Chapter 471 470: The Soul-Summoning Art

Mu Lin knew Miao Ya was too focused on the details of the case to understand the bigger picture. Her way of thinking was only natural.

Miao Ya snapped out of her surprise. "Then why not just kill Mr. Lin? Wouldn't that be much more convenient?"

Mu Lin just smiled and said nothing.

After a moment, Jiang Long said, "That would be very dangerous for the culprits. Both Elder Lin and Mr. Lin are under strict surveillance by our Military Suppression Bureau. Any unusual activity involving them would trigger the Bureau's security protocols. The culprits' plan would be ruined, and they might even face annihilation."

Miao Ya agreed. "But the driver is already dead, and I didn't find any valuable clues on his body. The investigation has hit a dead end."

Mu Lin asked, "Why not just ask the driver himself?"

Mu Lin's words caused an uproar in the room. Everyone's expressions changed, and their hearts were filled with utter shock.

"Are you insane? The man is dead! Where are you going to go to ask him?"

"Mr. Mu, do you mean... soul summoning?" Jiang Long asked tentatively after a moment.

Soul summoning is the act of communicating with the spirits of the deceased by connecting with heaven and earth through certain methods.

Frankly, the idea was just too outlandish.

After all, soul summoning has always been associated with charlatanry. Outsiders found it difficult to trust Soul Summoners, and the presence of bad apples among them only worsened their reputation.

Over time, the number of people with soul-summoning abilities dwindled, and eventually, no one practiced the art at all.

Jiang Long had never imagined that Mu Lin would actually know how to do it.

Mu Lin shook his head. "I don't. But I have a talisman that can summon him. The effect is more or less the same."

"I see."

'Jiang Long had always known the line of Soul Summoners was dying out. He'd even wondered if Mu Lin might be one of its last living practitioners. But he was wrong. It seemed the line of Soul Summoners truly was on the brink of extinction.'

Mu Lin said, "There's no time to waste. I need a quiet environment. Everyone, please step outside."

The group turned and filed out of the room.

Once they were outside, Lin Shishi pursed her lips. "He's certainly so full of mystery, acting all profound."

The fact that Mu Lin had gone to Zhou Ying's place last night without a second thought made her extremely jealous.

Mu Lin's excuse was perfectly reasonable, of course—just some simple line about how Zhou Ying was all alone and in danger in Di Yang, so he had to help her.

But Lin Shishi suspected it was just a cover for his ulterior motives. 'He just likes Zhou Ying.'

Lin Shishi was clearly unhappy. Lin Jin noticed, walked over to her, and said:

"Shishi, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lin Shishi shook her head.

Lin Jin continued, "Then you must be angry at Mu Lin. He didn't stay at our house last night, and that made you worried?"

Lin Shishi said, "I'm not his girlfriend or anything, why would I be angry at him? Dad, you're overthinking things!"

Lin Jin said, "Shishi, you're clearly angry right now. Dad knows you too well!"

"I'm not saying you have to force yourself to forgive him, but Mu Lin isn't an ordinary person. We can't hold him to ordinary standards. If he were ordinary, I doubt you would've liked him in the first place, right?"

Lin Shishi was left speechless. Her father had her backed into a corner, leaving her with nothing to say.

"I get it, Dad. You don't have to worry about me!"

Meanwhile, Miao Ya said to Wan Pengcheng, "Captain, this is clearly our case. Why are we handing it over to them?"

"If he messes this up, who takes the blame?"

Wan Pengcheng fell silent. Miao Ya's questions were sharp and to the point, and he didn't have any answers.

He was just a captain; the bureau chief had made the final call. If the chief said it was okay, then it was okay.

"It was the chief's order. There's nothing I can do. Let's just let him do his thing. We're just people on a fixed salary; we don't have the energy to fight our superiors."

Inside the autopsy room, Mu Lin took out a talisman and placed it on the corpse's forehead before chanting an incantation.

Soon, the temperature in the autopsy room began to drop again, falling much lower than before.

Mu Lin looked up and saw a translucent spirit standing nearby, its gaze as dull and vacant as a puppet's.

Mu Lin wasn't fazed. He asked patiently, "Who told you to crash the car? Who gave you the target and instructed you to be at that place at that time?"

