American Zombie Detective

Chapter 203 The Luck of the Koi

Selena looked at Qin Jin, who was still leaning lazily against the helicopter in the courtyard, took a deep breath of the air which was cold and had a faint smell of blood, and walked over.

Her expression was much calmer than before, carrying a sense of peace that had finally settled down after experiencing conflict.

"Qin Jin," she said, her voice less cold than usual, "now, we are true friends."

She paused, as if recalling something: "Once upon a time, your father, Qin Han, had a deep and ancient friendship with Victor and Elder Amelia. That friendship transcended race and time. Now, that friendship has been established between you and me. I hope—it can continue, just as it did for them, and even be passed down to our descendants."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jin's expression instantly turned somewhat strange, and he almost choked on the air he didn't need to breathe. He suddenly recalled the time in Mr. Howard's mansion when he spoke with Elder Amelia across the ocean, and the convenience he had gained as "Qin Han's son"—

It was just for convenience at the time, but I never expected Selena to take it so seriously and even pass on this friendship.

He looked into Selena's incredibly serious silver-grey eyes, eyes filled with respect for the ancient oath and recognition of the new ally.

Qin Jin's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, but he swallowed back all the teasing and truth, simply nodding and replying in the same serious tone, "Okay, Selena. I believe our friendship will continue."

That night, in a guest room of a Hungarian castle.

Qin Jin stood by the window, gazing at the silent valley and the cold moonlight outside. He took out his phone and dialed Catherine first.

The phone rang a few times before being answered. Catherine's voice sounded perfectly normal: "Hi! Qin. How was your holiday? Did you take care of everything?"

"Almost there, I'll be back soon. How about you?" Qin Jin briefly recounted his experience: "How's the training going?"

"It's basically over."

Catherine's tone carried a hint of weariness and confidence after completing the challenge: "My teacher taught me a lot—about demons, devils, and evil spirits, their weaknesses, and the specific rituals and weapons needed to deal with different kinds. Although I wouldn't say I'm an expert, at least I won't be as helpless as before when I encounter them again."

She paused for a moment, then added, "I've already returned to work. As for my future studies, the teacher said it will focus more on expanding my experience and knowledge. They can send me the materials."

Qin Jin hummed in agreement, seemingly satisfied with the result.

Catherine's quick adaptation and mastery of the basics saved him a lot of trouble: "Great, good luck to you. How's it going in Los Angeles?"

"If you're asking about cases, no, but if you're asking about our team, then there's a lot more to it—"

Although she said there was a lot going on, Catherine didn't mean anything by it; she simply stated the facts: "First, there's Jack. For some reason, this guy ended up helping the SWAT team with a case, and apparently they even caught someone who was behind a series of bombings—"

"Is it normal, or..." Qin Jin interjected casually.

“It’s a normal case, not a supernatural event,” Catherine knew exactly what he was asking and immediately categorized it, then continued, “Muse took leave and went out a week ago. She hasn’t come back or called, and I have no idea where she is!”

"I know a little about this, don't worry, Muse knows what she's doing."

Qin Jin gave a few more instructions on safety before ending the call.

Then, he found Constantine's number and dialed it.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, and the background noise was somewhat loud, as if it were in a bar.

"Qin? That's rare. You actually took the initiative to call me?"

Constantine's voice carried a hint of smugness: "Did you come to congratulate me after hearing about my achievements?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Qin Jin was too lazy to beat around the bush. "Get to the point. What happened with that bombing case involving your SWAT team?"

"Ha!" Constantine chuckled smugly, as if he'd been waiting for this question. "This time it's not some hellish creature! It's an ordinary person through and through! A retired police officer named Payne, dissatisfied with his retirement benefits or something, went crazy and started planting bombs all over the city to provoke people!"

He spoke rapidly, recounting the story vividly: "First, an elevator blew up, almost turning everyone inside into mincemeat! Luckily, I witnessed it and saved them. Then that old bastard went even further, planting a bomb on a bus, programmed to explode whenever the bus was traveling below 50 miles per hour! Damn, that bus was packed with people!"

"and then?"

Qin Jin, however, was somewhat intrigued by this bizarre yet seemingly ordinary case.

"And then? Then it's time for Officer Jack Travin to save the world!"

