Lust Divine General was nearby?
Yuanshi Tianzun's words instantly tightened the nerves of every official walker present. Captains like Qingteng and Bailong showed terror. Deacon Wan narrowed his eyes slightly, his pupils quietly turning feral. Within this senior deacon, a majestic aura condensed like a ferocious beast ready to pounce.
Jiang Jingwei angrily looked left and right, completely fearless. On the contrary, she could hardly wait to fight Lust Divine General to the death.
"No need to be nervous. He won't attack us right now," Zhang Yuanqing reassured everyone, before recounting what he had observed with astromancy.
Upon hearing that they had no omen of bloodshed, Qingteng, dressed in her qipao, and the big-sister figure Bailong breathed a sigh of relief. Falling into Lust Divine General's hands was a fate far worse than death.
"Wh-Why is it us big men who have the bloody calamity?" Big Muscle Tyrant asked, both furious and bewildered, with a trace of fear mixed in.
Pulling out his phone to call Fu Qingyang, Li Dongze asked in a grave voice, "Could it be that they'll be taken captive by Lust Divine General?"
Qingteng and Bailong, who had just sighed in relief, turned pale in an instant.
"No!" Guan Ya said, her expression steady as she looked at Zhang Yuanqing. "If I were really captured by Lust Divine General, I would definitely commit suicide. But I have no omen of bloodshed."
Her expression and gaze seemed to be conveying something.
Zhang Yuanqing nodded, not keeping them in suspense. "Though Lust Divine General is very strong, we have four Saints present, and Deacon Wan is particularly experienced. Even Lust Divine General couldn't kill us in a short time.
"And if a huge commotion broke out, Elder Fu would notice. Besides, Lust Divine General can't be sure whether there are other elders watching in secret nearby.
"On top of that, foot traffic here is too heavy. If a real fight broke out, innocent people would be caught in the crossfire, and our Morality Points would hit zero in minutes."
Deacon Wan silently reined in his aura and nodded in agreement. "So, you mean Lust Divine General is nearby, and he'll take advantage of Fu Qingyang's departure to mark us in secret. Once we disperse and head back to our residences, he will track those marks and come knocking."
He glanced at the female corpse on the bed, grief hidden beneath his eyes. "Just like what happened to Deepwater Queen."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Right. And Guan Ya and the others live at Fujia Bay, where Lust Divine General wouldn't dare seek death by coming to the door, which is why they're safe."
As he spoke, he looked toward the living room. "I'm not sure of the exact range for a Mist Lord's mark, but it won't be very far. It's very likely Lust Divine General is right in this building. We need to be careful."
At his words, everyone's hearts, which had just relaxed, leapt into their throats once more.
"If Lust Divine General is nearby, then who is the killer Elder Fu is pursuing?" Li Dongze asked with a frown, holding his phone, feeling somewhat relieved.
Just then, the call connected, and Fu Qingyang's voice came through the speaker:
"What is it?"
Li Dongze said immediately, "Elder Fu, the target you're tracking might not be Lust Divine General..."
Before he could finish, Fu Qingyang cut him off: "I know!"
You know?! Li Dongze froze.
Everyone present was equally stunned. Had Fu Qingyang realized the killer wasn't Lust Divine General all along?
Only Guan Ya turned her head toward the female corpse on the bed, lost in thought.
"Although Deepwater Queen shows signs of sexual assault, it doesn't match Lust Divine General's style. According to intelligence aggregated by the Northern Branch, victims he rapes and murders always bear obvious 'marks,'" Fu Qingyang's voice came through the speaker. "However, the killer remains an important lead. To kill a captain-level walker without making a sound means his level won't be low."
After explaining, he asked, "Did you call me just to say this?"
Li Dongze hurriedly said, "Yuanshi says Lust Divine General is nearby..."
He immediately explained the situation at maximum speed.
Fu Qingyang said, "Understood!"
He hung up on his own accord.
Ten minutes later, Li Dongze's phone rang. The caller was Fu Qingyang.
The elegant decurion answered at once. Fu Qingyang's voice, crisp as clinking ice, rang out from the speaker:
"Within a one-kilometer radius of the apartment, there are no spirit walkers other than yourselves. Yuanshi, look at everyone's countenances again."
