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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
“The Dual-Faced Phantom can lead to Dissociative Identity Disorder. After merging, it becomes the Dual-Faced Ghost, and its ultimate move is the Cloud Body Clone, which essentially allows one to transform into two. The Trick Shadow Phantom causes physical mutations, and after merging, it turns into the Deceptive Spirit Demon, with its ultimate move being the Phantom Trace, which ignores any attacks for a certain period—uh... you could call this invincibility!” Kong Xuan seemed at a loss for words and gave an example from an Online Game.
One is a clone, and the other is invincible; I was somewhat dumbfounded by the comparison.
“The Dual-Faced, Trick Shadow, Frenzy, Purple Fiend, and Black Shadow are considered low-level Spirits. When they possess a human body, there are obvious symptoms, such as the Red Mark of the Purple Fiend, the transparent body of the Black Shadow, and the physical mutations caused by the Trick Shadow. We can detect these abnormalities immediately to determine if someone is possessed by a Spirit. However, the Devouring Soul is different; it is a high-level Spirit that shows no symptoms when possessing a human body. The possessed person feels no abnormalities,” Kong Xuan said hoarsely. “This Spirit is the most dangerous! Its ultimate move is Devouring Earth. Once successfully merged, it can Devour all necessary energy to grow until it reaches the Pinnacle of God.”
Both Fatty and I fell silent; we had no concept of what the Pinnacle of God was like. However, judging by Kong Xuan's tone and demeanor, it must be quite impressive.
Kong Xuan seemed to have finished his explanation. Just then, the waiter brought our dishes. We opened a beer and toasted together; a refreshing chill spread from our throats down to our bellies—it felt great.
We dug into our food with chopsticks. Fatty chewed on something and mumbled indistinctly, “Kong Xuan, based on what you said, this Devouring Soul should be the leader of this group, right?”
“Not necessarily; being the leader doesn’t mean being the strongest. Take Liu Guan Zhang for example—Liu Bei was just a pretty face but still became the boss. He played with his brains,” Kong Xuan said as he paused his cup at the edge of his soup bowl to signal us to toast again before tilting his head back to finish his beer with a satisfied sigh.
“By the way, how long does it take for this Spirit to merge?” I also finished my drink and refilled Kong Xuan's cup.
“There’s no fixed time; it depends on individual constitution. Some people have weaker constitutions and take less time to merge, while others with stronger constitutions take longer. For instance, if a Spirit were to merge with Fatty here, it would take at least a few years! Hahaha! That body of yours is full of constitution!” Kong Xuan chuckled.
“Damn! Why do you always use me as an example? Can’t you compare it to Ghost Brother instead?” Fatty rolled his eyes and spat.
“After dinner, we should go find Lingfeng. Kong Xuan, you should also connect with Xiao Qingcheng,” I said with a smile as I steered back on topic. “Nan Kong, you two haven’t met yet; it’s time for you to make your appearances.”
Kong Xuan laughed mischievously: “The ones making appearances are all you lackeys! Do you know what strategizing means? The impressive ones are always behind the scenes!”
Hearing this made something flash in my mind as I stared blankly at Kong Xuan while holding my cup.
"What?" Fatty exclaimed, noticing something was off with me.
"I seem to have thought of something but couldn't grasp it," I pondered, then asked Kong Xuan, "What were you saying earlier?"
"You guys are just a bunch of pawns, strategizing behind the scenes, with all the impressive people working in the background," Kong Xuan replied in surprise.
"That's right!" I suddenly had a revelation: "Behind the scenes!"
Fatty and Kong Xuan looked at me with suspicion.
"We've been acting like fools, only knowing to stupidly search for some Mask or Spirit, exhausting ourselves like dogs. But we never considered why these six Spirits are appearing in the form of Masks. Who put these six Spirits into the Masks? And who is sending these Six Masks to the Delivery Van?" Questions flooded my mind: "Why did Liu Xingyu commit suicide? He must have known that losing these Six Masks would have consequences far worse than death. So, who was threatening him?"
Hearing this, Kong Xuan and Fatty nodded in astonishment.
"We can only find out who this person behind the scenes is through Lingfeng. Clearly, the manpower and resources he can mobilize are beyond what we can imagine," I concluded.
I called Lingfeng and shared our findings. After listening, he sharply inhaled. It seemed someone was beside him; I vaguely heard Xiao Qingcheng's voice as he spoke to her for a moment before urging us to hurry to his office.
The three of us quickly finished our meal and took a taxi straight to the Public Security Bureau.
The Star City Public Security Bureau is located next to Citizen Square in Qinghu District. Citizen Square is not only a beautiful sight for the people of Star City but also a landmark for the government office building. To the left of Citizen Square is City Hall, to the right is the Public Security Bureau, in front is Central Park, and behind is Qinghu Avenue. Across Qinghu Avenue is Lingfeng's residential area, Four Seasons Flower City.
