Chapter 24: The Killer
Right, he almost forgot about that kid.
Li Dongze's words reminded the team leaders that the Kangyang District Spiritual Realm team had already recruited a Night Traveler, so there was no need to borrow one from the Taiyi Sect anymore.
Big Muscle's face lit up with joy, and he immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and contact that kid. That's why I said we need to cultivate our own Night Traveler. Our own people are the most reliable at critical moments."
The other team leaders relaxed their brows.
Big Muscle's words made sense. Although the Night Travelers from the Taiyi Sect had always been very cooperative in official matters, they were still outsiders after all. It was definitely more convenient to use their own people.
Li Dongze glanced at Fu Qingyang and, seeing him nod slightly, immediately took out his phone and walked out of the conference room.
"I'll go contact him."
After finishing the morning professional classes, Zhang Yuanqing picked up his backpack and left the classroom. He planned to skip the afternoon classes and take a trip to the office of the Kangyang District Spiritual Realm Team Two.
His future focus on interpersonal relationships would all shift to the Spiritual Realm team.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't really like school and wasn't very interested in studying. The young people of Songhai had a kind of laziness in their bones, lacking wolf spirit and drive.
There were only two kinds of people in this world who would strive: one kind had developed a positive habit from a young age, and the other kind was forced by life.
After becoming a Spiritual Realm walker, Zhang Yuanqing finally found the long-lost fighting spirit.
One reason was that his life depended on it, and the other was that he could fulfill his boyhood dream of wandering the rivers and lakes with a sword.
The Spiritual Realm was full of danger and strangeness, but once you tasted the sweetness, you would never be content to be an ordinary person again.
As he reached downstairs and was about to swipe a shared bicycle, his phone in his pocket rang.
It was Li Dongze calling.
"Captain?" Zhang Yuanqing answered.
"Where are you now?" Li Dongze's speech was extremely fast and straight to the point.
"At school."
"Songhai University, right? I'll have Guan Ya come pick you up right now."
Pick me up? Zhang Yuanqing heard the urgency in Li Dongze's tone and probed, "What's the matter?"
"A colleague has been killed. We need a Night Traveler to devour the spirit and obtain the other party's memory. Hmm, you can do this, right?" Li Dongze asked, not quite at ease.
Um, it should be possible. Zhang Yuanqing said, "I'll try."
Devouring spirits wasn't difficult. It was a Night Traveler's innate skill. His mind told him it was possible, but in terms of reading memories, he had never actually devoured a spirit before and had no experience, so he didn't dare guarantee it.
"Then it's settled." Li Dongze didn't say much more and hung up the phone.
Zhang Yuanqing put away his phone and walked towards the school gate on foot.
A few minutes later, he stopped at the school gate, silently waiting for Guan Ya to pick him up. At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing noticed that not far away by the roadside, a girl wearing a pleated long skirt and carrying a designer bag was standing there, as if waiting for someone.
Xu Yingying?
Zhang Yuanqing looked over this "class flower" for a few glances. Her outfit was very particular, with bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and bags all looking quite expensive, very different from most female classmates in the school.
Girls from ordinary family backgrounds couldn't pull off this kind of feeling.
Noticing Zhang Yuanqing's gaze, Xu Yingying gave a faint smile. While brushing up her hair and straightening her back to strike the most charming pose, she felt a little sense of superiority in her heart.
This male student was quite good-looking, so she instinctively showed off her beauty.
But now, she was already in a different world from ordinary college students, so her heart was filled with a sense of superiority.
The decorations she wore were worth a year's living expenses for an ordinary college student.
At this moment, Xu Yingying saw a blue sports car pull up and slowly stop at the school gate.
The woman driving the car was wearing a neat white shirt and sunglasses, her face not clearly visible, but her fair and delicate chin and exquisite mouth corners made it clear she was a beauty with high-value looks.
Xu Yingying pursed her lips and changed her pose, turning the logo of her designer bag towards the sports car.