Zhang Yuanqing opened his Star Eyes at once, surveying the room. He said in astonishment, "Their countenances are normal. The bloody calamity is gone."
Fu Qingyang's tone was calm, as if he had expected this all along. He instructed, "Guan Ya, there's a camera in the room. Find it. I will continue tracking the killer."
With that, he hung up.
A camera in the room? Everyone looked around, scrutinizing every corner.
Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows. Piecing together the clues and pondering for a moment, he suddenly understood.
"Lust Divine General marked Deepwater Queen's squad, but he didn't kill them personally. Instead, he sent a subordinate to do the deed. After murdering them, the killer left listening and surveillance equipment at the scene. Lust Divine General hid nearby and used the surveillance feed to observe the official walkers investigating the crime scene, intending to repeat the trick—secretly marking the official walkers so he could hunt them down at their homes later.
"However, I just used astromancy to read your countenances. Lust Divine General saw and heard everything, so he abandoned his plan and decisively retreated."
That was why Fu Qingyang's True Sight Technique hadn't found Lust Divine General, and why everyone's omen of bloodshed had vanished.
"Hiss—"
Big Muscle Tyrant sucked in a cold breath and cursed, "That bastard is so damn crafty."
This time, no one mocked him. Lust Divine General was indeed crafty enough to make one's scalp tingle. Had a Starlord not been present today, every single one of them would have walked right into his trap.
Deacon Wan was not a Scout, so he did not join the search for surveillance equipment. He said in a deep voice, "We cannot underestimate divine-general-level figures. Even though each of them has obvious personality flaws, surviving long enough to become a divine general and reaching their current level is never a matter of luck.
"If they were that easy to deal with, they would have died long ago. We still have plenty of headaches ahead. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light; we'll never know what his next move will be."
Seeing the somber expressions of his Kangyang District colleagues, he comforted them: "Don't worry. Lust Divine General blew things out of proportion, so the elders will certainly step in. Even Demonic Eye went down in Songhai, let alone an ordinary divine general."
While they spoke, Guan Ya had already locked onto her target. She walked over to the television and picked up a plush bear propped up against a vase. Its eyes pointed straight toward the double bed and bedroom door.
Guan Ya unzipped the plush bear's back and, sure enough, found listening and surveillance equipment nested within the clean white polyester stuffing.
"Tsk, tsk. Three beauties."
On the night streets jammed with traffic, inside the back seat of a black sedan, Lust Divine General wore earphones and stared at his phone screen, licking his lips.
Once Guan Ya found the surveillance device and destroyed the camera, Lust Divine General put down his phone and ordered, "Abort the plan. Leave Songhai and head to Jinshan City!"
The driver was the young man in the peaked cap. He said, "There are checkpoints set up on national highways and expressway entrances, with Five Elements Alliance personnel inspecting passing vehicles. I can only take you to the suburbs. You'll have to walk on foot to Jinshan City yourself."
Lust Divine General gave a low grunt. "Notify the men under you. Tell them to cease all operations and lie low in peace. Those five old fogies in Songhai will probably be mobilized."
The youth in the peaked cap chuckled. "Those useless fools in the government would never expect us to leave Songhai so decisively. When it comes to guerrilla warfare, we freelancers have never lost."
As the youth spoke, he suddenly grew excited. "General, if you can hunt down Yuanshi Tianzun, that's a hundred million yuan! The brothers will be swimming in luxury. Your fame will surpass the other divine generals too, not to mention the prop rewards... Silver Moon Divine General has already advanced to Dominator. Who knows, maybe you'll become the next leader of the divine generals!"
Lust Divine General rolled down the window and gazed out at the city nightscape, clicking his tongue. "Yuanshi Tianzun is a Starlord. They excel at seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity. He won't be easy to handle."
In his original plan, by pairing bait tactics with lightning strikes, he would pull off two jobs back-to-back in a single day, delivering a thunderous blow to the Songhai Branch to make them bleed all at once.
Then, he would make a swift exit from Songhai and proceed to his second plan: head to Jinshan City and use Wuhen Hotel as a breakthrough point to launch an operation to hunt Yuanshi Tianzun.
He hadn't anticipated that the trap laid tonight would lure Yuanshi Tianzun right to him, forcing him to terminate the plan early.
