The spirit body, invisible to mortal eyes, drifted into the residential compound like a gust of wind. Looking down, Zhang Yuanqing spotted two plainclothes officers wearing earpieces, smoking and chatting as if nothing were amiss, casually scanning the pedestrians coming and going.
It was ten at night. A fair number of people were still out and about, and the street-side restaurants, convenience stores, and fruit shops remained open for business.
He continued riding the wind. In the blind spots around Building 6, several plainclothes constables were "strolling about," among whom was his cousin, closely protected by the Ghost Bride.
His cousin was leaning against the hood of a car, smoking with an air of complete boredom, totally unaware that beside him stood a specter clad in a gorgeous crimson wedding dress and covered with a red bridal veil.
As an evening breeze blew past, he seemed a bit chilly and shivered.
*The Ghost Bride's yin qi drains a living person's yang qi too much. Once this is over, I'd better recall her as soon as possible...* Withdrawing his gaze, Zhang Yuanqing drifted through the exterior wall of Building 6 and arrived in the seventh-floor corridor.
The compound was relatively upscale, with four units per floor sharing a single elevator.
Apartment 708 happened to be on the far left of the corridor. Zhang Yuanqing drifted toward the brown security door. The first thing that met his eyes was a messy living room.
Canned beers and takeout containers covered the coffee table, while an ashtray overflowed with cigarette butts. Shoes, socks, shirts, and trousers were tossed haphazardly across the sofa or strewn over the floor.
The occupant was clearly a man of exceptionally sloppy habits.
To the left of the living room was a bathroom, and to the right was a bedroom—a standard layout of one bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom, spanning no more than fifty square meters in total.
Zhang Yuanqing turned his attention toward the bedroom, from which faint female groans could be heard.
*Bad timing...* he muttered inwardly.
It was nothing out of the ordinary; ten at night was precisely the hour for such activities.
However, the unexpected presence of a woman complicated things. If she was an ordinary person, he would have to dispose of the suspect with a gentler hand.
If she was a Spirit Realm walker, was she orthodox or evil? If orthodox, should he kill the suspect on the spot, or subdue him first and escort him back to the Public Security Bureau for interrogation?
While mulling it over, he had already drifted through the bedroom door.
The round incandescent light on the ceiling cast a bright, snow-white glare. On the master double bed, the sheets were in disarray. A young man was lost in passion, entirely immersed in intense pleasure.
Bronzed skin intertwined with fair flesh, creating a stark visual contrast.
The man possessed excellent proportions, his muscles clearly defined and sculpted with fluid lines that concealed formidable strength. At a single glance, it was obvious he possessed superb combat and close-quarters prowess. Beads of sweat trickled down muscles that rippled like dragons.
The woman was young and pretty, but had nothing extraordinary about her.
Zhang Yuanqing circled around to the head of the bed to examine the man's face. His features were plain, but his brow and eyes carried a ferocious cast—clearly no decent sort—and a conspicuous scar ran across his forehead.
He seemed to have reached a critical moment, quickening his rhythm, completely oblivious to the Saint stage spirit body that had slipped into the room.
Zhang Yuanqing turned his gaze back to the girl. She was slender, fair-skinned, and soft-muscled. A few glances were all it took to confirm she was an ordinary mortal.
The physique of a Spirit Realm walker was markedly different from that of an ordinary person. Take Guan Ya, for example: though her body was also soft and supple, her muscles possessed immense resilience.
It wasn't apparent when relaxed, but the moment force was exerted, the muscle density became readily apparent.
And this girl was bearing force throughout, which led Zhang Yuanqing to conclude that she was an ordinary human.
Looking away from the girl, he noticed the clothes, bra, and lace panties scattered beside the bed, then turned his gaze to a woman's backpack on the sofa next to the bed. The backpack was unzipped; inside, he saw a few books and a stack of cash.
Factoring in her age, she was likely a college student from a nearby university.
Zhang Yuanqing hesitated no longer. He drifted directly toward the scarred man and entered his body.
The man's body stiffened abruptly, halting all movement.
Silence fell over the room.
Sensing something was amiss, the girl opened her eyes panting. Squinting against the glaring ceiling light, she saw the man's expression contorting in extreme agony, as if he were putting up some kind of struggle.
Yet in the very next second, his expression returned to normal.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked coquettishly, her voice soft and hoarse.
The scarred man ignored her, lifting a hand to stroke her neck before pressing lightly against her carotid artery.
A sharp pang flared, and the girl's eyes rolled back as she slipped into unconsciousness.
*Fuck, I'm taking a huge loss here...* muttered Zhang Yuanqing in the scarred man's body. Straightening his back, he manipulated the man's hands to grab his own head—right hand pressed against the left cheek, left hand cupping the right side—and twisted with violent force.
*Crack!*
The scarred man's head snapped all the way around, facing backward. He saw his own spine and the girl's smooth, pale, bare legs.
His eyes bulged wide as blood vessels ruptured across his eyeballs, and his body slumped limply onto the bed.
Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body popped out and stood beside the bed. Darkness swirled in his eye sockets as he coaxed the remnant spirit from the corpse. Soon, a ferocious remnant soul drifted out, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, yet too timid to actually attack.
*With such a vicious spirit, he must have committed plenty of heinous crimes in life. He didn't die an unjust death...* Zhang Yuanqing opened his mouth, inhaled, and devoured the spirit body.
He quickly combed through the fragmented memories of the scarred man's life. Amid the flashing scenes, Zhang Yuanqing saw the man wearing a mask and a peaked cap, entering a street-corner bar.
