Chapter 206: The Secret in the Basement

"You found Xiaofeng?! Where are you right now?" My expression shifted drastically, and my voice pitched so high that everyone in the restaurant could hear me clearly.

"Northern Suburbs Commercial Street, hurry! They've already spotted me!" Mr. Gu hung up immediately. Listening to the busy tone beeping, I felt a surge of blood rushing through my veins.

The fireworks by the river faded into loneliness. That half-spoken sentence I never got to say to Xiaofeng was still lodged in my throat.

"I finally found her!"

Xiaofeng had been taken by Lu Xing. Even though I rarely let my worry show, I constantly kept that beautiful, frail, and pitiable woman in my thoughts.

The only reason I hadn't gone searching for her was that rationality told me not to waste the time and effort.

Xiaofeng was the seventh person Lu Xing planned to kill; she wouldn't be in mortal danger until Tie Ningxiang was dead. As long as I ensured Tie Ningxiang's safety, I was indirectly protecting Xiaofeng.

She had been taken by Lu Xing. Finding her would be incredibly difficult. The police had been hunting him for so long, yet he still remained at large—there had to be a reason for that.

I had another reason for not searching: I knew my own limits. Whether it came to Daoist arts, dark magic, or scheming, I was at a massive disadvantage compared to Lu Xing. He hid in the dark like a hunting viper. If I rushed out blindly to find him, he would likely turn my own plans against me and lead me into a fatal trap.

I had opposed the Two-Faced Buddha multiple times, and he had long harbored murderous intent toward me. I couldn't just walk straight into his net.

I countered his countless schemes by holding my ground. Every time I survived a live broadcast, I improved at an incredible pace. If this kept up, the one who eventually faced ruin would undoubtedly be Lu Xing.

"Gao Jian, whose call was that?" Jiang Fei stood nearby, clutching her purse. She could tell I had lost my composure.

I waved her over. "Your matter will have to wait. Drive me to the Northern Suburbs Commercial Street right now!"

I rarely spoke to others in such an unquestionable tone. Jiang Fei felt a little wronged but nodded anyway. "Alright, get in the car."

"Sister Fei, where are you guys going?"

"Little brother! Hold on! I had eyes but failed to recognize greatness. Could you let me examine that jade a bit longer?"

The two men surnamed Ye blocked the shop entrance, still trying to speak.

"Don't ask for trouble. Move!" The congealed blood-red hue deep in my eyes slowly melted away, making me look like a bloodthirsty monster baring its pale fangs. Ye Weilong and his uncle suddenly felt a chill run through them, subconsciously stepping aside to make way.

"Let's go!" I finally had news about Xiaofeng, and I absolutely couldn't miss this chance.

"Sister Fei, wait for me! I'm coming too!" Ye Weilong shot me a wary glance before biting the bullet and driving after Jiang Fei's car. Right now, I only wanted to reach the place Mr. Gu mentioned as quickly as possible. I couldn't care less about anything else.

Sitting in the car, the scenery on both sides blurred backward. I clutched the Talisman Paper in my hand, feeling a lingering sense of disbelief.

The sensing range between Mr. Gu and the Thousand-Leg Gu was no more than a hundred zhang. Yet, relying solely on his own two feet, he had actually walked across the entirety of Jiangcheng step by step and finally located Xiaofeng. This Gu master from Miaojiang earned my genuine respect for that alone.

Of course, this might also have a lot to do with luck. Why did he happen to call today of all days? Why did he only find her today?

I pulled the broken One-Day Fortune Lot from my black cloth bundle. It seemed fate really did have its own arrangements; my stroke of luck had landed squarely on Xiaofeng.

Jiang Fei possessed excellent driving skills. It only took her ten-odd minutes to reach the Northern Suburbs Commercial Street. This wasn't the most prosperous area in Jiangcheng, but with the steady stream of pedestrians and endless flow of traffic, it was definitely bustling.

"Lu Xing is actually hiding in the commercial street?" The place was packed with people and watchful eyes. Furthermore, the Shibei Police Station was only two hundred meters away. Lu Xing was truly bold yet meticulous; his actions definitely couldn't be judged by common sense.

I took out my phone and dialed that unfamiliar number, but no one answered. When the car reached the center of the commercial street, I suddenly spotted a large crowd gathered by the roadside. I quickly told Jiang Fei to pull over.

"Make way!" I hopped out of the car and squeezed into the crowd. At a glance, I spotted the pale-faced Mr. Gu, his black robe completely covered in bloodstains.

