Chapter 32: Major Event

Chapter 32: The Major Incident

The ringtone sounded for a long time before the call was answered. The voice was clear and well-pronounced, but the tone was cold:

“I am reviewing Ou Xiangrong’s file and deducing his behavioral patterns. You have ten seconds.”

Within the official Spirit Realm Walkers, each squad was the main force handling cases, while deacons coordinated behind the scenes and only personally intervened in difficult cases.

A centurion must be under a lot of pressure… Li Dongze cleared his throat and reported in a low, serious voice:

“Centurion Fu, we have killed Ou Xiangrong.”

The answer was clearly unexpected. The phone went silent. After a few seconds of silence, Fu Qingyang’s voice came through, no longer cold:

“Where did you find him?”

Li Dongze said:

“We killed him at Songhai University. He was trying to force Xu Yingying to reveal the whereabouts of the Holy Grail and the roster, but she knew nothing. She is just an ordinary female student. Your judgment was correct—Ou Xiangrong has indeed lost his mind.”

Fu Qingyang praised, “Good, Li Dongze. You were very perceptive this time. You successfully prevented a large-scale bloodshed. I will commend you to the council of elders. Any casualties?”

“None,” Li Dongze paused. “Centurion Fu, we didn’t kill him.”

“Not you?” Fu Qingyang’s tone carried confusion. He seemed to think of something and said in realization, “I almost forgot. There is an elder from the Water God Palace at Songhai University. Did that elder intervene? I suppose I need to find time to pay a visit and express my gratitude.”

An elder at Songhai University? Li Dongze’s face showed surprise, but he quickly realized Centurion Fu had misunderstood and explained:

“It was Yuanshi Tianzun who killed Ou Xiangrong—the Night Walker I recently recruited.”

A level 1 Night Walker killed a level 3 Corrupting Fiend?

The centurion on the phone fell silent again. After more than ten seconds, Fu Qingyang said, “Understood. Have him write a report and submit it.”

He paused, then said with a hint of a smile, “Well done.”

After ending the call, Li Dongze gripped the steering wheel with elation, unconsciously pressing harder on the accelerator.

Bailong opened his phone and pulled a few squad leaders into a temporary group chat: “Look at how smug Li Dongze is. His beard is almost flying up to his eyebrows.”

Qingteng: “Their squad has made a great contribution. If I had a subordinate like that, I’d be smug too.”

In the internal rules of the official organization, to strengthen the team’s collective sense of honor, when one person achieved merit, the entire team was rewarded, and other members also received bonuses and performance points.

As for the Night Walker Li Dongze had recruited, if before they were merely envious, now several squad leaders were so jealous they were ready to abandon all martial ethics.

…

Kangyang District Police Station, Morgue.

Li Dongze closed the morgue door, shutting the squad leaders outside.

He looked at Zhang Yuanqing beside him, his gaze deep, and said:

“A Night Walker can increase experience points by devouring spirits, but the side effect is that over time, his mind will become polluted. If you have already tried to improve in this way, you should understand what I mean.”

Zhang Yuanqing nodded.

“Have you tried using that item to purify the delusions?” Li Dongze hinted, as that was his method.

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing frowning in thought, Li Dongze immediately smiled. “It seems that item comes at a considerable cost.”

Indeed, using it too much could lead to anemia and depletion of both qi and blood… Zhang Yuanqing suddenly recalled a detail—he had once found a spirit crystal in the mouth of the Mountain Goddess.

Now it seemed that crystal was most likely the condensed soul of a Spirit Realm Walker who died in the Mountain God Temple.

So the description said it was the best supplement for a Night Walker.

The impurities in the spirit crystal were presumably mental pollution, but it had been purified by the Goddess. By extension, the Vajra Scepter must also be able to purify mental pollution.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and took out the Vajra Scepter, cast from brass and engraved with exquisite patterns and incantations.

He briefly explained the item’s effects and costs, then said, “If I go mad later, just stab me with it—stab me in the thigh.”

“Alright!” Li Dongze took the item.

Zhang Yuanqing walked over to Ou Xiangrong’s corpse, placed his palm on the corpse’s chest, took a deep breath, and thick black energy surged from his eyes, awakening the lingering spirit within the body.

A throbbing pain spread from his brow, then his consciousness expanded, and something foreign forcefully poured into his mind.

…

In a haze, Zhang Yuanqing saw himself, saw the underground parking garage, saw the eerie red dancing shoes.

This was the battle that had just occurred in the parking garage.

Zhang Yuanqing silently waited for the battle to end. The scene quickly changed. This time it was a dimly lit room, and in front of Ou Xiangrong stood a masked man holding an exquisitely crafted crystal goblet, the liquid inside as scarlet as blood.

“As a Corrupting Fiend, your evil is pure. You have good potential. Drink the wine in the Holy Grail, and you will become my servant.”

