What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

I exhaled a long breath to calm myself.

There are no shortcuts to removing residual evil energy; only the most basic method can be used.

They painstakingly and meticulously "peel" them out of the flesh, thread by thread.

This process is extremely slow and is accompanied by continuous, excruciating pain.

Every time I extracted a trace of residual malevolent energy, my body would involuntarily twitch.

Sweat quickly soaked through my clothes and dampened the sheets.

Fortunately, I had previously stitched up my entire left arm using a suture technique.

The meridians and flesh of the left arm have been completely transformed by the evil energy, making it not only able to bear more evil energy but also extremely compatible with it.

Whenever I guide the residual evil energy drawn from other places along the meridians to my left arm, my left arm acts like a huge buffer, quickly absorbing and assimilating it.

Then, in a relatively gentle manner, it nourishes back to the dantian.

And so, like an extremely patient embroiderer, I performed a micro-sculpting surgery on my own body, a surgery performed without the smoke of gunpowder.

From the right arm to the torso, from the legs to the internal organs.

When I'm hungry, I just grab a couple of bites of instant food from the fridge; when I'm sleepy, I lean against the headboard and doze off for a bit.

For the rest of the time, I was immersed in this almost self-torturous removal process.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the daily breathing and excruciating pain.

One day, two days, three days...

Until the evening of the seventh day.

I slowly opened my eyes, and a very subtle dark red light flashed deep in my pupils before quickly disappearing.

I let out a long breath and stretched my neck.

A series of cracking sounds came from his neck.

The aches and pains throughout my body have been greatly reduced, replaced by a long-lost sense of relaxation.

Although it's still far from its peak, I can feel that the malevolent energy in my dantian has regrouped into a small ball of liquid mercury, no longer as dry as before.

The burning sensation in the meridians only occurs when the evil energy is circulated extremely intensely; daily breathing exercises are no longer a problem.

His condition has recovered to about 30% of what it was before.

I got out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains.

Night had fallen in Jiangcheng, and outside the window was a bustling night scene with cars and people, neon lights flashing, making this steel forest look bizarre and wonderful.

I looked at my reflection in the glass window.

Although her face was still somewhat pale, her eyes had regained their usual expression.

However, looking at the peaceful night, my brows unconsciously furrowed slightly.

More than ten days have passed since the great battle in the underground water storage room.

According to the information Jin Wanliang gave me at the hospital, the acting director sent by the General Bureau to replace Lu Yan in charge of the overall situation in Jiangcheng, as well as the specialist in charge of major and serious folk criminal cases, should have already arrived in Jiangcheng.

The Wan Die Valley case is extremely complex, involving not only the deaths of more than thirty wealthy individuals but also the hidden heritage of the Southern Frontier.

They even captured the Holy Maiden of Ten Thousand Butterflies Valley alive and seized a Gu King.

Logically speaking, even though I made many contributions within the Folklore Bureau, I was ultimately just an unofficial consultant.

Lu Yan is not here now, nor is she in charge of this case.

As one of the most direct parties involved in this incident, and even someone who directly fought against the Holy Maiden of Ten Thousand Butterflies Valley and the Gu King, I...

In this situation, even if the acting director is a non-sticky person, shouldn't the special envoy who was specially dispatched by the General Administration to handle this matter come and ask me a question to understand the whole situation?

However, seven days have passed.

My phone has never rung except for a daily call from Lao Jin to say hello.

No official person came to knock on my security door.

That doesn't make sense!

Could it be that Jin Wanliang's information was wrong?

Impossible. Lao Jin's network of information in Jiangcheng is denser than a spider web. The news that someone from the General Administration is coming is absolutely certain.

Could it be that Jiang Ling did something in secret to distract the authorities?

Or perhaps, the saintess who was taken away revealed some earth-shattering secret during interrogation, causing the agency's commissioner to completely shift their focus?

I stood by the window, my fingers unconsciously stroking the black bone needle in my pocket, feeling its icy touch.

I pondered for a moment, then turned and walked to the bedside table, picked up my phone, and dialed Jin Wanliang's number.

Since the authorities aren't contacting me, I'll have to figure out the depths of this mess myself.

The phone was answered after only two rings, and Jin Wanliang's voice came through.

"Hey, Brother Chen? Calling so late, how's your recovery going?"

"Much better, Lao Jin."

I asked in a calm tone, "I want to ask you about something."

Have things been going on at the Bureau of Folklore these past few days? What exactly is that commissioner from headquarters up to?

On the other end of the phone, Jin Wanliang let out a rare long sigh, his tone revealing a deep sense of helplessness and frustration.

"Brother Chen, to be honest, I've really messed up this time."

These past few days I've cast every net I can in Jiangcheng, and guess what happened?

"What's up?" I asked.

"We found nothing!"

Old Jin's voice was very low, as if he was afraid of being overheard by someone.

"The identity of this special envoy from the General Administration is highly confidential."

They had no name, no code name, and no one even knew whether they were male or female or what they looked like.

All I heard was that the acting director sent by the General Administration had indeed taken office seven days ago.

This mysterious commissioner arrived in Jiangcheng secretly three days ago, directly from the provincial bureau.

As for what he did during those three days and who he met, it remains a complete mystery.

Listening to Lao Jin's description, I frowned slightly.

I know how terrifying Lao Jin's intelligence network is; there's almost nothing he can't find out about, from all walks of life to both the legitimate and criminal worlds.

The fact that his intelligence network could be completely rendered ineffective can only mean that this agent has an alarmingly high level of authority, and that his whereabouts are classified as top-secret.

"What about the acting director? Shouldn't he show up by now?" I asked.

"He did make an appearance, but it was just a meeting within the branch office to stabilize the daily work."

He never mentioned the Wandie Valley or the Gu King, and none of his subordinates dared to ask.

Brother Chen, I have a feeling there's something fishy about this whole thing.

"Director Lu is away, so be very careful lately and don't go looking for trouble."

"I understand, Lao Jin, thank you for your hard work."

After hanging up the phone, I stood by the window, looking at the night outside. The doubts in my heart not only remained unresolved, but grew bigger and bigger like a snowball.

The acting director took office seven days ago, and the commissioner arrived three days ago.

They arrived long ago, but they completely ignored me, the person involved. What are they up to?