This "Killer" Isn't Very Calm

Leaving the cramped studio apartment.

Zhang Yuchou didn't leave right away. Instead, he knocked on the door across the hall.

The door opened. A dark-skinned man answered, quickly glanced around, then looked at Tang Luo before asking, "What is it?"

"We're going out to eat. Want to join us, Officer Tan?" Zhang Yuchou asked.

Officer Tan frowned. "I'm not going. Come back early after you eat. And I told you not to reveal who I am."

Probably something like undercover protection.

As for whether it was according to regulations, in a serious string of murders like this, exceptions had to be made.

There were only two "survivors" left.

Assigning a little manpower to protect them might even turn up something.

The killer knew the victims' whereabouts like the back of his hand, so he must have scouted them out in advance.

"He's a friend who came all this way to see me... I just vented to him. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't tell him a thing," Zhang Yuchou said.

He looked a little embarrassed.

"Right, I don't know anything," Tang Luo said with a smile.

Tan Song nearly covered his face with his hand. All he could say was, "Sir—"

"I understand. I'll keep it to myself and won't let a word slip," Tang Luo said, nodding.

"Come back early," Tan Song said to Zhang Yuchou again.

The protection didn't mean they'd be followed around twenty-four hours a day.

Judging by the killer's past methods, the most dangerous time was when the victims were home alone at night.

After the third victim died,

the three remaining "survivors," including Zhang Yuchou, had found a hotel and stayed there for a while.

That was "overt protection."

This time, it was comparatively covert.

They'd also installed surveillance cameras in Zhang Yuchou's rented apartment.

Zhang Yuchou said the protection would probably last for half a month to a month, or until the killer was caught.

More than a month was exactly when his lease would run out.

At that point, he planned to go home first—not to his hometown to get married, just home.

You couldn't jinx it by making a grand declaration.

"Tell me, do you think things like Plate Spirits and ghosts really exist in this world?" Zhang Yuchou asked, taking a sip of wine. The psychological pressure was getting to him too.

"They do."

Tang Luo answered with complete certainty.

"Damn it! Why'd it have to pick me?" Zhang Yuchou cursed. "I thought nothing supernatural could happen after the founding of the country!"

He wasn't so much affirming what Tang Luo had said as letting off a little steam.

"I performed a Consecration for you. Don't worry," Tang Luo said with a smile. "No demons or spirits can hurt you."

"Good. Bottoms up." Zhang Yuchou drained his glass. "Wait, I'll drink mine. You drink whatever you want."

He still remembered that Tang Luo never touched alcohol.

There was no special reason; he simply didn't like the taste.

After the meal, Tang Luo took Zhang Yuchou, who was seven or eight tenths drunk, back to his apartment.

"Go enjoy that big hotel bed of yours," Zhang Yuchou said.

"Sure. I told you, I'm staying at XX Hotel. I booked seven days," Tang Luo said. "Call me if anything happens."

"Yeah. I'll come find you tomorrow afternoon, and we can go out for a walk," Zhang Yuchou said.

Why the afternoon?

Because back in college, if they didn't have morning classes, mornings simply didn't exist.

Now that they had a rare day off, mornings didn't exist either.

Tang Luo had closed the door but hadn't left yet.

Tan Song opened his door again and invited him inside.

There was nothing in particular he needed to discuss.

He just wanted Tang Luo to keep things confidential and, as an uninvolved person, to stay away from the case.

Tang Luo merely responded with a laid-back, "Mm, sure, you're right."

What he actually did was up to him.

Walking along the bustling streets, Tang Luo took in the neon lights and nightlife he hadn't seen in a long time, then arrived at the hotel he'd booked.

He checked in, went upstairs, and entered his room.

The spiritual energy in the real world was still thin. It did nothing to help Tang Luo recover from his injuries.

"I didn't expect there to be anything left in the real world in this state," Tang Luo thought.

When he performed a Consecration for Zhang Yuchou,

he'd deliberately suppressed all outward signs of it.

Otherwise, they would have seen light flash across Zhang Yuchou's body.

Then something attached to him would have been driven away.

Tang Luo had thought there were no demons or spirits left in the real world.

Who'd have thought there still were?

"A Plate Spirit? A vengeful spirit attached to a plate?"

Looking at things from different angles often led to completely different conclusions.

From the perspective of the worldview they'd built up over the years, the police saw the so-called Plate Spirit case as nothing more than a string of violent murders committed by a human.

But from Tang Luo's perspective, that wasn't necessarily the case.

To be honest, vengeful spirits and the like were relatively easy to deal with.

Tang Luo excelled at subduing demons and exorcising evil, not chanting sutras and reciting Buddha's name.

Beating a murderous ghost until it vanished, then guiding it to enlightenment—that was Master Xuanzang's specialty.

There was just one problem...

He was good at guiding spirits to enlightenment, but not at finding them.

During the Journey to the West, Sun Wukong's eyes would light up. "Master! It's that demon (monster, ghost)!"

"Oh? Then step aside and let me handle it."

Tang Luo's eyes would light up too, and with a chuckle he'd charge in.

But now...

"Wukong, your master misses you so much."

Being too specialized really wasn't a good thing.

But it wasn't as if Tang Luo wanted it that way.

