Hello, Welcome to Merit Supermarket (SUPERMARKET)
While Jiang Chenyi was making his move, Huo Yunxi very cooperatively closed the door to the hospital room.
Not only that, but after the door was closed, the large room seemed to be enveloped by an invisible barrier. Not only could no sound escape, but unless Jiang Chenyi allowed it, no one inside could open the door.
Of course, no one from the outside could barge in either.
The two police officers couldn't see the spirits, but they noticed that as Jiang Chenyi made his gesture, the six suspects seemed to have lost their souls.
Their eyes were vacant and their faces devoid of any expression as they just sat on the bed in a dazed and wooden manner.
One of the younger police officers tentatively reached out and poked the person closest to him.
To his surprise, the person he poked collapsed onto the hospital bed with a thud.
Police Officer: !!!
They began to suspect whether these people were still alive.
Huo Yunxi quickly stepped in to explain on behalf of Jiang Chenyi: "Their souls have been extracted by Manager Jiang. They're not dead, just in a bit of pain."
Facing their horrified expressions, Huo Yunxi added considerately, "Don't worry, there are no visible traces on the outside."
This consideration seemed misplaced!
Besides, who asked about that?!
The older police officer felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest.
Soul extraction… it sounded so sinister. Is this Celestial Master really a decent person?
The younger officer, however, took it in stride, though he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't see Jiang Chenyi in action.
But regardless, neither of them tried to stop Jiang Chenyi.
They couldn't even see what was happening, let alone stop it :D
After Jiang Chenyi had been beating these souls for half an hour, he finally released them.
The souls quickly returned to their bodies, and then they rushed over to cling to the police officers' legs while wailing loudly, "Police Uncle, please save us! He's torturing us privately! Waaaaah!"
At that moment, the barrier in the hospital room was lifted, and their cries attracted the attention of the medical staff outside.
Upon hearing the words "private torture" the doctor's expression changed drastically, and he immediately began examining their bodies.
But no matter how thoroughly the doctors checked, they found no signs of injury on any of them.
Seeing their incredulous expressions, Jiang Chenyi stood behind the doctor and slowly revealed a sly smile to the group.
Fools, how could the beatings their souls endured possibly show up on their bodies?
And when they saw his smile, they all shivered—even though their souls had returned to their bodies, the lingering pain from the beatings remained in their minds and refused to fade.
Moreover, injuries to the soul are far more painful than injuries to the body!
Jiang Chenyi, and that smile of his, would become a shadow in their hearts that they could never shake off for the rest of their lives!
After he smiled, the group paused for a moment, then clung tightly to the two police officers as if they had seen a ghost.
Their tears streamed down their faces, and their pitiful, pleading expressions left the young officer dumbfounded.
After all, when he had gone to question them earlier, their attitudes had been extremely arrogant.
Yet just a few hours later, they were on the ground while crying and begging for his help.
Jiang Chenyi crossed his arms and said impatiently, "Then just talk. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to resort to this."
The six of them burst into tears, "You didn't even ask!"
You didn't ask before acting—that's not how interrogations are supposed to work!
The young man snorted, "When you saw me and the police coming, you should have known what we were going to ask, right?"
He didn't believe they lacked the insight to figure it out. They just thought the police couldn't do anything to them!
Sure enough, after he said this, the six of them immediately wilted!
"Now, can you answer the questions properly?"
The six of them shivered, but even after experiencing the excruciating pain of their souls, they still hesitated.
Seeing their expressions, Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi narrowed their eyes dangerously before surrounding the group from front and back.
"It's not that we don't want to say..." one of them forced a bitter smile with his eyes filled with fear and helplessness.
And his tone sounded quite sincere at this moment: "The people behind this are not someone an ordinary police station can afford to provoke. Even if we tell you, there's nothing you can do about them!"
Moreover, they all had secrets or weaknesses in others' hands. If the police couldn't catch those people, all that awaited them was death.
"Even if we go to prison, we'll still die."
After saying this, the six of them turned pale with pain.
The two officers realized this case was far from simple and began to believe Jiang Chenyi's earlier revelation about people being used to make perfume.
Jiang Chenyi crouched down to meet their eyes at the same level: "Whether there's a way or not is my business, not yours."
He didn't care whether these people lived or died.
Given the Karmic Sin they carried, dying two or three times wouldn't be excessive.
The six remained silent.
Seeing this, Jiang Chenyi's eyes gradually turned cold.
After sending the doctor away, the hospital room door closed again.
For the second time, he performed Soul Extraction on them.
This time it lasted only 15 minutes, but for the six, it felt like 15 years.
