Descending upon the terrifying heavens as a superman

Chapter 76 West Kowloon Major Crimes Unit

"so----"

"The current evidence points to that Taoist priest named Ajiu."

"Whether or not Aunt Mei's death was related to him, Uncle Dong's disappearance was definitely related to him, and the body of the housekeeper, Uncle Yan, was found in his house."

"The investigation results at the scene indicate that the murder weapon that killed Uncle Yan was the incense burner in Ajiu's house, so he is the prime suspect in the murder case."

"In addition, the gunshots that the public said they heard are probably related to the washed-up entertainer, Xiao Hao, but he is still in critical condition and we need to take his statement. We can only wait until he wakes up to say anything more."

"I believe that once we find the missing Ah Jiu and the body of the missing Uncle Dong, this case in the public housing building will be solved."

In the West Kowloon Regional Crime Unit office, there's a simple blackboard with photos of several people on it, and clues drawn in chalk, clearly outlining the main points.

The serious crime unit, which handles cases year-round, is not as incompetent as portrayed on TV. On the contrary, they are exceptionally experienced and can usually uncover crimes that are not random killings or crimes without motives very quickly.

After the residents of the public rental building reported the incident to the police, almost all the clues were collected in just one night through on-site investigation and statements.

All the clues point to the missing Ah Jiu, who is the culprit behind the two murders committed by Aunt Mei, "Uncle Yan".

As for the missing Uncle Dong, although some people said that the zombie that might appear in the stairwell was Uncle Dong, the police didn't believe it at all. They simply added him to the missing persons list and sent people to check the sewers for any bone fragments or other debris.

The bespectacled team leader, Yuan Zonglin, is the head of the fourth team of the Major Crimes Unit. This case has been assigned to him. He pushed up his glasses and said, "Of course—there's something strange about this suspect named Ajiu. Everyone should be careful."

A burly man standing nearby, a detective from the Serious Crimes Unit named Ah Biao, sneered, "What's there to be careful about? Is there really a zombie? My .38 is already itching to go."

After he finished speaking, he touched his sidearm.

"Hahahaha————" +4

Yuan Zonglin is in his forties and is a police officer who came from the glorious era of Hong Kong films. Naturally, he is different from young people.

He knew that back in the day, Hong Kong films, especially those with supernatural or mysterious themes, would have a ritual performed before filming began. They would even go to mass graves or old houses where people had died and invite masters to make sure everything was alright before they dared to start filming.

Although he didn't know whether these superstitious things were true or false, some film crews had accidents and deaths during filming, but after asking a master to perform rituals, everything miraculously went smoothly.

Some things are better believed than not; even police stations have statues of Guan Yu that are worshipped year-round.

Having energetic and fearless subordinates is a good thing, but being too reckless can sometimes be dangerous.

"That's not quite right. According to the residents of that public housing building, Ah Jiu is a somewhat powerful sorcerer who also keeps small ghosts. Anyway, everyone should be careful."

Yuan Zonglin turned to another police officer named A-Feng and asked, "A-Feng, how's it going with the underworld?"

Ah Feng said, "I have already sent people to warn those smugglers that they will notify us immediately if they encounter anyone trying to smuggle themselves in."

Criminals involved in two or three murders, wanted by the police, certainly cannot leave Hong Kong Island through normal means; they can only resort to smuggling.

Times have changed. Human traffickers are no longer willing to take the huge risks of smuggling a murderer across borders.

As long as Ah-Gau can't smuggle himself out, he'll be arrested sooner or later on this small piece of land in Hong Kong.

Yuan Zonglin nodded. "That's fine then."

A scene flashed through my mind—

Because there were many people giving statements, he was helping out at the time, and among the people he was taking statements from was an old man named Uncle You.

He is the head chef of the restaurant downstairs in the public rental building, but according to the neighbors in the building, Uncle You is also a Taoist priest.

Uncle You specifically approached him and told him that if he found Ajiu, he must inform him, saying that Ajiu was an evil cultivator who raised little monsters to create zombies, and that it would be dangerous for ordinary people to go and capture him.

Maoshan Sect —

Yuan Zonglin shook his head. Although he had taken Uncle You's words to heart, if the other teams in the Major Crimes Unit knew what era they were in, that they needed to hire a Taoist priest to arrest a suspect, they would be laughed out of the room.

So Yuan Zonglin suppressed his unease and did his best to instruct his team members to wear bulletproof vests and carry pistols.

"Oh, smuggling yourself into Siam? 5, not a penny less."

