Chapter 313 - 312: News, Sly

After much consideration, the only sucker that Li Jing could think of was White Hawk.

However, he was reluctant to have too much contact with White Hawk.

Money wasn’t the issue.

The problem was.

After taking the money, he might get dragged down and trapped in a quagmire.

After pondering for a while, Li Jing decided to give up thinking.

He could only take it one step at a time with this matter.

He didn’t want to get too involved with White Hawk, but he couldn’t avoid making a trip to White Hawk.

...

About ten minutes later, Ren Jie, who had gone out to make a phone call, returned.

Li Jing noticed her return and sat up to ask.

"How is it?"

"Everything has been arranged, we just have to wait for the news."

As Ren Jie said this, she sat down with a playful smile on her face.

"Boss, if you don’t mind, could you tell me more about the details of what happened at the Taihe Grand Hotel?"

Upon hearing these words, Li Jing didn’t hesitate, and straightforwardly shared the details.

About things like artificial humans and curse arts, Ren Jie was currently unaware of.

The case of Augustus and others, even when it ended up in the hands of the major case squad, still required the support of the Intelligence Department.

But the real details, even the people in the major case squad were not clear yet.

About the discovery of Bei Yi and Evlyn, Li Jing had reported directly to Chen Jing.

Due to the dangerous nature of the incident, Chen Jing did not intend to let other members of the major case squad or other departments get involved. Naturally, he would not inform the relevant leaders in detail before the case was solved.

Doing so.

First, was to prevent hot-headed employees of the North City Patrol Bureau from risking their lives.

Secondly, it was to prevent news from being leaked by some indiscreet employees and causing too much public opinion in the community.

After listening to Li Jing’s detailed account, Ren Jie revealed a similar expression to the one she had when she first found out.

She was not only a monster, but also involved in both the underworld and the legitimate world.

Although she had been hiding in North City these years, she had seen a lot of things.

It wasn’t surprising to her that White Hawk was secretly working on such a thing.

What surprised her was that White Hawk actually successfully brought it to fruition...

After digesting the information quietly, Ren Jie didn’t ask about how the artificial human offended Li Jing enough to spend a fortune on it. Instead, she took out a tea table and placed it in front of the bed, and took out a set of tea utensils.

"Boss, I’ve recently got some high-quality spiritual tea. Since we have to wait for news, why don’t we try some?"

Seeing Ren Jie calling him "boss" repeatedly, Li Jing couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had to wait for news, and he had nowhere else to go for the time being.

So, he didn’t stand on ceremony with Ren Jie and nodded his head.

...

In a blink of an eye, more than three hours had passed.

Li Jing and Ren Jie had been sitting at the tea table for three hours, talking about various topics, and they didn’t find it boring.

However, seeing that so much time had passed and there was no movement from Ren Jie’s side, not even a single text message on her phone, Li Jing couldn’t help but feel anxious.

But at the same time, he also understood.

Finding Adela was a difficult task.

The key was, they couldn’t rely on Little Impediment for this matter.

Not only Adela in Longyu, but Bei Yi and Evlyn were also wary of Little Impediment.

What they could do, Little Impediment could do as well.

What they couldn’t do, Little Impediment might actually be able to do.

For them, the artificial intelligence Little Impediment was actually a much greater threat than the seemingly unfathomable Li Jing.

The ability to extract information from the internet at will should have been their advantage.

However, due to the presence of Little Impediment, they dared not utilize this advantage.

Especially Adela in Longyu...

Li Jing had already witnessed how cautious the other party was.

Just by taking out a data cable and pretending to do something, Adela immediately destroyed the laptop they were using for conversation. She was extremely cautious and did not give any chance for missteps.

To find her, they could only rely on Ren Jie’s "unorthodox methods".

Checking the time on his phone, Li Jing looked up.

"It’s been nearly four hours. Based on what you said earlier, can we confirm that Adela is not in the boundaries of North City?"

Ren Jie had been keeping Li Jing company for a full three hours and was feeling a little lackluster.

Playing host, to be honest, is quite tiring.

Especially when you’re entertaining someone like Li Jing, a big paycheck.

You need to cater to their needs, and to flatter them constantly.

Isn’t that exhausting?

Compared to that...

A serious negotiation in the bedroom is a thousand times easier...

Hearing Li Jing’s question, Ren Jie took a sip of her spiritual tea, pursed her lips, and answered at her leisure.

"So much time has passed, we can confirm not only that the target is not in North City but also that they are hiding extremely craftily. Otherwise, we would have received news by now."

Having said this, she lazily stretched out both arms and relaxed.