In their dazed state, they heard the young man's icy, emotionless voice: "If you don't talk, I can make your lives a living hell."
Sometimes, death isn't the most painful thing.
Jiang Chenyi gave them a night to think it over.
If they couldn't figure it out, he would have to resort to more extreme measures.
Soul Extraction wasn't considered very extreme :)
After he left, the two officers reported the matter to their station chief. Upon learning that this case might involve powerful figures behind the scenes, the chief realized this case might be beyond their jurisdiction.
So he immediately informed the headquarters, and the six individuals along with the victims would all be handed over to the bureau.
Jiang Chenyi was also notified, but not through a phone call from the police station. Instead, the lead detective in charge of the case personally came to find him.
Seeing the detective standing at his hotel door, Jiang Chenyi felt a momentary flicker of irritation.
This irritation grew stronger when he heard what the other party had to say.
The detective firmly and resolutely informed him that the case would now be in the hands of the public security bureau, and he was not allowed to intervene in any further investigations.
Jiang Chenyi leaned against the doorframe while tilting his head as he looked at the other man.
What was on his mind wasn't the police rejecting his involvement, but rather suspecting that Gu Sheng had deceived him - didn't he say that as a Supervisor, he had the right to participate in police investigations?
Then, the detective's next words gave him the reason.
"We suspect that among those involved in the case, there may be Celestial Masters or similar individuals." They had just returned from the hospital, where an "accident" had occurred.
Hearing about an accident, Jiang Chenyi immediately frowned: "Impossible, I left Bell at the hospital!"
When he left the hospital back then, he was the only one. Huo Yunxi was worried that someone might attack those six people at night, so he deliberately hid in the ward.
And for this reason, Jiang Chenyi even traded a bunch of weapons with the supermarket!
Both firearms and cold weapons were included. Combined with Huo Yunxi's battlefield experience, there shouldn’t have been any accidents!
The captain’s expression remained unchanged as he pulled out a photo, which they had taken from the crime scene.
Jiang Chenyi took it and looked at it before his face immediately darkened.
All six of them were dead, killed by a curse.
Around their necks was a strange pattern, and the skin where the pattern was located was slightly sunken, as if a pair of hands had tightly gripped their necks.
The more Jiang Chenyi looked at it, the more nauseated he felt.
It wasn’t the photo itself that disgusted him, but the pattern—it gave him an extremely sickening feeling!
He couldn’t understand what the pattern represented, but he was well aware that what the other party had said was indeed correct—in this case, there was someone like a Celestial Master helping these masterminds behind the scenes. And these cursed patterns weren’t just meant to eliminate these small-time thugs; they were also a warning and a threat to the police.
Even he hadn’t detected the presence of the curse. How could the police protect the witnesses?
Jiang Chenyi’s heart tightened, followed by a surge of anger. He felt that he had been severely provoked!
Fortunately, he had experienced such things many times before and wouldn’t let anger cloud his judgment.
Then he asked about the six girls. Thankfully, only the six suspects had been cursed, and the victims were completely unharmed so far.
After confirming that the victims were safe, Jiang Chenyi felt slightly relieved.
"I know what you’re worried about, but there’s one question: if you refuse the help of a Celestial Master, how are you going to investigate these things? How are you going to deal with the methods of a Celestial Master?"
The captain across from him wasn’t worried at all about this issue: "Besides the Celestial Masters Association, we in the police have other people who can help."
Jiang Chenyi scoffed, "Oh, so how can you be sure that other Celestial Masters are definitely good?"
He couldn’t deny that the current Celestial Masters Association was indeed impure, with all sorts of people mixed in.
But who said that other Celestial Masters were necessarily pure?
The captain was somewhat impatient, but due to the identity of the person in front of him, he still patiently explained, "Because we’ve been in contact with him for years. He’s a trustworthy person."
"What about Gu Sheng? Isn’t he trustworthy?"
Jiang Chenyi’s eyes fixed tightly on the other person. When this name was mentioned, a trace of guilt and unease flashed in the captain’s eyes.
Oh?
Knowing full well that Gu Sheng was good, yet still choosing to cooperate with another Celestial Master… It was obvious that there was something fishy about their selection!
Jiang Chenyi smiled on the surface, but inside he was sneering: "I’m the one who saved him. You can’t expect me to just stand by. Since you don’t trust me, I can’t trust your so-called Celestial Master with this case either."
Originally, he hadn’t wanted to get too involved.
His primary task was to make deals with good people and listen to their inner voices to uncover their regrets, not to follow the police around solving cases.
Otherwise, back in Chashan City, he would have gone after the human trafficking organization long ago. Why leave it to the police?