“You must drink the wine from the Holy Grail every half month, or even gods will not be able to save you.”

“Remember my name—Strange Eye Judge.”

…

In a cheap rental apartment, a man wearing a mask and a peaked cap stood in the living room and said coldly:

“Strange Eye Judge is dead. His trusted subordinate, Black Impermanence, has fled with the Fallen Holy Grail and the roster, hiding in Songhai City. If you don’t want to ‘die from poison,’ find him for us. The Spirit Energy Society won’t treat you unfairly.”

…

The scene changed again. He saw a blue sky, saw a group of thugs in bizarre outfits punching and kicking him.

The shift was too abrupt. Zhang Yuanqing was bewildered. After several seconds, he realized he was being bullied.

This was a memory from Ou Xiangrong’s past? He never thought that a cold-blooded killer like him could have such experiences before…

“Ou Xiangrong, do you take my words as wind passing your ears?”

“Ou Xiangrong, you better cherish the times we talk to you nicely.”

Don’t hit me, don’t hit me… Zhang Yuanqing felt Ou Xiangrong’s intense fear, his body curling up in terror.

…

“Useless thing, bullied again? If you get hit, hit back! Why are you crying to me? How could I have a son like you, a waste.”

A middle-aged man cursed loudly, spittle flying.

This time, Zhang Yuanqing felt despair from Ou Xiangrong’s emotions.

Many chaotic, fragmented images flashed by swiftly. In one similar incident after another, his mentality became increasingly twisted and violent.

Just then, a dazzling, pure golden light broke into the sea of consciousness, dispelling the violence and pain, bringing warmth.

Zhang Yuanqing abruptly opened his eyes, seeing the bright fluorescent lights and white walls, and also seeing Li Dongze, bruised and battered, his suit disheveled.

“Squad leader, are you alright?”

Zhang Yuanqing was shocked. He then touched his face and found it streaked with tears.

“I’m fine.” Li Dongze casually tossed the bloodstained Vajra Scepter to the ground, straightened his clothes, and complained:

“I should have let Guan Ya come. She’s better at fighting than I am. This is anything but elegant.”

After tidying his appearance, he asked eagerly, “So? Did you find any more clues… You look terrible.”

“I’m just… a little sad.”

His experience points increased again, but this time, Zhang Yuanqing did not feel delighted.

Li Dongze showed a look of sudden understanding and said, "Is it because of Ou Xiangrong's memory?"

"Mm."

The spirit's memory was fragmented and broken, only remembering some unforgettable experiences.

After so many years, Ou Xiangrong still held a grudge against what happened in his student days, affecting his entire life.

Although the man was a despicable criminal, Zhang Yuanqing still felt deeply uncomfortable.

Li Dongze sighed:

"Although I don't know what you saw in the memory, I can understand. This is why the Nightwalkers of Taiyi Sect hate devouring the spirits of evil professions the most. Yuanshi, do you know why the concept of evil professions exists?"

He didn't rush to ask about the case clues but used this opportunity to enlighten and teach him, saying:

"In faction conflicts, we have killed countless evil professions. After summarizing the data from Taiyi Sect Nightwalkers' spirit interrogations, we observed a phenomenon: every evil profession is a villain or criminal in reality.

"In other words, the Spirit Realm Walkers of evil professions are selected by the Spirit Realm from specific groups."

Zhang Yuanqing was startled. "So, they don't become bad because they become evil professions; they were already bad people."

"But their badness is not entirely innate—it is brewed by humanity itself." Li Dongze sighed again:

"The Spirit Realm does not actively cultivate evil. Any evil profession is born from humanity's own karmic fire. This phenomenon is quite depressing and not very positive, but this is the real world. Just understand it; don't spread it widely."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded silently.

"Also, let me tell you one more thing—you killed Ou Xiangrong, so you should have gained reputation." Li Dongze said:

"Mutual killing among Spirit Realm Walkers does not deduct morality, but if you have reputation, it makes the same-faction Spirit Realm Walkers wary. If you have 10 reputation points, killing you would deduct 20 morality points from the same-faction Walker. Heh, Lawful and Good are different."

After saying this, Li Dongze patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, let's talk business. Don't waste time."

Are there Good and Chaotic and Neutral within Lawful professions? Then within evil professions, would there be those who mend their ways? Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his thoughts, steadied himself, and said in a deep voice:

"Squad Leader, I think I saw something major in Ou Xiangrong's memory."

"Major?" Li Dongze smiled. "He's only a Level 3 Demagogue; how major can his affairs be? I've worked for so many years—what major events haven't I seen? Go ahead."

He wasn't arrogant, but in Li Dongze's view, Yuanshi was inexperienced, and his definition of a major event might not be accurate.

"It's like this..." Zhang Yuanqing recounted the retrieved memory in detail.

A few minutes later, Li Dongze rushed out of the morgue and shouted to the captains outside:

"Something huge has happened!!"