American Zombie Detective

Chapter 206 Peng Sheng's Delusional Dream of Becoming a Western God (Extra Chapter to Celebrate National Day)

Qingyin seemed to chuckle softly on the other end of the phone, but there was no warmth in her laughter: "I think this guy is coming for us!"

"Chong—you guys came?" Qin Jin was a little unsure of Qingyin's meaning, but he quickly adjusted his emotions and did not reveal his surprise.

"I think it's related to the 'Seven Towns Map'," Qingyin's voice was rather serious. "Think about it, why did it have to come out now of all times? And look at those things: the Demon-Slaying Sword, needless to say, it's me; the Demon-Subduing Talisman, the Painted Skin Ghost and the Pig-Headed Ghost Peng Sheng both count; and finally, the Corpse-Suppressing Bell, Jiang Chen—"

She paused, her voice carrying both certainty and a hint of fear: "As for that guy who escaped three times, needless to say, it must be Jiang Chen! Only he has the ability to escape from the Grand Master's hands! This time, his successor has appeared in the world, and his target is to eliminate those of us who escaped from the painting. Jiang Chen is the primary target, and we are secondary."

This deduction is reasonable; without knowing the details of Qin and Jin's background, everything fits together perfectly without any inconsistency.

Qin Jin remained silent for a few seconds, as if carefully considering the possibility, before slowly speaking: "What you said makes a lot of sense, but—I think it's not just Jiang Chen, because I think the Black Mountain Demon should also be one of them."

What?!

'

Qingyin's voice instantly rose, filled with barely suppressed astonishment: "Are you sure? The Black Mountain Demon is also part of the painting? You saw him?"

"I encountered two Black Stone Slaves!" Qin Jin gave a positive answer: "If the Black Mountain Demon hadn't appeared, the Black Stone Slaves wouldn't be so active."

"Excellent!" Qingyin's voice was filled with a fierce excitement: "If that's really the case, then the combined demonic energy of these two targets is enough to soar to the heavens! I have an idea, shouldn't we hurry up and find them? In a critical moment, we can use their whereabouts to lure people away and protect you and me—"

Don't forget, if you run into him, you won't fare any better.

Qingyin's idea coincided with Qin Jin's plan. As expected of a thousand-year-old demon, their ideas were surprisingly consistent.

"Okay," Qin Jin agreed. "After we get back, you'll be in charge of this matter. I'll also try to think of some solutions. The sooner the better."

"Okay, no problem. Also, I have another idea..."

With the main issues settled, Qingyin immediately proposed the second step: "Los Angeles needs a cleanup! Sweep away everything unclean in the city! We absolutely cannot attract his attention; we must eliminate any possibility of him coming to Los Angeles!"

This radical plan was immediately opposed by Qin Jin.

No, you're oversimplifying things.

Qin Jin's voice remained calm, but his thoughts ran deeper: "Think about it, if there aren't even wolves in a mountain, it can only mean that tigers live there. Los Angeles is as clean as a blank sheet of paper, which in itself is the biggest anomaly! We need to change our approach to cleaning this up."

Qingyin fell silent, seemingly pondering the metaphor.

Qin Jin continued explaining his plan: "What I mean is to differentiate. All Eastern evil spirits, or those possibly related to his cognitive system, should be eradicated as quickly as possible, leaving none alive. But those Western demons, malevolent spirits, werewolves—as long as they don't cause uncontrollable chaos, they'll be spared. Even—"

A calculating glint flashed in his eyes: "If necessary, we can introduce some manageable trouble. Remember, the devil won't care about minor antics."

A truly devastating demon capable of destroying cities and nations will naturally have Heaven, Hell, or other forces to deal with, and might even become his adversaries, thus diverting his attention.

"What we fear most is that half-baked approach, which easily attracts attention. What we need to control is this balance. As long as Los Angeles maintains a 'chaotic but balanced' supernatural ecosystem on the surface, appearing no different from other cities, that will be the best camouflage."

Qingyin on the other end of the phone took a deep breath, clearly convinced by Qin Jin's shrewd and meticulous logic.

This is indeed much better than her one-size-fits-all cleanup plan.

"I see."

Her voice regained its composure. "You handle this matter. If you need me to take action, just let me know."

"Um!"

