The attacker has been killed, Uncle Zhang is dead!
The sudden news jolted Zhang Yuanqing awake, only to plunge him into confusion again, as he sat blankly on the bed.
After about seven or eight seconds, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and said quickly,
"How was the killer identified? Where was the killer killed? Tell me the details."
Guan Ya's voice came from the speaker:
"This morning, Wei Yuanzhou caught the attacker from last night while patrolling in the hospital. He successfully killed the enemy with a sneak attack, and the body has been transported back to Jinghai City Public Security Bureau.
"He's about 1.7 meters tall, around sixty years old, with dark skin, large fingers, and thick calluses... He also has burn marks on his chest, and the new flesh that grew overnight can prove it, and the knife wound you caused is still there..."
It was Uncle Zhang, who died in the hospital... Zhang Yuanqing instantly understood something and felt a pang in his heart. He jumped out of bed and, wearing only boxer shorts, ran barefoot out of the room.
"Li!"
With a stern face, he kicked open the door of the adjacent standard room. The room was empty, and the bed where someone had slept last night had been cleaned up.
Uncle Zhang had left.
"Yuanshi, what's wrong over there?" Guan Ya heard the sound of the door being kicked.
"I'm fine, Sister Guan Ya, send me a photo, a photo of Zhang... the attacker." Zhang Yuanqing stared at the empty bed.
"The body has been transported to the Public Security Bureau, and I'm at the hospital... Okay, I'll go to the Public Security Bureau now. Fortunately, it's not far away, wait a moment." Guan Ya had to hang up the phone first.
Zhang Yuanqing returned to the room, quickly put on his clothes and shoes, entered the corridor, and went down to the first floor via the stairs.
He didn't even have the patience to wait for the elevator at this moment.
Hotel lobby.
The air conditioner was blowing cold air, and Xiao Yuan, wearing a white shirt and suit, stood upright at the front desk.
Hearing footsteps, she turned her head and gave a cold glance, then turned her head back. But halfway through, she turned back again, scrutinizing Yuanshi Tianzun's face, and frowned:
"What's wrong?"
"Where did Uncle Zhang go?"
Xiao Yuan's bright and fair face darkened, and she said lightly:
"I don't know. If you're worried about him absconding, there's no need to be. Uncle Zhang will do what he says. If he doesn't keep his word, I'll be responsible for finding him."
She was increasingly unable to control her temper in front of Yuanshi Tianzun, but she didn't notice this.
"Uncle Zhang is dead." Zhang Yuanqing said softly, "He died outside the Jinghai City People's Hospital this morning, killed by Wei Yuanzhou."
Xiao Yuan froze, the indifference in her eyes quickly dissolving. Her hands clenched into fists, so tightly that she abruptly closed her eyes, as if afraid that the sadness she was trying to hide would escape from her eyes.
After a long while, she opened her eyes, her expression calm:
"I know. That was his choice."
His choice... Zhang Yuanqing was silent for a moment, then said softly:
"He refused to come with me. His so-called unfinished wish, wasn't it for that?"
--To trade his own life for his grandson's promotion to Deacon.
Facing the loess and with his back to the sky for decades, a lonely life, raising his grandson with grains of rice, and supporting his studies with copper coins. In the end, he had to sacrifice his remaining body for his grandson's future.
How foolish... Zhang Yuanqing wanted to sneer, but his chest was inexplicably blocked with pain.
Xiao Yuan hummed:
"He probably had that idea for a long time. Half a month ago, he was injured by an official The Way of the Extraordinary in Jinghai City. I went to see him, and he was seriously injured, but he was very happy.
"Having known him for so many years, I rarely saw him smile so happily. He said that his wish had finally been fulfilled, and he would focus on cultivating with Master Wuhen for the rest of his life, bidding farewell to the past."
Zhang Yuanqing listened quietly.
"But yesterday he came to see Master Wuhen, and he seemed like a different person. He looked gloomy and preoccupied... I knew he had something on his mind, so I secretly followed him to Jinghai City and found out that he was assassinating official The Way of the Extraordinary..."
Because he didn't want to break his vows, but for his grandson's future, he had to go against his will? Zhang Yuanqing frowned, feeling that something was contradictory and wrong.
At that moment, his phone "dinged," and a message came in.
He took out his phone to check the message, which was a photo sent by Guan Ya.
In the photo, a dark and emaciated old man lay quietly on a mortuary bed, the sorrows carved out by the years forever etched on his face. There was a dark red wound on his chest and a large patch of new flesh.
"It's Guan Ya..."
Zhang Yuanqing sighed: "He didn't transform into a Gu."
When a Witch Gu Master dies in battle after transforming into a Gu, their body will retain a semi-human, semi-beastly appearance. But Uncle Zhang died as a human, which meant that he didn't choose to fight and willingly went to his death.
"Ding"
The prompt sound rang again, and Guan Ya sent a long paragraph of text:
"The call was interrupted just now, and I haven't finished speaking. There are a few details I don't understand. The attacker was ambushed from behind by Wei Yuanzhou, who pierced his heart and died. After death, he was infected with a serious illness, which is the ability of a Plague God.
