Shen Zhaotao initially wanted to pick it up but suddenly became wary, letting the tablet fall, landing just out of his extended arm’s reach. Gripping Yang Zheng, he coldly laughed at Xia Xianning and ordered: “Push it to my feet, then leave this room. I warn you, don’t play tricks if you don’t want casualties.” Xia Xianning seemed dejected, silently complying. He bent down and pushed the tablet over, then stood straight. Shen Zhaotao vigilantly watched Xia Xianning’s every move, only relaxing slightly when his hand left the spirit tablet, his eyes involuntarily glancing at the beautiful tablet with a greedy expression.
At that moment, Xia Xianning’s body suddenly leaned forward. His arm swept up from below, grabbing Shen Zhaotao’s wrist holding the knife, twisting it outward! Instantly, Shen Zhaotao’s arm was directly twisted off. The arm fell too easily. Though horrifying, Xia Xianning’s expression remained unchanged. With a beautiful flying kick, he directly kicked Yang Zheng outward, rescuing him from the attack. Xia Xianning used the severed arm as a weapon, throwing it directly at Shen Zhaotao’s face. Shen Zhaotao was slapped by his own arm and roared, pouncing toward Xia Xianning. They exchanged blows quickly. Shen Zhaotao’s left hand chopped toward his waist while his back suddenly hunched, and his head slightly lowered.
This movement was very abrupt during a fight. Xia Xianning seized the opportunity, interlocking his middle and index fingers, forming a seal with one hand and shooting a sharp energy toward Shen Zhaotao’s forehead— ”Eight Extremes Suppress Colors, Light Illuminates Mysterious Darkness, By My Decree, Go!” In an instant, rainbow light burst forth, celestial colors filling the sky, suddenly illuminating the entire dark space. Shen Zhaotao screamed and fell, his soul instantly forced out and hurriedly running toward the window. Xia Xianning did not pursue, shouting: “Wei Shou!” Wei Shou jolted, quickly responding and throwing a yellow talisman that captured the escaping soul.
As the crisis was successfully resolved, the people around who had been holding their breath finally relaxed. Wei Shou, clutching a yellow talisman, revealed a surprised expression and said, “Xia Chu, this is… a dead spirit.”
However, now that a dead spirit has been caught, it should be impossible to control the corpse, let alone retain self-awareness.
Xia Xianning hadn’t spoken yet when Shen Zhaotao’s corpse suddenly sprang up from the ground again, letting out a roar, and then…
Xia Xianning didn’t even turn back, as a silver light was flung from his hand, knocking the corpse down again.
He then calmly said to Wei Shou, “Because there’s still a trace of consciousness in his body, controlling the dead spirit’s movements.”
The situation was bizarre. Someone immediately went to examine Shen Zhaotao’s corpse and indeed found a weak spiritual consciousness, which had now been sealed by Xia Xianning.
Xia Xianning suddenly shouted, “What are you doing? Stand in line!”
This sudden outburst startled almost everyone, who quickly lined up and stood at attention.
Xia Xianning’s gaze swept across their faces, and those he looked at inevitably lowered their eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.
“Who was in the morgue from the beginning today?” Xia Xianning asked.
After a few seconds, several people stepped forward. From Wei Shou’s perspective, he could see that two of them were already shaking in their legs.
Xia Xianning coldly said, “Go back!”
Everyone looked at each other and hurriedly returned to their positions. Xia Xianning then sternly said, “Who was in the morgue from the beginning today, step forward!”
This time, the previous group quickly lined up and stood at attention.
Xia Xianning looked around and noticed that including Yang Zheng, these were all new employees who had just joined this spring. However, his expression didn’t soften because of this.
He slowly said, “Starting tomorrow, you will all undergo a week of re-onboarding training. After the training, I will personally assess you. Those who do not pass will be transferred out of the Special Investigation Unit.”
After he finished speaking, almost everyone was shocked, and someone couldn’t help but shout, “Director Xia, why?”
Xia Xianning looked at the person and asked, “What’s your name, and which sect are you from?”
“Chen, Chen Rui, from the Mizong sect.”
Xia Xianning replied, “Very good. You’re the first person this year to interrupt me during a speech. I’ll remember you.”
Xia Xianning coldly stated, “I don’t care which sect you came from. In the Special Investigation Unit, I am your highest commanding officer, and you must follow our regulations. Only three people are allowed in the morgue at a time, and with just one glance, I could distinguish five different footprints! Undisciplined and disorderly, and you ask me why training is needed? Ask yourselves how much of the initial onboarding training you still remember!”
In the scorching summer heat, Xia Xianning returned to the office.
Standing outside the door, he placed his hand on the doorknob but didn’t rush to push it open. Instead, he stood quietly for a moment, savoring the anticipation in his heart.
There were faint sounds from inside, and Xia Xianning knew Luo Mingbai hadn’t left. His heart warmed, and the anger from earlier seemed insignificant.
He pushed the door open and discovered that, in just a short while, Luo Mingbai had made himself comfortable.
It was morning, and they had been busy all night without having a chance to eat. When Xia Xianning returned from going out, he found Luo Mingbai sitting in his large leather chair, with a table full of delicious food in front of him.
Seeing Xia Xianning arrive, Luo Mingbai raised two fingers to his lips and blew a kiss, mumbling, “Oh, you’re back. Come and eat together, I’m starving.”
Xia Xianning: “…”
He closed the door and walked over, standing across the table, watching Luo Mingbai eat with a slight smile.
Luo Mingbai said, “I also ordered some food to be sent outside for your colleagues. Xianning, could you peel this shrimp for me? Eating things with shells is so troublesome…”
Xia Xianning had secretly reached out his hand, but when Luo Mingbai spoke, his hand paused in mid-air and then casually withdrew. After washing his hands, he pulled up a chair and sat beside him, putting on transparent gloves and picking up a shrimp.
Luo Mingbai asked, “What’s the situation with Shen Zhuotao’s body?”
Xia Xianning peeled a shrimp, pulling off the head and tail while explaining what happened, and added his own observations:
“…When I walked over, I already felt something was wrong. In the room, besides myself, there were only Yang Zheng and Shen Zhuotao. Shen Zhuotao’s body was already determined to be dead, but I could hear four breathing sounds.”
“Four? Meaning besides you and Yang Zheng, Shen Zhuotao had double breathing,” Luo Mingbai put down his chopsticks and said seriously, “Could it be a divine consciousness soul control technique?”
Though he wasn’t at the scene, his theoretical knowledge was rich. From Xia Xianning’s description, he immediately recalled a classic text from their sect that described a magical technique of controlling dead spirits through divine consciousness. When casting the spell, the divine consciousness and spirit’s vibration must be synchronized, and the soul’s tremor would sound like two breathing sounds.
Xia Xianning showed a slight smile: “I was thinking the same thing.”
Luo Mingbai continued, “But… this divine consciousness soul control technique isn’t something easily used. If it’s a ghost, extracting a strand of divine consciousness is like cutting off a small piece of its own soul. It’s not only damaging but also can’t be used frequently. Who exactly are we dealing with?”
