Memory Shrouded in Fog

Memory Shrouded in Fog

After they finished the takeout, Qingyao Demoness began enchanting the black-framed, non-prescription glasses Li Bai had bought.

Wisps of Pure Qi coiled around the bobbing glasses, forming strange Runes that slowly seeped into the transparent resin lenses before vanishing without a trace.

Her cultivation still hadn't recovered, and the Heaven and Earth Rules had changed. A secret art that used to take only a blink now took more than two hours before it could barely meet Li Bai's requirements.

The enchantment might not last three months, but it would hold for at least two. At worst, she could enchant them again after two months.-

The psychological crisis intervention expert sent by the Provincial Public Security Department had already left. Cui Wei, the owner of Huxi City's Xunfeng Auto Dealership, was still pinching the bridge of his nose. Compared with his earlier terror, he looked much better, but his body continued to tremble slightly against his will.

What had happened outside Beilun City had ended without serious harm, but Boss Cui had still received quite a fright.

A night had passed, yet he'd been so shaken that he hadn't managed to close his eyes. When the people from the Public Security Bureau saw how badly he was doing, they found someone to provide psychological intervention. That had helped a little.

"Feeling better? I brought some milk and pastries. I just warmed them up. Drink them, then get a good night's sleep. You'll be fine when you wake up."

A burly police officer came in carrying a paper bag. He saw Cui Wei sitting on the edge of the bed in the guesthouse room, rubbing his brow repeatedly as he tried to relax.

He was the square-faced police officer whose identity had accidentally been exposed during an undercover operation. He and Boss Cui had both been kidnapped by the Yao Family's smuggling ring, making them fellow sufferers.

As a man of the law, he had stronger nerves. After regaining his freedom, he had quickly returned to normal, unlike Boss Cui, who was still shaken.

"I'm feeling better. Thanks, Officer Guo."

Though he said that, Boss Cui still felt his legs trembling against his will.

He took the paper bag and, with trembling hands, sipped some milk and ate a couple of honey doughnuts. Sugar helped promote dopamine production and stabilize his mood. A little color returned to Boss Cui's pale face.

"Boss Cui, do you remember what happened in that warehouse?"

Guo Wenkai dropped onto the edge of the other bed in the room.

"I remember!"

Boss Cui nodded hard. He had nearly been killed by those vicious, desperate men. It was a memory he would never forget.

"But do you remember who knocked those men out and untied us?"

Guo Wenkai stared at Cui Wei without blinking. A mystery had been haunting him.

"I..."

Boss Cui started to answer, then inexplicably got stuck. His eyes widened as he realized, to his horror, that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember that person ever having existed.

"Just as I thought!"

The square-faced officer, Guo Wenkai, slapped his forehead. He'd known he couldn't be the only one puzzled by this.

Someone had appeared in the Yao Family's warehouse for smuggled cars. Not only had they untied him and Boss Cui, they had also taken down the smugglers.

The strange thing was, neither of the two men who'd been rescued could remember who their savior was. They couldn't recall whether the person had been male or female, young or old, or anything about their height or weight. They had no memory of them at all. The person had appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, then vanished just as mysteriously.

The bruised and battered criminals were just as bewildered. No matter how they were questioned, they couldn't describe the person who had beaten them into such a sorry state.

The only evidence that the person had existed was the call recording from Beilun City's 110 emergency call center.

The caller was male, under thirty. There were no other leads.

The national resident database recorded only names, ID numbers, registered addresses, face photos, and fingerprints. At most, it might also have DNA—but it didn't record voiceprints.

Within the 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range that human ears could distinguish, comparing voices across such a huge population would produce a frighteningly high match rate.

The Provincial Public Security Department expert who had provided psychological intervention for Boss Cui did offer one lead. If so many people had suffered collective memory loss, perhaps someone had used a disabling weapon and then interfered with everyone's memories using specialized equipment. Hypnosis was another possibility.

The first possibility was simply too terrifying.

