stjorthotic Chapter 99 Together!
Chapter 99 Together!
Chapter 99 Together! (4.8k views)
Although Yu Minmin's body was not found, according to Meng Chao's plan, this woman was the one who killed Chen Zhenghai.
Therefore, she has most likely been secretly executed by Meng Chao, to the point that her body could not be found, so that there would be no evidence against her.
Li Jiuhe hated this woman intensely.
If Luo Shuo hadn't told him through his search that Li Yi had another possibility—that she was alive—Li Jiuhe might have already collapsed and would have gone to great lengths to find Yu Minmin's body and then desecrate it.
Although he now hates this woman, he devotes more of his energy to the deserted wooden house.
Two more days later.
Wangchuan City Cemetery.
Li Jiuhe, Xu Wei, Lu Guan, and others stood together and bowed ninety degrees in front of Chen Zhenghai's tombstone.
A large number of investigators stood in front of and behind them, including Deputy Director Lin of the Wangchuan City Investigation Bureau and the Police Chief.
Xu Wei and Chen Zhenghai's wife and children stood together, silently weeping, while Li Jiuhe and Lu Guan had red eyes.
Although they successfully solved such a big case through their efforts, both Team One and Team Two received awards.
But everyone decided to hand over the prize money to Chen Zhenghai's widow.
In fact, Li Jiuhe still has a somewhat unreal feeling about Chen Zhenghai, the leader of the second group.
He has always believed that the world today is too complex and too magical.
In this era of "better to die than to die," "every man for himself," and "personal interests above all else," he had never believed that there could be such a pure person, especially a veteran who had been handling cases in the Investigation Bureau for many years.
Chen Zhenghai's death completely overturned Li Jiuhe's understanding of the world, and made him suddenly realize that perhaps what he had always believed was not necessarily right.
The world has never lacked people like Chen Zhenghai; it's just that he has been living in an information cocoon.
After leaving the cemetery, I got into a van parked on the side of the road.
Luo Shuo sat in the driver's seat, while Tong Cheng opened the car window and silently gazed in the direction of Chen Zhenghai's tombstone in the cemetery.
"You asked me to deliver the flowers for you, so why didn't you go in yourself?" Li Jiuhe asked after sitting down.
Tong Cheng shook his head: "Asking you to deliver flowers is out of respect for Chen Zhenghai, but I don't like this kind of scene."
Li Jiuhe turned to look at the cemetery.
After an unknown amount of time, everyone on the bus, including Luo Shuo, sighed simultaneously.
"Where to now?" Luo Shuo asked.
"Back to the capital?" Tong Cheng asked, looking at Li Jiuhe.
"Let's go to one last place," Li Jiuhe said.
After half an hour.
Wangchuan River.
Tong Cheng still didn't get out of the car; only Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo stood by the river, looking down at the rushing water.
The river is about 100 meters wide and has never dried up. It usually looks like this, with a very rapid current.
If an adult falls into the river, they will be swept away instantly. To find the body, you would probably have to go downstream to a calmer section of the river, about 10 or 20 miles away.
Looking at this river, the image of six-year-old Li Yi comes to mind.
Li Jiuhe's eyes, which were just red and swollen in the cemetery, could no longer hold back her tears.
If his daughter were still alive, he couldn't imagine what Li Yi was going through right now, nor did he dare to think about it.
His heart ached, but his expression remained calm as he stared at the river and asked Luo Shuo, who stood not far away, "Can we find any clues from here?"
Luo Shuo had already walked back and forth along the river several times, and upon hearing this, he shook his head: "Even if there were any traces, they have all been washed away by the river."
After a pause, he cautiously suggested, "Brother Li, how about I go buy some incense and candles nearby?"
Li Jiuhe shook his head decisively: "She's still alive, why burn incense and candles?"
In fact, Luo Shuo said this because he himself was not sure.
After all, one of the results of his search was that Li Yi was already dead, and after so many years, he was still very confident in the results of his search.
