Still running your mouth, huh? Kill me if you've got the guts!

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

The Five Viscera Life Society was located in Wanjia United Subdistrict, Baofan District.

The place was also called Ten Thousand People Residential Community.

As mentioned earlier, Baofan District had been Yunhai's most prosperous district in years past. Though it was no longer number one, it still ranked near the top.

That glorious past had also made Baofan District a place where fish and dragons mingled.

Ten Thousand People Residential Community was just such a place.

Previously, the place had resembled a walled city, homes pressed against one another and stacked on top of each other.

Later, the authorities had wanted to demolish it because it was too dangerous, but they couldn't get it done.

Things had dragged on like that for perhaps a dozen years or more.

Eventually, seeing no hope of demolishing it themselves, the authorities had simply contracted the project out.

Later still, the four founders of the Four Seas Group had gotten their start by joining forces with the largest landlords in Ten Thousand People Residential Community, forcibly demolishing the place, then rebuilding it with densely packed buildings.

That was also what they had promised the community's residents.

The Four Seas Group had made its name through this, formally entering the real estate industry before gradually expanding into all manner of industries.

The Five Viscera Life Society was based inside Ten Thousand People Residential Community.

Despite its name, the place housed far more than ten thousand people-at least several times that number.

Its densely packed population came from all corners of the country. More people meant more trouble, and with their differing customs and cultures, all sorts of strange supernatural incidents had occurred frequently in the early days.

That had also been the beginning of the Five Viscera Life Society's rise.

They helped the residents of Ten Thousand People Residential Community resolve those matters.

They could have simply reported those matters to the public security office, which would then report them to Bureau 749. Unfortunately, many of the people living in Ten Thousand People Residential Community couldn't stand exposure to the light, so they wouldn't report anything to the public security office.

By now, the Five Viscera Life Society had almost become an existence akin to the door gods and the Kitchen God within Ten Thousand People Residential Community.

Its incense offerings flourished.

On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, an incense cauldron large enough to hold several people had to be emptied several times a day. That was how abundant its incense offerings were.

That was also why Tang Hu thought nothing of Lu Ding.

Confidence!

Nourished by such a staggering amount of incense offerings, the old immortals residing in the three men had become extraordinarily powerful.

The three brothers weren't content to work alone. They also brought in outside Qi Refiners to form the Five Viscera Life Society and work together.

More people meant greater consumption.

Money could be earned again once it was gone, but the various ritual supplies were hard to obtain when they were used up quickly.

Major factions had their own supply channels.

What did the Five Viscera Life Society have?

Besides, one look at the name told you that what they used was nothing ordinary.

Things like human placentas, human bones, human blood, and the stalks and body parts of various protected plants and animals.

Those things were hard to obtain domestically. For small quantities, the higher-ups could approve a quota. Human blood, for instance-the national blood banks renewed their stocks every year, and rituals didn't care about blood type. As long as it worked, it was fine.

As for human placentas and bones, those could be obtained from hospitals and various other places.

The paperwork was more or less compliant, but the quantities weren't enough.

Not to mention the protected animals and plants. What could they do about those?

Well! Chenla had them, in large quantities and at excellent prices. If you wanted aged specimens, they had aged specimens; if you wanted fresh ones, they had fresh ones.

The Five Viscera Life Society had started entertaining the idea.

But reporting to Bureau 749 that they wanted to go to Chenla to buy those things wasn't very realistic, so the people of the Five Viscera Life Society had secretly found ways to establish their own channels.

They had completed any number of transactions before without incident.

But this time, something had gone wrong. A public security officer inspecting fruit had discovered them, quietly opening the crates to find crate after crate of animals, plants, and assorted bones-even skulls.

What ordinary person wouldn't be frightened and suspicious upon seeing those things?

Public security officers were people too.

Then the people of the Five Viscera Life Society had caught them in the act.

At the Five Viscera Life Society's headquarters.

Ritual lamps cast red light through the room.

Three gilded divine statues, bearing hanging registers, sat high in the shrine, receiving incense offerings.

A man stood bare-chested, a vivid tiger descending a mountain tattooed across his back. His feet traced divine steps, his hands performed a divine dance, and his eyes rolled white.

This was the Five Viscera Shrine's second-in-command, Tiger Descending the Mountain, Tang Hu!

Taking a handful of burning incense sticks, he dragged their glowing tips over his muscular chest, face, abdomen, and arms before finally stuffing the burning tips into his mouth.

Tang Hu chewed with relish.

His white eyes changed in an instant, revealing a pair of amber pupils. His entire bearing instantly became wild and fierce, like a savage mountain beast.

The public security officers tied up nearby were filled with astonishment at the sight.

This cult leader seemed to have some real skills...

Only one person remained defiant. After spitting out the rag in her mouth, she cursed loudly.

"Pah! A bunch of cultists!"

"Do you know what crime it is to detain public security officers? I suggest you think this through, release us immediately, and turn yourselves in to seek lenient treatment."

The woman rebuked them harshly.

Her name was Yan Biexi, a female public security officer from the Ginkgo Public Security Management Office. Her mother worked in politics and her father in business, so she counted as someone with connections. But there was nothing to criticize about her work; she was highly efficient. Her only issue was her overly fiery temper.

Her words alone made it clear that she was blunt and fierce.

If you called someone like her stupid, then yes, she really was stupid. Even after ending up in a place like this and witnessing a situation like this, she could still say such things.

But public security officers needed to be people like her.

If you were an ordinary person who had suffered an injustice and happened to meet her, you had truly struck it lucky.

She would absolutely intervene and see it through to the end. With connections and a sense of justice, calling her an upright magistrate beneath a clear sky would be no exaggeration. She just tended to overstep her authority a little.

Tang Hu emerged from his spirit-invocation state and took the towel an underling beside him offered, carefully wiping the sweat from his face.

He lit a cigarette, crossed his legs, and looked Yan Biexi over.

"Heh, idiot. Who do you think is in control here?" Tang Hu sneered, pointing his thumb at himself. "Me. I'm in control. Talking to me like that-aren't you afraid I'll make you suffer?"

"Forget suffering. Come on! Kill me! Kill me if you've got the guts! You think I'm afraid of some criminal who smuggles goods and organizes cult activities?"

Her words stunned Tang Hu for a moment. He had seen hardheads before, but he truly had never seen anyone as hardheaded as Yan Biexi.

But her words really had hit the nail on the head.

However brazen he was, he wouldn't dare kill Yan Biexi.

Capturing a public security officer and killing one were two entirely different things.

Originally, Tang Hu had planned to use threats and enticements to make these officers keep their mouths sealed, leaving what they had seen tonight to rot inside them.

They were not to tell anyone or report it to their superiors.

That would keep Lu Ding from coming.

He and Lu Ding hadn't gotten along to begin with. When the Five Viscera Life Society bought these ritual supplies before, the previous patrol officers had always kept one eye open and the other shut.

But Lu Ding wouldn't come to dinner, so they couldn't figure out his stance. With his fearsome reputation circulating outside as well, how could the Five Viscera Life Society not be careful?

The Ghost Festival was approaching, and strange incidents would occur frequently then. The Five Viscera Life Society's reserves of supplies were still a little insufficient, so despite not having confirmed Lu Ding's stance, they had notified their contacts in Chenla to bring these things over, with Tang Hu going to meet them.

But the public security officers had stumbled upon it. He was truly annoyed to death.

What little patience remained in him instantly vanished. He stood up, grabbed a handful of incense ash from the censer, and rubbed it between his hands, empowering it with a secret art.

"Still running your mouth, huh?!"