He's Dead, So Be It

The supernatural incident was successfully resolved.

Yue Shi stood where he was, savoring the joy of the harvest.

Bai Wanyang crouched not far away, his head buried deep in his hands, his shoulders trembling slightly.

“Brother Yue...” His voice was muffled and thick with a nasal tone. “Don’t you want to ask me what happened?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yue Shi said indifferently. “If you want to talk about it, you will.”

In truth, Yue Shi knew everything. He had long since seen Chen Biao's anomaly through his Insight vision—he was a man in deep symbiosis with a branch of the Life Vine.

It was a cliché, melodramatic story.

Two good friends had parted ways. They had once faced life-and-death crises together. One had awakened a supernatural power and leaped into the upper echelons of society, while the other remained stagnant, gradually becoming a mere dependent.

Envy and jealousy grew in dark corners.

Disaster struck again. Desperate for power, the youth eventually chose to accept a supernatural “blessing.”

Yue Shi could understand the choice. For those with no way out, falling to a demon's temptation was a different kind of salvation.

Bai Wanyang looked up, his eyes bloodshot. “That night... the night the Clown and the director fought. Chen Biao's home was caught in the crossfire. He called me so many times, but my phone was broken. I didn't get a single call. To protect his family, he...”

He couldn't go on. The words Chen Biao murmured during his mutation still seemed to echo in his ears.

“Better to rely on yourself than others. In this world... it's useless to count on anyone...”

Every word was like a knife, piercingly painful.

Yue Shi remained silent. He wasn't good at comforting people and had no interest in such entanglements.

In fact, he couldn't even understand Bai Wanyang's current emotions.

What are you crying for?

Should he tell Bai Wanyang that Chen Biao might have walked into the Investigation Bureau's trap on purpose just to find him?

Never mind. Yue Shi was more concerned about Chen Biao's warning before he died.

The supernatural creatures of the Mysterious Garden were interested in him?

The Bee Woman, the Parasitic Mushroom, and the Life Vine that appeared today all came from the forbidden zone: 【Mysterious Garden】.

Was it for revenge? After all, both the Bee Woman and the Parasitic Mushroom had been killed by Yue Shi.

The Life Vine was stronger than the Bee Woman and the Parasitic Mushroom. Even though Chen Biao was only parasitized by a branch of the Life Vine, he could faintly sense things that were being forcibly “ignored.”

Just then, Yue Shi heard a mess of footsteps behind him.

Ling Xun walked in with several field team members, his face filled with uncertainty.

The restaurant was a mess. Tables and chairs were shattered, withered vine remains were everywhere, and the floor was covered in strange yellow pollen.

But that was a minor scene compared to what Ling Xun saw when he hurried to Yue Shi's side and looked into the kitchen. He couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Dozens of dried corpses were piled together, every face frozen in a mask of agony and horror. Ling Xun felt his scalp go numb at the sight.

“It's all handled,” Yue Shi said with a smile.

Ling Xun could naturally see that the supernatural threat had been resolved. His gaze swept over the scene, seeing Bai Wanyang, who had appeared here for some reason, but failing to see the other person. A bad premonition gradually rose in his heart.

“Where is Commissioner Wang?” Ling Xun asked, clinging to a final shred of hope.

Yue Shi spread his hands, putting on a false look of regret. “Sorry, Mr. Wang was killed in the line of duty. He's probably in that pile of corpses. If you want to find him, go dig through them yourself.”

Hearing this, Ling Xun's face changed slightly. He stepped forward and actually dug through the pile of bodies.

Among the dozens of corpses, Ling Xun spotted Mr. Wang at a glance. He had been sucked dry, his expression one of extreme agony.

“A commissioner from headquarters is dead. This is no small matter...” Ling Xun looked up at the ceiling. Why hadn't he noticed Yue Shi was such a troublemaker before?

“He insisted on coming to the scene to 'guide' the work, gave random orders, and wouldn't listen to advice. What could I do?” Yue Shi said airily.

Ling Xun's chest heaved. He held back his anger repeatedly before finally whispering, “If you want to kill him, can't you use a more sophisticated method? Don't be so crude. Couldn't you have done it privately? You had to do it right in the open!”

“Section Chief, how can you slander an innocent man like that?” Yue Shi wore an expression of being wrongly accused. But his performance was so half-hearted that it came off as incredibly sarcastic.

Ling Xun rolled his eyes and simply waved his hand helplessly. What was done was done; there was no point in saying more.

In any case, he was just an insignificant pawn. If he's dead, he's dead. Even if Yue Shi hadn't acted, Mr. Wang wouldn't have lived more than a few more days anyway.

Now he had to quickly think of how to draft an official-sounding report.

Logistics personnel from the Investigation Bureau, dressed in protective suits, busily moved in and out, handling the aftermath of the scene.

Ling Xun, Yue Shi, and Bai Wanyang walked out of the restaurant.

Bai Wanyang still hadn't come back to his senses, immersed in his own little world.

Ling Xun leaned in and whispered into Yue Shi's ear, “Did you see through it long ago?”

“See through what?” Yue Shi asked back, the sunlight casting a cold shadow across his face.

“Commissioner Wang. He was just a pawn sent by headquarters to test Director Tang,” Ling Xun whispered even lower.

“Mr. Wang seemed stupid, but in truth, every step was within the rules. He used slightly excessive words or actions to test people's limits and constantly annoy them.”

How could someone who made it to the position of a commissioner at headquarters be a total idiot? Ling Xun knew exactly how many little schemes were hidden behind those seemingly foolish provocations—the nitpicking at the Amber City Investigation Bureau, the use of prohibited drugs on local investigators...

Yue Shi raised an eyebrow and threw the question back. “Just what is the background of our director? Why would headquarters use such a roundabout way to test her?”

A meaningful smile appeared on Ling Xun's face. Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, and his gaze shifted behind Yue Shi.

At almost the same time, a palm carrying a heavy momentum patted toward Yue Shi's shoulder, catching him off guard.

The pat seemed casual, but it was actually as fast as lightning.

However, Yue Shi's reaction was even faster. The five fingers of his right hand instantly mutated, becoming pitch-black and sharp. He lashed out with a backhand claw, accurately grabbing the hand aimed at his shoulder. His movements were fierce and ruthless, without a hint of hesitation.

The owner of the palm seemingly hadn't expected Yue Shi to react so quickly. He snapped his hand back, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Yue Shi turned to see a middle-aged man in uniform with gold-rimmed glasses and a cold, stern face. Behind him was a short-haired woman with a sharp gaze, glaring at Yue Shi with ill intent.

“You dare to attack a public official of the Investigation Bureau?” Yue Shi spoke first, immediately pinning the blame on them.