mesbooks Chapter 124 Child, are you Li Yi?
Chapter 124 Child, are you Li Yi?
Chapter 124 Child, are you Li Yi?
Li Jiuhe quickly browsed the information.
First, he confirmed through this information that Si Mingyu had indeed been killed, and then he reviewed the newly added skills several times.
"The second questline is finally here."
He then immediately defined "survival" as a long-term, cyclical task.
Li Jiuhe currently has 30 reset points.
It seems like a lot, but if it's spread across two parallel tasks, it will quickly become insufficient when actually used.
However, what makes Li Jiuhe feel most at ease now is that he no longer needs to switch back and forth between the task of "surviving" and regular tasks.
He can now define one of his tasks as "survival" in the long term, while the other task can be defined and adjusted as needed.
In this way, one's life is protected while carrying out missions, and most external threats are eliminated.
Currently, as a junior task designer, he has also gained the abilities of "labeling" and "scenario replay".
The "Scene Replay" ability is very useful. You can use points to replay situations that you didn't see in the last mission to figure out what happened.
Know yourself and know your enemy.
The ability to "label" seems even more powerful, although currently it seems he can only obtain low-quality labels.
But as long as you have enough mission points, it's not a problem; you can even redeem the tag abilities you want.
As the upgrade progresses, the quality of the reward tags will likely increase, making them an invaluable tool in missions.
This suddenly gave Li Jiuhe the feeling that his mission was actually like a game mission.
However, my current job title is "Quest Designer - Junior", and my upgrade progress is only 1%. I still need to hone my skills and improve through various quests.
He suppressed his excitement, chatted with Director Lu for a while, and at Director Lu's invitation, the group had dinner together.
The meal was very lavish, reflecting the high standards the local investigation bureau sets for entertaining its superiors.
At the dinner table, Director Lu only talked about the case that had just occurred, without asking why Li Jiuhe and his team had come. He also kept thanking Li Jiuhe for his help, otherwise the city's order enforcers might not have survived.
Soon someone delivered some packaged high-end cigarettes and alcohol, which were gifts that Director Lu had prepared in advance for each of the three of them.
However, none of the three, including Li Jiuhe, accepted the gifts; instead, they all politely declined.
After some polite refusals, Director Lu stopped insisting and immediately withdrew the gift.
Those who manage to climb to the position of director of the Investigation Bureau are not just simple followers; they are all shrewd and adept at reading their superiors' moods.
At the same time, Li Jiuhe also learned that Zhou Yiwen had sent his butler to report to the Investigation Bureau.
After all, two of his own students, who were registered with the Bureau of Investigation, died in his family, and he had to report this clearly to the Bureau of Investigation.
After the meal, Director Lu had already booked rooms for the three of them at the local official hotel, and assured them that the accommodations would not be over-limited.
In fact, before he gave gifts to Li Jiuhe and the others, he had planned to book the most luxurious hotel in Xingtai City.
Later, when he discovered that they didn't accept gifts, Director Lu immediately realized that these people were different, so he couldn't go too far and had to follow Li Jiuhe and his group's personality. Therefore, he immediately had someone change the hotel to one that met the standards for work reception.
After checking into the hotel, Li Jiuhe felt exhausted and collapsed onto the bed, not wanting to move anymore.
He wasn't tired from socializing with Director Lu and his group earlier; he only had to put on a fake smile. He felt tired after killing Si Mingyu.
He had been worried ever since Tong Cheng told him that Si Mingyu had run away. In addition, he was also searching for his daughter's whereabouts and the abandoned wooden house. This matter has now come to an end. He can only wait until he returns to headquarters to ask Minister Shao Gang for help.
After Si Mingyu was killed by his own hands today, all the clues about him were cut off once again.
With Si Mingyu finally eliminated, the matter was considered closed, and Li Jiuhe's tension was somewhat relieved.
He was now unsure whether anyone else, besides Si Mingyu, was watching him.
I wonder if the mask on my face still works in other people's eyes?
However, he guessed that the powerful figure behind Si Mingyu was probably unable to directly attack him, which was why he used Si Mingyu as a pawn in such a grand scheme.
