39 Chapter 39 (Two in One)
◎What a fat pig!◎
The fat and big-eared stall owner said nothing, looking like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and just refused to tell where the money was.
Ye Pingan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He slapped it on the forehead, "You think you're right if I don't pay you back? Are you going to tell me? Are you going to tell me?"
Click. Click.
The butcher's head didn't look much like a human anymore, and the beating made his body joints tremble, making him look much shorter.
Yan Mingyue's hand, which was throwing the hemp rope, stopped in mid-air and he was stunned.
So brutal.
She had been an investigator for many years and had seen strange things being dismembered, but the first time she saw a monster being crippled, Ye Ping'an had no intention of letting it go. She demanded money from it, as if it were a street robbery.
It was so outrageous that she was confused as to who was the good guy.
No, no, no.
Yan Mingyue shook his head violently.
What's so dazed about this? Ye Ping'an successfully contained the strangeness and prevented further casualties. Of course, he's a good guy! Being cruel to the enemy is a sign of warmth to his own people!
Fortunately, the [Charcoal Butcher] is only devouring other monsters and has not yet become completely stronger to the next level. It should still be within Boss Ye’s monster restrictions.
Boss Ye's trick was able to restrain it, but it took a lot of effort. She was still surprised here, damn it!
Didn’t you see that Boss Ye was shaking?
"Boss Ye!" Yan Mingyue quickly called out, "Hold it down. We'll come catch the 'man' right away!"
Ye Pingan:?
The stall owner turned out to be a wanted criminal? No wonder his family is so abnormal.
She heard the shouting not only did not stop, but the search became faster.
Compensation is compensation, but what does the stall owner's stolen money have to do with her? Only when she gets it in her hands will it be real!
Yan Mingyue didn't notice Ye Ping'an's little trick and hurriedly handed the metal box from the car to Xiao Zhang behind him. "There's no other way. There's no time to wait for the strange creature to be dealt with. I'm counting on you to hold on to your injuries."
Investigators have been conducting mental and willpower tests for a long time. Currently, the only people in Huaxi City who can carry strange things are Yan Mingyue, the deputy captain, and Xiao Zhang.
The special metal box handed to the principal opens by pushing and pulling. The surface is black, and the seven locks open one by one, making it look like a coffin.
Or in other words... it's a coffin, a coffin used to seal and deal with strange creatures.
Each investigation branch has a stock of boxes of the same type. When strange objects are found, they must be put into the boxes immediately and must not be touched directly.
Generally speaking, boxes are not as rare as clean candles, so if you find that you are missing one, you can apply for it. It is said that the number of boxes for sealing more advanced weird things is limited and needs to be customized, but Xiao Zhang has not encountered such advanced horror and weirdness in Huaxi City.
Initially, there was no technology to handle spooky creatures. Using spooky creatures directly not only placed high demands on investigators, but most spooky creatures would quickly regenerate upon use, leading to the deaths of numerous investigators in the process.
After being sealed in a box, the spooky item's effects will be weaker than in its strange state, but its use requirements are lower, and its effects will increase as it gradually recovers. Once it recovers to a certain level, it can no longer be sealed and must be carried by the bound investigator.
The sealing time of the weird things varies, and they can be activated when the black surface becomes lighter.
The box is still black, which means that the monster [Half-Ghost] is almost unrestricted.
Faced with the newly appeared and still upgrading [Coal Butcher], there is no time to slowly figure out how to make it crash.
But there are no other strange items that can be disassembled in Huaxi City. Even the [Half-Body Ghost] was shamelessly exchanged by Captain Yan from foreign aid.
"I'm fine." Xiao Zhang smiled comfortingly at the captain and unlocked the metal box.
The black and red raincoat in the box smelled faintly of blood. As Xiao Zhang touched the black and red side, the raincoat unfolded and automatically draped over her, wrapping her like a piece of skin.
Xiao Zhang's body posture looked like it had been suddenly chopped by a knife, and the black and red half of his body tilted and drooped.
