Chapter Sixteen: The Water Monster

In the days that followed, the entire city was placed under a massive lockdown. Local residents were checked one by one, and all outsiders were expelled from the city.

Would driving people out let the real culprit escape? It might, but with tens of thousands of staff at the Public Security Bureau and countless temporary workers, orders passed down through seven or eight layers of bureaucracy became unrecognizable by the time they reached the bottom. What began as a directive for capture had already been reduced to mere expulsion.

Such a monstrously vicious cannibal was enough to strike terror into the hearts of the lowest-ranking leaders. In their eyes, as long as they could drive the killer out of their jurisdiction, they'd neither succeed nor fail—a result as good as any. Who would dare try to block a chariot with their arms?

Nan Hai City entered a brief period of calm. The cannibal ceased his crimes, and those mysterious terrorists also vanished without a trace. Yet just then, three uninvited guests quietly arrived in Nan Hai City.

Guangjiang International Airport.

Two rows of sixteen people lined up to welcome them, with enormous banners and fresh flowers, as if for the grand opening of a luxury hotel.

But as the crowds of disembarking passengers gradually thinned, the lavish welcome grew awkwardly sparse—a group of men and women in sharp suits stood shivering in the wind.

At last, when almost all the passengers had left, three men strolled out, lightly dressed but steady-footed. Their taut and refined muscles made their simple, homespun clothes look exceptionally crisp and imposing, untouched by any industrial air.

Their sculpted muscles lacked the bulk of typical bodybuilders, but appeared even sharper—like master swords, hardened and honed, inspiring awe from the depths of the soul.

A man in a suit, who appeared to be in charge, hurried over and said respectfully, “Are you Mr. Guo Yixian, Mr. Li Zhicheng, and Mr. Che Juchen from the Central Inspection Team?”

The man at the front removed his sunglasses and said, “That’s us. My name is Guo Yixian.”

His eyes, radiant and penetrating as the sun, made it hard for anyone to meet his gaze. The suited man shuddered and closed his eyes.

Sensing his misstep, Guo Yixian promptly put his sunglasses back on.

The suited man stammered, “We—we’ve come to escort you to your hotel. Please, follow me.”

He inwardly cursed his luck, vaguely sensing that these three carried an extraordinary aura. He secretly blamed his superiors for not arranging a more impressive reception—would that offend such guests?

These three, clearly men of great prowess, and with the status of a Central Inspection Team, would surely bring disaster upon the hapless underlings if they lost their temper.

Fortunately, the three from the Inspection Team showed no temper. But as soon as they were in the car, Guo Yixian said, “No need for any fuss. Take us to the crime scene at once. Once the culprit is caught, we’ll be gone.”

“Ah?” The suited man was taken aback. “But we’ve already prepared a banquet to welcome you…”

“No need. Cancel everything,” Guo Yixian replied, brooking no refusal.

“Yes, yes!” The suited man answered reflexively.

Their decisiveness was piercing to this minor bureaucrat, but he didn’t have the courage to delay them even a second.

The sedan broke away from its motorcade and soon arrived at a crime scene, veering off the planned route. The three men hopped nimbly out of the car, vaulted over the yellow tape, and saw the bloodstains and chalk outlines on the ground.

In theory, the chalk should have marked the shape of the victim lying prone, but now it formed several irregular patches.

That was because the victim’s body had been gnawed away, leaving only a few pieces behind.

Guo Yixian sniffed the air. “There’s no trace of Qi. This isn’t the work of a Pulse-wielder.”

Li Zhicheng squatted to examine the dried blood, peeled off a scab, and sniffed it. “No scent of wild beasts, but there’s a foul stench. The killer is either filthy or has no concept of hygiene at all. Is it an Amestian Esper, or perhaps a highly skilled Pulse-wielder in hiding? Neither seems likely.”

Che Juchen said, “It can’t be a Pulse-wielder. All one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight of them are accounted for, and those who could evade us are even fewer—only nine. But their whereabouts are well known, and none are in this city.”

Guo Yixian nodded. “Then our list of suspects narrows considerably…”

He did not rush to a conclusion, but turned to the suited man and asked, “I heard you organized a raid, but it failed due to command errors and the appearance of terrorists. What exactly happened?”

The man froze, trying to dodge the question. “Well, I’m not in charge of that area, so I’m not quite sure.”

Li Zhicheng frowned. “A deadweight in office—what use are you? We’ve stayed out of the world for thirty years, and this is all the local talent?”

The suited man was left speechless.

Guo Yixian sighed. “Zhicheng, less talk, more action. Don’t say such things again.”

Li Zhicheng replied languidly, “Yes, Senior Brother Guo.”

Though he chastised his colleague’s rashness, Guo Yixian pressed the suited man, “Who’s in charge?”

This time, his gaze bore down with tremendous force. Some invisible power made it hard for the suited man to breathe, like a lamb cornered by a lion. His bowels fluttered and his legs gave way.

The people behind him quickly caught him, puzzled by his sudden loss of composure.

That gaze seemed to affect him alone.

At length, the man caught his breath, all will to resist gone. He stammered, “Yuan Liming, Chief of Security—he’s the one responsible. But because of dereliction of duty, he’s being tried by the Security Council and may be executed!”

Guo Yixian withdrew his gaze, stepped past the collapsed man, and got back in the car. “You—drive us to Yuan Liming.”

As they hesitated, Guo Yixian glared again. “What are you standing around for? We don’t know how to drive!”

Li Zhicheng laughed. “Though on foot, we’re no slower than a car.”

Yuan Liming sat in his cell, listlessly drinking. On the other side of the bars, Li Qinghai, visiting, was fuming. “What were you thinking? After all these years, you still don’t know what those people are like? You’re almost retired—why pick a fight with that pretty boy? Now look, you’re left holding the bag for this entire mess, and I have to come all the way here to see you!”

Yuan Liming set his bottle down with a long sigh. “I could muddle through the rest of my life, but those young men are all good lads. I can’t let the higher-ups really treat them like they’re nothing.”

Li Qinghai sighed. “Alright, alright… whatever the case, this time we’ve lost everything. Where did that pack of terrorists even come from? It’s just—”

Yuan Liming was silent for a while, then took another sip of his drink. “What we’re up against isn’t even human. One after another… all of them are monsters.”