The Murderer

Right, I almost forgot about that kid.

Li Dongze's words reminded the team leaders that the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau's Spirit Realm Walker team had already recruited a Night Wanderer, so there was no need to borrow personnel from the Taiyi Sect anymore.

Big Muscle Tyrant's face lit up with joy, and he immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Contact the kid quickly. Like I said, we still need to cultivate our own Night Wanderer; in critical moments, our own people are the most reliable."

The other team leaders relaxed their brows.

Big Muscle Tyrant's words made sense. Although the Taiyi Sect's Night Wanderers were always cooperative when it came to official business, they were outsiders in the end, and using them was certainly not as convenient as using one of their own.

Li Dongze glanced at Fu Qingyang, and seeing him give a slight nod, he immediately took out his phone and walked out of the conference room.

"I'll go contact him."

After finishing his morning professional course, Zhang Yuanqing shouldered his backpack and left the classroom. He planned to skip his afternoon classes and head to the office of the Kangyang District Spirit Realm Walker team.

His future social life and other priorities would all shift toward the Spirit Realm Walker team.

Zhang Yuanqing didn't particularly like school, and he had little interest in his studies. The young people in Songhai all possessed a kind of inherent laziness, lacking the ferocity and drive to strive.

There are only two types of people in this world who struggle: those who have cultivated a positive and upward habit since childhood, and those forced by the circumstances of life.

After becoming a Spirit Realm Walker, Zhang Yuanqing finally rediscovered a long-lost spirit of struggle.

Firstly, it was forced by the threat to his life, and secondly, it could fulfill his childhood dream of wandering the world with a sword.

The Spirit Realm was filled with danger and strangeness, but once one tasted the sweetness of it, they would never be content to be a mere mortal again.

He arrived downstairs and was just about to scan a shared bike when the phone in his pocket rang.

It was a call from Li Dongze.

"Chief?" Zhang Yuanqing answered.

"Where are you right now?" Li Dongze spoke at a rapid pace, getting straight to the point.

"At school."

"Songhai University, right? I'm having Guan Ya come pick you up right now."

Pick me up? Zhang Yuanqing sensed the urgency in Li Dongze's tone and probed, "What happened?"

"A colleague was killed. We need a Night Wanderer to devour the spirit body and retrieve the other party's memories. Uh, you don't have a problem with that, do you?" Li Dongze asked, sounding slightly uneasy.

Uh, I should be able to. Zhang Yuanqing said, "I'll give it a try?"

Devouring a spirit body wasn't difficult; it was a talent skill of a Night Wanderer. His brain told him he could do it, but as for reading memories, he had never actually devoured a spirit body before and had zero experience, so he didn't dare to guarantee it.

"That's settled then." Li Dongze didn't say anything more and hung up the phone.

Zhang Yuanqing put away his phone and walked toward the school gate.

A few minutes later, he stopped at the gate and waited silently for Guan Ya to pick him up. At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing noticed a girl in a pleated long skirt standing on the roadside not far away, holding a designer bag as if she were waiting for someone.

Xu Yingying?

Zhang Yuanqing scrutinized the "class beauty" for a few moments. The other party was dressed very meticulously—bracelet, necklace, earrings, bag. Everything looked expensive, vastly different from most of the female students at school.

Girls from ordinary family backgrounds couldn't pull off this look.

Sensing Zhang Yuanqing's gaze, Xu Yingying smiled faintly. While lifting her hair and straightening her posture to display her most alluring side, she felt a small sense of superiority in her heart.

This boy was quite good-looking, so she subconsciously showed off her beauty.

But she was no longer in the same world as ordinary college students, so her heart was filled with superiority.

Her outfit alone was worth a year's living expenses for an ordinary college student.

At this moment, Xu Yingying saw a blue sports car drive up and slowly pull over at the school gate.

The woman driving wore a sharp white shirt and sunglasses. Her face was obscured, but from her fair, pointed chin and exquisitely carved lips, it wasn't hard to tell she was a high-value beauty.

Xu Yingying pursed her lips and changed her pose, turning the logo of her designer bag toward the sports car.