She raised her uncovered arm, the muscles on the surface twitching like a raised saw, and her skin, which had only lost some blood, turned pale in an instant.
Yan Mingyue stared at her, the hemp rope was ready, ready to rescue her immediately if she failed.
Xiao Zhang took a hard breath, quickly straightened his crooked body, and walked towards the barbecue stall.
Xiao Zhang walked closer and closer, and the blood vessels under the scarlet umbrella began to jump, scattering and trying to get onto the raincoat.
Swish!
Xiao Zhang waved his "saw" arm, like mowing grass, and half of the blood vessels on the ground instantly broke and withered, opening a path for the approaching investigators.
As the butcher fell, the strange children, seemingly stuck under the red umbrella, began to move again, their dark eyes fixed on Ye Ping'an as they crawled. As their bloodshot veins snapped, some froze to a stop, while others crawled even faster, their cries piercing and shrill.
Ye Ping'an turned a deaf ear and focused on the "big things".
The blood on the raincoat seemed to be boiling as he cried, Xiao Zhang's arms were shaking, his clear eyes were stained with a hint of blood, and his body gradually tilted.
Cut...cut.
It hurts so much. The pig should be cut in half. It would be normal for humans to be cut in half like it. Cut, cut!
The monster's crazy malice attacked his rationality. Xiao Zhang's arms, which were hidden under the half-black and red raincoat, trembled. He held his muscular arms to prevent them from slashing around uncontrollably.
"Boss Ye, I'll take it back." Yan Mingyue held the hemp rope to protect the side, ready to wait for Ye Ping'an to hand over the strange thing, and then they would capture and divide it together.
"Ah? Is this the criminal you want to catch?" Ye Ping'an carried the stall owner while looking for money in the barbecue stall.
When the police officers came closer, he pretended to have just heard something and stopped.
When he looked up, Ye Ping'an met Xiao Zhang's strange expression and the corner of his mouth twitched.
…It was obvious that the police were short of people. Whenever a police officer made a big move, his face would be distorted with pain from his wounds, but he still had to come out to work.
This is too desperate. It's really hard to make money by catching criminals.
Only two police cars arrived. They stood around with candles lit in the heavy rain, dragged away several nearly unconscious customers from the barbecue stall, and were still picking "corpses" from the iron hooks.
Seeing that they were too busy to help, Ye Pingan sighed and dragged the stall owner up, "Come, I'll give you a hand."
Yan Mingyue was stunned.
What's the meaning?
Ye Ping'an walked out around the oven, and the red burning marks on the ghost children had not faded.
More and more bloodshot veins crawled out from the shadows of the red umbrellas on the ground, and the lines on the ghost children's bodies became increasingly darker. Their faces were pale, and they stared with resentment at the woman who had single-handedly overturned the barbecue stall, sobbing and grabbing at her trouser legs.
"Woo woo...eat, eat."
The crying sound came over, urging people to continue eating.
Even though the parents have been investigated, they are still attracting customers for the barbecue stall according to what they were taught at home?
"I don't want to eat it." Ye Ping'an grabbed the child who was trying to hug his legs with disgust and threw him aside.
"Ga." The ghost child who crawled the fastest was thrown out. His crying voice became stuck and changed tone. He lay on the table motionless.
The Night Cryer, who was missing a leg, was put back to the barbecue stall and crawled very fast at first.
After one ghost child was thrown out, Night Cryer's crawling slowed down, moving as slowly as a turtle. Blood threads in the shadows sped up, and Night Cryer fell to the very back of the group. When he got off the bus, his body, which had been much smaller than the others, slowly grew back to its original size.
Ye Ping'an stepped over a group of naughty kids and walked out before the other kids could catch her.
Ye Ping'an walked towards Xiao Zhang and supported her. "The youthful complexion you just restored is gone again. Remember to eat well when you return to the cafeteria. Do you want to try my medicinal food?"
