A Good-for-Nothing

173. I Found You (1)

Translator: Dragon Rider

The mood in the office went grave at Li Zong’s words.

Zu Zhichong’s oily smile disappeared, and all the others had stupefied expressions in their eyes.

This was something the likes of which they’d never heard of before.

How could someone already dead retain their mobility walking around like a zombie without showing any signs of abnormality?

“Nobody noticed anything weird about them on their way back?”

“The receptionist of the hotel and the screeners of the railway station gave us the same reply.” Li Zong briefly paused before continuing, “There was nothing unusual about the three students who died afterwards, except for their pallid complexion, and according to them, Wang Dong conversed with them in a normal manner.”

“Staff members of the sub-bureau in Hang City also went there to check, and nothing suspicious was found in the surveillance video.”

“What about the student named Wang Dong? Is there any chance of getting some information from him?” Zhen Ni couldn’t help asking.

“Wang Dong is incapable of normal communication owing to his poor mental state.”

All others furrowed their brows, and then Li Zong’s next remark raised their spirits.

“I checked the logbooks of our bureau and found that the only case similar to this one was over forty years ago.”

The others listened with rapt attention.

“The records of that case are rather vague. Eventually I asked Director Zhen, and he told me that the murderer was the Human Devil.”

“Who’s the Human Devil, Chief?”

It hadn’t really been long since Zu Zhichong had joined the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB), so there were indeed many things that he had little knowledge of.

Xiang Hailou’s face was very grim. In fact, of all the people present, Li Zong was the only one well acquainted with the Human Devil’s deeds. The others only knew that the Human Devil had been active before the Special Talents Training Program (STTP) had started, probably around the time when SMB had been fighting an all-out war against the Demon King.

The Human Devil had been born out of the greed of the human race, and he was imperishable as long as the avarice of mankind existed. Some said that back then the Human Devil had been wounded by a powerful exorcist and thus had had no choice but to go into hiding to nurse his injury, but afterwards there had been a consensus among all staff members of SMB that the reason why the Human Devil had gone underground and ceased to make trouble was because he didn’t possess the same skill as the Demon King’s and was unable to avoid being purged by the Divine Law.

“So far, there’s been no confirmed, specific explanation for the Human Devil’s disappearance. Mr. Zhen has read the records of this case and said that the culprit’s modus operandi bears a striking similarity to that of the Human Devil, but he couldn’t say for sure that it was the Human Devil who did this. My suggestion is that we split up into two teams. One team goes to back up Zhang Jingqiu, and the other goes to Hang City to look into this case.”

Xiang Hailou disagreed. “If we do that, there’ll be nobody left in the headquarter. At least one group leader has to stay here.”

This was also what Li Zong had misgivings about.

“Besides, currently every action group is short-handed.”

Zu Zhichong had a sudden flash of inspiration. “Chief, Group Leader Xiang, this year’s interview for STTP is over, isn’t it? Although there’re still a lot of things they need to work on, they should have no problem helping Zhang Jingqiu look for obscure sects in the south-west. I mean, that’s a task of toil anyway. It’s all about journeying around, and anybody could do it! Group Leader Xiang may stay in the headquarter.”

Face wreathed in smiles, he added, “As for the trip to Hang City, given that we’re not certain whether or not it was the Human Devil who did it, I suggest the couple of outstanding ones in this year’s trainees and the rest of the crack agents – I, for example – accompany Chief to that city.”

All others appeared to be bursting to say “You wily old fox.”

Xiang Hailou looked at Li Zong. “I think Zu Zhichong’s suggestion is workable.”

Li Zong frowned. “All right.”

Zu Zhichong instantly perked up. “Then it’s settled, Chief. I’m going to Hang City with you!”

Although there was a chance the murderer in that case which had happened in Hang City was indeed the Human Devil who hadn’t appeared for many years, and they might encounter life-threatening dangers during the investigation, it still seemed a better choice than laboring around day after day in Mount Wushan.

Zu Zhichong’s calculation was quite shrewd, but Li Zong’s arrangements dashed his hopes. “Director General Zong and Mr. Zhen will both be staying here for the duration. As the task in Hang City is rather dangerous, I’ll go and handle it. Zhang Jingqiu, you and Liu Jing are to rendezvous with Zhang Jingqiu.”

Zu Zhichong, “…”

The smile on his face froze.

Li Zong moved his eyes towards Liu Jing, the deputy group leader of the third action group, and said, “I’m sending you there not because they need more laborers. There are a lot of Earth Spirits in Mount Wushan, which have been troubling Zhang Jingqiu and his men, so I need you to go and offer them some help.”

Liu Jing nodded. “I understand.”

Xiang Hailou said, “This is indeed the best plan. Your powers are greater than mine, and you have a better chance of overpowering the Human Devil if by any chance he’s indeed the culprit and shows up there again.”

Then he turned to Liu Jing. “Take Wei Cheng to the south-west with you. He’s relatively poised.”

Li Zong could tell that Xiang Hailou wanted to lick Wei Cheng into shape, which was why he’d been trying to create opportunities for Wei Cheng to get more acquainted with members of the third action group. Actually, in principle staff members of SMB were not allowed to co-opt STTP trainees this way, for after all, every year only a couple of trainees would be deemed outstanding, and after the results of the final test came out, each of them would be given a free choice between the three action groups. Only in exceptional circumstances would SMB designate an outstanding trainee to a particular group.

But Wei Cheng’s going to the south-west didn’t really matter much, so Li Zong kept silent about it.

“Chief, I have an objection. I want to go to Hang City with you!” Zu Zhichong almost burst into tears.

“Tun Shanhai has been having little to do lately. He’s not very happy and rather slack, but his abilities could be quite helpful in looking for obscure sects, so I want you to go to the south-west with him. Hopefully he’ll feel better there.”

Zu Zhichong, “…”

‘Am I that cat’s pet or something?’

Zu Zhichong began to have a strong doubt about his role in this group.

All arrangements made, they left the office without more ado heading back to make preparations in the knowledge that the sooner they got ready to depart, the better.

Xiang Hailou was the last to walk out. Before closing the door, he vaguely heard Li Zong talking with Zhao Yidi on the phone, as if asking for a favor…