167: Can you guys stop talking? Help us out first!

Fu Yi was stunned for a moment, then burst into a crazed laugh.

"Kid, do you think you can really scare me just because you're holding a piece of junk gun?"

"Let me tell you, if you dare to touch a single hair on my head today, the people above me will absolutely make you wish you were dead!"

"Not just you, but this female cop beside you, and everyone you care about outside, will all..."

Bang—!

The gunshot rang out without warning.

Ye Chen had no interest in listening to him finish his threat and pulled the trigger directly.

The bullet drilled straight into the center of Fu Yi's crotch!

"Argh—!!!"

A shriek so shrill it didn't sound human instantly pierced the stifling air of the slaughterhouse.

Fu Yi's fat face instantly twisted into a purplish-blue color, his eyes bulging. Both his hands clutched his crotch, where blood was spurting out. He collapsed like a pig that had had its bones removed, curling into a ball.

Then, his body twitched violently.

Pain! It was too painful!

He never expected... that Ye Chen would be so ruthless as to use a gun and blast him away!!!

Bai Shanshan was stunned.

But... when dealing with a beast devoid of humanity, following procedure might be a desecration to the dead.

Ye Chen glanced at Fu Yi, who was in so much pain he was almost fainting, then looked at the surrounding butchers.

"What about you all?"

"Do you want to make a move?"

His voice was calm, with not even a hint of killing intent. But combined with the corpses scattered across the floor and Fu Yi's heart-wrenching wails, it was more terrifying than any roar.

"Thud!"

The first butcher threw away the boning knife in his hand, his knees went weak, and he fell to his knees on the ground.

"Thud! Thud! Thud..."

Like dominoes falling, the remaining butchers scrambled to drop their weapons, kneeling in a crowd and kowtowing like they were pounding garlic.

"Spare us! Spare us, sir!"

"We... we were all just listening to Fu Yi! He forced us to do it!"

"We'll tell you everything! Please don't kill us!"

...

Ye Chen couldn't be bothered to listen to them pledge their loyalty. He lowered the muzzle of his gun and asked indifferently.

"Speak."

"Who is the person above you?"

"What kind of dirty business is really behind this shop?"

Even if a shop were demonic, it shouldn't be capturing tourists to make bone soup. There was likely a reason for it.

Sure enough.

The scarred-faced butcher kneeling at the very front suddenly raised his head, his face full of fear, and scrambled to answer.

"It's... it's the 'Soul Hall'!"

"We are all freelance members of the Soul Hall! Fu Yi is a freelance minor leader of this line!"

"If he works for two more years, he can enter the outer gate of the Soul Hall!"

Another Tall and Thin Guy butcher, fearing he would fall behind, hurriedly added.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's the Soul Hall! A very mysterious organization. I heard their lair is in Southeast Asia!"

"They... specialize in collecting men and women with potential for martial arts or those with special birth dates!"

"After capturing them, they alive-harvest that small piece of 'innate fetal flesh' from the energy center position!"

"The big shots of the Soul Hall believe that it is the innate foundation of a person, containing the essence of life. Eating it can enhance cultivation and prolong life!"

"The remaining parts are... are left to us to dispose of, to cover our tracks, and we can also earn some money..."

The scarred-faced butcher nodded repeatedly: "That's right! Fu Yi said this is making the best use of everything. Those people whose fetal flesh has been taken basically can't survive. Turning them into meat paste is considered not wasting them..."

Listening to this appalling account, Bai Shanshan trembled with rage, her stomach churning.

She finally understood why those missing persons had all disappeared without a trace.

It was truly unimaginable that a group of people could be this demonic!

Ye Chen's eyes turned even colder.

Soul Hall?

Eating innate fetal flesh?

These methods were a hundred times more evil and sinister than the Hidden Sect capturing Bing Lan to use as a furnace!

Ye Chen took a deep breath: "What other strongholds does the Soul Hall have in Hong Kong City? How do you contact them?"

The few butchers looked at each other and shook their heads.

The scarred-faced butcher said with a mournful face.

"Sir, we really don't know!"

"We are all just bottom-level minor side characters, only responsible for handling the 'waste'... oh no, for handling matters afterward!"

"Contact is handled solely by Fu Yi. We usually don't even get to see the people from the Soul Hall..."

Ye Chen looked at Fu Yi, who was on the ground with more breath going out than coming in.

This guy was probably the only lead at the moment.

He walked to Fu Yi's side, crouched down, and ignoring the face twisted by extreme pain and fear, placed two fingers on the side of his neck, channeling a trace of weak true energy to temporarily keep his last breath.

"If you want to die quickly, tell me, how do you contact the Soul Hall?"

"Where is their den in Hong Kong City?"

The unfocused eyes of Fu Yi gradually gained a trace of life. Looking at Ye Chen's icy eyes, he knew he was completely finished. Driven by intense pain and the fear of imminent death, his lips trembled as he said in a shaky voice.