"What happened here?" I grabbed a nearby shop assistant who was watching the scene, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

The clerk looked innocent. "We don't know either. Ten or so minutes ago, he suddenly smashed through a second-floor window and jumped down. Everyone thinks there's something wrong with his head. Don't worry, though, we've already called 120. The guys from the police station should be here any minute."

Leaning down and crouching beside Mr. Gu, I gently shook his shoulders. Mr. Gu's eyes slowly opened to a narrow slit. "I was careless. They're right inside that building. Be extremely careful."

"They?" Following the direction Mr. Gu pointed, I looked at the commercial building in front of us. "Aside from Lu Xing, does he actually have accomplices?"

Clenching the Suppression Talisman tightly in one hand, I strode toward the commercial building. Jiang Fei and Ye Weilong trailed closely behind me.

It was a grocery store. The shop wasn't large, spanning an upper and lower floor.

"Wait outside, both of you. It's dangerous in here," I advised them earnestly, but neither Jiang Fei nor Ye Weilong showed any intention of leaving.

"Let me go with you, just like that time at Henshan Psychiatric Hospital."

Jiang Fei insisted on tagging along, and Ye Weilong stood foolishly by her side. He was extremely disdainful of my warning. "All this smoke and mirrors. Stop pretending to be some big shot."

I inspected the first floor, pulling open drawers and wooden cabinets, but they were completely empty. Everything originally stored inside had been cleared out.

"What's this?" Deepest inside the first floor sat an altar table. A Spirit Altar and an incense burner rested on it, while a niche had been carved into the wall behind the table, housing a statue of Guan Gong.

"Something's off." The Guan Gong statue had the exact same width from top to bottom, making it look incredibly awkward. I tried to pull it out, only to discover a dial at the bottom half of the statue that could be rotated back and forth.

Moving the statue aside, I finally saw a Double-Faced Buddha Head carved onto its back. The two faces were grotesque and terrifying, forming a stark contrast.

"Lu Xing, you really were hiding here!"

As the statue rotated, the Buddha's mouth opened. Something was originally meant to be hidden inside the Buddha's belly, but unfortunately, it had already been taken by someone.

"I'm a step too late."

Heading up to the second floor yielded no results either. Backing out of the store, I suddenly noticed something unusual. The shop only had two floors, yet there were three outdoor air conditioning units.

"Could there be a hidden room built inside?" I searched the place again and finally discovered a concealed entrance beneath the counter.

"Stay outside as backup. It's dangerous in the basement." Snatching a fruit knife from a shelf, I descended underground.

The underground space was quite large. Three rooms sat side by side, lined by a narrow corridor outside.

"Fuck! What's that smell? It stinks!" As soon as I went down, Ye Weilong followed after me. He hadn't taken my words to heart at all, seemingly believing that this show of bravery would score him some points with Jiang Fei.

"Be careful. This is the stench of a corpse rotting away from chemical corrosion. Someone definitely died in here." Gripping the knife in one hand and the talisman in the other, I turned sideways and navigated through the passageway.

"Someone died? What a load of crap." Ye Weilong was already feeling a bit scared; he was just acting tough now.

I ignored the brash kid and kicked open the door to the first room. It was completely empty save for a bed and some heavy-duty workout equipment.

"Have they already left?" Stepping in front of the second door, I pushed it gently. The moment the door cracked open, a pungent smell drifted out.

Inside the dark, fully enclosed room lay a scattering of torture instruments and bloodstained iron chains. Tucked in the corner of the room sat two enormous iron vats.

I had seen similar iron vats in the basement of Anxin Hotel. An ominous premonition swelled in my heart. Slowly stepping closer, I popped the lid off the vat and peered inside.

It was a highly corroded human corpse. The sight was absolutely gruesome.

"Concentrated sulfuric acid!" I broke out in a cold sweat. Lu Xing wanted to destroy the corpse to erase all traces, so who was this victim?

Forcing down the nausea, I observed closely. The corpse's skeleton was broad, and its spine was hunched. There were no signs of fine needles being pierced into it either, so it shouldn't be Xiaofeng.

"What are you looking at?" My fixed stare provoked Ye Weilong's curiosity. Covering his nose and mouth, he sneaked a peek inside the iron vat.

Just a single glance at the heavily corroded corpse inflicted an indelible psychological trauma upon this rich young master. His stomach churned violently, the whites of his eyes dilated, and a wave of dizziness slammed into his mind.

I kicked him out of the way and slammed the lid shut. "Don't touch anything in there. Call the Municipal Sub-bureau. Now!"