444: Chapter 444 Lingxiao

Han Jingyang raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked down at the young girl, Yang Yujie, who had just calmed down. "How do you know that?"

The young girl lowered her head and whispered, "Just now in the bathroom, while they were... giving me a bath, they were talking. They said, said I shouldn't think about leaving alive. They said that after their elder... used me, they would throw me into some kind of formation to... sacrifice me to heaven..."

"Fuck!"

Han Jingyang cursed.

That same routine again!

Damn it, why can't these kinds of people be wiped out?

They're simply not human!

One day, sooner or later, I'll kill every last one of them!

These beasts don't deserve to live!

Han Jingyang was suddenly filled with lingering fear.

If he hadn't discovered Yang Yujie and the clues she left behind in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

These were over thirty living human beings.

Not thirty-odd ants, and certainly not thirty-odd pigs.

How could they have the heart?

If he had known, he shouldn't have let that bastard die so easily!

"Fuck!"

Han Jingyang took several deep breaths to suppress the anger in his heart. He patted the young girl's head and sighed softly. "It's all right. The bad guys are dead. No one will ever do such an inhuman thing again. If they do, I'll kill them as I see them, even if I have to chase them to the ends of the earth!"

Shen Yuhai also sucked in a breath of cold air. "What a beast!"

He then bowed seriously to Han Jingyang. "Brother, thank you. Truly. If you hadn't acted in time, I don't know how heartbroken these girls and their families would be. You saved the lives of thirty-seven girls, and more importantly, you saved thirty-seven happy families. You're a superhero in the hearts of the people of Quancheng."

Han Jingyang waved his hand. "Alright, hurry up and clean up the scene. Same old rules: everything else is yours, but the loot is mine."

"Fine, we'll only take the people. The rest is yours," Shen Yuhai said, then suddenly lowered his voice. "Zhang Zhiyang and his group might try to stick their noses in."

Han Jingyang curled his lip. "As long as they don't touch my things, they can do whatever they want."

In fact, this was within his expectations.

For small matters, Zhang Zhiyang and his people could ignore them.

But for such a major case, they couldn't pretend not to know no matter what. That would be too much of a dereliction of duty, though they were already quite derelict to begin with.

Sure enough, ten minutes after Shen Yuhai and his team arrived, Zhang Zhiyang also arrived with his men. There were quite a few of them, and they were well-equipped.

Shen Yuhai went up to greet Zhang Zhiyang with a smile, but intentionally or unintentionally blocked the doorway. Finally, he brought the topic into the open: "Section Chief Zhang, to be honest, there's nothing left to do here. Only a bit of clean-up work remains. We won't trouble you great experts with it."

Zhang Zhiyang narrowed his eyes. "This case is outside your jurisdiction."

"This is a case of kidnapping with malicious intent. We have the right and the duty to handle it. It's completely within our jurisdiction," Shen Yuhai countered, not backing down an inch. "Furthermore, we've already finished processing it. Now only the wrap-up remains. If Section Chief Zhang is interested in the scene, you can enter after we evacuate. Otherwise, word might get out and people will misunderstand that Section Chief Zhang is trying to steal credit."

"I have the right to intervene in any case related to metaphysics."

"But you can't be unreasonable."

"If we were being unreasonable, we'd already be inside."

"What? Going to get rough? Do you think we're pushovers?"

"You know full well what this case is about. Don't let the culprits get away for your own selfish interests."

"Get away? Sorry, not a single culprit escaped. They've all been wiped out. There are also several captives, and we obtained vital information immediately."

"You guys? It was Han Jingyang, wasn't it?"

"That's none of your business. Anyway, I'm warning you, don't look for trouble. We're taking the victims back now and thoroughly clearing the scene."

"You can't mess with the items at the scene. They're all very important physical evidence!"

"Evidence? Those are Han Jingyang's spoils of war. We're just assisting in collecting them. If you have an issue, go talk to Han Jingyang."

Zhang Zhiyang went silent instantly.

Fight Han Jingyang for loot?

Forget Zhang Zhiyang; even Bai Sixing wouldn't dare.

Han Jingyang had a fearsome reputation. Who would dare provoke him?

Making friends was fine.

Offending him?

What was the difference between offending Han Jingyang and stepping one foot into the gates of hell?

Even King Yama didn't know when Han Jingyang might unleash another world-shaking sword strike.

However, Zhang Zhiyang didn't want to show weakness in front of Shen Yuhai either. He snorted, "Fine, I will!"

After saying that, he entered the courtyard alone. After observing for a moment, he found Han Jingyang, who was directing two SWAT officers to dig a hole. "Brother, thank you. You've done us another huge favor."

Han Jingyang cupped his hands with a smile, as if nothing had happened. "What brings you here?"

"With such a big case, how could I not come? Brother, who did this?"

"Lingxiao. Have you heard of this organization?"

"Holy crap, are you sure it's Lingxiao?"

"Yeah, a low-level lackey confessed. Why? Is this organization very famous?"

"It's quite famous. It was very active twenty years ago, but it vanished after being cracked down on once. I thought this organization had completely perished. I didn't expect it to still be alive," Zhang Zhiyang cupped his hands again. "Brother, thank you. If it wasn't for you, something very, very terrible would have happened in Quancheng."

"That terrible?"

"Yes. This Lingxiao has a long list of crimes. They've committed nothing but appalling and heartless cases. Compared to Lingxiao, the people from the Operation Committee are practically normal."

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Not exaggerated at all," Zhang Zhiyang said with a grim face, glancing at the victims being helped out by female police officers. "If I'm not mistaken, this was for... a Heaven Sacrifice."

"You're not mistaken."

"You knew?"

"Yeah, found out during the interrogation."

"What about the culprit?"

"Dead. Died right at the start of the battle. Couldn't take a single hit."

"Impossible. Someone who can preside over this kind of ritual is definitely not weak. At least someone of elder rank would have to show up."

"The captive said the elder's surname is Xu, called Xu Changhuai. There, the one wrapped in the white cloth was the first to die."

"Xu Changhuai? It's really him?"

"You can take a look. Only his soul and spirit were destroyed; his physical body is perfectly fine."

What did he mean by "only" his soul and spirit were destroyed?

It's very difficult to destroy someone's soul and spirit, okay?

Especially for true practitioners, their primordial spirits are very strong. Often, even if the physical body is destroyed, the primordial spirit can still exist in some form for a while, or even a long time.

To strike a practitioner until their soul and spirit are destroyed while leaving the physical body intact required not only immense strength but also very specialized spells—the kind that specifically target the primordial spirit.

However, since it was Han Jingyang who had acted, thinking about it that way, it didn't seem so outrageous anymore.

Zhang Zhiyang lifted the white cloth to take a look, then took out his phone and snapped a photo of the face. A profile soon popped up, clearly labeled with the words "Lingxiao · Xu Changhuai."

It really was the resurgence of this notorious organization, Lingxiao.

He had to be on high alert.

In the past, due to limitations in information and transportation, Lingxiao's range of activity was limited to Lu Province.

But now, there were no such restrictions. It was possible that Lingxiao's people were already all over the country.

Zhang Zhiyang covered the body with the white cloth and returned to Han Jingyang's side. "Brother, what are you digging for?"

"Spoils of war."

"Are there many?"

"Quite a lot. There are over a hundred items underground alone. Including the ones in the rooms, there are at least two hundred. They're all quite good dharma instruments."

"I'd like to take a photo, if I may?"

"Just a photo?"

"Yes, yes, just a photo. It might come in handy at some point."