A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Caiyun 749 Branch, small conference room.

The smoke was a little lighter than in Director Lin's office, but not by much.

Sun Zhigang pointed to a picture of a heretical practitioner on the whiteboard and began explaining with great enthusiasm:

"Liu Laoliu is from western Hunan. He is skilled at raising corpses and is quite famous in the border area."

"The man was apprehended three days ago, and we've thoroughly investigated him. This is his network of relationships, his activity patterns, his catchphrases and habits..."

He glanced at Ji Zuodao sitting in the corner, trying to make his tone sound professional and reliable:

"Brother Ji, the bureau will arrange the best disguise artist; they'll make sure you're so convincingly disguised that even his own mother wouldn't be able to tell you apart. Memorize your identity information quickly; the estimated incubation period is..."

"Stop."

Ji Zuodao raised his hand.

Everyone in the conference room looked at him.

"You guys watch too many TV dramas, don't you? Infiltration? Disguise? Facial disguise? And you can't even recognize your own mother?"

Ji Zuodao put the cigarette in his mouth, took a deep drag, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and said leisurely:

"I'm telling you, guys, this trick is so old, it's got more holes than the stitches on my human skin bag."

"Does Liu Laoliu usually step with his left or right leg first when walking? Does he prefer sweet or savory tofu pudding?"

"Do you guys even know this? Don't fucking get ripped off after just one bite of savory tofu pudding."

The investigators looked at each other, opened their mouths, but couldn't say anything.

"besides--"

Ji Zuodao flicked his cigarette ash and continued to deliver the finishing blow.

"Don't forget those old monsters who practice unorthodox techniques and have senses as sharp as a dog's nose. Someone took a sniff, and wow, disguised! Good heavens, it smells like a cop! A connoisseur indeed!"

"Then it won't be about infiltration anymore; it'll be like home delivery, with free shipping."

"So what do you mean?" Director Lin asked in a deep voice.

Ji Zuodao turned around, and that familiar, sly, and mischievous smile reappeared on his face.

He slowly pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"What I mean is, why bother with all that trouble? Pretending to be someone else is exhausting."

He unfolded the paper and slammed it on the table.

"Why not just pretend to be myself?"

This was clearly an arrest warrant.

Everyone instinctively craned their necks to get a better look.

The paper contains a portrait of Ji Zuodao.

In the section for the reason for the bounty, there was only one concise and menacing sentence:

"A reward of ten million is offered for the capture of this person. The blood feud of the Wu family is irreconcilable, and death is no object."

Signed: Caiyun Wu Family.

The time was about four or five years ago.

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

"Holy...holy shit?!"

One of the young investigators couldn't hold back and swore, his eyes wide as saucers.

The laser pointer in Sun Zhigang's hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

Even Director Lin, who had been sitting calmly, paused almost imperceptibly in the hand holding his teacup.

Several pairs of eyes shot towards Ji Zuodao, then suddenly turned to the black market wanted poster on the table, scanning it back and forth as if to confirm that it was not some kind of prank prop.

"You...you're the one from back then..."

Sun Zhigang's voice was a little dry, and his finger trembled slightly as he pointed at Ji Zuodao.

"The evil cultivator who almost wiped out the Wu family?"

He spoke those last two words with extreme difficulty.

Ji Zuodao grinned, his small tiger teeth gleaming under the conference room lights: "Genuine, no doubt about it."

Nobody moved.

There was no sense of vigilance or impending doom as I had imagined.

The group from Caiyun 749 looked at each other with strange expressions.

There was shock, but more than that, there was a sudden realization and a subtle, unspoken sense of relief.

Yes, the Wu family.

In the Caiyun region, especially along the border, who doesn't know the Wu family?

On the surface, they are a major player in the jade and medicinal herb business, but in reality... they are involved in smuggling, drug trafficking, practicing forbidden arts, colluding with foreign forces, and committing almost every kind of evil.

The key is that the hands and feet are clean, or rather, wiped clean.

