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

The moment Ji Zuodao's identity was revealed, the area around the Qi Refining Market instantly became as quiet as a morgue.

The sounds of bargaining that had been rising and falling just moments before were now all swallowed back down.

Several stall owners frantically scooped up all the "high-quality replicas," "end-of-line" and "minorly flawed" goods from their stalls, stuffing them into their arms and kicking them under the stalls, their movements so fast they were blurry.

Whispers filled the air:

"Well, the handsome scholar has really fallen into a trap this time."

"Absolutely! It's like setting up a stall outside the police station selling DVDs and even asking the officers, 'Want a DVD?' It's practically door-to-door delivery!"

"Who told him to be so cocky these past few days? He dared to sell a lousy picture book for 100,000! And he wants an extra five spirit stones for a custom order! Bah, what a profiteer!"

"Hey bro, you even know how much extra there is for custom orders? You must have been doing a lot of business with him, right?"

"Ahem... Hearsay, pure hearsay! We righteous cultivators would never look at such things!"

Li Shuwen shakily got up from the ground, his face as white as a freshly painted wall, his eyes darting around, looking cowardly with the expression of "accepting his fate, but not completely accepting it."

However, the unique literary aura belonging to a scholar-cultivator began to quietly surge and flow within him.

"Um?"

Ji Zuodao raised an eyebrow, not only not stopping him, but his eyes lit up slightly, and he even felt a little expectant.

Get started! Get started now!

The internal regulations of Bureau 749 clearly state: any attack on an investigator who is performing his duties, regardless of the reason, shall be treated as "violent resistance to law enforcement and suspected heresy"!

He, Ji Zuodao, had pulled out tendons, peeled skin, and refined human pills, but what did the soul of a literary cultivator taste like... he had never tasted it before!

I've heard that the soul of a scholar carries the scent of ink? I wonder if it will taste a bit dry?

Li Shuwen certainly didn't dare to make a move.

He knows the rules of Bureau 749 like the back of his hand; if he were to take action, he'd be in deep trouble.

But... you can run!

Li Shuwen has been roaming the underworld... no, the illegal publishing industry for many years, relying on three magic weapons: pen names, disguises, and the ability to run fast!

"Jade-Faced Scholar" is a pen name. This handsome face has been subtly enhanced with a touch of scholarly elegance. Once he runs out of this street and the magic dissipates, hehe...

What does arresting Lu Xun have to do with me, Zhou Shuren?

They ran away without warning!

Li Shuwen took a deep breath, his chest slightly puffed out, and he recited aloud:

"The roc rises with the wind, soaring ninety thousand miles high!"

As he uttered the last word "li," a burst of blue light surged from his body, and his literary aura surged, giving him a truly elegant and unrestrained air, like a scholar riding the wind!

Immediately afterwards, he slipped away unnoticed—

No, it was as if the wind was blowing beneath his feet; with a "whoosh," he transformed into a slightly flustered streak of blue light and shot off towards the market exit! He was quite fast!

"Oh?"

Ji Zuodao was amused, not flustered at all, and even had the leisure to comment:

"The poem is good, but the person is a bit cowardly; the way they run away isn't elegant enough."

He slowly raised his right hand, which had been behind his back, and between his index finger and thumb, he was pinching a strand of hair.

This is something Ji Zuodao just secretly plucked from Li Shuwen's head.

"I haven't played this in a long time. I used to love poking voodoo dolls when I was a kid."

Ji Zuodao muttered to himself, and with his other hand, he slowly pulled a simple, withered little scarecrow from the inside pocket of his trench coat.

Then, under the wide-eyed gaze of the surrounding stall owners and passersby, he carefully stuffed the strand of hair into the scarecrow's "belly," which was haphazardly bound with red thread.

Then, he bent his middle finger, put it to his lips, and breathed on the scarecrow's bald "forehead"—

"Get out of here!"

A crisp, clean flick landed squarely on the scarecrow's little head.

"Holy shit!!"

Almost simultaneously, the azure streak of light that was about to burst out of the market area suddenly veered off course, like a fly swatted by an invisible hand, tracing a crooked arc in the air, and then—

"Bang! Crash!"

