I have seen dragons

Chapter 61 The Cinnabar Trade

Outside the window was the pitch-black night, while inside the house was a bustling crowd. Standing on the balcony, Yue Wen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

died?

He looked at the case file that Wang Shoucai had pulled up. The victim of the strange case from two days ago was none other than the little girl who had appeared at his office during the day, Wang Miaomiao!
“This girl encountered evil spirits on her way home from school. We don’t know why she was brutally murdered,” Wang Shoucai said. “There were no wounds on her body, and her soul shattered and disappeared. We can’t find the killer at all.”

Yue Wen looked at it several more times to confirm that it was indeed this face.

She clearly went to school this morning, and even brought the two of them to Guan Qin's house, chatting and laughing. If there had been even the slightest hint of something unusual about her, both she and Zhao Xing'er should have noticed.

What exactly is wrong?
Either the real Wang Miaomiao has been resurrected, or it's the work of an evil spirit... If it is an evil spirit, then this evil spirit must be extremely powerful to be able to deceive the two people in the agency.

In this way, it seems plausible that she can freely enter and exit the Nightmare Realm and shield it from the Yin energy.

So what is she after?

Just so they could expose Guan Qin, this criminal?

However, to achieve this, one must either possess a corpse or achieve perfect transformation while flawlessly concealing one's aura. Such an evil spirit's cultivation level is at least equivalent to the middle three realms of a human.

Given their immense power, it's almost too civilized for them to still rely on such law-abiding methods.

“After the autopsy showed no problems, the family should have been allowed to make the funeral arrangements. Families are usually quite superstitious about bodies that died due to evil spirits, so they cremate them as soon as possible,” Wang Shoucai said. “Perhaps the body was possessed by evil spirits at this stage.”

After pondering for a while, Zhao Xing'er said, "I think it's very likely that she is a kind-hearted evil spirit."

"Hmm?" Wang Shoucai looked at her.

Zhao Xing'er then seriously analyzed, "She said she likes me, and I don't think someone who likes me can be a bad person."

"She even called you stupid." Yue Wen quickly pulled her away, afraid that it would affect the case handled by the Supermarket Management Bureau.

“It’s not impossible,” Wang Shoucai smiled and said, “In fact, a considerable number of the demons that live in seclusion in human cities are peaceful and kind. Compared to the demon realm and the wastelands outside, the stable and abundant living environment in the city can greatly satisfy them. That’s why our first choice when we capture a demon is to repatriate it. Only demons and nightmares are targeted for elimination. There is a difference between them.”

"The Super Management Bureau also collaborates with some evil spirits, asking them to help solve some bizarre cases. A very small number of powerful evil spirits are even qualified to reach a peace agreement with us. As long as they are willing to disguise themselves as humans forever and do not break the law, we will at most conduct periodic monitoring and will not drive them away."

"Of course, this place is mainly inhabited by demons."

The different ways of dealing with evil spirits that Wang Shoucai talked about are all coping strategies accumulated by the Supermarket Management Bureau in its long-term work.

Although Yue Wen has not encountered many evil spirits yet, he has gained some insights.

Like the three little cats he encountered at the beginning, even though he desperately needed money to ward off evil spirits, he wouldn't greedily kill them, because the three little cats really didn't have much malice towards humans.

The tiger demons of the Tiger Head Gang colluded with the underworld for profit, making them purely dangerous elements in human society, which is why he directly killed them.

If the Supernatural Management Bureau captures a monster but finds no evidence of its crimes and cannot determine whether it is an evil monster, sending it back to the monster realm is the best option.

Demons are different. They are treacherous and cunning, and harbor immense malice towards humans. Demons disguise themselves as humans to seize control of the human realm. Therefore, if you encounter one, you must either kill it outright or capture it for interrogation; there can be no leniency.

Nightmare creatures aren't even considered living beings; they can be seen as a form of mental pollution, and you can eliminate them without feeling any guilt.

“If she doesn’t commit a crime but only provides us with clues, we won’t pursue it to the end,” Wang Shoucai continued. “Our main focus should be on those more dangerous evil spirits. For example, there are rumors that the demons will make unusual moves at the recent auction in Baozhilin, so several teams are mainly keeping an eye on that area.”

“Often, if we don’t deal with some minor evil spirits in an emergency, we’ll be accused of dereliction of duty and incompetence…” He seemed to have found a way to vent his frustrations, and said helplessly, “But in a city of millions of people, there are at least a thousand cultivators and countless evil spirits. We have to manage everything, good and bad. How many people are there in our Super Management Bureau? We have to handle all kinds of strange cases, inside and out. If we don’t prioritize them, we simply can’t get anything done.”

