After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

If the relationship between the different states of the Eastern Union is like that of neighbors—you might go to check on your neighbor if they're in trouble, but you wouldn't help them—then Indiana was a complete mess.

Indiana is the largest state in the entire Eastern United States, with a total population of 700 million. Among these 700 million people are more than 100 ethnic groups, hundreds of official languages, and countless customs and religions. These mutually exclusive elements have been intertwined and opposed for thousands of years. The historical legacy is so deep that it can be said that if one ethnic group in Indiana sees another ethnic group suffering from disaster, they will be overjoyed and go over to add fuel to the fire and provide ammunition in a time of need.

I'm willing to lose money to make you suffer the most.

In this situation of various factions clashing, the state government is often just a figurehead. Government personnel probably can't even go down to the grassroots level where the conflicts are most intense, so finding information about the murderer is even more impossible.

Thinking of this, Dongfang Li couldn't help but sigh.

"Mr. Dongfang".

Zhou Yan's voice made Dongfang Li, who was holding a phone, turn his head in Zhou Yan's direction.

Zhou Yan saw Dongfang Li turn his head and asked.

"Mr. Dongfang, are you able to contact the Zhao family in Xiluozhou now?"

Dongfang Li nodded.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

During this trip to Zhongzhou City, the Heavenly Gods of Indiana and the remnants of the Western Rocs banded together, and Dongfang Li naturally had the contact information of the Zhao family of the Western Rocs.

"I want to talk to them about something."

Zhou Yan's expression was serious.

"It's related to that murderer."

Dongfang Li was puzzled.

Would the killer target the Zhao family in Xiluo Prefecture?

Indiana and West Roosevelt are quite far apart and hadn't cooperated much before. Before coming to Central City, the two factions were basically just nodding acquaintances.

If the murderer hates the Celestial caste in Indiana, he should only seek revenge against the Celestial caste. What does he have to do with the Zhao family in Western Australia?

"I don't know, I just have some questions I'd like to ask, Mr. Dongfang, could you do me a favor?"

Zhou Yan tapped his chin on Dongfang Li's phone.

Dongfang Li remained silent for a moment.

"Ok."

Dongfang Li dialed Zhao Jianguo's phone number.

Now is not the time to dwell on Zhou Yan's identity or the fact that he offended our group before. Zhou Yan is indeed a special kid; he was the one who found Dongfang Shuo's body.

The phone rang, and after a few seconds, it stopped ringing. Zhao Jianguo's voice, which had been beaten into a pig's head by Zhou Yan, came through.

"Uncle Dongfang, what brings you here?"

Dongfang Li handed the phone to Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan took the phone, coughed a few times, and then a girlish voice, even colder than Su Bijun's and almost frigid, came out of Zhou Yan's mouth.

"Mr. Zhao, hello, I am Dongfang Ming from the Dongfang family."

He took a deep breath, and then Zhao Jianguo said excitedly.

"Hello, I am Zhao Jianguo from the Zhao family of Xiluozhou. Miss Dongfang, I don't think I've seen you before."

The more Zhao Jianguo listened to the cool, aloof voice, the more he found it pleasant; he figured the person on the other end of the phone must be an icy, aloof young lady.

Zhou Yan said coldly.

"Let's not talk about these trivial matters, Mr. Zhao. I've come to you with something I want to ask. Among the people from Xiluozhou, have any gone missing in the last two weeks, or whose cell phones are unreachable?"

"Hey? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Seemingly sensing something was wrong, Zhao Jianguo's voice changed, becoming serious.

“Something has happened, Mr. Zhao. Could you investigate whether there are any members of your team who are missing from your trip to Zhongzhou City?”

"Okay, Miss Dongfang, please wait a moment."

Then came a series of footsteps. After about five minutes, another series of footsteps approached, followed by Zhao Jianguo's somewhat flustered voice.

"Yes, yes, yes, I checked. Two of my three uncles have been missing for more than seven days, and two of my cousins ​​have been out of contact for more than five days."

Zhou Yan frowned.

"Let me guess, are these people of low bloodline level?"

"Yes, my three uncles, well, two are demon-level awakeners, and one is just an ordinary person. My cousins ​​are two ghost-level awakeners, not even as good as my family's bodyguards. They came to Zhongzhou City to broaden their horizons."

Zhou Yan countered with a question.

"This person has been missing for so long, and you didn't even notice before I asked?"

“My uncles are all over thirty years old. When they go out to play, we still have to ask them why they haven’t come home yet. My cousins ​​are also adults. Their parents didn’t come, so no one mentioned it. We didn’t even notice that someone was missing before.”

"Okay, I know."

Zhou Yan hung up the phone and then handed it to Dongfang Li.

Dongfang Li said in astonishment.

"Someone from the Zhao family in Xiluo Prefecture has also gone missing?"

Zhou Yan nodded.

"This should be the second plan to sow discord. The Taisho clan in Xiluo Prefecture should have no connection with that murderer, but the murderer still killed the Taisho clan's descendants. This is to make the Taisho clan blame you."

Dongfang Li said angrily.

"You scoundrel! I hope this murderer doesn't fall into my hands, or I'll make her regret ever being born!"

Zhou Yan returned Dongfang Li's phone to Dongfang Li, then returned to his discipline director Han Yun, who asked him a question.

"What did you find?"

Zhou Yan shook his head.

"Nothing was found."

Han Yun stopped asking.

Zhou Yan walked into the luxury car driven by Su Changqing, sat down, and took out his phone.