He stumbled headfirst into the street corner stall selling low-level talismans, which flew everywhere like snowflakes.

Li Shuwen lay in the pile of talismans, seeing stars, with a small red patch visibly visible in the center of his forehead.

Before he could even struggle to get up—

"Whoosh!"

A thick black tendon, like a venomous snake that had been lurking for a long time, suddenly sprang out from the shadows of the pile of talismans and precisely wrapped around one of his ankles.

Then, he pulled it back sharply!

"No--!!!"

Accompanied by a desperate, drawn-out scream, Li Shuwen was dragged by that merciless tendon from one end of the street back to Ji Zuodao's feet.

A shallow mark was left on the ground, a mark made by the friction of the shoe soles and despair.

"Smack!"

Li Shuwen lay face down, once again making intimate contact with the bluestone pavement.

Ji Zuodao squatted down, poked Li Shuwen's head, which looked utterly lifeless, and smiled.

"Run! Why did you stop running?"

"Continue to 'soar to great heights'?"

"Let me tell you, this falls under the category of 'attempting to escape during detention.' Once is considered an attempt, twice is considered a completed attempt, and three times I can make it into 'violent resistance to law enforcement, a serious offense.'"

"I'll run around a few more times, I refuse to believe I can't add you to my list and execute you immediately."

"Why don't you give it a try? I'm the kind of person who loves helping others."

Li Shuwen struggled to turn over, his hair still covered in fragments of talisman paper. The first thing he saw was the scarecrow in Ji Zuodao's hand, "smiling" at him.

"A technique to suppress... suppress victory?!"

Li Shuwen's eyes were wide open, his voice was trembling, and he pointed at the scarecrow, his fingers shaking.

"You...you...you! You're an investigator from Bureau 749! A champion of justice! A nemesis of evil! How could you use such...such heretical methods?!"

"What's the difference between this and robbing someone in a police car, selling fake medicine while wearing a white coat, or selling pornographic books under the guise of a teacher?! Huh?!"

"Don't you have any professional ethics at all?!"

Ji Zuodao glanced at him sideways, his gaze containing three parts disdain, seven parts contempt, and the remaining ninety percent of "You fucking dare to say that?"

"Oh."

"I'm a staff member of the 749 Bureau, is there a problem with using some traditional techniques passed down from our ancestors to solve cases?"

"You, a scholar-cultivator who draws this kind of thing and even adds dynamic surround sound, are talking to me about morality?"

"A scholar? Bah!"

Ji Zuodao spat, his face full of disdain, then stopped talking nonsense, rolled up his sleeves and squatted down to start taking off his clothes.

"Hey, hey, hey? What are you doing? A gentleman uses words, not fists! I'm not into that!"

Li Shuwen panicked and struggled to protect himself.

"My lord! Lady Ji! This is unacceptable! In broad daylight, under the clear sky, what kind of behavior is this! If you continue like this... I'll scream!"

"Yamete! Ya-me-te!!"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice so shrill and melodious that anyone who didn't know better would think they were witnessing some kind of abduction of a man.

"Hehehe..."

Ji Zuodaofei revealed a standard villainous smile and casually replied:

"Scream all you want, scream until your throat is hoarse..."

The words came to an abrupt halt.

Ji Zuodao's smile froze, then he gave Li Shuwen a look of utter disgust, glaring at him fiercely.

"Damn it, you almost led me astray!"

He ignored Li Shuwen's wailing and his movements became increasingly nimble, precise, and... professional.

Ji Zuodao's hands were seen moving quickly over Li Shuwen's body.

He searched everywhere – the outer pockets, the inner lining, the front and back pockets of the trousers, the seams of the shoes… He even searched Li Shuwen’s underwear!

Fingers deftly probed in, explored, and pulled out—

A neatly rolled stack of red 100-yuan bills, still warm from being rolled up.

Judging by its thickness, it must cost at least five or six thousand yuan, and you wouldn't mind the discomfort.

Li Shuwen lay on the ground, watching helplessly as his secret stash of money was confiscated, completely dumbfounded.

Isn't this... professional?

What kind of gang did this guy belong to before he joined the organization?!