Chapter 10: The Legendary Top Class Investigator
Baijiang City, Investigation Bureau.
Roundtable conference room.
Apart from two squads that were currently out on assignments, the remaining three second-level investigators, six third-level investigators, and the only first-level investigator, had all arrived here.
Among them were Wei Nian and Ke Yuan.
Wei Nian was a second-level investigator, Ke Yuan, a third-level investigator.
From third to first level, these were the internal rank designations for investigators, and the only criterion for evaluation was the number and severity of the Mysterious Evil events they had handled.
In total, ten investigators, many of whom had hurried back from assignments.
"Director Zhou, what has happened?"
An investigator asked.
The man with the square face sitting in the seat of honor looked to one side, "Since everyone is here, Wei, you tell them."
From discovery, to despair, and then to...
Wei Nian detailed the entire sequence of events very clearly, and when he mentioned that the Buddha Beads of twenty years had snapped, many investigators in the conference room could not contain their expressions.
"How is that possible?"
"The Buddha Beads, blessed and chanted upon by Master Ming Deng for twenty years, not only had no effect but were actually shattered by the Mysterious Evil?!"
"It's not entirely without effect," Wei Nian said, "The Buddha Beads must have damaged the Mysterious Evil, enabling it to reveal a faint shadowy contour, but it's still far from expelling it."
However, for the investigators present, whether it had been injured was already secondary; the fact that the Buddha Beads, representing twenty years of effort, had fragmented was unbearable.
These Buddha Beads were not part of the standard equipment for regular squads but were one of Baijiang Investigation Bureau's trump cards.
The ace up their sleeve.
Only occasionally, as a precaution, they were lent to certain squads to carry on assignments, and they had established great merits a few times.
This time, however, the target Mysterious Evil was truly extraordinary, not just a bit stronger than estimated, but...
An enormous leap in strength!
Wei Nian's personal recorder had also captured the scene.
The Buddha Beads, radiating golden light, snapped apart, and within the shaky footage, something seemed to be shrieking, and a faint shadowy contour had been recorded as well.
The investigators were shocked.
"Charms and blessed Buddha Beads are not omnipotent; they will naturally fail when surpassing their limits."
"The Mysterious Evils we can dispel are just a small fraction of the weaker ones," said a young man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
He wore a black mask, the brim of his baseball cap was pulled down low, and with his black trench coat, he resembled the suspect at a crime scene—Xiao Hei.
In reality, he was the Baijiang Investigation Bureau's sole first-level investigator.
Jiang Tingqiu!
At just twenty-six years of age, he had handled many Mysterious Evil events, surviving death on multiple occasions. In terms of experience with the number of Mysterious Evils seen, he was undoubtedly the first in Baijiang, even ten times more than the other investigators.
His words carried authority.
"I myself have encountered such a dreadful Mysterious Evil. Back then, among several investigators, only two of us survived, and the other one, besides myself, went mad not long after."
Even now, thinking back on that event, Jiang Tingqiu felt a lingering fear.
At the thought, he found it strange.
How did these two make it back safely?
It wasn't that he underestimated Wei Nian, but... a second-level and a third-level investigator, to him, were certainly... inconsequential.
"Yeah, Wei, I remember you sent an urgent distress signal, but sooner said it was fine?"
"I was even rushing to secure a charm," another investigator said.
Wei Nian found his experiences of that day to be quite surreal.
He described the figure.
The blood-red slash.
"Just one blade took down the Mysterious Evil?"
"Wait, can Mysterious Evil be expelled by a blade?"
"Some consecrated blades might cause harm to Mysterious Evil, but they are still far from expelling it."
"No, the key point is..."
An investigator focused on the image on the recorder.
The shaky footage had caught a glimpse of a figure, moving at an extreme speed, and the light of the slashing blade seemed to have raised some kind of grey substance.
Was this a speed attainable by humans?
And that blade... did it seem to flash with a hint of red light?
