“For a man?”
“Yes.”
“If you're giving flowers to a man, sunflowers, hydrangeas, blue stars, or gladiolus are all good choices. Is there a specific message you want to convey?”
“Oh? It's, well, it's just to show gratitude.”
“I see. Since it's for a director, let's go with gladiolus. They symbolize strength and a steady rise in one's career.”
“Mhm, sounds good.”
The young woman agreed and followed Yin Yang into the flower shop.
Yin Yang picked up his shears and skillfully trimmed the stems. It didn't take long for him to finish a bouquet of gladiolus.
“How does this look?”
“It's beautiful. How much?”
“Eighty.”
The girl looked a bit surprised.
“That cheap?”
“Well, you're the first customer of the day, so I'm giving you a discount.”
The girl happily paid, took the bouquet, and walked out to hail a taxi.
Yin Yang returned to his lounge chair, closing his eyes to soak up the sun once more.
...
Meng City.
Security Bureau.
Li Jianwu looked at Captain Zhang in stunned disbelief.
“The one who killed my brother is a Sequence 5?”
Captain Zhang nodded grimly.
“That's the conclusion the forensics officer reached. You're a transcendent yourself; you should understand what it means for there to be no residual spirituality at the scene.”
Li Jianwu clenched his fists tightly.
He was a Sequence 8 of the [Ward Guard] pathway—a Constable!
Having been with the Security Bureau for over a decade, he naturally understood the implications.
Only ascenders at Sequence 6 or below leave behind traces of spirituality.
While a Sequence 5 Demigod only possesses partial divinity, that divinity is enough to make their spirituality immeasurable and untraceable.
“Impossible. It's impossible.”
“My brother was just an ordinary doctor. How could he have offended a Demigod?”
Captain Zhang sighed.
“Captain Li, you're a security officer. You should know that this world doesn't always follow logic.”
Li Jianwu slumped into a chair, looking defeated.
“It shouldn't be like this. He was still so young. It shouldn't be like this.”
Captain Zhang stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
“My condolences. This case involves a Demigod; it's beyond my ability to handle. But don't worry, our Bureau Chief is returning soon. He's also a Demigod. He might be able to find something.”
Li Jianwu gave a faint hum of acknowledgement. After Captain Zhang left, he silently turned his gaze toward the breakroom.
Xiaowen was still there.
“Captain Li, someone is here to see you.”
“Hmm?”
Li Jianwu was a bit surprised, but then he saw the security officer's excited expression.
“They're here with flowers and an honorary banner!”
Li Jianwu looked bewildered. A banner? Flowers? He hadn't done anything noteworthy recently.
“Come on, the people from the Publicity Department already have their cameras ready. They're just waiting for you.”
Li Jianwu composed himself and went to the main hall of the Security Bureau. There, he saw a young man with a sunny smile chatting with people. When the young man saw him come out, his eyes lit up.
“You must be Captain Li, right? Hello, hello.”
“I'm from the flower shop. Someone ordered a bouquet from me last night and even brought an honorary banner, asking me to deliver them to Captain Li Jianwu at the Security Bureau this morning.”
As the young man spoke, he unfurled the honorary banner. On it were the words:
【Guardian of the People】.
“Come, come, let's take a photo first.”
The colleagues from the Publicity Department were grinning ear to ear. Regardless of the circumstances, this was a sign of the public's recognition of their work.
Li Jianwu dazedledly accepted the banner and the flowers, the scent of the blossoms drifting into his nose.
“Who sent these?”
“It was a man. I don't know his name, but his outfit was a bit unusual. He was actually wearing a raincoat in the middle of the night.”
Upon hearing this, the eyes of both Li Jianwu and Captain Zhang widened instantly.
Li Jianwu lunged forward and grabbed the young man's wrist.
“What did you say?”
The young man winced in pain.
“It was a man in a raincoat! What's wrong?”
“Captain Li, I'm just a flower delivery guy. Don't make things hard for me.”
Yin Yang tried to pull his wrist back. Seeing this, the people from the Publicity Department hurriedly intervened.
“Captain Li! Let him go!”
“He's just here to deliver flowers. What are you doing?”
But Li Jianwu stared at Yin Yang as if he wanted to devour him.
“That raincoat man—what did he look like?”
Yin Yang shook his hand, and seeing he couldn't break free, he spoke up.
“I didn't see his face clearly. He was wearing a black mask, with only his eyes showing.”
“He gave me the banner and three hundred credits, telling me to find Captain Li Jianwu at the Security Bureau and hand over the flowers and the banner.”
“Oh, right. He also asked me to pass on a message.”
“What message?”
“He said that if you two brothers hadn't performed surgery on him fifteen years ago, he wouldn't have been able to become a transcendent.”
Captain Zhang took a deep breath and pulled out his ID, holding it in front of Yin Yang.
“Sir, the man who asked you to deliver these flowers is a suspect in a murder case. we need you to cooperate with our investigation.”
“Huh?”
Yin Yang looked utterly confused.
“Cooperate with an investigation? Me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But I just run a flower shop.”
“Please cooperate with the investigation!”
Captain Zhang's expression was extremely stern. Yin Yang let out a long sigh.
“Sigh, fine. I'll cooperate. But try not to take too long; I haven't fed my cat yet.”
As he spoke, he handed the banner and flowers to a nearby officer from the Publicity Department, then turned back to Li Jianwu.
“Captain Li, I'm cooperating. Can you let go now?”
Li Jianwu slowly released his grip, but his eyes remained fixed on Yin Yang, as if Yin Yang himself were the killer.
Yin Yang rubbed his wrist.
“What a mess this turned into.”
Captain Zhang's expression was solemn.
“I apologize for Captain Li's actions, but please understand that cooperating with the Security Bureau's investigation is the duty of every citizen of Meng City.”
Yin Yang nodded and followed Captain Zhang toward the breakroom.
As soon as he sat down, Captain Zhang asked impatiently.
“Does your shop have surveillance?”
“Of course it does. Why?”
“We need to access your shop's surveillance footage.”
“No problem.”
Yin Yang appeared quite generous, then rubbed his still-reddened wrist.
“Is there anything else I can help with?”
“Yes. Tell us everything that happened yesterday in as much detail as possible.”
“Alright.”
Yin Yang took on a look of recollection.
“Last night, I was just getting ready to close up when a man wearing a raincoat and a black mask walked in.”
“He was holding that honorary banner and said he wanted to order a bouquet to be delivered to Captain Li today.”
“Business was good yesterday, so I didn't have any suitable flowers left. I told him to come back tomorrow at noon.”
“But he said he didn't have time. He gave me three hundred credits and told me to deliver the flowers and the banner together.”
“As you know, the economy in Meng City isn't great lately. Three hundred credits... of course I wasn't going to say no.”
“And the rest, well, you already know.”
Yin Yang finished, a look of misfortune on his face.
Captain Zhang narrowed his eyes.
“How tall was he? What was his build? Did he have any particular scent?”
“When he spoke to you, how old did he sound? What was his accent?”
The barrage of questions left Yin Yang looking bewildered.
“Uh, I didn't really notice...”
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