When Li Fufeng and his companions arrived, the villa had already been cordoned off by the police.
A chaotic collection room, overturned display stands, carpets sared with blood turned deep red-black, a group of hostages and criminals as if waking from a dream…
Local police and mbers of the Special Case Investigation Team shuttled back and forth, collecting crucial evidence and securing the scene. Bodies of security guards were continuously carried out of the villa, interspersed with the sounds of ambulances…
What presented itself before their eyes was a scene both chaotic and orderly.
“How is it?”
“Seven dead, five severely injured, and three unconscious due to head trauma, already sent to the hospital for ergency treatnt…”
Reports from others’ investigations kept coming through the earpiece as Li Fufeng and his partner made their way through the busy crowd to a room that had been cleared out for temporary office use.
Their Special Case Investigation Team headquarters credentials allowed them to easily take control of everything.
They quickly t with the Ji siblings, who had initially called Li Fufeng, along with Xue Hao and An Xiaoxi.
The four looked dazed, seemingly still in shock.
“I’m sorry we arrived late,” Li Fufeng felt guilty, which showed on his face. “Are you all okay? If needed, we can provide professional psychological counseling.”
Ji Heng shook his head. Though still sowhat traumatized, he didn’t feel that fragile. “It’s alright. This isn’t your fault. No one could have predicted such a sudden incident. Besides, when I called, you consultants were probably still in the capital, right? It’s already surprising that you managed to get here so quickly.”
Although they knew Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang were mbers of the Special Case Investigation Team’s action group, the Ji siblings had grown accustod to calling them “consultants” during their “three years” together in the Sword Realm, and didn’t bother changing after returning.
Xue Hao and An Xiaoxi, who didn’t know the two, were successfully misled and followed Ji Heng’s form of address. An Xiaoxi bit her lip. “That’s right, the unexpected is unexpected because it’s hard to predict. You two really don’t need to bla yourselves. The ones who should be held responsible for all this are those heartless robbers.”
An Xiaoxi’s beautiful face was cold as ice. Thinking of the life-threatening confrontation in the collection room earlier, the dead and injured security guards she saw along the way out, and her grandfather who was sent to the hospital due to shock, a continuous fire of anger burned in her heart.
The Chengyuan Sword in her hand also emitted a humming vibration.
Besides anger, a deep sense of guilt surfaced in her mind.
“Actually, I should be the one apologizing to those dead and injured. Knowing our family’s situation would eventually attract ill-intentioned people, even though the security guards we hired were martial artists, truly powerful and well-prepared warriors are not sothing our family’s security can handle. If only I had thought of this earlier…” Had they been imrsed in the established order for too long? Despite knowing tis had changed, were they too dull to be vigilant?
…If she hadn’t been constrained by the path planned for her all along when she first discovered the special rapport between herself and the Chengyuan Sword, if she had taken up the sword and actively sought new changes, would she have possessed stronger power to resolve this sudden crisis when it struck?
Yes, this was why she felt guilty.
An Xiaoxi suddenly realized in her heart.
—She could have had the power to change the current situation. So people didn’t have to die. Things didn’t have to develop to this point.
“Alright, now is not the ti to fight over taking bla. It’s clearly the criminals’ fault, why are you trying to shoulder the responsibility?” Liu Ningshuang quickly interrupted this overly solemn atmosphere, changing the subject, “Let’s get straight to the point.”
With that said, her expression turned serious. She first gave an overview of the situation they understood. “When we received Ji Heng’s call, we were still in the capital. After sensing sothing was off during the call, we imdiately contacted the local police station and the Special Case Investigation Team branch. We’ve roughly understood what happened on your end through the phone, but listening remotely certainly isn’t as clear as being on the scene. There are still many unclear parts we need you to fill in.”
While Liu Ningshuang was speaking, Li Fufeng had already taken out recording equipnt and opened a notebook specifically for docunting case details.
Both of them had serious expressions on their faces.
