Chapter 99
Chi Bai paced back and forth in front of Dai Ji's desk.
His posture and appearance were much calmer than expected. He casually picked up a stack of documents on the table and looked down at them. Meanwhile, Cen Tong, another employee of Yancheng's special department, was discussing Dai Ji's affairs with Chen Xin.
"You mean, Dai Ji goes out at a fixed time every day? He told you he was going home when he went out just now?"
Chen Xin sat at his desk and nodded: "Yeah."
Cen Tong and Chi Bai exchanged a glance, and the latter turned and walked outside to make a phone call. Although there was a door between them, Chi Bai's voice still faintly carried into the poorly soundproofed office.
Chen Xin remained expressionless on the surface, but in fact, he pricked up his ears and listened quietly to Chi Bai's instructions coming one after another on the other end of the phone.
"Well, Dai Ji is suspected to have returned home, so let the people ambushing in his house be on the lookout."
"I suspect he's noticed we're checking him out."
"Ask the police to check the surveillance footage. He just left the Tianshi Alliance branch not long ago."
After a few more words, Chi Bai hung up the phone and returned to the office. He looked up at Cen Tong and shrugged without saying anything. Instead, he turned his gaze to Chen Xin, then pursed his lips and asked, "Manager Chen, would you mind talking to us about Dai Ji?"
Chen Xin seemed to be unaware of what was wrong with Dai Ji. After witnessing all this, he pondered for a moment and said, "Of course I don't mind, but before that, can I ask what exactly happened to Manager Dai?"
Chi Bai raised his eyebrows.
Cen Tong put on a fake smile and said, "Sorry, we can't tell—"
Before he could finish his words, Chi Bai said, "It's okay to tell him. It's a good opportunity for him to think about whether Dai Ji is behaving strangely."
Cen Tong thought it made sense and began to explain, "We suspect Dai Ji has connections with Meng Ming, the head of Taozi Temple."
"Taoziguan? Meng Ming?"
"You know?" Chi Bai looked at Chen Xin, only to see Chen Xin shook his head. "But I've heard of Taozi Temple. Some time ago, the Tianshi Alliance mentioned Taozi Temple during a meeting. They said the Taoist priests there were committing crimes. Furthermore, the destruction of the dragon veins in Nanling and Jiangyang Mountain is probably related to them."
As he spoke, his expression gradually became solemn and hesitant. He asked uncertainly, "But how could Manager Dai be related to Taozi Temple? I remember that Manager Dai was a Taoist priest from Qingyun Sect. Over the years..."
Halfway through his words, Chen Xin frowned and his facial expression changed several times.
Chi Bai didn't miss this change, and his eyebrows raised even higher: "It seems that you should have remembered something. Has Dai Ji really been normal these years?"
"It seems... there's definitely something amiss." Chen Xin pursed his lips, his eyes becoming more complicated as he looked at Chi Bai. He then spoke slowly, "Five days ago, he and I were supposed to go to the Angel Alliance headquarters for our weekly report. According to regulations, we were supposed to report online at 2 p.m., but just before the report time, Manager Dai, who had been fine, suddenly said he wasn't feeling well and needed to go to the hospital."
"But a while before the report, I saw that he was fine. However, since he said he was not feeling well, as a colleague, I naturally couldn't just stand by and watch. I wanted to take him to the hospital, but he refused, saying that the report was more important. I felt uneasy, so I asked Xiao Liu to accompany him, but Xiao Liu-"
Bang.
When he was getting excited, Chen Xin seemed to hear an explosion in his ears, and the thread that had been connecting him and Dai Ji suddenly broke.
A bad premonition filled my whole body.
His words stopped abruptly, as if he finally realized something, and he looked suddenly at Chi Bai.
Chi Bai listened to Ah Qiu's familiar voice coming from the headset, "Dai Ji's situation has been resolved," and then met Chen Xin's eyes, which had suddenly darkened. The smile on his face deepened little by little, and then he said, as if he was enjoying the fun, "Go on, why don't you continue making up stories? You're quite good at making up stories, and the kindergarten kids will probably love it."
