Holy Bone

Chapter 2005: The Case of the Disappearance of Eight Criminal Investigators
That night.

As night slowly fell, the entire capital city seemed to be draped in scattered silver light, and every lantern or oil lamp appeared both bustling and desolate.

The moonlight, like a thin veil, gently draped the streets of the capital. The verdant trees lining the streets swayed softly in the night breeze, adding to the sense of loneliness and emptiness in the night.

The leaves of those trees rustled in the wind, like the lonely shadows of flickering candles in the night, smoothing out the hustle and bustle of people on the city streets.

Especially in the depths of those alleys, the occasional dim orange candlelight shines through, which, combined with the sparse moonlight outside, adds an indescribable, vague, and desolate touch to the city's night scene.

It seems that when people walk in such an environment, even their memories become uncontrollably blurred, and they may forget certain events...

Criminal Investigation Department.

Deputy Commander Yu, Deputy Commander Cai, and Deputy Commander Sun were anxiously walking or sitting in the Criminal Investigation Department's hall.

And Fatty Li was among them.

"Commander Li, is there still no news from the Commander? Has the Commander not returned to the capital yet?" Deputy Commander Cai paced anxiously back and forth before asking Fatty Li.

Deputy Commander Yu sat in his chair, puffing on his pipe. Through the puffs of smoke, his eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Fatty Li and said, "Fatty Li, just tell us the truth. When will the Commander be able to return to the capital? Things have been delayed for too long. Not only are the brothers in the Criminal Investigation Department in danger of dying, but even the ghost-walking masters Zhang Weishan, Jiao Liang, and Jiang Jun are in danger of dying!"

Deputy Commander Sun slammed down on his chair and said through gritted teeth, "In my opinion, if the Commander really can't return to the capital in a short time and there's no news of him, we might as well go and beg the Jade Capital!"

"Given the Commander's relationship with the Jade Capital Golden Palace, if we were to seek their help, they should send someone to assist us in finding the missing people!"

Fatty Li was also very anxious. He was so anxious that he didn't even have time to pay attention to the big blister that had grown on the corner of his mouth. He paced back and forth anxiously and said, "Master Jin'an said that he would be back within five days. This is the third day now!"

"If he hasn't returned by today, let's go to the Jade Capital and plead with the Crimson Origin Immortal and the Mysterious Thunder Immortal!"

The deputy commanders could only nod; this was the only thing they could do for now. If they couldn't wait for the commander to return, they would have to find another way to search for the missing person.

Deputy Commander Yu continued smoking his pipe, saying, "Before that, we must protect the physical bodies of Zhang Weishan, Jiao Liang, and Jiang Jun. We must not allow anything to happen to their bodies, lest even the Jade Capital Golden Palace be helpless!"

Fatty Li nodded firmly and said, "Deputy Commanders, rest assured, I have already sent many brothers to protect the physical bodies of Zhang Weishan, Jiao Liang, and Jiang Jun!"

"Who would have thought that one of our brothers would disappear, and we couldn't find him anywhere in the capital? So we asked Jiang Jun, a spirit medium, to help us find him, but he hasn't woken up for a whole day! He's trapped in the underworld, and his fate is unknown!"

"Then, Zhang Weishan and Jiao Liang, two spirit mediums, also went to the underworld to try to find Jiang Jun's three souls and seven spirits and help him return to the world of the living. Who knew that even the souls of Zhang Weishan and Jiao Liang would be trapped in the underworld and have not yet returned to the world of the living, and their fate is unknown!"

Upon hearing Li Pangzi's words, Deputy Commander Sun, who had just sat down, could no longer suppress his inner emotions and ran out into the courtyard to unleash a frenzied barrage of punches and kicks on the wooden dummy. Before he could even finish a set of martial arts moves, Deputy Commander Sun had broken the wooden dummy into three pieces.

Then Deputy Commander Sun found another wooden dummy and unleashed a flurry of martial arts attacks until he broke four or five of them. Only then did Deputy Commander Sun, with red eyes and panting heavily, stand silently in the courtyard.

These are not ordinary wooden dummy stakes, but specially made from century-old ironwood, with copper sheets attached to their surfaces. Each one is impervious to swords and spears and can withstand decades of martial arts training without suffering any damage.

Now, however, he had broken five or six wooden stakes in a row by Deputy Commander Sun. Deputy Commander Sun's martial arts skills were very high. Even the best martial artists in the world could only accept their bad luck when they encountered Deputy Commander Sun.

"Deputy Commanders, you don't need to keep watch tonight. Why don't you all go home and rest first, and I'll stay here and wait for the Commander to return?"

"The tasks are more demanding during the day, and I can't let you miss your nighttime rest, which would affect your daytime work."