Constantine's voice was full of theatricality: "Chas and I—oh, that's my apprentice—found the bus! I jumped onto the roof and directed the female driver to keep up the speed, dodging the roadblocks and traps set by that madman—God, it was a thrilling ride, like something out of a Western!"

Finally, of course, the bomb was found and successfully defused! How about that? Shouldn't you look at me with new respect?

He could picture Constantine on the other end of the phone, a cigarette dangling from his lips, beaming with excitement. This guy, though always causing trouble, was strangely reliable in crucial moments.

"Alright, I know you're impressive, John." Qin Jin interrupted his smugness, not wanting to hear him continue boasting about the details: "Besides this psychopathic bomber, is there anything else?"

"That's all. The vampires have all moved away, the werewolves are gone, and almost all the hybrids have run off. They only told me yesterday that they were planning to turn it into a supermarket—"

Constantine gave a brief description of the current situation in Lower Los Angeles, suggesting that the entire city was peaceful and had become a forbidden zone for all supernatural beings.

After hanging up with Constantine, Qin Jin dialed Qingyin's number, which was also Muse's number, but as expected, he couldn't get through.

It seems that she has finally gone to find the whereabouts of the vengeful pig-headed ghost Peng Sheng. However, Qin Jin is not worried, not only because he is in Eastern Europe and cannot help, but more importantly, it is Qingyin's own choice, and Qin Jin cannot say anything.

Qin Jin had just put his phone down, and before the screen had completely gone dark, the ringtone suddenly rang again.

Although it was an unfamiliar number, Qin Jin still pressed the answer button, and a familiar voice came from the other end: "B-Boss—it's me—"

Johnny? That guy!

Qin Jin then remembered the koi fish he had thrown away. He had completely forgotten about it because he hadn't contacted it in a while, but now the phone rang—

"Johnny?" Qin Jin's voice was flat. "Still alive. I thought you'd been eaten by vampires!"

"So close! So close, boss! We were almost eaten, though!"

Upon hearing Qin Jin's voice on the other end of the phone, Johnny felt as if he had found a pillar of support, or perhaps his pent-up frustration was finally bursting forth; he almost burst into tears: "I... I messed up—I'm so sorry! I almost died, I really almost didn't make it back!"

He was incoherent, his voice filled with lingering fear, exhaustion, and an indescribable sense of panic, as if he had really encountered something terrible.

"Speak slowly. What happened?"

Based on Johnny's intermittent description, the situation is roughly as follows:

He spent money to hire several local guides to search for remote historical sites. The first two days went smoothly until the afternoon of the second day. The two men drove him to a completely unfamiliar, desolate area and, while exploring the mountain, suddenly knocked him unconscious from behind with a stone.

When he woke up, he found himself abandoned in a remote mountain forest, and all his valuables and personal belongings had been stolen.

He struggled like a wild man in the mountains for several days, almost starving and freezing to death.

Until yesterday, he unexpectedly encountered an elderly forest ranger who provided him with water and food. Today, the old man took him back to the town of Bran Castle. He returned to his hotel, retrieved the spare cash from his bag, and then bought a phone to contact the area immediately.

"Okay, I understand." Qin Jin's reaction was surprisingly calm to Johnny. "It's good that everyone's alright."

Johnny was stunned for several seconds, seemingly not expecting to pass so easily, and quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you so much, boss! You're incredibly kind!"

"Is there anything else?" Qin Jin asked, which usually meant the call was about to end.

"Uh—yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

Johnny seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly said, his tone somewhat uncertain, "Boss, I don't know if this information will be useful, but—I just wanted to report it to you. When I was drinking and chatting with that old forester, he was bragging that his grandfather or great-grandfather used to be a bodyguard for a British colonial governor and had been to India—"

Johnny tried hard to recall, organizing his thoughts: "He said someone told me about a strange thing, that the governor got something in India called—something about Buddha's relics! He said it was particularly eerie, with a mass of blood in the middle, the relics filled with blood vessels, and they could even move—I was thinking, could this be a clue? They're all deities, could they be together? Maybe—should I go look for them?"

Johnny's words were somewhat incoherent, clearly showing a complete lack of understanding of the world's mythological system and an inability to recognize that these were not the same thing. However, Qin Jin's expression instantly turned serious!