Chapter Sixty-Four: Shameless

Let me search these rooms myself? Shen Qingdai said calmly, “You’re a detective. You must be able to spot many subtle clues that I would never notice, right?”

“So, naturally, it’s more suitable for you to go.”

“Detective, please.”

Shen Qingdai’s instruction for Li Changqing to search was not a request or a negotiation—it was more like an order.

Looking at her serious expression, Li Changqing realized he could not refuse.

He glanced at the doors that had already been opened, then cautiously stepped into the first room.

The room was nearly empty: a table, a cabinet, a bed frame, all thick with dust.

Shen Qingdai remained outside, quietly watching Li Changqing. She had noticed earlier, as they walked, that this detective kept deliberately lagging behind, maintaining a certain distance from them.

As if always prepared to make a quick escape.

Was it just that this detective was timid, or was there another reason...

As she pondered this, a sudden disturbance arose inside.

Li Changqing abruptly clutched his own throat, squeezing hard.

“Help!”

His voice was full of panic as he collapsed to the ground.

Shen Qingdai could see that his hands were applying considerable force, as if he genuinely meant to strangle himself. This was no performance.

Yet, although the room was filled with a miasma of demonic energy, the scent of corpses, and a sinister chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Was he faking it?

No.

It was clear he was strangling himself with real strength, and he was already close to suffocation.

Li Changqing, still gripping his throat, fell to the floor and gradually lost consciousness, passing out from lack of air.

Could there be some mysterious power in this room that even she could not sense?

With a touch of caution and vigilance, Shen Qingdai entered, knelt beside him, and checked his breathing.

He was still alive.

So he was only pretending to faint?

Shen Qingdai frowned and pinched the philtrum beneath Li Changqing’s nose, hard.

He lay motionless, showing no response.

Had he really fainted?

Shen Qingdai rose, remaining on guard as she scanned the surroundings, but nothing was amiss.

She slowly began searching the room, but found nothing related to Huang Chao.

Not wishing to waste time with the unconscious Li Changqing, she moved on to the next room.

As soon as Shen Qingdai left, Li Changqing slowly opened his eyes, sneaking a glance at the doorway.

When she had pinched his philtrum just now, the pain had nearly made him cry out. Fortunately, he’d managed to hold it in.

He got up, sat on a wooden chair, and listened intently to the sounds in the surrounding rooms. If a fight broke out between Shen Qingdai or Uncle Yun and something else, he would be ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

“So you really were faking it.”

Suddenly, Shen Qingdai’s voice came from the doorway.

After leaving, she’d felt something wasn’t right. Once she’d finished searching the second room, she’d turned back to check, only to find this fellow sitting and resting in a chair.

“Boss Shen, what happened just now? I’ve only just woken up,” Li Changqing said at once, his eyes feigning confusion as he looked around. “Before I fainted, I felt as though something was strangling me, and then I blacked out.”

Shen Qingdai narrowed her eyes. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

This detective ought to apply for a job as a con artist—his performance had almost fooled her. The way he’d strangled himself had looked all too real.

As the two spoke, the cabinet in the room creaked.

From within, strands of long black hair slowly slithered out, coiling like tentacles to spread across the floor.

Hearing the sound, they turned to look.

It had come.

Li Changqing watched the hair writhing from the cabinet, backing away slowly, his hands once more going to his throat, squeezing hard.

“What are you doing?” Shen Qingdai asked, not so much surprised as puzzled by Li Changqing’s actions.

Faced with this sinister entity, was he planning to kill himself?

Suddenly, the hair lashed out, snaking toward Li Changqing.

He dashed out of the room, the black hair giving chase.

Li Changqing hurriedly hid behind Shen Qingdai, and the hair lunged at her as well.

Shen Qingdai did not dodge.

In an instant, her arms and upper body were tightly bound, and the hair’s immense strength began dragging her toward the cabinet.

At first, Shen Qingdai stood her ground, but gradually, the evil force within the cabinet overpowered her, pulling her step by step toward it, ever closer.

She took a deep breath. This thing had surprising strength.

She couldn’t help but glance back at Li Changqing, who was standing outside the door.

Seeing Shen Qingdai being dragged toward the cabinet, Li Changqing let out a sigh of relief.

His plan had succeeded.

Now that Shen Qingdai was trapped by the evil entity in the cabinet, he could let them battle it out.

But just as she was about to be pulled inside, a smile appeared on Shen Qingdai’s lips.

A white fox tail, nearly two meters long, sprouted from her body. She suddenly spun around, sweeping her tail at the cabinet.

“Come out!”

Bang!

The cabinet burst apart, reduced to splinters.

Out flew a woman, her face deathly pale, black hair billowing. The impact from the fox tail flung her across the room.

A piercing screech issued from the woman’s mouth.

Bang.

With a forceful tug, Shen Qingdai snapped the mass of black hair, then seized it and began dragging the woman toward herself. “You’re quite strong, aren’t you?”

Li Changqing was dumbfounded by the scene. Shen Qingdai was even more formidable than he’d imagined.

Could it be that the malevolent spirits in the abandoned factory were no match for her after all?

Fox-fire flickered in Shen Qingdai’s palm as she tossed it onto the black hair.

Emerald-green flames raced along the hair, engulfing the woman.

Fire roared, burning fiercely.

The woman writhed on the floor, shrieking in agony as she was consumed by the flames.

This was bad.

If he tried to run now, wouldn’t she come after him for revenge?

No, he couldn’t flee. He had to appear brave.

“Boss Shen, let me help you!”

Li Changqing rushed into the room. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Shameless.”

Shen Qingdai’s assessment was spot-on. When she had been pretending to be trapped, approaching the corpse-ghost, Li Changqing hadn’t lifted a finger. Now that she’d already subdued the threat, he came rushing in.

“What is that thing?” Li Changqing asked, staring at the charred remains of the woman.

“Just a common corpse-ghost,” Shen Qingdai replied with a hint of disdain. “A half-corpse, half-ghost creature. This thing’s not responsible for the sinister aura pervading the factory—there must be something else at work here.”

A corpse-ghost?

So it was the woman Kelly had followed—the one she’d turned into?

So, in the end, this wasn’t the true master of the abandoned factory at all—just a minor pawn.

“Let’s keep looking for clues about Huang Chao,” Shen Qingdai said.

Uncle Yun, having heard the commotion, came over to inquire and, upon learning it was only a corpse-ghost, said nothing further.

Such creatures were just low-level evils, not worth bothering about.

Shen Qingdai and Uncle Yun continued their search, while Li Changqing looked anxiously toward the direction of the workshop and warehouse.