সবাই মারা গেছে।
«যarks be told, your boy's sword is way too fast,» Hu Xiong said. «I hadn't even exerted my strength yet, and you had already slaughtered it.»
Li Changqing gave him a sidelong glance. It was fortunate that he had arrived in time; otherwise, that fellow would have escaped.
«Alright, notify the bureau's people to come and process the scene,» Bai Chuan stepped forward and said.
Hu Xiong chuckled and said, «Shall we find somewhere to grab a drink? To celebrate?»
With Li Guangxu eliminated, Li Changqing had finally gotten rid of a thorn in his side.
After notifying the staff of the Thirty-Sixth Bureau, the three of them drove back to Nanlin City. However, at this hour, where could one possibly find an establishment open for drinks?
Upon arriving at Li Changqing's detective agency, the three of them were reluctant to disturb Tang Xiaoyu's rest.
So Hu Xiong took to the kitchen and whipped up three bowls of egg fried rice.
Outside, the sky was gradually beginning to grow dimly bright.
While eating his egg fried rice, Li Changqing remained silent. He was pondering a problem: Li Guangxu had been taken care of, but how on earth was he supposed to neutralize the threat that Lan Qiqi posed?
Although he had temporarily managed to placate Lan Qiqi, it had only occurred to him afterwards that Lan Qiqi was, for heaven's sake, a witch who spent her days researching all sorts of concoctions.
If he were to pass off nourishing tonics as poison again next time, would he still be able to fool her?
«Looking so glum, aren't you happy about getting rid of Li Guangxu?» Hu Xiong shot Li Changqing a smiling, sideways glance.
Li Changqing shook his head. Holding his bowl of egg fried rice, he walked over to sit on the sofa and said, «I was just thinking—the Li Guangxu we eliminated was a demon without any backing. What if the enemies we encounter next have powerful backing behind them?»
«Well, that depends on what kind of powerful backing we are talking about,» Hu Xiong replied upon hearing this.
«For instance, what about someone on the level of the Snow Mountain Corpse King?» Li Changqing asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Hu Xiong pondered for a moment and said, «The Snow Mountain Corpse King and its kind generally reside deep within the northern Great Snow Mountains. Although it has gathered a bunch of demons under its wing, it rarely leaves that massive snowy peak. If we were to truly run into its subordinates, killing them is no big deal. After all, we are the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, one of the premier forces around—are we really going to fear a mere Snow Mountain Corpse King?»
«Then what if, after eliminating the Snow Mountain Corpse King's subordinates, it comes looking for us to exact revenge?» Li Changqing pressed on.
«Simple, we just go hide at the headquarters. The security system at our headquarters is extremely robust. Unless it's super-demons of the caliber of the Three Demons and Four Fiends making a forced entry, anyone of the Corpse King's tier would basically be walking right into a death trap if they tried to attack our headquarters,» Hu Xiong said dismissively, well aware of just how formidable the headquarters' defense grid was.
Furthermore, headquarters was backed by a veritable congregation of formidable experts.
Right at that moment, Hu Xiong's cell phone suddenly rang.
«It's almost morning, who on earth is calling?» Hu Xiong muttered in bewilderment as he picked up his phone. Upon checking the screen, he saw it was a call from Zhang Guichuan.
For the bureau chief to call at this hour meant there was likely an urgent matter at hand. He hastily pressed answer.
After listening to the call, however, his complexion underwent a drastic change.
With a sharp snap, the phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
Bai Chuan and Li Changqing looked at Hu Xiong's expression with a sense of astonishment.
«What happened?»
Hu Xiong stammered, «The, the, the members of the First Squad... they're all dead.»
«What?»
Bai Chuan instantly sprang to his feet from his chair.
Hu Xiong clenched his fists slightly and said, «Their corpses were all drained dry, frozen solid, and delivered right to the front gates of Mingzheng Orphanage.»
This was nothing short of a blatant, unadulterated provocation directed at their Thirty-Sixth Bureau.
Hu Xiong clenched his teeth tightly. Qin Shenggen was a few years older than him and had also graduated from the formal training pipelines of the General Investigation Bureau. When he had first arrived in Nanlin City, he had received a great deal of care and guidance from Qin Shenggen.