If he hadn't specialized, if he hadn't devoted himself to improving his ability to fight head-on—

how would he have made it through the perilous Journey to the West?

And after catching a demon, was he supposed to wash it clean first?

Bah!

Gobbling people alive, tearing into them raw, and drinking their blood—that was how bloodthirsty demons usually behaved.

Of course, there were some that needed washing first.

But that was the sort of thing he couldn't talk about much. The more he said, the more ********.

Besides, back then Tang Luo had always thought Tathagata was a huge pit standing in his way.

Yet Tathagata had never managed to trap Tang Luo before he returned.

There was always this subtle irritation, like, "I've spent all these years getting everything ready, and then you don't show up."

"I didn't gain any merit. Looks like the Plate Spirit wasn't truly dealt with."

Tang Luo glanced at the Merit Jade Lotus.

When he drove away the thing attached to Zhang Yuchou, it hadn't produced any merit.

That proved what he'd driven away was, at most, only a small part of the "Plate Spirit."

The main body was surely hiding somewhere.

Finding it and guiding it to enlightenment would count as a good deed and saving someone's life—and that would earn merit.

Becoming a Buddha of Merit was a lot more trouble than becoming a Victorious Fighting Buddha.

The fearless brawler had now become a detective.

Life was hard. Even a Buddha had it rough.

"Ring, ring..."

The phone on the bedside table rang.

"Hello, Mr. Tang. This is the front desk."

Tang Luo picked up and heard a sweet voice.

"Can I help you?" Tang Luo asked.

This was a high-end four-star hotel. They weren't offering any shady services, were they?

Honestly!

Even if they were,

Master Xuanzang was a man of impeccable righteousness. Did he look like that kind of person?

"Well, you see,"

the receptionist said sweetly, "a Mr. Sun is asking for you."

"Mr. Sun?" Tang Luo's interest immediately dropped by ninety-nine percent.

"Yes, he says he's a friend of yours..." The receptionist paused, waiting for Tang Luo to respond.

"What's his name?"

A bit of noise came from the other end, as if she'd covered the receiver to ask him.

A few seconds later, her voice came back. "He says his name is Sun Ang."

"I don't know him. Wait a moment." Tang Luo suddenly changed his mind. "Send him up."

"Certainly, Mr. Tang. Please contact us if you need anything."

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

Tang Luo didn't even look through the peephole before opening it.

A young man stood outside, looking about the same age as Tang Luo—or at least, in terms of appearance.

He looked tired, and quite a few white hairs were mixed in with his black hair.

But his eyes were bright and confident.

No, "arrogant" was more like it. He even seemed to look down on everyone.

"You are..."

Tang Luo looked at Sun Ang.

He'd let him come up because Zhang Yuchou had mentioned that name.

Of the six people who'd played the Plate Spirit game, he was the last survivor besides Zhang Yuchou.

"Are you Zhang Yuchou's friend?"

Sun Ang didn't answer Tang Luo. He walked past him into the room, pulled over a chair, and sat down as he asked.

He acted as if he owned the place.

Tang Luo casually shut the door. "Yeah. You're his coworker, right?"

"Exactly." Sun Ang nodded. "Since he's your friend, and we're colleagues, I'll let him off. The kid hasn't offended me anyway."

"Oh?"

Tang Luo raised an eyebrow, then asked, "Aren't you afraid of dying if you act recklessly in the real world?"

"Please."

Sun Ang relaxed even further. "So you're a rookie. I guess only rookies like you don't know the restrictions have loosened lately. As long as you keep things discreet and don't draw attention, nothing will happen."

A God and Demon Walker!

Sun Ang, standing before him, was a God and Demon Walker just like Tang Luo.

And he'd clearly been through quite a few missions—a genuinely experienced God and Demon Walker.

There was no Plate Spirit.

The killer was the God and Demon Walker standing right in front of Tang Luo!

What the Merit Jade Lotus had driven away must have been the "backdoor" Sun Ang had left on Zhang Yuchou.

Maybe it was for eavesdropping.

That explained how Sun Ang knew Tang Luo was staying here.

Tang Luo had mentioned his hotel before performing the Consecration for Zhang Yuchou.

Sun Ang had probably realized Tang Luo was a fellow God and Demon Walker when the backdoor he'd left was driven away, and had come straight over to warn him.

"You've killed four people, and they've set up a special task force. Isn't that drawing attention?" Tang Luo asked.

"They deserved it."

Sun Ang gave a vicious grin. "The fact that nothing's happened to me so far proves they deserved it!"

The God and Demon Game had never clearly spelled out the rules for God and Demon Walkers.

That included how far they could go in their everyday lives.

Zhou Zhenguo had told Tang Luo that, in the past, using a skill to get yourself a few perks and improve your life had been fine.

Later, the restrictions loosened somewhat.

Chu Chongtian and the others had also heard some rumors—some of them credible, some not.

Sun Ang probably hadn't been completely sure of himself when he first started killing people.

After testing the waters and finding there were no consequences, he started getting cocky.

"That couple of bastards, that gossipy shrew, that underhanded little snitch who only knew how to suck up—they all deserved to die!"

Tang Luo was someone Sun Ang could share his triumph with.

So he vented his emotions without the slightest restraint.

Once the restrictions loosened and he got a taste of success, he became brazen.