The suspicion in his heart became a reality after Chi Bai said this. Chen Xin's expression became restrained, his brows and eyes were gloomy, and he looked at Chi Bai with a murderous look. He asked coldly and firmly, "You knew from the beginning that it was me who contacted Meng Ming. You played this trick with me because you were worried that I would become desperate and use Dai Ji to threaten you."
"Although your guess was quite accurate," Chi Bai looked at him with a strange expression, "this is the first time I've seen someone compare themselves to a dog. You're quite self-aware."
so--
"Since you are such a self-aware flower, could you please tell us why you and Meng Ming met?"
When he suddenly heard this question, Chen Xin almost laughed out loud.
A mocking smile played at the corner of his mouth, and he looked at Chi Bai as if he were a fool. "Young man, I admit that it's impressive of you to realize that Dai Ji was just a scapegoat, but do you think it's possible to get this answer from me?"
"If you're unwilling to tell us, then we'll have to resort to other means." Chi Bai shrugged. "I just want to resolve these matters as quickly as possible. If you're willing to cooperate, it'll save us all some trouble. If you're not willing to cooperate, the extra effort won't really matter. It's just that... if you choose the former, your death won't be as painful."
threaten?
The smile on Chen Xin's face deepened.
Along with this came his mockery of Chi Bai.
As a member of the Tianshi Alliance branch, Chen Xin naturally knew what Yancheng's special departments were capable of. Most of the current special departments were dominated by young people, and although Chi Bai was a leader among the younger generation, he was still young after all.
Similarly, being young also means that one’s abilities are far from enough.
Chen Xin didn't think that Chi Bai's ability was enough to keep him here, and he even wanted to make his death less painful.
It's simply... wishful thinking.
"Let's see if Deputy Minister Chi can keep his word." The moment the words fell, a piece of talisman paper with a strong smell of blood appeared out of thin air in Chen Xin's hand. Smelling the familiar smell in the air, Chi Bai's eyes flashed. He was completely certain that Chen Xin and Meng Ming were in cahoots! After all, using human blood instead of cinnabar to draw talismans was something only the people of Taoziguan could do.
Pop.
Flames exploded in the air, and the talisman paper began to burn from the top.
As the flames gradually burned to Chen Xin's fingertips, the look he gave Chi Bai became more and more meaningful, even with a hint of provocation.
Crash.
The wind blew outside the window, lifting the ashes of the talisman paper scattered in the air, and the person holding the talisman paper disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Suddenly seeing this scene, Cen Tong's eyes widened, and he pointed in astonishment at the direction where Chen Xin disappeared, taking a deep breath: "Chi, Deputy Chi!"
Chi Bai scratched his ears with his hands and pushed the window open further. The next second, a black shadow was forcibly thrown in from outside the window.
After the heavy object fell to the ground with a bang, it let out a cry of pain.
At this moment, Cen Tong also saw the true appearance of the heavy object.
——Isn’t this the Chen Xin who just disappeared inexplicably?
How did he come from the window?
Questions popped up in Cen Tong's mind one after another, and Chi Bai, facing Chen Xin's similar doubts, looked rather disgusted. "Can you guys update your Taoziguan escape method a bit? Why do you always use the same trick?"
Chen Xin's expression twitched.
He originally didn't want to waste time with Chi Bai.
Chen Xin's brain worked quickly, and he could probably guess that since Chi Bai had noticed that there was something wrong with him a long time ago, Chi Bai would definitely not bring just Cen Tong with him today.
But I didn't expect that the other party had done such thorough preparations.
And you can also find the location of the roly-poly doll where he uses the transposition symbol.
His eyes darkened as he, under Chi Bai's mocking gaze, unhesitatingly flung out a talisman. Immediately following, a gigantic ghostly figure suddenly appeared behind him. The demonic presence plunged the entire funeral shop into a deep darkness. Several young men from the branch office, caught off guard by the scene, were stunned and their expressions changed.
