Chapter 227
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Chapter 227: Surveillance
Night fell gradually.
The yellowish sunlight at the horizon dimmed, as lights began blooming across the city. Among the towering residential buildings, faint aromas of dinner wafted through the air.
Lin Qiye, wearing a dark red cloak, sat on a residential building’s roof with two black boxes beside him. As the breeze brushed his temples, he gazed at the distant city lights, lost in thought.
This time, he brought both black boxes, not just because it was a group operation, but also because using summoning magic in front of others would invite questions. Rather than deal with that complexity, he decided to make the effort to bring them along.
“Everyone, report your status,” Chen Muye’s voice came through the earpiece.
Wu Xiangnan: “Surveillance point 1, nothing unusual.”
Hong Ying: “Surveillance point 2, nothing unusual.”
After Hong Ying finished, Lin Qiye activated his earpiece calmly: “Surveillance point 3, nothing unusual.”
Then came reports from Wen Qi Mo, Si Xiaonan, and Leng Xuan.
Lin Qiye checked his Rolex – 8:45 PM. Almost two hours had passed since they began their stakeout, with nothing but residents coming and going.
About seven hours remained until the ritual.
How would that Mystery complete this final sacrifice?
Time ticked by as night deepened. The surrounding lights dimmed one by one, leaving only faint street lamps illuminating the neighborhood in darkness.
Lin Qiye checked the time again.
12:58 AM.
Four hours had passed, still with no anomalies.
At 1:00 AM sharp, after another round of status reports, silence fell again.
Suddenly, Wen Qi Mo’s phone vibrated. Seeing the number, he hesitated before answering.
“Little Black, what’s wrong?”
…
“What?” Wen Qi Mo paused, then continued, “I understand.”
…
Wen Qi Mo hung up and activated his earpiece.
“Captain, we have a problem.”
Chen Muye’s voice immediately responded, “What is it?”
“Remember the fourth victim’s pub? Little Black just called – the pub owner hastily booked the next flight out of Cangnan and headed to the airport.”
“He’s leaving Cangnan?”
“Yes, and he’s very agitated. Little Black called him as police, and the owner was incoherent, but basically said that since Sun Xiao’s death, he’s been mentally unstable, seeing ghost shadows around him, like he’s possessed.”
“He thinks his shop is haunted because someone died there, and he’s determined to leave for a while, then return to sell the place.”
By Night Watchmen rules, all key persons involved in Mystery cases couldn’t leave the city until the case was fully resolved. The pub owner, being closely connected to the victim, was considered a key person.
So his attempt to flee Cangnan overnight violated Night Watchmen regulations.
Chen Muye frowned, speaking gravely: “Ghost shadows appearing near him?”
“That’s what he said.”
Indeed, based on their information, this ritual only worked for vengeful ghost-type Mysteries to ascend, meaning the Mystery behind everything was likely a vengeful ghost.
Could the ghost have possessed the owner after killing Sun Xiao, hiding in plain sight?
But they had questioned the owner directly before and found nothing unusual.
“He can’t leave Cangnan,” Chen Muye decided after brief hesitation. “Have Little Black’s team stop him… no, Qi Mo, go yourself. If you sense any Mystery presence around him, report immediately.”
“Understood!”
Wen Qi Mo immediately left his surveillance point, heading toward the airport.
His surveillance area was temporarily assigned to Lin Qiye, though this wasn’t difficult for him.
While the pub owner’s situation seemed ghost-related, tonight’s main event was still at this residential complex. Losing Wen Qi Mo was manageable, but any fewer people would strain the remaining team.
They needed absolute focus monitoring this area.
…
On the empty street, a figure in a black coat walked slowly, passing several closed shops before stopping at a pub cordoned off with yellow police tape.
Several rats scurried across the street and vanished.
An Qingyu removed his hood, looking up at the pub’s sign, his glasses reflecting pale moonlight.
Ignoring the police tape, he stepped inside.
Tonight the Night Watchmen’s attention was elsewhere, and those originally monitoring this place had left. He was alone on the empty street.
He passed through the pub’s entrance, walking slowly past each table, carefully observing every corner, his eyes emitting a faint grey light.
He was analyzing.
He had watched the video and memorized every detail, now comparing them to the empty pub before him.
The angle of each table, the placement of each glass, who sat where that night…
Soon he reached the bar counter, his eyes narrowing.
The counter was slightly tilted, and where the camera had been, there was now a number plate with a photo showing the camera’s angle.
An Qingyu passed the counter, heading straight for the backyard.
He stood before the blood-stained white wall, hesitated briefly, then brought a chair from the pub. Standing on it, he pressed against the wall.
His form perfectly matched the victim’s chalk outline.
Then he took out a sharp scalpel from his pocket… and cut off all five fingers from one hand.
Blood dripped.
His face showed no pain, only absolute calm and detachment. He carefully observed the falling blood, then shook his head after a moment.
Still not right… where was the problem?
At that moment, he activated his rapid regeneration. The bleeding from his severed fingers instantly stopped as they regrew at an amazing speed.
As he was about to step down, he caught sight of his rapidly growing fingers in his peripheral vision and suddenly froze!
The video flashed in his mind…
His eyes instantly lit up!
“So that’s it… I understand now.”