Zhao Kai, when he caught up, found that Lu Dengye and his companions had disappeared.
He surveyed his surroundings and headed into another alley.
The houses on both sides were dilapidated, and the pervasive smell of decay gave off an eerie sense of dread.
Zhao Kai looked at the houses on either side and called out, "Team Leader."
No one answered him.
He failed to notice a figure entirely cloaked in black watching him from not far behind.
—
Lu Dengye had searched over a dozen ruined houses but found nothing.
Yet, the more this was the case, the more his intuition told him that Bai Qingming was likely hidden here.
"Team Leader, although Zhao Kai comes from the Zhao family, he is a good person," one of the other team members pleaded softly to Lu Dengye.
Lu Dengye snorted, "Li Zhe, if he truly wanted to stay with Tian Ting, he would have followed. I already gave him a chance."
"Perhaps Zhao Kai lost track of us."
Li Zhe was still somewhat unwilling, as he partnered with Zhao Kai on missions most frequently and they had a good relationship.
Lu Dengye pushed open another rotten door, and the smell of decay assailed his nostrils.
Seeing the rotting animal carcasses in the yard, Lu Dengye frowned deeply. "Damn it, why does such a place exist in Jicheng? Are the people in the Governor's Mansion just eating and doing nothing?!"
Lu Dengye was somewhat irked.
"Team Leader, there's no trace of Bai Qingming here at all. Searching like this isn't going to work," Li Zhe said.
"Also, the signal is bad here. Why don't we retreat and see if the other teams have any news?"
Lu Dengye considered it and agreed with Li Zhe's suggestion.
If the other teams also had no news of Bai Qingming, then a thorough search of this place wouldn't be too late.
Afterward, the two oriented themselves and started walking out.
Suddenly, Li Zhe stopped at an intersection.
"Team Leader, I sense Zhao Kai's presence," Li Zhe sniffed the air.
Due to his constitution, his sense of smell was extraordinary.
Lu Dengye surveyed the surroundings, but there was no sign of Zhao Kai. He frowned slightly and asked, "Where?"
"This way."
Li Zhe darted into the alley to his left.
Lu Dengye followed.
"Zhao Kai," Li Zhe called out.
There was no answer from the foul-smelling alley.
"Zhao Kai!" Li Zhe approached and called out again, "I knew you wouldn't leave. What the Team Leader said earlier was just..."
Before Li Zhe could finish, he froze.
His eyes widened as he stared at the scene before him in disbelief.
On a dilapidated doorframe, a rope soaked in sewage hung a person – Zhao Kai.
Zhao Kai's eyes were open, staring fixedly at Li Zhe, his eyes retaining the unwillingness and fear from before his death.
"Zhao Kai, what exactly..."
Lu Dengye, who had caught up, stopped short.
Zhao Kai, whom he had just reprimanded, was hanging from a door, as dead as could be!
"Zhao Kai!!"
Lu Dengye roared and lunged forward.
Zhao Kai's body was already cold.
Li Zhe, looking at Zhao Kai's corpse being held by Lu Dengye, trembled all over. "Impossible, this is impossible, Team Leader, how could Zhao Kai be dead, how could..."
Zhao Kai's death caused Li Zhe to lose some control of his emotions.
Lu Dengye was filled with boundless killing intent, along with a hint of coldness.
This vast, abandoned garbage dump, filled with decay and stench, truly harbored secrets and dangers.
"Let's get out of here first!"
Lu Dengye, holding Zhao Kai's corpse, had a terrifyingly grim expression, his teeth gritting. "I will avenge him!!"
At the same time, his words were also filled with deep self-recrimination.
If he hadn't said those words to Zhao Kai, perhaps Zhao Kai wouldn't have met with this accident.
After leaving the garbage dump.
News from the other teams also arrived. There was no information about Bai Qingming at all.
Lu Dengye immediately ordered everyone to gather.
Within twenty minutes, all team members had assembled.
Upon hearing about Zhao Kai's accident, everyone was shocked, enraged, and disbelieving!
How could a simple search mission result in a fatality?
Lu Dengye's eyes were red, and he bowed deeply with his team members in silent mourning for Zhao Kai's body.
After standing up, Lu Dengye dialed Ye Kunlun's number.
Ye Kunlun, who was catching up with Han Qingmian, answered the call.
"Sir, we didn't find Bai Qingming, and we lost one member."
Lu Dengye's voice was full of grief.
Ye Kunlun frowned and asked, "What happened?"
Lu Dengye briefly recounted the incident.
"I'll be there right away."
After hanging up, Ye Kunlun stood up. "Senior sister, something unexpected has happened with Lu Dengye. I need to go. You should get some rest."
"Let's go together!"
Han Qingmian had nothing else to do, and furthermore, Bai Qingming was related to the leak of the East Sea War Department's secrets.
"Alright."
—
Outside the garbage dump.
Ye Kunlun glanced at Zhao Kai's corpse. There were no obvious injuries on the body. After scanning the heart with his divine sense, he discovered a tiny, sesame-seed-sized puncture.
"Gu?!"
Ye Kunlun had found the cause of Zhao Kai's death.
He hadn't expected to encounter Gu again after dealing with Daoist Lingzhu.
"Sir, your subordinate is incompetent!"
Lu Dengye apologized to Ye Kunlun.
Ye Kunlun ignored Lu Dengye and instead surveyed the endless garbage dump before him, unleashing his powerful divine sense.
Dilapidation, decay, corpses...
Ye Kunlun's expression became solemn. He had to find the killer who had murdered Zhao Kai.
In a dilapidated courtyard.
The black-robed figure seemed to sense something and took out three blood-stained eyeballs from his怀.
He then placed the three eyeballs on a stone table, on top of a carved, strange pattern.
A mysterious aura enveloped the dilapidated courtyard, concealing him and the hidden Bai Qingming.
Ye Kunlun's divine sense swept over directly.
The black-robed figure stared at the three eyeballs on the stone table. One of the eyeballs popped with a 'bo' sound.
Within three breaths, Ye Kunlun's divine sense had completed scanning the vast garbage dump.
"Strange."
Ye Kunlun murmured to himself. He had found nothing.
"Sir, shall I have people conduct a ground search?" Lu Dengye suggested.
"No need!"
Ye Kunlun snorted, and his divine sense erupted once more, engulfing the entire garbage dump like a surging tide.
*Bo—*
The second eyeball on the stone table burst.
The black-robed figure's body trembled slightly, and then the third eyeball also burst.
The strange aura of the courtyard instantly dissipated and appeared within Ye Kunlun's divine sense.
"Found you!"
A glint of coldness flashed in Ye Kunlun's eyes. He said to Lu Dengye, "Stay here!"
With that, Ye Kunlun took a step and vanished from everyone's sight.
The next second, he appeared in the courtyard.
The black-robed figure stood up, looking at Ye Kunlun, and said in a hoarse voice, "You shouldn't have come looking!"
"Did you kill him?" Ye Kunlun asked, his gaze cold as he looked at the other person.