Wang Shoucai

The smoke cleared.

The basement was a wreck. Brother Tiger, the boss of the Tiger Head Gang, groggily opened his eyes to find tiger corpses and scalding demon blood strewn across the floor, along with two young people standing there unharmed.

He hurriedly closed his eyes again.

"Stop pretending." Zhao Xing'er stepped forward and hauled him up. "Where's the kid?"

"Whose kid?" Brother Tiger shrank back, his face full of fear.

"Guo Yang's kid," Zhao Xing'er said.

"Who's Guo Yang?" Brother Tiger scratched his head, frantically trying to remember when he had somehow had a child with someone named Guo Yang.

"Did Chen Dafa from the factory in the southern suburbs ask you to help kidnap an employee's son?" Yue Wen stepped forward and asked.

"Nothing of the sort!" Brother Tiger immediately raised his voice. "I know Chen Dafa, but he only asked me to send two guys to back him up while he dealt with an employee demanding payment. Kidnapping never came into it!"

Judging by his bulging eyes and outraged expression, he did not seem to be lying.

"Did we..." Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er exchanged an embarrassed look. "Get the wrong idea about them?"

"You barged in and wiped out my Tiger Head Gang over that?" Brother Tiger's eyes filled with shock and indignation.

Silence fell for a moment, as though a crow had flown overhead.

Then Yue Wen chuckled. "Well, this is awkward."

Zhao Xing'er said, "Heh."

Just then, an ancient bronze sword suddenly burst through the door and embedded itself in the center of the basement with a clang.

Humm-

An invisible ripple of spiritual power spread from the ancient sword, enveloping the entire basement. Everyone inside slowed to a crawl, almost frozen in place.

Then a sharp shout rang out.

"Supernatural Affairs Bureau! All evil entities, surrender! Resist and you will be killed!"

"Captain Wang-" Restricted by the formation, Yue Wen drew out his words, calling one syllable at a time, "The evil entities have already been dealt with. Please turn off your technique-"

"Hm?"

The man outside swept the area with his spiritual sense. Only after confirming that no evil entities remained alive did he withdraw the formation.

The ancient sword became a streak of light and shot back the way it had come.

Then a man of average height walked in, his belly protruding beneath a black Zhongshan suit. He looked around forty, with several plump folds beneath his chin.

"Sorry I'm late." His smile gave him an honest, good-natured look. "I was at a prostitution bust. When I got your call, it sounded like you were fighting evil entities. I had someone trace your location and came straight over."

"It's fine. You were already off duty at this hour. Sorry for the trouble." Yue Wen hurried over with a polite smile. "But why did you have to attend a prostitution bust in person?"

The man said, "I was the one getting busted."

Yue Wen said, "?"

"The local police station asked our bureau to lend them some unfamiliar faces to go undercover and gather evidence," the man explained. "I didn't go there of my own accord."

"Hahaha." Yue Wen laughed again. "Of course. I knew you wouldn't go there of your own accord, Captain Wang."

"Exactly." The man nodded. "Not this time."

"..." Yue Wen could not be bothered to pursue that conversation. He turned and introduced him to Zhao Xing'er.

The man was Wang Shoucai, captain of the Supernatural Affairs Bureau's Seventh Squad in Satellite City and a direct subordinate of Perfected One Nagiko.

Wang Shoucai had been in charge of the case involving Yue Wen's parents and the spatial rift, and had handled all the subsequent investigations. After Yue Wen woke up, they had been in frequent contact, which was why Yue Wen still had his number saved.

Yue Wen then briefly explained what had happened, including the earlier "minor altercation" at the factory.

Wang Shoucai nodded in understanding. "Nothing too serious."

"The bureau has actually been keeping an eye on the Tiger Head Gang in the southern suburbs. We suspected they were involved in several earlier murders. But these tiger demons were cautious, and we hadn't found any evidence. We also don't have enough manpower to keep them under constant surveillance. Wiping out the Tiger Head Gang was a major contribution."

"As for Chen Dafa... I'll look into his situation. If he really was colluding with gangsters to harm business rivals and workers seeking legitimate compensation, he'll certainly be held accountable too."

"Just don't take things too far next time."

As he spoke, Wang Shoucai drew Yue Wen aside and lowered his voice. "You know the higher-ups have always been very tolerant toward cultivators like you who are friendly with the authorities. There's just one condition: you can't disrupt public order in the city."

"I understand." Yue Wen nodded solemnly. "Under the Supernatural Affairs Bureau's leadership, we'll uphold justice and protect Jiangcheng City's prosperity and stability!"

"Good." Wang Shoucai glanced back, looking somewhat surprised. "These tiger demons were powerful. I never imagined you'd grow this much in the short time since we last met. No wonder Perfected One Nagiko took an interest in you."

