Gu Jianlin's Ferocity

Zhou Ze heard a burst of urgent braking over the phone, a piercing screech like the howl of a wild beast.

"Bzz, bzzzzz..."

The sudden crackle of static seemed to mean the signal had been cut off.

"Hello? Little Gu? Where are you?"

He fiddled with his phone, hung up, then called again.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

All that remained was the dull busy tone. He scratched his head and tried calling several more times, but none of them went through. He immediately found it strange. "That's not right. What's going on?"

A moment later, Xiao Zhang called and asked, "Captain Zhou, what's going on? I waited downstairs for over ten minutes and never saw him come down. Then I went in and rang the doorbell. Little Gu's sister answered, and Little Gu wasn't home at all. I also asked the security guard. He said Little Gu was picked up early this morning."

Zhou Ze froze and hurriedly confirmed, "What? Picked up by someone?"

As a veteran detective of many years, he was meticulous by nature. That kid had always been the kind of person who kept his word. If he promised someone something, he would definitely do it. He would never stand anyone up.

Especially when it involved something this serious, there had to be a special reason.

Remembering the piercing shriek of tires scraping against the road that he had heard over the phone earlier, he had a bad feeling.

Xiao Zhang replied, "Yes, he was picked up."

"Xiao Zhang, check the surveillance footage in their neighborhood. Immediately."

Zhou Ze spoke in a low voice.

Xiao Zhang was clearly stunned on the other end and realized something was wrong as well. "Oh, okay."

The call ended in a hurry.

Zhou Ze put down his phone and leaned wearily against the back of his chair. His eyes were bloodshot; he had not slept in a long time.

He drank a cup of coffee and let out a long breath.

For the past half month, Feng City had been far from peaceful. For some reason, people all over the city had been going mad for no apparent reason. Some came to report that they had traveled to another world. Others claimed they had been kidnapped into an ancient tomb and laid among a group of corpses. Some even said they had personally witnessed corpses coming back to life.

And without exception, those people showed a certain degree of insanity and aggression.

That was why the police station's detectives had to deal with them.

Especially over the past two days, these bizarre cases had begun occurring with increasing frequency, and the police station was severely understaffed.

Fortunately, a group of Interpol officers had recently passed through Feng City. After hearing about the trouble, they unexpectedly offered to help without conditions. That stabilized the situation, which had been on the verge of collapse, and prevented it from spiraling out of control.

At that moment, a black BMW pulled up outside the police station.

A young man spouting nonsense was escorted inside, shouting, "Let me go, you bunch of big zombies! Watch me smash you to death with a black donkey hoof! Let me tell you, my family has worshipped Guanyin Bodhisattva for generations. We specialize in suppressing and killing wandering ghosts like you! You dare lay a hand on me? Take this slap—mmph!"

Before he could finish, an Apple was stuffed into his mouth.

A young man in a black trench coat held the guy's shoulder down tightly and said with a smile, "Shut your mouth, or I'll consider knocking you out directly. Your head might hurt for ten days or half a month."

He had sharp brows, bright eyes, well-defined and handsome features, black hair, and a pair of blue eyes. He was clearly mixed-race. He dressed in refined luxury and carried the elegant air of a high-end elite.

Most striking of all, a green Parrot was standing on his shoulder!

The driver was a cool and glamorous woman dressed in a black suit and white shirt. Beneath her fitted pencil skirt were long legs wrapped in black stockings, and she wore high heels. She looked like an assistant.

"Officer Lu, Miss Chen."

Zhou Ze put down his coffee cup. "Another one who lost control?"

Lu Zicheng gave a quiet grunt and said flatly, "Yeah. This guy's emotional breakdown is severe. He no longer recognizes family or friends. He even beat up his father at home just now. He's highly aggressive. Lock him up first, make a record later, and once the psychologist wakes up, give him some counseling. He'll be fine."

"Xiao Qing, take him to the holding room and keep him there."

He turned and instructed the female assistant, "Be careful. When I went in to arrest him, this guy was hiding behind the door, planning to ambush me with a rolling pin. If I hadn't reacted quickly, he almost would've taken me down."

At that moment, the Parrot on his shoulder said sarcastically, "What a damn sneak!"

Lu Zicheng turned his head and snapped, "Shut up!"

The Parrot immediately fell silent.

Chen Qing nodded slightly, grabbed the young man by his handcuffs, and carried him away.

Zhou Ze wore an odd expression as he looked over the Parrot. "Officer Lu's pet certainly has personality."

Lu Zicheng gave an awkward smile. "Mostly because we've grown attached. Otherwise, I'd have stewed it long ago."

The Parrot suddenly shouted, "How dare you, brat!"

The corner of Lu Zicheng's eye twitched.

"You've worked hard lately. If it weren't for you, this would've been a real mess."

Zhou Ze had to admit that this group of Interpol officers had helped immensely.

Especially the psychologists on their team. Every one of them was unbelievably capable.

Those patients who looked terminally ill, as if possessed, could stabilize their emotions after just half an hour of therapy. With medication and a few days of rest at home, they would be completely fine.

"It's nothing."

Lu Zicheng waved a hand, looking entirely at ease.

Suddenly, Zhou Ze's phone vibrated again.

He answered it, frowning. "Hello? What's the situation?"

Xiao Zhang spoke rapidly, panicked. "Captain Zhou, this is bad. Something huge happened! The surveillance footage shows that Little Gu was taken away by a guy in a police uniform early this morning. But he's not one of ours. I don't know that bastard at all. They left more than twenty minutes ago!"

Zhou Ze's expression changed drastically. He gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Did you get the license plate number?"

"We did."

Xiao Zhang swallowed. "I already asked the traffic police brigade to help track it."