The two of them had always enjoyed a good relationship.
«Let's go, hurry back and take a look.»
The three of them rushed back to Mingzheng Orphanage without delay.
By this time, the sky was already growing faintly pale with dawn.
In front of the gates of Mingzheng Orphanage, five corpses lay laid out, each covered with a white cloth.
Zhang Guichuan and all the staff members of the Thirty-Sixth Bureau had already assembled. On every face hung an uncontainable fury, mingled with a sliver of terror.
Qin Shenggen was a seasoned veteran of combat; if he had sensed that something was amiss, retreating or making a getaway would not have been difficult for him.
What was more, given the combined might of these five individuals, what sort of malevolent entity could have killed them all without even allowing them a chance to send out a distress signal?
«Chief.»
As soon as the three of them arrived, Hu Xiong immediately stepped forward and lifted the white cloth off Qin Shenggen, gazing at his fallen comrade whose eyes remained wide open in death, staring fixedly at the sky with lingering grievance.
Hu Xiong slightly tightened his fists, grinding his teeth as he murmured, «Old Qin.»
«Last night, Qin Shenggen reported to me that there was a breakthrough regarding the previous case at the Yinlin Business District, and went out to investigate.»
«And then, this morning, all of their corpses ended up right here.»
Li Changqing, standing nearby, stepped forward and asked, «What about the clues?»
«Currently, it's still unclear,» Zhang Guichuan replied, shaking his head. He drew a deep breath and continued, «I'm afraid they've already been destroyed by the malevolent entity that killed them.»
«Bastards,» Hu Xiong muttered, landing a vicious punch against the adjacent wall, cracking the masonry with the force of his blow.
«I have already reported this matter to the General Bureau,» Zhang Guichuan stated calmly. «I've applied for reinforcements. Relying solely on our own localized strength to handle this will likely prove exceedingly difficult.»
«I want to investigate it first,» Hu Xiong said through gritted teeth.
Zhang Guichuan furrowed his brows slightly. «Hu Xiong, I know your relationship with Qin Shenggen has always been close, but this is not the time for you to act recklessly. Until instructions come down from the General Bureau regarding this case, no one is allowed to touch it, understand?»
By this time, Li Changqing had also caught a distinct whiff of danger lingering around this incident.
Qin Shenggen and those other four had all successfully passed the rigorous examinations of the Cultivation Forest, and among them was an old hand like Qin Shenggen himself.
«Go back for now and get some proper rest. You both worked hard handling Li Guangxu last night,» Zhang Guichuan said with a heavy sigh.
Li Changqing had no choice but to head home to rest for the time being; after all, there were currently no leads whatsoever regarding the case.
...
On the bustling streets of the Yinlin Business District, Hu Xiong was in low spirits. He sat alone on a bench along the pavement, waiting quietly.
Not long after, the figure of Zi Yanran appeared. A radiant smile graced her features as she asked, «Mr. Hu, have you been waiting long?»
«No, I just got here myself,» Hu Xiong said as he rose to his feet, a heavy exhaustion evident on his face.
He hadn't rested at all; instead, remembering his promise to accompany Zi Yanran on a shopping trip today, he had rushed over in a hurry.
«You look like you haven't gotten enough rest, and your mood doesn't seem particularly good either?» Zi Yanran asked, clasping her hands behind her back with a puzzled look. «Would you rather go back and rest for a while, and we can reschedule for another day?»
«No need,» Hu Xiong waved his hand dismissively. «I was feeling a bit restless anyway; taking a stroll with Miss Yanran might just make me feel better.»
The two of them set off, wandering through the shops and stalls of the Yinlin Business District.
Walking beside Hu Xiong, Zi Yanran seemed far more relaxed and at ease than before, the smile on her face blooming with added warmth.
«Mr. Hu, I wonder what could possibly be troubling you so deeply as to ruin your mood like this?» Zi Yanran asked with a soft smile as she paced alongside him.
Hu Xiong had originally intended to keep it to himself, but walking side by side with Zi Yanran inexplicably stirred within him an irresistible urge to pour out his troubled heart.