Even the corpses lying on the floor had belonged to formidable tiger demons, and the one that escaped had been stronger still. Even veteran investigators from the Supernatural Affairs Bureau would have had trouble dealing with creatures like these.

Yet Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er, two young people, had simply charged in and taken them down. It was genuinely shocking.

"We just got lucky." Yue Wen smiled modestly.

Wang Shoucai patted his shoulder, then suddenly asked, "By the way, have you had any news about your parents lately?"

Yue Wen shook his head. "No."

Wang Shoucai gave him a meaningful look. "If you hear anything, let us know right away."

More personnel from the Supernatural Affairs Bureau arrived afterward. They swept through the Tiger Head Gang's premises and arrested all the gangsters in the surrounding area.

Their inspection suggested that a band of robbers had visited the Tiger Head Gang before they arrived. Anything worth even a little money had been looted. Even the batteries had been pried out of the air-conditioner remote.

Wang Shoucai lit a cigarette and stood there chatting idly with Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er.

Before leaving, he added, "Oh, right. The evil cultivator you killed last time has been confirmed as a wanted member of Flame Ghost Hall. You should get a notification in the next couple of days, and then you can collect your reward. It should be a few tens of thousands. Clearing out the Tiger Head Gang should also qualify as an act of bravery. I don't know how much that reward will be, but we'll send it along with the other one."

"That's great!" Yue Wen immediately brightened.

Money really was a problem for his fledgling team.

Excluding gains outside their actual work, they had earned only fifteen hundred yuan from commissions over the past few days, and he had to split two hundred and fifty of that with Zhao Xing'er.

Without some extra income, even rent and utilities would be a problem.

"Don't celebrate too soon," Wang Shoucai warned. "Flame Ghost Hall may be loosely organized, but the man you killed was most likely a personal disciple of its hall master, Ahei Yan. He's ruthless and takes revenge over the slightest grudge. He's been roaming Northern Sky Province for years without getting caught. You need to be careful."

"Ahei Yan?"

Yue Wen's expression tightened. He had heard something of that notorious name. Ahei Yan was one of the most vicious evil cultivators in Northern Sky Province.

That man in black had actually been his disciple?

The two tiger demons that escaped today might also return for revenge. When he counted them up, he had quite a few enemies to watch out for.

But there was no helping it. This was his line of work, after all. If he wanted to kill more evil entities and earn Evil-Suppressing Money, he would inevitably make enemies. He could hardly expect to call an evil entity "brother" and have it say, "Well, since you called me brother, what else is there to say?"

I'll just die, and that'll settle it.

"Thank you for the warning, Captain Wang. I'll be careful," Yue Wen said earnestly.

Although the Tiger Head Gang had been completely destroyed, they still had not found Guo Yang's child. Neither Yue Wen nor Zhao Xing'er felt much like celebrating.

They still had to let Guo Yang know so he would not keep waiting at home for nothing.

The two rode their little electric scooter to Guo Yang's home near the southern suburbs. It was in an old apartment building with peeling exterior paint, looking thoroughly run-down.

Yue Wen stood in front of the door and knocked, his expression grave.

"You're here!" The one-armed man opened the door with delight on his face.

"Guo Yang." Yue Wen's voice was heavy. "We went to the Tiger Head Gang today, but we still couldn't find your son. The Supernatural Affairs Bureau is questioning them. We don't know whether that will turn up anything, but... there may not be much hope. Your compensation will definitely come through, though, and our agency will keep working on your son's case..."

"No need." Guo Yang turned and called into the apartment. "My son's back."

"Huh?"

Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er looked over and saw a sturdy little boy walk out of the apartment to the doorway, timidly raising his head to look at them.

"He really did sneak off to play games with his friends without telling me. What a mess this turned into. I just gave him a stern talking-to and hadn't had time to let you know yet." Guo Yang looked a little embarrassed. "Are you two all right?"

"We're fine," Yue Wen said. "The Tiger Head Gang, not so much."

The child had been found, the villains had been eliminated, and they had received their five hundred yuan...

It really was a happy ending for everyone.

Of course, the biggest gain was the eighty-three Evil-Suppressing Money coins he had received from killing those three tiger demons! It was Yue Wen's largest haul so far, enough to pay Da Long for four months.

Guo Yang invited them inside to sit for a while, but they declined with a smile. It was too late, after all. They exchanged a few more words and turned to leave.

They had barely gone a few steps when they heard the child call from behind them, "Big brother! Big sister!"

They turned to see the boy running up with two arcade tokens in his hands. He pressed one into each of their hands.

"Dad told me you fought bad guys to find me." The boy looked up at them. "I don't have any money, so please take these two arcade tokens as your payment."

Yue Wen looked down at the gleaming token. There was no arcade name on it, only a smiling fox's head. It felt quite substantial in his hand.

He slipped it into his pocket and smiled faintly. "Thank you, boss."