Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen: Chen Cheng

Endless demonic energy surged toward Li Changqing and Lan Qiqi.

Lan Qiqi closed her eyes in despair. It was over.

But the next moment, she heard a shrill, piercing scream. It was not Li Changqing’s voice, but that of the Bi Demon.

The moment the demonic energy rushed toward them, Li Changqing had slashed his sword into the surging mist, causing the Bi Demon to shriek. The creature recoiled instantly, its gaze fixed warily on the glowing golden divine sword in Li Changqing’s hand. The Bi Demon had never expected that these two could actually harm it.

Li Changqing tightened his grip on the golden sword, letting out a faint sigh of relief; the power of the Heavenly Sword Talisman was indeed capable of wounding the Bi Demon.

Suddenly, the Bi Demon dove into the ground. A split second later, thick smoke erupted from the earth, drilling directly into Li Changqing’s nose and mouth. The Bi Demon could only unleash its true power by possessing a human body.

In an instant, the smoke entered Li Changqing. He felt as if his body were being operated by someone else; his limbs no longer obeyed his commands. He opened his mouth to speak, but the voice that emerged was that of the Bi Demon.

The Bi Demon was quite satisfied with its new vessel. "This zombie body is truly excellent."

No sooner had it spoken than Li Changqing’s arm shot out to grip Lan Qiqi by the throat. As she was hoisted into the air, she struggled violently, pounding on Li Changqing’s wrist, but it was futile.

It’s over! That was the only thought in Lan Qiqi’s mind. Li Changqing, though his consciousness remained crystal clear, was utterly unable to control his own body.

Suddenly, a figure darted through the pitch-black forest. A man, appearing to be in his mid-twenties and dressed in a long black robe, slammed a palm into Li Changqing’s chest.

*Bang!*

With a thunderous sound, the Bi Demon was blasted out of Li Changqing’s body by that single strike.

The Bi Demon looked at the newcomer with wide, horrified eyes. Its expression shifted, and it turned to flee.

"Running away?"

The man produced a black wine gourd. After opening it, he cast a spell, and a powerful suction force emanated from the vessel.

"No, no!"

The Bi Demon struggled frantically, trying to break free from the pull, but it was all in vain. In a flash, it was sucked into the gourd.

"Number 13, Chen Cheng." Lan Qiqi recognized the man immediately, her face showing shock. To think that someone of Number 13’s stature from the Bureau of Investigation would appear in a place like this. Chen Cheng hadn't even drawn his sword and had captured the Bi Demon with effortless ease.

Li Changqing felt a jolt of alarm. *It’s over, he’s discovered my identity as a zombie!*

To his surprise, Chen Cheng did not linger. After securing the Bi Demon, he vanished into the endless dark forest.

"He just left?" Watching the direction in which Chen Cheng had disappeared, Li Changqing breathed a sigh of relief. Given the ease with which the man had handled the Bi Demon, it would have taken little effort to finish him off.

"It seems this Bi Demon wasn't just some ordinary evil spirit raised in the forest," Lan Qiqi remarked. "That man who appeared was Chen Cheng from the Bureau of Investigation, Number 13—a truly formidable powerhouse."

"Number 13?" Li Changqing turned, his gaze filled with confusion.

"The top thirty experts in the entire Bureau of Investigation. It is said that each of them has a spiritual power value exceeding ten thousand. They are super-experts capable of handling S-class supernatural cases single-handedly."

"Your Bureau 36's Bai Chuan might one day make it into the top thirty," Lan Qiqi sighed. If Bai Chuan hadn't had his evil arts crippled, he would surely have been among them, perhaps even ranked quite high.

Li Changqing was genuinely stunned by Chen Cheng. The way that man had dealt with the Bi Demon was as casual as eating or drinking.

"Is a spiritual power value of over ten thousand not easy to achieve?" Li Changqing asked.

Lan Qiqi couldn't help but retort, "You really have no common sense at all! For many people, once their spiritual power reaches 9,900, they hit a bottleneck and cannot increase it by even a fraction more."

Li Changqing’s eyes flickered. "With so many powerful experts in the Bureau of Weird Investigation, what are you trying to achieve by sneaking in like this?"

"Aren't you doing the same?" Lan Qiqi rolled her eyes at him. "Neither of us is a good person, so let's stop pretending."

In Lan Qiqi’s view, Li Changqing had also joined the Bureau with ulterior motives; he was just bolder than she was. At least she had joined as a witch under the guise of being human, which wouldn't arouse too much suspicion. But this zombie—if his true nature were discovered, he would be dead for sure.

"Let's leave here first, find another place to rest, and then see if we can find two weaker demons," Li Changqing said. He dared not stay; if that powerhouse suddenly returned, he would have no hope of survival.

...

A jeep departed from the Breeding Forest, heading back to the headquarters of the Bureau of Weird Investigation.

Five kilometers outside the town where the Bureau was located lay a core office area, surrounded by iron fences and patrolled strictly by federal soldiers. The jeep passed the inspection easily and entered.

Chen Cheng stepped out of the jeep, walked briskly into an office building, and took the elevator to the top floor. It was a spacious office equipped with a pool table, a small indoor putting green, and a wine cabinet filled with red wine. A middle-aged man in a dark brown suit was hunched over his desk, processing documents.

"Director, I'm back," Chen Cheng said, shaking the wine gourd in his hand. "The rampaging Bi Demon has been captured. However, the casualty rate for this batch of recruits will likely be quite high."

The middle-aged man slowly looked up. He nodded expressionlessly and said, "Understood. Thank you for your hard work."

The man then turned his gaze toward three portraits hanging on the wall. The predecessor to the Bureau of Investigation was an organization known as the Black Sparrow, and the three figures in the portraits were its founders.

...

At high noon, the sun shone brightly, and the Breeding Forest was stiflingly hot.

"Keep it down."

Beside a waterfall in the forest, Li Changqing and Lan Qiqi were hiding behind a large tree, watching two monsters standing in front of the water. They were two deer demons. Their demonic aura was not particularly strong, and they were scanning their surroundings warily while drinking from the stream.

"We finally found some demons weak enough for us to handle," Lan Qiqi said, her face lighting up.

Not long ago, they had tracked these two deer demons. After careful observation, they had determined that the creatures were not powerful—the perfect targets for the pair.

"Do you have anything good to take them down?" Li Changqing asked, eyeing Lan Qiqi’s backpack. When she was attacked by the Bi Demon the previous night, she had pulled out all sorts of strange and marvelous gadgets.

"Don't even think about it. The materials used to refine these potions are extremely precious," Lan Qiqi frowned. "I already wasted too many of them yesterday."