Hello, Welcome to Merit Supermarket (SUPERMARKET)
After bringing the three men back to the police station, Jiang Chenyi took charge of the two Celestial Masters.
Director Zhou quietly prepared an interrogation room for him.
The white-haired man was taken to another place for confinement and leaving only the duo of Celestial Masters, Jiang Chenyi, and Huo Yunxi in the interrogation room.
After a short wait, the effects of the Merit wore off, and the two men lay on the ground, soaked and barely breathing.
If not for the slight rise and fall of their chests, one might have thought they were dead.
Jiang Chenyi crossed his legs, and soon after, an aged voice echoed in the interrogation room. "Who are you?"
The young man didn't respond. Instead, he placed the Golden Abacus back on the table.
Upon seeing the Golden Abacus, the man in the Zhongshan suit couldn't help but shrink back, though his eyes were filled with both confusion and greed.
He believed that the Golden Abacus must be an extremely powerful magical artifact, which was why it could unleash such formidable power. If he could get his hands on this artifact...
As the greed in his eyes grew heavier, Jiang Chenyi remained completely still.
Until, driven by greed and losing his rationality, the man quickly began to chant and form seals and attempted to imprint his name on the Golden Abacus.
Unfortunately, his spell backfired.
How could the Supermarket allow anyone else to lay claim to something prepared for its manager?
Let alone a stranger, even if the previous manager or the very first manager tried to intervene after Jiang Chenyi became the new manager, they would not be able to strip away this symbol of authority—the Golden Abacus.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...
The hand of the man in the Zhongshan suit looked as if it had been scorched by flames, with the outer layer of skin almost completely burned away.
He clutched his hand while letting out a piercing cry of pain, yet to others, his hand appeared completely unharmed.
This was yet another punishment specifically targeting the soul.
When his screams gradually subsided, Jiang Chenyi finally spoke: "How could you be so foolish? Are all the people in the Celestial Masters Association as clueless as you?"
Hearing the young man casually mention the Celestial Masters Association with not a hint of respect in his tone, the two men immediately flared up—or at least tried to, because they suddenly saw a Spirit filled with killing intent appear behind him.
Jiang Chenyi, seeing their mix of fear and defiance, finally offered a kind reminder: "Open your eyes and take a good look at the two of us."
Both men were somewhat bewildered, but after a moment, the gray-robed man activated his Celestial Eye.
In the next second, he let out a scream while clutching his eyes as he collapsed to the ground.
The man in the Zhongshan suit, though trembling with fear, also opened his Celestial Eye while squinting and cautiously observing.
What he saw was an extremely terrifying brightness.
This light was the radiance emitted by an overwhelmingly dense concentration of Merit.
The two men were stunned by the blinding light with their minds unable to calm down for a long time.
They had never seen anyone with such an intense amount of Merit. Just who were these two people?
Jiang Chenyi tapped his fingers on the table with a cold smile on his face: "Now, can we have a proper conversation?"
If not, he would have no choice but to beat them up again.
Perhaps sensing the threat to their lives, the two men suddenly shivered, and their attitudes became much more respectful.
"Yes... of course..." They didn't dare to harbor any ulterior motives now.
"Speak. Who sent you here, and what were you supposed to do?"
Jiang Chenyi noticed their eyes darting around, and their fingers seemingly casually flicking the beads on the Golden Abacus.
With a "click" sound, the two men suddenly felt something tighten around their necks.
"Speak well, speak truthfully. If you do, I’ll consider it as you making up for your mistakes. Otherwise..." Otherwise, he would immediately ignite the sins within them and subjecting them to the agony of having their souls torn apart and burned.
Thoroughly threatened, the two men wore expressions of utter despair and completely devoid of the dignity befitting elders of the Celestial Masters Association.
If White Hair next door were to see this, years of their carefully maintained image would surely shatter.
They spilled everything they knew, including the fact that behind Boss Liu was another person who had never shown his face. All their communication had been conducted through Boss Liu's phone.
"They want us to take He Ning away, at any cost. Once it's done, they'll give us five million!"
That's five million!
Just for taking one person away, they get five million.
Such a huge opportunity, of course, they had to take it.
Jiang Chenyi thought for a while and asked, "So, the Celestial Masters Association actually doesn't know about your actions this time?"
The two nodded. Seeing that Jiang Chenyi stopped talking, they continued, "We planned to use the name of the Celestial Masters Association while saying we were investigating a case, and then take the person away. They agreed to trade with us tomorrow to hand over the person and the money at the same time..."
Hearing this, Jiang Chenyi's eyes flickered.
He looked up and met Huo Yunxi's sharp gaze.
Good, both the human and the Spirit were thinking the same thing.
