Spirit Realm Walker

Zhang Yuanqing’s dull eyes regained their spark, and he immediately turned his head to look at his two colleagues beside him.

”I saw the killer’s face!” he exclaimed.

As he spoke, he felt a wave of intense fear. Death’s shadow lingered in his heart, refusing to fade.

The feeling of devouring a spirit was both satisfying and deeply uncomfortable.

Li Dongze and Guan Ya both relaxed, letting out sighs of relief. The squad leader quickly asked, ”What does he look like? Any distinctive features?”

Zhang Yuanqing recalled the details and reported, ”Male, around 30 to 35 years old, medium build but stocky. There’s a scar about the length of half a finger on his left cheek. He has sparse eyebrows, and he had vicious-looking eyes.”

Li Dongze listened patiently, sketching the killer’s general appearance in his mind.

The killer’s facial features were quite distinctive, making him highly recognizable.

After Zhang Yuanqing finished, Guan Ya asked, ”Did he assault the female victim?”

He thought back to the final moments of the memory, then replied, ”It seems like he did.”

That confirmed a suspicion Guan Ya had been harboring. Her brow furrowed, and she immediately looked over at Li Dongze. 

”Squad Leader, I suspect the killer has mental problems.”

Zhang Yuanqing did not understand what she meant. 

What kind of person capable of such brutal acts would be mentally stable? he wondered to himself.

Li Dongze nodded, saying indignantly, ”That bastard deserves to burn in hell.”

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing’s confused expression, the Squad Leader stroked his beard with two fingers and asked, ”Do you remember the Morality system?”

Zhang Yuanqing nodded.

”The killer murdered Zhao Yingjun’s mistress to silence her, which would fall under normal behavior. But assaulting the female victim before killing her would cost him additional Morality points.”

Li Dongze believed the Songhai University student was intelligent enough to understand the implications, and indeed, Zhang Yuanqing caught on. 

Ah, so he really might be mentally unstable, he realized.

Spirit Realm Walkers lost Morality points when they committed crimes, so anyone with a functioning brain would try to avoid actions that would lead to this punishment. Killing to silence someone was an unavoidable act, but assaulting them before killing them, would surely cost additional Morality points.

Someone who would do such a thing fell into one of two categories: either they had too much Morality and feared nothing, or they had mental issues and were unable to control their inner beast.

The second possibility seemed much more likely.

The seasoned veteran Guan Ya adopted a serious pose, with one hand across her chest and the other supporting her chin. 

”Mentally unstable Spirit Realm Walkers, whether Lawful or Evil, must be eliminated,” she observed. ”Someone like this lurking in a major city is like a ticking time bomb.”

Even if his Morality dropped below 60 and the Spirit Realm broadcast his location, drawing Spirit Realm Walkers from the same city to hunt him down, between now and then, a superhuman powerhouse could easily kill his way from one end of the street to the other.

The seasoned veteran looked over at the only rookie present and warned, ”The Spirit Realm is fraught with danger. Solo Spirit Realms especially have extremely high death rates. Many Spirit Realm Walkers, even after successfully completing their quests, are left with psychological scars that can’t be erased. Over time, it is inevitable that they will begin to develop mental problems.

”This is especially true for you Nocturnal Specters. If you ever feel like something’s wrong with your state of mind, you must notify us immediately. The organization will provide psychological counseling.”

Zhang Yuanqing couldn’t help but think of everything he’d experienced in the mountain god temple. The fear from that encounter still lingered. 

”I understand,” he said, nodding.

”By the way, did they find the killer’s DNA at the crime scene?” he asked.

Guan Ya shook her head.

So the killer packed up all his descendants and took them with him? Zhang Yuanqing thought, feeling a pang of regret. If they had the killer’s genetic material on hand, the Red Dancing Shoes could help track him down.

Li Dongze finished his contemplation and asked, ”What else did you see in Zhao Yingjun’s memories?”

Zhang Yuanqing had been waiting for this question, and quickly replied, ”There was something else. The killer was interrogating Zhao Yingjun about the whereabouts of the ’Holy Grail’ and the ’Registry.’”