An Xiaoxi and the others also understood the gravity of the situation and responded in kind. They began recounting the events while recalling what had happened earlier. “It went like this…”
Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang listened and took notes, occasionally asking questions until they finally put down their pens. Only then did the room fall silent.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation. You can leave for now, and we’ll notify you if we need anything else,” Li Fufeng said officially, then changed his tone to add, “By the way, Miss An, rember to register the fact that you possess the Chengyuan Sword with the relevant departnt later. They’ll probably need to assess the characteristics and danger level of this extraordinary artifact…”
“Eh?” An Xiaoxi widened her eyes in surprise, then quickly nodded after processing the information, “Oh, okay, alright.”
Ji Nian, who had dealt with the Special Case Investigation Team before and understood their procedures, worried that An Xiaoxi might be too nervous and hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. It’s a bit like a gun permit in foreign countries. They just need to confirm there’s no problem before issuing it. Otherwise, if extraordinary artifacts like the Chengyuan Sword fall into the wrong hands, like those guys from earlier, wouldn’t that be too dangerous?”
“But Xiaoxi, you definitely don’t need to worry. It’s probably just a formality, just registering a case with the relevant departnt.”
Liu Ningshuang nodded. “Ji Nian is right. Because each extraordinary artifact has unique characteristics, the effects they cause are easily identifiable. So if we discover a problem sowhere that matches the damage caused by a registered artifact, we can imdiately lock onto the target.”
An Xiaoxi fully understood. For instance, if a murder case occurred and the victim’s wounds completely matched the damage caused by the Chengyuan Sword, they could imdiately focus on her as the sword’s owner, right?
Having no intention of breaking the law, she had no objection to registering.
After agreeing, seeing that Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang were preparing to leave with their voice recorder and case notes, the group couldn’t help feeling a bit unsatisfied about parting ways.
Having personally experienced this case, they had accumulated too many questions in their minds and were reluctant to just provide testimony and be left out.
The Ji siblings, being more familiar with Liu Ningshuang and the others, lingered at the door for a while. Then, the brother and sister approached Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang respectively, one on each side, and sneakily placed a hand on their shoulders, moving in perfect unison.
“Well, we’re old acquaintances by now, right, consultants? Is there any tiny bit of inside information about this incident that you could share?”
While putting their arms around the consultants’ shoulders, they lowered their voices and simultaneously rubbed their fingers together, gesturing a tiny amount. To an uninford observer from afar, it might have looked like they were engaging in so illegal transaction, bribing officials.
“We’ve only just arrived. Those robbers are still being interrogated by the police. How could we have any inside information?”
Liu Ningshuang rolled her eyes, caught between amusent and exasperation.
“That’s not urgent. We can ask the police later. As involved parties, they certainly won’t refuse to tell us about the robbers,” Ji Heng felt extrely clever at that mont. He coughed lightly, “What we want to ask about is soone else…”
“Cough, it’s Joey! Joey!” Ji Nian picked up where her brother left off. She cleared her throat and spoke in a solemn tone, as if narrating the introduction of a new character in an ani, “A man who, from the mont he appeared, had ‘extraordinary’ written all over him from head to toe—the mysterious Mr. Joey!”
The siblings seed to have reverted to their playful nature after the crisis had passed. They exchanged a glance, ca together, and lightly high-fived each other, reciting in a deep, poetic tone. “Who was it that made the robbers and hostages as close as family, sharing an unforgettable ti together?”
“Who brought the radiance of heaven down to earth, allowing the poor hostages to comprehend the true beauty of life in their dreams?”
“Who made the villains who refused to bask in heaven’s light and lay down their weapons suffer the consequences of their actions, turning on each other and walking into their own demise?”
The siblings continued their improvised parallel structure, one after the other, not forgetting to conclude in a tone reminiscent of singing hymns in a church. “We want peace, not war. We want love, not killing. Mr. Joey brought forth humanity’s finest qualities, sowing them in our hearts. How can we not think of him?”
After this performance of singing, reciting, and acting, the siblings raised their hands in a prayer-like gesture and looked at Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang with utmost expectation.
“So, please, please! For such a mysterious extraordinary, your Special Case Investigation Team must have information on him. Isn’t it your duty to investigate all extraordinary information? Just share a tiny bit with us, satisfy our curiosity. After all, we’re also registered with the Special Case Investigation Team in a way.”
“…” The two Special Case Investigation Team mbers fell into silence.
