If Wu Jiayi were given another chance, he would definitely stay at home tonight and turn off his cell phone.
When he received the message from Zhong Cheng, he was out there working hard to make extra money.
[Finally achieved success: I am at the gate of Ping An Manor on Jiuan Road, please come and pick me up]
[Very Five Plus One:?]
[Finally succeeded: Emergency mission, Sister Lu said you were near Jiuan Road]
[Very Five Plus One: [OK]]
Four minutes later, Wu Jiayi arrived at Ping An Manor on his electric donkey and ran into Zhong Chengshuo, who was pushing a motorcycle and wearing pajamas.
There was a very wild skull sticker on the motorcycle, which didn't match the striped pajamas that Zhong Cheng mentioned.
"I borrowed it from a neighbor." Zhong Cheng explained automatically, not giving Xiao Wu a chance to ask questions, "Come up."
Xiao Wu: “???”
"Too late."
Xiao Wu sat in the back seat of the car and glanced at Yin Ren's GPS location: "Auction house? There is a ghost shop in this location..."
Zhong Cheng said that when he saw the door was open, he rode his bike straight into the pawnshop.
Besides, isn't your partner standing in the audience intact? What's the rush? This is a ghost market. Can a newcomer like Yin Ren dare to take pictures without money
Yin Ren rushed to the two of them and shook Zhong Cheng's hand: "Great, Brother Zhong, I bought the item and am waiting for you to pay for it."
Zhong Cheng said riding a motorcycle was like flying a glider, and the speed was comparable to flying at low altitude. Wu Jiayi was almost shocked. He barely completed the magic, and the motorcycle instantly broke through the thick fog and braked suddenly in the middle of the ghost market street. Passersby were startled, and some hoods were even tilted.
It jumped in front of the three people in full view of everyone and said in a calm tone: "250,000."
This was his second regret.
“Can I drive over there?”
He really didn't bring any money to take pictures. Is he really that daring? Wu Jiayi was dumbfounded.
"Second, the ghost market does not welcome people from Shi'an. Are they 'unwelcome' to the point of resorting to violence?"
Wu Jiayi gritted his teeth and sat in the back seat of the car: "Okay, you drive first."
Zhong Cheng said as he sat steadily on the motorcycle and raised his hand to check the time.
Yin Ren had just over 60,000 yuan left in his account, and the man could have gotten about 80,000 yuan if he had taken out a regular loan. However, he chose to ask for help from himself, and asked for a large sum.
"First, Shi An must have an emergency method to enter the ghost market. I will rush in on my bike, please show me the way."
Zhong Cheng said that he took a look at the GPS location sent by Lu Xiaohe - the bright spot representing Yin Ren was flickering in a small area, some distance away from the ghost market street. This person was most likely in a hiding place.
Zhong Cheng slowly pulled his hand out and took out a card: "Your salary card, Shi An just opened the guarantee authority, you can temporarily overdraw 200,000."
"Third, you are familiar with the ghost market. Please tell me a place near this location with a consumption level of more than 100,000 yuan and where the prices of goods are uncertain, such as an auction house or an intelligence agency."
Yin Ren: "Hehe, I thought it would cost hundreds of thousands, but it only cost 100,000. Boss Zhuang, the money is here!"
“… If it is proven to be related to the case, the money will be reimbursed by Zhian. If it is not related, the interest will be calculated based on the average loan rate and deducted from your salary.”
Xiao Wu, still feeling frightened, summoned two more ghosts to help them hold him in place.
"You can, but it's a bit rude..."
Wu Jiayi did not hug Zhong Cheng's waist as he said, and when he stopped like that, he almost flew out of the back seat.
Zhong Cheng said that the car rushed forward at lightning speed, even going too far. It was not until Xiao Wu shouted "over, over, over" that the car turned around and drove back a distance.
When saying this, Zhong Cheng said that he had not gotten off the motorcycle yet.
The moment Yin Ren sent the message, Zhong Cheng said he had an idea in his mind.
Smoke rolled in, and a muddy straight road appeared near the main street.
"Well, I won't do anything. I just don't like it... After all, there are a lot of shady transactions in the ghost market. Let's just not talk about it and get along with each other." Xiao Wu said dazedly.
Xiao Wu held it in for a long time and said: "… Awesome."
Although he didn't quite understand what was going on, he got in the car anyway.
