I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Checking the Loot

He pushed open the office door and found it empty, just as he’d expected. Liu Qin and Lin Wan had likely been reassigned to Liu Xin’s team to handle internal defense communications and paperwork, while Wu Yan and Liu Rong were still busy with the security department’s cleanup efforts.

Yang Wenqing closed the door behind him, walked over to his desk, and sat down. He took out the three confiscated Storage Bags one by one and placed them on his desk.

He first picked up the Storage Bag from the gray-robed, sword-wielding Cultivator and probed it with his Divine Sense. The most prominent items inside were a few changes of ordinary clothes. Besides those were the standard supplies for a Cultivator: two bottles of mediocre-quality Qi Recovery Pills and some common rune papers and seals. The only thing of any real value was probably the five thousand yuan in cash.

Next was the Fire Cultivator’s Storage Bag. Its contents were largely the same: clothes, medicinal pills, and rune paper. This one, however, contained more cash—about eight thousand yuan. There was also a pigeon-egg-sized, fire-patterned stone, a common Fire Attribute spiritual material used for refining low-tier Fire Element Magical Artifacts or aiding cultivation. It was worth about a thousand yuan.

The final Storage Bag contained the usual items but less cash, only four thousand yuan. However, it held several jade boxes containing a few cold-attribute herbs, worth a total of three to four thousand yuan. But one item, in particular, caught his eye: a small, glazed bottle containing about thirty grams of hundred-year-old Stone Marrow Liquid.

Once he finished his inventory, Yang Wenqing transferred all the cash, the fire-patterned stone, and the cold-attribute herbs from the three bags into his own Storage Bag. A quick calculation told him the windfall amounted to less than thirty thousand yuan, but it was still a decent haul. It would be enough to support his cultivation for several months.

The three Storage Bags themselves were of the lowest grade; the City Defense Bureau didn’t even bother crafting bags of such poor quality. Still, they had some value. All together, they could probably sell for over ten thousand yuan.

Finally, there was the Storage Bag Vice Director Gao had given him. It contained only forty or fifty energy crystals. Although they were all low-grade, basic types, each one was worth five thousand yuan!

Having sorted through his loot, Yang Wenqing felt much more secure. Resources were always the most reliable backing on the path of cultivation.

He didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he walked to the office window, looking down at the bustling scene in the bureau’s courtyard and on the streets beyond. Security officers and militia members were busy clearing debris, directing traffic, and reassuring the public.

About fifteen minutes later, Yang Wenqing felt his mind settle. He left the office and returned to the emergency command center.

The center was still bustling, but order had been restored. The communications team was working at full capacity to reestablish signals with the various districts, collating the endless stream of incoming reports on damages and recovery progress. Yang Wenqing had just taken a seat at his command station and hadn’t yet had a chance to review the latest reports when Wu Yan rushed over, his expression grim.

”Captain...”

Wu Yan lowered his voice. ”I went to Zhenyuan Mining. Our previous line of investigation might have been right. Something’s happened at their company!”

Yang Wenqing’s gaze sharpened. ”What happened?”

”There was a fire in their finance office. Someone was burned to charcoal. I extracted his residual bloodline aura and confirmed it was one of Zhenyuan Mining’s accountants, a man named Li Mo. Standing next to his body was a bizarre, full-length rectangular mirror. My preliminary investigation indicates it’s a Magical Artifact, and I found traces of a Life-taking Array by the mirror’s edge!”

As he spoke, Wu Yan took a stack of photos, taken with a recording array, from his pocket and placed them on the command console in front of Yang Wenqing. Yang Wenqing picked them up and scanned them, raising an eyebrow. The colors in the photos were distorted, tinged with an ominous, dark hue. The lighting at the scene had clearly been bizarre.

In the center of the photo was a rectangular mirror, nearly as tall as a man. Its frame was carved from wood that looked as if it had been soaked in blood. The carvings were twisted, resembling no known flora or fauna, but rather countless, entangled, tormented souls.

