I Went Crazy Killing in the World of Gods and Demons - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Xie Qingling rode her motorcycle with Dai Xingyu seated behind her considering Xie Qingling also possessed the ability to “see ghosts,” Ling Fang had grouped them together and sent them ahead to clear the path.

The motorcycle sped along like the wind, moving at an astonishing pace.

The heavy, low rumble of the motorcycle’s engine echoed through the streets, while at the same time, the sounds of Dai Xingyu’s movements behind her reached Xie Qingling’s ears.

Dai Xingyu was clacking away on his keyboard, unwilling to part with his laptop even on the road yes, even as a Herdsman in this modern information age, he couldn’t do without a strong network and convenient communication tools.

“Accessing the residential information database ”

“Database access successful. Querying information for you ”

“Information query successful. Please review.”

Soon, both the voice in her earpiece and Dai Xingyu’s voice from behind reached her simultaneously.

“Chief, I’ve found it,” Dai Xingyu said. “Yang Zhenhua is the only child in his family. After getting married, he moved out and lives with his wife. He has a seven-year-old daughter, and the family of three currently resides in Happiness Community, Qinghua District.”

“His other social connections are relatively simple. Since he’s a workaholic, he hasn’t been in touch with his old friends for many years. The people he usually interacts with are likely his colleagues at the law firm and his clients, but none of those relationships run deep.”

After hearing this, Ling Fang said, “Then focus first on investigating his wife and daughter, as well as anyone in Happiness Community who has daily contact with Yang Zhenhua. As for his parents, we can deal with them after handling Yang Zhenhua. You two head to Yang Zhenhua’s home now to determine the number of Huapi Ghosts. The others will stand by and await orders.”

“Understood.”

Five minutes later, Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu arrived at the entrance of Happiness Community.

Qinghua District was a relatively prosperous area in Future City with high property prices, and Happiness Community was a high-end residential area within it, boasting very strict security.

As soon as Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu appeared, they immediately caught the attention of the security guard at the entrance.

The guard shouted sternly, “Sneaking around like that who are you? We don’t accept casual visitors here! You need an appointment and registration to enter!”

Dai Xingyu was quite experienced in handling such situations.

He pulled out a small booklet and waved it in front of the guard, a smile on his boyish face. “Uncle, we’re here on official business.”

As he spoke, he also offered the guard a cigarette.

The guard’s demeanor softened, his hand trembling slightly as he accepted the cigarette. “O-on official business? What kind of business?”

“Confidential, Uncle.”

Once their identities were confirmed, neither Dai Xingyu nor Xie Qingling needed to register, and they entered the community directly.

The community was very quiet, with only a few elderly people seen walking arm in arm, creating an atmosphere of peaceful tranquility. Children were relatively scarce, and even when occasional bursts of noisy shouting arose, they were quickly hushed.

This actually saved them a lot of trouble with few people around, there was no need to worry about staying low-key.

Xie Qingling looked at Dai Xingyu. “Let’s begin. First, determine the number of Demons and Monsters in the community.”

Dai Xingyu nodded, clasped his hands together, and chanted softly: “Spirits of Heaven and Earth, Seal of Yin and Yang. Evil spirits, reveal your true form.”

In an instant, Xie Qingling felt the air around her grow thick and heavy.

As Dai Xingyu’s exploration progressed, time passed minute by minute.

After several minutes, Dai Xingyu opened his eyes, beads of sweat rolling down his temples.

He shook his head: “Nothing… I can’t find it.”

The failure of the “Herdsman” talent made Dai Xingyu somewhat flustered.

He chanted again: “Spirits of Heaven and Earth, Seal of Yin and Yang. Evil spirits, reveal your true form.”

Dai Xingyu once again activated the “Herdsman” talent to search the entire Happy Community.

But this time, he still opened his eyes with disappointment, saying: “It’s no use, I still can’t find them. I… I can’t detect their presence.”

After listening, Xie Qingling analyzed: “If you can’t find them, there are only two possibilities. Either they’re not in the community, or the Huapi Ghost’s ability might be focused on disguise. Perhaps you should treat them as ‘humans’ rather than ghosts.”

Dai Xingyu murmured: “Finding ghosts is easy, like spotting a black dot on white paper. But finding ‘humans’ among people is like looking for a specific tree in a forest. With so many people, conducting individual investigations would be extremely difficult.”

Perhaps Xie Qingling could use her ability to wander around and receive triggered alerts.

But this method would be too inefficient, and Happy Community was too large.

There simply wasn’t enough time.

After some thought, Xie Qingling asked: “Besides sensing ghosts, can you detect dead people?”

“Yes.”

Xie Qingling said: “Then let’s change our approach instead of determining the number of ghosts, we should first determine the number of victims.”

“You mean…”

“Murder always involves disposing or hiding bodies. With modern surveillance so thorough, I don’t believe they haven’t left any traces.” Xie Qingling’s eyes filled with certainty. “If they want to perfectly disguise themselves to live in human society, they must be bound by certain rules otherwise it wouldn’t be a disguise. After all, they want to become human.”

