Chapter 174 - 173: Five Monster Friends, at Their Wit’s End

Contacting Ji Qing is easier than contacting anyone else.

The reason is simple.

She’s a hardcore mobile game addict.

If she’s awake and not busy, she must be holding her phone.

Look.

Li Jing had just sent the message out, and Ji Qing responded within a second.

"Hang on a minute, I’m in a ranked game. I’m about to push their crystal, I’ll contact you when this game’s finished."

Upon receiving this reply, Li Jing’s lips twitched slightly.

Among the monsters he knew, Ji Qing could arguably be deemed the most unique and outrageous.

Other monsters, if addicted, are mostly engrossed by the earthly splendor and extravagance.

Money, women, power, and the like.

Conversely, Ji Qing was somewhat of a nonconformist.

She was only addicted to games, and so much so that she was too lazy to cultivate.

In her own words.

What’s the point of cultivating to achieve human form if I’m not playing games?

It was precisely for this reason that her cultivation level saw no progress at all before she got the snake monster meat from Li Jing.

Massaging his temples, Li Jing flipped out his contacts, found Jing Ming, and sent the same message.

To find a monster, making contact through other monsters is the most direct method.

Monsters living amidst human society rarely coexist peacefully, but like humans, they usually have their own social circles.

After sending the message, Jing Ming did not respond immediately, presumably, she was busy at the moment.

Li Jing was not in a hurry either, and continued by sending a message to Yue Lingling.

If you have connections, make sure to use them when needed.

After informing Yue Lingling, Li Jing pulled out his tablet to access the patrol system and pulled up the information of Zhou Xuan and Xia Ming.

Yes, the cat and fox from Yun Dian Paradise.

At that time, Li Jing did not keep their contact information.

However, with patrol privileges in hand, it was easy to view their registered information.

Though Zhou Xuan and Xia Ming operated in Shangcheng District, they might know something.

What if they do?

Zhou Xuan and Xia Ming have a quite large circle.

Yun Dian Paradise is crowded with dozens of monsters.

This extends to a large network of connections.

After finding the contact information for Zhou Xuan and Xia Ming, Li Jing chose to call the former directly.

As Zhou Xuan and Xia Ming were only acquaintances, it was more pragmatic to call them directly.

The phone rang for a while before it was quickly picked up.

"Hello, who am I speaking to?"

"It’s me, Li Jing."

Li Jing replied, stating his name.

"Patrol Officer Li?"

Zhou Xuan voiced her surprise, followed by suspicion.

"I heard that the previous case had already been solved. Why does Patrol Officer Li suddenly want to contact me...?"

"I need a favor from you and Xia Ming."

Li Jing responded, explaining the situation in detail.

"Here in North City, a monster from the Fifth Boundary attacked the Examination Institute’s prison convoy. Six patrolling officers sacrificed their lives on the spot. The incident is major and will definitely make the news later."

"F...Fifth Boundary Big Monster?"

Zhou Xuan’s voice revealed a touch of terror, she said in a dry tone,

"Xia Ming and I are just at the beginning of the Three Realm, we’re afraid we can’t help you with such a big matter."

"I’m not asking you to do anything else, just hoping that you could help me find out whether there’s a Fifth Boundary Big Monster living in Jianghai City, or if any have arrived recently."

Li Jing spoke, explaining,

"You and Xia Ming know quite a few monsters, just casually asking around will do. Just let me know if you find anything. I won’t let your efforts go unrewarded."

"Well... "

Zhou Xuan hesitated for a while before responding,

"If it’s just gathering information, Xia Ming and I can try."

"Alright, I appreciate your help."

Li Jing said, revealing his Immortal Message number.

"Both of you add me on Immortal Message. It will be convenient for timely communication, and it will also be easier for me to repay you once this matter is resolved."

"Inspector Li, you’re being overly polite. It’s just a small favor, no need for any reward."

Zhou Xuan spoke.

"I’m calling Xia Ming right now, she knows more demons than me, and she has wider connections."

"Good, you both remember to ensure your safety when investigating, don’t push too hard."

Li Jing reminded them.

"Also, about the Fifth Boundary Big Monster, to prevent public panic, it probably won’t be disclosed in the news. It’s enough for both of you to know, don’t spread the word."

Then, he hung up the phone.

Just as he hung up the phone, he saw that Jing Ming had replied, agreeing to help investigate.

Having replied to Jing Ming, Li Jing was about to put away his phone, when a message from Ji Qing came in.

"A crime committed by a Fifth Boundary Big Monster, this is big news! I can help dig around for information, but I don’t recommend you get involved. The creatures that can reach the Fifth Boundary are all extraordinary beings. The gap between humans and demons will truly widen, no matter in direct combat or other realms, they are not at the same level. Rushing into conflict with a Fifth Boundary Big Monster is absolutely not a wise choice."

Looking at the long statement sent by Ji Qing, Li Jing typed a response.

"Just help me investigate, I know whether or not to get involved."

"Alright, it might take some time to get the information, I’ll try to get back to you before tomorrow morning."