However, since Si Mingyu is already dead, it is unknown what the other person will do next.
Overall, I still have too few clues. If I can find any trace of the mastermind, Luo Shuo should be able to obtain a lot of useful information by following up.
Another point is that as my strength grows, it will only become more and more difficult for that person to deal with me.
Therefore, it is quite possible that the other party will change its strategy or temporarily abandon the plan.
Because he doesn't know the reasons behind it, Li Jiuhe has been in a very passive position ever since, and can only "meet the enemy's attacks head-on and deal with whatever comes his way".
He began to think that he had to take the initiative and look for answers from the root of what was happening to him, perhaps he could find some clues.
But where does the root of this problem lie?
From the day my daughter went missing, or ever since—
Thinking of this, Li Jiuhe sat up in bed and stood by the window, watching the people coming and going on the street below.
An idea popped into my head.
We can't start from when our daughter went missing; that was too late. This matter should be considered from the time our wife, Lin Fengya, died.
To investigate, we must start from before Lin Fengya was killed by the truck!
His wife might have secrets he doesn't know about.
Lin Fengya is not a native of Wangchuan City. She only decided to stay in Wangchuan City after graduation because she met and fell in love with him in college.
Her hometown is actually Yuanmeng City in the northwest region of Tian Shu Kingdom.
Li Jiuhe decided that after returning to headquarters and asking Minister Shao Gang for help in exploring the abandoned wooden house using dreams, he would propose to go to Yuanmeng City to investigate the case.
However, he couldn't do it entirely for his own personal matters, since he always needed to use his position as an investigator at the General Bureau, so he also had to handle the General Bureau's cases there.
Furthermore, with Tong Cheng no longer around, I wonder if my application will be taken seriously by the General Administration?
After all, everyone there is of a higher rank than him, and if no one takes care of him, he and Luo Shuo might be temporarily assigned to other group leaders for management.
His freedom will be restricted then, and he will have to follow work arrangements. He may not be able to go to Yuanmeng City anymore.
Li Jiuhe opened the window and took a few deep breaths.
"We have to take it one step at a time for now. If Minister Shao can connect with Tong Cheng in the deserted wooden house through his dreams, perhaps my plans will change."
Just then, his phone rang; it was Luo Shuo calling.
After arriving in Xingtai City today, they went straight to Zhou Yiwen's villa without even putting down their luggage.
Later, when I left the Zhou family and went to Fang Yi's apartment, I temporarily left my suitcase at the villa.
After checking into the hotel, Luo Shuo went to the Zhou family villa alone to retrieve their luggage, while Li Jiuhe and Ma Li stayed in their respective rooms.
At this moment, Li Jiuhe was thinking about future plans, while Ma Li was hiding in her room taking care of the two pots of ever-growing corpse-controlling flesh, which was her greatest pleasure during this period.
When the call connected, Li Jiuhe thought Luo Shuo was going to ask him if he needed to buy any other daily necessities, but he noticed that Luo Shuo's tone was a bit off.
"Brother Li, Zhou Yiwen is dead."
Li Jiuhe was taken aback: "When?"
"He died a little over an hour ago from physical decline," Luo Shuo said. "We were having dinner with Director Lu at that time."
He then added, "Zhou Yiwen's daughter said that her father's health deteriorated rapidly shortly after we left. He soon collapsed and could no longer speak. Zhang Song and Hong Xiaojun took him to the hospital, but they could not save him."
"Is the body at the funeral home now?" Li Jiuhe thought he should go and pay his respects to Zhou Yiwen.
"Yes, but Zhou Yiwen said he had Zhang Song pass on a message to you, and Zhang Song is waiting at the funeral home right now. Wait for me, I've got my luggage and I'm heading back to the hotel right away, let's go together."
"it is good."
After hanging up the phone, Li Jiuhe's mind was filled with Zhou Yiwen's aged face.
It's hard to say whether this person's current predicament is related to me, since Fang Yi was instigated and misled by Si Mingyu.