It's so difficult, Xiao Wu thought sluggishly. He felt that the person driving the motorcycle might not be a human, but a voice-controlled torpedo spirit.
Xiao Wu slowly covered his face. "Brother, even if the Night Walker wouldn't fight with Shi An in principle, you're ruining the party."
Hearing the key words like "shi'an" and "case", Lao Jiang was not panicked.
Yin Ren: "Wait, didn't we just agree on 100,000?"
"Over there!" Considering that this person might not be able to see it, Xiao Wu pointed.
"It's not that serious, Xiao Zhong, let's just find a staircase..."
Before he could utter the word "appearance", the motorcycle engine roared again.
Zhong Cheng simply turned the wheel and rushed in the direction Xiao Wu pointed. The emergency route is naturally not as easy to take as the normal route. According to the old hands, it is like going into the abdominal cavity of a corpse. However, this scientist seemed to have no feeling at all and did not change his movements at all.
This must be a matter of life and death, he understood. After instantly imagining the scene of "the science post received a distress signal and bravely broke into the ghost shop to save the beautiful ghost master partner who was auctioned off", Xiao Wu's expression gradually became resolute.
Xiao Wu: “…”
"Charge!" Xiao Wu lit the talisman.
In other words, the price of the things Yin Ren wanted to buy was uncertain, and he needed a large amount of reserve funds to ensure that everything would go well. The figure of 100,000 was probably his requirement after weighing Zhong Chengshuo's income.
Lao Jiang laughed: "You are a night walker in name only, so it's 100,000. Since you have revealed your identity, and violated the rule that my car is not for entry, then the price will be different."
Seeing Yin Ren's evil appearance and his ability to resolve the crisis with ease, Lao Zhuang wanted to make friends with him. But after the "Shi'an" mark was placed on him, he no longer had any thoughts.
The relationship between Shi'an and the Night Walker is very delicate.
The Intelligence Security has many talented people, but sometimes they still need the Night Walker to help and provide information. The Night Walker doesn't like being controlled by the Intelligence Security, but he doesn't want to make the relationship too awkward.
Over time, both sides began to follow the same unspoken rule - as long as the night walkers were not involved in criminal activities, the police would often turn a blind eye and allow them to confront the police.
The basic principle is not to reveal your official identity when it is "not necessary".
It was not difficult for Wu Jiayi, who was born in the Night Walkers, to deal with it. Yin Ren and Zhong Cheng said that two "outsiders" doing this was tantamount to publicly insulting them. To survive in the jungle-like organization of the Night Walkers, "face" is sometimes much more important than money.
Wu Jiayi obviously understood this truth—Little Wu sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the theater.
"250,000 yuan. By the way, I can indeed pay by credit card." Lao Jiang used his good voice and pulled out a POS machine from his chest.
Zhong Cheng's movements slowly froze as he spoke, and Yin Ren's hand holding the bank card trembled slightly.
Yin Ren's worst guess was that he would compete with Little Meng Po for around 180,000. Even if he took the gambling factor into account, the chair was only worth that much.
Now, his salary card is overdrawn by 200,000 yuan, and most of his savings have been lost. If Shi An doesn't report this bill, he will have to say goodbye to late-night spicy crayfish and eat cheap potato hot pot instead.
Although taking out a loan is not a bad idea, it still hurts to eat with a loan.
The old zombie ignored the pain and confusion on Yin Ren's face. Its skull-like face moved and said, "Since you are Shi'an's man, then be quick and pay immediately."
Yin Ren almost choked as he gave the money.
"Okay, thank you for your patronage." Lao Jiang stuffed the POS machine back into his chest and tapped his fan again, "I'll return the collateral to you. I keep my word."
Yin Ren: “Wait—”
Before he could stop them, the two mice came back carrying the human head. They threw the head tied with red silk into Yin Ren's arms and quickly went back to the stage.
Lao Jiang smiled meaningfully and said, "Please take it. This thing is new. If you sell it to the right spirit craftsman, it can be worth thirty or forty thousand... Oh, my goodness, I forgot, you Shi An are not going to do this."
You old man, did you do this on purpose? Looking at the vicious head in his arms, Yin Ren fell silent.
At this moment, he was wearing a black shirt, his long hair was tied up loosely, and his ochre eyes glowed red under the light. Under the dim light, his face was beautiful to a certain degree of enchantment. With the head tied with a red ribbon in his arms and his eyes open, Yin Ren did not look like a decent person at all.