Ji Qing replied.

Then, Chen Yuran returned.

"I’ve talked to Captain Dai, the Intelligence Department has started to look into the identities of the eleven victims, and I’ve also given Xiao Ai the information."

While describing, she glanced at Li Jing’s phone, which he hadn’t had a chance to put away yet.

"You’ve been in touch with Ji Qing and Jing Ming?"

"Yes."

Li Jing nodded and said honestly.

"Other than those two, three other demons that I know are helping to gather information."

Chen Yuran was quick witted.

When she saw Li Jing typing and making calls, she guessed he was asking his demon friends for help.

Hearing that, in addition to Ji Qing and Jing Ming, Li Jing had asked three other monsters for help, Chen Yuran said jokingly.

"Just how many demons do you know without me knowing?"

"Not many, just these five in Jianghai."

Li Jing smiled.

"Five."

Chen Yuran took a deep breath, murmuring quietly.

"I’m really curious, why do you always meet demons who are easy to get along with."

"Maybe I’m just lucky."

Li Jing chuckled.

"This is not just about luck."

Chen Yuran shook her head, looked at Yang Qiu Ci and others who were collecting evidence, and lowered her voice a little.

"To what extent can the Sky Eye Technique see through a demon’s disguise?"

Faced with this question, Li Jing hesitated for a moment.

Chen Yuran obviously misunderstood that he was identifying demons through the Sky Eye Technique.

How should he explain this?

For other misunderstandings, he could just gloss over.

But with her straightforwardness and passion for demons, she might secretly go and learn the Sky Eye Technique.

Can the Sky Eye Technique identify demons?

The answer is undoubtedly yes.

But he wasn’t sure at what level one could identify demons.

It might be at the Great Perfection level, or it might be at the Room-Entering Level.

One thing was certain, at Room-Entering Level, one cannot perceive the Demonic Qi within a demon.

Zhuge Yue from the Xiang City Management Bureau has Room-Entering level Sky Eye Technique. She has never been able to see that Su Qiong is a demon.

If Chen Yuran really wants to practice, she might waste a lot of years.

After a moment of silence, Li Jing said.

"You better not rely on the Sky Eye Technique. Sister Yang also uses the Sky Eye Technique, you should know how hard it is to practice."

Speaking of this, he continued.

"Since you’ve asked, I might as well tell you the truth. I identify demons not by the Sky Eye Technique, but by a special ability I was born with. Not just demons, as long as it’s a non-human alien, there’s nowhere to hide in front of me."

Chen Yuran frowned upon hearing this.

As clever as she is, she got the hint that Li Jing doesn’t want her to waste time on the Sky Eye Technique.

Without saying a word, she nodded silently, and stopped asking.

As the two were talking, Yang Qiuci and her subordinates finished collecting evidence from the scene and walked over.

Seeing this, Chen Yuran went up to meet them.

"Sister Yang, how is the situation?"

"We didn’t get any usable information."

Yang Qiuci sighed lightly, and said.

"The scene didn’t even leave a complete body behind, making it hard for us to start. If it wasn’t for numerous eyewitness accounts, we wouldn’t even be able to confirm that the victims on the prison vehicle are dead. The perpetrator was extremely ruthless, erasing everyone’s existence from the root. Even the DNA was not left behind, it was all incinerated."

Saying that, she heavily exhaled.

"The only thing we can confirm now is that the murderer is very good at controlling fire, but this doesn’t explain anything. There are many demon species with the talent to control fire. Even without this innate talent, like fox demons in the Four Realm, once they form a demon pill, they will have the ability to control fox fire."

"Alright, Sister Yang, you all have worked hard."

Chen Yuran said, and continued.

"It’s alright, Sister Yang, you all can go back to the bureau first. I will report the results of your evidence collection to Captain Dai later."

"Okay."

Yang Qiuci agreed and looked at Li Jing.

"Take good care of my Yuran. If she loses a single hair, I won’t let you off."

"..."

Li Jing.

Yang Qiuci’s words were somewhat unreasonable.

Before he could speak, Yang Qiuci rose into the air, leaving a whispered message in his ear.

"Be careful yourself, this case is no small matter, don’t be too rash."

Seeing their chief leaving, the other four forensic department members who came along hurriedly rose into the air to follow.

Li Jing watched the five leave and turned his gaze back to Chen Yuran.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yuran shrugged her shoulders.

"Don’t look at me. Sister Yang knows we’re not together."

Li Jing was speechless, and asked.

"I didn’t mean that, I wanted to ask, what should we do now?"

"I don’t know either."

Chen Yuran sighed lightly, and said.

"Captain Dai and his team are investigating in the surrounding areas, let’s wait for their updates. I’ll arrange someone to handle the current situation. Since there isn’t much to investigate, it’s time to restore the traffic order..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the phone in her hand vibrated.

Upon checking the notification on her phone screen, Chen Yuran furrowed her brows, and said.

"Xiaohua sent a message. Two of the guards on the prison vehicle recently had large transactions in their accounts, totalling more than one billion. The source of the funds is very secretive, even Xiaohua can’t trace it."

