Chapter Eighteen: Blue Bird

Within a strange, dark chapel, a towering figure in a scarlet cloak sat upon a colossal throne assembled entirely from flesh and bone, head bowed as he stared down at the floor.

“You have done well, Blood Shadow.”

The cold voice echoed through the small, dim chapel.

It carried no trace of emotion and was so neutral that one could not tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

On the floor below, a middle-aged man kneeling on one knee wore a fanatical expression. He lowered his head even farther, nearly prostrating himself against the ground.

“All for the Mother of Flesh and Blood!”

At that moment, however, the dark and silent chapel was suddenly filled with the sound of wings beating.

“Who’s there?!”

The tall figure on the throne of flesh sprang to his feet.

Not far away, out of the darkness, a tiny blue bird the size of a palm flew straight toward him.

This small, shadowed chapel was completely sealed, with no windows, and the passageway at the entrance had long since been shut. Clearly, this blue bird had not entered by any ordinary means.

The man who had been lying prostrate on the floor suddenly dissolved into a mist of blood. When he reappeared, he was already standing before the flesh-built seat and the towering shadow.

“Leader, be careful!”

The blue bird came to an abrupt stop in midair. As its short beak opened and closed, it somehow spoke in the sweet voice of a woman.

“For the Blood Cherry Society to actually make the Bureau suffer such a loss, that is indeed a notable achievement…”

“However, you may not know this, but… disaster is already upon you.”

The little bird fluttered its wings, as though something had just occurred to it.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself first. My name is Hao Ying, from the Free Alliance. I came here to save the Blood Cherry Society…”

The leader snorted coldly and stepped forward, moving past the middle-aged man known as Blood Shadow who blocked his way.

“Ridiculous. With the protection of the Mother of Flesh and Blood, who are you to point fingers at us?”

He raised a pale hand like that of a vampire. A blood-red line emerged from the center of his palm and instantly spread into a cloud of crimson mist.

In the blink of an eye, the mist solidified into substance, completely enveloping the blue bird.

Crack, crack, crack.

In an instant, the blue bird was ground into pulp by the countless strands of blood mist that had turned tangible.

Yet the next moment, another flutter of wings sounded from the darkness in the distance, and Hao Ying’s sweet voice drifted out from within it.

“It’s all right. People only truly regret things after they have suffered for them. Sooner or later, you will understand what I mean. I will come again, honored Leader Ning…”

Her voice grew more and more ethereal, more and more distant, before vanishing entirely into the dark chapel.

“Leader…”

The middle-aged man looked toward the leader beside him, somewhat stunned.

The Blood Cherry Society’s leader withdrew his hand with a thoughtful expression and turned away, the scarlet cloak behind him swaying as he moved.

“From now on, do not come here again.”

…

The Investigation Bureau.

Lin Lei spent three full days in the Quiet Chamber.

Every day, Li Xueshu came to administer an injection.

His mental state and degree of corruption recovered quickly.

Within those three days, he could no longer hear the faint, lingering whispers, and the ringing in his ears had also eased considerably.

And after the settlement of his previous mission, he received nearly a thousand investigation points.

After all, with a half-demon involved, Lin Lei had practically killed the enemy single-handedly, and the mission had even reached the standard of a third-tier investigation assignment.

Afterward, Lin Lei came to the Investigation Bureau’s equipment department and first applied for another alloy blade.

During his fight with Blood Fox, the alloy blade in his hand had acquired many new notches and chips.

After that, he began browsing the various potions.

In truth, with the number of investigation points he now had, he could even afford to exchange for some low-tier source artifacts.

It was just that the ones he could afford were all inferior products among low-tier source artifacts, with rather useless abilities.

Things like a flashlight that could glow without batteries, or a tissue packet that automatically replenished one sheet of paper each day…

“Even among low-tier source artifacts, the truly valuable ones usually cost investigation points in the tens of thousands. With just over a thousand points, I can only buy this trash…”

Of course, Lin Lei could also spend a small number of investigation points to rent certain source artifacts. However, the rented artifacts all had seals imposed upon them, and at Second Realm cultivation, Lin Lei still could not make use of them.

Shaking his head, he began to inspect the potion list.

As his strength increased and his number of investigation points grew, the kinds of potions he could exchange for had also expanded.

Soon, he spotted one that would be very useful to him.

Blood-Restoring Potion.

A potion used to replenish blood loss in the injured.

This could be considered a kind of healing potion, but for Lin Lei, it was a replenishing potion that could restore the consumption caused by Boiling Blood.

One bottle cost one hundred and fifty investigation points. It was fair to say it was very expensive, but its effect on Lin Lei was excellent, so he decisively bought three bottles.

Besides the Blood-Restoring Potion, he also bought two bottles of the advanced version of the Truth Serum, the Bewildering Potion.

The effect of the Truth Serum was limited. It was fine when used on ordinary people, but its effect would be greatly reduced against source energy users.

After that, he bought some basic enhancement potions and healing potions as well, consuming nearly half of his investigation points before leaving the Investigation Bureau.

Only then did he get in his car and head home.

But when he arrived at his front door, he found that something was not right.

Qi Fangyan’s door stood wide open. The living room inside was somewhat disordered, and one flowerpot had been smashed.

Lin Lei frowned and went inside, examining the scene.

“It shouldn’t involve any source energy users…”

Although the home was somewhat messy, there were clearly no signs of source energy users.

“So it wasn’t for little Thirteen.”

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow.

In truth, he also did not believe that the people from the Devouring Serpent could have arrived here in just a few days.

But his already unstable emotions were once again stoked with anger.

He immediately took out his phone and called Qi Fangyan.

The call connected quickly.

“Sis Yan, where are you? Are you all right?”

But the one who answered was not Qi Fangyan, but another woman’s voice.

“Are you Qi Fangyan’s younger brother? I’m from the Upper District Security Bureau…”

The Security Bureau?

A subtle feeling rose in Lin Lei’s heart. Thinking of the disorder in Qi Fangyan’s home, he slightly lifted his brows.

“Yes. What happened to my sister?”

The woman’s tone carried a hint of subtlety.

“Don’t worry, Qi Fangyan is fine. She just had some conflict with other people, and we’re mediating now… sigh, the situation is a little complicated. Would it be convenient for you to come by?”

Hearing that she was unharmed, Lin Lei let out a breath of relief, but his brow soon furrowed again.

Given Qi Fangyan’s personality, would she really get into a conflict with other people?

He felt that this was not so simple. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “I’ll be right there.”

He went straight downstairs and headed out.

“From now on, I’ll also be going out often to carry out missions. If I suffer corruption more severely again some time, won’t I have to be locked in the Quiet Chamber for a few more days? I need to find a way to increase Sis Yan and Little Thirteen’s ability to protect themselves…”

Leaving aside the Devouring Serpent, they were not likely to come looking for him in the short term anyway.

But as someone from the Investigation Bureau, Lin Lei’s future enemies would inevitably be source energy users and the like. If he were truly targeted by a mad cult like the Blood Cherry Society, then even if Lin Lei himself was not afraid, he would still have to worry about the people around him…