The blood color on the black and red raincoat suddenly calmed, as if it were just a raincoat with a strange color. Ye Ping'an stuffed the stall owner's other shoulder into Xiao Zhang's hand and dragged him by the collar towards the convoy surrounding the barbecue stall.
As soon as it touched Xiao Zhang's outstretched arm, the blood flowing out of [Charcoal Butcher] broke off layer by layer, and the cold pressure shrouding the barbecue stall suddenly weakened.
When the second knife came down, Xiao Zhang's dazed eyes became clear.
"Boss Ye?"
Yan Mingyue looked at Ye Ping'an with emotion.
Just because a weird is split and cut and becomes weaker, it doesn't mean it's dead. It's just that the weird that was just split is weaker and closer to the weird state, making it easier to deal with.
Ye Ping'an controlled the strangeness to complete the cutting, which took less time and energy than letting her split it again. However, the aura emitted by the strangeness during the splitting would accelerate the strangeness's revival. She didn't expect that Boss Ye would be willing to help with this step.
We must show our achievements!
Yan Mingyue took the collar from Ye Ping'an and said, "You've been a great help. Let me take over next!"
The butcher was already paralyzed beyond recognition, and after being cut into pieces, his entire body quickly shriveled up.
Yan Mingyue blocked Ye Ping'an's view to prevent the strange changes from triggering her strange object restrictions. The hemp rope quickly wrapped around the butcher, wrapping around the grill and the red umbrella, which seemed to be the other core of the barbecue stall.
The D-level spooky [Hanging Rope] limits the split spookyness, which is much simpler than dealing with [Hearse].
Ye Ping'an rolled his eyes and said, "Then you guys get busy."
Since the officers were busy arresting people, she still had time to continue looking for money!
"Woo woo...eat, eat..."
Ye Ping'an searched all three floors of the barbecue stall but couldn't find a single coin. The child was crying so hard that he kept crawling over and grabbing at her trouser legs.
"Eat, eat, eat shit. Can't you see I'm busy?"
Ye Pingan picked up the biggest kid at the back and said, "Where's your parents' money? Tell me!"
What can a one-year-old child understand? Of course, you should ask the oldest child.
【Night Crying Man】:?
[Night Cryer] was picked up in a daze, covering his face with his hands and his fake crying became weaker.
Ye Ping'an's gaze became more and more hostile. [Night Cryer] raised his arm stiffly and pointed at the iron rack next to the barbecue grill.
The people standing under the grill had been removed, revealing a bloody, greasy mess on the ground. The grill was wrapped in hemp rope several times, and a stainless steel lunch box was tucked into one of its legs, hidden in the shadows of the oven and the grill. If you didn't look closely, you'd think it was just a table corner pad.
Ye Ping'an's eyes lit up. After searching everywhere for something, he finally found it without any effort!
"...Most of the survivors have been transformed into ghost slaves, but they're not completely dead yet. There's still time. Great! Three of them still have some sense left. Hurry and rescue them!"
"Luckily, the [Coal Butcher] discovered it early. It's eaten more than just the few weird things we found! The red umbrella, the butcher hook, and the oven all have problems, so handle them carefully. Hey, there's also the [Old Lady Asking for Directions]. Has it crashed and become a weird thing? Bring me the box!"
"Didn't they say that Boss Ye's strange item was controlled? This bone-chopping knife is also a strange item. How did they do that?"
"It must be because of that iron rod, which was also part of the barbecue stall at the time. It knocked the butcher's knife off, so part of the rules froze. He was able to immediately identify the key point. How amazing! Is Boss Ye really a folk ghost warder?"
"Boss Ye is restraining the ghost boy. A being similar to the Night Cryer appeared after being devoured by the Charcoal Butcher. We haven't found its true form yet. Speed up!"
The investigators quickly cleaned up the scene of the strange incident, communicating with each other on the intercom in low voices about their progress.