Unlike other demons and monsters solely focused on hunting and feeding, the Huapi Ghost’s pursuit wasn’t about filling its stomach, but about obtaining a perfect painted skin to use as disguise for living in human society.

The Huapi Ghost had probably been around for some time, yet no abnormalities had occurred during this period, indicating the opponent’s disguise was exceptionally good

Achieving this level of disguise required more than just a skin.

They must have also learned various rules of human society to some extent, making themselves appear like genuine “humans.”

The regulations and constraints of human society restricted everyone within it including those who wanted to become human.

Dai Xingyu immediately understood.

He stared at Xie Qingling for a long moment, suddenly filled with a strange feeling and belated relief.

Initially, when he learned that Xie Qingling’s talent overlapped somewhat with the Herdsman’s, Dai Xingyu had been worried.

But after completing one mission with Xie Qingling, Dai Xingyu discovered their roles didn’t conflict at all.

Seeing how decisively she gave commands, Dai Xingyu privately thought the one who should worry about unemployment might be the department head…

Dai Xingyu collected his thoughts and retrieved a porcelain incense holder from the silver case.

He inserted a short stick of incense into it and lit it.

Thick white smoke immediately billowed forth, but unlike ordinary smoke that rises upward, this dense white stream flowed downward.

Like a waterfall, the mist cascaded downward in swirling tendrils.

Xie Qingling watched, somewhat surprised, and asked, “What kind of incense is this?”

“Backflow Incense, specially used for spirits.”

Dai Xingyu closed his eyes and murmured softly, “Backflow incense, partake of my offerings. Open your awareness, heed my command.”

After about three minutes, Dai Xingyu opened his eyes.

This time, his gaze was no longer blank. “Found them.”

“There are two deceased individuals. Their bodies are hidden in the basement storage room.”

Xie Qingling nodded. “Let’s go take a look.”

The two arrived at the property management center of Happiness Community.

A young woman on duty sat at the front desk. Upon seeing Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu, she immediately asked, “Hello, are you homeowners or tenants? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Their attire seemed unusual, and their presence was quite imposing.

The property manager felt slightly intimidated.

Working at Happiness Community, she usually encountered well-dressed men and women in suits and elegant clothing. The sudden sight of Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu in all black, adorned with various straps and carrying cases with strange symbols, made her think they were some kind of non-mainstream fashion enthusiasts…

Dai Xingyu instantly broke into a smile.

His boyish face appeared exceptionally gentle and harmless.

He said, “Miss, no need to be nervous. We’re here to investigate a case.”

He flashed his small badge in front of her again.

However, the property manager’s composure wasn’t as steady as the security guard’s. The thought of a terrifying case occurring in the community made her face turn pale.

Trembling, she picked up the phone to contact the building manager, but Xie Qingling stopped her hand.

Xie Qingling’s expression remained calm, even somewhat aloof, unlike Dai Xingyu’s gentle demeanor.

She said, “We need you to open the basement of unit 1303.”

The property manager nearly burst into tears, stammering, “We can’t forcibly open an owner’s storage room. I need to contact the homeowner first ”

“Please help us out, miss,” Dai Xingyu chimed in, waving his small badge again. “You wouldn’t want to make things difficult for us, right? And we don’t want to trouble you either.”

After a moment of hesitation, the property manager weighed her options and decided to comply. “Alright.”

She retrieved a set of keys from the drawer and led Xie Qingling and Dai Xingyu to the elevator, descending to the second basement level.

The second basement level was an underground parking garage. Alongside it stood rows of small rooms with tightly shut doors these were the homeowners’ underground storage units.

These storage rooms were typically used to store infrequently used items, often remaining unopened for years. Being underground and perpetually devoid of sunlight, moisture accumulated easily, resulting in a persistent, heavy musty odor lingering around the storage area.

But this time, as the property management girl approached the storage room, she noticed the foul smell was more pungent than ever before it wasn’t just the mustiness of items long untouched by sunlight, but also a nauseating stench of decay.

It was as if something inside had rotted and hadn’t been cleared away in time…

Thinking of the mysterious identities of the two people behind her, the property management girl’s mind jumped to grim suspicions. Her face instantly turned as pale as a sheet, and her steps grew unsteady with tension.

Finally reaching the door of storage unit 1303, she pulled out the keys, took a deep breath, and turned one in the lock. With a click, the door swung open.

Immediately, the putrid stench from behind the door grew even stronger.

Something dark and shapeless seemed to lurch toward the doorway.

Already as jumpy as a startled bird, the property management girl was about to scream but the next moment, a pair of hands covered her eyes, plunging her vision into darkness. She could see nothing.

It was the tall girl with the cold expression.

One hand shielding the property management girl’s eyes, her cool voice whispered close to her ear, “Don’t look.”

At the same time, the sound of the baby-faced man retching reached her ears.