Zhong Chengshuo, Wu Jiayi: "… "
Yin Ren swallowed pitifully: "I can explain—"
He was so afraid that the enthusiastic citizen Xiao Zhong would call the police on the spot.
Fortunately, Zhian was there, and Zhong Cheng nodded and said, "Then go to the company to explain."
Then he turned his gaze to Lao Jiang. Perhaps because his gaze was too intense, Lao Jiang was so frightened that he said, "What are you looking at, young man?"
"Can I touch you?" Zhong Cheng said seriously.
Lao Zhuang: "... No, I am a Class 1 dangerous evil creature as defined in the Regulations on the Management of Evil Creatures."
If there weren't so many science posts outside, it wouldn't have been afraid to leave the ghost market for three hundred years! The bad thing about having a physical evil thing is that it's easy for people to pull it away for research.
"Besides, you living people are also charged with the crime of insulting a corpse. Objectively speaking, I am a human corpse." Lao Jiang was afraid that he would not be safe, so he quickly added another sentence.
Zhong Cheng said with disappointment, looking away. His eyes lightly swept across the dead head and turned to Yin Ren's face: "Where are the things you bought? We will send them to the company for appraisal as soon as possible."
Wu Jiayi was shaking his head like crazy. He was so concerned about that head that he was going crazy—a real person died. Aren’t you two newcomers afraid at all? !
"Okay, now that we've found the person, I'm going home to sleep." He took off his helmet in a daze and put it on Yin Ren's head, "I'll take you out, you two can go to the company by yourselves, old man, I'm sorry... newcomers don't know much..."
Lao Jiang nodded deeply, shielding his chest with both hands, and letting a group of mice move the packed chairs to the door.
By the time I realized what was happening, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
At the entrance of Shi'an Park, Lu Xiaohe yawned to greet the two people. When she saw the two people holding a chair in one hand and a head in the other, her yawn turned into a violent cough.
"Xiao Wu said you brought a human head here." She pointed at the human head in the black plastic bag, her index finger trembling slightly, "Is it really a human head?!"
"It could be evidence of a crime." "It was definitely an accident." Both of them spoke at almost the same time.
Compared to the fresh human head, the weird chair doesn't stand out so much.
With a suspected living creature and a suspected corpse, the three were temporarily not allowed to enter the office area. A few minutes later, a special person took away the head and the stool. While the chair was taken to the identification department, Yin Ren was almost immediately called to the "Non-Scientific Accident Handling Department" for questioning.
Lu Xiaohe staggered into the office, her steps were particularly heavy. "Let me think about it." She said distressedly, "You said that Yin Ren found possible clues to the case and needed a large amount of money... Why did it turn out like this? Isn't it buying intelligence?"
She really didn't expect to get a chair and a head.
Zhong Cheng said, straightening the collar of his pajamas: "I don't know."
"Don't you know you're still helping him?!"
Zhong Cheng frowned and thought for a while: "... I believe him."
After all, Yin Ren was a strong man who could get away with it under Shi An's nose. He wouldn't let himself down in a place like this, right? Even if he wanted to cause trouble, there was no need to do it in a way that would hurt the enemy's reputation and cost him 250,000 yuan.
His tense nerves gradually relaxed, and Zhong Cheng began to feel sleepy again, his head nodding unconsciously.
Lu Xiaohe was more direct. She dragged out two folding beds with ease. She also brought two folded blankets. "It'll take a while for the results to come out. Let's take a nap first."
"I'll wait for Yin Ren a little longer." Zhong Cheng said as he forced his eyelids open and looked towards the door.
Lu Xiaohe shook her head and skillfully took out an eye mask from her drawer: "Good night then."
"Good night." Zhong Cheng said and continued to sit at the table.
At around four in the morning, Yin Ren was finally released from the "Non-Scientific Accident Handling Department".
The dead man had only traces of his own magic on him, and with the testimony of several night walkers, the case was labeled as a backlash of magic. The dead man's head was confiscated, his bank card was emptied, and Yin Ren returned to the Special Investigation Team 9 office with nothing.
The light in the office is dim.
Lu Xiaohe set up a folding bed against the wall, buried his head in a thin blanket, and slept soundly. Zhong Chengshuo lay on the table, breathing slowly, and his pajamas looked particularly thin.
Zhong Cheng said this with his face still facing the entrance.
Yin Ren paused at the entrance, then he walked lightly in front of Zhong Chengshuo.