At night, the summer breeze blows across the dock, and the sweltering heat makes most people wear short sleeves to work, including smugglers and human traffickers on the dock.

Although Hong Kong Island is no longer what it was in the 1980s, when countless mainlanders smuggled themselves in to work, the profession of human trafficker has not disappeared.

Because many people also illegally cross the border to work here, such as Filipino domestic helpers, Malaysians, and Indonesians. These are poor countries in Southeast Asia. A year's work here is equivalent to two or three years' or even several years' income in their home countries.

Where there is in, there must be out.

These people come in illegally to work, and when they return to their hometowns, they naturally follow the same route as the smugglers.

The smuggler, Amin, didn't take it seriously at first, regarding the man in front of him as just an ordinary illegal immigrant.

But what's strange is that, despite the sweltering heat, the other person was wearing a head covering, mask, and sunglasses, and didn't seem to mind the heat at all.

There was another one, even stranger, who looked like he had a skin disease, completely covered up from head to toe. Getting close to him could even send chills down your spine.

"Here's 5—" The man coughed a few times, took out the money from his pocket, and handed it to the snakehead, Amin.

The smuggler, Amin, nodded, counted the money, and told him to get on the boat and wait for the appointed time to set sail.

After the two men boarded the boat, a crew member leaned over and said to Amin with a shifty look in his eyes, "Boss, this guy—he seems a bit off."

Another guy chimed in, "Yeah, judging from his accent, he doesn't sound like one of those Indonesian guys or Malaysians. He seems more like a local, but he's all bundled up so tightly—could he have gotten into trouble?"

Anyone would find that something is wrong; who would wrap themselves up so tightly in the sweltering heat that no one could see them?

"Hey—" the smuggler Ah Ming chuckled, "You guys don't watch the news, you wouldn't know, but these past two days, a big case has happened at a rented apartment building—"

"Two dead, one missing, and one seriously injured. The missing one is suspected of being dismembered and flushed down the sewer. The police have issued an arrest warrant. If I'm not mistaken, this guy is probably involved."

The man asked, puzzled, "Boss, you still dare to let him on the ship?"

"Yeah, everyone knows he might be a wanted criminal, yet they still let him on the ship, isn't that—"

The smuggler, Amin, flicked the money in his hand with a smug look. "I only took his money because I knew that. Taking money doesn't mean I have to do the job. I've already notified the police. We'll wait for them to arrest the man and then we can head out to sea."

There's usually a tacit understanding between the detectives in the major crimes unit and the human traffickers.

That's a matter of human smuggling, which is none of their business; that's the Commercial Investigation Department's responsibility. But if it comes to criminal cases, if the smugglers dare to help bring people out to sea, they're asking for trouble. They'll definitely be in deep trouble.

Conversely, if the smuggler calls to inform them that someone has been caught, they will receive a tip as a reward for future cooperation.

Not long after————

"Captain, didn't we agree to set sail at 10 o'clock?" Ah Jiu checked the time, coughed a few times, and looked up to ask expressionlessly.

"Oh, wait a minute, the boat will be leaving soon, just 10 more minutes—" The smuggler, Amin, waved his hand dismissively.

In his opinion, 10 minutes is nothing. They usually go out to sea half an hour late. It's not like they're going to work. They're not that punctual.

But 10 minutes is enough time for the police to get to the dock.

"Heh heh—" Ah Jiu sneered. He was a bad person too, so how could he not see through the other person's thoughts? Bad people understand each other the most easily.

I simply walked off the ship—

"Hey, where are you going? The boat is about to leave." Seeing that the cooked duck was about to run away, the boatman, Ah Ming, immediately signaled to his crew to stop Ah Jiu.

"Get out of the way—" A-Jiu's voice was low and full of hostility.

"Hehe—brother, I'll make you wait 10 minutes, so I'll make you wait 10 minutes. Are you in such a hurry to leave? Is there something shady going on?" Snakehead Ah Ming said with a playful smile.

Ah Jiu slowly raised her head, revealing a face full of murderous intent. "You have a path to heaven but choose not to, you have no gate to hell—yet you choose to come here—"

—

"Dude, don't be so arrogant—" Several thugs, wielding iron bars and daggers, surrounded them menacingly—

But little did they know—

"I'll just take a few of you to help Uncle Dong recover—" Ah Jiu sneered, clasped his hands together, and made a hand seal as he summoned the zombies standing behind him.

It moved—

Uncle Dong's eyes opened, a hint of scarlet flashing across them.