It's not an illusion!
The investigators swallowed hard, and had it not been for the recorder right here, they would not have dared to believe it based solely on Wei Nian's description.
As the only first-class investigator, Jiang Tingqiu's expression also changed. He quickly took several steps to the screen, his eyes widened as he stared intently, not daring to miss any detail.
"His method of exorcising the Mysterious Evil is different from ours."
"It relies on his own strength to exorcise it."
Jiang Tingqiu said.
Wei Nian asked, "Is it really relying on his own strength, and not that the knife has something special?"
He had seen it with his own eyes and was very certain it was real, yet he also couldn't understand it.
How is it possible to kill Mysterious Evil with human strength?
The investigators couldn't do it.
They were all merely mortal, and the only difference between them and ordinary people was that they had undergone special training to identify, investigate, and find Mysterious Evil.
More importantly, in the face of Mysterious Evil, they would not panic or be influenced by it.
To handle Mysterious Evil in the most appropriate procedure.
But...
They were still just ordinary people, merely trained ordinary people.
Even the owner of the twenty-year Buddha Beads, 'Mage Ming Deng,' was just an ordinary person. His profound understanding of Buddhism and the power boosted by reciting scriptures could harm Mysterious Evil.
But this kind of power required years to accumulate.
And it required a true Mage who understood Buddhism.
If Mage Ming Deng encountered Mysterious Evil without his equipment, his end would probably be just a bit more dignified than that of an ordinary person.
Wei Nian looked towards Director Zhou, then at Jiang Tingqiu.
The first-class investigator was still playing back the recording over and over, his eyes fixed on the screen, carrying a hint of excitement.
After a while, he spoke with a somewhat hoarse voice, "I heard that there is a rank above a first-class investigator, named Special-Class Investigator."
"But the promotion to a Special-Class Investigator doesn't depend on the number of Mysterious Evils exorcised, but requires some other more special factor."
"I have always been doubtful and searching."
He looked at Director Zhou.
He didn't say it overtly, but it was obvious he was asking if the person in the recorder was… the legendary Special-Class Investigator!
The question was a good one.
Director Zhou also wanted to know.
His authority was a bit higher, but regarding the elusive Special-Class Investigator, he knew very little.
Director Zhou employed his skill of diverting the topic.
"This meeting is not only about the damage to the Buddha Beads. Now, let's talk about something even more important."
"This matter, to be precise, is somewhat related to the first one."
Director Zhou paused and opened a spreadsheet.
Statistics of Mysterious Evil incidents.
It was not just for Baijiang City but nationwide.
"Starting a few months ago, the frequency of Mysterious Evils appearing has clearly increased, as has the probability of encountering troublesome events."
"There are two guesses at the moment."
"One is that Mysterious Evils are continually being born or emerging, and the other is that Mysterious Evils are getting stronger."
"It might be for this reason that a powerful Mysterious Evil appeared within the urban area."
Otherwise,
In urban areas, places dense with human activity, Mysterious Evils tend to be more ordinary.
The truly terrifying ones are in abandoned buildings, uninhabited villages, graveyards... these areas are more likely to spawn Mysterious Evils, many powerful and terrifying, often beyond the control of local investigation bureaus, leaving them no option but to seal off the area, trying to minimize the harm.
And now, dangerous areas were becoming more frequent.
The means by which humans could combat Mysterious Evils were extremely limited.
What does the future hold?
Director Zhou paused and then said, "Anyway, let's clear up these cases of anomalies we have on hand, a total of fifteen. You all can divide them among yourselves."
"These are just medium and low-level suspected cases, but don't take them lightly."
Wei Nian's team had just narrowly escaped death, so he got to pick first.
He didn't intentionally choose but picked up one of the reports to have a look.
"Last night, there were two loud booms in the Tai Ping Residential Complex... this counts as an abnormal event?"
"Forget it, I'll pick this one."