Chapter 90: The Second Case

I was lost in thought. If that was what Chen Yien said, could the blood demon have escaped from the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda?

But if a blood demon had broken out of the pagoda, how could the Ninth Bureau not know? Since there was a pagoda, there had to be people guarding it.

Just then, Niu Dali suddenly said, "Forget where the blood demon came from for now. The skin has to be peeled, then painted by a skin painter before it can be used. That might be a clue."

"But I saw the blood demon painting the skin with my own eyes," I said.

"Then there is only one possibility," Chen Ying'en said. "Before it was refined into a blood demon, it was itself a skin painter."

Chen Ying'en contacted Zhao Zheng and had him search the Ninth Bureau's archives for information on skin painters.

Very quickly, Zhao Zheng sent the information over.

Skin painters had originally been morticians, specializing in restoring the faces of corpses that had died in horrific ways. Later, by applying a sinister art to that craft, the skin painter came into being.

A master skin painter could bring a sheet of human skin to life.

The most famous skin painters were once the Tao family of Minshan, but they were destroyed by the Ninth Bureau for using that wicked art to sow chaos.

...

On the rooftop of Wushan Grand Hotel.

I sat on the railing, a cigarette between my fingers, the more than one-hundred-meter drop yawning behind me.

"Brother Qin, are we just going to sit here and wait?" Ghost asked.

"What else? The skinner has come to Wushan, and Lu Zhiruo has come here too. There must be a connection between them, but since we can't find the skinner right now, all we can do is keep an eye on Lu Zhiruo." After arriving in Wushan, Lu Zhiruo had checked into the Wushan Grand Hotel.

Ghost nodded. "But I still don't get it. Since we know Lu Zhiruo is a blood demon, why not just arrest her and follow the trail from there?"

"Ghost, sometimes I think you're pretty sharp. Why are you so slow on the uptake now? That blood demon is only a pawn. There's someone big behind it. If we arrest the demon, we'll alert the snake. And if we still want to follow the trail, we won't even get a single thread." I said. In fact, I even suspected the big figure was someone inside the Ninth Bureau. It was only a gut feeling, nothing I could rely on.

Ghost scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Ghost, do you have a girl you like?" I asked with a smile.

His face reddened. Looking down, he said, "We're living on borrowed time. How could I have the heart to like any girl?"

I jumped down from the railing, laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, "All the more reason to find one. Otherwise, when you close your eyes for the last time, if you've never even tasted a woman's embrace, wouldn't that be a terrible regret?"

"But wouldn't that be wronging the girl?" Ghost said uncertainly.

I laughed. "How about I take you out for some experience and find a skilled older sister to teach you how to be a man?"

Ghost shook his head so hard it was like a rattle drum. "That's not proper. Not proper at all..."

"So you do have a girl you like, huh? Don't try to fool me. Your Brother Qin has roamed through the sea of flowers for years; do you think I can't see through your little scheme?" I said.

Ghost nodded, smiling a little foolishly.

"Who is it? I promise I won't tell," I asked, full of curiosity.

"This... I can't say," Ghost said.

"Do you take me for your brother or not? Say it," I urged.

After a long stretch of hesitation, Ghost finally said a name, and I was so startled that the cigarette in my mouth fell to the ground.

Yun Hui?

Yun Hui! The little novice who stayed by the side of Abbess Jingyue!

To be honest, I was a little stunned. Of all people to like, why choose a little nun?

"Well, a youthful face and a gentle voice can be very tempting, but she is a woman of the cloth. Brother still advises you to change your affection to someone else," I said.

"I know it's impossible, but I only like her. Ever since the first time I went with Captain Chen to visit Abbess Jingyue and saw her, I've liked her. But I've never dared to expect anything, because I know it can't be," Ghost said softly.

My head started to ache. Ghost's taste was certainly unique: not only did he like a youthful, delicate girl, she was also a nun. Wasn't that a doomed entanglement?

"Brother Qin, your charm is still the greatest. I think even our Captain Chen likes you," Ghost said, steering the conversation back onto me.

"Don't talk nonsense. If Captain Chen hears that, won't she fly into a rage? Of course, it would be normal if she liked me. If even a man like me didn't appeal to her, then she definitely wouldn't count as a woman. Let me tell you, Ghost, women like Captain Chen look cold on the outside but are passionate on the inside. She..." I was in the middle of boasting wildly when I noticed Ghost desperately winking at me, and I laughed and scolded, "What are you blinking for? Did your eyes twitch?"

But at that very moment, I suddenly felt a chill run down my back. I slowly turned around and saw Chen Ying'en standing behind me with a frosty face, her gaze seeming ready to slice me into a thousand pieces.

"Uh... Captain, Brother Qin, you two talk. I'll go downstairs and keep watch." Sensing the atmosphere had gone bad, Ghost vanished in a puff of smoke.

Chen Ying'en walked up to me, grinding her silver teeth. "Cold on the outside, passionate on the inside?"

"You heard wrong. I said you're cold on the outside, pure on the inside, like a snow lotus on a high plateau, proudly standing above the world, untouched by dust..." As I spoke, I suddenly tilted my body and dodged Chen Yien's groin kick.