Holy Grail. Registry. Guan Ya and Li Dongze exchanged glances, noting the mutual bewilderment in each others’ eyes.

Li Dongze asked. ”What do the Holy Grail and the Registry represent?”

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head and replied, ”There was no related information about them in the victim’s memories.”

Li Dongze’s brow furrowed as he thought deeply for a moment. 

”This case is more complex than we imagined,” he said at last. ”Zhao Yingjun kept quite a lot from us.”

He patted Zhang Yuanqing’s shoulder and praised him, saying, ”Well done. You’ve uncovered several important clues. After we arrest or eliminate the killer, I’ll put in a good word for you. Now, go with Guan Ya to create a facial composite. Get the killer’s appearance pieced together.”

”Yes, Squad Leader.”

Zhang Yuanqing immediately followed the long-legged beauty out.

”Oh,” Li Dongze called out to Guan Ya. ”One more thing. Get him fitted for a suit. From now on, only formal attire is allowed in the office.”

Zhang Yuanqing was about to say that he didn’t come here often, when he heard Guan Ya beside him say, ”Understood.”

Leaving the morgue, Guan Ya chuckled softly. 

”From now on, you absolutely must wear formal attire in the office,” she said.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded in understanding, replying, ”I know. Big organizations have strict dress codes.”

Guan Ya giggled and responded, ”No, it has nothing to do with the organization. It’s the Squad Leader’s requirement. He thinks casual clothes don’t look elegant enough.”

What does this have to do with elegance? Zhang Yuanqing complained internally, but as his gaze swept over Guan Ya’s black stockings and long legs, her short skirt and round hips, her white shirt and slender waist, he suddenly saw the truth in the squad leader’s perspective. Life should indeed be about pursuing elegance.

As they walked, he checked his status panel.

【Name: Yuanshi Tianzun】

【Race: Human】

【Class: Nocturnal Specter】

【Level: 1】

【Skills: Night Wandering, Soul Devouring, Spirit of the Dark Moon】

【Experience: 44%】

【Morality: 60 (Initial Value)】

His experience had increased from 42% to 44%. After devouring the spirit, he’d felt a comfortable warmth flowing through his body and enveloping it, and his Power of the Dark Moon seemed to have grown stronger.

”Sis Guan Ya, I gained two percentage points of experience!” Zhang Yuanqing said happily.

Experience represented strength. Even among Level 1 Nocturnal Specters, the power gap between 1% experience and 99% experience was enormous.

Guan Ya paused for a moment, then said, ”Oh, yes, that’s definitely a thing. You Nocturnal Specters can increase experience by absorbing spirits. However, the Nocturnal Specters from Taiyi Sect don’t seem to like doing this. They seem to be reluctant to help us whenever they have to question spirits, and approach the task with dark expressions and a poor attitude.”

”Why?” asked Zhang Yuanqing.

The mixed heritage beauty rolled her eyes in a beautiful and seductive manner, replying, ”How would I know? I’m just a powerless Scout.”

Bullshit, Zhang Yuanqing thought. Even if Scouts aren’t good at combat, the base attribute of a Level 2 Scout should be enough to crush me. Plus, after Scouts undergo class change at Level 4, they gain terrifying solo combat capabilities. Therefore, they must possess strong physical qualities, even at the Transcendent tier.

”Are you really powerless?” he asked.

Guan Ya looked over at her new colleague. Her gaze twitched downward and she said with a smile, ”Why don’t you let Big Sis practice on you?”

Zhang Yuanqing declined immediately, protesting, ”Don’t be like that. I’m still just a kid.”

Then pulled out his phone and asked, ”Are you free tonight? I’ll book a hotel online right now. If you don’t mind, you can also practice some squats.”

Guan Ya laughed until she shook. ”Hahaha, you’re so funny. Yuanshi, you really should come to the office more often. With you here, Sis will never be bored again.”

***

The two left the glass building and entered the Public Security Bureau headquarters, where Guan Ya led him to the technical department with practiced ease.