Two guards with a transaction record of over a billion?

Even Xiaohua couldn’t trace its source?

Li Jing was taken aback, and said,

"It seems that for now, we can determine a direction of investigation."

"I’ll report this to Captain Dai."

Chen Yuran nodded.

...

In the blink of an eye, night fell.

In the afternoon, Chen Yuran reported the investigation results of Xiaohua to Dai Hong. The whole Major Crime Unit of the Four Realm gathered for a meeting.

Chen Yuran was in charge of investigating the source of the large amount of money in the accounts of the two guards of the Examination Institute.

The others were free to act on their own.

There was no other choice.

Except for the large amount of money in the accounts of the two guards of the Examination Institute, the only lead in this case is that the perpetrator is a demon from the Fifth Boundary. There is absolutely no other direction for the investigation.

The Intelligence Department is digging deep into whether the other victims showed any abnormalities, so there is no need to deploy manpower.

Whether they can find anything, is uncertain.

On Xiaohua’s end, the result was quite clear.

There wasn’t much to investigate.

Apart from the two guards with large transactions in their accounts, the six victim patrol officers, the driver of the prison vehicle, and the other two guards had no issues.

However, as an AI, Xiaohua’s work is efficient but somewhat one-sided.

What she can check is only the information on the internet.

What she can’t find, doesn’t necessarily mean there is no issue.

It is still necessary to keep digging.

What Xiaohua can’t find, the Intelligence Department might be able to find.

It’s not entirely aimless for the other members of the Major Crimes Unit to act freely, including Li Jing.

It’s called free investigation, but in fact, it’s letting them use their own power.

This batch of people in the Major Crimes Unit are all real veteran patrol officers.

Not only do they have rich investigative experience, they each have their own network and know a slew of influential characters.

To make real money in this line, you have to show your merit in the cases.

Especially in the Major Crime Unit.

None of the cases they handled were easily solved.

Just having a high cultivation level and no achievements won’t make you much money in the Major Crime Unit.

Basically, all members of the Major Crime Unit have their own special channels.

The so-called free investigation is to let everyone play freely and do their best to obtain any obtainable information.

After the meeting, Li Jing directly returned home.

He had already done what needed to be done for the free investigation in the afternoon.

Apart from knowing a few demon friends, he had no other sources.

All he could do was wait for news.

Compared to the cases he had encountered in the past, this time it was quite troublesome.

The key problem was that the perpetrator was extremely cruel and decided, and even the motive was unclear. There was no conspiracy or trick at all.

The perpetrator just jumped out in the street, killing people outright with his formidable strength and walking away.

There were no traces to hide, yet it was much better than hiding.

When Liu Sisi returned home from work in the evening and saw Li Jing was at home, she asked about the case.

Just as Li Jing had said when he contacted Zhou Xuan in the afternoon, the event had made the news and caused quite a stir in Jianghai.

The crime of the demon from the Fifth Boundary couldn’t be disclosed.

The fact that the Examination Institute’s prison vehicle was attacked and six patrol officers were killed was enough to shake everyone’s hearts.

Being a patrol officer was a high-risk job and people were often sacrificed, that was true.

But the perpetrator was audacious enough to commit the crime in broad daylight, and yet the Patrol System had no leads. This was unprecedented in the whole Dragon Nation.

On the internet, a storm was brewing.

Throughout the city, people were discussing this matter.

Liu Sisi had heard some news, but didn’t know the insider details.

After learning that the crime was committed by a demon from the Fifth Boundary, she didn’t ask any more questions and went upstairs to cultivate.

The Fifth Boundary Demon was indeed terrifying.

But her Li Jing was also from the Fifth Boundary.

No need to panic.

...

Around nine in the evening, Li Jing received messages from Jing Ming, Zhou Xuan, and Xia Ming.

The two cats and a fox didn’t find any news.

In their circle, no one had seen a Fifth Boundary demon, no one had even heard of the existence of a Fifth Boundary demon in Jianghai.

The news from Ji Qing will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

What made Li Jing a bit concerned was.

From the afternoon till now, Yue Lingling had not replied to his message.

Li Jing checked Yue Lingling’s live broadcast room and found out that she had been running an anniversary event yesterday. She broadcasted all night until noon.

Figuring she might still be asleep, Li Jing didn’t disturb her and chose to wait.

As long as Yue Lingling sees his message, there’s no way she won’t reply.

Li Jing was still confident about this.

Just as he was thinking about whether or not to go upstairs and sleep, waiting for tomorrow to see what happens, Chen Jing suddenly called.

Raising his brow slightly, Li Jing answered the phone.

"Uncle, are you looking for me?"

"How is the situation on your end? Any leads?"

Chen Jing asked straightforwardly.

"No leads yet, we’re still trying to investigate."

Li Jing lied effortlessly over the phone.

Just as he finished, Chen Jing snorted.

"I’m outside your house, open the door."

!!!

Li Jing.

Question!

When caught skipping work at home by your big boss, what should you do?