At the same time, she saw Zhang Yuanqing jogging up to the sports car, opening the door and getting in.
The rich woman stepped on the accelerator and drove off with the young man.
Xu Yingying opened her mouth, her face full of surprise.
For a moment, she couldn't tell if this male classmate was a low-key rich family's son or her own kind—a seafood merchant or a steel-wire-ball merchant.
Kangyang District Security Bureau, morgue.
Zhang Yuanqing stood by the autopsy table and lifted the white cloth, revealing a brutally mutilated corpse.
The deceased's body was covered in bruises and knife wounds, with a shocking wound on the chest where flesh gaped open.
If it were two days ago, seeing such a corpse would have definitely made Zhang Yuanqing physically uncomfortable. But after experiencing the beating at the Mountain God Temple, corpses could no longer stir up too much emotion in him.
"You may begin," Li Dongze said expectantly, leaning on his cane beside him.
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. He examined Zhao Yingjun's corpse, sensing that the remnant spirit in this cold body was gradually becoming active and reviving.
The aura of the Night Traveler had a fatal attraction to spirits and could awaken dormant ones.
He silently mobilized the yin energy in his body. His eyes were covered with a layer of pure black on the whites and pupils. Reaching out his hand, he made a grabbing motion towards Zhao Yingjun's body.
A phantom figure was pulled out.
This figure had Zhao Yingjun's features but a dull expression and vacant eyes.
After a person dies, ninety percent of their consciousness dissipates, and the spirit becomes this dull. With consciousness dissipated, memories naturally also become fragmented, leaving only those with deep attachments.
Memories before death are often deeply imprinted and very close to the moment of death, so they are retained.
After grabbing the spirit, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt a desire to "feed." He naturally opened his mouth and gently sucked.
Zhao Yingjun's spirit turned into green smoke and floated into his mouth.
His mind ached and swelled as if many things not belonging to him were being stuffed in.
Zhang Yuanqing heard low sobbing and wailing sounds. A fierce and gloomy voice rang in his ears:
"I don't have much patience. You'd better answer obediently."
He knew he was reading the spirit's final memories. Slowly "opening" his eyes, the surroundings became clear. This was a luxuriously decorated suite.
He sat collapsed on the soft large bed, completely naked. Pants and female underwear were scattered messily on the floor.
Not far away, at the head of the bed, a young woman was curled up, equally bare. Her creamy long legs, firm abdomen, and perky breasts displayed her proud youthful curves.
The sobbing came from her.
A woman? Naked? Such a scene made Zhang Yuanqing pause, thinking, why didn't the captain explain the situation at the crime scene clearly? How can he let me see content unsuitable for children? I'm still a kid...
Following the deceased's perspective, he looked at the person beside the bed. It was a fierce-looking man with a half-finger-length scar on his left cheek, sparse eyebrows, and a cruel, shaded gaze.
A shiny scalpel was gripped in his hand.
The killer. Zhang Yuanqing stared at this face, firmly memorizing his appearance.
With this, half of his task could be considered complete.
The man pointed the blade tip at "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest and said viciously:
"Where is the Holy Grail? Where is the name list?"
He seemed to have asked this question many times. His expression was full of impatience, and murderous intent surged in his eyes.
"I don't know. I really don't know... Please, let me go." Zhang Yuanqing heard "his own" pleading voice.
The man squatted by the bed, completely out of patience. As if exhausted, he rubbed his face and muttered:
"I gave you a chance, but you're useless. I gave you a chance, but you're useless..."
With that, he stabbed the scalpel's tip into "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest.
An intense pain hit, and consciousness instantly blurred. Zhang Yuanqing collapsed limply to the ground and saw the man unbuckling his pants, grabbing the beautiful woman's ankles, and forcefully pulling her towards himself.
The scene abruptly ended with the woman's scream.
(End of chapter)
Read ahead up to chapter 400 at