——It’s actually an office?
Just as they were about to lock onto their target and head to the office, Rong Jing knocked on the door of the shop. The young man smiled at them and said, "They're dealing with a small problem inside. It's best for you all to stay here."
After saying that, he didn't pay attention to the increasingly surprised expressions of the others and walked towards the office.
The girl stared blankly at the boy's back, muttering to herself, "Isn't this a mirror?"
"Rong Jing?" The other young man was surprised. "What is he doing here?"
"I'm not quite sure... but something seems a little wrong." The girl's eyes were fixed on the office door. If her memory served her correctly, the person in the office at this moment was Chen Xin.
Could it be that Manager Chen...
Questions filled her mind, and the girl wanted to push the door open and see what was going on inside. But thinking of what Rong Jing had just said, she could only purse her lips and look silently at the door, without saying a word, her heart in a mess.
On the other side, when the breath of evil spirits became stronger and stronger, Rong Jing burned the talisman paper in his hand with one hand. As the flame disappeared, the ghost energy that had been spreading outward suddenly began to gather back little by little, and was finally trapped in the funeral supplies store.
At the same time, Si Liu sat on the windowsill, looked at the evil ghost with a ferocious expression, and touched his empty belly.
Ever since he became Rong Jing's bodyguard, he rarely ate demons as food. After all, human food was still the most delicious. But if it wasn't a staple food, it felt good as a snack.
It just so happens that I’m feeling a bit greedy today.
"You can't eat this one." Chi Bai's words shattered Si Liu's thoughts of a snack.
He stared at the evil ghost's ferocious appearance and barely found a sense of familiarity in it.
The contours of the eyebrows and eyes, and the shape of the nose were somewhat similar to the portrait he had seen in the information.
The anger in Chi Bai's eyes grew heavier. He gritted his teeth and turned to scold Chen Xin coldly, "Assholes like you deserve to die without a burial place!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
As soon as he saw Chi Bai's expression, Chen Xin knew that he had seen through it.
"It seems that although they have been dead for a long time, you still remember them." Chen Xin raised his hand and stroked the evil ghost's arm. Feeling the breath of a living person, the evil ghost trembled with excitement. It roared, and the powerful ghost energy was like a jet of flame.
Chen Xin smiled and said, "I don't quite remember its original name. Let me think about it, it seems to be Gao Yang. He was the deputy director of the special department back then, right?"
The deputy minister of the special department was transformed into an evil ghost after his death, and is now still doing evil in the hands of evil people. No wonder he made Chi Bai so angry.
Si Liu narrowed his eyes and looked at the evil ghost carefully.
There is no doubt that the evil ghost in front of him has completely lost its sanity, and judging from its shape, appearance and the strong ghost energy condensed on its body, the number of living people it has eaten is no less than.
These guys from Tao Ziguan are really capable of all kinds of evil.
This one action not only disgusted those who had been against them, but also provoked the current special departments and the Tianshi Alliance.
Thinking of this, Si Liu immediately looked at Rong Jing who had pushed open the door and walked in. The flag in the young man's hand flashed golden light under the light, and then the golden light turned into countless silk threads that were unknowingly woven into a cage and smashed down from Gao Yang's head. Gao Yang felt a burning sensation coming from his body, and his originally excited expression suddenly disappeared. He turned his head to look at Rong Jing.
But the young man smiled at him and said, "Senior, please forgive me."
boom!
The cage began to shrink, and a strange, squeezing sensation instantly invaded Gao Yang's entire body, causing him to stretch his neck and roar. His arms, longer than anyone else's, defiantly reached out from the cage, his sharp fingers tracing the fine lines, attempting to tear at them. But the moment they touched, a stench of burning filled his nose.
Chen Xin's face turned dark when he saw this scene, and he threw out a few talismans without hesitation.