In a brightly lit room, a middle-aged man—gaunt and dark-skinned like an old peasant—sat stark naked on the edge of a bed, looking down coldly at him.
Behind the middle-aged man lay two voluptuous women with skin as fair and tender as lambs, curled on their sides, seemingly unconscious after enduring horrific torment.
"Your task from now on is to find high-quality playthings for me. A hundred thousand for every one you find. But before you work for me, you must swallow this."
The gaunt middle-aged man opened his palm to reveal a black cicada pupa.
The scarred man lowered his head in terror, not daring to refuse, and bowed.
"Yes, Divine General!"
As the visions flickered, Zhang Yuanqing saw woman after woman being brought into the bar. Bewitched and enchanted, they lost their sense of self and dignity, willingly submitting to becoming playthings.
Before long, the spacious room expanded into an area rivaling a hotel lobby. In the center was a rectangular swimming pool, and dining tables around the pool were piled high with fruit and food.
Women in swimsuits played in the water, dined, or dozed on lounge chairs.
The gaunt, dark-skinned man indulged himself, toying with the women at will—now in the pool, now on the lounge chairs, now beside the dining tables...
And said to the scarred man with satisfaction, "You've done well, but I hope you can find me someone from an orthodox profession—preferably an official walker."
"Yes, Lord Divine General!"
The scene shifted again. He saw the scarred man fighting a woman with delicate, pretty features. With a wide disparity in strength, the pretty woman was quickly subdued.
She was blindfolded with a hood, bound tightly hand and foot, and brought into the bar, into the grand hall with the swimming pool.
The gaunt middle-aged man sized up the terrified woman and said, "Splendid work!"
The scarred man bowed and withdrew, pushing open the heavy door to leave, the woman's piercing wails echoing behind him.
Here it ended. Zhang Yuanqing broke out of the spirit questioning state. Having witnessed what those women endured, a fierce wave of fury and murderous intent surged within him.
Yet the title "Divine General" spoken by the scarred man forced him to suppress his emotions and think with extreme caution.
A Bewitching Demon Divine General!
"Divine General" was a title exclusive to the Soldier Master Sect. While the sect had many Saints, only eight were bestowed the title of Divine General, and every one of them was a figure at the peak of the Saint stage.
Silver Moon, the foremost of the Divine Generals, could even go toe-to-toe with Fu Qingyang.
*Among the Eight Divine Generals, the only one with such an intense obsession with women is Lust Divine General... Who would have thought this disappearance case would involve a Divine General!*
This explained why an evil organization would resort to such a low-efficiency method of abducting women. It wasn't for money, but for base personal desire.
The stronger an evil profession became, the more warped and extreme its practitioner's obsessions grew—just like Heavenly King Demonic Eye, who was driven mad by his urge to "punish wicked deeds."
*High-level evil professions really are a cancer. Incapable of self-control, their sole purpose for existing is to torment the world and harm the innocent...*
*That girl from an orthodox profession must be Lizhi from the Palace of Halting Slaughter. Hopefully she's still alive...*
Zhang Yuanqing sighed, unlocked the bedroom and security doors from the inside, and then passed through the reinforced concrete building. Riding the wind, he drifted across the residential compound. Looking down, he scanned for his cousin's figure to confirm he was safe and sound before returning to the black business van and slipping back into his physical body.
In the next second, he opened his eyes.
Li Dongze, who had been watching him intently, immediately asked upon seeing him wake, "How did it go?"
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Taken care of. There's also a female college student inside; she won't wake up anytime soon. It's best to process the scene right away so she doesn't see the corpse and get traumatized."
Li Dongze nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie. "Captain Chen, the suspect has been neutralized. Cleaning up the aftermath is up to you."
He gave a brief overview of the scene.
Delight colored Chen Yuanjun's voice. "Understood. Thank you for your trouble, Captain Li."
Li Dongze added, "This case is being taken over by our Special Operations Department. Cooperate on command, but do not conduct any independent investigations."
Ending the call, he set down the walkie-talkie and looked at Zhang Yuanqing, his expression turning solemn. "Is there a big fish behind this?"
Possessing the Insight skill, it was easy for him to discern the gravity of the situation from Yuanshi's micro-expressions.
"Yeah." Zhang Yuanqing exhaled slowly. "The mastermind behind this is Lust Divine General. You should know why he's abducting women. On top of that, there are far more than a dozen missing persons—in the dead man's memories, I saw nearly thirty victims."
"Utterly appalling." Li Dongze lit a cigarette. Through the drifting curls of smoke, he furrowed his brows and said, "Looking at it this way, after Heavenly King Demonic Eye was locked up, the Soldier Master Sect sent Lust Divine General to infiltrate Songhai and maintain their intelligence network. He abducted the victims to satisfy his base desires, but he likely won't kill them. That's a silver lining in an unfortunate mess."
The Morality Points deducted for murder to silence witnesses were in no way comparable to those deducted for abducting women to use as playthings.
This was why Li Dongze was confident the victims were still alive.
"Did you see the address?" the True Eye Decurion asked.
Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
"Call Elder Fu and notify him. He'll have to handle this case personally; it's beyond our ability," Li Dongze said decisively.
Even before he finished speaking, Zhang Yuanqing had already dialed Fu Qingyang's number.
After a few rings, Fu Qingyang's cool, richly textured voice came through: "What is it?"
"Centurion, I found the source of the missing persons case. The mastermind behind it is Lust Divine General of the Soldier Master Sect," Zhang Yuanqing reported.
Chapter 302