The sudden turn of events caught Ye Huohuo completely by surprise. She hadn't expected the other party to disregard her so completely, not even exchanging a single word. She had asked who he was twice, but he had not responded.
It was an extreme display of disdain, as if to say she was not worthy of speaking with him. And before she could even press further, he had vanished, just as mysteriously as he had appeared, leaving them with not a single word.
"Boss!" A Cheng, true to his special forces background, reacted instantly. Seeing Li Mohan fall, he was the first to rush over, grabbing Li Mohan and preventing him from making contact with the ground.
A Cheng helped Li Mohan crouch on the ground, supporting his upper body with his own. He reached out to check his breathing and pulse. "Fortunately, he seems to have just fainted!" he said, pressing on Li Mohan's philtrum. However, after a prolonged attempt at revival, Li Mohan remained unconscious.
Ye Huohuo stood beside them, looking down at Li Mohan. She saw his eyes were tightly shut, his cheek muscles tensed, indicating he was clenching his jaw. His face was pale with a hint of green, a typical sign of soul possession.
She was now certain that the Li Mohan who had activated the formation earlier was not the real him; a soul had possessed him. However, Li Mohan possessed the Extreme Cold Soul, and ordinary vengeful spirits would not dare to approach him, let alone possess him.
Moreover, the soul she had encountered possessed immense power and even potent Xuanmen magical abilities. If her guess was correct, could it be Li Mohan's formidable past life that Fang Fang had mentioned?
Ye Huohuo pondered, this was the most logical explanation. But who was Li Mohan in his past life? She had intended to probe for information then, but Fang Fang refused to divulge it, and the possessing soul completely ignored her, leaving her with nothing.
"Senior Brother, what do you think?" she asked Nie Ming, who was perched on a tree branch.
Nie Ming shook his little head. "It's hard to say. There will be other opportunities. Let's focus on the problem at hand. Someone is clearly manipulating things from the shadows, using these corpses and heads for some forbidden ritual. Given the current situation, with the person going into hiding, it won't be easy to find them anytime soon."
Ye Huohuo nodded. "Yes, it always feels like we're just a step away. I've examined this formation, and although I haven't grasped its underlying principles, one thing is certain: the souls of these three female corpses have likely been refined.
Du Lihua's was the first. The person utilized her resentment at the time of her death, the accumulated corpse qi here, and perhaps other elements unknown to us, to refine her into a vengeful spirit. All this effort, only to place her on the set of Li Moyan's drama. While it caused significant disruption, it still feels disproportionate to the effort expended.
Or perhaps Du Lihua was merely a test subject? Maybe these two..." Ye Huohuo's gaze fell upon the other two female corpses besides Du Lihua. Her unspoken words were clear: if a single test subject like Du Lihua was so difficult to handle, the difficulty of dealing with the other two, if they were truly perfected, would be unimaginable.
"Our opponent's schemes are so deep and insidious that we are constantly caught off guard. We can only be more cautious, and their motives are unclear. If their target was the Li family, it's illogical that they would only act after you joined the Li family. Therefore, whether their objective is the Li family, you, or our Wuji Temple, it's all uncertain," Nie Ming analyzed. Despite being in the form of a bird, he exuded an air of strategic command.
Ye Huohuo looked at the people apprehended in the distance. Whether they were on the periphery or inside the house, they were all pawns of the mastermind. They were merely carrying out the mastermind's orders and had no knowledge of their intentions or identity. Her interrogation yielded nothing useful.
This mastermind operated with extreme secrecy. And that skeletal man who came to seek revenge on her, was he also their subordinate? Otherwise, their arrival would not have been so coincidental. However, the man was dead, and there was no one to corroborate anything.
It seemed this matter would have to remain unresolved for now, to be put aside.
The subsequent investigation would have to be handled by the police. After all, four corpses and over a dozen heads – where did they come from? Whether there were other murders here, and how many, were all unknowns.
When Captain Liu Keqiang of the criminal police received Ye Huohuo's call, dawn was about to break. As he and his team arrived, the first rays of sunlight illuminated the hillside.
But there were no chirping birds or fragrant flowers as one might expect. Instead, there were bodies and heads scattered everywhere, in an advanced state of decomposition. This scene caused even Liu Keqiang, a veteran of criminal investigation, and forensic doctor Cai Bei to frown.
