"Then you can tell me with confidence?" Li Hongyu asked back.
Chen Ling raised his eyebrows: "You have to find someone to trust. If the inner demon is really in you, I will admit defeat at worst."
Li Hongyu really thought about it seriously. He has always had a peaceful mentality and has never had any turbulent times. He only complained in his childhood about why his master was always so strict.
"I can confirm that I haven't been bewitched by my inner demons recently." He said solemnly, "As for what you said, I have written it down. I will pay close attention to everyone in the Special Investigation Department when I return."
He emphasized the last three words. He wanted to tell Chen Ling that no matter whether they were superiors or grassroots civil servants, they were now classified as suspects.
Chen Ling said sincerely: "Sorry for the trouble."
Although neither of them said anything, they already had a unique tacit understanding.
Rather than randomly guessing who is the mastermind behind this, they are more inclined to believe that the inner demon is hidden in the Special Investigation Department.
After all, not everyone can easily enter the Special Investigation Department and speak through Qing Tanzi's soul; not everyone can enter Qingxuan Temple and cast nightmares on the people living inside.
Chen Ling suddenly thought of Senior Brother Fat. He asked, "Did you send Senior Brother Fat to help?"
Li Hongyu: "Yes, what?"
Chen Ling shook his head and asked, "Did he know in advance that you were coming to Blue Lake Town?"
"I know." Li Hongyu recalled, "Before leaving, he was supposed to stay in the department with Senior Brother Shou, but after receiving your call, I asked him to go to the Yuan family."
No one is a fool. When Chen Ling mentioned the fat senior brother at this time, he must be suspicious of something.
Feeling a little embarrassed by the look on his face, Chen Ling said sheepishly, "Sorry, I may be a little paranoid and think too much."
"Yeah." Li Hongyu looked back at the main hall. Wu Weiwei and Jiang Yu had already sat down, waiting for Chen Ling to have breakfast.
Noticing that the people outside were looking in, Wu Weiwei waved at Li Hongyu, "Do you still want to eat?"
"No." Li Hongyu said to Chen Ling, "I'm going back first."
Chen Ling walked up the stone steps and returned to the main room. The fresh millet porridge was smooth, soft and glutinous, with a rich flavor. It was light and refreshing when paired with pickles and steamed buns.
Wu Weiwei chewed some pickles and asked, "What is Li Hongyu doing here so early?"
"They said they were going down to the lake this morning." Chen Ling drank a mouthful of porridge, looked up and said, "I'll go down with them."
Jiang Yu frowned: "Do you have to go down?"
Chen Ling: "I want to know where the evil energy in the water that can make people fall into an illusion comes from."
Wu Weiwei quickly raised his hand: "I want to go down too."
Chen Ling glanced down and said, "Your foot isn't fully healed yet."
Wu Weiwei quickly stood up and jumped twice on the spot. Before he could say the word "OK", his mouth opened, and then he bared his teeth and said "ouch".
Chen Ling stuffed a big steamed bun into his mouth and said, "Just stay here. If you really want to know what's going on, I'll broadcast it live on your phone."
Wu Weiwei's eyes lit up: "That's fine! Thank you, Brother Chen."
As they spent more and more time together, he deeply felt that Chen Ling's attitude towards him was gradually becoming more intimate. If they were friends before, now he can proudly tell himself that we are brothers and a real family.
After breakfast, the three of them went to the temporary residence of the Special Investigation Department.
Because there were so many people, the people from the Special Investigation Department occupied a total of three small buildings, and Li Hongyu lived in the one on the far right.
As soon as Chen Ling and his friends entered the courtyard, the staff of the Special Investigation Department who were making preparations came out of the house.
Probably for the convenience of movement, the black suits they wore in the past were replaced with black T-shirts and casual pants. The leader asked arrogantly, "Stop, who are you looking for?"
"How dare you." A low scolding sounded.
Li Daoxuan stood on the second floor, still with that gentle smile on his face. He politely nodded to Chen Ling and the other two and said to his subordinates, "They are from Yuhe Mountain, and they are all fellow Taoists. Don't be rude."
The people from the Special Investigation Department turned around and looked at Chen Ling again, said sorry in a half-hearted manner, and went back to their rooms to continue with their own business.
Li Daoxuan walked down from upstairs. "He's looking for Hongyu, right? He went to the mountain trail behind to count the diving equipment with his brothers."
"Team Leader Li." Chen Ling greeted, "Then I'll go find him now."
"He will be back soon, so why don't you wait here? I have something to say to you." Li Daoxuan's tone was gentle, but he had already turned and walked into the main room, not giving anyone a chance to refuse.
Chen Ling and Jiang Yu looked at each other, then walked in, following Wu Weiwei's pace, which was slightly slower than his.
This small building is obviously bigger than Shen Dazhuang's house, and the decoration is weird. There are no decorations on the four walls, but there is a palace-style crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Li Daoxuan sat on the armchair facing the gate and asked his subordinates to make tea for the three of them.
"I heard from Hongyu that you entered a fantasy last night." He paused for a moment, waiting for his subordinate to place the teacup in front of the three people before continuing. "I wonder what kind of fantasy it was. Can you tell me about it?"
"I just saw some things from the past." Chen Ling showed a confused expression and sighed pretentiously, "The illusion was too realistic. The moment I was brought in, I lost most of my consciousness and forgot that I could draw talismans to catch ghosts."
He looked up with curiosity on his face: "Team Leader Li, don't you think it's strange?"
