Chapter 57: Replication (8)
57 – Replication (8)
The favorability rating of this armed police brigade was truly a puzzling thing—Lin Xun could understand needing to build favor with elders of the Immortal Sect, but what connection did he have with the Chaoyang District armed police brigade? Did he really need to campaign for “Top Ten Good Citizen”?
Lin Xun had no desire to compete with security guards to become a “Top Ten Good Citizen.” He was more inclined to believe the system was creating opportunities for him to claim rewards.
Moreover, doing missions was like playing games or studying—when you received a task with rewards, you couldn’t help but want to complete it.
Thinking this, Lin Xun struck up a conversation with Officer Cao: “Would you mind sharing what kind of case this is?”
Officer Cao didn’t answer but instead looked at him: “What about you?”
Lin Xun cleared his throat softly, his expression unchanged: “To be honest, I’m a disciple of Master Huo from Chaoyang Residential Area. My master is often invited by families in need to perform rituals.”
Officer Cao: “Young people shouldn’t engage in feudal superstitions.”
“I have no choice,” Lin Xun said. “It’s a family tradition.”
Officer Cao: “Young people need to study hard to have a future.”
Lin Xun: “Yes, I haven’t neglected my studies.”
Officer Cao showed a satisfied expression.
Lin Xun then recounted yesterday’s events: “In Building D of this residential area… there’s an elderly lady living with her grandson. Her grandson has been talking nonsense and having seizures every night these past few days, so the old lady invited my master to check the feng shui and exorcise evil spirits.”
A thoughtful look appeared in Officer Cao’s eyes: “And then?”
Lin Xun: “My master entered their home to perform the ritual and has already eliminated the evil presence. But my master said there’s something suspicious about their household, that things might not be simple, so he sent me here to continue investigating.”
Officer Cao looked at the building behind them: “This one?”
Lin Xun: “First floor.”
“The child is named Li Xiaoming, first grade this year?” Officer Cao said. “Living with his grandmother, now essentially a half-left-behind child.”
Lin Xun: “Is the case you’re handling related to this?”
Officer Cao said: “It might be related.”
Lin Xun: “How so?”
Officer Cao didn’t speak for a moment, gazing at the distant lawn before finally saying: “Did your master say anything else?”
Lin Xun: “He did.”
He looked tentatively at Officer Cao: “My master said someone might have died in their home—is this a murder case?”
Officer Cao frowned: “I’m handling a major case. The female head of this household is connected to it, but it’s not a murder case.”
Since the two were related, he needed to find a way to get involved. Lin Xun immediately said: “I’m quite capable in a fight. I can help you.”
Officer Cao seemed thoughtful: “You do seem quite capable.”
Lin Xun: “Another friend of mine will be here soon. He’s just as capable as I am.”
Officer Cao: “The friend with the stick? The two of you took down over a dozen people that day.”
Lin Xun: “…Not him, another friend. Our martial arts cultivation is quite high.”
Officer Cao looked at him with suspicion. Lin Xun felt Officer Cao was scrutinizing him, this misguided youth engaged in feudal superstitions.
As they were talking, a dazzling figure approached from the distance.
Qi Yun was dressed both flamboyantly and brightly today, with studs on his black clothes and shoes like a social rock youth. But he carried an incongruous rectangular black box on his back—Lin Xun guessed this was his sword case.
Qi Yun walked over, his voice exaggerated: “What are you waiting for, Daddy?”
Lin Xun saw Officer Cao frown.
Lin Xun gestured toward Officer Cao and said to Qi Yun: “This is our friend, Officer Cao, a police officer serving the people.”
Qi Yun still had some decency. He rolled his eyes and dropped the exaggerated attitude: “I’m Qi Yun, a singer and dancer.”
Officer Cao: “You look somewhat familiar.”
Qi Yun seemed to know that the trending topic he had been on that day wasn’t exactly respectable, so he didn’t boast about it to Officer Cao.
It was now 5:10 p.m.
Officer Cao: “What are you waiting for?”
Lin Xun checked the time and said, “Waiting for their child to come home from school. It should be soon.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two people turned a corner on the neighborhood road and walked over—it was the old lady from the other day, holding her grandson’s hand.
The child was carrying a backpack, clearly having just returned from school. His face was thin and slightly pale, a clear result of the torment he had endured over the past few days.
But then Officer Cao said: “The issue isn’t with the child.”
He glanced at his watch, then at Qi Yun, and said: “My task today is just to scout and gather evidence. The two of you, don’t make any commotion.”
Lin Xun agreed.
Officer Cao then led them in a certain direction, circling around the side of the building.
As they walked, Officer Cao began telling a story.
This didn’t make logical sense, Lin Xun knew. Matters like police investigations and casework were generally not disclosed to unrelated individuals, regardless of the considerations—yet Officer Cao was being extremely friendly toward him.
He thought this might be the effect of a favorability bonus.
Officer Cao’s story began with a call to the police six days ago.
At exactly midnight that day, the dispatcher received a call. When she answered, there was no sound on the other end, and the call hung up after five seconds.
