Chapter 152: Teahouse Meeting
Li Duojin glanced at the three of them, then chuckled softly, took off his own equipment, and turned to leave: “I’m very sorry I can’t continue cooperating with you. I now somewhat understand why the Dog Group is left with only you three. Good luck to you.”
Regarding Li Duojin’s departure, none of the three in the Dog Group spoke; they just silently watched him leave.
After Li Duojin left the woods, he was about to investigate Wang Kui Shan’s whereabouts according to his own thinking when he suddenly received a phone call from Chen Xiaolin, who made a request to meet.
Listening to the slightly serious tone in the other party’s phone call, Li Duojin realized that Chen Xiaolin might have discovered something, so he agreed to the meeting. The two decided to meet at a teahouse.
“I’m certain that Zheng Yu’s daughter Zheng Xiaopeng has a pair of eyes similar to the legendary ‘Yin-Yang Eyes’. She can see the souls of the dead, with extremely high inspiration. From her, I learned some things that happened to Zheng Yu.” Chen Xiaolin was the one who arrived late. After sitting down, she gulped down tea while speaking.
“Mm, from the moment you appeared before me again, I could already confirm it.” Li Duojin nodded, not surprised by this message. He looked at Chen Xiaolin and saw some dark black qi slowly rising from her body, just like burning flames, indicating that Chen Xiaolin had spent a long time with some unclean things, or had contact with someone with an Inspirational Physique.
Chen Xiaolin was stunned for a moment, then said: “Let me first talk about what I know and what I’ve inferred. The reason Zheng Yu turned into that madman is because he first learned from Xiao Peng that his wife’s soul had appeared in the attic, then in a state of half-belief and half-doubt, he began to explore matters related to the souls of the dead, and unintentionally came into contact with an abnormal organization.”
Inverted Sanctuary. Li Duojin thought to himself, but on the surface he did not respond immediately, merely staring into the other party’s eyes, nodding his head, signaling her to continue.
Chen Xiaolin: “I haven’t found out what this organization is yet, but after Zheng Yu had contact with this abnormal organization for a period of time, he inexplicably became deeply involved, and finally learned a mysterious taboo ritual from super ancient times from this organization. I don’t know what kind of ritual it was exactly, but I think it must be some kind of soul summoning secret technique that could allow his wife to revive in another manner.
After all, in my impression, Zheng Yu loved his daughter very much and deeply loved his deceased wife. It was precisely because of this that he had not sought a new partner for many years and did everything possible to accompany his daughter.”
After gulping down several mouthfuls of tea, Chen Xiaolin’s restless breathing gradually calmed, and she continued: “Although his madness was indeed out of love, I cannot approve of his actions. Now I think he deserved to die.”
“I’ve finished speaking.” Chen Xiaolin’s long curved eyelashes trembled lightly, her watery eyes fixed on Li Duojin. “It’s your turn, Master Li.”
Hearing the other party’s form of address, Li Duojin smiled faintly. “Ming Ming, I’ve already advised you that it’s best not to get involved in this troubled waters, but now that you’ve investigated so much, the cause and effect are already entangled with you, drawing you deep into it. Since that’s the case, I won’t hide some things from you anymore.
The ‘abnormal organization’ you mentioned is probably an abnormal organization named ‘Inverted Sanctuary’. As for that ritual, through translating the text written in the ritual’s setup, I can already confirm it’s a soul summoning ritual, but soul summoning is not the core or entirety of that ritual. Simply put, Zheng Yu was deceived.”
“Deceived?”
“Yes, the core effect of that ritual is actually to guide the descent of an abnormal god, and this ritual is not yet complete, but it has already summoned obvious bad consequences. It’s not just that Zheng Yu turned into a madman who lost his humanity and went on a killing spree—it’s also brought creatures that shouldn’t appear in this world into this world.” Li Duojin took a deep breath, recalling the Black Goat of the Woods. He always felt that monster was eerie and dangerous, and it wouldn’t be so easily killed by the combined attack of the three in the Dog Group.
He quickly left the three in the Dog Group, of course not just out of anger at their using him and putting him in danger, but also because of his ominous premonition about the Black Goat of the Woods. His intuitions were always accurate, so he chose to leave as the best option.
Without reminding the three in the Dog Group of his feeling about the Black Goat of the Woods, he left alone, leaving them there to continue the investigation—this was already the most merciful revenge he could take on those three.
After hearing Li Duojin’s words, Chen Xiaolin was deeply frightened. After her breathing stopped for a few seconds, she seized on a “doubt” from what Li Duojin had just said and asked: “You just said ‘the ritual is not complete’—does that mean this ritual is still ongoing?”
“I’m sorry to have to tell you that the fact is indeed so.” Li Duojin sighed. “That Uncle Wang, Wang Kui Shan, who wasn’t killed by Zheng Yu in the end, has become the continuer of the ritual. His whereabouts are now unknown, and new dead bodies have been found around him. I strongly suspect he may already be influenced by the ritual’s power and is turning into an out-of-control madman like Zheng Yu.”
“Could it be like Zheng Yu, going mad and killing people indiscriminately?” Chen Xiaolin felt a chill in her heart, as if she had learned in advance that an unpredictable bomb was buried in this densely populated city of over 20 million people, ready to explode at any time.
Li Duojin said gravely: “I’m afraid it will only be even more mad than Zheng Yu, doing even more outrageous things.”
Chen Xiaolin gritted her teeth, recalling that she had contact with him just yesterday. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with his attitude at the end, she didn’t think he was a bad person. She said: “Then we have to quickly find Wang Kui Shan and stop him.”
“It’s not that easy.” Li Duojin shook his head. “Many people are looking for him now, but I haven’t heard any clues yet.”
“Might he go looking for his family?” Chen Xiaolin guessed. “I think that’s very possible.”
“I’ve thought of that, but how do we investigate?” Li Duojin asked.
Hearing Li Duojin’s question, Chen Xiaolin showed a confident smile: “Different trades have their specialists. When I was investigating this incident, I had already gathered various details of the incident through various channels. I long knew that Wang Kui Shan was a survivor. Before secretly visiting him, I had already investigated him in private and knew he has a daughter attending university in this city, with a good father-daughter relationship. I think we can contact his daughter.”
Li Duojin praised: “As expected of you.”
Then Chen Xiaolin pulled out the mobile phone number of Wang Kui Shan’s daughter Wang Zijin and tried contacting Wang Zijin.
Unexpectedly, Wang Zijin’s mobile phone was quickly answered.
At this, Chen Xiaolin quickly stated her purpose to the other party and tried to explain the ins and outs of the incident.
And Wang Zijin herself agreed very promptly to the meeting request. She said on the phone: “My father called me today, and his tone on the phone was very unfamiliar. I’m really worried about him…”
