Chapter 24: The Murderer

Oh right, they almost forgot about that kid.

Li Dongze's words reminded the team captains that the Kangyang District Lingjing team had already recruited a Night Wanderer. There was no need to borrow one from Taiyi Sect.

Muscleman's face lit up with joy, and he immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Get in touch with that kid. This is why we need to train our own Night Wanderers. In critical moments, our own people are the most reliable."

The other captains relaxed their furrowed brows.

Muscleman had a point. Although the Night Wanderers from Taiyi Sect were always cooperative in serious matters, they were still outsiders. Using their own people was undoubtedly more convenient.

Li Dongze glanced at Fu Qingyang. Seeing him nod slightly, he immediately took out his phone and walked out of the meeting room.

"I'll contact him now."

...

After finishing his morning professional courses, Zhang Yuanqing slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the classroom. He planned to skip the afternoon classes and visit the Kangyang District Lingjing Squad's second team office.

From now on, his social interactions and priorities would gradually shift toward the Lingjing team.

Zhang Yuanqing never really liked school, and he wasn't particularly interested in studying. Young people in Songhai had a deep-rooted laziness—they lacked ambition and drive.

There were only two types of people who truly strived: those who had been raised with a strong work ethic from childhood and those forced by circumstances.

After becoming a Lingjing Walker, Zhang Yuanqing finally rediscovered his long-lost fighting spirit.

One reason was survival—it was a matter of life and death. The other was the fulfillment of his childhood dream—to roam the world like a swordsman.

The Lingjing realm was full of danger and eerie mysteries, but once someone tasted its rewards, they would never be content with an ordinary life again.

As he reached the bottom of the building and was about to unlock a shared bike, his phone rang in his pocket.

It was Li Dongze.

"Squad Leader?" Zhang Yuanqing answered.

"Where are you right now?" Li Dongze spoke quickly and got straight to the point.

"I'm at school."

"Songhai University, right? I'll have Guan Ya pick you up."

Pick me up? Zhang Yuanqing sensed the urgency in Li Dongze's tone and cautiously asked, "What's going on?"

"A colleague was murdered. We need a Night Wanderer to devour the spirit and retrieve its memories. Uh, you can do that, right?" Li Dongze asked uncertainly.

Uh… I think so? Zhang Yuanqing hesitated. "I'll give it a try?"

Devouring a spirit wasn't difficult—it was a natural ability of Night Wanderers. His instincts told him he could do it, but as for retrieving memories, he had never actually done it before. He had no experience, so he couldn't guarantee success.

"Alright then," Li Dongze said abruptly and hung up.

Zhang Yuanqing put away his phone and walked toward the campus gate.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the gate and waited for Guan Ya. At the same time, he noticed a girl in a pleated long skirt standing by the roadside, carrying a designer handbag, seemingly waiting for someone.

Xu Yingying?

Zhang Yuanqing scrutinized the "class beauty." She was dressed with great care—her bracelet, necklace, earrings, and handbag all looked expensive. She stood out from the majority of female students on campus.

Girls from average families couldn't pull off this kind of look.

Noticing Zhang Yuanqing's gaze, Xu Yingying gave a faint smile. She casually tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened her posture, striking her most charming pose while feeling a small sense of superiority.

The boy was quite good-looking, so she instinctively showcased her beauty.

But now, she and ordinary university students were no longer in the same world, and that gave her a strong sense of superiority.

Her outfit alone was worth a regular student's yearly living expenses.

Just then, Xu Yingying saw a blue sports car approaching, slowing down at the campus gate.

The driver was a woman dressed in a crisp white shirt, wearing sunglasses that concealed her face. But with her fair, pointed chin and delicately carved lips, it wasn't hard to tell she was a beauty.

Xu Yingying pursed her lips, adjusted her posture, and turned the designer logo of her bag toward the sports car.

At the same time, she watched as Zhang Yuanqing jogged up to the car, opened the door, and slid into the passenger seat.

The wealthy woman stepped on the gas, and the car sped away with the "little puppy" in tow.

Xu Yingying's mouth fell slightly open in shock.

For a moment, she couldn't tell if this male classmate was a low-key rich kid or if he was in the same line of work as her—a "seafood merchant" or "steel wool vendor."

…

Kangyang District Public Security Bureau – Morgue

Zhang Yuanqing stood beside the autopsy table and pulled back the white sheet, revealing a gruesome corpse.

The body was covered in bruises and knife wounds. The gaping wound in the chest was especially horrific.

If it had been two days ago, seeing such a corpse would have made Zhang Yuanqing feel physically sick. But after experiencing the brutal beatings in the Mountain God Temple, corpses no longer stirred much emotion in him.

"You can begin," Li Dongze said expectantly, leaning on his cane.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded and examined Zhao Yingjun's corpse. He sensed the lingering spirit inside, slowly becoming active and reviving.

The aura of a Night Wanderer had a fatal attraction to spirits—it could awaken their slumber.

He silently channeled his Yin energy. His eyeballs and pupils turned completely black as he reached out toward Zhao Yingjun's body and made a grabbing motion.

A ghostly figure emerged.

The figure had Zhao Yingjun's facial features but wore a blank expression, its eyes empty.

After death, most of a person's consciousness dissipated, leaving their spirit in this dazed state. Since the consciousness faded, memories would also be incomplete, with only the deepest impressions remaining.

Memories of the final moments before death were usually the strongest and the easiest to retain.

As Zhang Yuanqing held the spirit, a sudden hunger arose within him. Instinctively, he opened his mouth and took a gentle inhale.

Zhao Yingjun's spirit turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted into his mouth.

A sharp pain pulsed in Zhang Yuanqing's forehead. His consciousness swelled, flooded with unfamiliar memories.

...

He heard soft sobbing—whimpering cries. A deep, menacing voice followed:

"My patience is wearing thin. You better start talking."

Zhang Yuanqing knew he was now reading the spirit's final memories. Slowly, his "eyes" opened, and the scene around him became clear.

A lavishly decorated suite.

He was sitting on a plush bed, completely naked. Clothes were scattered across the floor—his own, as well as a woman's undergarments.

Not far from him, near the headboard, a young woman curled up, also naked. Her fair legs, toned stomach, and perky chest accentuated her youthful beauty.

The sobbing came from her.

A woman? Naked? The sight made Zhang Yuanqing freeze for a moment.

Why didn't Squad Leader tell me about the crime scene beforehand? How could he let me witness such inappropriate content? I'm still a kid...

Following the victim's perspective, he turned his gaze to the man beside the bed.

It was a fierce-looking man with a half-inch-long scar on his left cheek, sparse eyebrows, and sinister eyes. He held a gleaming willow-bladed knife.

The murderer... Zhang Yuanqing locked onto the man's face, engraving it into his memory.

His task was halfway done.

The man pressed the knife's tip against "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest and said harshly,

"Where is the Holy Grail? Where is the roster?"

He had asked the question repeatedly, his patience clearly running out. His eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

"I don't know. I really don't know… Please, let me go," Zhang Yuanqing heard "himself" plead.

The man crouched beside the bed, growing visibly frustrated. He rubbed his face tiredly, muttering to himself,

"I gave you a chance, but you blew it… I gave you a chance, but you blew it…"

Then, he plunged the blade into "Zhang Yuanqing's" chest.

A searing pain shot through his consciousness, making his vision blur.

As he collapsed onto the floor, he saw the man undo his belt, grab the terrified woman's ankle, and yank her toward him.

The memory ended with the woman's desperate scream.