CH 38

July 23rd, noon.

Shian Building, the office of Special Investigation Team Unit 6.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses was swiping on his phone with an unhappy expression. “The people of Unit 7 have entered the hospital again. This time, we’re cooperating with the police independently.”

“Who was it?”

“Bao Linlin and Wang Zhou both have broken bones.”

“Wow, even investigating can get you broken bones,” a young man exclaimed.

The young man was dressed as a food delivery driver, with a huge box used to store food for delivery on his back. He was still wearing his helmet, which didn’t have a logo and instead had the word “Eating is a Blessing” on it, with the word “Blessing” written upside down.

A pair of twin sisters stood beside the food delivery driver. They both looked like they were in their thirties, had neat short hair, and were wearing exactly the same one-piece protective clothing.

Their entire bodies were covered with packages of various sizes, and the gaps between the packages showed a metallic shimmer.

“Xiao Wu, you should learn some manners.” One of the sisters spoke.

The driver, Xiao Wu, shut his mouth, aggrieved.

“What about the police? Have you determined their action plan?” The other twin asked.

“Look at it yourself. I’ve just gone over it again.”

The middle-aged man knocked on the table, causing an extremely detailed action plan to appear on the screen.

The narcotics police would ambush the surrounding area. Once “Master Liu” appeared, they would immediately arrest him. The criminal police were responsible for arresting Ge Tingting and the corpse splitter.

Unit 6 had been divided into two groups. The non-science post was to assist the criminal police. Two science posts would be sent in first to explore the community and assist the police when necessary.

With the assistance of a professional metaphysician, the two children wouldn’t be able to make much of a splash. The problem was…

“It’s been confirmed that this case is related to Sunken Society.”

“The one who’s covering the two children is a ghost master named Kong Wangqing, our old acquaintance. After the investigation, the drug lord ‘Master Liu’ is the real target of Sunken Society.”

Two gloomy male faces appeared on the screen. One was a photo of Kong Wangqing, the ghost master, and the other was a portrait of a middle-aged man with the words “Master Liu” written under it.

Deliver driver Xiao Wu: “Huh? Aren’t we going to catch some children? Could it be that Sunken Society wants to send two kids to kill Master Liu… Are they serious?”

The middle-aged man glanced at him and continued to explain.

“Master Liu acts viciously, and he has recruited a lot of ruthless subordinates. Sunken Society has a direct conflict with him. After all, it’s dog eat dog in their world.”

“This is why Sunken Society pulled in two little lunatics out of nowhere and led Shian and the police to act first, then hid in the shadows to reap the benefits.”

“Oh.” The delivery driver touched his helmet. “Everyone knows that they’re being used by Sunken Society as the scapegoat, so why are we jumping into the pit?”

“You want to leave those two children alone?”

“……Sorry.”

“In addition, there’s one more important point.” The middle-aged man pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. “Master Liu holds the top-class cursed spirit weapon, ‘Good Boy’, and we must recover it before Sunken Society.”

Without waiting for the delivery driver to ask more questions this time, the middle-aged man took the lead in explaining.

More than ten years ago, Master Liu’s men turned against him, and his organization was on the verge of collapse. Master Liu himself was being pursued by the narcotics police. By chance, he came into contact with Sunken Society.

Master Liu vanished from the world in the sun and miraculously reappeared in the shadows over the next half-year. He seemed to have some kind of help, as his behavior was even more rampant than before.

After an in-depth investigation by the police, they found that Master Liu was able to firmly control his core members through some means. Shian eventually found the answer…

C-X37, “Good Boy”.

It was a spirit weapon that had the physical form of a jade dolphin with a human head. It was unearthed in a tomb of a nobleman of the Gong Dynasty. In Shian archives, it was classified as one of the “top cursed spirit weapons.”.

The curse of “Good Boy” was simple and straightforward. As long as a person touched it, they had to touch its head again within 30 days. If they were unable to do so, the cursed person would gradually go insane and commit suicide in the manner he feared the most.

The last victim of “Good Boy” killed his son and daughter with his own hands, then jumped into a pool of sulfuric acid at a factory.

In the photo, “Good Boy” was about the size of a thumb and could be packed in any small bag. It was carved from yellowish green turbid jade. At first glance, it looked like a crawling animal, but it had a human head carved at the top.

