The gluttonous little boy is four and a half years old, and even the wealthy family kneels down and

"Don't you know? The mastermind behind Li Yifa in Nanhai City and this corpse-refining incident is the same person."

As soon as Kong Zheng finished speaking, Yun Ziang's wine glass froze in mid-air, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

He stared at Kong Zheng for several seconds, his expression shifting from relaxed to confused, and then from confused to a chilling feeling he couldn't quite describe.

"Wait a minute." He placed the cup on the table beside him, took a half-step forward, and lowered his voice, "You're saying that Li Yifa and the corpse-refining incident are the same person?"

Kong Zheng nodded.

"And then there's the matter of the Lin family's daughter." He paused, as if carefully choosing his words, "That was also influenced by that person."

Yun Ziang opened his mouth, and something seemed to "buzz" in his mind.

He subconsciously took a step back, leaned against a pillar, and quickly went through everything that had happened in the past few days in his mind.

Liu Kaile, Lin Yu, Li Yifa, the old building in Dachun City, the corpse in the freezer, the zombie in the coffin, and the word "Zhuang" that Yuan Wei uttered before his death.

He had thought these were scattered, unrelated troubles, but now, strung together by a single thread, they had suddenly become a net.

"How did he do that?" Yun Zi'ang's voice was tense. "No, I should say, how exactly did this happen?"

Kong Zheng said, "That person first spread the message through group chat, specifically targeting young people who wanted to seek excitement."

"Adventure, psychic abilities, ghost marriages, curse games—you name it. Once they're hooked, they're led to specific places. Some are abandoned old houses, some are remote old buildings, and some are underground activities organized under the guise of spiritual practice."

"It's not just the few you encountered who have had problems. We've investigated, and a number of people who have died violently in the past two years are connected to that group."

Yun Ziang gasped.

He remembered what Qiu An had said in the car earlier.

He hadn't thought about it deeply at the time. But now, after Kong Zheng's words, those three words suddenly felt heavy and struck his mind.

"The supply chain..." he murmured, then looked up, "You knew all along?"

"We investigated for a long time," Kong Zheng said. "Li Yifa was the first person we caught who was clearly in direct contact with that person. But he was also cursed, and he died during interrogation, leaving nothing useful behind. That's why I asked you, who exactly did the things in that building in Dachun City?"

Yun Ziang frowned, suddenly realizing that something was amiss:

"If you've been investigating all along, why are you still coming to Xiao Jin? You haven't even figured out that person's background, yet you dared to let her get involved?"

"We didn't let Xiao Jin touch it," Kong Zheng corrected him. "You yourselves interfered with our operations. And more than once."

"You don't know the inside story? Are these all just coincidences?"

Yun Zi'ang was speechless for a moment, then explained, "Lin Yu's accident was due to Liu Kaile's introduction. We went to find Li Yifa because he harmed my father. And we went to Dachun City because Li Zheng asked us to."

Xiao Jin knew Li Zheng because his aunt was going to Shiwan Village to find her child, and Shiwan Village was a place Li Zheng was familiar with.

Yun Zi'ang felt a chill run down his spine from the question.

Looking back now, these must all be coincidences, but they're just too coincidental, aren't they?

Yun Zi'ang could no longer stand. He waved his hand, "You wait here. I'm going to find my little aunt."

He turned and walked quickly towards the other end of the banquet hall.

He walked past several tables of guests and around a few adults who were chatting, and found Xiao Jin at a small round table by the window.

She was eating a plate of osmanthus cake, her cheeks bulging, and she was holding the plate, wanting to pass it on to Yun Zhengbang.

Yun Zi'ang walked over, squatted down, leaned close to her ear, and whispered a brief retelling of Kong Zheng's words.

After hearing this, Xiao Jin forgot to chew the osmanthus cake she had in her mouth.

She slowly swallowed the pastry, her little brows furrowing slightly.

She looked at Yun Ziang with an unprecedented look of bewilderment and surprise in her eyes.

"Is it all the same person?" she asked softly.

"Kong Zheng said so." Yun Ziang nodded. "Li Yifa, Lin Yu, and that building in Dachun City, they're all backed by the same person."

Xiao Jin put down the half-eaten osmanthus cake in her hand, "Ah!!"

"That six-fingered monster is so wicked!"

She stared at Yun Ziang in shock.

Yun Ziang met Xiao Jin's big eyes and realized that Xiao Jin had no idea that these were all just coincidences.

Yun Ziang nodded. "Yes, Kong Zheng is trying to catch him."

"Xiao Jin needs to help too!"

Xiao Jin put the plate of osmanthus cake on the table, rubbed her little hands on her skirt, and looked up at Yun Ziang: "Let's go find Kong Kong."

Yun Ziang led her through several tables of guests and found Kong Zheng under the corridor.

Kong Zheng was standing by the pillar, as if waiting for them.

Xiao Jin jogged over, stopped, looked up at him, and said in a serious tone as if she were telling him something important: "Kong Kong, Xiao Jin has something to tell you."

Kong Zheng bowed slightly: "Go on."

Xiao Jin recounted in detail what happened that day in the old building in Dachun City.

She remembered clearly what Yuan said before he died.

She counted them on her fingers, one by one:

"He had six fingers on his right hand; a string of beads depicting human faces; and a blood jade bracelet. When he uttered the word 'Zhuang,' he was cursed to death, and he couldn't say the rest."