“… Very good, no dark circles under my eyes yet.” After sitting back at his workstation, Yin Ren propped his face up and looked at his partner’s sleeping face for a while.
At this glance, this man still looked like a harmless scholar. However, judging from his previous behavior, if Zhong Chengshuo was put on the folding bed, he would definitely wake up.
Yin Ren carefully took off Zhong Chengshuo's glasses and put them aside.
In the dim light, Zhong Cheng's eyelids trembled slightly, and he seemed to be sleeping restlessly. Without the cover of glasses, there was a hint of strength and stubbornness between his eyebrows, which was very interesting.
After seeing the right angle, Yin Ren lay down again and put a finger under Zhong Cheng's nose.
The man's breath was moist and warm, brushing across his fingertips again and again.
Yin Ren didn't really expect Zhong Cheng to really help him. After Zhong Cheng refused to transfer the money, Yin Ren didn't even bother to "bargain".
Why did he have to contact Little Meng Po? Why did he have to buy that chair? Both things were related to Yin Ren's ability under the shadow. He couldn't explain it clearly to Zhong Cheng.
In fact, Yin Ren already had a plan.
If this person didn't take action, he could only make a scene in front of the ghost and snatch the chair down first - there was the breath of a living person in the chair, and living people could die easily and couldn't wait too long to recover.
However, after such a mess, no matter how it ended, the feud between him and Little Mengpo would be established. At least Little Mengpo's clues would be cut off.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Cheng took care of everything quickly and arrived on time.
I don't know whether to say he is smart or stupid.
After a few minutes, Yin Ren withdrew his hand. He moved his joints for a while and pulled the thin blanket from the empty folding bed. The thin blanket was light and soft, and he gently picked it up and carefully covered Zhong Chengshuo's back.
"You're stupid." After doing all this, the Ghost King silently commented, "If you really want to study me, you should give me more trouble."
Feeling the warmth on his body, Zhong Cheng curled up. His eyebrows relaxed a little, and it was unclear whether he heard or not.
Yin Renchong made a face at his partner. Then he yawned, lay down beside Zhong Chengshuo, and soon fell asleep.
He dreamed of an endless mountain of potato chips.
The Ghost King had to climb the mountain on foot to get the box of lobsters on the top of the mountain. Just as he reached the top after much difficulty and reached for the lunch box—
"Everyone, get up."
Fu Xingchuan mercilessly gave each of them a blow to the head.
Yin Ren almost couldn't control his murderous anger. He rubbed his head and stared at Fu Xingchuan with great dissatisfaction. Fortunately, the next moment, Minister Fu brought good news like sweet spring water in the desert.
"Your $250,000 will be reimbursed by Shi'an. I should have rewarded you with some money, but this time you caused an incident at the ghost shop, and the reward and punishment conflicted."
Fu Xingchuan pulled a chair from an empty seat and sat in front of Yin Ren.
"It's good that it can be reimbursed." Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, he would have to be burdened with debts when he first entered society, and his life would be too cruel.
After being hit on the head, Zhong Cheng straightened up in a daze. Feeling the thin blanket on his body, he was obviously stunned. On the other side, hearing the conversation, Lu Xiaohe got up from the bed on her own. Before she opened her eyes, she had already punched the pillow several times.
"Are you all awake? That's good. Xiaohe turned on the screen. The identification results of the chair last night are out."
The screen was filled with data, and pictures of the chair from different angles were also included. Lu Xiaohe and Zhong Cheng read through the data line by line, their expressions becoming increasingly complicated.
Yin Ren looked at the two of them in confusion: "What's wrong?"
“It’s not cognitive pollution,” Zhong Cheng said, his eyes still fixed on the screen. “On a physical level, human cells and wood are fused together.”
"And that person... how should I put it, is still alive, but in very bad condition." Lu Xiaohe's voice trembled slightly, "At least within my authority, I can't find any similar cases."
Scans, X-rays, and all kinds of inspection methods were used. The scientific staff barely found the person in the "human chair" -
The man's entire body seemed to have turned into plasticine, which was then rolled into long strips and melted into the wooden sticks in equal proportions.
Fat, muscle, internal organs, bones... This person's entire body is twisted and distorted, and all cells are inseparable from wood fibers, but they still retain some strange activity. It is hard to say whether it can be called a "corpse".