The head’s eyebrows and eyes were bent, and its mouth was wide open with a smile, holding darkness inside.

“Oh, my god, Sunken Society sold this terrible thing to Master Liu.” Xiao Wu let out a cold breath.

“How is that possible?” The middle-aged man sneered. “They never buy or sell, only lend. Their transactions usually last ten years. Counting the time, it looks like it’s time for Master Liu to return ‘Good Boy’.”

Xiao Wu looked back. “Oh, I get it. I get it! Master Liu has also touched it, right? If he returns it, doesn’t that mean he’ll have to obey Sunken Society until he dies?”

Otherwise, he would die after not touching “Good Boy” for over a month.

“When ‘Master Liu’ was 48, he was afraid of being betrayed again. Most likely, he thought if he could live another 10 years, that would be enough. Now…” The sarcasm of the middle-aged man’s voice became heavier. “Well, Sunken Society is here to collect his debt.”

“According to the style of Sunken Society, they will arrange for people to fish in troubled waters* and take advantage of the chaos to seize the cursed spirit weapon,” one of the twins said. “Don’t worry, my sister and I will recover it first.”

*(浑水摸鱼) Idiom referring to creating chaos within the enemy and then taking advantage of the chaos to obtain benefits.

“Ping’an Manor is a gloomy place. Is there anything we need to pay attention to?” The other twin added.

The middle-aged man snorted. “No. Coincidentally, there are two newcomers from the C-level group living in Ping’an Manor.”

“Will they also participate?”

“How is that possible? I specifically asked Lu Xiaohe to keep her rookies away from the battlefield.”

At the same time, Shian—Small Work Group chat.

[Milky Way: It’s Friday comrades. Remember to hand in your weekly report before you get off and have a good weekend.]

[Fruit Knife: I love Fridays— ]

[Final Fruit: Received.]

[The River Flows Eastward: Hey, I heard that there’ll be a lot of action at Ping’an Manor at night. Are you two going out to avoid the limelight?]

[Final Fruit: Lu Jie told us that the Special Investigation Team Unit 6 will conduct a joint arrest with the police.]

[The River Flows Eastward: Catching those two kids should be fine. It’s Master Liu who’s trouble. He must have found a powerful cultivator, which is why Sunken Society is intervening, and now it’s all become a mess.]

[The River Flows Eastward: Seriously, it’s hard enough to just protect the general public. Don’t make trouble, you two.]

[Final Fruit: I plan to go to the gym after getting off work, so I won’t be back too early.]

[Fruit Knife: Why don’t we go out for dinner? Stay away from Ping’an Manor and wait until the fight is over before going home~]

[Final Fruit: Agreed.]

[The River Flows Eastwards: Hey, are you thinking about going for barbeque? A new restaurant opened in my area, and the taste is pretty good.]

[The River Flows Eastwards: [link] Heroic Tyrannosaurus BBQ (Beidou Road)]

[Milky Way: Sorry, I have to go back to eat with my family _(:з”))_]

[Milk Way: Definitely next time—!]

[Fruit Knife: I plan to eat ice cream first after getting off work. Shall we meet at the barbecue restaurant at 7:30? @Everyone]

[Final Fruit: Okay ]

[Fruit Knife: [picture]]

[Fruit Knife: I bought a package coupon. Screenshot above. I’m not familiar with the road over there, so I might arrive late. Whoever arrives first can order.]

[Fruit Knife: Xiaohe Jie, I’ll remember to share photos with you.]

[Milky Way: ]

……

When it was time to get off work, Zhong Chengshuo really didn’t plan to go home. He greeted Yin Ren, lifted up his gym bag, and went straight to the gym.

Yin Ren didn’t go to eat ice cream, as he claimed.

He returned to Zhong Chengshuo’s residence, opened the window, and looked at the lush tree in the setting sun. The summer night wind rushed into the room, blowing on Yin Ren’s hair and causing it to sway slightly.

While the scene in the community was familiar, Yin Ren held his breath and stared at it intently.

“Have you learned how to fly?” After looking at it for a few minutes, he asked suddenly.

Behind Yin Ren, Hu Tao paused. “How did you know I was here?’

“A ghost master’s intuition,” Yin Ren responded casually as he continued to stare out the window.