"Causeway Bay... the basement of Nightlife Bar... look for the Soul Guiding Emissary..."

Before he could finish.

His head tilted to the side. Due to excessive blood loss, he fainted dead away.

Ye Chen stood up and said to Bai Shanshan.

"Did you hear that? Causeway Bay, Nightlife Bar."

Bai Shanshan nodded heavily, forcing her still-weak body to stand, and took out her phone. "I will contact the Hong Kong City police and my colleagues immediately to seal off this place, arrest these accomplices, and escort the victims to get medical treatment!"

"The police shouldn't go to Nightlife Bar to make arrests," Ye Chen reminded her.

Bai Shanshan's finger, which had just pressed the dial button, paused. She asked in confusion.

"Why?"

"This kind of vicious case must be taken over and investigated by the police. Subsequent evidence collection, interrogation, and rescuing victims all require a large amount of manpower and formal procedures."

Ye Chen said indifferently.

"An organization like the Soul Hall, which can get its hands on 'Muscle Softening Powder' that can take down even martial artists, and acts so secretly and viciously."

"Do you think the Hong Kong City police will succeed if they go?"

"On the contrary."

"It will only alert the enemy."

Bai Shanshan was stunned.

Having worked on cases for many years, she knew deep down that what Ye Chen said was not impossible.

"Then what should we do? Just leave it alone?"

Her brows were knitted tightly.

"I'll go," Ye Chen said, hands in his pockets.

"I'll go with you." Bai Shanshan blurted it out without hesitation.

This was her case; she couldn't be absent.

Besides, with Ye Chen there, her safety would be well guaranteed!

Ye Chen glanced at her and didn't object, which counted as consent.

Bai Shanshan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately redialed the phone, but adjusted her instructions.

By the time she hung up the phone, Ye Chen had already reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Bai Shanshan was caught off guard, her heart skipped a beat for no reason, and her cheeks flushed slightly: "W-what's wrong?"

She instinctively wanted to pull her hand back, but found that Ye Chen wasn't holding it tightly, yet the sensation was exceptionally clear.

"The effect of the 'Muscle Softening Powder' you were hit with hasn't fully worn off yet. You're walking unsteadily, how are you going to fight anyone?" Ye Chen said speechlessly, "I'll make you feel better."

Bai Shanshan: "???"

No...

Make herself feel better?

What kind of suggestive words were these!

She imagined some scenes that shouldn't be there, feeling both shy and angry. Her "tigress strength" was just about to flare up...

Suddenly!

A warm current quickly flowed through her entire body.

Wherever it passed, the feeling of soreness and weakness receded like the tide!

Replacing it was a sense of fullness, even more energetic than in her peak state before!

Bai Shanshan looked up in astonishment at Ye Chen.

"Did you just... channel true energy into me?"

Although she wasn't a martial artist, being in a special department and having a sister with a mysterious background, she knew a little about martial arts. Channeling true energy to heal injuries and detoxify was usually something that only a senior with profound cultivation would do for a close junior, and it was an energy-consuming task!

"Yeah."

Ye Chen let go of her hand and nodded, "The medicinal properties of the 'Muscle Softening Powder' are cold and Yin, blocking the flow of Qi and blood. Using Yang-based true energy to break it open is fine."

Feeling the lingering warmth in her body, Bai Shanshan was even more shaken. She had previously only heard about the wonders of a martial artist's true energy in internal confidential files and occasional snippets from her sister. Now, feeling it for herself, she realized the rumors were true.

"They say that true martial artists have all sorts of incredible methods. Today, I've finally seen it..."

She sighed softly, her gaze toward Ye Chen becoming a bit more complex.

She finally realized...

Why her sister valued Ye Chen so much!

Ye Chen heard this and looked at her a bit strangely: "Your sister, Bai Wanqing, should be in contact with a fairly high level, right? She has dealings with the Dragon Group, didn't you learn about these from her?"

Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes at him.

"What do you think the Dragon Group is? A wet market?"

"That is the country's most mysterious special combat force department. The threshold is terrifyingly high, and everything they deal with is top secret!"

"My sister is a business tycoon and has cooperation with the state. Even if she has dealings with the Dragon Group, she couldn't possibly talk about the specific details casually. It's good enough that I even know the name!"

She paused, her tone a bit helpless.

"Besides, I'm on the path of graduating from a proper police academy and solving cases to gain merit. It's fundamentally different from you... er, 'abnormal human' circles."

Ye Chen realized, that was true. No matter how capable Bai Wanqing was, some boundaries were still clear. Although Bai Shanshan was excellent, she indeed belonged to a different system.

"Brother, Sister..."

At this moment, a weak voice with a sobbing tone came timidly from the iron cage nearby.

Both of them were stunned for a moment and turned to look.

Lin Wei showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "Can you... can you stop chatting first... and save us first?"

Ye Chen: "..."

Bai Shanshan: "..."