"However, such injuries and illnesses should not have been fatal with one strike. The murderer had a chance to struggle, but he didn't transform into a Gu, which is very strange...
"I didn't ask these questions face to face. Come back once and try asking the spirit."
"No need to ask, you guys go back..." Zhang Yuanqing typed the message, replying to Guan Ya, but halfway through, he saw Guan Ya's second message:
"I always feel that there are many unreasonable things about this matter. The attacker's motive for assassinating Baihu Wansui is unknown, and how did he find Baihu Wansui's residence?
"Looking at the video of last night's battle, the attacker is agile and good at tracking. As a veteran Saint, how could he let Baihu Wansui escape even when he ambushed him in advance?
"I've watched the surveillance of the second assassination. I don't believe in the attacker's assassination skills." Guan Ya was half complaining and half expressing her views on the incident.
Zhang Yuanqing looked at the messages, his brow furrowing slightly, and noticed the contradictions.
According to what Uncle Zhang himself said, he assassinated Baihu Wansui to clear obstacles for his grandson's promotion. In that case, there was no possibility of holding back. An old Saint ambushing a newly promoted Saint, with such a big advantage, yet he failed. There are indeed doubts, which is unreasonable.
The most unreasonable thing is that since Baihu Wansui is just an insignificant passerby, and there was no long-planned tracking or investigation, how could Uncle Zhang, an evil profession, easily find Baihu Wansui's address?
Unless there's a mole.
Zhang Yuanqing's eyebrow twitched, and he said:
"I want to see Master Wuhen."
Xiao Yuan looked at me in confusion.
But Zhang Yuanqing didn't explain, turned around and ran to the corridor, went down the stairs in one breath to the fourth floor. He stopped at the door of "404", knocked on the door, and said:
"Master, I have something to ask you!"
After shouting, Zhang Yuanqing tried to turn the doorknob.
"Click"
The doorknob turned smoothly. The next second, the hotel corridor disappeared, the wooden door disappeared, and in its place was a Buddhist hall with green smoke and lit candles.
Zhang Yuanqing subconsciously looked at the towering golden Buddha that reached the top of the hall. It sat with a flower in its hand, its eyes half-closed, looking down with an expression that was both compassionate and fierce.
The golden Buddha had not changed, the master's state of mind was still stable... Zhang Yuanqing lowered his eyes and looked at the green-clothed figure sitting cross-legged on the futon, and bowed:
"Master, Uncle Zhang has returned to The Way of the Extraordinary. I have something I don't understand, so I came to ask for advice."
After a pause, without waiting for Master Wuhen to respond, he directly asked:
"What did Uncle Zhang see you for yesterday? Do you know about him?"
Silence reigned in the hall for a moment, then Master Wuhen's suppressed voice echoed in the hall:
"He said that he had found his grandson, who had been separated for many years. His grandson forced him to assassinate official Saints. He didn't want to commit any more killings, and I was very happy... But he felt guilty towards this child, and he couldn't do anything about it.
"He planned to use his own life to compensate his grandson. He came to say goodbye to me last night. He was going to return to The Way of the Extraordinary early."
Wei Yuanzhou forced him to assassinate Baihu Wansui?
Zhang Yuanqing's mind buzzed, as if a thunderbolt had exploded, and his expression suddenly froze.
After a brief period of confusion and shock, his thoughts quickly returned, no longer confused, no longer at a loss, and the entire chain of events suddenly became clear.
Before the Killings instance began, the number of official Saints increased dramatically, crowding the promotion space of veteran Saints. Wei Yuanzhou's promotion opportunities were already slim and difficult due to his "misfit" status.
It happened that he was reunited with his long-lost grandfather, who was still an evil profession, so he had evil thoughts and forced his grandfather to assassinate Baihu Wansui to clear obstacles for him.
Therefore, Baihu Wansui obviously didn't realize he was being followed, but his residence was exposed because the enemy came from within.
The doubts raised by Guan Ya were all explained... Zhang Yuanqing smiled bitterly in his heart.
According to Uncle Zhang's mentality, what should have happened next was "active dedication," but contrary to his wishes, he didn't expect that the person who came to support him would be me.
Zhang Yuanqing followed the logic and thought further.
No wonder Uncle Zhang's expression was so horrified when Xiao Yuan introduced me last night. Yuanshi Tianzun has a reputation for being righteous and selfless, and he also knew this from Kou Beiyue.
If Wei Yuanzhou's behavior of forcing him to assassinate a colleague was exposed, he would definitely not be lenient, so he shouldered all the crimes.
You knew I wasn't a scout and shouldn't have seen through the clues last night. Alas, I was thinking of solving it privately.
Um... there's still one thing I don't understand. In that case, there's no need to ask for help from Songhai. Wouldn't it be perfect to "solve" it privately, with Wei Yuanzhou killing the attacker and taking all the credit?
