Chapter 28: Resurrection is a Miracle! [4K]
Although the average combat power of the Shancheng Siye Society seems somewhat mediocre due to the presence of Lin Kule dragging them down, the collaboration among the operatives, each specialized in different fields, results in surprisingly high work efficiency.
Not long after Luxianbei left, the operatives of the Shancheng Siye Society rushed to the alley under Qixinggang and found Jiang Li, who had already shed her disguise.
Perhaps disturbed from a deep dream, one of the operatives—a middle-aged man with a physically imposing figure and a lot of hair, resembling a male gorilla—had been grumbling and cursing since he appeared.
When he saw Lin Kule lying unconscious next to Jiang Li, his expression suddenly changed. He strode up to Lin Kule, rudely checked her condition, then glared at Jiang Li and said, “Who allowed you to bring her to a place like this?”
“Do you know she is not good at direct combat? If something happens to her in her current state, don’t expect your evaluation to pass!”
“Are you done?” Jiang Li said expressionlessly, “Lin Kule fainted from fear, she is not injured.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man suddenly looked like he was in a drunken stupor, his face turning red, his mouth moving a few times but unable to speak for a while.
His apprentice, scared to the point of fainting from an urban legend, and he hadn’t even clarified the situation before scolding someone else—it was quite embarrassing. “I care about her just like you do. If you work with me, I will definitely ensure her safety,” Jiang Li said.
Although Lin Kule hadn’t had the chance to introduce her master to Jiang Li, judging by the middle-aged man’s reaction, he should be Lin Kule’s master—Zhong Hui, the top operative of the Shancheng Siye Society.
It is said that with his talent, he could advance to a Calamity tier at any time, becoming the Society’s new protector.
After briefly explaining the discoveries made underground at Han Ye Studio to Zhong Hui, Jiang Li turned to walk towards the black multipurpose vehicle parked not far away, where the file management operatives of the Shancheng Siye Society and several Special Action Team members were sorting through the personal belongings of the artist.
The file management operative was a slim young man, wearing glasses with lenses thicker than the bottom of a beer bottle, his hair disheveled, and missing an arm. He was currently bent over in the multipurpose vehicle, operating a laptop with one hand, completely focused.
Arriving in front of the black vehicle, Jiang Li walked around the Special Action Team members who were carrying boxed items onto the vehicle and paused behind the young operative. After observing for a minute or two, she nodded slightly and secretly praised, “Very high standard.”
With her strong personality and as someone from the Huacheng Siye Society responsible for similar matters, she couldn’t help but compare the young man to herself. That he could earn her genuine praise showed his high level of competence.
After observing for a couple of minutes, the young man finally noticed her presence. His cheeks flushed slightly as he stammered, “Jiang, Jiang Li, do you need something?”
“Can I take a look at the information you sorted out?” Jiang Li asked.
“Of course!” the young man replied, his face reddening, “I, I heard Sister Kule say you are also responsible for file management in Huacheng, right? These are the ones I have sorted out so far.”
As he spoke, he turned the computer screen to face Jiang Li.
The screen displayed two folders, one titled “Tan Qiuming Personal Information” and the other titled “Tan Qiuming Artwork Buyer Personal Information Summary.”
“Tan Qiuming?” Jiang Li tilted her head and asked, “Isn’t he the person involved in the previous international student mining site s*icide incident?” If the artist was indeed Tan Qiuming, then he was tied to even more criminal cases.
Although some Siye Society operatives became desensitized to the shocking killings committed by suspects when facing urban legend cases or spirit energy attacks, subconsciously thinking that a few or a dozen victims didn’t make much difference—after all, it was all about bl**d debts and retribution—Jiang Li never thought that way.
In her eyes, every innocent life that was lost was a crime. Murdering ten people was different from murdering eleven people!
This was also why she was always worried that Luxianbei might go astray. If one day he couldn’t control his urban legend instincts and harmed innocent people, she felt she might forgive him but wouldn’t know how to face him.
