Resurrected from the Dead?!

"What's going on?"

Xu Yi felt that something was extremely wrong.

Downstairs, the commotion was growing louder. The woman assumed it was just someone causing trouble, likely some hoodlum or thug coming to shake them down for protection money.

She had seen this sort of thing plenty of times before.

Anyone wanting to run a factory or do business in the 38th Shop District had to be able to handle such trifles; if they couldn't, they should have packed their bags and cleared out long ago.

The factory had its own security team, so she didn't need to worry about it.

She turned over impatiently, her back now facing Xu Yi.

Just as the shouting downstairs erupted once more, a crisp "crack" of shattering glass suddenly rang out behind her.

The woman scrambled to sit up, but the moment she caught sight of a blurred black silhouette standing outside the window, her entire body went limp. She collapsed to the floor, unable to move a muscle.

The source of the shattering sound was a glass soda bottle filled with Fox Scent, which Xu Yi had thrown inside.

The woman watched helplessly as Xu Yi's arm reached in from the window, felt for the door handle, and pulled the door open.

The door swung wide, and the night breeze arrived before Xu Yi's figure, dispersing the lingering Fox Scent in the room.

Because she had already inhaled the Fox Scent, the woman was unable to move.

Xu Yi found a pack of zip ties on the desk and used them to bind the woman's hands and feet firmly to the table legs, then began rummaging through the largest desk.

"You brat! Who are you?!"

The woman, who looked exactly like Ji Xiao, barked at him.

"What are you trying to do?!"

"Our security team will be up here any second! When they get here, they'll break your legs and throw you into a brothel as a boy toy!"

"Say something!"

"Did some powdered gigolo ruin your throat?! You can't even speak?!"

No matter how the woman—who looked so much like Ji Xiao—tried to provoke him with her words, Xu Yi ignored her completely.

Xu Yi remembered very clearly: according to Ji Xiao's abilities, if one engaged in conversation with her for more than three minutes, they would fall under her control.

Now that he refused to speak to her, her ability naturally could not take effect.

Before long, Xu Yi had secured the company seal for Lingtong Hall registered with the Puxi City Bureau of Industry and Commerce, the purchase contracts for several large orders about to be delivered, the personnel roster, and two fountain pens.

He placed these items into a mail bag, strapped it to his shoulder, and hung it across his chest before walking over to stand directly in front of Ji Xiao, staring at her intently.

Ji Xiao's expression slowly shifted. She looked at Xu Yi with a pair of peach-blossom eyes that were soft and alluring, her willow-leaf brows arched with hidden affection. Her attire was clearly innocent, yet that innocence was saturated with a charm that made it impossible for anyone to look away.

"Little gentleman, why are you looking at this slave like that~"

She spoke in a cloying, affected tone that made one's heart tremble.

"Why don't you let this slave go? A weak woman like me can only comply with your wishes, little gentleman~"

Xu Yi suddenly leaned in close.

He sniffed at Ji Xiao's scent, carefully and thoroughly.

Ji Xiao was stunned by this sudden action. She assumed this person was some kind of pervert with a unique fetish, and for a moment, her face turned deathly pale. She was at a loss, not knowing how to respond.

Xu Yi sniffed more carefully, leaning in closer and closer, his brow furrowing deeper with every breath. His confusion only grew.

This...

It really was Ji Xiao's scent!

But...

How could this be?!

Xu Yi was extremely sensitive to scents.

Especially the scent of women.

He could accurately distinguish the unique scent of every woman he encountered.

Even with twin sisters who used the same perfume, the scent would still be different.

Yet, the Ji Xiao here in the second-floor office of Lingtong Hall and the Ji Xiao from the cellar of the Jing Family estate earlier today...

Their scents were exactly the same!

Xu Yi stood up and took two steps back, looking at Ji Xiao as if she were a monster.

What the hell!

But Ji Xiao was a demon, not a ghost!

He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly grabbed a newspaper from the table, crumpled it into a tight ball, and stuffed it into Ji Xiao's mouth. He then used more zip ties to bind her hands and feet tightly before delivering a sharp chop to her shoulder.

Ji Xiao's eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.

Xu Yi found a burlap sack in the corner, stuffed Ji Xiao inside, hoisted her up, and moved with the speed of a sprinting deer, slipping out the back door in a flash.

Xu Yi let out a sharp whistle in front of the side door. According to the agreement made before he arrived, this whistle meant: "I have succeeded, retreating now!"

Xu Yi finished whistling, shouldered the sack containing Ji Xiao, and left immediately.

The sounds of arguing and cursing behind him gradually faded away.

Without stopping, Xu Yi carried Ji Xiao straight to the Jing Family residence at No. 2, 38th Shop District.

After knocking the door open and ignoring the [Strange] gatekeeper, Xu Yi arrived in front of the main hall and whispered Jing Tao's name.

Jing Tao walked out from the hall, and upon seeing Xu Yi carrying a sack, she immediately felt that something was wrong.

The two of them went down into the cellar together.

Each of them used their own methods to activate their spirituality.

A black-and-white world unfolded before them. Xu Yi opened the sack to reveal Ji Xiao, with her fox head, lying quietly inside, still in a state of unconsciousness.

"How could this be..."

Jing Tao was also completely at a loss.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a long while.

It was Xu Yi who broke the silence first:

"Here, these are the company seal, some personnel files, and the transaction contracts."

Xu Yi took the documents out of the small bag on his chest, along with a fountain pen, and handed them to Jing Tao one by one:

"You keep the company seal and the transaction contracts. I've looked through the files; the legal representative and the largest shareholder of the company is your father. They probably didn't change it because they lacked the ability, the connections, were unwilling to spend the money, and weren't afraid of your family causing trouble.

For the people on the personnel files, put a checkmark next to the ones you want to keep alive.

Put an 'X' next to the ones you want to disappear.

I need it right now."

Caught in a complex swirl of emotions, Jing Tao picked up the fountain pen, bit off the cap, and with one hand holding the files and the other wielding the pen, she finished the screening in a few moments and handed the personnel file back to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi took the file and tucked it away securely in his backpack:

"I'm going to get to work; you study Ji Xiao.

I'll be back at eight tomorrow morning. I will give you an answer regarding the ointment factory."

After saying this, Xu Yi turned and walked out the door without waiting for Jing Tao to respond.

Jing Tao watched his departing back, momentarily lost in a daze.

That demeanor of strategizing in the business world, talking business as business, looked exactly like Jing Hesheng in his prime.

It had been many years since Jing Tao had felt such a presence and aura.

There is a type of person in the gangs nicknamed "Bao Dating," a term derived from the local Puxi dialect meaning "one who takes on the job of gathering information."

When Xu Yi arrived at Peacekeeping Hall again, the Bao Dating invited by Duan Hu was already sitting outside the counter.

Bao Dating was not a character cultivated by the gangs, but a genuine "independent wanderer of the underworld."

Such people have operated their own networks for generations; whether in the marketplace or the halls of power, among the three religions and nine schools of thought, or the various trades and crafts, they can strike up a conversation with anyone.

Xu Yi cupped his hands in a salute to Bao Dating. After the two exchanged underworld jargon to confirm each other's identities, Xu Yi began to list the names that Jing Tao had just marked with an X.