Chapter 167: The Death of Xiayi

"An old friend had an accident," Hu Xiong said, sighing as he lit a cigarette.

"An old friend?" Zi Yanran placed her hands behind her back, paused slightly, and then smiled. "Don't worry, your friend will surely get better soon."

Hu Xiong glanced at Zi Yanran, smiled faintly, and said nothing more.

"Mr. Hu, speaking of which, since you know so much about medicine and arcane arts, what kind of work do you actually do?" Zi Yanran asked, feigning curiosity.

"Me? It's hard to explain to you." Hu Xiong had no idea how to introduce his identity and work. Zi Yanran was just a young woman in her early twenties; rattling off a bunch of bizarre and supernatural things would probably frighten her.

With these thoughts in mind, Hu Xiong said, "A cleaner. Except the things I sweep away on a regular day aren't garbage, but other things."

Zi Yanran couldn't help but smile, shaking her head. "No matter how I look at it, Mr. Hu doesn't seem like an ordinary cleaner."

"Mr. Hu, I know your feelings." Zi Yanran looked directly into Hu Xiong's eyes and asked, "Tell me, if I were to accept you, would you be willing to give up your current job?"

Hu Xiong was stunned. He hadn't expected Zi Yanran to be so direct. Having grown up inside the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, everything he had ever learned was dedicated to dealing with ghosts and deities.

Quit the Investigation Bureau?

Hu Xiong frowned. After a long period of contemplation, he finally spoke. "Miss Yanran, I am deeply passionate about this job."

Zi Yanran walked beside Hu Xiong as they strolled down the street, yet an indescribable sense of ease and joy lingered in her heart. This feeling was almost identical to the time she had spent with the Supreme General long ago.

After the walk, Hu Xiong drove her home. Once he parked the car, Zi Yanran hesitated for a moment, then took his right hand and bit down hard on his wrist.

The wound even welled up with a bit of fresh blood.

Hu Xiong frowned and asked, "Miss Yanran, what are you doing?"

Zi Yanran offered a radiant smile. "Guess?"

"Mr. Hu, if you're feeling troubled these past few days, you might as well take me out for a walk more often."

"Mn." Hu Xiong watched her walk back into the villa, then glanced at the bite mark on his hand. A subtle sense of cowardice crept into his heart; he truly wanted to pursue Zi Yanran, but he hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

He then pondered over the words Zi Yanran had said to him earlier.

His work in the Paranormal Investigation Bureau was fraught with danger—could he really be together with Zi Yanran?

What if they truly became involved, and he ended up like Qin Shenggen, meeting his demise during a mission...

Should he just quit?

Hu Xiong shook his head. He had no idea why this was happening; despite knowing Zi Yanran for only a short time, it felt as though they had known each other for ages.

This sense of familiarity felt somewhat inexplicable even to him.

Plagued by these thoughts, Hu Xiong slammed his fist hard against the steering wheel, started the car, and drove away.

Back inside the villa, Zi Yanran slowly sat down on the sofa and poured herself a glass of red wine, sipping it leisurely.

Swirling the wineglass in her hand, she frowned and murmured, "I didn't expect that among the people I killed yesterday was a friend of the Supreme General. Now I am a corpse, and he is a mortal. If we truly stay together, there will likely be many conflicts, and moreover, he is unwilling to quit the Paranormal Investigation Bureau."

She took a gentle sip of the red wine.

She had already waited countless ages; nothing whatsoever could ever stop her from reuniting with the Supreme General again.

Zi Yanran slowly stood up, and a plan quickly formed in her mind. She had figured out a way to smoothly make the Supreme General quit the Thirty-Sixth Bureau.

She walked over to a corner of the room, retrieved an exquisite black box, and opened it to reveal a human-skin mask resting inside.

She gently pressed the human-skin mask onto her face and walked over to the mirror. Within moments, her features shifted into the exact likeness of Hu Xiong.

Xia Yi, the captain of the Second Squad of the Thirty-Sixth Bureau, was in no better spirits after witnessing Qin Shenggen's death.

Although his relationship with Qin Shenggen wasn't as close as Hu Xiong's, they had still been colleagues for a long time, and a bitter sense of shared sorrow naturally arose in his heart.

As dusk fell, Xia Yi left the Mingzheng Orphanage and headed to a tavern situated within the city of Nanlin.

Business inside the tavern was quite brisk.

Glass after glass of fiery liquor went down Xia Yi's throat, and soon he felt a slight buzz.

Holding his wineglass and shaking his head slightly, he couldn't help but mutter, "Old Qin, to think you just died like this. Sigh."

With that, he downed the glass of wine. At that very moment, Hu Xiong walked in wearing a black overcoat.

"Old Xia," Hu Xiong greeted, raising a hand.

"It's the middle of summer, aren't you roasting in all those clothes?" Xia Yi glanced sideways at Hu Xiong. "How did you know I was here?"

Hu Xiong casually sat down next to Xia Yi. "Just passing by, saw you, and thought I'd come in for a chat."

Xia Yi's mood remained heavy. "What's there to chat about? The director won't even let us look into this matter. We'd better just wait until the people from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau arrive."

"I have a lead," Hu Xiong said in a low voice. "I want to go check it out."

Startled, Xia Yi looked left and right before reprimanding in a lowered tone, "Are you out of your mind? The director explicitly forbade us from investigating this. Besides, nobody knows how terrifying that evil entity is—just the two of us?"

"Can you just swallow your anger?" Hu Xiong asked, his face weighted with sorrow. "Besides, we're just going to take a look. If you don't want to, forget it."

Seeing Hu Xiong stand up as if to leave, Xia Yi grabbed his arm. "You're not allowed to go either. This kind of thing is way too dangerous."

Yet the moment he grabbed hold, something felt faintly amiss. This hand didn't feel like Hu Xiong's usual rough and heavy hands—though because he was wearing thick clothing, it had been hard to notice at first.

Xia Yi's eyes turned icy. "Who the hell are you?"

"'Hu Xiong's' eyes went cold. "I was originally planning to take you somewhere secluded before making a move." With that, his right hand clamped around Xia Yi's neck.

Xia Yi's eyes widened in horror. In a panic, he bit down savagely on 'Hu Xiong's' right wrist.

To his surprise, a smile actually bloomed across 'Hu Xiong's' face.

"Good."

'Hu Xiong' grabbed Xia Yi's head and twisted it. With a sharp crack, the sound of breaking vertebrae instantly echoed through the air.

"Aah!"

"Murder!"

The patrons in the tavern, witnessing the sudden murder, all turned their horrified gazes toward the scene.

After committing the murder, 'Hu Xiong' lingered in place for a moment, allowing everyone to clearly memorize his appearance, before turning and swiftly walking away.

...

Around seven o'clock in the evening, Hu Xiong was just waking up from a deep sleep when his cell phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, Hu Xiong." The voice on the other end belonged to Bureau Chief Zhang.

"Where are you?" Bureau Chief Zhang asked directly.

"Me?" Hu Xiong groggily sat up on the bed and replied, "I'm sleeping at the bureau. What's wrong?"

"Then wait for me in your room. I'm coming over to see you right now."

Feeling slightly puzzled, Hu Xiong didn't dwell on it. He hung up the phone, lay back down on the bed, casually lit a cigarette, and took a drag.