“I did. I learn things pretty quickly.” Following Yin Ren’s gaze, Hu Tao also looked out the window curiously.

However, she couldn’t find anything except the golden-red leaves reflected by the setting sun. She was tired of looking out the window long ago, seeing the same scene that didn’t have anything worthy of note.

Speaking of which, this person didn’t play games or eat anything today. It was so abnormal that she felt a little hairy.

“What are you looking at?” Hu Tao asked cautiously.

“That child is about to die,” Yin Ren replied. “Some powers are not for the living to touch.”

Child? What child? Hu Tao looked around for a while but found nothing, as usual.

Forget it. Maybe this person is into theatrics and suddenly wants to put on an act. As an evil ghost, Hu Tao’s concern for the living was limited. “Well, if you have nothing better to do, help me turn on the tablet.”

Yin Ren glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, as if he wasn’t surprised by her reaction.

“Alright, but you have to do me a favor today.” Yin Ren’s tone was relaxed.

“You didn’t get into some kind of trouble again, did you?” Thinking of her experience a few days ago, Hu Tao suddenly became alert. “It’s fine if you were innocent and got caught, but I’m not going to find trouble on my own—”

Yin Ren turned his head and smiled at her. His smile was gentle, and in line with the sunset outside the window, it had a bit more warmth to it.

Hu Tao’s back went cold. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t finish what she was going to say.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be in danger. To be precise, you don’t have to do anything.”

Yin Ren didn’t seem oblivious. He turned to the window again and continued with a smile, “After today, perhaps someone will come to ask you questions. No matter what they ask, you just keep silent.”

“I—I—okay. Got it,” Hu Tao muttered. “Just say it properly. What’s wrong?”

She had a ghost contract with Yin Ren, which could be regarded as some kind of relationship that brought prosperity but also losses. Although she didn’t know what Yin Ren was, she instinctively didn’t want to offend him.

However, after speaking, Miss Hu Tao suddenly realized something was off. When she thought about it carefully, this person always had a good attitude, and he didn’t seem to be mean to her.

Strange. Why would she be scared?

Hu Tao thought for a few seconds and decided to give up thinking about it. Death brought all kinds of strange things, so it was useless to figure it out. Anyway, she had no other ghosts to talk to.

After telling Hu Tao about the matter, Yin Ren stood still in front of the window. His long hair was casually scattered on his shoulders, and his auburn eyes looked silently downstairs, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

The sky was gradually darkening. It was past 7 p.m.. Yin Ren glanced at the time and finally made a move—he lowered his head and silently opened the work WeChat group.

[Fruit Knife: Ah, sorry you two. I’m feeling unwell. I guess I’ll be a bit late. You guys eat first @Final Fruit, @The River Flows Eastward]

[Final Fruit: What’s wrong?]

[Fruit Knife: I ate too much ice cream and now my stomach hurts ]

[The River Flows Eastward: Hahahaha, this kid has days like that?!]

[Final Fruit: Go to the hospital. Do you remember how to register? Do you need me to be with you?]

[Final Fruit: It’s not that serious. I’ll go to the restaurant as soon as I get better. I may be an hour or two late.]

[The River Flows Eastward: Then Xiao Zhong and I will eat the meat first.]

[Fruit Knife: ]

“Liar,” Hu Tao said lightly as her gaze shifted away from the martial arts drama. “Big brother said, ‘the more beautiful a woman is, the more deceitful.’ Apparently this applies to men as well.”

“Thank you for your compliment.” Yin Ren put away his phone. There was no displeasure on his face despite being jabbed at.

The evil qi lingered around, causing his phone to become extremely excited. From time to time, it would make barking sounds like a puppy.

Yin Ren had to tap it many times before it calmed down. Although he hadn’t figured out the origin of this thing, it was still useful as an evil qi detector.

At this moment, the sun was about to sink below the horizon.

There was a lot more commotion in the community than usual. The police had arrived early, and the later ones that came were all cultivators. The power of the cultivators varied, and many of them had a cloudy, dark taste to them.

In the center of the encirclement, two children were hiding in the bushes, looking so out of place that it was pitifully comical.

