After waiting for a while, Captain Chen Changrui arrived. Upon learning the general course of events, he sent someone to escort the Spiritualist back to the bureau and ordered others to secure the scene.
The mission was fairly well accomplished this time, and Chen Changrui praised everyone.
Preserved Fruit shook his head and said, "I came in such a rush, without any preparation. If Director Li hadn’t come to support, who knows what this operation might have turned into."
Chen Changrui was startled, "Which Director Li are you talking about?"
Preserved Fruit thought for a moment, "The one from Puluo State."
"Where is he?" Chen Changrui looked around.
Ming Xing next to him said, "Li Bureau said he went back first."
Chen Changrui glanced around again, "Where did Light Bulb go?"
Ming Xing said, "Li Bureau said he can’t drive, so he asked Light Bulb to drive for him."
Chen Changrui was puzzled, "He can’t drive, how did he bring the car here?"
"Maybe he hired a driver." Ming Xing couldn’t give a better explanation either.
Chen Changrui saw Dumpling standing in the corner, her face full of confusion and dejection.
"How did Dumpling perform during this operation?" Chen Changrui asked Preserved Fruit.
Preserved Fruit shrugged his eyebrows and said nothing.
...
On the road, Li Banfeng asked Light Bulb, "Can you understand the knowledge Chuuni talked about?"
Light Bulb shook his head and said, "There are hundreds of schools, thousands of cultivators in the world, with so many paths—who dares to say they know them all?
This Nightmare Cultivator stuff, I don’t quite understand it. Today, Chuuni was lucky, he just happened to have researched Nightmare Cultivation, showing off in front of you. If it were another Taoist Sect, he might not have known."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Is this knowledge something Public Security Team members must master?"
"According to the regulations, it should be mastered, and every quarter we have exams."
"What happens if you fail the exam?"
"There’s a fine."
"Then what?"
"Nothing else, just take the exam again next quarter."
Li Banfeng asked again, "If you learned a technique and didn’t report it, what would the punishment be?"
Light Bulb was startled, "That’s a big penalty. I might get demoted from official staff to trainee. For the next three years, no awards or advancements would be considered for me, and promotion would be out of the question."
Li Banfeng spent quite a while sorting out his thoughts and still couldn’t understand the management philosophy of the Dark Star Bureau.
Upon arriving at their accommodation, Li Banfeng instructed Light Bulb, "After interrogating that Nightmare Cultivator, help me put together a confession."
...
Entering the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng explained the battlefield to the Phonograph. The Phonograph, upon hearing this, was quite puzzled, "Husband, listening to you, the battle strength of the Outside Provinces is really lacking."
Li Banfeng nodded, "Not only is the battle strength weak, but the Dark Star Bureau also doesn’t want them to become strong. If one day Puluo State invades the Outside Provinces, I really don’t know what they would use to defend."
"Little Servant heard there’s a bomb in the Outside Provinces, one shot can destroy a city. Is this true?"
"Yes," Li Banfeng nodded, "This thing is called a nuclear weapon, but when it comes to the critical moment, is there a chance to deploy it?"
"Little Servant thinks the Outside Provinces must have other skills, just so well hidden they don’t want Husband to know."
"What kind of skills could they be?" Li Banfeng embraced the Phonograph and drifted to sleep.
...
The next day, Li Banfeng put on a black jacket, one of the work uniforms of the Dark Star Bureau.
The Dark Star Bureau’s work uniforms also include a suit, but Li Banfeng doesn’t like the style of suits from the Outside Provinces much, and in daily work, people from the Dark Star Bureau rarely wear suits.
The top hat was given to Chu Er, while Li Banfeng still had a new one in his wardrobe but didn’t bother wearing it.
Without the top hat to shield the face, it was still not easy to make out Li Banfeng’s appearance. In fact, his face was in front of you, but the image you have of him in your mind remains forever blurry.
Dark Star Bureau had prepared a separate office for Li Qi. Li Banfeng opened the office system, casually flipping through documents, when Light Bulb knocked, coming in.
"Seventh Master, this is the confession you requested." Light Bulb had other tasks, put down the confession, and immediately left.
Li Banfeng took the confession, flipped through it, and found that the situation was basically consistent with what Chuuni had said. The suspect caught last night was a Third Layer Spiritualist who, due to forcibly commanding the Lost Soul of a Sixth Layer Wanderer, caused the Lost Soul to go berserk and kill a neighbor in the same building.
Sixth Layer Traveling Cultivator.