They didn't know much information. They didn't inquire about Boss Liu's background, and they had no idea what the purpose of taking the person away was.
After they finished speaking, the interrogation room fell into silence.
Jiang Chenyi held back for a while but finally couldn't resist asking them with a complicated expression, "You don't know anything and yet you help others do things, aren't you afraid of being entangled in sin?"
They must have done such things many times. In Jiang Chenyi's eyes, they were almost submerged in thick black mist, leaving only a pair of eyes glowing green—this was a pair of eyes belonging to greed.
Upon hearing his words, the two suddenly laughed.
They looked up at Jiang Chenyi with their eyes as if looking at a naive and ignorant child, "Even if there is, so what? Is it more important than money?"
There are so many evil people in the world, what difference does two more make? Doing more evil won't cause sudden death.
Jiang Chenyi fell silent.
Seeing the young man speechless, the two felt a sense of pride and mockery, completely forgetting how they had been humiliated like dogs under Jiang Chenyi's hands before.
Sorry, it was insulting for dogs, they were humiliated like worms.
They used to be just as naive and seriously following the rules of the association, but what was the result?
They watched their former companions dressed in gold and silver, mingling in various high societies! And themselves? Dull, like grass on the roadside that could be crushed by anyone's foot.
Now it's different, now they are guests of honor for the wealthy, so what if they aid and abet evil?
After all, they are not the ones actually committing the evil deeds.
Jiang Chenyi was not unaware of the mockery in their eyes, nor did he break down as they imagined.
The greed of human nature, he had felt it long ago.
He could endure it, but Huo Yunxi couldn't.
Seeing Jiang Chenyi unmoved, he strode over to the two and about to take action.
"Wait." Jiang Chenyi stopped him.
Just as the two thought the young man had been swayed by their words, they saw him lightly snap his fingers.
The next second, bone-corroding pain spread throughout their bodies.
This time, they couldn't even scream.
Huo Yunxi curiously looked at Jiang Chenyi, only to see a strange smile on the young man's face—he saw the souls of the two that were under the torment of sin, shatter and reassemble, only to shatter again.
However, this smile quickly disappeared. If Huo Yunxi hadn't been staring at him, it probably wouldn't have been noticed.
"Let's go. It's time to report this information to Director Zhou. Since they want the person, it means He Ning is very important to them."
But why is He Ning so important?
Jiang Chenyi relayed everything he had learned from the two men to Director Zhou.
After hearing his report, Director Zhou seemed to recall something, and his expression grew even more serious.
"We can threaten White Hair to take He Ning to the destination, and then you can ambush them and catch them all in one go."
This was a great opportunity to capture the big boss!
Director Zhou nodded silently and immediately began arranging the next phase of the operation.
This time, with Jiang Chenyi on their side, they were bound to succeed.
While they were making arrangements, Team Leader Yao arrived. He came to ask how they should handle the two men.
"After all, they are elders of the Celestial Masters Association..." He wasn't very keen on antagonizing the association, as they might need their help with certain matters.
Jiang Chenyi waved his hand: "After we capture them, you can contact the association. I'll stay here and personally negotiate with them when they arrive."
If anyone dared to make trouble, he wasn't afraid to continue fighting.
He didn't believe there wasn't a single reasonable person in the entire association.
If there wasn't... well, then it was better to end things sooner rather than later :)
Team Leader Yao initially wanted to persuade him, but upon further thought, why bother? Comrade Little Jiang hadn't done anything wrong!
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. Why should someone who had done nothing wrong back down?
Especially since this person had done a huge favor for their police department!
Not just the Chashan City Police Department, but all the departments involved in this internal mole case owed Comrade Little Jiang a big thank you!
"It's fine! If they don't act reasonably, we'll go to the director!"
They had connections higher up too!
Seeing Team Leader Yao's protective attitude, Jiang Chenyi didn't hold back and cheerfully agreed, "Sure, sure."
From then on, Jiang Chenyi didn't need to intervene.
When it was time for the two elders and Boss Liu to meet, Jiang Chenyi saw White Hair with a stern expression while escorting He Ning into the vehicle arranged by the police department.
As they left the police station, He Ning foolishly flashed a mocking smile at the officers.
Director Zhou remained expressionless, while Team Leader Yao played along as he feign anger, which only made He Ning even more smug.
After they left, Jiang Chenyi stood up and stretched his limbs to prepare for the upcoming chaos.
Director Zhou approached him and handed him two guns, each with a full magazine: "You and that Spirit take one each. If you encounter danger, don't hesitate to shoot."
He didn't ask where Jiang Chenyi had learned such excellent marksmanship, nor did he question how pistol bullets could hit a target two hundred meters away.