Suddenly noticing Ye Ping'an coming over, the investigator was a little worried, "Boss Ye--" The captain's trick is restricting the hook here, you don't have to do anything.
Before he could finish his words, he saw Ye Ping'an holding a barbecue skewer and picking out the box from the trash in the corner of the iron rack with a clear purpose.
"You don't want to pay, right? Fine! I'll take it myself!"
Clang.
The stainless steel lunch box rolled down and Ye Ping'an reached out to pick it up.
When I pried open the deformed and tightly sealed lid, I found a handful of colorful banknotes stuffed full, almost overflowing as soon as I opened the lid.
After weighing it, a smile returned to Ye Ping'an's face.
"That's good." Ye Ping'an nodded with satisfaction.
The [Night Cryer] in her hand trembled.
Ye Ping'an asked the child kindly, "Your parents have been arrested. Do you want me to take you to a relative's house?"
[Night Cryer] The bloodshot on his face crawled to the edge of his empty eye sockets, and at first glance they looked like two streams of collapsed blood and tears.
"Boss Ye!" Yan Mingyue had just successfully made the butcher who was being dismembered freeze, and when he heard these words when he came over, he almost blacked out.
How did Boss Ye start chatting with Guiyi?
Yan Mingyue shook his head, trying to follow Ye Ping'an's logic of having to follow the rules of the strange creature:
"The master was arrested" = [Coal Butcher] crashed.
"Sending relatives" means... uh, Ye Ping'an can't be restrained anymore?
That's right, controlling several monsters at once consumes a lot of energy.
Yan Mingyue stepped forward quickly, spread the hemp rope on his arm, and gestured to Ye Pingan, "Let's do it."
[Night Cryer] turned around immediately, stretched out his limp arms towards her, and made a gesture for a hug, "Woo woo..."
For a moment, Yan Mingyue actually saw three words on its bloody and tearful face: "Save me."
Ye Ping'an's head was buzzing from the crying, "It's so noisy."
The crying stopped suddenly, Yan Mingyue was startled and his face became serious.
[Night Cryer] lures people to become its "parents." Now, has the ghost child's ability to lure people by pretending to be pitiful become even stronger?!
Ye Ping'an just asked casually.
She felt relieved that the police were taking care of the child, and she casually handed the child to Yan Mingyue.
Seeing Yan Mingyue catch the child and immediately tie him up with hemp ropes, Ye Pingan was about to say something but stopped himself.
...Even though he's a naughty kid, isn't tying him up a bit too primitive? Are police officers really that short on handcuffs?
As he tied up the ghost child in his hands, Yan Mingyue noticed that the figures of the other children crawling on the floor and the table were becoming increasingly faint, as if they were just a shadow.
She was surprised and delighted. Boss Ye's eyesight was so sharp that he immediately caught the real thing inside!
Yan Mingyue, feeling strangely restrained, had no time to return to the car when [Night Cryer] burst into tears and was tied up like a caterpillar, still struggling to crawl out.
The hemp rope even tied up his mouth, but he still cried.
The blood vessels on the ghost child's body were wriggling and struggling frantically, and the hemp rope was stained with blood, as if it was not a child tied in the hemp rope, but a person covered in burning blood.
"A strange aura erupts... Don't run away!" Yan Mingyue's face turned red from being strangled by the [Hanging Rope], and he gestured for Xiao Zhang to come over.
A faint crying sound spread, and the figure of a curled up child quickly appeared in the shadows and flashed at the end of the sound.
Before he could escape far, the wheels of a van parked not far from the barbecue stall moved slightly, and black slime began to move under the wheels.
The shadow of the young child froze.
The shadow of the young child retreated faster than he could run away.
The long-awaited van was faster than it. In the shadow of the torrential rain, an illusory road stretched silently. A small hand stretched out from the road, chasing it like a hyena.
The struggling and crying child was tightened by the hemp rope, and suddenly he stopped moving with a snap.
The child's body shrank rapidly, shrinking into a doll with red marks on its body, tears on its face, and it fell asleep with its face covered.