"What in the world is going on?" Liu Keqiang hadn't expected that the case of the two bodies from the precinct would still be without leads overnight, and now there were three more decomposed corpses, one charred body, and over a dozen heads. This was a massive case!
He felt as though he wouldn't get a good night's sleep not just this month, but possibly for the next six months. He looked at Ye Huohuo, who was sitting in a police car, slurping instant noodles with gusto, and felt the veins in his forehead throbbing.
Why was it that every time he saw this girl, trouble followed?
"Excuse me, how did you discover these bodies?" The probationary police officer, Xiao Wang, whom she had met at the precinct before, was taking Ye Huohuo's statement.
Ye Huohuo took a large bite of noodles and a long gulp of broth, letting out a sigh of relief. She felt as if she had just come back to life. The night had been exhausting; she was not only dirty but also had three wounds on her body! Especially the injury on her backside, which prevented her from sitting properly on a chair.
"I just stumbled upon it, as they say, a blind cat finding a dead mouse. A friend of mine went missing for no reason, and her family didn't report it. Moreover, her husband was having an affair.
I became increasingly suspicious, so I secretly followed her husband and, sure enough, I found something fishy. I discovered the murder weapon he used to kill her. I also reported it. By the way, the colleagues in your jurisdiction have already arrested him. You can check it out."
Xiao Wang glanced at Liu Keqiang nearby. Liu Keqiang nodded at him. He had already received a report on this matter earlier. Due to it being a major criminal case, the police in Chen Jiaming's residential area had already notified the higher-level criminal investigation team. Therefore, Liu Keqiang was aware of the case, but he hadn't expected it to be related to Ye Huohuo.
Even more unexpected was that she was the one who had uncovered and solved the case.
"Then why did you end up here?" Liu Keqiang walked over and asked.
Ye Huohuo tilted her head up to look at Liu Keqiang. The morning sun had already risen, positioned directly behind Liu Keqiang, casting an orange glow that seemed to frame him, making him appear somewhat dazzling.
Ye Huohuo squinted at him, her cat-like eyes holding a sly smile. "I couldn't help it. I like to get to the bottom of things. Although the murder weapon was found, her body was never recovered, so I used a little trick to make that scumbag reveal the burial location.
So, I came with two friends to try and find the body, which would solidify that scumbag's murder charges. I know you've been very busy lately, Captain Liu, with so many major cases to handle. I thought I could help out a little!"
"Is that so? It seems like every time you try to help, it ends up causing more trouble?" Liu Keqiang's expression was serious, though a smile played in his eyes, a smile that seemed to carry a barb. He wasn't a fool; Ye Huohuo's mention of a "little trick" surely wasn't as straightforward as she made it out to be. After all, who would easily confess to a grave murder charge?
Ye Huohuo knew he was mocking her, but she didn't get angry. Her attitude remained as pleasant as ever. "I can't help it. I didn't want to, but who knew that when we got to the burial site, we wouldn't find the body, and following the clues led us here.
These guys were ferocious. If it weren't for the strength of the people Mr. Li brought, we would have been killed. Look at all my injuries!"
Ye Huohuo put on a pitiful act, exuding a touch of delicate beauty that evoked sympathy.
Xiao Wang, watching her, slowly put down his notepad. "Miss Ye, perhaps we should take you to the hospital first before continuing with the statement." His eyes were filled with sympathy.
However, Liu Keqiang, having seen many people and having some understanding of Ye Huohuo from previous encounters, was not easily fooled by her.
"Alright, stop playing games. Explain everything properly, and I'll have someone take you home so you can rest. The case at the police station still has no leads, and we might need your help!" He then turned and busied himself elsewhere without looking back.
Ye Huohuo let out a long sigh. She couldn't reveal everything that had happened here. She disliked fabricating stories. She had hoped to get through this by leaving the police questioning to Li Mohan once he woke up, but Captain Liu had seen through her. With no other choice, she had to honestly concoct a plausible explanation.
"W-what's going on? Have these heads come alive?!" Just as Ye Huohuo was racking her brain to weave a story, Cai Bei's startled cry came from the distance.