Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing tried to keep his tone calm:
"Officer Li, this is Zhang Yuanqing."
"...It's you." The person on the other end laughed. "What brings you to me in the middle of the night?"
Zhang Yuanqing spoke in a low voice. "I have a lead to report. Actually, before Lei Yibing disappeared, he sent me a card."
"Why didn't you mention it before?"
Li Dongze's tone held no surprise.
Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a moment before telling him his thoughts on Brother Bing's disappearance in detail.
There was silence on the other end for a while before they laughed.
"You're good at adding drama to your own story," Guan Ya was right. Zhang Yuanqing was actually a solitary person with a normal personality, optimistic and positive, and wouldn't be so guarded.
"Sorry..." Zhang Yuanqing felt embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, or rather, got to the point. "I encountered some strange and incomprehensible things tonight. Can you understand what I mean?"
"So it seems like you've successfully walked out of the Lingjing." Li Dongze's tone held a hint of relief.
Yes, he had just walked out and almost died inside... When Zhang Yuanqing heard this response, he felt relieved. The other party really did know about the Lingjing.
Li Dongze said, "Congratulations on becoming a Lingjing walker, a title for people like us. I am also a Lingjing walker, the difference being that I am official and you are wild."
"Lingjing walker..." Zhang Yuanqing savored the phrase and asked, "What is the Lingjing?"
He had too many questions to seek answers to and could only start with the basics.
"I can't tell you now. If you want information about the Lingjing, you have to make a choice," Li Dongze said in a low voice. "Official attitudes towards the Lingjing fall into two categories: absorption and cultivation, and regulation and control. The former represents joining us and becoming a member of the official Lingjing walkers."
"The latter is to be a wandering cultivator. You only need to register with us, promise not to use your abilities to violate the rules, and we won't interfere. Of course, you won't get any help from the government either."
Zhang Yuanqing said without hesitation, "I'm willing to join the organization and lay down my life and shed blood for the country and the people."
Li Dongze laughed. "You really are from a family of public security officers, very enlightened."
For a moment, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't tell if the other party was mocking or praising him.
"Well, get some rest. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at eight," Li Dongze said.
Huh? Not now? Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a moment. "Tomorrow?"
"Otherwise, what time is it now? You want to lay down your life and shed blood for the organization, but you have to wait for the organization to start work," Li Dongze said.
He didn't want to say it over the phone, afraid that I would back out and get information for free, so he had to wait until tomorrow to meet in person... Zhang Yuanqing could only say helplessly, "Okay."
After hanging up the phone, he looked at his mobile phone. The time displayed was 11 pm, and time in the Lingjing passed at the same rate as the outside world.
Having successfully contacted the official organization, Zhang Yuanqing felt relieved. At this point, the exhaustion from struggling to survive in the Lingjing rushed over him.
He lay in bed, set the alarm clock, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and drifted off to sleep...The next morning, at 7:15, Zhang Yuanqing was awakened by the alarm clock and almost had a heart attack, dropping dead on the spot.
He got out of bed yawning while turning off the alarm.
He had a poor night's sleep and had several nightmares, all related to ghosts and monsters, waking up several times.
Grandfather sat on the sofa in the living room watching the news. He had sparse silver hair, a tall stature, a face full of wrinkles, and was not one to laugh, giving off an air of severity.
Grandmother was banging around in the kitchen making breakfast. Aunt was squatting on a chair playing with her phone, puffing out her cheeks like a cute hamster.
"Wake up so early?" Aunt scrutinized her listless nephew and hummed, "You look like you indulged yourself too much. Did you do something bad last night? I'm going to check your trash can."
Normally, Zhang Yuanqing would have retorted with a sarcastic comment, but now he was preoccupied with the Lingjing and meeting with the official organization, and had no mood to banter with his aunt.
He sat down listlessly next to the woman, staring blankly and waiting for breakfast.
Soon, Grandmother brought out hot rice porridge, fried dough sticks, boiled eggs, and a basket of meat buns.
Zhang Yuanqing took a sip of hot porridge to moisten his throat and looked at Grandfather, testing the waters, "Grandfather, I remember when the construction team at the She Ling Tunnel disappeared, the Security Bureau organized a search team to look for them, and you were in it at the time."
Grandfather "hmmed" and said with some doubt, "Those are old things, why are you asking about them?"
"I saw this story online again yesterday. Do you know what happened to the worker who was found?"
Grandfather frowned and said, "I forgot, it's been so long, I can't remember."
"He disappeared again, didn't he?" Grandmother interjected, joining the discussion with enthusiasm, "And it was a bizarre disappearance. People in the police force were panicked about it back then, and it was only after the leader of the police department personally came down to appease them that it was considered over."
"Is that true?" Grandfather denied it.
"Old Chen, are you getting old and senile? You told me about this yourself." Grandmother insisted.
...Grandfather lowered his head and drank his porridge, "You should believe in science and not be obsessed with these superstitions. You're getting more and more gossipy as you get older."
Found and then disappeared again... Zhang Yuanqing drank some porridge with a slightly depressed mood.
It was clear that the survivor had entered the Lingjing again 36 hours later, and this time, he didn't come out alive.
He was right in his prediction. The death rate at the Mountain God Temple was extremely high, and the second main mission was very, very dangerous.
To survive, relying on the official organization was the right decision.
After breakfast and a quick wash-up, Zhang Yuanqing took the elevator downstairs and waited at the entrance of the community for more than ten minutes.
A black business car slowly pulled up, and the electric car door slid open automatically. Li Dongze was sitting on a white leather sofa, leaning on a cane with his legs together.
He was dressed the same as yesterday, in a black suit, black vest, white shirt, his hair neatly combed back, and a delicate little mustache on his chin.
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"Get in, college student."
Li Dongze smiled.
"Okay, investigator." Zhang Yuanqing smiled back.
After he got in the car, the black business car merged into traffic and drove steadily through the streets in the morning.Li Dongze opened the car fridge and asked, "What do you want to drink?"
"Coke!"
"Then you'll have to go to the supermarket yourself later." Li Dongze poured himself a glass of whiskey, put in an ice cube, and leaned back in his chair, saying leisurely, "I'll take you to process your employment procedures now, and give you some basic training. First, let me introduce myself. I'm Li Dongze, a level 3 Lingjing practitioner, the second team leader of the Songhai branch of the Five Elements Alliance, and my profession is a scout."
A scout? Are there any other professions besides Night Wanderer? Zhang Yuanqing listened attentively, even though he was puzzled.
Although he was curious, he didn't interrupt.
As a person skilled in socializing, Zhang Yuanqing knew that interrupting someone while they were speaking was impolite behavior, and he wouldn't let himself lose points over such trivial matters.
Li Dongze took a sip of his drink and said, "First, let me tell you what Lingjing is!"
Zhang Yuanqing immediately perked up.
...
PS: This chapter is an extra.