Chapter 215
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Chapter 215: The Strange Case
The black van slowly pulled up in front of the villa. Lin Qiye and Hong Ying got out and walked inside.
The familiar living room, familiar sofa, familiar bedroom… everything was exactly the same as when they left, without the slightest change.
“You should unpack your things. The captain seems to not be done yet,” Hong Ying checked the time and frowned, saying, “Wasn’t he just supposed to get briefed on the situation… how has the whole afternoon gone by without any news? The captain wouldn’t be deliberately stalling to avoid cooking dinner, would he?”
“Sister Hong Ying, are we eating at the office today?”
“Yes, the captain prepared ingredients last night, saying he wanted to welcome you and celebrate your official joining of Squad 136. Though I guess dinner will turn into a midnight snack now.” Hong Ying sighed helplessly.
Lin Qiye nodded and dragged his suitcase back to his room to unpack. About half an hour later, Hong Ying’s voice came from downstairs.
“Qiye, are you done unpacking? Time to eat!”
“Coming!”
Lin Qiye put his straight sword and cloak in his room, kept the emblem close to his body, then quickly walked downstairs and got in the car heading to the office.
A few minutes later.
Ding dong—!
“Welcome!”
Lin Qiye pushed open the office door and found that except for Chen Muye who was busy in the kitchen, all other team members were already seated at the table. When they saw Lin Qiye enter, smiles appeared on their faces.
Lin Qiye stood at the doorway, took a deep breath, and said:
“Night Watchman Squad 136, Lin Qiye, reporting for duty!”
Everyone exchanged glances, their smiles growing wider. Wu Xiangnan turned and called out to the kitchen: “Captain Chen, there’s a new recruit reporting in.”
The noise from the kitchen suddenly quieted down. Chen Muye walked out, looked Lin Qiye over carefully, and said with a laughing scold: “Alright, our Squad 136 doesn’t have so many formalities. Go sit down, food will be ready soon.”
Lin Qiye sat down at his seat. Wen Qimo beside him patted his shoulder and said kindly: “It’s good that you’re back. Those Night Watchman squads in big cities have too many rules and regulations, plus heavy missions and high casualty rates. How can they compare to our Cangnan?”
Leng Xuan looked into Lin Qiye’s eyes and said calmly: “Temporary setbacks don’t matter. Gold will always shine.”
Lin Qiye was taken aback, somewhat between laughing and crying.
The Squad 136 members still thought his training camp results weren’t good and were trying different ways to comfort him… he should probably explain things to them.
Just as Lin Qiye was about to speak, Hong Ying asked first:
“Wu Xiangnan, what were you all doing all afternoon? Why did it take until now to finish?”
When this question came up, everyone’s attention was drawn over – after all, a human pinnacle expert coming to Cangnan was a big deal.
Wu Xiangnan shook his head bitterly, “The work report only took ten minutes. For the remaining hours, the old master just kept chatting with us over tea… I really don’t know what he was thinking.”
As he finished speaking, Wu Xiangnan cast a meaningful glance at Chen Muye in the kitchen.
In the final ten minutes of their chat, Chen Muye had deliberately sent Wu Xiangnan away. He strongly suspected that the Master had spent the whole afternoon drinking tea with them just for those ten minutes.
But… what could one of the five human pinnacle experts possibly have to discuss with the captain of a Night Watchman squad from an ordinary small city?
Though Wu Xiangnan was puzzled, he didn’t mention it or ask about it. If Chen Muye could talk about it, he would have already done so.
For now, he could only pretend it never happened.
“Has he left Cangnan then?” Hong Ying continued asking.
“Don’t know, we can’t predict the old master’s movements,” Wu Xiangnan shrugged.
“Useless.”
“…?”
Just as the two were exchanging looks, Lin Qiye suddenly turned to Wen Qimo and asked:
“By the way, I heard there’s another Mystery in the city?”
“We’re not sure yet.” Wen Qimo sighed, “This morning someone reported finding a corpse in the backyard of a tavern in the east part of the city. The victim’s fingers were cut off and the whole body was nailed to the wall. Their expression at death was terrifying, as if they had seen something extremely horrific.”
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully, “Based just on this, it is hard to determine if it’s a Mystery…”
“But the problem is, this is already the fourth victim this month. The previous three victims had no connection to this one in their lives, no pattern to speak of, but their manner of death was exactly the same, even down to their facial expressions.”
“The police investigated this case for a long time but still had no leads. What really made them certain supernatural forces were involved was this morning’s case.”
Wen Qimo’s brows furrowed as he continued gravely, “According to information from the police, on the night of the incident, the tavern was holding a celebration. After recording the party, the owner forgot to turn off the camera and left it on the counter. The camera happened to be pointing at the door to the backyard – the spot where the victim was nailed to the wall.”
“The process was recorded?”
“That’s where it gets strange – yes, the process was recorded, but… the whole thing was too bizarre!” Wen Qimo took a sip of tea and continued,
“In the footage, there was no second person besides the victim. They just suddenly floated up mysteriously, nails flew up from the ground on their own and pierced their limbs and heart, then their fingers seemed to be eaten by something, disappearing within seconds.”
After hearing Wen Qimo’s description, Si Xiaonan felt goosebumps all over her body, her small face turning pale.
“No wonder… this definitely doesn’t seem like something humans could do.” Wu Xiangnan nodded, “Did you make any progress when you went today?”
“…No, this case is too bizarre. I… don’t know where to start.” Wen Qimo scratched his head awkwardly, “Plus, we have to constantly guard against the Mystery Thief.”
“Mystery Thief?” Lin Qiye was startled.
“Remember I told you before how parts of Mystery corpses would strangely disappear after we eliminated them?” Hong Ying explained, “So far they’ve stolen parts from four Mystery bodies in total, so we’re calling them the Mystery Thief for now.”
“Still haven’t caught them?” Lin Qiye asked in surprise.
“No, their movements are too strange. After the lizard’s corpse was stolen six months ago, we eliminated an Ice Vine from Chuan Territory. The processing unit transporting the vine’s corpse was attacked en route, everyone in the vehicle was knocked unconscious, and when they woke up, half of the vine’s body was gone.”