But now, things are different.
Lives are at stake here—no one can guarantee that after those six men take these girls back, other girls won’t be harmed.
Jiang Chenyi tends to believe they will!
Moreover, with time being tight, the capital’s public security bureau is trying to shake him off, even unwilling to let the trustworthy Gu Sheng join… Jiang Chenyi’s trust in the captain and his team has plummeted.
As a criminal investigator, the captain clearly sensed the temperature in the young man’s eyes dropping rapidly.
Clearly, their actions had greatly displeased him.
He took a deep breath: “We’ve already informed you about this situation. If you act on your own…”
“Heh…” Jiang Chenyi curled his lips into a mocking smile. Faced with the warning, he remained unmoved and even issued a challenge: “What if I act on my own? Let the Celestial Master you trust take action against me. Perfect timing—I’ll see for myself whether he’s loyal or treacherous!”
The last word, “treacherous” revealed one of his sharp canine teeth.
At this moment, Jiang Chenyi shed his previously gentle facade and looking more like a leopard that had just been let out of its cage.
Unfortunately, the captain hadn’t seen how Jiang Chenyi dealt with the six suspects, or he would never have been so rash as to outright reject him.
“You investigate your way, and I’ll investigate mine. If I wait for you to figure everything out… who knows if we’ll end up with just a few small fry.”
With that, he slammed the door shut.
Turning around, Jiang Chenyi saw Huo Yunxi’s guilt-ridden face. Clearly, the other was deeply remorseful for failing to protect those people.
“I couldn’t detect the curse… I couldn’t save them…” Huo Yunxi closed his eyes in pain.
Those six men were no good, but to uncover the truth and catch the perfumer behind the “Human Fragrance” they had no choice but to start with these individuals.
But now, they are all dead!
Jiang Chenyi’s gaze was ice-cold: “This isn’t your fault. I didn’t notice it either! They’re provoking me!”
He gritted his teeth, clearly furious: “It’s not over yet. Don’t lose hope.”
Huo Yunxi didn’t understand what he meant, but then Jiang Chenyi’s smile gradually turned eerie: “When I left, I trapped their souls in place.”
He had arranged for Huo Yunxi to stay at the hospital because he was certain someone would make a move tonight.
Jiang Chenyi truly didn’t know who would attack the six men, so he took precautions on both fronts—if it were ordinary people, Huo Yunxi’s presence would suffice; but if it were someone like a Celestial Master, he had already trapped the six men’s Souls in the ward. Even if they were killed, their souls wouldn’t dissipate.
And with their Souls intact, he could still extract crucial information about the mastermind behind all this.
After hearing Jiang Chenyi’s preparations, Huo Yunxi’s eyes lit up.
“I originally wanted to inform the police, but alas… since they don’t need my help, there’s no need for me to assist them.”
His anger wasn’t because those people died, but because of their attitude!
It was fine if they didn’t trust him, but what about Old Man Gu Sheng? Instead of relying on a trustworthy and powerful Celestial Master, they’d rather trust someone else?
The guilt inadvertently revealed by the captain was enough to prove that things were becoming increasingly complicated!
Jiang Chenyi grew more and more agitated the more he thought about it.
He was a perfectly fine supermarket shopkeeper—why on earth did he have to take on the side job of solving cases?!
Seeing Jiang Chenyi practically bristling with frustration, Huo Yunxi's own pent-up emotions were instantly replaced by a mix of amusement and exasperation.
He walked over to Jiang Chenyi and gently patted his back to soothe him like one would calm a ruffled animal: "It's just that you can't bear to see more victims, right? At its core, this isn't much different from what you usually do."
Helping others make up for their regrets is a good thing.
Helping impoverished patients receive treatment is a good thing.
And now, preventing more victims by personally solving the case is also a good thing.
"Besides, solving cases isn't something you wanted to do. If everyone were as reliable as Director Zhou, you wouldn't have felt the need to step in, right?"
With the warm palm gently stroking his back, Jiang Chenyi's frustration indeed lessened considerably.
He let out a sigh and his expression softened slightly: "Fine, let's go to the hospital and check on those six souls first."
To avoid being monitored by the police, they made a deal with the supermarket and retrieved the umbrella that could conceal their presence.
Sure enough, as they left the hotel, they spotted a police officer hiding by the elevator at the end of the corridor, and another plainclothes officer keeping watch at the hotel entrance.
The surveillance by the police reignited Jiang Chenyi's barely calmed emotions!
"What's this? Are they treating me like a suspect?" Huo Yunxi held the umbrella with one hand and placed the other on Jiang Chenyi's shoulder to prevent him from storming over in anger to confront them.