Based on her basic training as a dispatcher, she immediately called back, but the number turned out to be invalid.
The same thing happened over the next few days.
The situation was too bizarre. After she reported it, the relevant personnel traced the signal and located it within this neighborhood.
Midnight.
Lin Xun immediately thought of the child who fell ill every day at midnight.
He shared this information with Officer Cao.
Officer Cao said: “Sometimes, there might indeed be supernatural phenomena. However, clues from another case also point to this building.”
Lin Xun: “Another one?”
Officer Cao: “A few days ago, you reported to the police and helped us apprehend a group of young people gathering to use drugs. They were using a type of soft drug with a simple manufacturing process, requiring no complex steps—a small workshop could produce it. But this variety was seized for the first time. Over the past few days, we’ve been tracking the source of the drugs but haven’t made any progress. On the day those young people were apprehended, the suspect involved in the drug transaction with them disappeared. However, after receiving that mysterious call, we began monitoring the situation in the neighborhood and spotted the suspect in the surveillance footage. We discovered that the drugs likely originated from this neighborhood.”
At this point, Officer Cao sighed: “The greatest concealment is in plain sight. Criminals are becoming bolder these days, daring to do such things in residential areas. I never expected something like this to happen in Chaoyang District.”
Lin Xun: “So, have you found the exact address?”
Officer Cao: “We suspect it’s in the basement of this building, but we haven’t pinpointed the exact room yet. This group is highly vigilant, so the police haven’t acted rashly. After today’s final investigation and evidence collection, we’ll close the net immediately.”
The basement, again.
All the trouble seemed to sprout from underground. Lin Xun was almost starting to suspect that the demon realm was hidden right beneath their feet.
As they walked, Qi Yun suddenly said, “Reporting, Officer, there really seems to be something off here.”
Officer Cao: “What is it?”
Qi Yun raised an eyebrow. “There’s the sound of machinery. I can hear it.”
Then, he turned to Lin Xun. “You, why didn’t you hear it? You must not have been practicing Cultivation properly if you can’t even pick up on such a faint sound.”
As soon as he said this, Lin Xun immediately realized that the sounds were indeed different.
After starting Cultivation, his senses had sharpened considerably. The surrounding sounds were layered into several levels, and if he focused, he could almost hear the sound of a tiny insect landing on a blade of grass. However, overly detailed sounds could also be a nuisance, so unless it was a special circumstance, Lin Xun wouldn’t deliberately try to catch abnormal sounds—but Qi Yun had been practicing Cultivation since childhood and was much more skilled in this regard than he was.
He calmed his mind, immersing his consciousness into the world of sounds, and indeed heard a rhythmic, machine-like whirring coming from the right, accompanied by faint beeping sounds and the indistinct hum of blowing air.
Household appliances generally didn’t produce such sounds.
He looked to the right.
This residential area was even older than Chaoyang Community. The basements were paired with each building, lined up in a row, with only an extremely narrow frosted glass window slightly above ground level, fitted with anti-theft bars.
The sound was coming from below.
He said, “I can hear it too.”
“You’re not good enough,” Qi Yun said. “I’m in vocal music, so I’m much more professional than you.”
Lin Xun: “Shouting into a mic counts as vocal music?”
Qi Yun: “You don’t have enough respect for rap.”
Lin Xun chuckled.
Producing chemical substances would definitely require equipment. And where there was equipment, there would inevitably be mechanical sounds—especially since chemical instruments were much more powerful than regular appliances, so noise was unavoidable. This noise might not mean much to ordinary people, but for him and Qi Yun, it was enough.
In front of the police, Qi Yun was surprisingly much more well-behaved. Instead of continuing to argue with Lin Xun, he obediently said, “Reporting, Officer, I can pinpoint which window the sound is coming from. I request permission to confront them immediately. Lin Suan and I are both very capable fighters. We don’t need any backup at all. You can just wait here.”
As if out of habit, he drew his sword from the long, rectangular case on his back.
The blade was thin, slender, about half a meter long. Its edge gleamed coldly in the sunlight, clearly sharpened—it looked like it could slice through hair with a single blow.
Lin Xun: “!”
He thought to himself, “Have you lost your mind, you sword cultivator? Pulling this out is a surefire way to get detained for possessing a controlled weapon.”
—Forget it, Qi Yun’s intelligence had always been like this. He never went offline because he was never online in the first place. Maybe a few days of criticism and education at the police station would do him some good.
Sure enough, almost simultaneously, Officer Cao’s brow twitched violently. “What is this?”
Qi Yun froze.
Officer Cao’s expression turned serious, his gaze fixed intently on the sword.
Qi Yun looked at Lin Xun as if seeking help.
The next second—Qi Yun’s eyes shifted slightly, and he suddenly channeled Spiritual Power into his sword!
The longsword began to glow with a white light—similar to that of an incandescent lamp.
Officer Cao’s brows furrowed even tighter. “What exactly is this?”
Qi Yun: “…A glow stick.”