Chapter 36: I'm a Professional at Finding People

"Causing trouble, huh!"

Lu Zheng took a taxi from the city bureau entrance and headed straight home.

"Trying to frame me, you clearly have no idea how capable I am!"

"Alright, I can't do much either, but you clearly have no idea how capable the people's police are!"

Paid, got out of the car, went upstairs, and returned home.

...

Back home, it was already noon. Lu Zheng changed clothes and then traveled to ancient times for lunch.

"Young master, the second miss of the Liu Family came looking for you early this morning, saying she wants you to accompany her shopping."

Lu Zheng smiled at the news; shopping? Most likely the candy in her pocket is gone.

But Lu Zheng couldn't go play with the Liu Family Sisters now since that would prevent him from time traveling at will.

"I won't be home this afternoon. Please send a bag of candy over and tell them I have things to do in the coming days."

"Alright!"

While eating, Lu Zheng thought, "This can't continue, the case is dragging, and the police might come looking for me anytime, which would hold me back."

But the situation couldn't change just by his will; he couldn't capture the culprit and hand him to the police, could he?

He didn't even know who the culprit was!

"Oh?"

Lu Zheng put a piece of tofu into his mouth, and his eyes gleamed with inspiration.

"Am I stupid?"

After quickly finishing lunch, Lu Zheng returned to the bedroom, first took a bag of fruit hard candy from the drawer, then took out several talisman papers he drew last night, draining his True Qi as the cost.

The advantage of exchanging the Light of Fortune for proficiency in talisman drawing allowed Lu Zheng to skip the initial practice phase, boosting his success rate to one hundred percent.

Five Peace Talismans, one Qi-Seeking Talisman, two Exorcism Talismans, and one Divine Movement Talisman.

Thinking it through, Lu Zheng took a Peace Talisman for himself and gave Uncle Li the other two along with a bag of candy to deliver to the Liu Family Sisters.

Then he ground vermillion, spread yellow paper, and drew two more Qi-Seeking Talismans.

"Time travel!"

"Buzz!"

Feeling the True Qi locked within the yellow paper talisman, Lu Zheng couldn't help but beam with joy, "Success!"

This time, Lu Zheng wanted to see if, apart from himself, objects containing True Qi energy could cross between times.

The result was delightful; it worked!

"Hmm, never mind the vermillion as both sides are similar; I wonder if the yellow paper and talisman brush might differ? I'll try bringing them next time to test the effect."

The urgent task now isn't verifying his hypothesis but capturing the culprit.

"So, what's the next step?"

"The object with the strongest suspicion of the culprit's presence, of course, is the weapon."

"Find Lin Wan, let her show me the weapon, then I'll cast a spell, using the Qi-Seeking Talisman to extract its aura, fold the talisman paper into a paper crane, and let it guide the police to the culprit?"

Lu Zheng, "Haha!"

Better first check if any trace of the culprit's aura remains at his house.

True Qi surged into the paper talisman, Lu Zheng gently shook his right hand, and the vermillion curse on the talisman began to shimmer.

Then, Lu Zheng sensed several auras gathering around the paper talisman, slowly swirling.

The largest lump was himself; the other three smaller ones were likely the residual aura of the three officers from the morning.

Additionally, there was a... trace?

Faint, almost imperceptible. If Lu Zheng waited half a day longer to use the talisman, it might not have gathered at all.

"Time is tight, congeal! Draw!"

Holding the talisman in his right hand, Lu Zheng formed a seal with his left, first dispersing the other four auras, then congealing and drawing the remaining trace into the Qi-Seeking Talisman.

"Buzz!"

The Qi-Seeking Talisman gently vibrated, as if making contact with a distant presence.

"Go!"

Being in Hai City, Lu Zheng couldn't fold the Qi-Seeking Talisman directly into a paper crane, and he hadn't stored enough True Qi in the talisman to make it fly.

So, Lu Zheng simply folded the paper talisman into a small square and held it, following its guidance to head out immediately.

"Quickly, the aura collected in the talisman paper is limited and will vanish soon."

Leaving the community at a fast pace, Lu Zheng took a shared bike at the entrance and pedaled rapidly.

...

Meanwhile, at the city bureau.

"Captain Li, through monitor comparison, we indeed found five qualified targets, but..."

"But what?"

"But they all wore food delivery uniforms, helmets, and masks, showing no distinguishing features."

"So, either Lu Zheng is lying, or the opponent is an expert?"

"Indeed!"

Li Jinglin extinguished his cigarette, falling into deep thought for a moment.

...

The aura and True Qi in the paper talisman were depleting rapidly as Lu Zheng pedaled north, quickly passing a dozen blocks.

Then he turned to the entrance of a seemingly high-end, upscale hotel.

"Buzz!"

The Qi-Seeking Talisman in his palm vibrated lightly, losing its efficacy.

Lu Zheng looked up, "Luckily it didn't fail halfway, at least the destination is found."

He got off the bike, locked it, and looked up at the hotel sign.

Qingyu Hotel.

The target was presently in this hotel; once Lu Zheng confirmed a location the person surely frequented, he could reuse the Qi-Seeking Talisman...

Then, already memorizing that person's aura, Lu Zheng could immediately filter the target's aura from the myriad chaotic ones.

For instance... the hotel front desk?

Hey, how did things suddenly become so simple?

When the culprit is caught, Lu Zheng would just send him to the police station, claiming an accidental encounter and recalling having seen him in the community.

After all, he committed no crime, so the process matters not, just like that!

Lu Zheng swaggered into the hotel, approached the front desk, "I'd like to book a room."

"Certainly, sir. What type of room do you need, and how many days will you be staying? Also, could you please present your ID?"

Lu Zheng pulled out his ID and handed it to the receptionist, "Standard room is fine, staying for three days."

In no time, Lu Zheng had already come up with a reason for staying at the hotel this time.

"Certainly, just a moment!"

A moment later.

"How would you like to pay, sir?"

"By phone."

"Thank you, your payment is successful. Here is your room card; wish you a pleasant stay!"

Lu Zheng took the room card and turned to walk towards the side elevator in the lobby.

As he walked, Lu Zheng reached into his pocket with one hand and pulled out a Qi-Seeking Talisman, folded it into a square and held it in his hand.

The other hand quickly moved in a sealing gesture, and in an instant, hundreds of auras surged forth.

"So many!"

The True Qi in the Qi-Seeking Talisman rapidly depleted, but Lu Zheng recognized that aura in a blink.

"Congeal! Draw!"

"Buzz!"

"Amazing!"

Lu Zheng entered the elevator, smiling as he pressed the button for the eighth floor.

At this moment, if someone glanced at the card in his hand, they would clearly see the numbers 1210.