Chapter 81: The Anonymous Letter

Li Changqing opened his eyes and slowly sat up from the bed.

This was his own bedroom. He looked around and saw Tang Xiaoyu sitting cross-legged on the bed. When she saw him awake, she spoke happily, “Are you alright?”

Li Changqing tried to recall what had happened. He vaguely remembered that Shen Qingdai seemed ready to kill him, but then he had seen Bai Chuan above the shipping container, signaling to him.

So, Bai Chuan succeeded in launching a surprise attack, but unexpectedly, a sudden force knocked him unconscious.

“How long was I out?” Li Changqing didn’t feel any serious discomfort, just a bit dizzy from sleeping too long.

“It’s already the afternoon of the next day. Are you really okay?” Tang Xiaoyu asked, “Did you suffer any internal injuries?”

Although Li Changqing seemed fine now, Tang Xiaoyu had been terribly worried while he was unconscious. On TV, internal injuries always meant a long period of convalescence at best, and amnesia at worst.

“It’s nothing serious. By the way, what happened after I passed out?”

“I don’t really know. You started fighting that wolf demon, so I found a safe shipping container to hide in. There was a huge fire outside—I didn’t dare look.”

“Later, I heard Bai Chuan call me out to take you away. He said people from the Thirty-Sixth Bureau were almost there, and if they found you, you’d be in danger.”

It seemed his secret, being a zombie, had been discovered by Bai Chuan.

Li Changqing’s heart sank slightly. He questioned Tang Xiaoyu carefully about everything Bai Chuan had said to her.

Strange. If Bai Chuan knew he was a zombie, why hadn’t he simply finished him off?

At least, from Bai Chuan’s attitude, it was clear—if the Thirty-Sixth Bureau ever found out, they would never let him go.

“Are you hungry? I’ll make you something to eat.”

Tang Xiaoyu felt a little guilty—she hadn’t been able to help at all last night. If only she were more capable, maybe Li Changqing wouldn’t have ended up unconscious.

“Do you know how to cook?”

“I can give it a try. I’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows lately.”

“Well, why not try?”

Li Changqing walked into the living room, worked out the stiffness in his body, and aside from some soreness and the fact that his spiritual energy and corpse energy were nearly depleted, he was largely unharmed.

As for replenishing his energies:

Spiritual energy could be restored gradually by drawing talismans, and corpse energy was even simpler—it would recover naturally in a couple of days.

He sat down on the sofa, reflecting in earnest on the shortcomings from his battle with the wolf demon and thinking about how he might improve.

Soon enough—

“It’s ready!”

“This dish was recommended by a TV food expert. It’s said to be one of the most famous delicacies of ancient Yan. It’s called ‘Your Black Hair, My Hand Passing Through.’”

What a ridiculous name—it was just steamed pork knuckle with seaweed.

Li Changqing looked at the dish on the table, frowned, and couldn’t help but try a bite. The taste was average—not bad, at least.

“How is it?” Tang Xiaoyu asked expectantly from the side.

It was her first time cooking; she had no idea if it tasted good or not.

“It’s delicious—truly a gourmet dish! Eating it makes me feel relaxed all over; my back doesn’t hurt, and my legs aren’t sore anymore.”

Tang Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at him. “Liar. I’m sure you’re just being polite—it’s not terrible, right?”

“Then why ask if you already know?”

Li Changqing tore into the pork knuckle. Even though it was only steamed, it wasn’t bad at all.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Who’s there?” Li Changqing called over his shoulder.

“It’s me—Hu Xiong.”

Tang Xiaoyu hurried to open the door. Hu Xiong walked in with a folder in hand, grinning. “Hey, you’re having pork knuckle? Smells great. Any left?”

“No more.” Li Changqing glanced at the folder in his hand. “Do you need something from me?”

“Just the routine—got a few questions for you. Take your time, though; finish eating first.”

Li Changqing quickly finished off the pork knuckle, wiped his mouth, and sat down on the sofa.

“What happened after Li Minghao left yesterday?” Hu Xiong asked with a smile. “Just give me a rough idea, that’s all. It’s protocol—the whole dock has been sealed off for investigation. This incident made quite a stir, so we need your statement.”

Li Changqing thought for a moment. “What I have to say isn’t really different from Bai Chuan’s version. You can just write it down as he told you.”

They’d surely already questioned Bai Chuan—if his story didn’t match Bai Chuan’s, it would be hard to explain.

It was just procedure; Hu Xiong didn’t press him. He nodded, “Alright then.”

He took out his pen and jotted down a simple account of the events.

Li Changqing glanced at what he wrote: the wolf demon, upon discovery by the Thirty-Sixth Bureau, set fire to the containers to destroy the evidence. While escaping, Li Changqing tried to stop him but was knocked unconscious and was first carried out of the blaze by Tang Xiaoyu...

The account was straightforward.

“You did pretty well,” Hu Xiong said, passing the document to Li Changqing. “Old Bai said you bravely tried to stop the wolf demon from escaping. Take a look—if it’s all right, sign here.”

After he signed, Hu Xiong put the file away and said, “By the way, the Bureau Chief heard about what happened to you yesterday and is quite interested in you.”

“If you have time, come with me to the Thirty-Sixth Bureau. If all goes well, you could officially join us.”

“I’m not ready to join the Thirty-Sixth Bureau just yet.”

Li Changqing had no desire to do so. He still didn’t know why Bai Chuan had helped hide his identity, but it was clear enough from Bai Chuan’s words that his kind—zombies—were the targets of the Thirty-Sixth Bureau.

He changed the subject casually. “By the way, Mr. Hu, I’ll be at home recuperating for a while. Could you bring me some books from the Bureau?”

“What kind of books?”

“Anything on demons and spirits—like the wolf demon from yesterday, or other monsters, zombies, ghosts.”

Hu Xiong nodded after a moment’s thought. “I’ll bring them next time I come by. Are you sure you don’t want to join the Thirty-Sixth Bureau?”

Li Changqing just smiled and shook his head.

“You seem to have a bit of a problem with the Bureau,” Hu Xiong remarked, getting to his feet. He still had to head over to the docks. “Well, I won’t keep you—there’s a lot of work to do over there.”

“I’ll see you out.”

After escorting Hu Xiong downstairs, Li Changqing closed the door, stretched, and sat back down on the sofa.

He was in a pretty good mood. At least, with the docks under investigation, things seemed to have reached a temporary conclusion—he would hardly have to deal with those demons again.

Downstairs from the detective agency, Hu Xiong returned to his car, his expression somber. He tossed the folder aside as if it were of no importance.

Li Minghao, already in the car, asked quietly, “So? Is that kid really a zombie?”

“Nothing unusual. I couldn’t tell one way or the other,” Hu Xiong replied, shaking his head as he glanced at an anonymous letter resting on the console.

That morning, the Thirty-Sixth Bureau had received an anonymous tip, claiming that Li Changqing was a zombie.