As long as this kid didn't do evil, his secrets... well, let them be.
Jiang Chenyi noticed the understanding in the other man's eyes and was somewhat surprised.
He and Huo Yunxi stashed the guns away.
After boarding the police car, they began trading with the supermarket, though this time the goods weren't for themselves but for Huo Yunxi.
"Since you're a soldier, there are some things you're definitely more familiar with than I am. I've already made a deal with the Supermarket. Later, you can use this to block their escape route."
He handed a small object to Huo Yunxi, which would become real at the critical moment.
Although Huo Yunxi could hear their conversation, he couldn't see the specifics of the transaction.
However, upon seeing the small object in his hand, a rare look of astonishment appeared on his face.
After a long pause, he asked incredulously, "Can something like this really be traded?"
Such a dangerous item, could it really be traded so casually?
Jiang Chenyi flashed a smug smile, "The Supermarket can trade anything, as long as there's enough Merit."
Coincidentally, he had plenty of accumulated virtue!
Not just this weapon, he could even trade for something larger, though he wasn't quite adept at handling it.
Huo Yunxi's mind was in turmoil. He had thought the Supermarket was already impressive, but he hadn't expected it to be even more formidable.
He understood the implications Jiang Chenyi hadn't voiced.
As a soldier, he instinctively felt that ordinary people possessing large-scale firearms wasn't a good thing. What if it led to massive casualties?
But he quickly realized that to actually trade for such an item would require a significant amount of Merit Points, far beyond what one person could amass.
Moreover... based on his recent understanding of Jiang Chenyi, the man disliked trouble, so he was well aware of the consequences of trading for large-scale firearms.
As for the item in his hand, it was still within a normal range.
While they were discussing the weapons, the first group of police officers had already arrived near the destination.
After confirming there were no ambushes nearby, they quickly set up the surroundings and aimed to capture everyone.
By the time Jiang Chenyi arrived at the transaction site, the arrangements were mostly in place and just waiting for Boss Liu and his gang to fall into the trap.
Director Zhou had initially wanted to invite Jiang Chenyi to stay with them, but Jiang Chenyi declined.
If he stayed with Director Zhou, it would be inconvenient for Huo Yunxi to bring out the firearm.
Director Zhou gave the young man a deep look and specifically reminded him, "Be careful and protect yourself."
He sensed that the young man was preparing for a big move, but since he wasn't revealing it in advance, there was no need to press for details.
He believed Jiang Chenyi would act with discretion.
Jiang Chenyi responded with a laugh, then led Huo Yunxi up the mountain.
The criminals had chosen a shady area of the forest for the transaction, a barren spot without even a blade of grass that made it impossible for anyone to fully approach for an ambush.
However, on the other side, the vegetation was dense, with a river hidden in the middle. If anything happened during the transaction, the criminals could escape by boat that were shielded by the trees, making it difficult to track them.
Their chosen location was clearly well thought out, but they hadn't anticipated that their plan had been exposed from the start.
Now, almost the entire mountain was swarming with police. If they still managed to escape... Director Zhou would probably be so ashamed he'd want to die by hitting tofu.
Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi arrived at the end of the river, where a large waterfall cascaded down and several dozen meters above the ground.
"Alright, this should be the place where they need to transfer."
They just needed to squat here and wait for their prey.
Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi stood boldly under the tree.
The young man had directly traded with the supermarket for an umbrella that could make them invisible and completely cover both of them under its canopy.
Before long, they heard the sound of a car approaching their location.
They were coming.
Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked in the direction from which the car was coming.
Five minutes later, three off-road vehicles appeared in their line of sight.
The first two vehicles each had four people inside. Besides the drivers, everyone else was holding a gun.
The middle vehicle was likely the one carrying the leader, while the last vehicle wasn’t fully occupied, probably reserved for He Ning.
In total, there were ten people in their group.
Just as Jiang Chenyi had anticipated, they stopped here. Then, they took out rubber boats from the vehicles, inflated them, and placed them on the river.
"Boss, everything is ready." an elite-looking man with frameless glasses approached the middle vehicle and reported respectfully to the person inside.
"Go ahead and bring the person back to me."
The elite man was likely Boss Liu, the one who had made the deal with the Celestial Masters Association.
Jiang Chenyi’s gaze first fell on him. The man was shrouded in thick black mist, with only a pair of crimson eyes visible.
Whether judged by his appearance or demeanor, it was clear that he was not a good person.
Jiang Chenyi silently lowered his opinion of the Celestial Masters Association even further.
He had known those two were greedy, but dancing with wolves was more than just a matter of greed.
He could foresee that once the deal was over, those three Celestial Masters would definitely be killed by this group.
