Chapter 71
Chapter 71
Paranormal Bureau conference room.
“Why did such a huge assignment suddenly drop on us?” Yun Jianyue asked Si Wuming beside her. The two of them were sitting in the farthest corner, the perfect spot to slack off unnoticed.
There was only a month left until the New Year. She had planned to coast through the rest of the month, go home and enjoy the holiday, then pretend she had classes once the new semester began so she could keep dodging work.
Instead, an emergency notice had suddenly arrived. Apparently, they had a major assignment that might keep them busy until after the New Year.
As Yun Jianyue watched the conference room door, she leaned closer to Si Wuming and accidentally pressed her cheek against his.
Si Wuming silently scooted away. In a futile attempt to hide his reaction, he covered his reddening cheeks with both hands and whispered, “It’s probably about Dongwu.”
Located in southeastern Asia, Dongwu had one of the highest crime rates among Southeast Asian countries. It was notorious for scams and organ harvesting.
Practically anyone who used the internet these days had heard of Dongwu.
Cai Zeyu entered carrying a laptop, followed by Du Minghao with a thick stack of documents.
One connected the laptop to the projector while the other distributed the documents to everyone present.
“Read through the materials first. We’ll begin the meeting once you’re done,” Cai Zeyu said as he adjusted the projector, putting on the full air of a leader.
Yun Jianyue began flipping through the documents.
They contained statistics on citizens of Hua Nation who had been tricked into going to Dongwu in recent years. A small number had been confirmed dead, while the fate of the vast majority remained unknown.
The documents even mentioned several reporters who had spent more than half a year pursuing the story. One had personally infiltrated a scam syndicate and lost contact several times. In the end, they had managed to rescue six people from the syndicate in Dongwu.
Hua Nation had committed substantial police resources to Dongwu, but with little success. The scam syndicates there were highly adept at counter-surveillance. More often than not, they had already destroyed all equipment and evidence before the police arrived.
Hua Nation had also launched intensive anti-fraud campaigns domestically, yet countless people were still lured to Dongwu every year.
This time, the situation was especially serious. The grandson of a high-ranking official had been tricked into going to Dongwu and had been missing for two months.
The official’s father had been a founding general who spent half his life fighting for Hua Nation, only to die during the Dark Decade. The official’s only son had served as a narcotics officer and was killed by drug traffickers before he even turned thirty.
Now, the official’s sole remaining descendant had been lured to Dongwu, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead.
The higher-ups were furious and had dispatched large numbers of police officers, all to no avail. Investigations and evidence from multiple sources indicated that the case involved Southeast Asian occult arts, with members of the local Xuanmen taking part. As a result, the matter had been handed over to the Paranormal Bureau.
“Everyone finished reading?” Cai Zeyu asked.
They all looked up at him. Cai Zeyu continued, “Our mission is to infiltrate Dongwu and rescue Gao Weimin.”
“Gao Weimin’s last signal came from northern Dongwu,” Cai Zeyu said. “The situation there is extremely complicated. Aside from various criminal organizations, there are also many Southeast Asian Xuanmen practitioners.
“As everyone knows, most Xuanmen practitioners in Southeast Asia care only about profit, not right and wrong. This time, our enemies are people, not monsters or evil spirits.
“Let me remind you all that people are the most terrifying opponents of all. Do not let your guard down simply because we’re facing humans this time.”
With that, Cai Zeyu began assigning roles. “…Yun Jianyue, Si Wuming, the two of you will let yourselves be scammed into Dongwu and gather intelligence from the inside.”
Yun Jianyue tilted her head and pointed at herself, unsure whether she had heard correctly. “Me? Get scammed?”
Cai Zeyu nodded firmly. “Girls are easier to lure in, and you’re the only girl here who can fight.”
Most of the other women worked in logistics. Among those qualified for fieldwork, some were highly accomplished in metaphysics and others were formidable fighters, but not a single one was highly accomplished in metaphysics, good at fighting, utterly unhinged, and skilled at putting on an act all at once.
In conclusion, Yun Jianyue was the perfect candidate.