Until now, Lord Ghost King didn’t care about the intricate details behind this matter—the conspiracy of Sunken Society, the greed of  Master Liu, or the caution of the police and Shian. He wasn’t interested in who was right and who was wrong, who would win and who would lose.

Yin Ren had grown tired of watching the scenes of people fighting against each other and fishing for profit long ago.

He knew that the two children hidden in the bushes in the community were just abandoned children who would be thrown into the pool and would cause a ripple before they sank to the bottom.

Under the constant corruption of evil qi, their breath was slowly dying, and their lives could end at any moment. Yin Ren now had a better understanding of Shian’s level. Even if Shian could rescue these two children right now, most likely they wouldn’t be able to save them from returning to heaven.

They would not survive after today.

Yin Ren fixed his stare on the two children, through the gap in the bushes and through the spell cover.

A few minutes later, he left the room and gently closed the door. Before he left, he didn’t forget to turn off the tablet. Hu Tao, who was watching the climax, almost spat out blood, and she circled frantically around the living room.

At the same time, Unit 6’s specially dispatched personnel had already settled in an empty villa in Ping’an Manor.

After the miscellaneous equipment was set up, the empty living room was transformed into a temporary stronghold for Shian.

“If those two idiots from Unit 7 didn’t break their legs, we wouldn’t have to work so hard. After working for so long, I’m the only Black Seal who has to bear the damage. How miserable…”

Delivery Driver Xiao Wu was still carrying the heavy food box on his back as he adjusted the position of his headset again. At this moment, the food delivery box behind him suddenly moved, and there was a dense and vague whisper that came from inside.

Xiao Wu smiled and briskly patted the box. “Don’t worry, I haven’t timed out yet.”

Through the headset, the middle-aged man continued to command in the ear. “Okay, don’t complain. Li Xiaozhen, Li Xiaoli, you two reconfirm the physical form of “Good Boy”.”

“It’s a top curse spirit weapon. Even if you lose the opportunity to recover it, don’t touch it with your bare hands—at any rate, you are B-level science posts. Need I say more?”

Twin sisters: “Yes!”

“Unfortunately, the curse detector can’t be used. I used to be able to scan it, but this time it’s become troublesome…” After confirming the photo of the “Good Boy”, Li Xiaozhen let out a heavy sigh.

“The more powerful the curse spirit weapon, the less likely it is to be perceived.” The middle-aged man’s voice was solemn. “Otherwise, people would be alerted two miles away. Who would touch it?”

“’Good Boy’ is grade C-X. This means us science posts are strictly forbidden to touch it. Can it be considered a top danger?” Li Xiaoli asked curiously.

“…Maybe? It’s troublesome, but it’s not on the list.” The middle-aged man opened a file and glanced at it. “There’s also a curse spirit weapon that’s graded Class A.”

“Wow, Class A?! What is it?” The two sisters said in unison.

“Enough, do your job well, and talk less nonsense.” The middle-aged man scolded helplessly.

The two sisters stuck out their tongues at the same time.

In the distant building of Shian, the middle-aged man scrolled through with his mouse and looked at the information again.

“Good Boy” didn’t even make the top 100 cursed spirit weapons. Most of the top-ranked spirit weapons were in grade B, while the cursed spirit weapons that were at the top of the list were impressively marked with a blood-red bold “A”.

[A-Z1 “Evil Fruit*” Short Knife.]

*(恶果) It’s a term that basically means repercussions. It comes from the Buddhist saying, bitter fruit (苦果) (term used to refer to evil retribution caused by karma) that arises from the cause of evil.

[The physical form is a crimson knife. The material of the blade is unknown, and the creator is unknown.

The strongest curse-like spirit weapon currently discovered. The dissipation of evil qi around the spirit weapon is close to 0, and there’s no way to detect it at close range.

The weapon can annihilate creatures and evil beings that come into contact with it within 0.5 seconds. The upper limits of its destructive power have yet to be tested.

As long as the user [subjectively and deliberately] uses “Evil Fruit” to eliminate the target, no matter what indirect means are used (including, but not limited to, touching, coercing others to do it, remotely manipulating machinery, ect.) once the user-victim causality is established, the user will die after the target is annihilated.

This spirit weapon was once sealed by Shian but was stolen by Sunken Society during the “11-19” incident, and now its whereabouts are unknown.]

The middle-aged man read the last line of text speechlessly for a moment before closing the information.

