Chapter 45: Ambushed

The two of them simultaneously fell silent at that moment, each busy with their own thoughts. Wang Qiang continued to smoke, while Boss Zhang leaned back against the car seat, closing his eyes in deep contemplation.

My mind was churning violently. Listening to their conversation, I immediately began sorting out the situation in my head: Old Wan and Wu Zhuang each represented a rival faction; Old Wan's honey-trap scheme had clashed with Wu Zhuang's ghost-luring plot, and the two sides were mutually scheming against each other.

The reason Wu Zhuang fled in panic was indeed because someone had reported the case, which immediately made me think of Li Si.

Now that Wu Zhuang had fled and Wu Yong was dead, the primary focus of the investigation naturally shifted to Old Wan, and their intention in making me a consultant was clearly to track down Wu Zhuang.

I raised my head and said with a bitter smile, "If I refuse to be this consultant this time, won't my suspicion be the greatest of all?"

I saw Boss Zhang's eyes snap open. Wang Qiang chimed in, "Brother, you shouldn't say things like that. Anyone else can act recklessly, but we cannot. Even the slightest mistake will lead to massive problems."

"Fine, for the sake of those words, I will take the consultant position, but I have a condition," I immediately replied.

In truth, I had no choice but to accept this advisory role; I had my own plans, and besides, it was currently very difficult for me to escape their control.

"Little brother means to say you'll only act as a consultant from the shadows, correct? I agree," Boss Zhang replied without opening his eyes.

"Click." I opened the car door and said, "Contact me by phone if anything comes up." I got out of the car and walked down the mountain along the winding road.

I kept waiting for Boss Zhang to speak up and stop me, but even after I had walked a considerable distance, no one called me back. The stone in my chest finally dropped to the ground.

As I walked down the mountain, I thought to myself: what on earth is all this about? Both Old Wan and Wu Zhuang were after each other's money, yet Old Wan had taken the initiative to set up a honey trap and had even killed Wu Yong for it—that was the part I still couldn't wrap my head around.

At that moment, I thought of Li Si again. It was Li Si who had sought out Wu Yong back then, but what was the deal with Wu Yong making excuses and claiming he didn't have time to help him at the time?

I shook my head. Knowing all this probably made me the person with the most information among everyone involved. I brushed the thoughts aside; what did any of this have to do with me? It would be best to just extricate myself from this mess.

Right then, my cell phone vibrated.

A jolt ran through my heart. I had already developed a trace of fear toward the vibration of my phone. I took it out and saw a message from Wang Qiang: Only footprints inside the concrete pipe, no fingerprints. The boss asks, where are Wu Zhuang and Old Wan?

I stared at the text message in hesitation before replying: "Give me the details on Wu Zhuang, Old Wan, Li Xiaojuan, and Yellow-Haired. Make them detailed."

Actually, out of all of them, the one I most wanted to find out about was Yellow-Haired's home address. He had explicitly told me that the Buddha relic was at his home.

Five minutes later, Wang Qiang sent me a QQ number and told me to use it to get in touch.

I immediately opened QQ and added that number.

After stating my identity, several messages came through at once, containing the personal files of those individuals respectively.

I quickly checked Yellow-Haired's information and found it extremely detailed, including his home address, his usual whereabouts, and even the location where he was last seen.

Upon reaching the downtown area, I felt utterly exhausted, limbs heavy and drained of strength. I hailed a cab and went straight to Yellow-Haired's place.

This was a rundown residential district filled with single-story brick houses. Yellow-Haired's home was easy to find—a small, dilapidated bungalow with the front gate securely locked.

Climbing over the low courtyard wall, I found the front door unlocked. I put on my gloves and stepped inside.

Switching on the light, I saw that the interior furnishings were old-fashioned but complete; the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom were all very clean.

Once inside, I went straight to the bedroom, eager to find the fish tank Yellow-Haired had mentioned. In my mind, I had imagined countless times that the tub must be filled with white pebbles, with one of them being the relic, which ought to be smoother than the ordinary stones.