But seeing Li Jiuhe's appearance, he immediately dared not say another word.
"Since we can't find any clues, let's go."
"Where are we going this time?"
"First to the capital, then—Dragon Ridge Mountain."
There is no airport in Wangchuan City, so you can only take the high-speed rail to Hezhou first, and then take a plane from there to the capital city, which is 3,000 kilometers away.
After bidding farewell to Xu Wei, Lu Guan, Liu Qian, and others, Li Jiuhe quickly left Wangchuan.
As for his house here, he gave Xu Wei a key and asked her to have someone clean and look after it regularly.
The mortgage is no longer a problem. Now that he's been transferred to headquarters and is working under Tong Cheng, a top-level investigator, Li Jiuhe's monthly salary is around 100,000 yuan.
This loan is small, and it will be paid off very quickly.
Although he could simply sell the house and leave easily, this is his only home, not only his own, but also his daughter's and wife's.
Now, not only his daughter, but he even has a vague feeling that his wife, Lin Fengya, is still alive, so the house must be kept.
This is the only place that proves they are a family together.
Before leaving, Tong Cheng also obtained information about the investigation bureau's interrogation of Feng Jinwen.
These guys were indeed just pawns. However, according to Feng Jinwen's confession, even Si Mingyu was just a spokesperson for the mastermind, because only he could communicate with this person through mental power, receive orders, and convey them to others through dreams.
Whether it was Li Jiuhe's ability to define tasks or the rune patterns on the silver erosion dagger brought by Yu Minmin, it was all told to Si Mingyu by the mastermind behind it all.
Feng Jinwen also believed that after Si Mingyu's consciousness escaped, he would likely be subject to the arrangements of the mastermind.
And this person is very likely the one who was hiding inside the stage in Tongcheng watching the play.
As for the Tongue of the Dead, it was originally held in Si Mingyu's mouth, but later Feng Jinwen's powerful electric shock burned the corpse to a crisp, and the Tongue of the Dead in his mouth also turned into charcoal.
In other words, the tongue has been completely destroyed and is no longer functional.
Indirectly speaking, the three things the mastermind wanted could no longer be gathered together.
Even if Li Jiuhe and Erqi Chenzhong were right under Si Mingyu's nose and he were to devour them, the mastermind behind it all would still be unable to achieve his goal.
The second-seventh morning bell returned to Li Jiuhe's side unknowingly the day after the No. 7 shelter was breached.
As before, it hovered transparently above his head.
It seems that it also knows very well that the factors that could threaten it have disappeared, so it chose to come back.
On the way to the capital, the trio formed by Tong Cheng rarely spoke.
Because Tong Cheng is a man of few words, usually doesn't smile, and even has a slightly cold expression.
Those who know him well know that this is just how he is, and he doesn't have any issues with anyone.
Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo actually talked more.
Luo Shuo was very familiar with the survival rules of a sequence society and told Li Jiuhe a lot about what he had seen and heard.
After joining the Investigation Bureau, Li Jiuhe gained some understanding of the Sequencers, and now he suddenly felt a deep sense of panic about his abilities.
According to the mysterious sequencers, sequence abilities are divided into three stages: "beginner," "advanced," and "advanced."
Currently, his task definition ability is still at the "beginner" level, and he also lacks a lot of time anchor points for resetting tasks, as well as the opportunity to carry items from before the task reset.
Only by mastering more of these elements can one increase their sequence ability and break through to the "advanced" level.
As for Tong Cheng, he definitely possesses high-level sequence abilities.
Li Jiuhe believed that he would only be able to set more than two tasks at the same time after his task definition ability advanced.
At that time, not only will the probability of survival increase significantly, but you will also be able to use many special methods defined in the mission.
Moreover, the fact that the Two-Seven Morning Bell can now follow him suggests that their evolutionary rules may overlap. It remains to be seen whether he can use the Two-Seven Morning Bell to further increase his strength.
