Chapter 57—Details
Chapter 57: Chapter 57—Details
Chapter 57—Details
"What’s wrong?"
City Lord Min peered in as Chief Constable Jiao picked up the paper. Together, they read it.
City Magistrate Po, this is Fen Ming. I am a Bizarre Cultivator. I, along with two others under my lead, rushed out to Azure Cloud City. On the way into the city, we found signs of Bizarre Creatures in many cities.
I sent my underlings to the other cities to check, and we indeed confirmed there’s a massive conspiracy. For now, Azure Cloud City has to survive alone. Sorry, Magistrate—we’ll lend you a hand once we deal with this survival problem.
—Fen Ming, Three-Star Bizarre Suppressor.
The letter slipped from Chief Constable Jiao’s fingers. For several long breaths, no one in the room spoke.
City Lord Min slammed his fist into the table, breaking it into pieces without even realizing it. Bang!
Chief Constable Jiao stood up and grabbed his hair in frustration. "What now, City Magistrate Po?"
City Magistrate Po’s eyes turned dim. The City Lord paced back and forth across the room.
The Chief Constable sighed. "If only we had agreed to request Lei Cheng’s help..."
"Yes."
The City Lord’s and City Magistrate’s eyes shone brightly. The City Magistrate grinned. "We, Azure Cloud City, can still survive!"
He clapped his hands. Clap!
A maid in plain violet cotton robes entered the room. The City Magistrate turned toward the City Lord, who nodded and ordered, "Go. Call Lei Cheng."
The maid nodded and walked out.
Lei Cheng stepped into Constabulary Street and stopped, taking in a sharp breath. Hua Mingyue didn’t come along. Only he rushed out, since it wasn’t her who had agreed to help.
The entire road was packed with people. Constables were struggling to keep order while screams and tears rose from every direction.
Near the courtyard entrance, dead children’s bodies lay lined up—Some were half-eaten, while others had been reduced to little more than skeletons. There were more than a hundred at a glance. People searched, looking one by one with trembling, tearful eyes.
Every family silently prayed that the next body wouldn’t belong to someone they loved.
"No... it’s not mine... It’s not my kid!" An old man fell to his knees, staring deeply at a dead child’s body, about four years old. There was a small copper chain tied to the child’s right ankle. He fell silent, but his shoulders were shaking.
After a few moments, the old man picked up the dead body. "Let’s go home, grandson."
No tears came anymore. Grief had already gone far beyond that.
His back bent low. All of a sudden, he couldn’t straighten it again as he walked trembling out of the street. Around him, no one tried to comfort the old man. They had all lost someone of their own. He was not alone on his way back; many others followed him out, holding dead bodies.
Lei Cheng, who wanted to comfort them, couldn’t bring himself to speak. His right hand hung in midair.
The constables clenched their fists and bit their lips, unable to do anything. The fat constable sank to the ground, no longer caring about his position or dignity.
Lei Cheng closed his eyes. ’I need to find that Bizarre Creature.’ His scowl deepened. ’I’ll make sure to kill you painfully... for eating these kids... No mercy.’
Suddenly, a thin woman entered the street with tears falling down her face. She rushed in front of the fat constable sitting by the courtyard and knelt before him, holding his hands.
"Officer, it’s been almost two months. Did you find my son?"
The fat constable’s eyes turned red. His hair hung low as he raised his head. ’The first report, yet we didn’t find the Bizarre Creature nor her kid.’ He shook his head and stood up. "No. We failed."
Those three words seemed heavier than every report he had written over the past months.
The woman grabbed the man’s collar. "You officer, what kind of officer are you?!" She banged her hands against his chest and broke into raw crying. "You’re pathetic! Useless!"
She let go of him and fell down. "I don’t even know whether my son is alive or dead."
Lei Cheng walked to the constable and released a wave of green Life Intent, which spread throughout the street. ’This is all I can do for now,’ he thought.