Where did this level of Lost Soul come from?
According to the confession’s account, all the Spiritualist’s Lost Souls were bought from the black market.
In Puluo State, Li Banfeng had never heard of Nightmare Cultivators engaging in the buying and selling of Ghost Servants, but judging from this confession, all this Spiritualist’s Ghost Servants were purchased.
What kind of place is the black market in the Outside Provinces?
Li Banfeng skimmed through a phone directory and called Dumpling to come in.
Entering the office, Dumpling closed the door, holding a notebook, head lowered, standing opposite the table.
Li Banfeng pointed to the chair and said: "Sit, please."
Dumpling sat on the chair, only occupying a third of it, sitting very straight, head bowed deeply, cheeks slightly flushed.
"Seventh Master, did you call me here because of last night’s incident?"
Li Banfeng paused: "Last night’s incident?"
Dumpling bit his lips and said: "I’m not good at martial arts, nor am I good at literature, I’m unable to measure up even to the newly joined Chuuni, Seventh Master, do you particularly look down on me?"
"That wouldn’t be the case..."
"You don’t have to comfort me, Captain Chen once said, I’m not suited to stay in the Public Security Team, but I’m not convinced, I always feel I can do something,
Seventh Master, I know I disgraced myself last night, you can scold me, hit me a couple of times too, or let me drink a cup of laxative, I’ll endure it in front of you,
don’t transfer me, don’t make me leave the Public Security Team..."
As he spoke, Dumpling’s voice trembled.
Li Banfeng handed Dumpling a tissue: "I called you here to ask you, how do you get to the black market?"
...
11:58 PM, Yiping Road, Flower Lake District, Cultural Palace.
Li Banfeng entered the cinema on the first floor of the Cultural Palace, the movie had just started, and you could enter without a ticket.
Clatter! Bang!
He set down a sturdy wooden chair in the back row, sat down to watch the movie first.
The screen was playing a love film that regular cinemas couldn’t show, according to the black market rules, tonight there are elixirs for sale.
Watching the awkward performances, and the evasive shots, Li Banfeng couldn’t help but miss "Blood Gun Detective", in terms of artistic level, the Outside Provinces lag far behind Puluo State.
After watching the movie for about ten minutes, a man with a box came to sell snacks, he approached Li Banfeng and asked: "Sir, would you like to eat something?"
If you want to buy elixirs here, the correct answer is to buy water, you need pure water.
But Li Banfeng’s answer was: "I want to buy a pack of paper."
The snack seller asked: "Do you want a big pack or a small pack?"
Li Banfeng said: "I want a pack with sixteen sheets."
These code words were all taught to Li Banfeng by Dumpling.
The snack seller took out a pack of tissues and handed it to Li Banfeng, Li Banfeng gave him two dollars.
After the snack seller walked away, Li Banfeng flipped the tissues over, seeing the number "205" written on the back.
Li Banfeng took the tissues upstairs, knocked on the door of room 205.
Tonight, most of the rooms on the second floor were dealing with elixirs, but some rooms conducted special business.
Room 205 is indeed special.
Through the door, Li Banfeng smelled a chilling aura.
The door to the room opened, a woman in her thirties biting a cigarette asked: "Are you here to buy paper?"
Li Banfeng handed the tissues in his hand to the woman.
The woman looked at the tissues and invited Li Banfeng inside: "Are you looking for one that fights or one that sleeps?"
Li Banfeng frowned and said: "I’m a decent person."
The woman laughed: "Oh my, who said you’re not decent, but ask which Nightmare Cultivator hasn’t slept with Ghost Servant?"
Nightmare Cultivator, Ghost Servant.
She used the dialect of Puluo State.
"I’ll find you one that can both sleep and fight, see if you like it?"
The room had actual curtains, the woman pulled down one of the drapes, behind it was a girl.
The woman introduced: "She’s new, hasn’t been touched by anyone yet, when alive she had the Seventh Layer of cultivation, surely she can fight, if she can sleep, it depends on whether you like it."
A Seventh Layer Lost Soul, with about Fifth Layer combat strength, such quality Lost Souls also appear in the black market?
Li Banfeng stared at the girl for a moment, eyebrows suddenly twitching.
The girl wore a deep green long dress, clutching a handful of pagoda tree leaves, enveloped in green flames, quietly swirling over the leaves.
Why does she look so familiar?
Seems like I’ve seen this girl before.
PS: Li Qi indeed saw this girl before, see Chapter 84.
Black market rules, see Chapter 232.