Using high-tech equipment that wasn't even fully developed just to deal with a smuggling ring would be like using a cleaver to kill a chicken. It would make more sense to say aliens had done it.

Who would go to such trouble to pick a fight with a bunch of smugglers, with advanced equipment like that and nothing better to do? They could start a small war, rescue hostages, or capture a few major drug lords—all of which would be more worthwhile.

If the smugglers and their warehouse hadn't been so deeply concealed by the Yao Family, any county-level Public Security Bureau could have dealt with them easily.

Hypnosis could block memories, but even the Provincial Public Security Department's psychological crisis intervention expert couldn't hypnotize so many people at once. Only a state-registered hypnosis master might manage it.

But even the masters, who received special occupational allowances every year, weren't capable of anything like this. They might have been able to hypnotize everyone involved in the case at once and block their memories, but there was no way they could have beaten those hulking, vicious criminals until they barely recognized their own parents.

In a guest room at a hotel designated by the Public Security System, Boss Cui and Officer Guo fell silent.

After local police uncovered the smuggling den outside Beilun City, overnight interrogations yielded a wealth of important leads. Under the Provincial Public Security Department's unified command, the Public Security Departments of Beilun City and Huxi City launched a joint operation and established conclusive evidence that Yao Donghu had taken part in smuggling imported cars.

In less than twenty-four hours, every member of the smuggling ring led by Yao Donghu had been arrested, with not a single one escaping. Several imported-car dealerships in Huxi City, including Dongling Auto Company, were also shut down one after another.

The Yao Family descended into chaos. As soon as Yao Donghu was arrested, his family was placed under residential surveillance. It was like a tree falling and the monkeys scattering: friends, relatives, and business partners who had dealings with the family rushed to distance themselves and protect themselves.

As if one misfortune weren't enough, more followed. Yao Donghu's older brother, Yao Dongfei, was also taken away by the police because his Yao Gong Auto Trade, Co., Ltd. was involved in selling smuggled construction vehicles. His family broke down in tears all over again.

Everyone in the Yao Clan was on edge, with no idea who would be arrested next.

"Li Bai's Demoness" had been forcibly cut off from the internet by her Great Demon master, but Huxi City's local forum, "17th Floor," had yet to return to calm.

After the media broke the news that the father of the rich second-generation Yao Bing, the main figure in a murder case, was suspected of involvement in a major smuggling case involving high-end imported cars worth one billion yuan, the entire "17th Floor" forum erupted.

Murder, a falsified psychiatric evaluation, and a father involved in smuggling—the triple blow made for an irresistible hot topic.

Even if the Demoness stirred up trouble again, she probably couldn't stop netizens from focusing on the Yao Family. People spread the news online, proclaiming that justice would prevail and good and evil would be repaid.

Just as everyone was digging into the Yao Family's past, a sudden post appeared on the "17th Floor" forum. A gust of demonic winds swept through, catapulting Li Bai to the same level of notoriety as the Yao Family.

"Dr. Li Bai of Seventh People's Hospital, a scoundrel who took bribes from the Yao Family and falsified an evaluation in violation of professional ethics, is actually a charlatan skilled in sinister magic."

The poster, "Falling Moon Full Boat," was a newly registered account. The post accused Li Bai of using ancient, wicked witchcraft to treat the young daughter of Yuantian Hotel's chairman, disregarding the patient's life and fortune, and even trying to kill her for money.

The poster had added plenty of embellishments and heaped on the slander, claiming that the witchcraft involved cruelly murdered cats and dogs, disgusting insects, poisonous plants and mushrooms, and even dead babies—every sort of horrifying thing.

A few Cao Family maids who had witnessed things, along with IDs belonging to patients Li Bai had treated whose stories made no sense, also came forward to testify. Great Demon Li's reputation online instantly became so foul that the stench carried eighteen li into the wind, surpassing even the widely condemned Yao Family.

If Li Bai saw the post, he would probably guess at once that the old Taoist priests from Qingliang Temple were behind it. Those people really knew how to keep up with the times.-