From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

"What do you want from me?"

"I need your help to investigate my brother's affairs."

"You want me to investigate your brother's affairs?"

Zhang Zhixuan listened to the young man's request, sighed slightly, and remained silent.

Seeing that Zhang Zhixuan did not answer for a long time, the bespectacled, refined young man kept his back bent and did not straighten up.

Some thoughts struggled in the young man's mind for a long time. Finally, he pleaded, "Mr. Zhang, I know you are a capable master. My brother died unjustly and tragically. I also know I am useless and incapable of avenging him. I am standing here now begging for your help. I just want to know how he died!"

"Please, Mr. Zhang! I won't let you work for nothing, I'll pay you!" The young man's voice trembled as he earnestly pleaded, and finally he knelt down directly before Zhang Zhixuan.

"Hey! Don't do that, get up quickly..." Zhang Zhixuan quickly stopped him when he saw this.

At this moment, Zhang Zhixuan also looked troubled: "I know you are very saddened by your brother's death, but this matter is not within my jurisdiction. Such cases are handled by the Police Department. You must understand that even if I have some methods, I am just a wandering swordsman. I have neither the duty nor the authority to investigate cases."

The young man chuckled awkwardly: "Rely on the police station? Their people only know how to smooth things over. The head of the police station just told me that my brother accidentally fell into the water, so they can't file a case and I have to make my own arrangements for his funeral."

The young man clenched his fists, his tone indignant: "They're talking nonsense! My brother was a private investigator, quite well-known in Tianjin. He was good at everything, from swimming to martial arts, especially swimming—he even won an award last year! He could hold his breath underwater for at least a minute! How could someone with that kind of swimming ability have accidentally drowned!"

Zhang Zhixuan nodded in agreement: "Now that you mention it, your brother's death does seem a bit suspicious."

Upon hearing Zhang Zhixuan begin to speak, the young man quickly took out two business cards and respectfully handed them to Zhang Zhixuan.

"Mr. Zhang, my name is Shen Yanqiu, and my brother's name is Shen Yanting..."

Zhang Zhixuan took the business card and glanced at it.

[Yanting Private Detective Agency: We accept all types of business, including covert surveillance, photography and recording, adultery evidence collection, extramarital affairs, rental disputes, debt collection, surveillance, missing persons investigations, etc. Registered with the government, absolutely legitimate, and strictly confidential.]

Zhang Zhixuan flipped the business card over and found Shen Yanting's contact information and the detective agency's address.

Then, Zhang Zhixuan looked at another business card. Seeing the identity and profession on it, Zhang Zhixuan was taken aback and looked at the refined young man in front of him with surprise: "Shen Yanqiu, are you a reporter?"

"I'm still...still in my internship period..." Shen Yanqiu's voice lowered, and her eyes behind her glasses darted away, as if she felt that the title of "intern reporter" was not enough.

Zhang Zhixuan looked at the two business cards over and over again, and said with a smile, "Being a reporter is great. People who cover the news have more connections and it's easier for them to investigate cases than ordinary people."

Shen Yanqiu shook his head with a wry smile: "Mr. Zhang, I cover social news. I usually write small articles about fires, fights, and thefts. I don't even have a clue about my brother's case. I came to see you today not because I'm a reporter, but because I'm really desperate."

"My parents passed away early, and my brother raised me all by himself and supported my education. He worked himself to the bone to earn money, but now he has died so mysteriously. As his younger brother..." Shen Yanqiu's voice became more and more choked up, and he eventually broke down in tears.

Zhang Zhixuan patted Shen Yanqiu on the shoulder, sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll help you investigate. But I can't do the work for free. So, how much are you planning to pay me?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yanqiu's grief eased somewhat. He held out a hand, about to say "fifty," but then frowned, gritted his teeth, and said, "One hundred silver dollars!"

Zhang Zhixuan nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, I'll take the job."

Seeing that Zhang Zhixuan had finally agreed to help, Shen Yanqiu was overjoyed and quickly bowed to express his gratitude: "Mr. Zhang, I am extremely grateful!"

"By the way, since the police won't open a case, what happened to your brother's body?"

"I have asked a friend to temporarily store my brother's body in the morgue for a professional coroner to examine."

Zhang Zhixuan nodded upon hearing this. It seemed that Shen Yanqiu was very persistent about his brother's accidental death. If it were someone else, they might have buried their loved one's body first before thinking about anything else.

Shen Yanqiu was different; he actually thought of hiring a professional coroner to examine the body and find clues first.

"Do you have any other clues? For example, what was the last commission your brother accepted before he died?" Zhang Zhixuan said, returning his brother Shen Yanting's business card to Shen Yanqiu.

"I remember that he took on a commission about two weeks ago, and he hasn't come back since."

"What request?"

Shen Yanqiu shook his head: "I don't know much. He only told me that the client was a Japanese who ran a trading company in the Japanese concession in Tianjin."

"When my brother took on the case, he investigated for a few days and came back looking very upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me not to ask or get involved, and he also said..."

Shen Yanqiu's voice choked for a moment before he continued, "He said that if he doesn't come back one day, he should keep this notebook safe."

Shen Yanqiu carefully put away his brother's business card, then took out a leather-bound notebook from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Zhixuan with both hands.

"This is the notebook my brother left behind, Mr. Zhang, please take a look..."

Zhang Zhixuan took the notebook, opened the first page, and found the handwriting to be messy and hasty in some places, with the strokes flying, but each stroke was forceful, leaving dents on the back of the paper.

The first page contained a few lines of text:

"The number of corpses in the Wu River is increasing every month; these are not ordinary drownings. Something is amiss in the river."

"Suspicious points: Evil magic? Curses? Wooden puppets, strange symbols."

"Fuso Civil Engineering Co., Ltd., transporting goods at night; the disappearance of the cargo ship is no accident."

"The riverbed is strange; we must go into the water to investigate."

"The client has already offered extra payment and requested confidentiality; this is no ordinary matter."

The last page contains the client's information: "Matsumoto Trading Company, Fusang Concession, Tianjin: Ichiro Tanaka".

After Zhang Zhixuan finished reading, his brows furrowed involuntarily. He closed the notebook, looked at Shen Yanqiu, and said, "Your brother actually accepted a commission from a Japanese person?"

"Yes, the other party offered a lot of money, so my brother agreed."

"What do the Japanese want your brother to investigate?"

"Tanaka Ichiro said that the cargo on his ship often disappeared near the Go River, and suspected that someone else was behind it, so he approached my brother and asked him to investigate secretly."

"You know what happened next. He never came back after he went out that day. I searched for him along the Wu River for half a month, until today..."

Zhang Zhixuan frowned. He hadn't expected that the Japanese would be involved.

Zhang Zhixuan was silent for a moment, then put the notebook into his pocket: "It's not convenient to talk about these things here. Let's find a place to sit down and discuss it in detail."