Every time something goes wrong, they always manage to find a few scumbags from the family to act as scapegoats, cutting their losses and exonerating themselves completely.

The local 749 team did investigate, but each time it was like punching cotton; the chain of evidence always broke at crucial moments, and witnesses would inexplicably disappear or change their stories.

The near-extinction of the entire family a few years ago was indeed a sensational case.

The Wu family's old house almost turned into a battlefield overnight, with heavy casualties among its core members.

The survivors of the Wu family went mad, demanding that Caiyun 749 issue a nationwide arrest warrant to apprehend the heretical cultivators.

From top to bottom, the reaction of Caiyun749 was very consistent: drag it out.

Filing a record? Yes.

Investigation? Yes.

Arrest warrant? Let's take a look.

The research turned into a game of passing the buck.

One person said they needed more evidence, another said there were doubts about the case…

Finally, the furious and helpless remnants of the Wu family had no choice but to issue the arrest warrant on the black market.

Within Caiyun 749, this matter was considered a semi-public, gray joke.

Unexpectedly, the person in question sat openly in their conference room today and even pulled out that black market arrest warrant.

"so……"

Director Lin finally spoke, his voice devoid of any emotion, his fingers lightly tracing the rim of his teacup, "Back then..."

"I'm short of money."

Ji Zuodao spoke casually, sat back down in his chair, and crossed his legs.

"Well, I'm doing this on the side of justice to earn some extra money. A black market wanted poster can sometimes be a pretty good form of certification."

He picked up the rough piece of paper, flicked it, and smiled broadly:

"See how convenient this is? I am who I am, a firework of a different color. No need to memorize materials, no need to learn catchphrases, no need to worry about small habits giving me away. I'll just use the name Ji Zuodao, swagger in, and who would dare doubt me?"

"Do you suspect that someone who almost wiped out an entire family might be a heretical cultivator?"

Silence fell over the meeting room once again.

Director Lin looked at Ji Zuodao, at his excessively young face, and at the "I am who I am, do whatever you want" expression on his face.

He remembered the three videos Zhang Yucheng had sent him.

I remembered Zhang Yucheng's words on the phone: "Don't criticize him for what he does."

I remembered the way that kid in the video skillfully refined human flesh into pills, peeling away skin and dismembering bones.

"OK."

Director Lin made the final decision.

"Use your original identity. We'll add some reasonable background information and cover up any discrepancies with your role as Investigator 749. The rest..."

He paused, then gave Ji Zuodao a deep look:

"You need to know your limits. Remember, you are first and foremost an investigator for 749."

Ji Zuodao's smile remained unchanged, revealing a set of white teeth: "Don't worry, Director Lin. I'm a very measured person."

For some reason, upon hearing this, several people in the conference room simultaneously felt a chill run down their spines.

"Let's clarify the mission objectives again."

Sun Zhigang quickly steered the conversation back on track.

"Infiltrate that group of evil cultivators and find out their organizational structure, core members, and the time and place of the competition."

"Understood." Ji Zuodao nodded.

Watching Ji Zuodao whistle and stroll out of the conference room with the black market wanted poster tucked in his pocket, Sun Zhigang leaned close to Director Lin and whispered:

"Chief, are we really just going to let him go like that? His status is just too..."

"Too what?" Director Lin glanced at him. "Too wicked? Too ruthless? Too unlike one of ours?"

Sun Zhigang remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Director Lin looked out the window at the gloomy sky and slowly said:

"Sometimes, those who catch ghosts have to be more like ghosts than the ghosts themselves."

I just hope this kid doesn't forget which side he's on.

Ji Zuodao whistled off-key as he strolled out of the gate of the Caiyun 749 branch.

Outside the door, dark clouds hung low, and a mountain rain seemed imminent.

And on his face, that familiar smile, tinged with a hint of wickedness and a sense of eager anticipation, grew ever brighter.

"A killing contest..."

"That sounds interesting."

"We need to have some fun."