Chapter 148: Who is it?

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Come to think of it, Lan Qiqi had probably come for the Evil Star as well.

Who knew how many others were secretly drawn here by that sinister star?

As the days passed, strange incidents began occurring more and more often throughout Nanlin City.

For instance, one resident was walking along the street at night when he suddenly saw a faceless man pass by. The sight terrified him half to death.

On another occasion, while diving in the Linjiang River, someone claimed to have seen a half-human, half-fish monster swimming beneath the water.

The closer the day of the Evil Star’s arrival drew, the more frequently such bizarre incidents occurred.

The Thirty-Six Bureau could only send its subordinates to investigate, asking what had happened and what sort of monsters people had seen.

But tracking down and destroying those monsters was far beyond the Thirty-Six Bureau’s capabilities.

Strangely enough, however, the monsters seemed to share an uncanny understanding. Although many ordinary people had seen them, not a single person had been harmed.

Li Changqing guessed that perhaps the monsters did not want to make too much trouble and attract the Thirty-Six Bureau’s full attention.

There were simply too many monsters arriving. The Thirty-Six Bureau could not possibly deal with them all in such a short time.

But concentrating their forces against a few monsters that had actually killed people was still manageable.

Only three days remained until the Evil Star descended.

For more than ten days, aside from drawing talismans, Li Changqing had spent his time practicing with the Rainbow Sword.

Although he knew no formal swordsmanship, there was no problem with practicing the basic movements—slashing, thrusting, chopping, and the like.

At dusk, Li Changqing stood on the balcony practicing with the Rainbow Sword in hand. His clothes were already soaked with sweat.

Tang Xiaoyu, meanwhile, wore fluffy cartoon pajamas and sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding snacks such as potato chips and ice cream while watching a melodramatic television series.

“Changqing, come and rest for a while. You’ve been practicing all afternoon.” Tang Xiaoyu could not resist complaining. “You work so hard every day, but you haven’t improved much.”

Li Changqing took the towel hanging over his shoulder and wiped away the sweat before sitting down on the sofa to rest. He had made some progress with the sword, though it was not particularly noticeable.

Tang Xiaoyu picked up a cup of hot tea and handed it to him.

Li Changqing drained it in one gulp, set down the cup, and said with some concern, “There have already been more than a dozen monster-related incidents reported by Nanlin City’s residents alone. Who knows how many monsters are hiding in the shadows?”

“I just hope that Evil Star doesn’t appear in the city proper.”

Tang Xiaoyu smiled and comforted him. “When the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. Don’t we still have the General Investigation Bureau?”

“Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. Who knows what will happen three days from now? It’s better to be prepared.”

Just then, Li Changqing’s phone rang. He picked it up and saw that the caller was Hu Xiong.

After answering, he heard Hu Xiong’s hearty voice on the other end. “Changqing, what are you up to?”

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Li Changqing smiled. “Old Hu, you sound to be in a pretty good mood. What’s the good news?”

He had spoken with Hu Xiong occasionally in recent days, and the man was almost always cursing and grumbling about the whole Evil Star affair.

Was the sun rising in the west today?

“I’ve got some good news for you.” Hu Xiong lowered his voice conspiratorially. “The General Bureau has already sent two experts over. They should arrive tomorrow.”

Li Changqing’s eyes brightened slightly. This truly was rare good news. “What made the General Bureau suddenly see reason?”

Hu Xiong replied, “So many monsters have appeared in Nanlin City in just a few days, and no one knows how many more are hiding in the dark. Do you think we could handle all that without reinforcements? I’ll be downstairs at your place later. Have Xiaoyu make a couple more dishes. I’m coming over for a drink.”

Li Changqing laughed and cursed at him. “After all that, I thought you were inviting me out for a drink. Turns out you’re coming here to eat and drink for free. Bring two bottles of good liquor yourself.”

“Will do.”

After hanging up, Tang Xiaoyu blinked and quickly got to her feet. “I’ll go cook right now.”

Before long, Hu Xiong arrived carrying two bottles of fine liquor.

He cheerfully greeted Tang Xiaoyu, then sat down beside Li Changqing. “Tonight, we’ll have a proper drink. Once this Evil Star business is over, we’ll drink until neither of us can stand.”

Although they were drinking, Hu Xiong knew better than to drink himself unconscious.

There were far too many monsters hiding in Nanlin City.

Tang Xiaoyu’s cooking had become quite excellent by then, and she soon prepared a whole table of dishes.

Once the two men sat down, Hu Xiong poured Li Changqing a drink. “Come on, let’s start with one.”

With that, Hu Xiong downed his own drink in a single gulp.

As they ate, Li Changqing poured him another drink and asked, “By the way, Old Hu, what are the Three Demons and Four Devils?”

“The Three Demons and Four Devils?” Hu Xiong belched and said, “That means seven monsters. Oh, right—you didn’t come from an orthodox background, so you probably don’t know about them.”

“The Three Demons and Four Devils are seven terrifyingly powerful monsters. Supposedly, each one can summon wind and rain, though people describe it all so dramatically that no one knows how much of it is true.”

“It’s said that two of those monsters are within the Vermilion Bird Federation. Yet after all these years, even our Anomaly Investigation Bureau has never dealt with them.”

Hu Xiong asked curiously, “Why did you suddenly think of asking about them?”

“I was just curious. It was only a passing question.” Li Changqing took a sip of wine, pondering. “Then which is stronger—the seven monsters or No. 30 from our Investigation Bureau?”

“Who could possibly know?”

The two men drank and chatted, finding the evening quite pleasant.

…

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Kelly Losedi had been enjoying a rather leisurely life recently.

He lived in a high-end apartment and spent his days studying various books on solving crimes, or reading the autobiographies and case records of famous detectives.

The apartment stood in a prosperous district, where the rent was anything but cheap.

Inside the room, an exquisite gramophone played beautiful music.

In truth, given the level of development in Vermilion Bird Federation society, gramophones had long since been obsolete. They were bulky and far less convenient than using a phone to play music.

The aristocrats of the Lamela Empire, however, were very fond of gramophones. And as gramophones disappeared from the market, they became all the more niche and valuable.

Aristocrats, after all.

Wasn’t what they liked precisely the niche and the ostentatious?

At that moment, Kelly Losedi listened to the elegant music from his gramophone while wearing a white T-shirt and blue plaid shorts and frying egg rice in the apartment kitchen.

Kelly Losedi had somehow managed to combine the identities of aristocrat and slob into one perfectly harmonious whole.

Once the egg rice was ready, he poured himself a glass of exquisite red wine.

He lifted the wine elegantly and took a sip, then began wolfing down the egg rice.

Knock, knock, knock.

While eating, Kelly heard a knock at the door. He picked up a handkerchief, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, walked over, and opened it.

Could it be Qu Qing?

But when he opened the door, there was no one outside.

“Who is it?” Kelly Losedi stuck his head out and glanced down the corridor.

Still no one.

It seemed it must have been a prank.

Kelly frowned and was just about to close the door when, suddenly, a little girl’s voice came from the ceiling above.

“Big brother.”

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