By the time officers led by Yuen Chung-lam from the West Kowloon Regional Crime Unit arrived at the pier, the battle was already over.

"Officer Yuan, we...we seem to be late—"

Several police officers, with guns at their sides, approached the body on the ground to examine it.

"This is Ah Ming, the smuggler—" Officer Ah Feng reported to his superior, "He's the one who called me. It looks like he's met with some misfortune—"

"Inspector Yuen, look at their wounds. They're all—"

"Yes, I saw it—"

Yuan Zonglin squatted down to examine the body and gasped in shock. The expressions of the men before their deaths were all similar, filled with fear, but their causes of death were remarkably similar: they had all been drained of their blood.

It was as if something had turned on a high-powered air pump, draining all the blood from their bodies.

"Could it really be a zombie?"

"Junior brother, what stage of zombie do you think Uncle Dong has reached now?"

At the hospital, Uncle You brought Xiao Bai and a basket of fruit to visit Ahao and Zhang Yue.

After a series of emergency treatments, Ah Hao successfully pulled through and was out of danger. According to the doctor, if the steel bar had been just a little off course, it would have pierced his internal organs, increasing his chances of death by at least 50%.

However, removing the steel bar that had pierced his abdomen was an extremely dangerous procedure, but fortunately, he was physically strong enough.

And Zhang Yue————

He came here on his own for an IV drip and a medical check-up, requesting hospitalization. Ever since he started cultivating with the Longevity Pill, he has regained his former health—

Metal poisoning is commonplace, so I have to come in for IV drips every few days.

"What are the different levels of zombies?" Xiao Hao, lying in the hospital bed, asked curiously.

"There are many different levels —"

Zhang Yue explained in a deep voice, "If an ordinary person dies and their yin energy doesn't dissipate, it gathers in their chest. If they are buried underground and come into contact with the earth's energy, they will turn into a zombie over time. At this time, their skin will turn dark purple, like bruises, so it is also called a purple zombie."

"But at this point, the zombies are not yet true zombies. They have no ability to move. As long as you dig them out and expose them to the sun for a day or two, their yin energy will dissipate and they will turn back into corpses."

"The second stage is called white scab. They have been buried underground for a long enough time that a layer of white hair grows on their bodies. But this white hair is not mold; it is the condensation of yin energy, which causes the formation of a keratin layer on the skin surface."

"Its entire body is white, hence the name 'white zombie' —"

Zhang Yue thought of Master Ren. When he was bitten to death by Master Ren, his body turned white and he was able to move around that very night; that was the white zombie stage.

However, considering that they are father and son, it is highly likely to be a special case.

The third stage is the black zombie, whose skin is bluish-black all over, but it is still afraid of sunlight, and it is the most common type.

Next comes the jumping zombie, which is stronger than the black zombie. It can jump several meters away and will actively seek out humans and prey.

Well, Master Four Eyes' clients are mostly refined black zombies. If they lose control and start attacking humans, and suck enough blood, they will evolve into jumping zombies.

Xiao Hao recalled for a moment and said, "Uncle Dong—his skin at the time seemed to be dark black—"

Uncle You said, "That's a black zombie, or something between a black zombie and a jumping zombie—"

"And what happens next?" came Xiaobai's timid voice from the side.

Zhang Yue patted Xiaobai's head and laughed, "After that—it'll probably be beyond our capabilities. If we encounter them, we should stay as far away as possible."

Of course you should dodge; any further on, you'll encounter flying zombies.

It can already glide at low altitudes, just like flying, just like a highly skilled cultivator. Unless it's a thunder magic or sword cultivator like Yan Chixia or Shi Jian, it's no longer enough to compare with the level of Uncle Nine and Four Eyes.

As for the flying zombies—then comes the drought demon, which is no different from ghosts and gods. Once the drought demon appears, the land turns barren for thousands of miles. It already has its own magical attacks, so what's the point of fighting it? You're lucky if you can even survive.

Therefore, the top-tier zombies that cultivators can face are flying zombies.

At that moment, a news report suddenly interrupted the television broadcast, showing that a group of crew members had been brutally murdered by unknown bandits at the dock the previous night. The scene was horrific, and the witnesses were two Indonesian stowaways who had been hiding in the cabin, terrified, and a burly man.

When interviewed by reporters, the Indonesian man yelled, "Zombie, it's definitely a zombie—"

The henchman trembled as he swore, "God above, I absolutely did not lie, it really is a zombie, otherwise I'll eat noodles upside down—"