"The salary is okay, but I don't have time to spend money at all. All the money goes to my family, and I don't have time to go home. There are several people in our team who have been cheated on..."

"Our team's Lao Yang is a cultivator! Even he needs medicine to stay upright..."

"Our team's Lao Huang is under so much pressure that he has to beg someone to whip him every day..."

"Alright, alright." Yue Wen quickly stopped him. "We know you've had a tough time, Captain Wang. Our firm will do our best to help you out."

Good guy.

If we keep talking, the authorities might come and silence us tomorrow.

That evening, after dealing with the scene, Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er returned to the firm.

The next day, Yue Wen received a message from Liu Yuanjun on his phone early in the morning.

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: Brother Yue, we have news about the Taiyi Xuanchi Dansha that you asked our temple to help inquire about before.]

[Appointed Manager of AAA Yue's Cultivation Agency: Really? Can I buy it?]

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: The seller is asking for 8,000 talisman coins, plus one condition.]

Eight thousand talismans?

Upon seeing the price, Yue Wen's expression immediately brightened with joy. According to the current market exchange rate, eight thousand talisman coins were roughly equivalent to eight hundred thousand yuan.

He had also found the previous transaction prices of Taiyi Xuanchi Dansha, which were generally around two million.

What's the difference between 800,000 and giving it away for free?
However, he wasn't in a hurry to be overjoyed. Nobody's a fool. Since the price was so much lower, the terms must be a bit tricky, otherwise it wouldn't be worth more than a million in price difference.

[Appointed Manager of AAA Yue's Cultivation Agency: What are the accompanying conditions?]

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: The seller is an explorer from the wilderness. He informed us of this because we have a long-standing cooperative relationship with Xuanfeng Temple. His condition is that he has a spirit pet and wants to find a new owner. If you can adopt his spirit pet and take good care of it, he can sell the cinnabar at a low price.]

[Appointed Manager of AAA Yue Family Cultivation Agency: Raising Spirit Pets?]

Yue Wen showed a troubled expression.

Whether he has the ability and experience to keep a spirit pet in the city is another matter, but most importantly, he doesn't have a license.

In theory, it is permissible to keep monsters as spirit pets within the city, but firstly, the owner must have a license issued by the Supermarket Administration Bureau, and secondly, the monster itself must pass a test; both are indispensable.

If even one is missing, it would be considered illegally raising a demon beast, a much bigger crime than his previous unlicensed exorcism.

If you think about it simply, what the Supermarket Management Bureau fears most is evil spirits causing trouble. How could they possibly let you raise monsters at will? That's why this loophole has always been very tightly controlled.

In Jiangcheng City, basically only larger immortal sects like Xuanfeng Temple, Yinlongtan, and Linjiangmen are qualified. These immortal sects have two things in common: they have enough power to control demonic beasts, and they all cooperate amicably with the authorities, having helped the Super Management Bureau handle many matters.

My firm doesn't have that qualification.
It is estimated that the other party made this condition because they thought that the one seeking to purchase Taiyi Xuanchi Dansha was Xuanfeng Temple itself.

[Author of AAA Yue Clan Cultivation Agency: Brother Liu, could we discuss this? I can buy the cinnabar at the original price without adopting a spirit pet, is that possible?]

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: I've already explained your situation to him, but the other party isn't short of money; he mainly wants to find a reliable owner for his spirit pet. If you don't accept this condition, he might not agree to the sale.]

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: I also asked the elders in the temple if we could take care of this spirit pet. However, the elders were quite resistant. I'm sorry, Brother Yue.]

Liu Yuanjun's message directly blocked Yue Wen's path of further aggression, even though Yue Wen hadn't intended to do so. However, in case he encountered someone shameless enough to ask Liu Yuanjun for help, they might just ask for it.

Xuanfeng Temple is indeed qualified to raise spirit beasts, but raising a spirit beast involves a lot of responsibility: discipline, training, guarding... If any trouble arises, the owner will bear 100% of the responsibility.

The large expenses required for feeding are the least of the problems.

Xuanfeng Temple certainly wouldn't want to suddenly have such an extra burden.

Yue Wen hadn't really done anything big by helping Li Feixia fend off the roe deer's sneak attack. They had already done their job by helping her contact a buyer, and Yue Wen hadn't intended for them to help him any further.

But we've finally managed to get a portion of Taiyi Xuanchi Dansha, thanks to the connections at Xuanfeng Temple. If we had missed it, who knows how long we would have had to wait.

I'm also a little reluctant to give it up.

After thinking it over, he decided to talk to the seller.

[AAA Yue Family Cultivation Agency Manager: Brother Liu, could you please help me schedule a meeting with the seller tomorrow? Is that convenient?]

[Liu Yuanjun of Xuanfeng Temple: No problem.]

(End of this chapter)