Chapter Ninety-Four: Tianhe City Paranormal Investigation Bureau, the Corpse-Seducing Lady!

One has to know how to handle people.

White Guest and the others were stationed here, but by the rules they could not possibly enter Pigeon Cave.

There was nothing to be done about it. No matter how strong White Guest was, or how high his status, it did not matter.

This place had to be left here for the superiors and for the Paranormal Investigation Bureau of Tianhe City.

A few hours later, everything here would have nothing whatsoever to do with the Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

Inside Pigeon Cave, there was excellent stone milk.

Whether it was used to temper the body, blended into medicinal liquids, or taken directly by itself, it was all extremely effective.

It was practically a universal cultivation resource. Who would not want it?

To be allowed to come and sweep through the place once, Master An Yingxiong and the others were already being shown enough respect.

And the reason they had been allowed in was, at its core, because there were missing persons involved.

All the villagers of Group Ten in Upper River Village had vanished without a trace.

According to what some people said, and after the searches by police dogs and the rest, everyone discovered that the missing people from those five households had last been seen here at Pigeon Cave.

Judging from the information approved by the higher-level headquarters of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, if the missing people were found, even if only their corpses were recovered, it would count as a meritorious achievement for the Shengjing branch.

This Pigeon Cave, apart from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau of Tianhe City, could only grant the Shengjing City branch the right to assist in management.

Otherwise, this Pigeon Cave would have nothing to do with the Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau at all, and they would have no share in either management or participation.

The location of Pigeon Cave already determined that it fell under the jurisdiction of the Tianhe City Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

It was just that the people who first discovered the missing-person case were staff from the Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

And it was also the Shengjing bureau’s staff who discovered the stone milk inside Pigeon Cave, one step ahead of Tianhe City’s people.

The one who had moved ahead of them was none other than Bai Ke, standing before Lin Yi.

This was the Shengjing City branch of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau being incompetent.

They had clearly been the first to discover it, yet they had failed to find the missing people.

Lin Tianming had already been reprimanded.

If it had only been an ordinary missing-person case, it would not have amounted to much.

After all, now that ominous energy was spread everywhere and terrifying demons and monsters were awakening, incidents like this were far too common.

But this Pigeon Cave involved stone milk and many other precious things, so for their sake, Lin Tianming and the Shengjing City branch of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau had to take the blame as well.

Once they had taken the blame, Lin Tianming and the Shengjing branch could be kicked out entirely.

It was only because Lin Yi had obtained special approval from Director Lin Tianming, using the highest authority he could exercise, that he had been able to enter Pigeon Cave for a few hours of sightseeing and reap some rewards in the form of stone milk.

Afterwards, Lin Tianming might even end up with some punishment or disciplinary action.

So Lin Yi had already made up his mind: if he really did get hold of some good things, he should give them a share.

"Two or three hours, Brother Lin Yi... roughly in two or three hours, it will no longer be us standing guard. The higher-ups will send people over, and it should be those from the Tianhe City Paranormal Investigation Bureau taking over."

"It all depends on you now. See whether you can find the people. If you can't, then there's nothing to be done. We'll just have to admit defeat..."

Bai Ke sighed as he spoke.

"It's all because my strength is too weak that our Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau has lost face. Sigh... still, even Master An Yingxiong and Master Mu Tian, those two grandmasters, could not see anything..."

"So this time, whether those missing people can be found is already not something we dare hope for. We'll just see whether you can find a few of those century-old stone milks that we missed..."

Bai Ke sighed again, his face full of helplessness.

"Heh... your Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau is incompetent. That really is true. Including you, Bai Ke, it's only natural that people like you have no real ability."

Suddenly, someone spoke from afar.

Someone had arrived, and not just one person, but five!

Every one of them was a strong expert.

The aura they gave off showed no restraint at all; it was constantly surging outward, as if they were afraid no one would know they were formidable.

The weakest among them had at least the strength of a B-rank expert, a second-rate master... and among them, the two women were the weakest!

Aside from the two women, the other three middle-aged brutes had all reached the level of A-rank experts, first-rate masters, and the energy within them was probably no less than nine thousand.

As soon as these people appeared, someone in the scattered crowd let out a cry of surprise.

"Thunderblade Tang Jie!"

"He's from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau of Tianhe City. His strength has already reached the level of an A-rank expert, a first-rate master. He's best known for how ruthless he is. I heard that he once beat a person possessed by a ghost to death with his bare hands... Thunderblade, they call him that because his hand strikes down like a blade, able to cut a person into pieces. Why is this guy here?"

Hearing someone call out his name and speak of his deeds, the middle-aged man at the head of the group could not help but frown. His gaze, sharp as a blade, swept toward the distance.

The skinny little man who had just spoken was so frightened that he hurriedly hid behind his companions and dared not say another word.

Still, his words had made it clear to everyone who this man was.