Xiao Zhang held down his arm and forced himself to stop, thus avoiding cutting the loose hemp rope.
Xiao Zhang was stunned for a few seconds. "Captain... covering the mouth with the [Hanging Rope] can make the [Nightcry Boy] freeze? The archives show that when it was a strange creature a few years ago, the freezing rules were not so simple."
But no matter how incredible it is, the doll in front of him is clearly a weird creature.
Yan Mingyue thought for a moment, "Maybe it was devoured by the Butcher. After the Butcher was forcibly divided, the other weird things were already damaged."
The illusory road, as narrow as a thin line, stopped not far from the investigator and silently retreated under the van.
The doll's stiff sleeping position relaxed a little.
Yan Mingyue looked around keenly, but there was no escaping monster, nor any other new monster appearing.
Perhaps the sudden disappearance of the [Hanging Rope] restraint caused a change in the atmosphere nearby.
Yan Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief, stuffed the doll into the prepared box, and closed the seven locks.
"Let's go and continue dismantling the [Charcoal Butcher]'s stall. The aura from the barbecue stall started to dissipate right after the butcher crashed. Let's check on the few trapped monsters."
In front of the barbecue stall, investigators were busy around.
Ye Ping'an stopped in front of the oven and counted the money quickly, as if he was not at the police arrest scene, but in his own home.
The banknotes in the box were crammed together, stained with oil and charcoal. Most of them were burnt black and smelled burnt, probably from being burned in the oven.
Ye Ping'an counted the bills twice; the intact, though slightly dirty, bills totaled over two hundred yuan. The remaining thick stack was either black as charcoal or had holes in its corners, and the bank would most likely refuse to accept it.
"...This is too bad." Ye Ping'an's face fell, and he was so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe. "How could you run a barbecue stall without knowing that saving money requires fire prevention!"
When Yan Mingyue came over, she saw that she looked unhappy and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
Boss Ye is definitely the one who deserves the most credit tonight. What could have made such a big treasure unhappy?
Ye Ping'an met her piercing gaze, his heart skipped a beat, and he stuffed the money box behind his back.
Oh no, the police officers are busy with other things. Could they be here to collect the money?
Ye Pingan sighed, "I was frightened!
"His naughty child and the old lady insisted on making trouble for me. I asked the parents to pay compensation and asked him to control the children, but he even got physical with me. It would have been fine if he had just hit me, but he tried to hurt people in front of the police officer. That's too much! He simply doesn't take you seriously!"
"Officer, please judge for yourself. My little heart was frightened. Tens of thousands of dollars in compensation is not too much, right?"
Ye Ping'an spoke confidently while his eyes wandered around the stall.
I was so busy searching for money that I didn't notice that the police had already seized the ingredients from the barbecue stall.
Forget it, the meat wasn't good enough, and the seasoning bucket was moldy. Even if she had to pay off her debt with meat, she wouldn't make such a dishonest profit that would damage her reputation.
Outdoor umbrellas and plastic tables and chairs don’t sell for much money, but iron hooks and iron racks are available in stores, and barbecue grills are pretty good.
Ye Ping'an took a closer look at the remaining items at the barbecue stall. "This is all the money he collected, and he burned it all. If you seize and auction off this pile of tools, can the money be used to compensate me?"
Even if the stall owner was fined, she had to settle the compensation first! Coincidentally, the police officer seemed quite easy to talk to.
Ye Ping'an spoke very quickly. Just as Yan Mingyue felt distressed, she was caught off guard by her and asked her to pay compensation, and she almost sprained her waist.
It took him a while to confirm what Ye Ping'an said.
Yan Mingyue was stunned, somewhat suspecting that she had heard it wrongly.
"You mean, you don't want these?"
The proceeds of this operation will be distributed according to contribution, and the Investigation Bureau can take away at most one strange object.
But Ye Ping'an, who made the greatest contribution, said she didn't want it, she just wanted money?