Chi Bai and his group arrived unexpectedly, leaving Chen Xin completely unprepared. The magical instruments he normally used all carried the aura of Tao Zi Guan, a bloody and terrifying aura unmatched by ordinary instruments. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he always hid them well.
This also led to the fact that when facing Rong Jing and his group at this moment, he had no other means except the evil spirits he raised and a few talismans.
When he met Chi Bai's eyes, Chen Xin's eyes became deeper.
He pursed his lips, and a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth. When Chi Bai sensed uneasiness, he whispered, "If I die, you will never know what Dai Ji and Meng Ming did after they met."
Chi Bai frowned: "If you die, Dai Ji will tell us about this."
"Really?" Chen Xin's lips curled up. He changed his expression and sat back in his chair leisurely. He raised his chin towards Chi Bai and said, "Why don't you ask your companion who knows the art of spells and see what he can get out of Dai Ji."
In the alley.
Dai Ji's face was extremely pale, and at first glance, there was almost no blood in it.
He fell to the ground powerlessly, pressing his fingers on his temples and between his eyebrows. Waves of fine pain came one after another, and it felt like countless voices were buzzing in his ears, making him look extremely miserable.
Ah Qiu bit the lollipop until it crunched. He glanced at him, his eyes bloodshot, and quickly explained, "Your condition is quite serious. You've been hypnotized for years. Even if I remove the curse from you, the aftereffects will still be severe. But you should be back to normal after these two days."
Dai Ji moved his lips, wanting to speak, but in the end nothing came out.
His thoughts were still muddled, like the tangled weeds in a deep pool.
But he was trying hard to understand the current situation.
The young man who claimed to be a member of Yancheng's special department told him that a curse had been put on him, and because of this curse, he was forced to be a scapegoat for the Taoist priest of Taoziguan.
Even... in the past few years, I have done a lot for Taoziguan.
But to be honest, Dai Ji was really unfamiliar with the words Tao Zi Guan, until A Qiu explained the existence of Tao Zi Guan and the evil deeds they had done. Then Dai Ji's face became even uglier.
According to Aqiu's description, didn't he help the evildoers for several years?
Perhaps guessing the meaning behind Dai Ji's change of expression, Ah Qiu hurriedly explained, "It's not your fault. They came prepared. Besides, things are not irreparable at this point. As long as you remember what you did for Chen Xin, everything will be fine. For example, when you met with Meng Ming some time ago, what did you say and do? Do you remember?"
Meng Ming?
When the name first came into his ears, it did seem somewhat familiar, but when Dai Ji thought about it again, he couldn't remember anything.
Aqiu: “…” It’s broken.
He immediately called Chi Bai, and the first thing he said was, "We must keep that bastard Chen Xin alive."
The people in Taoziguan, from top to bottom, including spies and undercover agents, are all bad people. Especially Chen Xin!
Chi Bai's face turned pale after receiving Aqiu's call. Chen Xin guessed the reason as soon as he saw it. He laughed grimly and said, "It seems that I really didn't get anything out of you."
As he spoke, he slowly transformed the remaining talisman paper in his hand into a dagger.
The pitch-black dagger gleamed coldly under the light. Chen Xin placed the tip of the blade against his wrist and gently scratched it, sending a stream of blood gushing out. He ignored the slight pain in his arm and sniffed the bloody scent in the air, his smile growing ever brighter. "It looks like this dagger is sharp enough to cut my neck in an instant—"
Before he could finish his words, a burst of pain instantly swept through Chen Xin's body.
He lowered his head in a daze, and saw that the right hand that was holding the dagger fell to the ground with a snap, and the cross-section of the severed wrist was bleeding wildly. The blood was like water in a pipe, and in these few short seconds, it rushed straight to Chen Xin's face.
Si Liu raised his hand, and the dagger that had fallen on the ground flew into his palm. He curled his lips and sneered: "What the hell, can you kill people as fast as me?"
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