Strength is very important. If it weren't for Tong Cheng's intervention this time, even with Cao Rong and other investigators surrounding them, Meng Chao, Feng Jinwen, and Si Mingyu might still have managed to escape.
Therefore, Li Jiuhe had secretly decided that even though finding a deserted wooden house was the most important thing at the moment, continuously improving his own abilities was the key.
The simplest way to improve one's abilities is to continuously and skillfully apply them in various cases until quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.
The capital of the Tian Shu Kingdom is very large, and has been expanded to the Seventh Ring Area.
However, the Investigation Bureau in the capital was not large, because the bureau only handled core tasks, while other matters were distributed to the various branches in the capital.
After the three arrived in the capital, Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo temporarily stayed in the General Administration's accommodation area, arranged by Tong Cheng.
The two of them ended up sharing a dormitory room.
Tong Cheng's office was very ordinary. Although he had the authority to build a team, he had always been the only one working there.
Now they've brought in two colleagues, and they haven't even tidied up the office yet.
However, Tong Cheng had already told Li Jiuhe that they would only stay in the capital for a few days and would soon head to Mingzhu City, which was the closest city in Tian Shu Kingdom to the Dragon Ridge Mountains.
Having just arrived at headquarters, Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo didn't know anyone except Tong Cheng, so the two of them spent almost all their time together.
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They either practiced shooting at the headquarters' shooting range to familiarize themselves with the guns, or spent a few days practicing basic combat skills at the combat training ground.
Luo Shuo seemed to have something on his mind, and he always looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't after training every day.
A few days later, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and whispered to Li Jiuhe, "I committed some crimes in the past and acquired a lot of valuable things, which I've been hiding. Now that my identity has been cleared, do you think I should hand these things over to the state?"
"Were these things owned by the state before?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Luo Shuo shook his head: "No, I either stole or robbed from private business owners; I didn't get it through legitimate means."
"Did Tong Cheng ask you about this?" Li Jiuhe asked again.
Luo Shuo shook his head again: "He never mentioned it."
"We'll talk about it after we ask."
"What if we never ask?"
"You should just guard these treasures carefully."
Luo Shuo frowned, even more unsure.
After a moment, he whispered again, "Do you know why Boss Tong is also looking for a deserted wooden house?"
Li Jiuhe shook his head.
To be honest, he was also very curious, but since Tong Cheng didn't say anything, he didn't feel comfortable asking.
"That's because he's looking for his teacher." Luo Shuo lowered his voice even further, even though there was no one else around.
"Looking for a teacher?" Li Jiuhe asked in surprise.
Luo Shuo nodded.
Even though he himself didn't know much more, he only vaguely realized the information about this "teacher" after spending a few days with Tong Cheng using his tracking abilities.
As for any further information, I couldn't sense it.
After hearing Luo Shuo's explanation, Li Jiuhe felt that the deserted wooden house exuded even more mystery.
It seems that some missing people have gathered in this place, and if these people disappeared for some reason, they may be able to enter the abandoned wooden cabin.
What kind of wooden house is this? Is the wooden house itself a sequence item?
With his increasing exposure to mysterious sequences and his previous dealings with Erqi Chenzhong, Li Jiuhe is no longer limiting his consideration of sequence users to living beings.
Sometimes, it is the inanimate objects that form the sequence that are more bizarre and mysterious.
"How did he know that his teacher was in the deserted wooden cabin?" Li Jiuhe couldn't help but ask.
Luo Shuo shook his head: "I don't know. But there must be other Sequencers with tracking abilities like me, it's just that our evolutionary paths are probably different. He might have found out through the abilities of these Sequencers."
Since they had no clue what to do, the two of them didn't discuss the matter any further.
Over the next two days, Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo received their newly issued General Bureau investigator credentials.
This certificate is extremely valuable, not just limited to a single city, but it can almost directly mobilize the resources of all cities to provide assistance in handling cases.
