Chapter 385: Unveiling the Qi Refiners

Zhai Jia tilted his head toward Wan Ze, putting on a spot-on impression. “He said… ‘Bro, call a couple of girls for me, will ya? I’ve been holding it in for so long, I really can’t take it anymore.'”

Wan Ze couldn’t help but laugh.

Seeing Wan Ze’s reaction, Zhai Jia slapped the back of his hand against the steering wheel. “Fucking hilarious, right? But if I hadn’t stopped him back there, Brother Yu probably would’ve killed the guy on the spot.”

A snort came from the back seat.

Zhai Yu was leaning back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed.

‘Xiaojia was right. I really did have that thought at the time.’

‘We wasted over an hour, and this is what we get?’

‘I must’ve been out of my mind to listen to Zhai Jia’s method. What a huge embarrassment.’

Wan Ze shook his head and laughed. “Asking for girls? I can’t believe he even came up with that… But then again, still waters run deep, huh.”

“COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!” Zhai Jia nearly choked. He turned his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Dude, is that really how you use that idiom?”

Wan Ze just chuckled softly and didn’t answer.

Zhai Jia shook his head, turned back to face the road, and muttered, “So it turns out you’re a closet freak, Ah Ze, just like Brother Yu.”

Wan Ze: “???”

From the back seat, Zhai Yu opened his eyes. “Are you sure you won’t be satisfied until I throw you out of this car?”

Zhai Jia coughed dryly.

He backed down instantly.

Still, he muttered under his breath, “So a guy can’t even speak the truth anymore?”

“So, Ah Ze…” Zhai Yu couldn’t be bothered with Zhai Jia and turned to the front passenger seat, asking in a low voice, “You wanted to investigate Xiao Yunkai before. Was it also because of the banned substances?”

He had just started chasing this lead and thought Wan Ze already knew about it.

If Wan Ze really had a lead, then the Divine Martial Society was doomed this time!

“Banned substances? What banned substances?” Wan Ze was taken aback.

“I guess not, then.” Zhai Yu was also a bit baffled and just stared silently.

Wan Ze fell silent.

He was thinking about how to put it.

Zhai Jia glanced at Zhai Yu in the rearview mirror, then at Wan Ze. Seeing that Wan Ze didn’t answer right away, his lips moved as if he subconsciously wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

The car was quiet for a few seconds.

Wan Ze sat up straight and said seriously, “I didn’t plan on telling you before because I was worried you’d get dragged into trouble. But now… I still think you should be mentally prepared.”

Zhai Yu was stunned.

He didn’t know what to say.

But Zhai Jia couldn’t help but say, “Ah Ze, don’t be so serious. The more serious you get, the more I have to pee. For real.”

“…Are you sure you want to hear this? What I’m about to say is very dangerous. You could end up in a hopeless situation.”

As soon as Wan Ze finished speaking, Zhai Yu said in a heavy tone, “So you’re involved in it now. There’s no way Xiaojia and I are just going to sit back and do nothing. Tell us.”

Wan Ze looked at him earnestly. To be honest, he was a little moved.

After a moment, he nodded, took a deep breath, and lowered his voice. “Alright, I’ll be direct. I suspect… Xiao Yunkai is connected to Qi Refiners.”

Zhai Yu’s expression changed in an instant, his pupils contracting slightly.

‘Qi… Refiner?’

The two words shot through Zhai Yu’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

His scalp tingled instantly.

He even thought he had misheard.

After all his years at the Police Headquarters, he’d interrogated hundreds, if not thousands, of people. He’d experienced more than Wan Ze and Zhai Jia combined. His poker face had been forged through countless trials, allowing him to remain unfazed ninety-nine percent of the time.

But now, for the first time, a look of utter bewilderment appeared on his perpetually steady face.

He didn’t seem to dare believe what he had just heard.

He opened his mouth, wanting to find the right word to express his feelings, but unfortunately… he couldn’t.

After a moment of silence.

Zhai Yu chose his words carefully. “Ah Ze, could you… could you say that again? I don’t think I… heard you clearly.”

Zhai Jia, however, had a look of sudden realization.

He had guessed wrong before, too.

When Wan Ze had asked him to investigate Xiao Yunkai, he assumed it was because of the banned substances. After all, Xiao Yunkai was from the Divine Martial Society, so the possibility of him being involved in drug trafficking couldn’t be ruled out. It was understandable that Wan Ze would want to dig up clues about the Divine Martial Society through him.

But later, Wan Ze had mentioned Qi Refiners to him in passing. At that point, he’d had a faint feeling that Wan Ze’s investigation into Xiao Yunkai might not be about banned substances, but… something else.

He just hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Zhai Yu.

Zhai Jia glanced at Zhai Yu in the rearview mirror. It was the first time he’d ever seen such an expression on Brother Yu’s face.

The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t smile.

Because Zhai Jia also knew what the words “Qi Refiner” meant to Zhai Yu.

It wasn’t a new term, after all.

It was something that existed in legends, but almost everyone believed it to be fictional.

But at a time like this, to suddenly be told that this thing was real, and that someone you knew was involved with it… the shock wasn’t something an ordinary person could immediately process.

He remembered how, when Wan Ze had first brought it up, he had been dying to investigate it himself. But Wan Ze had warned him against it, so he had pretended like nothing ever happened.

It had been absolute torture for him to keep it bottled up.

The car drove along the empty road, streetlights flashing past one after another.

“What you just said… were the words ‘Qi Refiner’?” Zhai Yu asked again.

“Yes, you heard me right.” Wan Ze nodded.

Zhai Yu leaned back against his seat, stunned for a moment. His expression was complicated as he said, “Ah Ze, Qi Refiners… what kind of world is that, exactly?”

Wan Ze had actually expected them to ask that.

In that instant, a thousand thoughts ran through his mind.

His gaze swept over the nightscape outside the windshield. After two seconds of silence, he gave an answer that didn’t seem to match the question. “Brother Yu, have you ever had a dream?”

Zhai Yu was slightly taken aback.

The question… made him keenly aware of something.

At this, Zhai Jia couldn’t help but cut in with a laugh. “Of course we have. All three of us have had dreams, right? But Ah Ze, with you asking so suddenly, I think I’m guessing what this is about… Wait, that look on your face… No way. Is it really as ridiculous as I’m thinking?”