Foot Washing Fright

"That person?" Hong Tao was stunned, then suddenly realized something: "Are you saying..."

Even when facing Gluttony, he had been able to remain composed, merely heightening his vigilance.

But now, his face was filled with terror, and his voice even trembled as he spoke.

If the investigators of the Investigation Department saw their branch chief looking like this, they would be absolutely shocked.

Could a man as tough as iron also feel fear?

Zhao Yifeng suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze like lightning, and waved his hand:

"It's just a guess. That person shouldn't be venturing deep into Central Province. The General Bureau once conducted a psychological and personality analysis; he has his own principles of conduct. If I'm not mistaken, there is a rift between him and their president."

Hong Tao breathed a slight sigh of relief, steadying his heart, and said:

"If there really is a rift between them, that would be wonderful. But come to think of it, it makes sense—merit so great it overshadows the master, a tail too heavy to wag. This is good news."

Zhao Yifeng nodded:

"Put the news about Gluttony aside for now. According to information received from various channels, the Cleaning Association hasn't made any major moves. The current focus remains on the thing inside Cloud Mountain."

Hong Tao said in a deep voice:

"Judging by the situation this time, the Unity Society wants to use the 'lure the tiger away from the mountain' tactic to make us relax our vigilance over Cloud Mountain, even dragging the Cleaning Association out as a shield..."

Zhao Yifeng stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the heavy night as he said:

"I always feel that things aren't that simple... The clues to that thing have existed for a long time; it's truly strange that the Unity Society only chose to stir up trouble tonight. Although the Unity Society's shadow was behind the few abnormal incidents that occurred previously, they were all easily resolved. This really doesn't make sense..."

The clues regarding Cloud Mountain had been out for many days, yet the Unity Society had held back until today to make a big move. It was truly bizarre.

Just then, a knock came at the door. Hong Tao went up to open it, and a middle-aged man with graying hair and the appearance of a scholar stepped inside.

"Old Zhao, what exactly was that monster that appeared on Cloud Mountain tonight?... If this continues, everyone will be in a state of panic..."

Zhao Yifeng turned around, his face already replaced with a warm smile:

"Director Kong, why have you come in person? It was just an abnormal infected body, and it didn't cause any losses, did it? No need to worry; our Anomaly Bureau is most skilled at handling this."

Director Kong of the Cultural Relics Bureau shook his head and smiled bitterly:

"To be honest, I had heard some rumors about you all before, but I didn't expect them to be true... That kind of monster is truly a nightmare... Many members of our bureau are already showing signs of stress disorders. Add to that the archaeological team members who sacrificed their lives a few days ago—when will this ever end?"

He then looked up at Zhao Yifeng and said:

"It's laughable that I was afraid of damaging the cultural relics and didn't want you to intervene. Now I finally know what we are actually facing."

Hearing this, Hong Tao understood instantly that what happened on Cloud Mountain tonight was not that simple.

The casualties were likely far more tragic than what had been disclosed.

Zhao Yifeng's expression turned solemn as he said to Director Kong:

"Old Kong, due to confidentiality regulations, I cannot tell you many things. But rest assured, since the location of the underground palace has been confirmed, we will take action in the shortest possible time to bring this matter to a complete end!"

After pacifying Director Kong and seeing him off, the smile on Zhao Yifeng's face vanished instantly. He said to Hong Tao:

"I keep feeling that the Unity Society has other motives. Setting up decoys, luring the tiger away from the mountain, and even drawing out the Cleaning Association—yet in the end, it only makes us pay more attention to Cloud Mountain. Are they really that stupid?"

"Are you saying..."

"Accelerate the excavation of the Cloud Mountain underground palace. If it comes to it, use explosives directly. At the same time, organize a separate task force, over-equipped with two Awakened, to patrol the urban area of Gu City. Have Yang Gan go as well."

"Yes!" Hong Tao stood at attention and said.

Only after making these arrangements did the heavy stone hanging in Zhao Yifeng's heart feel slightly lighter.

Just then, a young man with glasses and curly hair, looking like a pedant, walked in and said to Zhao Yifeng:

"Chief, the Dissection Department has been quite proactive lately. The mission reports they've completed are also quite detailed and have been of great help to our Research Department. Do you think we should issue a commendation to the whole bureau to praise them and let everyone learn from the Dissection Department's work spirit? It would also serve as motivation for them."

Zhao Yifeng looked at the detailed inspection report just sent over by the Dissection Department and nodded:

"For such a small matter, you go ahead and handle it."

"To the Chief!"

In a private room at the Xidelong Hotel, the members of the Dissection Department, having just finished bathing and foot massages, raised their beer glasses together, clinking them joyfully before downing them in one gulp.

Afterward, they leaned back into their large wooden armchairs, sighing with satisfaction.

The fatigue of the entire day was swept away.

A satisfied smile appeared on Li Fan's face, and Ke Ke's little face was flushed red.

After coming over from the bureau, the brothers had snacks, followed by a full-service package of bathing, back scrubbing, foot massages, and therapy. They had spent four or five hours doing this, ate lunch, and then took a long nap before finally coming to the private room to raise their glasses.