The operation was about to begin. As the rear commander of Unit 6, he had to remain focused.

……

Time slowly passed. The sunset turned a pale blue-gray. Ping’an Manor was gradually swallowed by night.

In room 601 of building 4, where Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo lived, the security door made a noise.

Miss Hu Tao was still sulking while staring at the black screen on the tablet when she heard someone come back. She subconsciously thought it was Yin Ren. Hu Tao hurriedly put on her most terrifying appearance, started gathering momentum, and prepared to curse. Unfortunately, after clearly seeing the visitor, all of her curses choked at her throat.

It wasn’t Yin Ren, but Zhong Chengshuo.

Zhong Chengshuo was carrying a gym bag in his hand, and his hair was dry and crisp, looking like someone who didn’t just return from exercising. He went straight through Hu Tao’s body and into his bedroom.

Just like before, Zhong Chengshuo quickly squeezed into his room and slammed the door shut.

How weird. Didn’t these two say they were going out for dinner? What’s wrong with these two?

Hu Tao floated dully around for a while. Seeing that there was really no opportunity to watch her drama tonight, she flew back to the residence next door in anger.

Shian—Small Work Group.

[Final Fruit: I sprained my ankle at the gym, and it will take some time to deal with it. You two don’t need to wait for me. @The River Flow Eastwards, @Fruit Knife]

[The River Flows Eastwards: ???? Buddy, I’ve been drinking free tea here for an hour!]

[The River Flows Eastwards: Xiao Yin, how long will it take?]

[The River Flows Eastwards: Comrade Xiao Yin, you didn’t fall into the toilet, right? @Fruit Knife]

[Final Fruit: In terms of his body shape, he shouldn’t be able to fall in.]

A few minutes passed, but Yin Ren, who was usually active, didn’t reply.

[The River Flows Eastwards: Damn it, buds. Did you two just pigeonhole me at the same time?! There’s a long line outside while I’m occupying a fucking table for four people. The waiter has been staring at me this entire time!!!]

[The River Flows Eastwards:  @Fruit Knife, @Final Fruit]

[Final Fruit: Sorry.]

After typing this, Zhong Chengshuo quickly exited WeChat and turned off his spare phone—his usual phone was in the gym, diligently providing his GPS position for Shian.

It was time to prepare.

Zhong Chengshuo opened the corner of his wardrobe, took out an exceptionally wide hoodie, and neatly changed into a t-shirt.

Then he pulled out the bottom drawer of the wardrobe.

The drawer was full of large tubes of potato chips of various flavors. Their outer packaging was longer than the average potato chip bag, and they were neatly stacked. Zhong Chengshuo took out a tube from the corner labeled “spicy crawfish” flavor and familiarly opened the lid.

The potato chip packaging tilted slightly, and a short knife quietly slid out of the chute.

The style of the short knife was simple and clean, and the handle of the knife had obvious signs of repair; there was an unattractive dark wooden handle attached to the end. The crimson blade reflected in the faint light, revealing a deep cold and a strange beauty, like a small whirlpool in the turbulent flow of blood.

It had an almost sinister attraction. Once people’s gaze fell on it, it was difficult to look away.

However, Zhong Chengshuo just glanced at it like it was a potato chip. He wasn’t attracted to it in the slightest, but when he looked at it, it reminded him of his strange roommate.

Zhong Chengshuo squatted down and lifted his pant leg. He grabbed the crimson short knife with his bare hands and tucked it into a sheath strapped to his leg.

Finally, he took off his glasses, put on a mask, and slowly pulled on the hood of his hoodie.

“Time point, confirmed. Surveillance, confirmed. The remarks afterwards, confirmed.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s lips moved as he muttered silently.

“…It’s just that Yin Ren is in a bit of trouble, so it needs to be over soon.”

The author has something to say:

The rear commander of Unit 6: Keep these rookies away from the battlefield.

Yin Ren & Zhong Chengshuo: Okay, here we come.

In the end, only Comrade Liang Shan was injured and miserable. Poor Liang Shan.

Kinky Thoughts:

I suspect that “Evil Fruit” is a purposeful name, considering Yin Ren’s nickname is Fruit Knife and the weapon is a short knife. So many references to fruits and knives while also holding double meanings…