"But this doesn’t surprise me. After all, the artificial intelligence called Adela knows you’re searching for her, so she’s definitely trying to avoid you. She must be trying to find a better hideout during this period."

"Hmm."

Li Jing nodded.

Just as he was about to change the topic, Ren Jie suddenly retrieved her phone and announced,

"There’s news."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing perked up and asked,

"What do you mean?"

"The leader of the West City Wild Wolves gang sent word. This morning, a thug saw Adela in an alley close to Old City and not only got her autograph but also a photo with her."

Replying while typing a speedy response to a message on her phone, Ren Jie elaborated,

"Apparently, not long after the photo mysteriously disappeared and the thug’s phone was broken, leaving only a piece of paper with the signature."

At these words, Li Jing squinted.

Under normal circumstances, this information is trivial.

The photo is gone, the phone is broken, only a signature is left.

What good is a signature?

Anyone can sign with a pen.

Without solid evidence to support a thug’s words, no one would easily believe them.

But when it comes to Adela, the news becomes very persuasive.

After a momentary pause, Li Jing stood up.

"I’m going to West City."

"Alright, I’ll notify you if there are any updates."

Ren Jie responded.

Li Jing nodded and rushed off.

...

Before long, Li Jing arrived silently in the jurisdiction of West City in his Silent Shadow, heading directly to Old City.

He was revisiting an old haunt, having handled a case here before.

Standing high in the sky overlooking Old City, Li Jing lifted his hand to form a magical seal and activated his Heavenly Eye.

Old City looked as it always had.

Chaotic.

Through the Heavenly Eye...

Li Jing saw a vast collection of spiritual Qi, demonic Qi, and even a lot of power features of alien spiritual systems.

Unfortunately, he didn’t detect the energy aggregation that he was hoping to find.

Abandoning his patrol of Old City, Li Jing started searching along the nearby streets.

Adela had been active near Old City in the morning, but that did not mean she was definitely hiding in Old City.

She could be close to anywhere.

After traversing two blocks, his phone in pocket vibrated.

Subconsciously taking out his phone, he found a message from Ren Jie. The content was just an address.

Smoke-Willow Lane, 5th.

Getting the address, Li Jing frowned.

Smoke-Willow Lane.

This was not exactly a street name. In fact, it wasn’t a real street name at all, but a nickname for an alleyway in Old City that had been monopolized by streetwalkers.

Adela was in Smoke-Willow Lane?

Li Jing looked back.

He had just viewed the whole Old City with his Heavenly Eye, which included Smoke-Willow Lane.

But he hadn’t detected any suspicious energy aggregations.

Could it be that artificial humans can hide their power?

Without a second thought, Li Jing turned towards the Old City area, landing not far from Smoke-Willow Lane.

It was just past noon at this time.

Despite the clear blue sky overhead, there weren’t many people in Smoke-Willow Lane.

Even the street walkers knew the importance of balancing work and rest.

After all, their customers would also be busy making money during the day.

This was the same everywhere.

So during the day, places like Smoke-Willow Lane would usually be quiet, with only the local residents going about their business.

Li Jing paused briefly at the entrance of the lane before walking straight in.

Smoke-Willow Lane’s 5th Alley wasn’t the typical numbered apartment block. Instead, it was a collective term for an entire stretch of lane.

Put simply, it was the fifth lane within Smoke-Willow Lane.

This was a unique residential format common in coastal cities in the south.

Soon, Li Jing arrived near the 5th Alley.

Using his Heavenly Eye, he noticed that among the six low-rise houses parallel to the alley, only four were occupied.

The one furthest inside housed two people.

The rest only had one occupant each.

Under Li Jing’s Heavenly Eye scrutiny, the spiritual Qi in five people across four gray tiled low-rise houses was mediocre at best.

Based on Li Jing’s experience, the one with the highest cultivation level among them might just border the Three Realm.

Is Adela really here?

Li Jing’s brow furrowed as he crossed the entrance to the alley.

As he was about to approach one of the low-rise houses to take a sneak peek, he had a sudden premonition and turned his attention to the building with two spiritual Qi.

One of the two spiritual Qi inside the building had vanished.

That’s right.

Vanished.

Vanished out of thin air.

At this sight, Li Jing squinted his eyes.

Vanished out of thin air?

What kind of skill is this?

Could it even deceive the Sky Eye Technique?

Feeling astonished, Li Jing glanced at the surveillance camera hidden under the eaves in front of the shabby house and took out a Boundary Stone.

It was evident that the mysteriously disappearing spiritual Qi was Adela, and that she had discovered him.

