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

Ji Zuodao looked at the humanoid dog at his feet, which was still twitching slightly and had a satisfied look on its face. He then glanced around at the other prisoners in the arena, who were pale-faced and trembling like leaves. A malicious smile slowly crept onto his lips.

"Oops~"

He clicked his tongue, his tone tinged with regret, but his eyes shone with an alarming intensity.

"A dog alone is rather lonely. Dogs are more lively when they're in packs, chasing each other's tails and biting each other, right?"

His gaze, like a searchlight, slowly swept over the remaining prisoners.

Every prisoner whose gaze fell upon him trembled violently, their faces draining of color instantly. Several of them nearly collapsed, their legs buckling.

That look in his eyes wasn't like he was looking at a person, but more like he was looking at livestock.

Just then, a quick-thinking investigator had a brilliant idea.

He immediately abandoned the coercion and enticement tactics he had just learned, bent down, and whispered in the ear of the prisoner opposite him who was still gritting his teeth and enduring.

In a tone that was so lifelike it even sounded like a translation, he spoke slowly:

"Sir, you don't want to be transferred to Jinghai, interrogated, and then become one of his... uh, good dogs, right?"

The prisoner shuddered violently, and the last glimmer of hope and resolve in his eyes vanished instantly.

He raised his hand tremblingly, his voice trembling with fear, and cried out:

"I'll tell you everything! Please don't send me there! Please don't turn me into a dog! I'll cooperate! I'll cooperate 100%!"

This move was like pouring cold water into boiling oil.

"Holy crap! You can do that?!"

"I've learned something!"

"Sir, you don't want this either..."

Suddenly, the interrogation took another bizarre and irreversible turn.

The opening remarks are all uniform, as if they have undergone standardized training:

"Sir/Friend/Brother, you don't want to be... taken advantage of by that guy in Jinghai..."

Efficiency soared once again.

Many tough guys who were originally prepared to fight to the bitter end immediately gave in.

That's right...

The taste... how to describe it...

It's creepy and eerie.

What was supposed to be a grand interrogation scene of the 749 Bureau's nationwide martial arts exercise suddenly took on an exotic flair, making it seem as if the group had been transported to a film set in an island nation known for its unique cultural industries.

Even more bizarrely, many investigators with clearly unhealthy minds, when delivering this "standard opening line," somehow associated it with some obscene plots or images, and ended up blushing before they even finished speaking.

Their eyes darted around, their expressions were strange, especially the female investigators, who, while righteously "threatening" the prisoners, had their cheeks flushed and couldn't help but glance at Ji Zuodao and the humanoid dog at his feet.

What exactly is running through my mind, only heaven knows.

Of course, most people just think about it, recklessly testing the limits of their imagination and indulging in the fun of imagining things.

But there was one person who had already started making his move.

Li Shuwen had somehow pulled out his notebook and charcoal pencil again, hiding in an inconspicuous corner, and began writing with lightning speed.

He would occasionally glance up at Ji Zuodao and the humanoid dog, his eyes gleaming with the fervent light of artistic creation.

He was muttering to himself:

"Hmm... a cold-blooded interrogator and his loyal prisoner... this is a good theme... contrast of identities, control of power, sensory deprivation and bestowal... and this subtle relationship of domestication..."

"How about a title like... 'About How I Turned a Tough Guy into a Dog Through Joy'? Or 'Interrogator, Please Pamper Me One More Time'?... Tsk, the second one seems more marketable..."

In just a short while, several hastily drawn yet dynamic and perfectly capturing-the-essence drafts were completed.

The expressions of the person and the dog in the picture are surprisingly lifelike.

The referee stood on the sidelines, looking at the chaotic and disorderly scene before him, his forehead veins throbbing.

He cultivated himself from a young age, adhered to the righteous path, and had a clear mind. He couldn't stand these filthy and crooked ways.

As a result, by sheer chance, he cultivated a rare image of the Xie Zhi (a mythical beast), which, though not fully perfected, endowed him with a keen spiritual sense to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, and loyalty from treachery.

In his eyes, these young investigators from various branches were mostly pure-hearted and noble-minded.

Although he may occasionally display arrogance, his underlying character is like a clear spring, with occasional ripples but no turbidity.

Lu Jian, who seems arrogant at the Jiangnan branch, is really just a young man with youthful impetuosity and late-stage chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), not a bad person.

But then, Ji Zuodao appeared!

In the past, if some unruly and dirty people came out of the Jinghai branch, it would only dirty their own little corner of the business and wouldn't affect the overall situation.

But Ji Zuodao is different.

This guy is like a drop of thick, stale ink that has fallen into a clear pond!

The moment you fall in, it begins to pollute, seep in, and assimilate the surrounding clean water at an alarming rate!

Look what they've done to these originally upright and good kids!

Referee Xie felt his own Xie Zhi image roaring angrily in his spiritual sea. The single horn, representing absolute justice and clarity, was almost blackened by the "gray" covering the entire field!

Just then, a thin but warm hand gently patted his tense shoulder.

Referee Xie turned his head and saw that Old Zhang had come to his side at some point.

The old man, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, squinted at the absurd yet efficient scene unfolding below the stage. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were deep.

Old Zhang's voice wasn't loud, carrying the hoarse and gentle tone characteristic of the elderly, yet it strangely suppressed the irritation in Referee Xie's heart. "Young Xie, when looking at things, you can't always focus on black and white."

He paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through the chaos before him to see a more distant and expansive picture.

"This world, this land, has never been so clearly divided into black and white. More often than not, it's a hazy gray."

"Demons and monsters don't listen to rules or right and wrong. They're good at hiding in the gray areas, taking advantage of loopholes, and using underhanded tricks."

Old Zhang withdrew his gaze and looked at Referee Xie. In his cloudy old eyes, there was a clarity and serenity that came with the vicissitudes of life.

"Our Bureau 749 guards the lights of every household and protects the well-being of the people. Sometimes, if it's too bright, it can't shine into those dirty corners; if it's too hard, we can't bend down and reach the poisonous insects hiding in the ditch."

"It requires..."

He turned his gaze back to Ji Zuodao, who was teasing the "dog" in the audience and had a pure and innocent smile on his face, and the corners of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly.

"...This unique shade of gray."

"Water that is too clear has no fish. This pond, if we occasionally muddy it up and stir it up, we might be able to catch more big fish?"

Referee Xie remained silent.

He looked at Old Zhang's calm profile, then at the colorful, "gray" scene below the stage.

The pent-up frustration in his chest, belonging to the Xie Zhi and driven by a pursuit of absolute clarity and justice, seemed to be gently brushed away by these words. Although it did not dissipate, it was no longer so sharp and piercing.

He simply kept his brow furrowed and muttered something under his breath, whether to himself or to this absurd world, it was unclear:

"But this ash... it's a bit too eerie..."