CHAPTER 415: CHAPTER 175: THE FAKE GHOST, WHEN THE MOUNTAIN COMES TO ME (5K)

The internal staff of the Scorching Sun Department, even the ones dispatched to accompany Fu Guangfei on a tour, are sharp enough that as soon as they hear this, they immediately report it.

Right now, it doesn’t matter what kind of intelligence it is—even the smallest piece of new information might be absolutely critical.

Especially since, the people in those photos are exactly the dozen or so who were just confirmed dead in the Netherworld.

Their profiles are definitely something the Scorching Sun Department needs. Moreover, based on their identity information, the Scorching Sun Department also has to track down their associates from the past to see if there’s any deeper information to uncover.

No matter if they’re scattered all over the world, the fact they died at almost the same time suggests they likely died in the same place, caught in the same incident.

But in reality, no one can actually be sure of that—no one knows what the circumstances in the Netherworld are like.

They can’t even be sure these dozen or so people appeared in the same spot in the Netherworld.

It’s even possible one player killed off the rest—no telling for sure.

After the appearance of the Netherworld, so many people dying at once absolutely must be investigated no matter what.

Now that there’s new intel, of course, they have to seize it.

Even Cai Qidong was startled and came to confirm things in person.

Under the guidance of a specialist, they pieced together a ghost’s portrait, then flipped it upside down for Fu Guangfei to identify.

Fu Guangfei only glanced at it, then said,

"That’s exactly what he looked like. He was hanging upside down at the manor gate, on the lantern post. He must’ve had bad intentions, that’s why he was strung up like that."

At this point, Fu Guangfei shot Cai Qidong a look.

He didn’t dare repeat the things Wen Yan had cursed at Cai Qidong.

The two upside-down photos were placed side by side for comparison. There seemed to be some discrepancies, so a specialist took a look—and confirmed it was the same person.

It’s just that one photo was taken while he was alive, the other after he became a ghost.

After turning into a ghost, he was noticeably thinner and didn’t look much like a human anymore, but it could still be generally confirmed as the same person.

Cai Qidong smacked his lips. He knew he had to notify Wen Yan right away about this, but he really didn’t want to come in contact with the people from Fuyu Mountain.

Let alone Fuyu Mountain’s Grand Uncle Master, even any of the three remaining Great Uncle Masters still alive are already high-ranking elders. Right now, even if they cussed him out to his face, he’d just have to take it.

After all, Wen Yan went to Guanzhong County on an assignment Cai Qidong himself had given him. Given the current situation, if Wen Yan wanted to curse Cai Qidong, he’d just have to listen.

Now that there are other ways to send messages, sending Fu Guangfei again really isn’t appropriate.

Cai Qidong could already imagine how Wen Yan would curse him if he knew it was Cai Qidong making Fu Guangfei—still a minor—risk his life in the Netherworld to pass along messages after knowing more than a dozen people had already died.

Back when Fu Guangfei went lock-picking, Wen Yan didn’t make things difficult for him at all. He even personally went to register and file paperwork, just to clear Fu Guangfei’s name and give him some protective cover.

If it had been some wily old fox who dared pick locks under Wen Yan’s nose, by dawn that guy could expect to experience the "cut-the-line" treatment at Virtue City Funeral House.

Wen Yan’s tolerance for kids is pretty high, but for him as the minister, not so much.

For retrieving information from over there, they might still need Fu Guangfei, but for passing messages, it’s no longer necessary.

Cai Qidong sighed, pulled out his phone, and called Qin Kun, recapping the intelligence he’d just received and asking Qin Kun to inform the Fuyu Mountain side—he really didn’t want another verbal lashing.

Then, he had Fu Guangfei pass along a message, and took care of the burial artifact arrangements as Wen Yan had requested.

...

Wen Yan was still hanging around in the manor, being careful not to go anywhere. Every day was just constant boxing practice, drilling the Subduing Tiger First Form, then reading, drinking tea, and when bored, heading to the front gate to pluck strands of the pointy-mouthed ghost’s hair, applying continuous psychological pressure.

With no distinction between day and night, Wen Yan had to rely on a clock to tell the time. He was sleeping soundly, when his eyes suddenly snapped open and he rolled out of bed to the floor.

A faint tremor rippled through the ground; after a while it faded away, not to be felt again.

Today’s quake was noticeably stronger—otherwise he wouldn’t have sensed it even while sleeping.

Rolling out of bed, he walked outside the manor and lay down on the ground to try to sense it again. There were still faint vibrations from time to time, extremely subtle.

Lord Zhu’s manor had an exceptionally solid foundation when constructed, with excellent earthquake resistance. The rooms were especially well-fortified; a framework of reinforced concrete lay beneath every room to prevent any potential subterranean trespassers from tunneling in.

Wen Yan focused and sensed it carefully for a long while—he could roughly confirm the tremor was coming from the north.

He sat in a chair, frowning and pondering whether to keep hiding out or take the initiative and strike first.

Things were changing too fast, and he was afraid if he kept lying low, he’d be left behind by the developments.

"Boss, stop plucking—I remembered something." The pointy-mouthed ghost was on the verge of collapse, his hair almost all ripped out. According to Wen Yan, once the hair was gone, the next step was skinning, and it would be flayed off bit by bit, following the grain of the skin.

"If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. Don’t keep me hanging." Wen Yan slapped him across the face, without much care.

"It seems the Prince had some kind of artifact over there. I heard it was thanks to that treasure he managed to keep from fading away all this time—now, in the end, he’s finally revived."