A comfortable day had passed just like that.

Time flies like a white horse passing a crack, caught off guard, whistling past, like a flash of lightning.

Before they even had a chance to go to work, it was already time to get off.

It was now night.

Xidelong truly lived up to its name.

To be truly comfortable, one has to come to places like this.

While places like the Red Star International Hotel are certainly luxurious, they aren't exactly the best spots to relax.

"Come on, I propose a toast to the Division Chief! To have such a considerate leader and a group of seniors who look out for me, it's truly my good fortune!"

Li Fan stood up, raised his glass, and said with a smile.

It really was comfortable. Sharing joy is better than enjoying it alone; being in such a pleasant work environment with a bunch of like-minded colleagues who love to slack off made him genuinely happy.

And all of this was inseparable from Division Chief Wu Qian.

How did that saying go? A weak soldier leads to a weak unit, and a weak general leads to a weak army; having a good leader is truly vital.

"Section Chief Li makes a great point!"

"Fan, you hit the nail on the head!"

"Come, come, come, a toast to Division Chief Wu!"

"Bottoms up!"

The group of colleagues immediately responded to the call, raising their glasses. Everyone tilted their heads back and downed their drinks with gusto, followed by a chorus of satisfied "ah" sounds.

Flattery never goes out of style, and Wu Qian was clearly very pleased with Li Fan's words.

He squinted his eyes and said:

"My philosophy is this: work is work whether you're complaining or happy, so since that's the case, why not be happy while doing it?"

His tone then shifted, revealing a hint of worry:

"However, the number of anomaly incidents has indeed increased recently. They're frequent, and overtime will likely be unavoidable. We might have one or two instances every month, so everyone will have to bear with it."

Ma Lihua ate a peanut and waved his hand dismissively:

"It's just working a bit of overtime, that's nothing. We all know the score, so don't you worry, Chief."

The group, feeling the buzz of the alcohol, began to pledge their loyalty:

"Exactly. We all know the atmosphere in our division; how could we possibly be dissatisfied?"

"Just assign the work as it comes. Let's see who dares to refuse—I'll be the first to set them straight!"

"Though, come to think of it, things have been getting increasingly unstable lately. There are just too many anomaly infections; we never had this kind of situation before."

"I feel like we've dissected as many corpses this year as we did in the past five."

"Right? I remember a few years ago, a deformed corpse was considered a major case. Most were just people who had mental issues after being infected. The most shocking one back then was a guy who swallowed a cat whole while it was still alive. I was terrified back then, but looking at it now, that's nothing."

As the group chatted, they began to talk about the anomaly incidents they had encountered in the past.

After all, there had been far too many incidents lately.

Originally, the existence of the Anomaly Bureau was kept in a semi-confidential state from the outside world.

According to bureau regulations, it had to be kept secret and not disclosed, but some people had obtained quite a bit of information through other channels.

So, it was now considered public, but not entirely so.

As anomaly incidents continued to rise, it would likely become increasingly difficult to keep them secret in the future.

"The infected body I dissected the year before last was truly bizarre. It was covered in mushrooms, even inside its esophagus. My scalp went numb the moment I saw it; I still shiver just thinking about it."

Hu Zhengqi shuddered as he spoke.

Li Fan shuddered as well.

He knew that mushroom corpse.

"Being scared is one thing, but the one I encountered during overtime last year was just plain eerie. They said he died of Long Sleep Syndrome—a lonely death. By the time he was found, he was already a mummy, but during the examination, we found his eyes were still in REM! The kicker was that his eyeballs were all dried up, yet they were still twitching! I had to smoke a whole pack of cigarettes to calm down."

Zhang Hongbing took a drag of his cigarette and said slowly.

The group of coroners, now slightly tipsy, shared stories of the infected anomalies they had encountered while analyzing why the victims had ended up that way.

It had turned into a professional discussion forum.

After eating and drinking for a while, Liu Dalong, Zhang Hongbing, and Ma Lihua got up to go to the restroom, leaving the rest to clink glasses and chat.

"Sister Ke Ke, I didn't expect you to be such a heavy drinker." Looking at Ke Ke, whose cheeks were flushed and eyes were bright, Li Fan praised her sincerely.

Ke Ke said, a bit shyly: "I used to work as a tank cleaner at a brewery, so I got used to the fumes."

Li Fan couldn't help but click his tongue; she really had worked every kind of job.

At this moment, everyone was extremely relaxed, Li Fan even more so. He had almost forgotten his identity as a Collector and the danger of being an undercover agent, his stress levels significantly reduced.

Suddenly, a shrill, miserable scream came from outside:

"Oh, damn it!"

It was Liu Dalong!

The group rushed out immediately to find Zhang Hongbing and Ma Lihua lying on the ground with bloodstains nearby. A massive, strange creature, over two meters tall and looking like a hybrid of an octopus and a spider, was coiled around Liu Dalong, hanging from the ceiling and crawling rapidly into the distance!

"Snap!"

The hotel lights went out!