Results

Yang Wenqing recalled the monitoring report Dr. Ding had given him. It mentioned the deceased's despair and regret before death. Looking at the woman weeping bitterly before him now, he could somewhat understand the state the deceased had been in.

In just an instant of imagination, his consciousness was stirred by negative emotions, and a dark barrier appeared within his Spirit Sea. Startled, Yang Wenqing immediately cleared away those emotions and focused his entire mind on the case itself.

The woman's heart-rending cries gradually turned into weak sobs in the sea breeze. In the end, only her shoulders trembled faintly as she slumped to the ground, as though all strength had been drained from her.

Meanwhile, Wu Yan had already asked the young man and the woman to leave the courtyard and was taking their statements beneath a banyan tree outside.

Yang Wenqing waited until the worst of the woman's emotional torrent had passed before approaching again. This time, he did not use a talisman. Instead, he sent a thread of gentle spiritual power through his fingertips and lightly touched the center of her back, helping her gather her scattered thoughts.

Yan Kuan crouched down, untied a water skin from his waist, and handed it to her. "Ma'am, have some water and catch your breath."

His voice was low and steady, carrying a reassuring strength. "Now isn't the time to just cry. We need to drag out the beast who harmed Brother Dayong, make him pay with his life, and let Brother Dayong leave this world knowing why."

The woman mechanically accepted the water skin but did not drink. She merely gripped it tightly. The cold touch seemed to clear her mind somewhat, and she raised her head, looking at Yan Kuan through tear-blurred eyes.

"Think carefully..." Yan Kuan guided her, his tone unhurried. "Someone must have introduced Brother Dayong to this job. Who came looking for him? What was his name? Where can we find him?"

The woman recalled hazily. "It was a foreman. Everyone called him 'Old Man.' He hung around the docks, introducing people to odd jobs and taking on some work that couldn't be brought into the open..."

Her words abruptly stopped.

"Old Man?" Yan Kuan's brow furrowed slightly. As captain of the Port District security patrol, he had never heard that nickname before. He exchanged a glance with Yang Wenqing, then asked, "What's his real name? Where does he usually operate?"

"I don't know his real name. I only know they call him 'Old Man.'" The woman tried hard to remember. "He usually watched people unloading cargo around No. 3 Pier. Sometimes he drank at the nearby food stalls..."

Yan Kuan pressed further. "Did you notice anything unusual about Old Man around the time Brother Dayong had his accident? Or did Brother Dayong mention exactly who this job was for?"

The woman shook her head blankly. "Dayong kept his mouth shut. But I think several days ago, I heard Ergou next door say he saw Old Man talking to a few unfamiliar people at the pier. Those people were dressed quite respectably, not like people from around here. After that, Old Man was hardly seen again..."

He had disappeared?

Yang Wenqing's gaze sharpened.

"Captain Yan, investigate this Old Man immediately!" Yang Wenqing decided at once. "Find his full identity, address, and the last time and place he was seen. Focus on his social connections. See who he has been in close contact with recently, especially those unfamiliar faces who looked 'quite respectable.'"

"Understood!"

Yan Kuan immediately rose to his feet and activated the communication array on his chest badge to call for backup. After speaking with the woman for a while longer and confirming there were no more useful clues, he and Yang Wenqing left the courtyard one after the other.

When Wu Yan saw Yang Wenqing emerge in the distance, he sternly told the young man, "We may come back at any time before this case is closed. Don't try disappearing on me, understand?"

He said this because he wanted the young man to stop pressuring his mother.

Yan Kuan watched the young man return to the courtyard. As they were about to leave, the woman headed toward the center of the village, and the young man actually followed her toward the village center, completely unaware that he should go back and comfort his mother.

After leaving Seaside Village, Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan, led by Yan Kuan, headed straight for the small food stalls near No. 3 Pier.

These stalls were where dockworkers rested, drank, and exchanged information. The two showed their identification and asked each stall one by one about Old Man.

Before long, a somewhat blurry black-and-white photograph was placed in Yang Wenqing's hand. The Old Man in the photo was indeed as described: thin and wiry, with the shrewdness of a streetwise opportunist at the corners of his eyes, the most common sort of person among the lowest ranks at the docks.

At the same time, Yan Kuan quickly found Old Man's registration information through the Port Security Office system: his real name was Zhao Laoshuan, fifty-two years old, unmarried, and living in a chaotic, crowded shantytown on the edge of the dock district.

However, when Yang Wenqing and Yan Kuan arrived with their men at Zhao Laoshuan's residence, they found the door to the low shack locked. Through the window, they could see only a few worn pieces of furniture covered in a thin layer of dust. Clearly, no one had returned for many days.

When they questioned the neighbors, the feedback was much the same as Brother Dayong's wife had said. No one had seen Zhao Laoshuan for roughly seven or eight days.

"Investigate his contacts. Find out who he's been in touch with recently!" Yang Wenqing ordered.

Yan Kuan's men immediately went into action, investigating Zhao Laoshuan's social network. Their search unexpectedly uncovered a gang engaged in small-scale contraband smuggling at the port. Yan Kuan's spirits rose greatly, and he immediately devoted most of his energy to this sudden smuggling case. After all, it was tangible merit.

Meanwhile, Yang Wenqing continued relentlessly pursuing the Old Man, Zhao Laoshuan, lead with Wu Yan.

Over the next half month, Yang Wenqing practically lived in the Port District.

He visited everyone who might have had any connection with Zhao Laoshuan, from other foremen and food-stall owners to distant cousins.

At the same time, he carefully studied the case files on the smuggling gang that had been uncovered, trying to find deeper connections between Zhao Laoshuan and the gang, or traces of those "respectable unfamiliar faces."

But the results were disappointing.

Although Zhao Laoshuan occasionally acted as an intermediary for the smuggling gang, he had only ever been a peripheral figure making a little money. As for those respectable people, there was not a single valuable clue.

Zhao Laoshuan was like a drop of water absorbed by the sea, completely vanished.

Likewise, there was still no news from the search for eyewitnesses.

The case seemed to have reached a dead end. Put simply, the trail had gone cold. At that moment, he recalled what Xiao Liang had warned him about.

On the sixteenth day after the case file was opened, Deputy Director Gao summoned Yang Wenqing to his office through the Major Crimes Unit's internal communication array. Contrary to Yang Wenqing's expectations, his attitude remained amiable.

"It's already very good that this case has progressed this far. Preserve the existing leads, issue a wanted notice for the fugitive Zhao Laoshuan, and close the case like this."

Deputy Director Gao instead comforted Yang Wenqing. "The county bureau has many cases like this. There are many things in this world that even the director cannot investigate. Don't take it too much to heart."

At this point, he lowered his voice. "Even if someone becomes a monster through ritual sacrifice, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. After all, every part of that monster is an exceptionally rare cultivation material, especially for gathering spiritual energy."

After saying that, he gave a hearty laugh, then stood and called to Yang Wenqing. "The director wants to see you. He may not be easy to talk to. If he scolds you, just listen. Don't take it too personally."

Yang Wenqing looked up at Deputy Director Gao. Clearly, he had not expected this outcome.