We exchanged more than a dozen moves in quick succession, neither of us using any spiritual power, and neither could gain the upper hand.

Just then, Chen Ying'en's wristwatch suddenly vibrated. She checked it and saw a message from Ghost saying that someone had entered Lu Zhiruo's room.

We pulled up the surveillance footage. I raised an eyebrow and said, "It's Chi Yan. Do you know the Chi family?"

"Yes. They're quite close to the Huo family. The pillar of the Chi family is Chi Rong, commander of the capital military district. He has two sons: the elder, Chi Feng, is already a core member of the military leadership; the younger is Chi Yan, a worthless fool." Chen Ying'en said.

Only then did I understand just how powerful Yu Yun's background was. No wonder people said she had the ability to transfer her into the Ninth Bureau.

Since Chi Rong was a commander, he must know about the Netherworld rifts. Every major Netherworld rift had troops stationed there.

At that moment, Chen Ying'en and I exchanged a glance, each seeing doubt in the other's eyes.

Was Lu Zhiruo, this blood demon, deliberately or accidentally getting close to the Chi family?

If it was deliberate, that would explain a great deal.

"If she's deliberately getting close to the Chi family, it's probably for the military power the Chi family controls. We may not be able to make this call ourselves; we need to report it to our superiors," Chen Ying'en said.

"Captain, what about Chi Yan? He's alone in a room with that blood demon. Won't he be devoured down to the bone?" Ghost asked.

"He's a worthless fool to begin with. If he gets played to death, that's his own fault. But he shouldn't be in danger for now. If the blood demon and the person behind her want to get close to the Chi family, they won't let the Chi family notice anything," Chen Ying'en said.

"Fine, then let's not go disturb them enjoying that stroke of luck," I said with a chuckle.

Just then, Chen Ying'en received a phone call from the local police station, and her face immediately darkened.

"The second victim in Wushan has appeared," Chen Ying'en said after hanging up, her voice low.

"A woman?" I asked.

"Yes. The owner of a place called Green Green Barbecue. A young woman. She had just finished being affectionate with her boyfriend and went to the restroom, and then it happened," Chen Ying'en said.

"Snap."

My whole body went rigid. Without realizing it, I pressed down hard, and my hand punched a hole straight through the table.

My face twisted with fury as I stared at Chen Ying'en. "What did you say the place was?"

"Green Green Barbecue... you know it?" Chen Ying'en repeated in a low voice, noticing my reaction.

I didn't answer. I rushed out at once, with Chen Ying'en and the others behind me.

The car shot toward us like a cannonball, screeched to a halt, and stopped in front of Green Green Barbecue, where police tape had already been strung up.

I leapt from the car and immediately saw Ye Cheng sitting on the steps, his face as pale as paper and his whole body trembling. A policeman was questioning him in front of him, but he seemed not to hear a word.

I hurried over, pulled that officer aside, crouched down, and gripped Ye Cheng by both shoulders, shaking him as I shouted, "Beauty, it's me. I'm Qin Feng."

Ye Cheng looked up in a daze. When he saw my face, his whole expression crumpled. With bloodshot eyes, he cried out, "Qin Feng, Qingqing, she... she..."

He couldn't finish. The words died in his throat, and he threw his arms around me and burst into tears.

"I don't believe it... I must be dreaming... Qin Feng, wake me up..." he cried in complete collapse.

My nose stung, and tears fell as well. Qingqing was a good girl. I knew at a glance that she and Ye Cheng were meant to be together.

But I never imagined she would suffer something so cruel. I still remembered when we had eaten barbecue together here.

I reached out and gave the nearly broken Ye Cheng a light blow to the back of the head, and he immediately fainted.

After settling him, I sat on the steps and smoked.

Chen Ying'en came to sit beside me. Seeing my reddened eyes, she froze for a moment, perhaps never expecting someone like me, always so carefree and irreverent, to shed tears too.

"Your friend?" Chen Ying'en asked.

"My brother," I said.

"Ordinary people would have a hard time bearing this kind of scene, let alone their own beloved," Chen Ying'en sighed.

"After looking at the scene, did you find anything?" I asked.

"Just like Li Li's case, many misleading formations had been deliberately laid around the area. It shows the target had been chosen long ago," Chen Ying'en said.

I exhaled a plume of smoke, then drew it deep into my lungs through my nose, squinting as I said, "The skinner hasn't been in Wushan for long. He simply wouldn't have had time to scout for victims. There must be an accomplice here."

"It's also possible that the target was scouted long ago and only acted on now," Chen Ying'en said.

"I will dig this person out no matter what. Not only will I make him taste the agony of being skinned alive, I'll make him taste the torment of being hacked apart alive," I said through clenched teeth.

Chen Ying'en took out two photos and handed them to me. "These are photos of Li Li and Qingqing. Look at them. What common traits do they actually share?"

I studied them for a long while. In terms of appearance, the two women were completely different types. I couldn't find any real point of comparison.

Just then, Ye Cheng woke up. His emotions had stabilized a great deal.

"Maybe he knows," I said, taking the two photos and walking toward Ye Cheng.