Yan Mingyue confirmed, "You don't want any of these?"
Although the effects haven’t been specifically tested yet, these are several weird things with different effects!
"We can exchange the money you found for new ones, and the dirty and torn ones will be charged at the full amount." She pointed to the money box hidden behind Ye Ping'an and reminded him.
"That's great!" Ye Pingan was happy. She waved her hand casually and said, "The suspect has been caught. You can keep the barbecue stall if you want. If you want to confiscate it, then confiscate it. Why would I need it?"
She took all the money, so I have to leave something for the police.
Besides, the oven was made dirty by the stall owner and it was difficult to clean. Compensation in kind is not as good as a discount, and it is more convenient to buy a new one with money.
Yan Mingyue was shocked.
Although Boss Ye talked about money all the time, acting like a money-grubber, she had already seen the essence of it—he was willing to give up his own gains to contribute to the Bureau's security. What a noble character!
"Don't worry, you won't suffer any loss."
Well... not only do I have to show off my achievements, I also have to write a few more applications to increase the bonus amount for Boss Ye.
It seems that the barbecue stall can be sold at a good price at a discount.
Ye Ping'an responded cheerfully, immediately stuffing the money box into Yan Mingyue's hands and holding theirs intimately. "Captain Yan, look at how much money is here? You and the bank are both in the system, so I'm asking you to help me get a new one. Are you hungry? How about I go to the cafeteria and make you some midnight snacks?"
How could Yan Mingyue let her precious child get tired? "No, no, you've worked hard today. Go home and rest early. I'll have the cafeteria bring you dinner. Come to the bureau when you wake up and just take a statement about tonight's events."
Ye Pingan was just being polite and confirmed that he didn't need to go to work. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, he said hello and prepared to go back to the hotel.
As soon as she walked out of the red umbrella, the investigator who was guarding the edge immediately came up and held the umbrella to shield her from the rain. "Boss Ye, we'll take you there."
Ye Pingan: ...?
It's not like she can't lift a shoulder and will fall down if the wind blows. Is there any need to be so nervous?
The police officers worked so hard for a bite of delicious food.
Ye Ping'an accepted it calmly and happily decided to change the menu for tomorrow morning and make more.
The van was still parked on the side of the road, its windows bright with rain. There were just a few more cars squeezed in front, separating the barbecue stall from the rest of the area.
Ye Ping'an walked past a car and caught a glimpse of bright red from the half-open door, and stopped in his tracks.
"this--"
Yan Mingyue immediately realized what was inside and sent a few glances to ask someone to cover it. He secretly cursed his subordinates for making a mess in their haste and not covering up the remnants of the "Charcoal Butcher".
After the butcher died, the body was almost entirely bone, scratched as if it had been cut into pieces by a thousand cuts. The huge head had transformed into a strange pig-shaped creature similar to a three-animal, hanging from its shoulders.
Other people who were searching the city for the strange things were still rushing over. There were too few people on the scene and they were only busy moving the boxes to seal the strange things, which allowed Ye Ping'an to see the remaining traces.
Listening to Ye Ping'an's trembling voice, Yan Mingyue felt complicated.
It was said that Boss Ye had only been a ghostbender for a short time, and unlike ordinary ghostbenders, they didn't have the prior knowledge and preparation they needed for the uncanny scene. Boss Ye had just said he was frightened, and now seeing the bloody remains, he was suddenly confronted with such a terrifying scene, and his voice was shaking with fear. He needed to calm down.
She completely forgot how the butcher turned into a puddle of mud and how the Night Cryer dared not cry no matter how hard he tried.
Yan Mingyue felt distressed. "Don't look at it anymore. Are you scared? Take a break. Come and lean on me..."
Ye Ping'an's voice trembled with surprise and joy as he stared at the huge pig's head in the car door. "What a fat pig! I can tell at a glance that roasted pig's head is delicious! Where did you get it?"
Yan Mingyue:?
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