After the technical staff carefully inquired about the killer’s facial features, they spent a full two hours reconstructing the killer’s approximate appearance.

Zhang Yuanqing stroked his chin as he looked it over, then commented, ”It looks somewhat similar, but somehow not quite right.”

The veteran technician, experienced as he was, pondered the question for a moment, then said, ”Is it the features, or the aura?”

”The aura, I guess,” Zhang Yuanqing replied. ”The killer gave off a very vicious aura.”

”How vicious exactly? Can you describe it specifically? I know this is hard to put into words. It would be best to have a reference.”

”It’s like seeing a movie villain beating up the innocent from the very start.”

”Very good.”

When the revised sketch was completed and shown to him, Zhang Yuanqing nodded with satisfaction, saying, ”That’s about right. It’s around seventy to eighty percent similar.”

Then, by comparing the sketch against the population database, they locked onto their target.

”Ou Xiangrong, from Wushi, Jiangnan Province, long term resident of Songhai City. In 2012, he was sentenced to prison for intentional assault. After his release, there’s been no trace of him.”

Sitting in her office chair, Guan Ya broke into a smile, declaring, ”With this information, we can catch him by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

”That fast?”

”You need to trust the capabilities of the authorities and the Scouts,” Guan Ya said with a laugh. 

She stood up and walked out of the room. 

”Yuanshi, your work is complete. You can return to school. You don’t need to worry about what follows. Although Nocturnal Specters have extremely high combat power, you don’t possess a warrior’s courage and psychological qualities yet.”

”Understood,” Zhang Yuanqing replied cheerfully.

***

Back in his office in the glass building, Li Dongze finished reading the materials Guan Ya sent him. He opened the ”Kangyang District Spirit Realm Walker Management Group” and updated the killer’s information in the group chat.

Big Muscle: That new Nocturnal Specter of ours is quite efficient. Already determined the killer’s identity.

Water Drifter: @LiDongze, how does it feel having a Nocturnal Specter subordinate you can command at will?

Li Dongze: It feels quite good.

Tang Guoqiang sent a red packet.

White Dragon: Alright, stop gloating. Let’s deploy quickly. Notify Songhai Public Security Headquarters to arrange personnel for strict inspections of all vehicles entering and leaving Songhai City. Notify all district Spirit Realm teams to be ready to cooperate with our manhunt at any time. Hopefully Ou Xiangrong hasn’t escaped Songhai City yet.

The killer had committed the crime that morning, and five or six hours had already passed. Setting Spirit Realm Walkers aside, even an ordinary person who made preparations in advance would have already fled Songhai City.

Ordinary people could be tracked through surveillance, but tracking Spirit Realm Walkers was much more difficult.

Green Vine: Perhaps his escaping Songhai City would actually be a good thing, compared to an Evil Walker waiting to take revenge on the authorities.

The latter would mean Spirit Realm Walkers from official organizations would face assassination.

Li Dongze: He won’t leave Songhai City.

Big Muscle: Why are you so certain?

Li Dongze: If Ou Xiangrong only wanted to kill Zhao Yingjun, he would have acted long ago. Even with the aid of a Nocturnal Specter, he would have been able to flee Songhai City by the time we locked onto his identity. So why choose this particular moment?

Big Muscle: Don’t keep us in suspense. Just say it.

Green Vine: Is it still about revenge against the authorities?

Li Dongze: No, things are probably more complicated. My Nocturnal Specter saw some clues in Zhao Yingjun’s memories. Ou Xiangrong interrogated Zhao Yingjun about the Holy Grail and the Registry.

Holy Grail? Registry? While the other captains were using their brains to think about what those two items could be, Big Muscle fired off a question directly.

Big Muscle: What are those things?

Li Dongze ignored him. After waiting a while and seeing that his colleagues hadn’t expressed any opinions about the Holy Grail and the Registry, he could only helplessly skip over the matter.

Li Dongze: Let’s set aside the Holy Grail and the Registry for now. It’s time to act.