Wang Shoucai

The smoke of battle had cleared. The basement was in disarray. The boss of the Tiger Head Gang, Brother Tiger, groggily opened his eyes and saw tiger corpses littering the floor, scalding demon blood, and two young people standing perfectly intact. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut again. "Cut the act," Zhao Xing'er said, stepping forward and hauling him up. "I'm asking you: where's the child?" "Whose child?" Brother Tiger tucked his neck, his face full of fear. "Guo Yang's child," Zhao Xing'er repeated. "Who's Guo Yang?" Brother Tiger scratched his head, frantically searching his memory for when he'd ever had a child with someone named Guo Yang. "Chen Dafa at the southern suburb factory—did he ask you to help kidnap his employee's son?" Yue Wen asked as he stepped forward. "Nothing of the sort!" Brother Tiger shouted. "I know Chen Dafa. He just asked me to send two people to back him up and make a scene for the employees he sent to collect a debt. There was absolutely no kidnapping." Judging by his furious, wide-eyed expression, it didn't seem like a lie. "Then..." Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er exchanged glances, both feeling a bit embarrassed. "Did we wrong them?" "You stormed in and wiped out the Tiger Head Gang just because of this?" Brother Tiger's eyes were filled with shock and indignation. A moment of silence passed, as if a crow flew overhead. Then Yue Wen smiled. "Isn't that a bit much?" Zhao Xing'er: "Hah." Just then, an ancient bronze sword suddenly burst through the door, landing with a clang in the center of the basement. A hum— Invisible ripples of spiritual power spread from the sword, enveloping the entire underground space. Everyone's movements in the room grew sluggish, nearly frozen. Then a loud command rang out. "Supernatural Management Bureau in the middle of an investigation! All evil entities, surrender peacefully! Resist and you'll be killed without mercy!" "Captain Wang—" Yue Wen, restricted by the formation, drew out his voice, shouting word by word: "The evil entities have already been dealt with. Withdraw your supernatural power—" "Hmm?" Outside, the man swept the area with a rolling divine sense. After confirming no living evil entities remained, he withdrew the formation. The ancient sword turned into a streak of light and zoomed back the way it came. Then a man walked in—medium height, protruding belly, wearing a black Sun Yat-sen tunic, around forty years old, with a fleshy, multi-layered chin. "Sorry I'm late," the man said, his smile carrying a simple, honest warmth. "I was at a vice raid just now. The moment I got your call, it sounded like you were fighting an evil entity. I immediately had them locate you and came right away." "It's fine. It's after work hours; I'm the one disturbing you," Yue Wen hurried forward with a polite smile. "But must you personally go on vice raids?" "I was the one being raided," the man said. Yue Wen: "?" "The Public Security Bureau asked our bureau to provide someone with an aboveboard appearance to go undercover and gather evidence," the man explained. "It wasn't my own idea to go." "Hahaha." Yue Wen laughed again. "I knew Captain Wang definitely wouldn't go on his own." "Of course. Not this time," the man nodded. "..." Yue Wen couldn't be bothered to keep bantering with him. He turned to introduce the man to Zhao Xing'er. The man was named Wang Shoucai, captain of the Seventh Squad of the Supernatural Management Bureau in the satellite city, a direct subordinate of Master Ningguang. Back when Yue Wen's parents had encountered the spatial rift, the case had been handled by Wang Shoucai, and he had followed up on the subsequent investigation. After Yue Wen woke up, he had plenty of contact with him, which was why he'd kept his number in his phone. Yue Wen then briefly explained the general course of events, including the earlier "scuffle" at the factory. Wang Shoucai nodded understandingly. "No big problem." "The Tiger Head Gang in the southern suburbs has been on the bureau's radar for a while. Several recent murders were suspected to involve them. But these tiger demons are very cautious, and no evidence has been found. We don't have enough manpower to track them around the clock. You wiping out the Tiger Head Gang is a major achievement." "As for Chen Dafa... I'll look into the situation. If he really is colluding with underworld figures to harm business rivals and workers legitimately seeking compensation, then he'll definitely be held accountable too." "But don't go too far next time." Saying this, Wang Shoucai pulled Yue Wen aside and whispered, "You know how it is. The higher-ups have always been tolerant toward cultivators like you who are friendly with the authorities. But there's one thing: you can't disrupt public order in the city." Yue Wen nodded solemnly. "I understand. We will certainly operate under the leadership of the Supernatural Management Bureau, firmly uphold justice and righteousness, and maintain the prosperity and stability of Jiangcheng City!" "That'll do," Wang Shoucai said, glancing back with a touch of surprise. "These few tiger demons are really strong. I truly didn't expect that after not seeing you for a while, you'd grown to this extent. No wonder Master Ningguang took a liking to you." Just looking at the corpses on the ground, they were all powerful tiger demons, let alone the one that escaped being even stronger. Even a veteran investigator from the Supernatural