Having covered the main points, Qin Jin inquired about the pig-headed ghost Peng Sheng—things he hadn't originally intended to concern himself with, but which became important because of the appearance of the Celestial Master's successor.

Mentioning this, Qingyin's tone became somewhat frustrated and serious: "We couldn't find him. This guy—he's more cunning than I thought! He seems to be stealing faith—I think he wants to turn himself into a Western god!"

"What?" Qin Jin was genuinely surprised this time. "Become a god? Become a god of the West?"

"Yes!" Qingyin affirmed, "The Western pantheon is relatively chaotic, and the power of faith is mixed, but the threshold doesn't seem that high. He is systematically hunting down those small sects, devouring their faith, and trying to use these faiths to establish his own sect—those who hanged themselves were followers of small sects, and were also the result of him stripping them of their faith."

"I was a step too late this time. I only managed to eliminate a few of his subordinates who were responsible for sowing fear and collecting the remnants of faith. I didn't encounter his main body and even suffered a small loss. His power is growing very fast."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jin immediately made a decision: "Come back first. Put Peng Sheng's matter aside for now and let him cause trouble! The more trouble he causes, the more attention he will attract."

Qingyin clearly understood the priorities and replied without hesitation, "Okay. I'll return to Los Angeles as soon as possible. We'll talk in detail when we meet."

The call has ended.

Qin Jin put down his phone and looked out the window again.

The sky was azure, the sun shone brightly, and the City of Angels was a scene of prosperity and peace.

But he knew that a tremendous storm, originating from an ancient destiny in the East, was slowly turning towards this land—

What he needed to do was to eliminate the hidden dangers in Los Angeles according to his plan, and at the same time prepare a great gift for the upcoming successor of the Celestial Master.

You die, I live!

The following day, at the Special Operations Team office.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, cutting out streaks of light and shadow in the air, where dust motes danced slowly.

Qin Jin arrived at the office early, which was unusual for him. Alessa hadn't gone to class yet because of the holiday and was playing with Yuanxiao on the sofa. Catherine and Constanze Dante were conscripted by Qin Jin and forced to work.

"Qin, is there a case?"

With dark circles under his eyes and reeking of alcohol, Constanze clearly had a great day yesterday.

"We don't have any cases yet, but it won't do to go too long without any cases. We'll take the initiative to look for some."

Qin Jin found a perfect excuse for himself: "If I don't find some cases, people will gossip, after all, I just got promoted."

Great, promotion!

When Qin Jin returned the day before yesterday, he had already received the news that his internship as a detective had ended, and he had skipped the detective level and been directly promoted to the second team leader; Constanze Dante, also known as Jack Travin, had also officially become an internship detective and was going through the formalities.

The order came suddenly, but neither of them asked any questions and immediately got to work.

Time ticked by, and all they found were ordinary cases, with no trace of supernatural beings. Constantine yawned and complained, "What cases are left? The vampires are all gone, the werewolves are gone, and the midnight bar isn't doing much business—these guys have all gone to San Francisco!"

Just as the atmosphere became somewhat somber, Catherine suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" as if she had remembered something, her voice tinged with uncertainty: "Wait—about a week ago, the Western Police Department forwarded me a strange report. I glanced at it and thought it seemed more like witness trauma or a collective hallucination, so I didn't investigate further—"

Qin Jin stopped tapping his fingers on the table: "Explain in more detail."

"It was a young girl who reported it," Catherine said, trying to recall the contents of the case file. "She said that one night, she and her roommate were taking the Blue Line subway home when three people got on at a certain stop."

She slowed her speech, as if re-examining the case she had overlooked: "The people on the left and right are wearing hoodies, so you can't see their faces. The person in the middle is being supported, with their head down and their feet not touching the ground—like they're drunk or something—"

"When those people sat in the corner, huddled together, the person in the middle remained motionless from beginning to end, like a dead man."

"The girl and her friend just felt something was a little strange at the time, but didn't think much of it. It wasn't until these past few days—when her friend suddenly passed away—that she realized—it seems, it seems that the people she saw on the subway in the accidents shown on TV are having accidents one by one, dying one by one—"

"Then, she checked and found that it was true; everyone in the carriage was experiencing accidents one after another, so she called the police, but—"

"They all encountered accidents! Is this a supernatural case?"