The onlooking Xue Hao and An Xiaoxi couldn’t help but feel embarrassed on their behalf. It was hard to imagine how Ji Heng and Ji Nian could improvise such a performance so casually without any awkwardness.
An Xiaoxi, being a literature major, even recognized that their long speech was adapted from a selection of a Western classical opera. Originally a classic passage for the male and female leads to express their feelings, they had altered 90% of it, resulting in a very strange tone.
How could she still recognize it? Because although they had completely changed the lyrics, their fluctuating tones were surprisingly similar to the original opera.
Despite the awkwardness, An Xiaoxi and Xue Hao also tacitly directed their expectant and curious gazes towards Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang.
Li Fufeng finally shook his head helplessly. “Alright, since you insist on knowing, all we can reveal is…”
“The #Divine Statue Radiation# incident that occurred in the Edun Kingdom over a month ago was the first ti we know of Mr. Joey’s appearance.” His gaze conveyed a hint of gravity, “If your description of Joey’s appearance is correct, he should be the one who took away the divine statue.”
“We only just learned the na Joey now.”
An Xiaoxi and the others were instantly shocked.
“It was actually… that incident…”
“The one called the beginning of extraordinary artifacts’ ergence…”
“…That person was actually Mr. Joey?”
The events in the Edun Kingdom had spread worldwide, but apart from high-level officials in various countries, most people had only heard about it from various reports. They had never seen the appearance of the person who took away the naless, faceless divine statue, nor had they heard related information, as if it had been intentionally concealed.
Now that Li Fufeng ntioned it, they connected the dots. It felt surreal, as if a legendary figure had suddenly walked into reality and even interacted with them. Their feelings were quite complex at that mont.
“That’s right, it’s him. We don’t have much information about him either, but of course, now we know his na is Joey.”
Li Fufeng was certainly not soone who would disclose confidential information just because soone asked. What he was saying now had been carefully considered, and he had determined it was safe to reveal to An Xiaoxi and the others.
After all, they were involved in this incident. According to the Special Case Investigation Team’s regulations, if they asked, so information could be appropriately disclosed as long as they signed a confidentiality agreent.
So he continued frankly, finding their shocked expressions sowhat interesting. “Now you understand how dangerous this situation is, right? This could potentially be an extraordinary being beyond imagination, at least not sothing you can handle. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have any hostile intentions. His main purpose was just to take away that painting.”
Liu Ningshuang quickly added. “This person has already appeared briefly around the world before this. The last ti was at our Yao Country’s border. By the ti people who received the news arrived, he was already gone. The only thing we know is that each ti he appears, his purpose is to take away one item. Sotis it’s a painting, sotis a sculpture, even music scores or poetry collections – they all seem to be extraordinary artifacts.”
What she didn’t say was—
Due to the high correlation between Joey’s appearances and the ergence of extraordinary artifacts, officials from various countries who collected this information had reason to suspect that he had a significant connection to the birth of these artifacts. Perhaps he was even the mastermind behind it all.
Of course, aside from the mastermind theory, the Special Case Investigation Team was more inclined to believe that the birth of the artifacts was unrelated to him, but he definitely knew what was going on.
And those artifacts he took away, upon investigation, were all items that had mysteriously appeared in various places recently. Joey was likely their owner.
Therefore, the mastermind theory might be pure speculation; he might just be an innocent extraordinary being looking for lost items.
In any case, if there was a chance to et Mr. Joey face-to-face, wouldn’t they be able to figure out what was going on with the appearance of these artifacts? Perhaps they could even learn more about extraordinaries?
Considering that Ji Heng and the others’ excessive curiosity might prompt them to act impulsively, and Joey’s behavior didn’t seem like that of a kind person, the two couldn’t help but caution.
“In any case, he’s a powerful extraordinary that you can’t afford to provoke right now. So don’t rashly investigate him, and be careful if you ever encounter him.”
As soon as they finished speaking, they heard Xue Hao draw in a sharp breath and speak in a panic. “What? Then what about Shi Cheng? He was taken away by that Joey, wasn’t he? Will he be okay?”
“???” Several question marks popped up over Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang’s heads, suddenly feeling that things had gone beyond their expectations.
They never imagined that these people were still hiding sothing.
The two felt a headache coming on. “Wait, explain clearly, who is this Shi Cheng?”
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