Management Bureau wouldn't find it easy to deal with such creatures. Yet Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er, two young people, had just casually charged in and killed them. It was genuinely shocking. "Just luck," Yue Wen said with a modest smile. Wang Shoucai patted his shoulder, then suddenly asked: "By the way, any news about your parents lately?" Yue Wen shook his head. "No." Wang Shoucai looked at him with a slight depth of meaning and said: "If you get any news, contact us anytime." ... Afterward, the Supernatural Management Bureau sent another batch of workers to clean out the Tiger Head Gang from top to bottom, arresting all the surrounding gangsters. The investigation revealed that before they arrived, a band of robbers had apparently broken into the Tiger Head Gang. Anything valuable had been looted clean—even the batteries from the air conditioner remote controls had been dug out. Wang Shoucai lit a cigarette and stood there, chatting idly with Yue Wen and the others. Before leaving, he added: "By the way, last time you killed that heretical cultivator and confirmed he was from the Flame Ghost Hall on the wanted list. You should get word in a couple of days, and you can go collect the reward—probably tens of thousands of yuan. This time, clearing out the Tiger Head Gang should count as your brave act for justice too. I don't know how much the reward is, but I'll send it to you along with the other." "That's great," Yue Wen brightened up immediately. For a fledgling team like his, money really was an issue. In the past few days, not counting other gains, they had only made 1,500 yuan from commissions, and 250 of that had to be split with Zhao Xing'er. Without some extra income, even rent and utilities would be a problem. "But don't get too happy too soon," Wang Shoucai reminded him. "Although the Flame Ghost Hall has a loose organizational structure, the person you killed was very likely a direct disciple of the hall master, A Hei Yan. He's ruthless and vindictive, roaming Tianbei Prefecture for years without being caught. You need to be extra careful." "A Hei Yan?" Yue Wen's expression turned serious. He had vaguely heard of that fearsome name—one of the most vicious heretical cultivators in Tianbei Prefecture. So that man in black was his disciple? The two tiger demons that escaped today might come back for revenge later. Counting it up, there were quite a few enemies to guard against. But there was no helping it; after all, this was their line of work. If you wanted to kill more evil entities and earn more evil-suppressing coins, you inevitably made enemies. You couldn't expect that when you saw an evil entity and shouted "Brother," it would reply "You call me brother too"—and then what? That I'd just die and be done with it? "Thank you for the reminder, Captain Wang. I'll be careful," Yue Wen said earnestly. The Tiger Head Gang was completely wiped out, but they still hadn't found Guo Yang's child. Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er couldn't bring themselves to be happy. They still needed to notify Guo Yang, so he wouldn't wait at home in vain. So the two rode their electric scooter to Guo Yang's home in the southern suburbs. It was an old apartment building, somewhat aged, with mottled exterior paint, looking quite dilapidated. Yue Wen knocked on the door with a stern expression. "You're here!" The one-armed man opened the door with a delighted face. "Brother Guo," Yue Wen said in a heavy tone. "We went to the Tiger Head Gang today, but we still couldn't find your son. The Supernatural Management Bureau is interrogating them, and we don't know if there will be results later. Just... the hope isn't high. But your compensation will definitely arrive, and our agency will definitely keep looking into your son's matter..." "No need," Guo Yang said, turning to call out. "My son is back." "Huh?" Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er looked over and saw a sturdy little boy walk from inside the house to the doorway, timidly lifting his head to look at them. "He really did sneak out to play games with some friends without telling me," Guo Yang said somewhat embarrassedly. "I gave him a good scolding just now and hadn't gotten a chance to notify you yet. Are you both alright?" "We're fine," Yue Wen said. "It's the Tiger Head Gang that isn't fine." The child was found, the bad guys were wiped out, and they had also gotten 500 yuan... It really was a happy ending for everyone. Of course, the biggest gain was that killing those three tiger demons had netted him eighty-three evil-suppressing coins! It was the largest sum Yue Wen had earned so far—enough to pay off four months of his debt to Da Long. Guo Yang invited them inside to sit, but the two politely declined with smiles, since it was already late. After exchanging a few words, they prepared to leave. They had taken only a few steps when they suddenly heard the child call from behind, "Big brother, big sister!" Looking back, they saw the boy running up to them, holding two game tokens, and pressing one into each of their hands. "I heard Dad say you went to fight bad guys to find me," the boy said, looking up at them. "I don't have money, so these two game tokens are my reward for you." Yue Wen looked down at the gleaming game tokens. No arcade name was written on them—only a fox head with a smiling face. They felt substantial to the touch. He slipped them into his pocket and smiled slightly. "Thank you, Boss."