Zhou Yan just said he didn't find anything that was a lie, but he still needs to confirm.

Zhou Yan dialed Guo Chenghuang's number.

The call was connected shortly afterward.

"Guo Chenghuang, I hope you can help me investigate something."

Zhou Yan told Guo Chenghuang what he wanted to know.

"Understood, I will investigate."

Guo Chenghuang hung up the phone.

Zhou Yan put his phone back in his pocket and was about to leave when Dongfang Li walked up to the car door. Dongfang Li opened the car door next to Zhou Yan's seat and said with a serious expression.

“Young man, Zhao Jianguo called me. He said that his son Wang Sitong has not been in contact for two days and he can’t get through to him on the phone.”

Wang Sitong is a demigod of the Taisho clan and one of the participants in the Four Schools Competition. He is considered the most precious young man of the Taisho clan.

Zhou Yan asked in surprise.

"It's one thing for those marginalized people to have disappeared for a few days without anyone noticing, but Wang Sitong is a core figure of the Taisho clan, isn't he? How could someone like that be lost?"

Dongfang Li shrugged.

"That's what I asked too. Zhao Jianguo told me that two days ago, Wang Sitong made an appointment with a pretty girl on the Tea Cup app, saying that he was going to take a trip of the mind and the body. Because of this, no one has called Wang Sitong to ask about it for the past two days, for fear of disturbing his enjoyment."

Zhou Yan chuckled.

“Okay, we still have two days, right? Take me to the hotel where the Zhao family is staying. I’ll help look for this kid. Just so you know, I think there’s at least an 80% chance that this kid is already a dried-up corpse.”

Dongfang Li walked to the driver's seat and sat down.

"Let's go take a look anyway."

Han Yun sat down in the passenger seat, while Dongfang Li left Su Changqing, who was still chatting with the police, and drove onto the suburban road.

Three minutes later.

Dongfang Li, who was driving to the hotel where the Zhang family was staying, received a call from Zhao Jianguo, who was filled with grief and indignation.

"Uncle Dongfang, I... I've found Sitong."

Dongfang Li, who was driving, was taken aback.

"Found it, where is it?"

"Yes, in room 213 of the Daqing Love Hotel, Sitong, Sitong, he..."

The sound of Zhao Jianguo sniffling came through the phone.

Dongfang Li looked at Zhou Yan through the rearview mirror inside the car, and Zhou Yan said indifferently.

"Go to the Daqing Love Hotel, I want to see the corpse."

An idea was taking shape in Zhou Yan's mind.

It took Dongfang Li fifteen minutes to drive from the suburbs to the Daqing Love Hotel.

Before getting out of the car, Zhou Yan took out a mask from his small universe and put it on. Then they got out of the car together, and the three of them hurriedly entered the hotel and went up to room 213.

Outside room 213, more than a dozen men, women, and children of the Taisho descendants stood, their faces filled with indescribable grief and indignation.

Dongfang Li walked over with a stern face. A middle-aged man from the Zhao family with half-gray hair asked Dongfang Li a question.

What happened here?

"Why, why did this happen to us?"

It wouldn't matter if it were anyone else who died, but Wang Sitong was one of the most outstanding young people among the Taisho descendants in Xiluo Prefecture. His death is a major blow to the future development of the Taisho descendants.

Dongfang Li was a little embarrassed to talk about how these things might have been caused by his own family, so he lowered his head and walked with Zhou Yan to the door of room 213.

Room 213 had the same layout as the hotel suite Dongfang Shuo had stayed in before. Zhou Yan entered the suite and walked through the initial corridor to the bedroom. There weren't many people in the bedroom, just Zhao Jianguo kneeling on the floor, his face showing suppressed emotions, and Wang Sitong lying on the bed, already a dried-up corpse.

Zhou Yan glanced at Wang Sitong's attribute panel, but this time he didn't even look at the status bar; he just looked at the time of the mummified corpse's death.

The time of death was one day prior.

In other words, this mummified corpse was lured out two days ago and turned into a mummified corpse in less than a day.

As for Dongfang Shuo, that poor fellow who was also drained into a dried-up corpse, Zhou Yan remembered that he died a day earlier, meaning it took two days for Dongfang Shuo to be drained to death.

Putting aside all the eating, talking and other activities, Zhou Yan felt that he could drain Wang Sitong dry faster than he could drain Dongfang Shuo.

If the murderer was not part of a team, then Zhou Yan estimated that the murderer's ability to absorb essence had been continuously upgraded during this period.

Chapter Seven Ransom

Black Palace, an office.

Guo Chenghuang picked up the phone next to his desk and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this Xiao Shen? You're the one who manages the Awakened files in Zhongzhou City, right?"

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Just help me investigate how many low-level Awakened individuals have gone missing in the past month. Hmm, let's set their bloodline level below Ghost level."

……

Archives Room, Second Security Bureau of Zhongzhou City.

After hanging up the phone call from Guo Chenghuang, Shen Yun, the database administrator, took out his mobile phone and dialed a number. His expression changed several times.

"Someone from above has come and wants me to investigate low-level Awakened Ones."

……

Outside an abandoned factory.

Su Changqing, the vice leader of the Mi Luo Cult, paced back and forth at the factory gate, occasionally craning his neck to look inside. Police officers from the Traces Division were inspecting traces throughout the abandoned factory.

Su Changqing's expression grew increasingly solemn and embarrassed, and his pace quickened as he paced back and forth.

At three o'clock in the morning, Su Changqing's phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was a text message with a message inside.