"Good. Follow the surveillance footage and investigate. I'm leaving right now."

Zhou Ze hung up and prepared to head out, grabbing his sidearm as well. His face was utterly grim.

Years of experience as a detective told him that this was anything but simple.

There was a high chance that this was deliberate retaliation.

After all, that was Old Gu's son.

Old Gu had helped the police station solve so many major cases over the years. It was impossible that he had never made enemies. It was only because information about his family had been kept strictly confidential that nothing had happened all this time.

Logically, the chance of Old Gu's family information leaking was very low, but there was always the possibility.

Especially now that the boy had been taken away by someone impersonating a detective. Who knew what might happen?

He absolutely could not take any chances.

"Detective Zhou, what happened?"

Seeing how awful his expression was, Lu Zicheng asked curiously.

Zhou Ze hesitated, then summarized the situation in the briefest possible terms.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Officer Lu of Interpol became grave.

"Professor Gu Ci'an's son?"

He frowned, becoming unusually serious. "Detective Zhou, how about letting us handle this?"

Beside the tree-lined road beneath an overpass, a white Volkswagen was parked by the roadside with its engine off.

It was only eight-thirty in the morning. On such a remote road, only the occasional large truck roared past, its rumbling noise echoing through the air. Other than that, there was no sound, nor was there a single person in sight.

Li Changzhi sat in the driver's seat, rubbing a gun in his hand in silence.

"You're not a police officer."

Gu Jianlin sat in the back seat and spoke softly. "Who are you?"

Li Changzhi glanced at the boy through the rearview mirror and laughed quietly. "Interesting. Who am I?"

He turned around and pointed the gun at the boy. "I'm someone who can take your life whenever I want."

Gu Jianlin silently stared at the dark muzzle, expressionless.

The doors had been locked. There was nowhere to run.

"Why aren't you afraid?"

Li Changzhi tilted his head and asked with interest.

A normal seventeen-year-old boy would probably be scared stiff the moment he saw a gun pointed at him.

Whether he burst into tears and begged for mercy or was frightened into wetting himself, both were common reactions.

Gu Jianlin had experienced too much lately. From surviving that car accident to the bizarre events in the Kirin Immortal Palace yesterday, seeing a gun pointed at him now truly did not stir much in him.

"You won't kill me for now."

He said calmly, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone through so much trouble."

Li Changzhi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"You must've been watching me for a long time, right? You know my personal information, and you knew the police station would pick me up today to confirm and sign the documents. So you got ahead of them and deliberately disguised yourself as a police station detective to pick me up. Your goal was to lower my guard so you could bring me somewhere deserted."

Gu Jianlin glanced at his phone. "You also installed a signal jammer in the car."

Li Changzhi fell silent for a second, then licked his lips. "Mm. As expected of Professor Gu's son. You really are smart. I heard you've ranked first in your class ever since you were little. Such a good kid. I really hate to hurt you."

Gu Jianlin narrowed his eyes. "You knew my father?"

"Heh, of course I did."

Li Changzhi smiled. "Otherwise, why would I bring you here?"

Gu Jianlin was about to say something when the other man pressed the cold muzzle of the gun against his forehead.

"Shut up. I ask, you answer."

Li Changzhi stared at him coldly, enunciating every word. "Before Professor Gu died, did he tell you anything?"

Gu Jianlin frowned and answered, "No."

"No?"

Li Changzhi's eyes widened. A vicious glint flashed through his pupils as he snarled, "Impossible! Did he give you anything? Or hint at anything? Tell me honestly!"

Gu Jianlin's pupils contracted. He silently clenched his fists. Just as he had expected, his father's death was not simple.

Most likely, the case his father had been investigating before his death had involved something that ultimately cost him his life.

The other man might not know exactly what it was.

Compared to the cold gun muzzle, the matter concerning his father struck him much harder.

"No."

Gu Jianlin took a deep breath and remained calm.

"You're lying!"

Li Changzhi gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "He couldn't possibly have given you nothing!"

Gu Jianlin did not know why the man was so certain.

Then he suddenly thought of something. He did not know whether it counted as something his father had left him.

The Kirin Mask!

"I said no means no. Even if you shoot me dead, I still have nothing."

Gu Jianlin took a deep breath, stared at him, and said coldly, "But you probably won't fire. This is still the city. If you shoot, someone will hear it."

Li Changzhi stared at him, his gaze so vicious it seemed like awls boring straight through him.

"You're right. I don't want to fire, but there are plenty of ways to make you talk."

He kept the gun raised and aimed, but his right hand suddenly drew a dagger and stabbed toward the boy's shoulder.

Crack!

The sharp dagger plunged into the backrest of the rear seat, making a hair-raising sound.

The strike missed because Gu Jianlin twisted aside as if he had expected it, then grabbed his wrist.

"Fuck you."

At that moment, the boy pulled out the key in his pocket and drove it straight toward the man's eye!

For a seventeen-year-old boy, he displayed speed, precision, and ruthlessness completely at odds with his age.

His father had taught him since childhood that the best way to deal with bad people was to be even more ruthless than they were!

Suddenly, Li Changzhi's pupils turned crimson. Black light flowed within them like circling crows.

Gu Jianlin's heart tightened, and even his right hand, which was fiercely driving the key forward, trembled slightly.

Because at that moment, he suddenly profiled a bizarre image.

The man before him seemed to twist into a strange figure.

He wore a black top hat and a crimson suit, with a bow tie at his collar and a deck of playing cards stuffed into his pocket. In his right hand was a spinning pocket watch, while his left held a black cane. He wore a pair of exquisite leather shoes.

He wore tortoiseshell glasses, and his eyes were crimson.

The instant Gu Jianlin saw that appearance, a thought surfaced in his mind.

Magician!