The car stopped at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau. We got out and confidently walked inside; the guard glanced at us but did not stop us. It's a ridiculous rule: the more timid and flustered you are, the more likely you are to raise suspicion, leading to registration and questioning, and even physical conflict if things go awry. Conversely, the more confident and imposing you are, the less likely anyone will suspect you. This has been Fatty's and my experience over the years; our aura was strong enough that chewing on a toothpick made us feel like Gambling Gods—this was An Ran's assessment of us.
Lingfeng's office was on the fifth floor. It was lunchtime, so most offices on that floor had their doors closed. When we reached the third office, the door was slightly ajar. I knocked lightly and pushed it open.
The office was large, with two desks positioned one in front of the other. The front desk, which might have belonged to a secretary, was empty, likely vacated by Lingfeng. At the back desk sat two people, Lingfeng and Xiao Qingcheng. When they saw us enter, Lingfeng gestured for us to find a place to sit and joked, "I won't get you water; the drinking machine is over there, and there are disposable cups on top. If you're thirsty, go help yourselves!"
We were all acquaintances, so there was no need for formality. After Fatty closed the door, he dragged a chair over and comfortably sat down, dramatically leaning back and stretching, causing the chair to emit a groan under the strain.
After Kong Xuan introduced herself to Xiao Qingcheng, she proudly pulled out the Yin Yang Essays and handed it to Xiao Qingcheng, saying enthusiastically, "It has information about Spirit in it. Feel free to look; no subscription needed—it's free!"
Xiao Qingcheng glanced at the booklet and her expression changed; she silently began flipping through it.
I didn't bother with that and asked Lingfeng a few questions about the Tang family's connection to the Ling Family. Lingfeng said he wasn't particularly clear on it but was sure that this matter was already in progress.
With that concern lifted, I felt much lighter and smiled at Lingfeng, saying, "From now on, you'll officially be the umbrella for Star City Mafia. Haha! But seriously, what plans do you have regarding tracking down this mastermind?"
Lingfeng replied, "After our call, I immediately contacted relevant personnel for inquiries. The legal representative of that Delivery Van is a woman named Ding Zi. Strangely enough, this shop has been open for almost two years, and all significant matters are basically managed by an employee named Hao Zhitong!"
I was taken aback. "So you're saying this batch of Masks was supplied by Hao Zhitong?"
"No! This batch of Masks was personally ordered by the boss over the phone," Lingfeng said with a snap of his lips. "When I asked her who the boss was, she said she had never even met him. Every month she just summarizes the sales figures and deposits the profits into an account."
"With that account, you should know who this person is?" I felt more confident; isn't tracing leads your specialty as police? With a temple established, how could the monk run away?
"I don't know!" Lingfeng frowned. "No one has ever withdrawn money from that account or made any transfers; it seems like that account exists solely to prove that the shop belongs to her."
Isn't opening a shop meant to make money? And isn't making money meant to be spent? This was the first time I had heard of someone making money and ignoring it on their account.
"The more mysterious it is, the more suspicious it becomes. If we can't figure out who this mastermind is behind the Delivery Van, then Hao Zhitong seems very averse to police; she hung up directly when we called. Heh heh, don't look at me like that; police aren't as intimidating as you think. So I believe it's better to privately ask that employee rather than sending officers to investigate formally; we might not get anything valuable that way," Lingfeng said while looking at me.
"Sure, leave this kind of thing to me... us," Fatty cheered excitedly from behind.
Lingfeng looked at Fatty curiously. I smiled and told him about the attractive figure of the shop assistant, to which Lingfeng helplessly replied, "Fatty, I thought getting you a membership card would make you behave a little. Even if you have an iron rod, there comes a time when it can be sharpened into a needle!"
Fatty scratched his head and chuckled, "I'm just a cucumber; at most, I can be turned into cucumber juice!"
Knowing that continuing with Fatty would lead to more strange remarks, Lingfeng ignored him and turned to me, saying, "Zheng Nan, you should ask about this matter."
I nodded and asked Kong Xuan to explain the situation regarding the Spirit in detail to Lingfeng. Xiao Qingcheng also listened attentively. After Lingfeng finished listening, he fell silent again and after a while smiled and said, "In any case, we have already eliminated two of the six Spirits: Purple Fiend and Shadow. So among those present, Sun Jianhua and Snow Aunt can be temporarily disregarded. Also, we have found the taxi driver; his name is Gong Ping'an. He resigned a few days ago and went to Moon City to seek development with his fellow townsman!"
"Can someone just resign and leave immediately?" I asked in confusion. It wasn't that I didn't believe Lingfeng; it just seemed a bit strange. Even temporary workers usually have to settle their wages and go through some procedures.
"The taxi company generally contracts out the cars; he's not the primary contractor, so the related procedures aren't that complicated. Besides, doesn't he have a deposit of ten thousand? He didn't even ask for his deposit back and left a message saying that you all can handle this ten thousand!" Lingfeng said with a wry smile.
Hmm, Gong Ping'an doesn't seem like that kind of person. That kind of remark sounds more like something someone like us would say. However, we would usually add something like: "If you don't give it back, leave ten thousand for you to get a single room in the hospital..."
Could it be that Gong Ping'an was possessed by Frenzied Spirit? This situation seems to have some wild tendencies.
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