhou Ting's strategy as excellent.

But as Mei Xiangu said, meeting the old Village Chief is extremely dangerous, at least on the surface.

"Why take Wang Yanyu; can't you pick someone from your side?"

Zhou Ting replied, "What Mei Junior Sister said is unreasonable. Since you don't want to pick all of your people to see the Village Chief, for fairness, there should be one from each side. If you don't want me to take Miss Wang to the Village Chief, then let me take you to the Village Chief."

Mei Xiangu was momentarily speechless because Zhou Ting's words made much sense.

To see the old Village Chief, either Tian Lin or Zhou Ting must go with one of them.

Either Zhou Ting takes her or Wang Yanyu, or Tian Lin takes her and Wang Yanyu.

And if Tian Lin goes to the old Village Chief's house, it makes little difference whether she goes or not. Because if Tian Lin finds himself in trouble, she would be implicated anyway.

"Let me go with Brother Zhou to see the old Village Chief."

At this moment, Wang Yanyu spoke up, but Mei Xiangu refused, "Nonsense, I'm not someone afraid of dying. Let me and Tian Lin go."

After a brief thought, she decisively said.

Meanwhile, the door latch had already been broken off.

Tian Lin had made up his mind, walked to the door, looked at the old Village Chief and others breaking in, and said, "You want to see someone, don't you know how to knock?"

The sinister-faced old Village Chief was momentarily stunned by Tian Lin's words and only recovered after a while, saying, "Replying to the officer, we've been knocking on the door for quite a while."

Tian Lin said, "Did you knock? Why didn't we hear it?"

His unreasonable demeanor left not only the old Village Chief, this Evil Spirit, speechless but also stunned his own people inside the house.

Before the old Village Chief could respond, Tian Lin took the initiative, "Alright, what do you need from us?"

The old Village Chief seemed to finally remember his business and immediately said, "I'm here to invite the officers to come and inspect the mummified corpses."

Tian Lin said, "This is easy. You lead the way, and I'll go with her!"

He gestured toward Mei Xiangu, and the old Village Chief took a look at Mei Xiangu before saying, "What about the other officers?"

Tian Lin replied, "The other officers are tired and wish to rest in the house; you don't need to worry about them. Why, does inspecting mummified corpses require everyone to come?"

It seemed that Tian Lin's 'officer authority' was so imposing that even this Nascent Soul-level Evil Spirit didn't dare to argue. He quickly nodded and bowed, then led Tian Lin and Mei Xiangu out of the courtyard.

Not only was his attitude humble, but all the villagers in the village avoided looking at Tian Lin. These people didn't seem like Golden Core or Nascent Soul Evil Spirits,

Being afraid of officials when alive, and still afraid of officials after dying, it was unclear what they feared.