A Gong, who had split up with Yan Shouyi, returned to the bar with several of Xia Zhi's colleagues.
As soon as he came out from backstage, a wine bottle was smashed in front of A Gong, splashing alcohol all over them.
The bar was in chaos. The crowd was divided into several groups, shoving and shouting at each other. Some even held wine bottles, and a small number of people had already resorted to violence, bleeding from their heads.
Xia Zhi's colleagues immediately identified themselves and shouted, "Police! Stop!"
However, there were at least hundreds of people in the bar. Coupled with the lights, music, and the noise of the crowd, the voices of the two officers were instantly drowned out, and no one paid any attention.
The officers quickly realized that the situation was beyond their control and immediately contacted for backup.
At the same time, they found it strange that in this day and age, mass brawls had not occurred in Rongcheng for a very long time.
Moreover, most of the people who frequented bars were young people. Nowadays, young people were becoming increasingly law-abiding, so such chaotic conflicts should not have erupted.
The chaos escalated further, with the sound of breaking wine bottles echoing. A Gong even saw people stabbing others with broken bottles, and some were even heading for the fire extinguishers.
"If this continues, someone will die," A Gong's heart sank.
With a flick of his hand, he threw out a stack of paper figures.
These paper figures were crudely made, resembling the letter "大" (dà, big) with simple shapes for heads, torsos, and limbs. Their faces were casually marked with two small dots, serving as eyes.
The paper figures drifted towards the crowd, weaving through the chaotic masses. They landed behind several of the most aggressive young men, sticking to their backs as if glued.
Then, A Gong formed a hand seal, silently recited an incantation, and finally pointed his sword finger at the crowd, "Halt!"
As the command was uttered, those possessed by the paper figures were instantly frozen in place, their postures held unmoving.
However, the scene was too chaotic. Although the troublemakers stopped, their opponents did not passively accept it. Instead, they snatched the weapons from the frozen individuals and began to retaliate!
A Gong inwardly cursed his misfortune. Just as he was about to dispel the freezing spell, he was surprised to see that those he had frozen had managed to break free from the paper figures' control and were once again engaged in a brawl with the people in front of them!
Seeing this, A Gong's expression turned grim.
The paper figures he had casually thrown, while not particularly powerful, were more than enough to control a few ordinary people.
Yet, these ordinary people were merely slowed down slightly by the paper figures before quickly recovering.
This indicated that those individuals were not ordinary, or perhaps something else was controlling them.
"Possession?"
A Gong suddenly realized the truth.
It was the group selling Taoist talismans. Knowing they were being targeted, they deliberately created chaos to escape!
To escape, they were even willing to sacrifice ordinary people!
After all, the current chaos would inevitably lead to several deaths.
At this moment, A Gong saw that one of the troublemakers had his head split open, yet he continued to attack as if he felt no pain!
"They deserve to die!"
A Gong wished he could immediately rush back backstage to rendezvous with Yan Shouyi and tell him about the events in the bar.
But the current predicament was A Gong's immediate priority.
A Gong, now serious, stopped using low-level paper figures and said to the police officers beside him, "Did Officer Xia Zhi tell you that you must follow my command?"
The officers were taken aback, "Senior sister did say that, but..."
"You go and apprehend those troublemakers!"
"Ah? The scene is so chaotic, we..."
The officers were not afraid, but the extreme chaos meant their intervention would only escalate the conflict.
The best course of action was to evacuate the crowd and wait for reinforcements.
But A Gong knew it wasn't that simple. If he didn't act soon, more people would die!
So, he patted the officers on their backs and then pushed them forward!
Golden paper figures were attached to the officers' backs by A Gong!
The officers were pushed out and quickly surrounded by the crowd, forcing them to begin maintaining order.
A troublemaker raised a fire extinguisher and threw it at an officer!
The officer instinctively raised his hand to block, thinking he was finished. Grabbing the fire extinguisher with his bare hands would surely break a few bones!
However, to his surprise, he found that with just a slight exertion, he had sent the fire extinguisher flying towards the ceiling, where it embedded itself!
Concurrently, A Gong's voice echoed in their ears, "Go and stop that troublemaker!"
The other officers also discovered their enhanced abilities. Their courage grew, and they leaped up, jumping directly over the heads of the crowd. They moved with incredible speed, as if they possessed qinggong, closing in on several troublemakers!
Seeing this, A Gong breathed a slight sigh of relief.
His paper figures had augmented the officers' abilities, and it should not be difficult for them to capture those troublemakers who were possessed by ghosts.
However, at this very moment, an unexpected change occurred.
Flames suddenly erupted from the sides of the stage. What were supposed to be decorative flames for ambiance spread rapidly. Within a few breaths, the entire stage was engulfed in a blaze!
A Gong's expression turned grave. The disturbance in the bar would likely not be resolved quickly. He could only hope that Yan Shouyi could capture the masterminds behind all this soon!
...
Unlike the glamorous exterior, the backstage of the bar had narrow, complex corridors, dim lighting, and dirty water and sewage scattered across the floor.
Yan Shouyi and Long Feicheng were at the forefront, with Xia Zhi and a group of officers following behind.
"Brother Yan, where are we going!" Long Feicheng asked.
A golden light flickered in Yan Shouyi's eyes, "There's a formation blocking the front and backstage of this bar, which is why I didn't detect anything unusual when we were inside. But upon reaching the backstage, I clearly sensed the presence of ghostly energy!"
This meant that Yan Shouyi's current objective was very clear.
Running deeper into the corridor, Yan Shouyi spotted a slightly ajar door from which faint smoke was still drifting out.
Bang!
He kicked open the door. Inside, old sofas were piled up haphazardly. A small table was covered with a mess of playing cards, and wine bottles on the floor were stuffed with cigarette butts.
Long Feicheng caught up, "Where are the people?"
"They probably fled at the sound."
Xia Zhi and the officers arrived. She rushed into the lounge and saw a half-smoked cigar in an ashtray, along with a hundred-dollar bill burned down to its edges. She decisively commanded,
"The people just left. Based on the timing, they might not have left the bar yet. Immediately have everyone strengthen the blockade of all exits and investigate all staff members backstage!"
Xia Zhi, with her extensive case experience, was now showcasing her strengths.
Xia Zhi was growing rapidly. Yan Shouyi could even faintly see some golden light of merit radiating from her.
This was a skill he had acquired after inheriting from Qin Shi Huang. He could see golden light of merit on some exceptionally benevolent individuals. The brighter the golden light, the deeper their merit.
Unfortunately, despite his companions having done many good deeds in this life, they were mostly still in the phase of paying off debts, and none had yet managed to possess golden light of merit.