This "Assassin" Isn't Calm

Stepping out of his cramped single room.

Zhang Yuchou did not leave immediately, but instead knocked on the door across the hall.

The door opened to reveal a dark-skinned man who first scanned the surroundings quickly, then let his gaze linger on Tang Luo before asking, "What is it?"

"We're going to get something to eat, Officer Tan, would you like to join us?" Zhang Yuchou asked.

This Officer Tan frowned: "I'm not going. Come back early after you eat. And I told you, don't expose my identity."

It was likely some form of covert protection.

As for whether it complied with regulations, for a vicious serial murder case like this, special circumstances called for special measures.

There were only two "survivors" left, after all.

Allocating a bit of police manpower for protection might just lead to some discovery.

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

"He's my friend, he came specifically to see me... I just vented to him, I didn't say anything I shouldn't have," Zhang Yuchou said.

His expression was somewhat awkward.

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

Tan Song almost wanted to cover his face, but could only say: "This gentleman—"

"I understand, I will keep it confidential and won't leak a shred of information," Tang Luo nodded.

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

The protection didn't go so far as to follow him 24 hours a day.

Judging by the killer's past modus operandi, it was only dangerous when one was home alone at night.

After the third victim met their end.

Zhang Yuchou and the other two remaining "survivors" had stayed in a hotel for a period of time.

That counted as "overt protection."

This time, however, it was relatively "covert protection."

Zhang Yuchou's rental unit had even been fitted with surveillance cameras.

Zhang Yuchou said this kind of protection would likely last for about half a month to a month, or until the killer was caught.

A month or so happened to be when Zhang Yuchou's lease expired.

By then, he planned to go back home—not to get married, just simply to go home.

One shouldn't tempt fate.

"Tell me, do things like Plate Spirit or ghosts actually exist in this world?" Zhang Yuchou asked after taking a sip of alcohol, his psychological pressure quite immense.

"They do."

Tang Luo said with certainty.

"Damn! Why did they have to target me?" Zhang Yuchou cursed, "What happened to the rule about no spirits allowed after the founding of the nation?"

It was less about confirming Tang Luo's words.

And more about a small release of frustration.

"I've already blessed you, no need to worry," Tang Luo laughed, "Demons and monsters cannot harm you."

"That's for the best, bottoms up." Zhang Yuchou downed a glass, "Wait, no, I'm downing mine, you drink as you please."

He still remembered that Tang Luo never touched a drop of alcohol.

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

After the meal, Tang Luo escorted a seven-or-eight-parts-drunk Zhang Yuchou back to his rental unit.

"Go enjoy your hotel bed," Zhang Yuchou said.

"Mm, like I told you, I'm staying at the XX Hotel, booked for 7 days," Tang Luo said, "If anything happens, give me a call."

"Mm, I'll find you tomorrow afternoon, let's go wander around together," Zhang Yuchou said.

Why the afternoon?

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

Now, on a rare day off, mornings didn't exist either.

The door closed, but he didn't leave yet.

Tan Song opened his door again and came out, inviting Tang Luo inside.

There was nothing special to discuss.

He just hoped Tang Luo would keep things confidential, and as an unrelated party, he hoped he would stay away.

Tang Luo maintained a zen-like attitude of "Mm, okay, you're right."

As for how to proceed, that depends entirely on Tang Luo's own wishes.

Walking along the bustling streets, feeling the long-lost neon lights and city life for a moment, Tang Luo arrived at the hotel he had booked.

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

The spiritual energy in the real world remained thin, offering no help whatsoever to the recovery of Tang Luo's injuries.

I didn't expect the real world in this state to actually have something of interest, Tang Luo thought to himself.

When he performed the consecration for Zhang Yuchou.

He had deliberately suppressed all external manifestations.

Otherwise, one would have seen a brilliant radiance flash across Zhang Yuchou's body.

Following that, an "entity" attached to him was dispelled.

He had originally assumed that there were no demons or ghosts in the real world.

He hadn't expected that there would actually be some.

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

Looking at things from different perspectives often yields completely different results.

From the worldview established by the police since childhood, the so-called Plate Spirit incident was undoubtedly a malicious, man-made serial murder case.

But in Tang Luo's eyes, things were not necessarily so.

To be honest, if it were just some vengeful soul, it would be relatively simple to resolve.

What Tang Luo excelled at was subduing demons and eliminating devils, not chanting sutras or reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Beating a harmful, vengeful ghost into ashes or guiding it to salvation was the specialty of Master Xuanzang.

There was just one problem...

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

During the journey to the West, Sun Wukong's eyes would light up: "Master! It's this demon (monster, ghost)!"

"Oh? Then step back and let your Master handle it."

Then Tang Luo's eyes would also light up, he would chuckle, and charge forward.

But now...

"Wukong, Master misses you so much."

Being too specialized in one area is truly not a good thing.

But Tang Luo didn't want it this way either.