The people whose throats had gone dry from crying, and those who had fainted from emotion, recovered slowly.
Lei Cheng walked forward and asked the fat constable, "What’s going on? Didn’t you even find any clue?"
"Who are you?" The fat constable narrowed his eyes.
"I’m Lei Cheng," Lei Cheng introduced himself.
The constable’s expression changed instantly. He grabbed Lei Cheng’s hands. "The Chief Constable finally agreed? They requested your help?"
Before Lei Cheng could question him, the fat constable pulled him toward the courtyard. They entered the main hall, passed into the constabulary building, and entered one of the rooms. Lei Cheng noticed it was clean, with plain furniture. The constables were rushing out; not many remained inside.
The fat constable pulled him through a few corridor doors and took him into a room. Lei Cheng entered.
It was a plain room with a few paintings and a large table, seemingly used for meetings. The table had ten seats on each side. Lei Cheng pulled out one chair and sat down.
The fat constable sat beside him. "I’m Constable Zhu... Zhu Lin." He introduced himself.
"Explain," Lei Cheng said, nodding.
The man cleared his throat.
"Exactly one month and twenty-five days ago, a woman came to the constabulary asking for help in finding her son..." He explained everything in detail.
"So you mean many kids are missing, and the next day their dead bodies are found?" Lei Cheng clarified.
"Yes," Constable Zhu nodded. "Indeed, that’s the case."
Lei Cheng raised his brows. "Not just kids—even many young people and the elderly are missing."
Constable Zhu nodded. "Yes, but they are too few."
’It seems not all Bizarre Creatures are united.’ Lei Cheng frowned. ’So the children are probably being taken by the one Bizarre Creature that invoked the rule.’
Constable Zhu sighed. "When the Fu Clan’s third young master was kidnapped, the entire constabulary turned upside down from the pressure of the Fu Clan patriarch."
’The second dandy of Azure Cloud City.’ Lei Cheng recalled the Fu Clan’s third young master and didn’t care about his life or death.
A maid entered the room and placed a cup of tea in front of Lei Cheng. He picked it up, took a sip, and asked, "Any common features between these kids?"
Constable Zhu thought about it.
"They’re all under five years old... and cute."
Lei Cheng nodded. "Under five and cute."
He continued questioning. "Which areas have the highest number of kidnappings?"
"In the beginning, it was the outer city," the fat constable replied, "but later, the kidnapping cases went to the inner city as well." He sighed, clenching his fists. "Even the Tei Clan’s ninth young master, who was four years old, was kidnapped."
Lei Cheng clicked his tongue. ’Tei Clan. Even if it’s one of the great clans of Azure Cloud City, it doesn’t matter as they lack a Bizarre Cultivator.’
"At what time do the kidnappings happen?" He took a sip.
"Random," Zhu Lin replied instantly.
"And what condition are the victims in when taken?" Lei Cheng asked, putting down his cup.
"At first they were all clean," the constable said, recalling. "But after the kidnapping rate increased, we ordered that every child smear something on their face so they would look ordinary."
Lei Cheng frowned. "So that didn’t work."
"It didn’t work. Some even smeared cow dung on their faces, some applied foul-smelling liquids—they were still kidnapped." Zhu Lin shook his head, clenching the edge of the table until it almost cracked.
’Bizarre creature saw right through them.’ Lei Cheng set his teacup down after taking the last sip.
A maid who had been standing nearby moved forward with a fresh tea jar. She began to pour.
Lei Cheng’s gaze froze on the maid.
"Bizarre Qi." His eyes narrowed, "Supreme Nine Yang intent."
Pressure spread faintly through the room, the air becoming heavy as white-gold energy emitted from Lei Cheng’s body like waves. The suffocating silence that followed felt far heavier than the pressure itself.
The pouring stopped halfway, as the cup fell from the maid’s hands. Crack!
Lei Cheng’s voice turned cold.
"Who are you?"