Here Lies The Wicked - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Casefile 11

“The one that saved me last night wasn’t you guys?”

Wei Youran had a stunned and serious look on her face.

As she noticed the change in expression of the people in front of her, she had indirectly received her desired answer after remaining silent for a while.

Thus, Wei Youran searched for her smartphone amongst the rubble. She found that her phone was smashed and the screen was covered in a web of cracks.

The time shown:

[Ninth of April, 12.39 PM, Cloudy.]

“Have I been out for over ten hours?” Wei Youran muttered to herself as she slid her finger across her screen. She could still painfully unlock her phone, and, as she opened her sent messages, she realized that, on the night of the eighth of April, she had sent zero messages…

“Thank the heavens there nothing too unfortunate has happened to you, Police Chief Wei, or else the outcome would be unimaginable. The only notable thing the person giving statements said was that he was about 210 cm, he had a huge frame, and was a bald male.

“For someone with such a huge frame, it was as if a giant had entered into a dollhouse, and his head was seemingly touching the ceiling. Even turning his body around would be a handicap for him. In the presence of someone so massive, anything presented to him would seem like tiny toothpicks.

“However, it seemed he had not presented himself as a clumsy, simple-minded man. On the other hand, he was actually quite mature and grounded, and he was very cautious and aware of his surroundings. He was a very grounded man.

“Police Chief Wei, your courage and farsight is commendable, and we do not wish to see any accidents befall you. Perhaps our earlier agreement on letting you be bait was a rash and impulsive decision—a risky one, in fact. We will be reflecting on this operation internally.”

However, not a single person expected Wei Youran to say, “Casefile 11 is now closed.

“The last time I saw him, he was murdered by a mysterious man. I’ve seen him murdered with my own two eyes.”

Surprise flashed across the bald man’s eyes as he revealed a piece of very shocking news, “There was another missing person last night.

“The case reporters said, before the victims went missing, they would hear the sounds of footsteps when they were contacted through the phone. This was exactly as casefile 11 described…

“However, last night’s disappearance was different from the ones before. Back then, it was only one person per night, however, last night happened to involve two different people going missing.”

…

Zhou City.

This building was the most secure and highly guarded building, and an emergency meeting was called in a meeting room right at this very moment.

A bald man with a huge frame and muscular build stood in the meeting room. This was the same bald man that had showed up in Wei Youran’s house.

At this very moment, a photo was being projected onto the huge screen.

On the picture was, shockingly, the papier-mache man with two inhumanly crimson red cheeks that resembled fresh blood. A single closeup of an eerie, terrifying, and ghastly face was projected onto the screen.

It was the same still frame from the family surveillance camera in Wei Youran’s room; the single frame took before the camera was destroyed.

An eerie, horrifying, and ghastly face of a papier-mache man.

The bald man’s voice was deep and grounded as he conducted this meeting. He said, “Update the details and information on casefile 11. The first update would be its name. Call it the ‘Papier-Mache Man’. The second thing would be its inhuman speeds.

“The third would be the residual energy left behind after its battle. Based on the early stages of the analysis, this would be categorized in the fourth or fifth Sky Dog Tier”

“Also, the fourth point: it seemed that casefile 11 possessed the ability of making clones of itself. Or perhaps these papier-mache men were only mere puppets. There is a possibility of a puppeteer behind them that is somehow pulling the strings from the shadows.

“Below would be my task assignments to specifically target casefile 11. All of the papier-mache shops, candles, or any shops that have any ties to funeral rites will be shut down in the entirety of Zhou City. The three feet hole dug for every burial ground must be thoroughly searched. I don’t care if it possessed the ability of the ‘Sun Monkey’ that could conjure clones of itself by plucking its fur, or whatever puppeteer is pulling its strings behind it. The bottom line is, it would be impossible for these events to happen out of nowhere. There should be a spiritual vessel or a high chance of coming across anything spiritual related.

“Casefile 10 from back then… The humiliation we endured when the Two Severed Corpse Emperor could escape with its upper half… I do not wish to repeat that mistake again.”

Everyone present was staring at the ghastly entity labeled casefile 11. It had made everyone on edge in the meeting room.

The bald man continued, “Another thing, inform all different districts to keep an eye on a mysterious, hidden, powerful man from the general public.

“This man is a suspected man who remained hidden amongst the general public for quite some time now. He has awakened the bloodline and natural talents of someone incredibly powerful, however, he has been remaining hidden. It seems he has some ability to observe everything around him. He had, apparently, avoided our detection for some time now.

“Especially his rate of progress. It’s insanely terrifying. If we were to judge him from the night of the Blue Moon—as that very night contained an immeasurable amount of vast spiritual energy—in the span of ten short days, a man with absolutely zero resources, no guidance from anyone, has somehow possessed the ability to annihilate a fourth to fifth tier Sky Dog strong fiend.

“I believe it’s clear to all of you that a man capable of destroying a fourth to fifth tier Sky Dog powerful fiend is no walk in the park. Anyone with such terrifying destructive energy in his alignment has an unclear possibility of committing a crime. Before that happens, we will need to seek this insanely powerful man, who kept himself hidden so well, out.”

The bald man declared.

Currently, Fang Zheng was oblivious to the fact that he was on the watchlist of that department.

The police car below his apartment had left, in addition to his neighbor vacating her apartment. The sky was already dark. It was approximately six to seven in the evening, and, after feeling guilty for the entire day, he was exceedingly terrified of someone knocking on his door to discuss the repair costs that would range between twenty to thirty thousand yuan. He had finally carefully taken out something.

This was a piece of scrap paper that was about three to four centimeters long. Fang Zheng proceeded to clench that piece of paper in his fists as he began to contemplate something.

The Papier-Mache Man was burned by the flames of his Nine Yang Essential Qi. Even after it was reduced to ashes, a single fragment of paper was left behind. It was not completely burned, and it was the same piece of paper he had in his hands at the moment. Feeling puzzled and slightly curious about it, he grabbed onto it.

Since there were no answers to his questions, he had decided to drop the issue for now.

Fang Zheng frowned.

This single issue was completely different from the rules of any boss fights from the game.

“Could it possibly be that, based on what the Human Skin Scriptures had recorded, last night’s papier-mache man was merely an insignificant fiend?

“Or was it due to the fact that I’ve exceeded the tiers to annihilate a small, insignificant fiend? Or a huge boss fight was all merely as insignificant as a single shred of Grey Qi?”

Fang Zheng ran his fingers through his hair as he scratched his scalp while being completely puzzled.