"How could that be? My Liu family has always abided by the law and would never do such a heinous thing."

Liu Zhengguo immediately sat up straight, looking panicked.

Director Qin's expression was serious. "It's best if that's not the case. I need to remind you that no matter what grudges your Liu family has with Xia Tianqiong, you are not allowed to touch him. There are many high-ranking leaders watching him closely!"

Liu Zhengguo nodded repeatedly, "Understood, understood!"

Just as the two were talking, there was a knock on the door.

"Ta-da!"

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and a young female secretary entered. "Director Qin, Xia Tianqiong is back, and she's with Secretary Liu now."

"Go and call him to my office."

After giving instructions on the secret technique, Director Qin looked at Liu Zhengguo and said, "Go back and wait for my news!"

"Okay, I'll be going now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhengguo suddenly transformed into a wisp of pale white smoke, drifting and floating out of the window.

This is clearly a magical trick.

A few minutes later, the knocking sounded again.

Director Qin went to open the door himself, and when the door opened, Xia Tianqiong was standing outside.

"You must be Xia Xia? I've been here for a few days now, and I'm so glad to finally meet the great hero of Lin'an City. Please come in."

Xia Tianqiong was stunned for a moment; this enthusiasm made him a little uncomfortable.

As he entered the office and sat on the sofa, Director Qin personally poured him a cup of tea.

"How old is Xia this year? Is she a local from Lin'an City?"

"I'm twenty-five. I'd say I'm from the local area. I grew up in an orphanage in Lin'an City."

"How did you become a ghost hunter? Would you mind telling me?"

Director Qin didn't talk about anything important; he just chatted about random things, like they were having a casual conversation, which made them seem very close.

But Xia Tianqiong remained somewhat wary, sensing that this person was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Director Qin, you must have summoned me here for something important, right?"

"It is indeed a very important matter!"

Director Qin's smile gradually faded. "The video of you committing murder is circulating online and is known throughout the country. The Beijing Municipal Bureau has even given me an order to thoroughly investigate this matter, as the impact is too great and has already aroused public dissatisfaction with the Ghost Hunters."

He paused for a moment, then looked at Xia Tianqiong, "This matter must be resolved as soon as possible, so I hope you can bravely step forward and take responsibility for all of this."

Of course, these are special times, and you are a meritorious official. You don't have to pay with your life for murder; you only need to accept some punishment to appease the public.

The way Director Qin spoke was like an elder patiently advising a child who had made a mistake, hoping the child would take responsibility for their error.

Xia Tianqiong suddenly smiled. "Director Qin, it's obvious someone is targeting me. Do you think I'd accept punishment without understanding why? If I accept it, wouldn't that be admitting I'm wrong?"

"Xia, for the sake of the bigger picture, I'm just going to make you suffer a little, but I won't punish you too severely."

"What big picture? You said it yourself, we are now in a special era of strange occurrences, people are dying every day, it's much more serious than during the pandemic. Public opinion and emotions don't matter now, the only thing that matters is that more people survive."

"While I hunted down the supernatural, I did kill many civilians in the process, but I also saved many more people from supernatural attacks, making Lin'an City the city with the lowest number of deaths from supernatural events in the country. I don't think I did anything wrong."

"But now the whole internet is criticizing you, don't you care about your reputation?"

Seeing that he was unyielding, Director Qin's expression gradually turned cold. "If you do not accept the punishment, the Administration Bureau will revoke your qualification as a Ghost Hunter, and you will be unable to accept missions from the Administration Bureau or exchange information and supplies in the future."

Xia, you really need to think this through. There's no need to ruin your future just to save face. Why don't you hear about the punishment first? It's really not going to be difficult for you at all.”