After listening, Kong Zheng frowned.

He squatted down, took out a short pencil and a small notebook from his cloth bag, and wrote down everything Xiao Jin said.

After finishing taking notes, he closed the notebook, looked at Xiaojin, and said solemnly, "This information is very useful. Thank you, Xiaojin."

Xiao Jin waved her hand and patted her chest: "Xiao Jin wants to help too! Catching that bad guy, Xiao Jin has a part to play."

She paused, then added, "If there's anything you need Xiao Jin to do, just let me know. Xiao Jin will definitely help."

Kong Zheng looked into her clear, bright eyes, paused for a moment, and then nodded gently: "Okay. I've got it."

He stood up, glanced at Yun Ziang, said nothing, and then turned to find Kong Ji.

Kongji sat at a stone table in the courtyard, slowly sipping his tea.

Kong Zheng walked over and told Xiao Jin everything he had learned.

After listening, Kong Ji paused at his lips for a long while before putting down his teacup.

He stroked his beard, his expression much more serious than before: "Six fingers, human face bead, blood jade bracelet... this does match up somewhat with a case I encountered in the south that year."

He stood up, as if he was about to go back immediately, but just then, Kong Zheng's phone rang.

Kong Zheng answered the phone, listened for a few words, and his expression changed.

He hung up the phone and whispered to Kongji, "Master, there's movement over there. We have to leave immediately."

Kong Ji nodded and didn't ask any more questions. He glanced at Xiao Jin and Yun Ziang before hurriedly leaving the banquet with Kong Zheng.

The two figures quickly disappeared at the courtyard gate.

Xiao Jin stood under the eaves, watching them leave, when suddenly she exclaimed "Ah!" as if she had remembered something.

She frowned slightly, her little hand making a grasping motion in the air, as if recalling some kind of taste.

Yun Ziang bent down and asked her what was wrong. Xiao Jin thought for a moment and said:

"Grand-nephew, Xiao Jin thinks that the smell of Li Yifa's stuff is somewhat similar to the smell of the black mist outside the Yun family villa."

Yun Zi'ang's heart sank: "Are you sure?"

How did this get involved with the Yun family again?

Xiao Jin tilted her head and thought for a while, then shook her head, a little troubled on her face: "It's been too long, Xiao Jin can't remember. I wish I could smell it again."

As she spoke, she unconsciously smacked her lips, as if savoring something she had eaten.

Yun Zi'ang's scalp tingled when he heard the words "smell it again." He squatted down, placed his hands on Xiao Jin's shoulders, and said with an unprecedentedly serious expression, "Little aunt, listen to me. This matter is too dangerous. If Kong Zheng and the others have the ability to investigate, let them investigate. You go to kindergarten and eat osmanthus cake, okay?"

Xiao Jin tilted her head to look at him, as if weighing his words.

Yun Ziang added, "If you go looking for that kind of thing again, I'll... I'll make your hair into a tight bun every day."

Xiao Jin exclaimed "Ah!" and immediately covered her head, her face full of reluctance: "No tight bun!"

She thought for a moment, then muttered softly, "Then Xiao Jin won't smell it for now. We'll talk about it when Xiao Jin has made up her mind."

Yun Ziang breathed a sigh of relief, but he also knew that this was only a temporary measure.

He stood up, picked up Xiao Jin, and walked back.

The banquet hall was still bustling. Yun Zhengbang was helped back to his seat, and his complexion was much better than before.

Yun Ziang glanced at it from afar, then looked down at Xiao Jin in his arms, his heart still taut.

He always felt that with Kong Zheng and Kong Ji leaving, things were not over, but rather like a taut string that could snap back at any moment.

Even after the birthday banquet, Yun Zi'ang remained on edge.

He would take Xiaojin to kindergarten, pick her up from school, and even watch over her from under the eaves when she went to the yard to look at the koi.

But a day passed, two days passed, three days passed, and Kong Zheng didn't call, nor did Kong Ji show up again.

The events at the banquet were gradually overshadowed by the calm that followed the birthday celebration.

Xiao Jin continued to eat, play, and give Yun Mingyi acupuncture every night as usual. Occasionally, she would mention Kong Kong at the dinner table, only to be met with Yun Zi'ang changing the subject with a piece of braised pork.

Yun Ziang gradually breathed a sigh of relief.

He even began to think that what Kong Zheng said that day might not be so serious.

With that organization investigating, why would he and Xiao Jin need to worry about it?

That afternoon, he picked Xiaojin up from kindergarten. As soon as they entered the living room, Xiaojin pulled a brightly colored piece of paper from her schoolbag and held it above her head: "Grand-nephew! The teacher gave this to me!"

Yun Ziang took it and saw that it was a notice.

This Friday, Yiling International Kindergarten will organize a trip for all the children to visit the Municipal Natural History Museum. Each child is required to be accompanied by at least one parent.

The notice also thoughtfully included a route map, timetable, and precautions, ending with a line in bold:

"This is an outdoor educational activity, so parents must take good care of their children."

Xiao Jin jumped up and down beside him, shouting, "We want to go to the museum! The teacher said there are dinosaurs! There are stars! And lots and lots of rocks!"

She tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling, "Xiao Jin wants to go!!"