Fatty Li said with kind words of advice.

However, none of the deputy commanders intended to return; they simply waved their hands and remained in the Criminal Investigation Department.

With such a major incident occurring in the Criminal Investigation Department, including missing persons and a spirit medium who went to the underworld but whose soul has not returned and whose fate is unknown, how can they possibly sleep peacefully?

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

Time ticked by, and the deputy commanders sat in the main hall of the Criminal Investigation Department, waiting silently. No one spoke, and no one had the mind to speak; they were all waiting for the outcome.

If the commander still doesn't return tonight, they will immediately go to the Jade Capital Golden Palace to seek help and assistance first thing tomorrow morning.

The hour of Xu (7-9 PM).

Hai hour (9-11 PM).

child time.

……

Time flew by and it was already past 1 a.m., which is around 3 a.m. The deputy commanders had been busy with the ancestral worship ceremony for the past few days and were exhausted. In the end, they couldn't help but take a nap, dozing off and waking up intermittently...

Just as the group was dozing off and waiting for dawn, suddenly, a person emerged from the underground office of the Criminal Investigation Department. This person had a ruddy complexion, white teeth, and delicate features; it was none other than Jin An.

As soon as Jin Anfu appeared, he saw several deputy commanders sitting in the main hall, half asleep and half awake, as well as Fatty Li. He frowned slightly.

Fatty Li, who was eagerly anticipating the dark night sky, never expected that Jin An would suddenly emerge from underground instead of descending from the sky. He was first taken aback, his expression momentarily blank, but then his joy quickly turned to exclamations, "Daoist Jin An, you're finally back!"

Li Pangzi's exclamation immediately woke up the few people in the hall who were not sleeping soundly. The moment the deputy commanders opened their eyes and saw Jin An, they all stood up abruptly, tears welling up in their eyes.

Because they longed for Jin'an to return!

Jin'an's return can be said to be what everyone has been hoping for!
So they couldn't help but cry tears of joy at that moment!

"Commander!"

"Commander, we've finally been waiting for your return to the capital!"

"Commander, please save Chen Zhiyun, Guo Zihao, and the spirit mediums Zhang Weishan, Jiao Liang, and Jiang Jun!"

The group was excited and quickly came over to greet Jin An.

After a brief greeting to everyone, Jin An got straight to the point: "Fatty Li, what exactly happened? I just got back to the Five Organs Taoist Temple and the old Taoist priest said that the Criminal Investigation Department had encountered an urgent matter and was waiting for me to come back to deal with it."

Upon hearing this, Fatty Li's eyes reddened, and he almost burst into tears on the spot. He quickly wiped his eyes and then recounted the details of what had happened. First, Chen Zhiyun, Guo Zihao, and four others who were responsible for guarding the entrance to the tunnel on Linya Street in Longhufang City mysteriously disappeared. Another team that went to take over the post immediately reported the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Ministry of Justice dared not delay and immediately mobilized personnel to investigate. However, after a whole day, they still could not find the five people. There was no trace of them in the entire capital.

Fearing something might have happened to the missing persons, and anxious to find them, the Criminal Investigation Department dared not delay any longer. They immediately sought out Jiang Jun, a spirit medium within the department, asking him to perform a spirit medium's divination to see if the five mysteriously disappeared individuals might be in the underworld, and if it was possible to find them there.

As a result, Jiang Jun's journey to the underworld led to a major disaster. After a whole night, Jiang Jun was unable to return to the mortal realm. His physical body remained in a deep, unawakened state, sitting motionless in a meditation posture. His soul in the underworld was also unaware of his fate, its life or death unknown.

Zhang Weishan and Jiao Liang, both underworld investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department, were worried about Jiang Jun's safety and immediately decided to travel to the underworld to find him...

Little did I know...

In the end, even Zhang Weishan and Jiao Liang's souls failed to return, remaining trapped in the underworld for a day without ever coming back to life, their fate unknown.

Three days have passed since the first five people, including Chen Zhiyun and Guo Zihao, went missing.

Time is running out.

Jin An frowned, then nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

"Deputy Commander Yu, Deputy Commander Cai, and Deputy Commander Sun, you can go home and rest first. Leave the matter of the missing personnel to me."

"I will definitely find the missing people."

When Fatty Li heard that Jin An wanted to go to the underworld, his eyes lit up. He thought of his past experiences accompanying Jin An to the underworld. For Fatty Li, who was always thinking about encountering ghosts and seeking thrills, the underworld was his paradise. After all, ghosts were as numerous as hairs on a cow in the underworld, more than living people in the mortal world.

So, Fatty Li immediately patted his chest and said that he would also follow Jin An into the underworld and help him out there.

Deputy Commander Yu urged them to step forward and say they wanted to go to the underworld together.

