Chapter Ninety-Three: The Blue Rose (Please Vote)

After Brian repeated his earlier remarks in reverse order, Bai Chuan asked again, “For the twenty people in the future, tell me their names, their features, and where they live. All of it.”

Brian said nothing.

He could not help thinking bitterly that he should have let Bai Chuan torture him to death sooner.

Brian took a deep breath and slowly said, “I can’t possibly remember all of them. Besides, those twenty don’t all know one another.”

Seeing Bai Chuan frown, Brian hurried on, “But if contact is needed, we all meet at the Rose Tavern. The password is to wear a blue rose on your chest.”

The interrogation ended, and Brian was dragged away and locked up by the staff of the Thirty-Six Bureau.

In the lounge beside the interrogation room, after the questioning was over, the room was simple and plain: a sofa, a coffee table, a water dispenser, nothing more than a place to rest.

The three of them sat inside. Li Changqing frowned. “If they are resurrecting the Dog God Jugrath, why would they need people from the Losedi family?”

Hu Xiong stood by the water dispenser, poured himself a glass, and said, “Maybe someone in the Losedi family once defeated that Jugrath.”

“And so Jugrath left a curse in their bloodline.”

Bai Chuan’s expression grew more grave as he said, “If it is indeed the resurrection of the Dog God Jugrath, then this matter may have to be classified as an S-rank incident.”

“Mm.” Hu Xiong nodded beside him. S-rank incidents were not common in the history of the Thirty-Six Bureau.

Hu Xiong organized Brian’s testimony from earlier. “I’ll report the situation to the director later. Tonight, let’s go take a look at the Rose Tavern. Also, Li Changqing, if you have nothing else to do, go keep your detective friend company. Don’t let anything happen to him.”

“And this time, you helped uncover it too. I’ll make sure to give you a good word with the director.”

With that, Hu Xiong left beaming, testimony in hand.

“I...”

Watching him go, Li Changqing felt helpless.

Seeing the look on his face, Bai Chuan picked up the cup on the table and took a sip. “I know your concerns. Joining the Thirty-Six Bureau isn’t nearly as frightening as you imagine.”

“As long as you can pass the demon detection test, that’s enough.”

Bai Chuan knew about his zombie identity. Li Changqing looked at him for a while and asked, “Old Bai, since you know I’m a zombie, why...”

Bai Chuan cut him off. “Justice and evil are not distinguished by whether one is human or a monster.”

“Humans are not necessarily kind.”

“And monsters are not necessarily evil.”

Li Changqing frowned. “But I am still a zombie, after all. I’m afraid I might not even get past the demon detection test.”

“Don’t worry.” Bai Chuan patted his shoulder. “Even I couldn’t detect your corpse qi before. They won’t be able to either.”

As he said this, a trace of curiosity also appeared in Bai Chuan’s eyes. He himself did not know why even he could not detect the corpse qi within this young man.

Hearing Bai Chuan say so, Li Changqing finally relaxed a little.

“Oh right, you have spiritual energy, don’t you?” Bai Chuan looked at Li Changqing with a probing expression.

Li Changqing nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing.”

Li Changqing stood up. “I’d better go look for Kelly first. Nothing can happen to that kid.”

After speaking, he took out his phone and called Kelly, intending to ask where he was.

Beep, beep, beep.

No one answered.

Was this fellow angry with him?

Thinking of that, Li Changqing called again, but after several tries, no one picked up.

Soon, Li Changqing’s expression turned ugly. Could something have happened?

His face grew serious.

“What is it?” Bai Chuan asked from the side.

“The phone won’t connect. I hope I’m overthinking it. I’m going to his place to take a look.”

Bai Chuan also stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

They drove back toward Empire Street once more, and soon reached the apartment where Kelly lived.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Kelly, are you there?”

“Kelly! We’ve got a case.”

“Kelly!”

There was no sound, no response from inside.

“Damn it, something really didn’t happen to him, did it?”

Li Changqing’s face darkened.

Bai Chuan remained calm. “Don’t panic. Let’s wait a bit longer. If it comes to it, we can go to the Rose Tavern tonight and see what’s going on.”

“According to Brian, even if they are going to perform the sacrifice, it won’t be for another three days.”

The Rose Tavern was a place in South Lin City where young men and women vented the fatigue and frustration of the day.

Boisterous music, bodies dancing in the crowd, and the scent of alcohol thick in the air.

Neon lights flashed ceaselessly.

The music was grating.

Li Changqing frowned. Whether in his former life or now, he had never much liked places like bars.

Too noisy.

And the liquor here was all cheap swill watered down to stretch it.

Li Changqing and Bai Chuan walked to a dim table and had barely sat down when a waiter came over warmly to serve them. After asking, Li Changqing learned the minimum spend for drinks alone was three hundred Lang coins.

So expensive!

Forget it. They had just earned a thousand Lang coins today anyway; he might as well treat it as Brian buying the two of them a round.

They ordered drinks and sat at the table, watching the people inside the bar.

“Now that we’ve found them, what do you plan to do?” Li Changqing asked in a low voice.

Bai Chuan answered calmly, “Arrest them.”

“Just the two of us?” Li Changqing frowned. “If I turn into a zombie here...”

“I alone am enough.” Bai Chuan’s brows drew together.

Li Changqing merely disliked it; Bai Chuan hated such noisy places entirely.

“Handsome, interested in going up and dancing?”

At that moment, a beauty in a bunny-girl outfit, with a pair of rabbit ears and looking to be about twenty, swayed over to Bai Chuan. Her eyes shone brightly as she stretched out a hand in invitation.

Bai Chuan frowned in distaste. Her clothes were dusty, and she carried a strong, pungent odor of alcohol.

“Sorry, I don’t dance,” Bai Chuan refused.

The woman simply sat down beside him at once, took his arm, and smiled. “You’re hilarious, handsome. Who comes to a bar and doesn’t know how to dance?”

“I really don’t know how to dance, but I do know how to fight.” Bai Chuan’s gaze suddenly locked onto someone in the dance floor.

The woman froze. Fight? Who wanted to watch fighting? It’s not like you can take on ten men at once. What’s so interesting about that?

At that moment, Bai Chuan stood and walked straight toward the dance floor.

Inside, three men between the ages of twenty-five and thirty were dancing while speaking in low voices.

Each wore a blue rose pinned to his chest.

The three said quietly, “Have you captured that man yet?”

“Yes, but the protector Brian seems to have vanished somewhere. We’re still trying to contact him.”

Suddenly, someone nearby asked, “Where is the prisoner being held?”