“Here’s the thing,” the young man explained, “Earlier when we were searching that studio, we found four documents that could prove the artist’s identity. However, apart from the photos being of the same person, the names, ages, and addresses were completely different.”
“One of the driver’s licenses we found had the name Tan Qiuming written on it, so I unilaterally decided to provisionally name him Tan Qiuming.”
Worrying that Jiang Li might doubt his professionalism, the young man paused before hurriedly adding, “But this is not the final draft! Once verified, I’ll make corrections.”
Like Lin Kule, the young man also seemed to specialize in information analysis and management.
In fact, the Shancheng Siye Society operated under a model where every operative had their own duties except for their night shifts. However, due to a shortage of talent, this could only be implemented in large cities and could not extend to every city within Z Country.
“Can you show me those four documents?” Jiang Li asked, “My spirit pattern ability allows me to discern authenticity, which might help a bit.”
“Really? That’s great! Please wait a moment while I find them.” The young man said, then jogged around to the vehicle door, climbed inside, and began rummaging through the boxed evidence.
While the young man was searching for Tan Qiuming’s documents, Jiang Li clicked open the other folder—“Tan Qiuming Artwork Buyer Personal Information Summary” and began browsing.
Zhang Chen, Male, 44 years old, Founder of X Network Company, currently hospitalized long-term due to malignant liver tumor. Wang Shiyi, Female, 21 years old, College student, currently hospitalized due to malignant bone atrophy.
Zhang Shuisheng, Male, 75 years old.
As she went through the information, noticing the highlighted illness records, Jiang Li’s brow furrowed slightly.
Without exception, all the people who had purchased paintings from Tan Qiuming were suffering from malignant tumors, and the woman who had just committed s*icide from unbearable pain was one of them.
Why would they buy paintings from Tan Qiuming?
Did Tan Qiuming promise them something? Jiang Li wondered.
As the night grew long, with the number of urban legends increasing, so did the various illegal spirit energy organizations and bizarre beliefs. Events that profited from terminal illnesses or exploited patients’ desires for health to achieve sinister purposes were not uncommon.
As she thought about this, her gaze unintentionally swept over a document titled “Qing Fangyu Personal Information,” and her hand controlling the laptop trembled uncontrollably.
Qing Fangyu was the name of Jiang Li’s mother. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence?
Despite her mother’s surname being relatively rare, it’s not impossible for them to share the same name.
Clicking on the document and briefly browsing its contents, Jiang Li’s expression suddenly became more serious. “Qing Fangyu, Female, 46 years old, specific information not yet clarified.”
If her mother were still alive, she would be 46 years old by now.
Seeing this, Jiang Li’s heart, which had calmed down after the destruction of the Dream Come True Entertainment City and the big boss becoming just another ‘machine’ for the other two big urban legends, began to stir once again.
It was already a relatively rare name, and she was the same age.
Could it be such a coincidence?
In fact, even if she fell into the hands of the Dream Come True Entertainment City and became a mere commodity to be exchanged for stakes, it wouldn’t necessarily mean losing her life.
Just then, the young man’s voice interrupted her train of thought. “Jiang Li, I found it, here are the documents, please take a look!”
“Jiang Li, why have you been staring at this personal information? Is there something wrong with this person named Qing Fangyu?”
“No,” Jiang Li collected her thoughts and calmly shook her head. “I just find it odd there is a buyer whose personal information can’t be found, which might warrant further attention.”
As she spoke, she activated her spirit pattern ability, and as a flash of blue light passed through her eyes, she returned the four documents to the young man.
“Alright, this passport and this driver’s license are both genuine. As for why the names are different, I suspect he may have changed his name?”
“Uh-huh, I’ll get the Special Action Team to investigate, you’ve really helped a lot, Jiang!” The young man said, took the documents Jiang Li handed back, and jogged off.