At the same time, she saw Zhang Yuanqing jog toward the sports car, open the door, and slide inside.

The wealthy woman stepped on the gas, driving off with her little boy toy in tow.

Xu Yingying's mouth hung open, her face full of astonishment.

For a moment, she couldn't tell if this male classmate was a low-key rich kid or one of her own kind—a "seafood merchant" or a "steel wool merchant."

Kangyang District Public Security Bureau, morgue.

Zhang Yuanqing stood by the gurney and pulled back the white sheet, revealing a gruesome corpse.

The deceased was covered in bruises and knife wounds, and the flesh on his chest was torn open, a shocking sight.

If it had been two days ago, seeing such a corpse would have certainly made Zhang Yuanqing feel physically ill, but after the brutal beatings at the Mountain God Temple, a corpse could no longer stir much of a ripple in his heart.

"You can begin."

Li Dongze leaned on his cane, watching from the side with anticipation.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. He scrutinized Zhao Yingjun's corpse, sensing the spirit lingering within the cold body, which was gradually becoming active and reviving.

The aura of a Night Wanderer had a fatal attraction to spirit bodies, capable of awakening a sleeping spirit.

He silently channeled the Taiyin power within his body, covering his whites and pupils in a layer of pure black, then reached out and made a phantom grasp toward Zhao Yingjun's body.

He snatched out a phantom figure.

This figure possessed the facial features of Zhao Yingjun, but its expression was dull and its gaze hollow.

After a person dies, ninety percent of their consciousness dissipates, leaving the spirit body in such a sluggish state. As consciousness fades, memories naturally become fragmented, leaving behind only those tied to deep-seated obsessions.

Memories from just before death are often deeply imprinted and, being so close to the end, are the ones that remain.

After pulling out the spirit body, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt a craving to "feed." He opened his mouth instinctively and took a gentle breath.

Zhao Yingjun's spirit body transformed into wisps of green smoke and drifted into his mouth.

A throbbing pain bloomed between his brows, and his consciousness seemed to swell as many things that did not belong to him were crammed inside.

Zhang Yuanqing heard low sobs and mournful wails, followed by a fierce, gloomy voice ringing in his ears:

"I don't have much patience, you'd better answer me obediently."

He knew he was reading the spirit body's final memories. Slowly, he "opened" his eyes, and the surrounding scene became clear: it was a lavishly decorated suite.

He was slumped on a soft, large bed, completely naked, with clothes and trousers scattered on the floor alongside women's undergarments.

Not far away, at the head of the bed, a young woman was curled up, also stark naked. Her fair, long legs, taut abdomen, and perky breasts fully displayed the proud curves of youth.

The sobbing was coming from her.

A woman? Naked? Such a sight left Zhang Yuanqing stunned. Why didn't the squad leader explain the crime scene clearly? How could he make me look at such inappropriate content? I'm still just a child.

Following the deceased's perspective, he looked at the person by the bed. It was a man with a vicious appearance, a half-finger-long scar on his left cheek, sparse eyebrows, and a fierce, sinister gaze.

He held a gleaming willow-leaf blade in his hand.

The killer. Zhang Yuanqing stared at this face, firmly memorizing his features.

At this point, his task was already half complete.

The man pointed the tip of the blade at "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest and snarled:

"Where is the Holy Grail? Where is the roster?"

He seemed to have asked this question many times; his expression was full of impatience, and his eyes surged with murderous intent.

"I don't know, I really don't know. Please, let me go." Zhang Yuanqing heard "himself" begging for mercy.

The man crouched by the bed, having completely lost his patience. He rubbed his face as if exhausted and muttered:

"I gave you a chance, but you were useless. I gave you a chance, but you were useless."

As he spoke, he drove the tip of the willow-leaf blade into "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest.

A sharp pain surged through him, and his consciousness instantly blurred. Zhang Yuanqing saw himself collapse limply onto the floor and watched as the man unbuckled his belt, grabbed the beautiful woman by the ankle, and yanked her toward him.

The scene cut off abruptly amidst the woman's screams.