Chapter 155: Inquiring

Tang Xiaoyu sat up in bed. She saw Li Changqing standing outside the door, looking completely out of breath. Still half-asleep, she rubbed her eyes and asked, "What's wrong with you? Weren't you supposed to not come back tonight?"

"Li Changqing, Li Changqing, are you out of your mind?" Tang Xiaoyu asked with a puzzled expression.

At this moment, Li Changqing just stood in the doorway, staring blankly.

Li Changqing was indeed somewhat dazed. Just as he barged in earlier, it seemed as though he had vaguely caught a glimpse of...

Could it be that his eyes were playing tricks on him?

He rubbed his eyes, looked around the room once more, and asked, "Xiaoyu, did you feel anything just now?"

"I've been sleeping the whole time." Tang Xiaoyu seemed to think she understood why Li Changqing had suddenly returned, and asked in a low voice, "Li Changqing, did you desert your post? Is that evil star really that terrifying?"

He had clearly stated that he was going out tonight to deal with the evil star and those monsters, and now the only possible explanation for Li Changqing's sudden reappearance seemed to be just that.

Li Changqing couldn't help but glare at her and snapped, "Can't I come home and check on you after dealing with the fiends and demons?"

"Go back to sleep if nothing's wrong," Li Changqing said.

"Oh, right, Li Changqing, I have something I want to show you." Tang Xiaoyu seemed to remember something and said happily, "I originally wanted to show you before you went out..."

"Get some rest first, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning. There are still things to take care of downstairs," Li Changqing said. He had only come up to check on Tang Xiaoyu's condition; as long as she was fine, that was enough, but he still had to go down and handle the remaining matters.

The Bureau of Thirty-Six was short-handed, and with streets full of demon corpses, someone had to clean them up, right?

"Hey, hey!" Tang Xiaoyu watched Li Changqing leave. "Hmph!"

Lying back in bed, Tang Xiaoyu tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. *Forget it, I won't sleep,* she thought. *When Li Changqing comes back, I'll give him a surprise!*

With that thought, Tang Xiaoyu got up, turned on the light, and took out the property deed she had been clutching against her chest while sleeping, carefully wiping it clean with a fresh towel.

Still feeling that something was missing, she decided it should be more romantic—she needed to give him a proper surprise.

Isn't that how they always do it in TV dramas?

Bake a cake! And hide the property deed inside the cake.

When Li Changqing came back, as he ate the cake and suddenly bit into a house, he would definitely be thrilled.

Tang Xiaoyu hurriedly searched for a book on how to bake cakes and set about preparing one through the night.

...

Walking down the stairs, Li Changqing frowned deeply.

Did he really missee things?

Could it be because he was too worried about Xiaoyu?

Even though it was just a fleeting glimpse, he was certain he had seen Tang Xiaoyu...

The fiend from earlier had also tried to force its way into the detective agency, and its target was clearly Tang Xiaoyu.

Could it be...

Li Changqing's heart sank slightly.

When he reached the lower floor, Changze and Changan had already taken the lead in escorting the fiend away, heading directly to the General Investigation Bureau.

"Are they in that much of a rush? They just left?" Li Changqing asked with a puzzled look as he came downstairs.

Hu Xiong, holding a cigarette, chuckled and said, "Duh, they scored a massive achievement this time. The origin of the subterranean evil gods has always been a mystery."

"Even though legends say they were sealed by some angel clan, that still falls under the realm of mythology."

"Now that they've captured a live one, with proper interrogation, they'll definitely be able to squeeze some useful information out of him."

"But that's not something for us to worry about." Hu Xiong stretched and let out a yawn.

At this point, both ends of the street had been cordoned off by federal police.

The streets were littered with demon corpses, sights that ordinary citizens must not be allowed to see.

Federal police officers were also searching the street door-to-door to check if any ordinary people had witnessed the battle just now.

Fortunately, most people had already left the area to go view the meteorite crater.

Of course, a small minority had witnessed the scene, and the federal police made them sign non-disclosure agreements.

If anyone leaked the matter, they would be prosecuted in a federal court.

Zhang Guichuan also arrived by car at that moment.

Accompanying him were quite a few clerical personnel from the Bureau of Thirty-Six, followed by the routine questioning regarding the course of the battle.

At this moment, a clerical worker stepped forward and asked, "Gentlemen, please describe in detail, standard procedure."

Just as Hu Xiong was about to speak, Li Changqing cut in ahead of him: "After we rushed over, we saw that group of monsters surrounding that guy. Once the monsters were wiped out by him and he attempted to escape, we gave chase."

Baikuan and Hu Xiong were momentarily stunned, exchanging a glance.

Li Changqing had omitted a very crucial detail.

It was because Sabada had tried to charge into his detective agency that the three of them had intervened in the first place.

Logically speaking, there was no real need to deliberately conceal such a detail.

Since Li Changqing had spoken first, the other two naturally followed his version of events.

Those present, including Changze and Changan, had arrived after the battle had already begun and naturally knew nothing of the preceding details.

After routine questioning, the staff members nodded and departed, while Hu Xiong and Baikuan pulled Li Changqing aside.

Hu Xiong lowered his voice and asked, "Changqing, what's going on? Why didn't you mention that the guy tried to break into the detective agency?"

This matter was indeed rather strange.

Li Changqing rolled his eyes at the two of them and said, "Are you kidding? Changze said it himself just now—even though those major demons didn't come here directly, they probably won't let that 'evil star' go."

"If word gets out that the monsters tried to break into the detective agency, and those powerful demons think the evil star is hiding with me, do you expect me to survive?"

After hearing this, Hu Xiong and Baikuan also felt that Li Changqing's reasoning made sense.

However, Baikuan frowned slightly and said, "Still, some demons witnessed it at the time. From the voice, it was Li Guangxu from last time, and he managed to escape."

"If word gets out, it might prove unfavorable for you."

Hearing this, Li Changqing felt a jolt in his heart.

This was no trivial matter; once leaked, it could lead to serious trouble.

"We'll just figure out a way to track him down and eliminate him," Hu Xiong said casually.

Soon, the cleanup operations concluded.

The bloodstains on the ground were washed away, and the corpses were hauled away one by one.

By the time everything was finished, three or four hours had passed.

"Come on up for a sit-down? Rest for a bit?" Li Changqing gestured toward the upper floor.

Since the battle had taken place right outside his doorstep, it would be unreasonable not to invite Hu Xiong and Baikuan up for a while.

"Forget it, you brat. It's so late, we'll talk another time," Hu Xiong said. "I'll handle looking into Li Guangxu for you."

"Thanks," Li Changqing nodded and smiled.

Then he turned and headed upstairs.

As Li Changqing walked up, Hu Xiong furrowed his brows slightly and whispered, "Old Bai, why do you think that demon wanted to break into Li Changqing's detective agency? Could there be some secret in Li Changqing's agency that we don't know about?"

Baikuan calmly replied, "We've known each other quite a long time now. Still don't trust Li Changqing's character?"

"I just can't figure it out. Whatever, let's go back and sleep."