Still, even though he hadn't achieved his intended target, provoking and stinging the Songhai Branch had achieved its purpose.
Lust Divine General withdrew his gaze, unlocked his phone, and sent a message:
"Arriving in Jinshan City in half an hour."
Ten-odd minutes after sending the message, he received a reply containing a photo.
—Night had fallen. Beneath a brilliantly lit residential building, a young man wearing a blue food delivery uniform and a blue helmet stepped out from the entrance.
His facial features were quite handsome, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, an intractable nature hidden within, resembling an irritable, pugnacious young wolfdog.
*Ding-dong!*
Another text came in:
"That's Kou Beiyue. Once you arrive in Jinshan City, I'll send you the address. The President instructed me to cooperate with your operation. Whatever you need, just say the word."
Back in the apartment, the pitch-black darkness receded from Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. He looked down at the corpse at his feet and shook his head.
"He wasn't Lust Divine General's subordinate. Just a regular patron at Passion Bar, a rogue cultivator. He had quite a reputation in their circle—he was a Saint, after all...
"Lust Divine General secretly gathered intel on many patrons, and he was one of them. Bewitched by Lust Divine General, he became Lust's blade to kill Deepwater Queen and our six colleagues.
"Lust was extremely cautious. I didn't see any other useful information."
The corpse at his feet was an Illusionist, a tall and skinny middle-aged man who looked quite respectable from his appearance alone.
The captains were full of disappointment, but Deacon Wan and Fu Qingyang looked unaffected, as if finding no leads was only reasonable.
Both were experienced hunters who knew that dealing with a divine-general-level enemy required ample patience.
After thinking for a long time, Fu Qingyang analyzed, "Lust will likely go into hiding in the near future and will most probably leave Songhai for the time being. Notify colleagues in branches near Songhai to stay vigilant and report anything unusual immediately.
"Yuanshi, we must get ready to 'patrol.'"
Deacon Wan frowned. "If Lust lies low, we won't know when he'll strike again. It's like a fishbone stuck in the throat. You young ladies, be careful."
Qingteng smiled wryly. "Deacon Wan, stop scaring us..."
Deacon Wan shook his head. "Evil classes excel most at guerrilla warfare. As the saying goes, a thief can wait for a thousand days, but a guard can't watch for a thousand days. I'm not scaring you; this is an objective fact."
*Foolish! Women don't want to hear facts right now; they only want care and comfort!* Zhang Yuanqing criticized inward. Deacon Wan was a true straight-arrow blockhead too, but unfortunately, Zhang Yuanqing really wasn't in the mood to make sarcastic remarks right now.
Fu Qingyang glanced at his wristwatch. "Let's go. I need to hold a meeting with the five old fogies. Based on my assessment of Lust, he has been in hiding for so long that he may already be secretly planning his next move."
"Your delivery has arrived. Please give a five-star review!"
Inside a residential building, Kou Beiyue handed dinner to a customer, a wide smile on his face.
Human Blood Bun had told him countless times that there was no need to smile at people ordering takeout, since most of them couldn't even be bothered to rate.
To those people, delivery guys were just tools. When tools did their jobs properly, it was taken for granted; only when something went wrong did they remember the rating system and leave a bad review.
Therefore, if you ran into someone who gave a bad review, simply harvesting their kidneys was the way to go.
Kou Beiyue felt that made damn good sense, but if you didn't ask, how would anyone give a good review? What if you ran into someone soft-hearted who actually did!
Besides, if you pleaded for a five-star review, even if someone felt you didn't do well, their retaliation would stop at "I'm just not going to give you a good review."
Mm, that was a secret tip Xiao Yuan had taught him during an occasional chat.
*Bang!*
The customer didn't pay him the slightest heed, snatching the takeout and slamming the door shut.
Kou Beiyue slunk downstairs with his tail between his legs. Returning to his little electric scooter, he took the milk tea hanging from the handlebar, took a big, noisy gulp, and let out a contented sigh.
It was peak mealtime right now, and there were more orders than he could handle.
Hanging the half-empty cup back up, he mounted the scooter and was about to head to the next stop when he suddenly saw a gaunt, dark-skinned man wearing a mask walking toward him.
Chapter 307