Besides, he had assigned Si Wuming to protect her, which was more than enough to ensure her safety!
Yun Jianyue nodded. “All right. Follow orders, win the battle.”
“One last thing. Although our primary mission is to rescue Gao Weimin, if the opportunity arises, we must bring all our compatriots home,” Cai Zeyu said, sweeping his gaze across the group. “Are you confident?”
Everyone shouted in unison, “Yes!”
Cai Zeyu nodded in satisfaction. “Good. The code name for this mission is Tornado.”
After the meeting, as everyone was leaving the conference room, Cai Zeyu asked Yun Jianyue and Si Wuming to stay behind.
Once the others had gone, Cai Zeyu pulled out a chair and sat down. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you. Do you remember Wang Hui’s mother, the S-class vengeful ghost?”
“Of course. She’s the one I tore into eight pieces,” Yun Jianyue replied with a nod.
Cai Zeyu said, “According to our latest information, Wang Hui’s mother didn’t actually become a vengeful ghost after her death. She was merely an ordinary wandering spirit. Someone deliberately refined her into a vengeful ghost. At first, she was only A-class, but the person who refined her infused her with a sliver of Evil God’s Power, turning her into an S-class vengeful ghost.”
Yun Jianyue raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me it was my Nominal Husband’s Evil God’s Power again. Why is he like a sieve, leaking Evil God’s Power everywhere he goes?”
“Hmm… That’s a very interesting description. It does kind of fit… Wait, no! What do you mean, a sieve? You almost led me off track again!” Cai Zeyu caught himself and hurriedly steered the conversation back on topic. “It was Mo Chen’s Evil God’s Power.”
He continued, “The Inner World at Yunyi Middle School was also created using Mo Chen’s Evil God’s Power. The Yu Lu case in Luci County was likewise connected to the Evil God in countless ways. There’s even something else you’d never expect that also has ties to Mo Chen.”
“You mean the ghost that possessed my cousin,” Yun Jianyue said.
“That’s right.” Cai Zeyu scrolled through his phone and pulled up another top-secret file for Yun Jianyue. “The ghost you beat until its soul was obliterated had originally been a wandering spirit as well. By sheer chance, it came into contact with Evil God’s Severed Hair, transformed into a vengeful ghost, and began committing atrocities.”
After reading the file, Yun Jianyue handed the phone back to Cai Zeyu. “Why does everything involve my Nominal Husband’s hair? If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have shaved his head back then.”
Si Wuming added, “You hadn’t shaved his head yet when the case involving Wang Hui’s mother occurred.”
“Exactly. That’s why the higher-ups at the Paranormal Bureau suspect that someone set their sights on Mo Chen a long time ago. Everything has been part of a scheme orchestrated by the person behind the scenes, and Mo Chen is their target,” Cai Zeyu said.
“What does someone targeting him have to do with us? He isn’t even part of the Paranormal Bureau. He’s lucky the Paranormal Bureau isn’t hunting him down,” Yun Jianyue said with a shrug.
Unless this matter had already implicated the Paranormal Bureau.
No… Something wasn’t right!
The case involving Wang Hui’s mother had drawn in Si Wuming, as well as her.
But why had she been dragged into this? Because Lu Changxue had been murdered, transformed into a vengeful ghost, and come to find her.
Which meant she had been drawn into the game from the moment Lu Changxue died.
What exactly was the mastermind behind all this trying to accomplish?
Seeing the look on Yun Jianyue’s face, Cai Zeyu knew she had figured it out. He sighed softly. “Before Wang Hui was executed, he kept screaming that he hadn’t killed Lu Changxue. The executioners had seen plenty of people like him before, so they carried out the sentence according to protocol.
“By the time we uncovered all this and tried to interrogate Wang Hui, he was already dead. All that remained was a recording taken shortly before his execution. We suspect he may have been telling the truth. Our subsequent investigation found that Wang Hui was very likely under the control of a supernatural force when he killed Lu Changxue.
“Lu Changxue’s death was merely bait to draw you into the game, Yun Jianyue. And by now, the three of you are far from the only ones who have been dragged into it.”