However, his own gaze grew colder.
Perhaps it was because the police they had encountered in Chashan City and Ancheng had been so reliable that they had high expectations for all police officers.
Jiang Chenyi now grew even more suspicious of the Celestial Master's true nature: "That guy seems more like a wolf, inciting civilians to vote out the god first."
By now, the two had already boarded a taxi heading to the hospital. Huo Yunxi understood what he meant and asked, "So, do you want to kill the wolf first or clear the god's name?"
Jiang Chenyi didn't hesitate to choose the former.
Whether the god's name was cleared or not didn't matter because he alone could eliminate all the wolves!
Once the real wolf was exposed, the god's name would naturally be cleared. Why bother going through the trouble of clearing it himself?
Huo Yunxi agreed with his approach. Clearing the god's name would take too much time, and during that time, the mastermind behind the scenes might claim more victims.
When they arrived near the hospital, the two ducked into an alley, opened the umbrella, and used its ability to sneak into the hospital.
The ward where the six had stayed had already been sealed off. At the scene, aside from two police officers keeping watch, there was no one else.
This made it convenient for Jiang Chenyi to act.
They slipped into the crime scene, and under the hospital bed, Jiang Chenyi found the six souls huddled together with their faces still etched with the pain and fear of their final moments.
Upon seeing Jiang Chenyi, the six unexpectedly stopped being afraid and instead rushed to his side while wailing uncontrollably.
"Waaah... we... we should have told you earlier, waaah!"
They were filled with regret—genuine regret!
If they had known that being caught would only lead to death, they should have confessed everything. Perhaps they could have sought this person's protection.
Jiang Chenyi watched them coldly, snorted in annoyance, and then grabbed the cluster of souls as he intended to leave first.
Just as he stepped out of the hospital, the captain of the criminal investigation team, who had earlier forbidden him from participating, was approaching with someone in tow.
The man looked to be in his thirties or forties, but judging by his demeanor, he seemed like a university professor or someone from a scholarly family.
However, Jiang Chenyi saw through the man's true nature at a glance—there was a faint golden light surrounding him, like an eggshell enveloping his body.
But this Merit Shell was fake!
What Jiang Chenyi saw most clearly was that beneath this shell lay a dense Karmic Sin, comparable to that of the human trafficker's Boss.
In fact, it was even worse!
As for why this man was the Celestial Master the captain was willing to cooperate with, one only needed to look at the captain's obsequiousness to guess!
A good police officer, and a captain at that, bowing and scraping to a fake Celestial Master... it was laughable!
Indeed, Jiang Chenyi could also tell that this Celestial Master was a fraud!
The man had no power whatsoever, even weaker than the White Hair he had encountered before!
When Jiang Chenyi's footsteps paused, Huo Yunxi caught a faint whiff of the stench of decay that was very similar to what he had smelled on those six individuals before.
This smell instantly put him on high alert.
"Is it him?" Huo Yunxi silently inquired with a glance at Jiang Chenyi, only to see the young man flash a cold smile.
In the next moment, a gun appeared in his hand.
It was a Gatling gun, and not just any Gatling gun—it was loaded with special bullets and equipped with additional effects.
At the same time, Jiang Chenyi's Golden Abacus materialized, signaling that they were preparing to take action.
When the man was still a few meters away, he seemed to sense something and swiftly turned his head in Jiang Chenyi's direction.
In his eyes, the courtyard, which exuded a faint floral fragrance, gave him an inexplicable sense of dread.
Yet, no matter how closely he observed it, it was just an ordinary lawn!
The man felt his heart beating faster, and a strong sense of unease compelled him to quickly pull out a talisman and stick it on himself.
The captain beside him watched his actions curiously and asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Mr. Meng?"
The man referred to as Mr. Meng clutched his chest, took a few deep breaths, and then furrowed his brows deeply. "Did you tell anyone I was coming to the hospital today?"
The captain shook his head blankly.
Of course, he hadn't!
Seeing this, Mr. Meng grew even more puzzled.
However, now was not the time for him to dwell on his confusion, because he noticed that the talisman he had just stuck on himself suddenly burst into flames without any fire.
In the next second, several bullets shot out from the seemingly empty courtyard, each one aimed directly at his body!
Mr. Meng quickly pulled the captain in front of him and hastily took out another life-saving talisman to stick on himself.
But just as the talisman was applied, a figure abruptly appeared beside him.
A slender hand materialized out of thin air that grabbed the talismans and crushing the yellow paper in an instant.
"So, this is how you've been deceiving people, huh?"
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