The mirror’s surface didn’t reflect its surroundings. Staring at it for too long produced a dizzying sensation, as if one’s very consciousness was being pulled inside.

Directly beneath this strange mirror, a circular array about a meter in diameter had been inscribed. The array’s structure was similar to the Five Elements Life-taking Array discovered previously on the seabed and in Chen Dayong’s case, but its center featured an abstract whirlpool pattern that seemed to faintly echo the image within the mirror.

In the middle of the array lay a curled-up, blackened corpse, recognizable as human only by its general silhouette. The body’s posture was extremely contorted, suggesting it had undergone unimaginable pain and struggle before death. Even though the body was charred, there were no signs of the fire having spread; the desk and file cabinets were completely untouched. The mirror, the array, and the scorched corpse together formed an incredibly jarring and sinister tableau.

”This mirror...” Yang Wenqing stared at the photo. ”The way he died... it’s as if he was ignited from within by some kind of force. Or... sacrificed.”

Wu Yan added, ”The residual Spiritual Qi fluctuations at the scene are chaotic, but there’s a very distinct, chilling, devouring sensation. What’s more, in the crevices of the wooden frame on the back of the mirror, I found some of this...”

He produced another small evidence bag. Inside were a few crystalline fragments that shimmered with a faint blue light.

”Spirit-Sucking Crystal!” Yang Wenqing’s gaze turned icy. He then asked, ”Who’s guarding the scene right now?”

”The two rookies from the Port District precinct are still there. I had them seal off the entire floor and forbid anyone from approaching,” Wu Yan replied. ”The bureau is stretched too thin right now. We can’t even get a forensic doctor to send out.”

Yang Wenqing stared at the photo of the bizarre mirror and the blackened corpse.

”Let’s go!” He shot to his feet, his tone resolute. ”We’re going to the scene. What about the Wang father and son?”

At this, Wu Yan lowered his voice even further. ”I’ve already had the Wang father and son taken into custody!”

Yang Wenqing was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. While it was a slight procedural misstep, these were special circumstances; they could afford to bend the rules.

”Good. Have you questioned them yet?” he asked.

”Ordinarily, if we were pressed for time, we’d have to question them immediately. But now... it’s a special period. I figured we could let them stew in a cell for a while first,” Wu Yan said with a mischievous grin.

”Let’s go. To the scene!” Yang Wenqing hesitated no longer. He and Wu Yan strode quickly out of the command center, boarded the Flying Shuttle once more, and headed straight for the Port District.

The Flying Shuttle quickly arrived at Zhenyuan Mining’s imposing office building. The area downstairs was somewhat deserted; clearly, the day’s chaos combined with the murder inside the company had prompted most employees to stay away.

The two of them headed straight for the finance department’s floor. At the entrance to the hallway, two young officers from the Port District precinct stood guard, looking tense. Upon seeing Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan, they immediately straightened up and saluted.

”Captain Yang! Chief Wu!”

”Good work.” Yang Wenqing nodded. ”Has anyone been here?”

”No, sir!” one of the officers answered with certainty. ”Per Chief Wu’s orders, we sealed off this floor. No one has been near this office.”

Yang Wenqing was satisfied with their diligence. He walked to the door of the finance office. Even through the wood, he could faintly sense a disquieting, cold aura.

He didn’t enter immediately. Instead, he took out his badge to open a communication channel with Ding Lang in the forensics lab.

”Forensic Doctor Ding, it’s Yang Wenqing.”

”Captain Yang? I’m completely swamped right now, we have casualties everywhere...” Ding Lang’s voice was laced with exhaustion and impatience.

”I understand, but there’s been an extremely bizarre murder at Zhenyuan Mining in the Port District. Just like that case with the body sunk in the harbor, it involves the same blue powder!” Yang Wenqing said, his tone grave.

The line went silent for a few seconds before Ding Lang finally said, ”Give me half an hour!”