At the same time, Li Jiuhe also had the opportunity to meet with Professor Gu, who was in charge of sequence map research, and answered some of Professor Gu's questions.
He learned from Professor Gu that the General Administration had been studying the complete pattern of the sequence diagram and believed that if they could one day crack the pattern, they might be able to find out the reason for the birth of the sequence and thus master the entire sequence evolution.
Conversely, this sequence diagram has a significant impact on each Sequencer. If more scattered rune patterns are obtained and attached to weapons and equipment, they may pose an even greater threat to the Sequencers.
As for killing a Sequencer user, unless one's strength far surpasses that of the user, it is very difficult to truly kill them without using the runes in the Sequence Diagram.
Li Jiuhe then met with Minister Shao of the Equipment Department.
It's clear that Tong Cheng respects Minister Shao a lot; their relationship is somewhat similar to the superior-subordinate dynamic between Tong Cheng and Chen Zhenghai back then.
Of course, Li Jiuhe had no idea that Minister Shao was the one who discovered the rune pattern in his dream and then promoted it throughout the National Bureau of Investigation.
Because the headquarters' equipment was the fastest to be upgraded and most timely, after staying in the capital for several days, Tong Cheng, Li Jiuhe, and others obtained silver firearms with complete runes and other more useful rune badges.
These weapons and equipment will soon be deployed to investigation bureaus in other cities.
Afterwards, Tong Cheng greeted Minister Shao and then headed straight for Mingzhu City with Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo.
During his time in the capital, Li Jiuhe was also busy, constantly trying to communicate more effectively with the Morning Bell of the Second Seventh.
Because of the strong telepathic connection between them and this sequence object, they can communicate directly through their consciousness, without needing to speak.
However, Li Jiuhe discovered that, under normal circumstances, he would only receive one response from Erqi Chenzhong after communicating with him three to five times.
Moreover, the feedback was very simple, without much in-depth exchange of ideas, just a simple response.
For example, Li Jiuhe asked it why it was following him.
It would only answer with shallow fluctuations of consciousness, which translated to just three words: "Together."
That sounds a bit strange.
Sometimes Li Jiuhe couldn't help but wonder if these items were genderless, and if the Morning Bell of the Second Seventh might have feelings for him.
However, the phrase "together" also indicates that it had no ill intentions towards Li Jiuhe.
When Li Jiuhe asked if it could evolve with him, Chenzhong replied: Yes.
As for how to evolve and how to make them complement each other, no clear opinion was given.
Li Jiuhe knew that this communication process might be very long, but once he truly found a breakthrough with Chen Zhong, his strength could potentially advance by leaps and bounds.
There's no rush now. He just habitually spends some time each day communicating with Chenzhong to reach a tacit understanding that both of them need to adapt to.
Two days later.
The three passed through Mingzhu City but did not contact the investigation bureau there. Instead, they went directly to Nanfeng Town, which is under the jurisdiction of Mingzhu City.
Nanfeng Town is right next to the entrance of Longji Mountain, and Nanfeng Town itself is already part of the Longji Mountain range.
Chen Zhenghai had previously asked his colleagues at the Mingzhu City Investigation Bureau to help investigate the abandoned wooden house, but Tong Cheng later told Li Jiuhe that these people had no idea about the location.
On the contrary, some scattered information was found in the local chronicles of Nanfeng Town.
Tong Cheng has collected all of this information. He rented a suite in the town and comes to stay there from time to time. After resting here, he enters Longjishan.
Moreover, as far as Li Jiuhe knew, Tong Cheng had already searched deep into Longji Mountain seven times before, but had always come up empty-handed.
Even someone as high-ranking and extremely special as him had no clue. Although Li Jiuhe felt that the hope was slim, he was prepared to fight a tough and protracted battle as long as he could find his daughter.
Besides, the situation is different now; they are not one person, but a team.
Most importantly, this team also includes Luo Shuo, a Sequencer who excels at tracking.