A Good-for-Nothing

198. Images (II)

Translator: Dragon Rider

“Yesterday afternoon, when you guys were searching that parlor, I went to a comfort station outside which I ran into two girls. One of them was the relatively young one in this photograph.” He flicked a glance at the picture. The girl who had been standing before him alive the day before was now a dead body. He felt as though her life had faded away right in front of him, which he found unbearable.

Uncomfortable, He Zheng averted his gaze from the cellphone screen and continued in a low voice, “The elder of them were suffering from sunstroke and this girl asked me to do her a favor. Afterwards, her sister felt better and the two of them left.”

He Zheng paused briefly and then added, “Judging from their accents, they should be from Coastal City. They said that they came here for a tour.”

He Zheng couldn’t help but raise his eyes to look at Li Zong and ask anxiously, “Why did the Human Devil attack this girl? And where’s her elder sister?”

“Of these three girls, this one died the earliest. The time of her death is the same as that of those girls in that massage parlor.” Li Zong searched on and found some information sent by Zhao Fei. “This girl has been identified. She was one of the employees of that very massage parlor.”

Li Zong lifted his eyes to toss He Zheng a glance, and what he said next made He Zheng feel as though his insides were turning into ice. “And this girl was not from Coastal City but from a small county of Hang City. She’d never been to Coastal City, let alone pick up the Coastal City accent there.”

He Zheng was thunderstruck. Li Zong would never lie to him, but the girl he’d met the day before had indeed been talking in Coastal City accent.

“Ho–How’s that possible?” He Zheng’s face was full of bewilderment.

Chen Qianlin, as though having just recalled something, suddenly said, “Wait. Group Leader Li, do you still remember that during our search of that massage parlor yesterday, the last few footprints we found had been left by two women?”

Of course Li Zong had also thought of what Chen Qianlin had thought of.

“So, there was also a slightly older woman. Was she possessed by the Human Devil or… was she the Human Devil in the flesh?”

“She was not from Coastal City and had never been there but spoke in Coastal City accent. There’s only one plausible explanation for this.”

After hearing Li Zong’s words, He Zheng had an even heavier heart.

Li Zong’s voice was bland and matter-of-fact. “The only possibility is that the Human Devil possessed that girl, which was why he knew He Zheng is from Coastal City and deliberately spoke in Coastal City dialect to strike up a conversation with He Zheng.”

“How’s that possible?” He Zheng contradicted, “I’m still standing here, very much alive. Why did the Human Devil do that?”

The others were also confused about the reason for the whole thing, but the Human Devil was also responsible for the previous attack on them.

Everybody’s face grew thoughtful.

Staring at the files displayed on his phone screen, Li Zong suddenly inquired, “Did she say anything else to you?”

“Wait a moment.” He Zheng shook his head and his eyes lit up. “That woman said they were going to pay a visit to the Millenary Islands Lake!”

“The Millenary Islands Lake? Why there?” Zu Zhichong mumbled. “That lake is huge. A search of that area will take a lot of doing. Besides, we don’t know what the Human Devil wants.”

“What should we do, Chief?” Zu Zhichong turned his head around to look at Li Zong.

“The Human Devil won’t make it difficult for us to find him. He doesn’t have much time.” Li Zong rose from the sofa.

Zu Zhichong was bemused.

Li Zong threw him a casual glance and said, “Given that this time around the Human Devil killed those people in such haste and even abandoned a vessel, I think he’s planning to battle it out with us.”

“Everybody get ready to move.”

All staff members and trainees prepared themselves. After sending a message to Zhao Fei, they set off for the Millenary Islands Lake without further ado.

As chance would have it, going to the Nine Castles Bus Station to take a bus was one of the several ways to travel from Hang City to the Millenary Islands Lake. The Nine Castles Bus Station was also the very place where the Wang Dong case had happened.

In fact, though things had come to this, there were still a lot of things they found baffling, such as who had broken the Human Devil out of the seal, as well as why the Human Devil had precipitously abandoned his stronghold ahead of schedule and intentionally told them where they could find him.

Only by going to the Millenary Islands Lake and seeking out the Human Devil would they be able to solve all the mysteries.

Zhao Fei had received the message, but before he departed, some accidents happened.

Technically speaking, Zhao Fei encountered someone who tried to stop him.

The young dog Yōkai, heading a group of staff members, waited in the gateway of the sub-bureau, poised to set off.

“Chief?” The dog Yōkai, on spotting the man who had been visiting the set very often to see his chief, hastily informed Zhao Fei.

The man was still standing under a tree. He was wearing a black shirt and suit pants, cutting an ostentatious figure, but Zhao Fei liked it very much.

“You guys may get going. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

The dog Yōkai was clearly somewhat amazed, but Zhao Fei was his superior, so of course he wouldn’t disobey. The dog Yōkai hurriedly inclined his head and left for the Millenary Islands Lake with his companions.

They drove away. The sub-bureau in Hang City was located in Fanghuali, and there were a lot of cafes around it, all of which were high-end and atmospheric. Zhao Fei cast a glance at his watch and said to the man walking towards him, “I’m very busy. Time for a quick coffee is all I could spare for you.”