Once the young man was far away, Jiang Li turned back to look at the information on the computer screen, her expression deepening.
In the early morning hours, on the Gobi Desert.
Under the night sky, towering earth formations, winding like serpents, each over a hundred meters long, resembled yellow dragons coiling up. In the distance, faint howling sounds echoed, seeming like wolves or some other wild beasts.
A “U” shaped earth formation, about ten meters high, sturdy and thick like a city wall, with some greenery faintly visible under the “city wall.”
Though the shape of the earth formation was somewhat odd, it was a good shelter from the wind and sand. Experienced people needing to camp overnight on the Gobi would usually choose such places.
Behind the earth formation, by a campfire, there were two tents—one very simple made of sheepskin and wood, the other made from wind- and cold-resistant fabrics.
The exquisite tent had been built for Fang Ji by several members of the Miracle Cult.
Fang Ji didn’t want the tent anyway; he believed that sleeping bare on the sand would miraculously leave him unscathed.
However, he thought again that if he could operate right under the Siye Society’s noses without being discovered, that would be the real miracle! So he accepted the tent.
The sheepskin tent was a temporary shelter for passing shepherds.
The night had grown deep, the warming campfire was dying, about to be extinguished. After sitting by the campfire for a long time, Fang Ji stretched and took some firewood from behind, throwing it into the fire, causing a crackling sound.
“Young man, still awake?” Perhaps awakened by the crackling sound of the burning firewood, or perhaps due to old age and sleeping for short periods, an old shepherd emerged from the sheepskin tent, sat down beside Fang Ji, and handed him a water pouch. “Want a drink? I brewed this sheep milk wine myself.”
“Great! Thank you, sir.” Fang Ji said, taking the pouch and uncorking it before gulping down a couple of mouthfuls. “Hoo! Good wine!”
“Haha, slow down, young man! This can get you drunk very quickly!” The old shepherd laughed, the wrinkles on his dark face piled up like the undulating earth formations. “By the way, I hesitated to ask earlier, what brings you to such a place alone?”
“Well, it’s sort of a pilgrimage,” Fang Ji said, pouting. “Sir, you wouldn’t know, but I’ve always had a voice in my head telling me that this Gobi holds sacred soil meant for me.”
“You young people…” The old shepherd shook his head, having seen plenty of “arts students” like Fang Ji while tending sheep on the Gobi for decades.
“Sir, do you know what a miracle is?” Fang Ji asked suddenly.
The old shepherd pondered for a moment before replying, “If one day, this Gobi turns into a pasture, that would be a miracle.”
“Then sir, do you think if someone’s mother, who was believed to be deceased, suddenly reappears before her children, would that count as a miracle?” Fang Ji asked, staring intently at the campfire, his words seeming to suggest more.
“Absolutely, that counts.”
“Hehe.” Fang Ji smiled, “So I believe that resurrection is a miracle!”
“Whether it’s the lifeless Gobi regaining vitality or a deceased person reappearing, both are…” —
On the other side, Shancheng.
After fleeing from Qixinggang alley like a hunted animal, Luxianbei returned to the vicinity of Jiujie, and after some time, finally found the guesthouse where Jumeng had left the address for her.
As soon as she arrived in front of the quaint guesthouse, she spotted a figure sitting on a rattan chair at the entrance. “A-Meng, are you staying up late playing games again? Could you take a break?”
Hearing Luxianbei’s teasing, Jumeng slammed her phone on the chair and glared at her, “You can play games anywhere! Use your pig brain to think about why I’m here!”
“Could you be waiting for me?” Luxianbei ventured.
“Hmph, you dog! Just know that!” Jumeng snapped.
“Wait, why are you waiting for me?” Luxianbei asked, confused. “You usually…”
Before she could finish, she suddenly remembered her promise to Jumeng—to accompany her that night and do something “forbidden and exciting.” “Remembered?” Jumeng rolled her eyes. “Then hurry up!”
“Now?”
“Now!”