Lin Yi was stunned.

What stunned him was not the talk around him about how ruthless Thunderblade Tang Jie was, or how formidable his strength might be.

An A-rank expert, a first-rate master, meant nothing to Lin Yi.

Earlier, in the playground of Shengjing Academy, Lin Yi had killed several immortal disciples with the strength of A-rank experts, first-rate masters, and even Jin Huishan, who was almost at the grandmaster level, had been scared into fleeing.

Thunderblade Tang Jie was nothing to Lin Yi.

What truly stunned Lin Yi was that he had not expected one of the five people who had arrived to actually be a demon or ghost.

The Divine-Slaying Scripture kept turning pages.

Misty Corpse Bride: after a female corpse dies, if she had been too enchanting in life, her allure remains unchanged in death. Once activated by ominous energy, she becomes a Misty Corpse Bride, skilled in seduction and illusion. Sixty-eight years of cultivation. One hundred and seven kills. Must be slain.

The rustling of pages continued without pause.

At last, the Divine-Slaying Scripture stopped on one blank page.

A gray-white image of a female corpse appeared there.

She was extraordinarily beautiful. Even in a gray-white image, one could feel as though flowers were blooming in dazzling profusion all around her, and that face was enough to turn the world upside down, making one think of a line of poetry.

A single smile topples a city; a second smile topples a nation.

Do you not know that a beauty who can topple a city and a nation is all too rare?

Within the gray-white image stood a bright red coffin, and inside that bright red coffin, the female corpse was grinning.

Cherry-red lips, long black hair, glittering hairpins of many colors, a vivid red wedding robe, fair skin, a delicate nose, and star-bright eyes.

She was simply too beautiful, with a kind of allure unique to beauty itself.

That face was already stunning beyond measure, and once your gaze fell upon it, you would feel that it had become even more beautiful, as though you had been drawn deeply into it and could not free yourself.

That feeling was much the same as the effect the mermaid demon had on people: relying on its own power to transform into illusion, it influenced your nerves and your sight, making the world before your eyes seem wondrous through song.

But this kind of seduction worked on its own, using a beautiful illusion to drag you into its depths.

So this seduction was also a kind of illusion, and naturally this Misty Corpse Bride excelled at illusion as well.

"This..."

Even though these were only the brief entries in the pages of the Divine-Slaying Scripture, they still made one feel just how mesmerizing this Misty Corpse Bride was, how impossible it was to pull oneself free once ensnared.

Fortunately, this was only within the Divine-Slaying Scripture. More importantly, Lin Yi himself was already close to the point where his yin soul could leave the body and his spirit could emerge from it, so his mental strength was formidable. For that reason, the impact on him was not so great.

Lin Yi’s eyes went momentarily blank, and then a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Good. Very good. This Misty Corpse Bride was much stronger than that mermaid demon.

This art of seduction was also excellent for training one’s consciousness and soul. It was practically born to temper spiritual power.

No need to waste words. He was taking this Misty Corpse Bride away.

The only question was: which one of them was the Misty Corpse Bride?

Lin Yi’s gaze passed over Thunderblade Tang Jie and began to look toward the two B-rank women behind him.

Both women were extremely beautiful, and neither of them seemed to have the sort of ominous energy or sinister aura that one would expect.

Still, this kind of thing was best tested. Lin Yi was not worried about failing to recognize her, because aside from the relic in his hand, the purest and most radiant power from the Great Cavern True Scripture alone was enough to detect which one was the Misty Corpse Bride.

"Hm, interesting. Very interesting. The usual demons and ghosts avoid the Paranormal Investigation Bureau whenever they see it, but this one is actually hidden inside the Tianhe City Paranormal Investigation Bureau, even serving as one of its staff. Or perhaps not staff at all, maybe something else. In any case, this Misty Corpse Bride is quite bold. Let's see how I pull you out in a moment."

While Lin Yi was thinking this, Thunderblade Tang Jie had already led the four people behind him step by step to stand before Lin Yi and the others.

His eyes carried deep provocation, and even his words from earlier had been barbed, as though he were flaunting his power.

Bai Ke’s expression was extremely ugly, and the same was true of the staff from the Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau beside him.

When Thunderblade Tang Jie brought his people over, those staff members wanted to quickly gather together from the wide mouth of the cave.

But Bai Ke raised a hand to stop them.

"Tang Jie, what do you mean by this? Are you provoking us? I could tolerate you talking about me, but you actually disparaged our Shengjing City Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Isn't that going too far? I hope you'll apologize."

"Apologize? Why should I apologize? Bai Ke, are you looking to fight me? Among all of you, how many actually have the strength of an A-rank expert, a first-rate master? You're barely passable, Bai Ke. But do they even qualify? If you really want to fight, I'll take you on!"

There are people everywhere who love to show off, and clearly Thunderblade Tang Jie was one of them.