The spirit's voice was robotic and flat, no different from a machine.

"I don't know."

Mu Lin sighed. 'A spirit isn't omniscient. After being controlled, its memories aren't very clear. It's difficult to force it to remember what the mastermind looked like.'

"Then after you hit Lin Jin, did you see anyone?"

This time, the spirit said it did.

Mu Lin had it describe what it saw, listening intently and committing the details to memory.

"Okay, I've got it. Rest in peace. I will find out who did this to you, one by one. I'll bring you good news when it's done."

Mu Lin watched the spirit return to the corpse. He then saw the talisman float up and begin to burn, a sign that the spirit had departed.

'Poor soul,' Mu Lin thought. 'He was completely used.'

Mu Lin resolved to use his power to avenge this man's wrongful death.

When Mu Lin walked back out, all eyes were fixed on him.

"Well? How did it go?"

Mu Lin said, "The spirit didn't see the mastermind's face, but it did see a man at the scene of the crash after Uncle Lin was hit."

Mu Lin relayed the description, but the others just looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

To be frank, none of them could draw, so they couldn't form a mental picture based on Mu Lin's description.

Mu Lin wasn't much of an artist himself, so he turned to Wan Pengcheng. "Captain Wan, do you have a sketch artist? Have him draw the picture."

Wan Pengcheng made the arrangements immediately. The artist arrived and finished the sketch in just over ten minutes.

It showed a gloomy-looking, middle-aged man in a short-sleeved shirt.

"Captain Wan, run a check on him."

As Wan Pengcheng reached for the sketch, Jiang Long spoke up. "I know this man. He's a fugitive wanted by the Military Suppression Bureau."

"Xu Hao, the 'Divine Wind Leg.' He's at the Innate level and has a long list of crimes... Catching him is a real headache..."

Mu Lin asked, "Does he have powerful relatives, making the Military Suppression Bureau hesitant to make a move?"

Jiang Long shot Mu Lin a look. 'How could he think so poorly of the Military Suppression Bureau?'

'Then again,' he thought, 'it's not like the Military Suppression Bureau is squeaky clean.'

"No, it's his speed. It's so fast we can't catch him."

Mu Lin fell silent. "Has the Military Suppression Bureau actually tried to catch him?"

Jiang Long scoffed. "Of course! We've organized dozens of operations to capture him, but he's managed to escape every single time!"

"I see," Mu Lin said faintly. "Then who does he work for? A monk can run, but his temple can't. Just go after his boss."

Jiang Long frowned in thought for a moment. "The man is arrogant and a bit of a lone wolf. We know he's a mercenary, but he isn't attached to any specific faction..."

Mu Lin said, "So you're saying you can't even find his employer?"

Jiang Long sighed. "Exactly. We can't find his employer, let alone issue a warning. Xu Hao enjoys challenging the Military Suppression Bureau, and he often does outrageous things. If he really had a boss, I doubt he'd be so brazen."

Mu Lin narrowed his eyes. "For real? He dares to provoke the Military Suppression Bureau?"

"You bet," Jiang Long said, gritting his teeth. "We sent a lot of experts after him. We couldn't catch him, even with everyone watching. He even managed to humiliate us several times."

"After reviewing the case, we realized all the so-called 'clues' were planted by him. His goal was to draw out the full force of the Military Suppression Bureau just to humiliate us. Such an act is absolutely unforgivable!"

Mu Lin knew the people at the Military Suppression Bureau were incredibly proud. Something like this would be a bitter pill for them to swallow.

Mu Lin narrowed his eyes. 'This Xu Hao really is something else.' It was rare to see someone who could get such a rise out of the arrogant blowhards from the Military Suppression Bureau.

'Then again, remembering how they bullied ordinary citizens, maybe they deserved it,' Mu Lin thought.

Lin Shishi's expression fell. She pursed her lips and said nervously, "If he can just keep running away like this, doesn't that mean he can target my dad whenever he wants? Will our family ever have a moment's peace?"

Mu Lin said gravely, "That's a definite possibility. But it's not as if there's nothing we can do."

Lin Shishi's face went pale when Mu Lin said the first part of his sentence. She only let out a long sigh of relief when he finished the second half.

She trusted that Mu Lin would find a way.