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

Just as I was pondering this to myself, a knock suddenly sounded on the door of the previously quiet rented room.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The three tones are neither too light nor too heavy, and the rhythm is distinct.

My eyes narrowed, and my right hand instinctively slid into my pocket, my fingertips touching the cold, black bone needle.

Who could it be so late?

If Lao Jin is coming, he will definitely let us know on the phone beforehand.

I tiptoed silently to the back of the security door and looked out through the peephole.

The motion-sensor lights in the hallway were on, and under the dim yellow light, stood a middle-aged man dressed in black casual clothes.

He had a neat buzz cut, stood ramrod straight, and scanned his surroundings with sharp, alert eyes.

Seeing that face, my tense nerves relaxed slightly, and I took my hand out of my pocket.

He's someone I know.

Captain Zhang, deputy leader of the third action team of the Jiangcheng Folk Customs Bureau.

I turned the lock and pushed the door open.

"Captain Zhang? What brings you here so late?"

I greeted them in a calm tone.

When I opened the door, Captain Zhang's tense facial muscles immediately softened.

He strode forward, even bowing slightly, his attitude extremely polite.

"Consultant Chen, I'm sorry to disturb your rest."

He called him "Advisor Chen" willingly.

I remember the last time I dealt with him was under the elevated highway in the western suburbs.

At that time, I had just been attacked by the Shadow Sect. My car was totaled, but I fought back and killed those three assassins.

Lu Yan sent him to handle the scene. He looked at the three gruesome corpses on the ground, and his eyes twitched.

Since then, along with subsequent events such as the underground palace attack, the reservoir breakthrough, and so on, my title as an "unofficial consultant" has long become a synonym for someone who is not to be trifled with in the Jiangcheng branch.

These special operations team members who risk their lives on the front lines have the utmost respect for those with genuine skills.

"Come in and talk." I stepped aside.

"No, Consultant Chen."

Captain Zhang waved his hand, his expression turning serious.

"I'm here on the orders of the acting director. The director requests your presence at the bureau now."

The acting director requests your presence?

A slight thought crossed my mind.

I had just finished a phone call with Lao Jin to discuss this matter when officials came knocking on my door.

It seems they haven't forgotten me, but are waiting for the right opportunity.

"Now?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost 8:30 p.m.

"Yes, the car is waiting downstairs."

The bureau chief specifically instructed that if your health allows, you should definitely make the trip.

Captain Zhang's tone was very sincere.

"Okay, then wait for me for two minutes while I change my clothes."

I did not refuse.

Since we can't avoid it, we might as well go and see what this new acting director and that mysterious commissioner are up to.

I went back to my bedroom to change into a clean set of black casual clothes, carefully put the leaf knife close to my body, and then followed Captain Zhang downstairs.

A black Buick minivan with ordinary license plates was parked downstairs.

Captain Zhang personally opened the car door for me, and only after I sat in the back seat did he get into the passenger seat.

The car smoothly drove out of the urban village and merged into the traffic of the city at night.

The carriage was quiet. Captain Zhang didn't say a word the whole way, only occasionally glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

He's a smart man; he knows what he should ask and what he shouldn't.

I leaned back in my chair, watching the neon lights recede outside the window, my mind replaying the conversation that might happen later.

Is it to interrogate the Holy Maiden of Ten Thousand Butterflies Valley about the details? Or to test my understanding of the Gu King?

Or perhaps it's to fill the power vacuum left by Lu Yan's absence, and to put pressure on me, the local bully in Jiangcheng?

About half an hour later, the car drove into the courtyard of the Jiangcheng Folk Customs Bureau.

Although it was night, the office was still brightly lit.

However, I keenly noticed that the atmosphere in the building was completely different from when Lu Yan was there.

Although I was busy before, I had a decisive and efficient work style.

But now, the air is filled with a sense of oppression and heaviness. The staff coming and going are all in a hurry, and no one is even speaking loudly.

Captain Zhang led me up to the third floor, through a long corridor, to the door of a meeting room at the end of the corridor.

"Advisor Chen, please come in and have a seat for a moment. The director will be here shortly."

Captain Zhang pushed open the door, invited me inside, and then turned and closed the door.

The reception room was small, but it was decorated very elegantly.

A genuine leather sofa, a mahogany coffee table, and a potted Monstera deliciosa growing very well in the corner.

A pot of top-quality Da Hong Pao tea has been brewed on the coffee table, and it is steaming with wisps of heat.

I didn't sit down right away, but instead habitually looked around at my surroundings.

There was no surveillance, no listening equipment, and even the windows were covered with thick blackout curtains.

This doesn't seem like an official inquiry; it's more like a private meeting.

I walked to the sofa, sat down, and poured myself a cup of tea.

Just as I was about to drink the tea, I heard a soft click from the doorknob.

Someone has come in.

I didn't turn around immediately, but instead relied on my keen hearing to catch the sound of the other person's footsteps.

The footsteps were steady, and the distance and force of each step were remarkably consistent.

This kind of gait is something that office workers who sit in their offices all year round can never achieve; it is the kind of stamina that only those who have truly experienced mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and who have struggled on the edge of life and death, possess.

I put down my teacup, looked up, and gazed toward the doorway.

However, the moment I saw who it was, I was completely stunned.

I had originally expected to see a pot-bellied bureaucrat or a sinister-looking secret agent.

But standing at the door was a burly middle-aged man wearing a black jacket.

"Lei... Captain Lei?"

I spoke hesitantly, my voice carrying a surprise I myself didn't realize.

That's right, the person who came was Lei Zhenshan!

The man who saved my life and then disappeared without a trace.

He once told me that he would contact me after he got news about my parents.

However, I waited for more than half a year!

Lei Zhenshan looked at me, and a slight smile actually appeared on his usually stern face.

He locked the door from the inside, then strode over to the sofa opposite me, sat down, and unceremoniously picked up the cup of tea I had just poured and drank it all in one gulp.

"What? Haven't seen you for over half a year, and you don't even recognize old acquaintances?"

Lei Zhenshan's voice remained deep and powerful.

I took a deep breath, and my mind started racing.

Old Jin said the acting director took office seven days ago, and the commissioner arrived three days ago.

Captain Zhang said the acting director invited me, but the person sitting in front of me now is Lei Zhenshan.

"Captain Lei, you've been transferred to Jiangcheng to be the acting director?" I asked tentatively.

Lei Zhenshan put down his teacup, shook his head, and stared at me with a deep gaze.

"The acting director is someone else; he's in a meeting nearby, handling the aftermath of the Butterfly Valley case. As for me..."

He paused, then took a black ID from the inside pocket of his jacket and gently tossed it onto the mahogany coffee table.