When I entered the room, however, I was dumbfounded. The bedroom simply contained a bed and a coffee table—not even a large wardrobe—with clothes scattered haphazardly by the bedside.

My mind buzzed with a dull hum. It seemed this wasn't the place.

Yet, unwilling to give up just yet, I searched the room thoroughly once more. There was no sign of any fish tank in this house.

Just as I was about to leave in disappointment, my gaze fell upon the bathroom, and my brow furrowed.

When Yellow-Haired had mentioned his home, he had only uttered a single character that sounded like "yu," and I hadn't been able to distinguish whether he meant fish (yu) or bath (yu). Without hesitation, I stepped into the bathroom.

There really was a bathtub inside. I walked over, took a look, and was completely stunned.

The tub was filled to the brim with glass marbles of various colors, dazzling enough to make my eyes swim.

At that moment, a flicker of hope reignited in my heart. I bent down and began rummaging through the marbles, searching for the one that stood out from the rest.

As my hands brushed through them, I truly discovered one with a different texture. This was a plastic marble, inside of which a colorful piece of paper wrapped something up.

A surge of joy welled up in my chest, my heartbeat quickening a fraction. I immediately picked it up, and just as I wanted to find something to pry it open, I thought better of it and stopped.

This was Yellow-Haired's place, and since he had just died, staying here was unsafe.

I immediately bolted out of the house, scaled the wall, and left.

My thumb kept rubbing against that plastic marble as I walked, yet I felt no trace of warmth from it; instead, my heart pounded even faster in my chest.

At that moment, several police cars with flashing lights sped toward my direction from afar. I quickly ducked into a narrow alley, and only after the police cars had passed did I hurry away, vanishing into the distance.

Returning to the urban area, I found a modest hotel, checked in, and went to rest.

I borrowed a small knife from the receptionist and sliced open the plastic casing. Sure enough, inside was a single relic bead. A surge of warm Qi immediately poured into my Qi Sea, and that rich spiritual energy brought a long-lost warmth, rapidly restoring the magical power I had lost.

Following that, my magical power began to increase. I could feel a tangible growth in my strength, and great joy filled my heart—this was what cultivation was supposed to feel like.

Two hours later, the warm current from the relic faded. I could sense that the magical power within my body had more than doubled, and I could now discern a bean-sized vortex spinning steadily in my Qi Sea.

I immediately recalled the description of the White Tier First Layer in the manual: "Qi Sea contains a vortex, large as a bean."

A wave of ecstatic surprise washed over me; my strength had officially reached the standard of the White Tier First Layer!

I was so happy that the palms of my hands were sweating. I excitedly wiped the sweat off on my trousers.

Then, my brow furrowed once again. That piece of red silk was still wrapped up and tucked inside my pants pocket.

I immediately pulled out the silk. A chill instantly surged into my mind, and I began to absorb the energy in accordance with the cultivation technique passed down by my grandmother.

Another half hour passed, and the sesame-sized speck in my mind had actually grown a size larger.

I let out a long breath, clenched my fists, and whispered, "Work harder!"

With that, I collapsed backward onto the bed, utterly exhausted.

Before long, I drifted into sleep.

True to form, I began to dream again. I dreamed of a female ghost, her visage ferocious and twisted, attempting to rip my soul away.

Such occurrences had happened frequently over the years, so I was already accustomed to it and didn't take her seriously at all.

As the female ghost closed in on me, I kicked her flying with a single motion, cursing inwardly: "You blind creature, your young master has already reached the White Tier; dealing with you is as easy as picking up something from the ground."

The female ghost let out a miserable scream as she was kicked over. Her body hurtled backward through the air, and she instantly thrust five slender fingers out into the void. I saw five claw-like shadows lunging straight toward my face.

A jolt of shock went through my heart. Why did this female ghost harbor such immense resentment, and why were her methods completely different from before?