Although he didn’t know how Adela managed to manipulate and even disappear her internal power, it was unimportant to Li Jing.

What mattered was...

The person probably hadn’t managed to escape yet.

Without any hesitation, Li Jing infused spiritual Qi into the Boundary Stone.

The space boundary was immediately established.

As a result, along with Adela who was hiding, Li Jing was isolated into the subspace with the low-rise house.

Almost as soon as they entered subspace, the spiritual Qi that still existed under the scrutiny of the Heavenly Eye suddenly turned dark red. Its intensity increased rapidly.

Seeing this, Li Jing couldn’t help but pause.

He thought that the one that had disappeared was Adela.

This one that was left should, in theory, be the original "house owner".

However, reality proved him wrong.

Just as he was taken aback, a loud ’boom’ echoed as the entire low-rise house was torn apart by a violent red energy wave.

Adela, her face stern, her body continuously radiating a fury-filled red energy current, stared straight at him.

"Human! You’ve gone too far!"

Li Jing rolled his eyes upon hearing this and drew his Flying Sword Blue Edge.

He didn’t come here to waste words with Adela.

The very next second...

The Flying Sword Blue Edge hummed.

With a flash of blue light, Adela was decapitated.

Blue blood gushed from her neck, emitting an extremely foul odor.

With a thud...

The decapitated body fell to the ground.

Li Jing didn’t even spare it a glance. He casually summoned a Fire Thunder to incinerate the corpse until nothing was left, then he walked straight into the overturned low-rise house.

Adela, upon encountering him, was instantly killed.

However, she hadn’t essentially died yet.

There were no experience points indicated on his status bar.

And he didn’t see a health bar above the seemingly desperate Adela’s head.

It has to be said...

Adela had many tricks and was pretty smart.

Had it been an ordinary person in his place, they might have been tricked by her feigned desperation and apparent death.

Unfortunately for her...

She had encountered Li Jing...

The low-rise house, turned upside down by the red energy wave, was a mess.

Li Jing’s brow furrowed while the third eye in the middle of his forehead opened and closed. He scanned the surroundings until his gaze landed on a faint spiritual Qi source.

His Heavenly Eye technique’s ability to seek spiritual objects was something he hadn’t used in a while.

But that didn’t mean that he was rusty at it.

Approaching the faint spiritual Qi source, Li Jing sheathed this Flying Sword Blue Edge and with one casual slap, sent all the accumulated debris from the low-rise house flying.

A square-shaped object embedded in a groove on the floor came into Li Jing’s view.

So, this is it.

Li Jing’s lips curved up into a smile as he removed the square object from the groove in the floor.

This silver object was light as a feather.

It hardly weighed anything, but it gave off a solid-feeling.

Li Jing tried to squeeze it and found that he couldn’t move it at all.

How strong was his grip?

Yet a small object like this seemed to withstand his grip?

Li Jing examined the square object, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

This must be some kind of special spatial equipment.

This was the first time he’d seen such small and delicate spatial equipment.

This technology...

If I sell it to the Longyu Research Institute, won’t it fetch quite a sum?

But the problem was...

Presently, Adela’s real body might be inside. It might house multiple copies of her body which he needed to retrieve - selling it off hastily to others didn’t seem practical.

One thing Li Jing was certain of...

Adela had more than one body.

Initially, he saw two spiritual Qi in the low-rise house.

Suddenly one disappeared, and then he was left with Adela. But she didn’t have a health bar over her head.

Wasn’t it clear that Adela was attempting to deceive him?

If he hadn’t been able to see the health bar, and if he wasn’t able to obtain experience points from killing a real alien species, he might really have been tricked.

The one earlier didn’t even qualify as an artificial human.

It must have been pre-set with some kind of program.

Just as their previous encounter via the laptop screen in the hotel, Adela thought herself clever.

But her tricks were not baseless.

She had feigned death as a desperate measure to escape danger.

She couldn’t exactly withstand Li Jing’s power after all.

But unfortunately for her, she failed.

After observing the cube for a while, Li Jing tucked it away into his storage space, then swung his hand and slapped down.

"Boom!"

A massive Fire Thunder erupted, reducing all the remains of the low-rise house to ashes.

Li Jing didn’t like surprises nor did he want any.

The cube in his possession might just be another trick up Adela’s sleeve.

Her true hiding place might be somewhere else.

The all-consuming Fire Thunder quickly reduced everything left of the low-rise house to ashes, nothing remained.

After ensuring that there was nothing else, Li Jing finally took out the Boundary Stone and released the stored energy within it to continue.

With the space boundary removed, he returned to the Old City, transforming into a bolt of lightning and slipping away in silence.

...