How utterly foolish!
At this thought, Jiang Chenyi felt a small ball of light rushing toward him—this was likely the Merit he had earned by saving those two idiots.
After absorbing the Merit, he turned his gaze to the second vehicle.
After Boss Liu and his group left, no one had gotten out of this vehicle. Were they preparing to flee at any moment?
Jiang Chenyi stared at it for a while, then slowly revealed a mischievous smile.
He glanced at Huo Yunxi before he pulled out a small knife from his pocket, and handed the umbrella to Huo Yunxi. Then, he led him to the side of the second vehicle.
Next, Jiang Chenyi crouched down and used the knife to puncture each of the car’s tires.
Thinking of running away, huh? Hehehe, he’d make sure no one could escape!
Not just the middle vehicle, but he also deflated the tires of the other two cars!
Huo Yunxi quietly watched his little prank with his eyes filled with amusement—he hadn’t expected Jiang Chenyi to pull off a childish prank like this.
Jiang Chenyi widened his eyes at him—how could this be called a prank? He was clearly doing a good deed!
Faced with the young man’s glare, Huo Yunxi suppressed a laugh and nodded repeatedly—alright, alright, it’s not a prank if you say so.
After finishing all this, Jiang Chenyi didn’t stop.
He quietly led Huo Yunxi along the axle's position, using vines and various weeds in the forest to set up one small trap after another.
These traps wouldn't be fatal, but they would continuously torment any fleeing criminals.
Following the path, they arrived at the main road outside, which was the route the criminals had taken to get here.
Jiang Chenyi closed his umbrella and beckoned to Huo Yunxi with a finger: "This is your stage now."
When those criminals finally managed to escape here and thought they had succeeded...
"With a loud boom, the entire road will be gone, hehehe! I really want to see what other options they have to get away, hehehe!"
Jiang Chenyi laughed cunningly and resembled a mischievous child who had just played a prank on someone.
The only difference between him and an ordinary mischievous child was that while such children harass innocent passersby, he harassed criminals who were steeped in evil.
"How can this be called a prank? You're just being a righteous hero."
Blocking the criminals' escape route—how is that not an act of heroism?
The two exchanged glances and laughed together.
Jiang Chenyi hadn't expected Huo Yunxi to be so cooperative.
This guy seemed like a dull, honest man, but after recovering, he turned out to be quite ruthless.
Huo Yunxi smiled and looked down. When he first woke up, his mind was a bit muddled, and he was somewhat dazed and wooden.
This time, perhaps knowing he had to deal with cunning criminals, his mental state improved significantly.
He even remembered some parts of his past.
"When I was in the military, I wasn't above tormenting the enemy. Some people deserved more than just death, but the military had rules against mistreating prisoners, so I could only vent my frustration by messing with their minds."
For example, when capturing someone, he would also toy with them a bit, just like the young man.
"When they think they have the upper hand, I will shatter their confidence, then give them a path to escape—a path filled with obstacles, but with a glimmer of hope at the end. When they finally overcome the difficulties and think they're about to see the light..."
Jiang Chenyi picked up where he left off, with his face full of malice, he said: "Just when they think they've escaped, destroy the entire road and make them watch as their only way out disappears before their eyes."
Wow, how utterly devastating!
"Not just that. Best of all, when they're caught and think they can hide some of the truth, lay out all their experiences in the open—what they remember, what they don't, what they want to hide, what they can't hide—and tell the world everything. Hehehe, I don't believe they won't go crazy, hehehe~"
Jiang Chenyi laughed wildly.
With the Supermarket at his disposal, Bottom Fishing was a simple task.
For those who cared about their reputation, he would dig up their dark past and announce it to the world.
For those who loved money, he would find all their hidden and transferred assets and confiscate them. Whatever they cared about, he would destroy.
As the saying goes, some people getting just prison or death are far too lenient.
Listening to Jiang Chenyi's laughter, Huo Yunxi narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
This young man's style was exactly to his liking.
Huo Yunxi extended his hand to Jiang Chenyi: "Well then, let's cooperate happily from now on."
As a Spirit, there were places Jiang Chenyi couldn't go, but Huo Yunxi could. So, there would be plenty of opportunities for them to work together.
"Pleasure working with you." Jiang Chenyi said with great enthusiasm while feeling immensely grateful to the supermarket for sending him a partner!
Just as the two were shaking hands in camaraderie, the sound of gunfire echoed from not far away.
"They've made their move." Jiang Chenyi said while glancing toward the direction of the gunshots.
Huo Yunxi patted his shoulder. "Then let's get started too." His task was to prevent the organization's leader from escaping.
As for Jiang Chenyi, he had other matters to attend to.