"It must be strange." Li Daoxuan looked thoughtful, and said with a sigh, "But this is related to one's own cultivation and character. If your character is as solid as a rock, how could you be deceived by demons and monsters?"
"Yes." Chen Ling admitted, "My skills are not advanced enough, and my mind is wandering."
Li Daoxuan seemed to be afraid of undermining the younger generation's self-confidence, so he comforted them: "You are still young, don't rush, take your time."
"Team Leader Li is right." Chen Ling looked as if he was listening attentively, as if he really regarded the person sitting in the upper seat as a dear elder, but in his heart he was secretly observing the other person's expression.
The ancestor's suspicion of Li Daoxuan would not be groundless.
Suddenly, he remembered the little story he heard last night.
The old ancestor was not a storyteller. Although his tone was calm when he talked about the child born from the sea of blood, Chen Ling could still vaguely sense a hint of gloom between his words.
Hell holds more than tens of thousands of evil spirits. The sea of blood formed by the blood of so many ghosts is so vicious that it is terrifying just to think about it.
If that child is really Jiang Yu, then the bloody talisman on his back has an explanation.
—That is a spell used to suppress evil spirit.
Thinking of this, Chen Ling suddenly felt his mind open up, and the doubts about Jiang Yu emerged before his eyes one by one.
For example, he, a thousand-year-old ghost, actually enjoys reading Buddhist scriptures.
For example, after the Paper Rose order, Jiang Yu disappeared for a while, and when he came back, he was stained with the scent of ink.
After several inquiries, the ancestor finally told him that he had gone to copy scriptures himself.
Isn't the purpose of reading and copying scriptures to calm one's mind? If one's mind is unstable, the anger in one's body will naturally not be able to calm down.
If Jiang Yu was really just one step away from becoming a demon, then could his suspicion of Li Daoxuan be because he smelled something in the other person... Chen Ling quickly suppressed his guilty conscience and couldn't help but glance at the old ancestor.
The man held the teacup, lowered his eyes and took a sip.
Chen Ling retracted his gaze and tried hard to control his emotions, fearing that his disgusted and defensive look was too obvious and would be noticed by Li Daoxuan.
"Since you entered the illusion, how did you get out?" After asking, Li Daoxuan called two subordinates. These people were disciples from Qingxuan Temple and they obeyed his orders.
"Junior Master."
Li Daoxuan raised his hand and nodded at Chen Ling: "This fellow Daoist Chen is young but his Taoism is much higher than yours. We are going to go down to the Blue Lake later. You should first listen to his experience of escaping the illusion, so as to avoid accidentally drinking the lake water and not knowing how to deal with it."
Chen Ling was originally quite calm, but now he was suddenly pushed onto the platform and became a monkey being watched. He suddenly became a little nervous.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, please speak. We are listening carefully." A subordinate said and filled his tea glass.
Chen Ling secretly thought that Li Hongyu should not have told Li Daoxuan that Jiang Yu manipulated the hellfire to kill the death monster, otherwise he would not have directed his spearhead at him.
He calmed himself down and looked at the people in front of him, "Excuse me, do you have a partner?"
The subordinates looked at each other and shook their heads.
Oh, they are all singles, there is nothing I can do about it.
Chen Ling said half-truthfully, "To be honest, I have a partner in reality, and even in this fantasy, I am still thinking about finding him, so I am not completely lost. I'm afraid this method is not suitable for you."
The subordinates had strange expressions, some were embarrassed, some were envious. Who could have known that the object could play such an important role in the battle between the enemy and us!
Li Daoxuan whispered from his high seat: "I didn't expect it to be like this."
Chen Ling nodded seriously.
Li Daoxuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and put it back on the table. The tea lid collided with the tea bowl, making a crisp sound, which was very abrupt in the quiet space.
No one knew why, but the atmosphere suddenly became stagnant without any warning.
The people from the Special Investigation Department seemed to be very afraid of the chief's people, and immediately held their breath and stepped aside.
Li Daoxuan looked at Jiang Yu and said casually: "It seems that Mr. Jiang is very important to Daoyou Chen."
Jiang Yu looked up and met Li Daoxuan's gaze. He did not flinch or avoid it. His eyes were calm and cold, and his lips were slightly curved, as if he was acknowledging it, or perhaps it was a polite greeting.
Li Daoxuan did not retract his gaze, and continued with a smile: "I have always wanted to ask for advice. May I ask what kind of Taoism Mr. Jiang practices? Don't be afraid of you laughing at me, but I still don't understand your Taoism."
Jiang Yu: "I have learned some unorthodox methods, which are not worth mentioning."
Chen Ling: “…”
One dares to ask, the other dares to speak, both of them are not ordinary people.
Li Daoxuan nodded thoughtfully: "It seems that it is not convenient to disclose it."
Jiang Yu also retracted his gaze and responded directly: "It is indeed inconvenient."
Wu Weiwei glanced at his brother Chen quietly and made a gesture of wiping his neck, meaning that the conversation was over.
"Team leader, the deputy team leader is back." A subordinate hurried in. Noticing that the atmosphere was not right, he pursed his lips and continued in a low voice, "The equipment has been counted and we can launch it soon."
The sun had already risen outside, but Li Hongyu felt refreshed and walked straight to Li Daoxuan.
"Are you ready?" Li Daoxuan asked.
"Everything is ready." Li Hongyu said and looked at Chen Ling, "Your diving suit is also ready, let's go."