“Niu Xiaohui might be linked to the supernatural, or it could simply be a psychological illness. Regardless, she is exhibiting abnormalities.”
“We might as well use this as our breakthrough. While monitoring her, we can also arrange for someone to test her,” Zhou Zhiheng said.
Even though the detection equipment failed to pick up any supernatural aura from Niu Xiaohui, after what happened with Cai Zetao, Zhou Zhiheng felt that the equipment might have loopholes and wasn't reliable enough.
Back then, while in the isolation chamber, Cai Zetao had been triggered by a certain remark and suddenly mutated on the spot. That plant-based supernatural creature might have already been linked to the Heart Thief, so Zhou Zhiheng wanted to use the same method to test Niu Xiaohui...
While treating a young girl this way inevitably sparked a flicker of guilt, the emotion vanished in an instant. After all... he was just an outside observer.
The morning had been filled with meetings followed by door-to-door investigations, and lunch had already been missed. Upon leaving Niu Xiaohui’s home, Zhao Lin immediately arranged for them to go eat. Since the company was footing the bill, they couldn't keep working on empty stomachs.
No one objected. They found a high-end restaurant, and as they ate and drank, the atmosphere gradually became lively, and the mission was temporarily pushed to the back of their minds.
Bai Qingyu sat next to Zhong Mo, pouring him a glass of juice while she herself only ate a few bites.
Zhao Lin, sitting on the other side of Bai Qingyu, suddenly acted as if he had discovered a new continent, exclaiming, “Sister Qingyu, why are you only eating vegetables?”
“Oh, I usually follow a vegetarian diet. I'm used to it,” Bai Qingyu explained with a smile.
“Is that so~” Zhao Lin originally wanted to say that long-term vegetarianism wasn't good for the body, but on second thought, pointing fingers at someone else's dietary habits was rather rude.
After the meal, the group returned to the company to hold a meeting and discuss a targeted deployment for Niu Xiaohui.
To pursue an investigation in this direction based solely on a change in a little girl's expression, without any evidence, was a bit hasty...
However, Yue Shi quickly realized—everyone was just slacking off!
Someone was touching up their makeup, someone was binge-watching a show, and someone was eating snacks. The atmosphere was orderly yet solemn and lively. Only Zhou Zhiheng appeared perfectly serious, though he didn't stop the others from their side activities. This man with the thick eyebrows and big eyes kept speaking in meaningless platitudes. Having been so excited to find a 'new lead' earlier, was he just using it as a theme to fabricate a field report so he could milk the company for expense subsidies?
The team meeting dragged on, essentially turning into an afternoon tea party, until the clock hit quitting time. Zhou Zhiheng announced the dismissal without a moment's hesitation.
Tulip Security Company was just a private organization. The employees were there to make money; they didn't have that much sense of duty or obligation.
Returning to Happiness Apartments, Yue Shi's sharp eyes noticed that the broken surveillance cameras nearby had been replaced with new ones, and several more cameras had been added to the hallways.
A supernatural incident had occurred here, so it was normal to restore surveillance.
Yue Shi rested at home for a while, then used the excuse of going out to buy groceries to observe the number and distribution of the cameras.
For now, he was still a law-abiding citizen, but that might not be the case in the future. Some things had to be prepared for in advance!
...
Late at night, after Yue Shi had washed up, he played on his phone for a bit. Drowsiness was washing over him, but just as he was about to crawl into bed, his phone vibrated at an inopportune moment.
It was Zhou Zhiheng's number. As soon as the call connected, his urgent voice came through: “Zhong Mo has been attacked! It's an emergency, come quickly for backup!”
“What?” Yue Shi’s voice sounded surprised, but his expression remained lazy. He unhurriedly got up to head out. Only after hearing Zhou Zhiheng give him Zhong Mo's address did he reply seriously, “I'll be right there!”
Over twenty minutes later, a taxi finally dropped Yue Shi off at the location.
Zhong Mo lived in a luxury mansion near the city center; he was clearly very wealthy.
Zhou Zhiheng was waiting outside with the others. Seeing Yue Shi, he hurried forward. “You're finally here. There were sounds of fighting inside earlier, but it suddenly went quiet. We didn't dare act recklessly, so we were waiting for you.”
Yue Shi didn't waste words and immediately burst inside.
The living room was a mess. A pale-faced Zhong Mo sat on the sofa, panting heavily. He was wounded in the chest, and blood was steadily soaking his shirt.
A heart covered in bluish-black tentacles lay quietly on the floor, surrounded by scattered, murky black viscous liquid.
“You're late. I took care of the attacker a minute ago,” Zhong Mo said, his voice hoarse and weak.
“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Yue Shi asked half-heartedly.
Zhong Mo shook his head. “I can handle a minor injury like this myself.”
It didn't look like a minor injury, Yue Shi thought, but he didn't interfere with Zhong Mo's decision. He turned around and called the others in to clean up the mess.
Zhou Zhiheng was busy taking photos all over the room, recording the original state of the crime scene to make it easier to find leads later.
Zhao Lin activated the detector and checked every corner, but only found a few lingering traces of supernatural aura.
Yue Shi scanned the surroundings. An extremely faint and familiar buzzing sound flickered past his ears for a fleeting second. He almost thought he had misheard it.
At that moment, he heard Zhou Zhiheng ask Zhong Mo, “What exactly happened?”
“I was getting ready for bed when I was ambushed. That hairy heart was hiding under the bed. It almost pierced my chest with its tentacles, but luckily I reacted in time.”
Zhong Mo clutched his chest nonchalantly and added, “I tried to capture it alive, but the thing was too fragile. I accidentally killed it.”
“That's not important, as long as you're okay,” Zhou Zhiheng said with a grim face. “Is it possible that because we've grasped a key lead that points to the truth, the Heart Thief couldn't help but strike?”
Zhong Mo countered, “Your theory makes some sense, but I'm more inclined to believe that the Heart Thief is targeting transcendents!”
Zhou Zhiheng's eyelid twitched as Zhong Mo continued.
“First it was Yue Shi, and now it's me. We've both encountered these strange hearts.”
“The hearts belong to victims, but those bluish-black tentacles should be a characteristic of the Heart Thief's true form. My personal guess is that perhaps the Heart Thief can use hearts to create these monsters. Using a normal person's heart as material gives the monster decent lethality. But what if it uses a transcendent's heart?”
Zhou Zhiheng was left speechless by Zhong Mo's bold hypothesis. After a long pause, he said, “If it's really as you say, I don't know what to do about it either. Just be extra careful.”
“The company's ordinary employees were attacked by the Bee Woman, and now you special employees are being targeted by the Heart Thief. I suggest that for the time being, no one should go out alone...”
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