Jin An smiled and said, "Thank you all for your kindness. The dangers of this trip are still unknown. This case involves so many missing people, and the future may be extremely dangerous. Traveling alone will give me more room to maneuver and make the investigation faster."

"Everyone, go back and get some rest, and wait for my message during the day."

The reason Jin An didn't take everyone with him on this journey to the underworld is one reason, as mentioned above. The second reason is that his aura has been controlled by many powerful demons of the underworld. To prevent these demons from seeking revenge, he will continue to use the twenty-first transformation, the decapitation technique, on this journey.

Last time, when he used the Twenty-First Transformation, the Decapitation Technique, to travel to the underworld, the Nine-Headed Giant was right in front of him, yet it didn't notice his presence.

This alone is enough to prove that the Twenty-First Transformation, the Decapitation Technique, is highly effective in concealing one's aura, isolating oneself, and deceiving the great demons of the underworld.

Therefore, Jin An plans to use the twenty-first transformation, the decapitation technique, to travel to the underworld this time as well.

Such a thing certainly cannot be known to others, after all, his identity as a martial arts immortal is still being concealed and has not been made public.

Once outsiders learn of his journey to the underworld, his identity as a martial arts immortal will be more likely to be exposed.

Fatty Li wanted to say something, but Jin An raised his hand to stop him. Jin An said, "This matter is decided. You all go back and get some rest. I will return during the day."

"I need to go back to the Five Organs Taoist Temple to walk in the underworld, only then can the Five Organs Taoist Temple protect the physical body I left in the mortal world when I walk in the underworld."

In reality, Jin'an traveled to the underworld in his physical body.

Returning to the Five Organs Taoist Temple to walk the path of the underworld was simply to reduce the risk of revealing one's identity.

At this moment, Deputy Commander Yu said firmly, "There's no need to go back to rest. We'll wait here for you to return, Commander."

“We won’t be able to sleep peacefully if we don’t wait for you to come back. It’s better to wait for you to come back in the Criminal Investigation Department.”

Deputy Commander Cai nodded and said, "That's right, I will also stay in the Criminal Investigation Department to wait for you, Commander."

Fatty Li and Deputy Commander Sun also spoke up, saying they would stay at the Criminal Investigation Department and wait for Jin'an.

Fatty Li was very shrewd and didn't mention accompanying Jin An back to the Five Organs Taoist Temple until Jin An returned to the world of the dead. Because several deputy commanders were present, if he said that, they would surely second it and agree to go to the Five Organs Taoist Temple as well.

In order not to cause Jin'an any extra trouble and to allow Jin'an to concentrate on investigating the case through the underworld, he refrained from saying those words.

Seeing the sincerity and determination in everyone's eyes, Jin An was moved, and then nodded solemnly and said, "Everyone, wait for my good news."

After saying that, Jin An used the eighteenth transformation, Earth Travel Technique, to disappear underground and quickly returned to the Five Organs Taoist Temple.

The old Taoist priest had just seen Jin An off and was still sitting in his room drinking tea, not yet lying down to sleep, when Jin An's figure suddenly emerged from underground and reappeared in his room, leaving the old Taoist priest stunned for a moment.

"Young brother, how come you're back so quickly... Big Blue Ox, did you take an incense stick's time to come and go?" the old Taoist priest said in surprise, the last part of which was directed at the big blue ox outside the window.

The big blue ox, who was in the sheepfold with the silly sheep, was chewing grass and shaking its head, while glancing at Jin An with surprise in its eyes.

Jin An did not lie and recounted his experience in the Criminal Investigation Department. He then said that he would go undercover to investigate where the eight people in the Criminal Investigation Department had gone and why they had been missing for three days.

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest no longer delayed Jin'an and urged him to hurry up and find the person as soon as possible.

"Mm." Jin An nodded.

"Old Taoist, this time when I travel to the underworld, I will use the same method as last time, the twenty-first transformation, the decapitation technique. I will entrust my head to you for safekeeping for the time being."

The old Taoist priest naturally had no objections and said, "Young brother, you may go to the underworld. Leave the matters of the mortal world to me."

"Alright, thank you very much, old Taoist." Jin An clasped his hands in thanks, then said nothing more and began to prepare for the Yin-Yang journey.

Jin'an's method of traveling to the underworld is not complicated. When he dealt with the tomb robbers of Gui'e Mountain, he left an empty coffin that had been there for a thousand years in the Wuzang Taoist Temple. He usually traveled to the underworld using this empty coffin, and this time was no exception.

boom!
As the thousand-year-old coffin was closed again, the inside became pitch black, completely isolated from the outside world, with only silence and the sound of Jin'an's breathing.

Then, following the proper procedure, Jin'an began the procession to the underworld...