If he hadn't specialized, if he hadn't focused his heart and soul on frantically improving his ability to "fight head-on"...

How could he have walked the perilous path to the West?

Were the monsters supposed to be washed clean after being captured?

Pah!

Devouring them raw and drinking their blood was the norm for those bloodthirsty demons, wasn't it?

Of course, there were some that had to be washed clean first.

One cannot say too much about these situations; saying too much would just be *******.

Moreover, at that time, Tang Luo had always felt that Tathagata was a massive pitfall lying right in front of him.

Until he returned, Tathagata never actually trapped Tang Luo.

There was a subtle sense of dissatisfaction, like, "I spent so many years preparing with such great effort, only for you not to show up."

"No merit power was gained; it seems the Plate Spirit wasn't truly resolved."

Tang Luo glanced at the Merit Jade Lotus.

When he dispelled the thing attached to Zhang Yuchou, no merit power was generated.

This proved that what was dispelled was, at most, only a small part of the "Plate Spirit."

The main body must still be hiding somewhere.

Finding it and guiding it to salvation would be an act of kindness and saving lives, and thus a deed of merit.

Becoming a Buddha of Merit is far more troublesome than being a Victorious Fighting Buddha.

A dignified, fearless brute now has to become a detective.

Life is not easy; even for a Buddha, it is a struggle.

"Ring, ring..."

The phone on the nightstand rang.

"Mr. Tang, hello, this is the front desk."

Tang Luo picked up the phone and heard a sweet voice.

"Is there something you need?" Tang Luo asked.

This was a four-star high-end hotel; surely there wouldn't be any illicit services here, right?

Good grief!

Even if there were.

Master Xuanzang was a man of upright character; did he look like that kind of person?

"It's like this."

The receptionist at the front desk said in a sweet voice, "A Mr. Sun would like to see you."

"A Mr. Sun?" Tang Luo's interest instantly plummeted by ninety-nine percent.

"Yes, he says he is your friend..." The receptionist paused, waiting for Tang Luo's response.

"What's his name?"

A faint sound came from the other end, as if she were covering the receiver to ask.

After a few seconds, her voice returned: "He says his name is Sun Ang."

"Don't know him. Wait a moment." Tang Luo suddenly changed his mind. "Let him come up."

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

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Tang Luo didn't bother looking through the peephole and opened the door.

Standing outside was a young man who looked about the same age (in appearance) as Tang Luo.

His face looked somewhat weary, with quite a few white hairs mixed into his black hair.

Yet, the spirit in his eyes was high and confident.

No, it should be called arrogant, even a bit condescending.

"You are..."

Tang Luo looked at this Sun Ang and spoke.

The reason he let him up was because Zhang Yuchou had mentioned this name to him.

Among the six people who had played the Plate Spirit game, he was the last survivor besides Zhang Yuchou.

"Is Zhang Yuchou your friend?"

Sun Ang didn't answer Tang Luo's question; he walked past him into the room, pulled up a chair, and sat down to ask.

He wore the air of "I am the master here."

Tang Luo closed the door casually and said, "Yes, you're his colleague, right?"

"That's right." Sun Ang nodded. "Since he's your friend and we're all colleagues, I'll let him off the hook. The kid never offended me anyway."

"Oh?"

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

"Tch."

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

God and Demon Walker!

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

Moreover, he was likely a true veteran God and Demon Walker who had experienced many missions.

There was no Plate Spirit.

The one killing people was this God and Demon Walker right in front of him!

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

Perhaps a listening device?

That would explain how he knew Tang Luo was staying here.

Before Tang Luo performed the consecration for Zhang Yuchou, he had mentioned where he was staying.

Sun Ang had likely identified Tang Luo as a fellow God and Demon Walker after Tang Luo dispelled the backdoor he had left behind, and had come over directly to issue a warning.

"Four people killed, a special task force has been established—is that not drawing enough attention?" Tang Luo asked.

"Those people deserved it."

Sun Ang sneered, "The fact that I'm still fine proves they deserved it even more!"

The God and Demon Game had never explicitly stated the rules for God and Demon Walkers.

This included the limits of their conduct in real life.

Zhou Zhenguo had told Tang Luo that it used to be fine to use one's skills to gain some benefits or improve one's life.

Later, the restrictions had loosened somewhat.

Even Chu Chongtian and the others had heard some ambiguous rumors of questionable veracity.

Sun Ang, standing before him, likely hadn't been entirely certain of himself when he first started killing.

Once he tested the waters and found there were no consequences, he began to let his arrogance run wild.

"That pair of dogs, that gossiping shrew, that insidious little sycophant who only knew how to snitch—they all deserved to die!"

Tang Luo, standing before him, was someone with whom Sun Ang could share his twisted sense of satisfaction.

Thus, he vented his emotions without the slightest restraint.

With his inhibitions loosened and having finally "gotten his way," he was now utterly unbridled.