The man's heart had become long and twisted, like a curled earthworm, and the myocardial fibers had obvious woody characteristics. But the heart was still beating rapidly and weakly.
"The technicians restored the DNA that had been broken overnight and barely confirmed the identity of this person. Fan Yong, 38 years old, went missing two months ago. This person is on the police missing persons file. Sun Qinghui is currently questioning Lu Guangzu, and it seems that this person is the real one."
Fu Xingchuan rubbed his temples.
"This is not something a spiritualist can do. The case of Lu Guangzu is more complicated than we thought."
The three of them looked at him quietly, waiting for the next words.
Although Fu Xingchuan has a good temper, he is like Professor Li, the kind of person who never comes to see a doctor for no reason. Since he came to communicate in person, the situation must be more complicated than just "deep waters".
Sure enough, Fu Xingchuan opened the thermos and took two sips of strong tea.
“… This time we detected a weak evil force in the chair again.” He gritted his teeth and emphasized the word “again”.
Yin Ren enthusiastically acted as a supporting actor: "Ah, I have an impression! The report on Feng Qi's case wrote that his ability was contaminated by the 'evil power'... Minister Fu, what exactly is the evil power? Super concentrated evil energy?"
Fu Xingchuan laughed helplessly twice: "It's in your textbooks."
"I haven't learned it yet." Zhong Cheng said to make up for it.
"It's hard to predict God's intentions. Recently, you have been involved in two cases involving evil forces." Fu Xingchuan wiped his face and said, "Okay, I'll talk about it. You all know about carbon dioxide, right?"
Yin Ren: “…”
Yin Ren hid his guilt and nodded confidently.
"If evil spirits are carbon dioxide, then no matter how strong ordinary evil things are, their evil spirit strength is at most dry ice. But 'evil spirits' are different. Their 'evil spirit power' is more like diamonds - purer, rarer, and stronger."
"Of course, you can burn diamonds to turn them into carbon dioxide. But under natural conditions, this process is completely irreversible. In the same way, evil power can be transformed into evil spirits, but no one has yet been able to reverse the process."
Therefore, the cause of the evil spirit remains an unsolved mystery.
"I see." The evil spirit pretended to be stupid and said, "This seems to be very serious. Are we going to withdraw from the investigation again?"
"Thirds of a time. Our business is all about fate. Since you keep running into cases like this, you might as well get involved until the end."
Fu Xingchuan grinned at them, revealing a smile that was tainted with evil.
"How about this, Xiao Yin, can you tell me first, why do you think that chair is related to the case?"
Yin Ren was well prepared.
"That chair gave me a feeling that it was not right. It had too many human characteristics. The pawnshop owner also said that the chair seller said something like 'hide and seek has really begun'... This is consistent with the behavior of 'hiding the victim for us to find'."
"And the style of this auction that provides clues is consistent with Lu Guangzu's exaggerated surrender. The rest is... just intuition."
Zhong Cheng frowned and said, "Too arbitrary."
"The point is that the chair has the characteristics of a living person, Brother Zhong." Yin Ren smiled and said nonchalantly, "If I'm wrong, it's my fault. But if it's really a living person, isn't it worth it to buy back a life with 250,000 yuan?"
Zhong Cheng said his lips moved, but he didn't answer anything in the end.
Fu Xingchuan wanted to say something, but just as he opened his mouth, a cell phone ringtone popped out of his pocket. Minister Fu took out his cell phone and walked out of the office quickly.
Lu Xiaohe was busy studying the data of the "human chair". She frowned, not knowing what she was thinking about. Yin Ren stretched his waist, hung his whole body on the back of the chair, and turned his head to look at the bright sunshine outside the window.
Unlike the time in the ghost shop, the coldness on Yin Ren's body had completely dissipated. He half-closed his eyes in the sunlight, and a lazy warmth surrounded him.
Like a soft blanket on your back.
Zhong Cheng lowered his head, opened WeChat, and clicked on Sun Qi'an, whom he had just added a few days ago.
[Finally Successful: Hello, Dr. Sun, I would like to consult you about psychological issues.]
[Finally it comes to fruition: Maybe I really do have some psychological problems.]
The author has something to say:
It's okay, Xiao Zhong. There's nothing good about touching a zombie. Only the ghost king feels better! When the time comes (?), touch as much as you want!
Xiao Yin: It was a close call. I almost had to take on the company's debt.
The world where only Xiao Wu is hurt has been achieved (×
(End of this chapter)