Forcing his grandfather to assassinate a colleague, failing, and then killing the grandfather who raised him as a meritorious deed... Wei Yuanzhou is a superficially humble and gentle, but inwardly paranoid madman.
How didn't Sister Guan Ya see it? Does he have special items to hide his personality? Or has he been pretending to be a gentleman for so long that he has really become one, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood?
That beast... Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and said, "Master, I understand."
He turned around with a cold look and walked towards the hall, when Master Wuhen's warning came from behind him:
"This matter has its own karma. This monk respects his choice, and you don't need to interfere."
Was he telling me not to mind other people's business? Not to intervene anymore? Zhang Yuanqing paused. He stopped at the entrance of the hall and thought for a few seconds, then retorted:
"Master, I am not your disciple, and you don't need to teach me how to do things either."
He strode away.
I returned to the lobby, went around to the front desk, and looked at Xiao Yuan:
"Drive.
"Take me to the Jinghai City Public Security Bureau."
Jinghai City, Hemen District Public Security Bureau.
Outside the mortuary, Wei Yuanzhou stood alone by the mortuary bed, silently gazing at the old man's remains.
The past years surged in his heart. He had parents from an early age, but he lived with his grandfather from the time he could remember. His grandfather did nothing but farm, and his life was poor and difficult.
From a young age, Wei Yuanzhou envied his classmates for having pocket money, for having new clothes and beautiful schoolbags, while I wore a piece of clothing for eight years, patching it up for another year, and I couldn't even get poverty assistance.
From elementary school to junior high school, the shoes I wore were from an older brother in the neighborhood who didn't want them anymore.
A child who was dependent on his grandfather and couldn't even afford new clothes was destined to be alienated by the children in the village. After going to school, it was even worse. The children in the village would at least give face to their parents and only alienate him at most.
The classmates at school would only resort to violence against poor children like him who didn't have parents to support them.
Wei Yuanzhou remembered that in the year he first entered middle school, there was a parent-teacher conference. His grandfather, who had just finished farming, came to the school in a hurry with mud all over his body.
As a result, he wasn't even allowed to enter the school gate.
He would remember the eyes of those classmates and teachers for the rest of his life.
He hated these classmates and teachers, and he hated his grandfather even more for embarrassing him. Couldn't you even change your clothes?
Wei Yuanzhou's first half of his life was spent in alienation, contempt, and violence, so he studied desperately, as this was the only way for him to change his fate.
In order not to be looked down upon, in order not to suffer violence again, he actively presented himself, participated in class activities, helped classmates, cooperated with teachers, and was gentle, courteous, frugal, and yielding, becoming a good person in the eyes of his classmates, a good student in the eyes of his teachers, and a good dog in the eyes of the school bully.
If you are a perfect person, you will not be despised or bullied, because they cannot find fault with you.
The year his grandfather had an accident, he was extremely afraid, afraid of being retaliated against by the family's relatives. The hardships of more than ten years had not tempered his will, but had brought him serious psychological shadows.
He couldn't understand why his grandfather wanted revenge, why he wanted to break the peaceful life.
The weak will be bullied by the strong, a principle that has been true since ancient times. His grandfather, who had not read books, was very pathetic because he didn't understand these principles.
If you want to become strong, you cannot rely on brute force, but on wisdom and effort. He relied on his own efforts to successfully graduate from university, and by chance became a The Way of the Extraordinary, entered the Five Elements Alliance, and finally ushered in a beautiful life.
In these years, he did not dare to make even the slightest mistake. He was afraid of making mistakes, afraid of encountering violence and punishment.
But his grandfather's shadow had been looming over him, and his grandfather's crimes had hindered his future, preventing him from becoming an object of key observation by the organization.
And just half a month ago, he saw his long-lost grandfather again.
What he felt was not affection and joy, but fear, yes, intense fear.
Because he was an evil profession.
For Wei Yuanzhou, this was a devastating disaster.
Why did you have to come back? Since you chose to abandon me in the first place, please disappear from my world completely. Why did you have to ruin my life, ruin my future?
Wei Yuanzhou thought of a plan that would kill two birds with one stone. He told his grandfather that if you really cared about me, if you really wanted to compensate me, then clear away the competitors for me.
But the assassination was not successful. After watching the surveillance, he knew that his grandfather was unwilling to do it.
Then I could only get rid of him -- that was what Wei Yuanzhou thought at the time.
But his grandfather was a veteran Saint, and an evil profession that was stronger than the orthodox ones, and he didn't have the confidence.
So he persuaded the upper-level Deacon to ask for help from the Songhai branch.
The reason for doing so was that the people from the Songhai branch were not clear about his background and could not know the relationship between him and his grandfather, while the high-level officials of the Jinghai branch knew his family background and were very likely to catch a clue during the investigation.
On the other hand, the credit gained by the people of the Songhai branch would not affect him and would not become his competitor.
And he could also rely on that credit to advance further and become a Deacon.
But he didn't expect that Yuanshi Tianzun had joined the Songhai patrol team and was sent to handle the matter.
Fortunately, there were twists and turns, but in the end, it came to a perfect end.