Chapter Forty-One: Ambush

“Mm—hm!” Stretching languidly, Li Xia felt somewhat more comfortable. She picked up her coffee and took a slow, appreciative sip.

“At this hour, I wonder what that old trickster Sun Yiyuan and his little apprentice are up to…” Because of confidentiality regulations, Sun Yiyuan couldn’t share his affairs with Li Xia, and as a result, she remained dismissive of the whole situation. It always seemed to her that Sun Yiyuan’s entire routine was nothing but deception.

Finishing her coffee, she rose and stepped out of her office.

There was no shortage of work today—two consecutive homicides had made the situation dire. If the cases weren’t solved swiftly, trouble was sure to follow. Yet Director Wang had entrusted the investigation to Sun Yiyuan, which left Li Xia distinctly displeased.

As she left her office and passed through the main hall, she spotted a man sitting there, his clothes disheveled, his expression deeply troubled.

“Ah, Mr. Lu?”

The man looked at her, a strange glint in his eyes. “Captain Li…”

“Mr. Lu, the questioning is over. Why haven’t you gone home?” Li Xia asked with concern.

Mr. Lu fell silent for a long moment before sighing, “It’s nothing. I just don’t feel well. I’ll sit here for a while—you go on with your work.”

Li Xia nodded, not giving it much thought, and headed toward the records room.

She failed to notice that, just after she passed, Mr. Lu quickly stood and followed her inside.

…

The moment the car stopped, Shen Chang’an and Sun Yiyuan leaped out and dashed forward. As they reached the entrance, both their faces changed slightly.

Inside, there was a terrifying silence. Normally, this place would be bustling with people coming and going, but now, not a sound could be heard.

All around, residents and officers lay scattered across the floor. Shen Chang’an immediately activated the Jade Talisman of Zhonglong. With his supernatural sense of smell, he detected no scent of death—just unconsciousness.

“Hurry, upstairs!”

The Jade Talisman was active, and Shen Chang’an’s nose had already picked up a metallic tang of blood. He moved swiftly, surging upward. Sun Yiyuan did his best to keep up, but his physical prowess was nowhere near Shen Chang’an’s; after a few strides, he lagged far behind.

“Bang!” Shen Chang’an reached the second-floor restroom and kicked open the women’s door. What he saw inside was a grotesquely contorted corpse.

Shen Chang’an frowned—he recognized her. She had been near Mr. Lu earlier, only a few steps away, whispering to someone nearby. Each time she spoke, her eyes darted over to Mr. Lu with a look of utter contempt.

His mood grew heavier; the Jade Talisman had already scented death. There was little hope for this person.

He stepped closer, crouched, and examined the body. The woman’s face was twisted in agony, her teeth shattered, her hands broken. She had clearly endured excruciating pain before death, gripping herself so hard she hadn’t even realized it.

Yet, why hadn’t her body been destroyed by the Five-Vitals Wraith?

As Shen Chang’an pondered, a sharp crack sounded. Suddenly, a hideous little specter burst forth from the woman’s chest cavity and hurled a punch at him!

Its fist was as sharp as a blade, its forearm thin as a chopstick, but the speed was astonishing—like lightning, it was already at Shen Chang’an’s throat.

If its wrist struck home, blood would have splattered instantly.

But no matter how fast it was, it was no match for Shen Chang’an’s will.

An invisible force emerged from nowhere, yanking Shen Chang’an bodily backward by several steps, narrowly evading the wraith’s attack.

His movement technique couldn’t deal with immaterial spirits, but dodging the initial strike freed his hands.

A Talisman of Exorcism ignited in the air, and under its invisible pressure, the little ghost was immediately immobilized.

Shen Chang’an slapped a Ghost-Slaying Talisman onto the creature’s head, channeling immense spiritual power into it. The wraith’s form began to smoke black.

Yet this talisman, usually deadly to ghosts, failed to destroy it outright.

With a chill in his eyes, Shen Chang’an placed two more Ghost-Slaying Talismans. This time, the ghost could endure no more and vanished in a puff of smoke.

“A cunning ploy—using the deathly aura of a corpse to mask a ghost’s presence. Even I was fooled.” Ghosts were suffused with deathly energy, and mingling with a freshly dead body, they had even managed to deceive the Jade Talisman’s supernatural sense of smell. Shen Chang’an had not picked up anything amiss either.

Shen Chang’an shook his head, gently closed the woman’s staring eyes, and was about to recite a prayer for her soul.

Suddenly—

A faint sound echoed from the corridor outside, startling him.

“That scent…damn it, is he about to die too?”

He hadn’t noticed before, but now, focusing his senses, he realized that whatever was moving outside carried a heavy aura of death.

Someone shrouded in death but not yet dead—only Mr. Lu, who had cultivated the Five-Vitals Wraith, fit that description!

With a sudden start, Shen Chang’an sprang to his feet, rushing toward the corridor.

At that instant, a stabbing pain surged through him, making his expression falter.

“Damn…why now…” His injuries, still unhealed, flared up as he exerted his spiritual power, causing sweat to break out across his brow from the agony.

“No, I have to pursue him…”

Forcing himself onward, Shen Chang’an burst into the corridor, catching sight of a thin figure fleeing ahead.

“Mr. Lu, stop!” he shouted, forcibly channeling his power and invoking his movement technique.

Sheets of paper, pens, and all manner of debris on the floor were swept up by his will and hurled at Mr. Lu.

Shen Chang’an was being cautious—this wasn’t some fictional world; here in reality, he couldn’t kill recklessly, so he held back.

Otherwise, he could have just grabbed Mr. Lu by the throat and ended it right there.

But the flying objects hardly slowed Mr. Lu, and the distance was too great for Shen Chang’an to seize him directly with his technique.

Even so, Shen Chang’an’s physical prowess was formidable, and he was rapidly closing the gap.

Just then, Mr. Lu leaped, vaulted through a window, and disappeared into the night.