Fang Yi's rebellion against Zhou Yiwen was only lacking an opportunity.
This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later, but it might happen in a different way and with a different outcome.
If I hadn't interfered, Fang Yi might have succeeded, but he might have failed and died in the Boundary Stone along with Zhou Yiwen.
Nobody can say for sure right now.
Feeling emotional, Luo Shuo returned shortly afterward. The two did not let Ma Li go with them, but quickly took a taxi to the Xingtai City Funeral Home.
Zhou Yiwen's memorial hall was quite large, after all, he was a prominent figure here, considered a veteran Sequencer.
Here, Li Jiuhe also met Zheng Yuanfeng and other team leaders from the local investigation bureau.
After bowing and offering incense, completing the mourning procedures, and talking briefly with the heads of the investigation teams, he was invited by Zhang Song to a small room at the very back.
This room serves as a temporary family lounge.
Hong Xiaojun was also in the room, but Zhou Yiwen's daughter did not come with him.
The old woman simply sat sadly in the mourning hall, being cared for by her own children.
Zhang Song, his expression grief-stricken, took out the milky-white boundary stone from his inner clothing: "Investigator Li, my mentor asked me to give this to you."
"What?" Li Jiuhe was taken aback, not reaching out to take it. "Why would you give me such an important sequence item?"
As a sequence item, this boundary stone has a very special function, but it is relatively simple. It can only form its own space and operate within it for outsiders to use.
In reality, it will not affect the outside world.
Therefore, unlike the Morning Bell of the Second Seventh, this sequence does not possess a complete set of autonomous consciousness; it does not actually distinguish between friend and foe.
It doesn't show resistance or affection towards whoever owns it; rather, it exists in a very objective way.
Zhang Song explained, "Before my mentor died, he said that whether it's me, Hong Xiaojun, or his descendants and family, possessing this Boundary Stone now would bring us danger. Only by giving it to you can the Boundary Stone possibly be used more effectively. If you want to hand it over to me or Hong Xiaojun in the future, then wait until we have at least grown into high-level Cursed Ones."
"If you're unwilling to hand it over to us later, we won't say anything, after all, it's our mentor's last wish," Hong Xiaojun added from the other side.
This was the first time Li Jiuhe had heard this guy speak. Because of the regional death curse he had been under, he dared not utter the words "you, me, and him" in the desolate city, so he had never spoken before.
"Okay." Li Jiuhe no longer refused and reached out to take the boundary stone.
This stone feels warm to the touch, like jade, and doesn't feel cold at all.
He will need to study carefully how to use this boundary stone to create an internal space world.
"My mentor also told me to tell you," Zhang Song continued, "that at the moment of his death, he would use his synesthesia as a high-level sorcerer to try and capture that abandoned wooden hut, striving to reach the states of 'Bardo of Dying' and 'Bardo of Rebirth.' If he succeeds, he will have a certain probability of entering that wooden hut—"
Hearing Zhang Song say this, Li Jiuhe's heart beat slightly faster.
"My mentor said that if he successfully enters that cabin, he will definitely help you find your daughter, Li Yi, and will take good care of her until you can find a way to meet her," Zhang Song continued.
Li Jiuhe felt grateful and turned to look at the ice coffin in the mourning hall outside the house, looking at the withered corpse lying quietly inside.
Turning away from the room, Li Jiuhe approached Zhou Yiwen's daughter and her descendants, saying, "If you need any help in the future, just give me a call. I'll do everything I can to assist you!"
Zhou Yiwen's daughter immediately stood up to express her gratitude.
Li Jiuhe came to the ice coffin again, and a faint chill wafted over him. He stared at the withered old man inside.
After a long silence, he slowly bowed.
A ray of setting sun burned through half the space of the house, filling the air with a warm glow.
The other half of the house was bathed in the soft moonlight, while most of this half was swallowed by darkness.
This house can no longer be described as spacious; it seems to have no end in sight.
When Zhou Yiwen appeared here, I felt a little dazed.
After standing there for a moment, he gradually came to his senses and looked around.
-
At that moment, he remembered that he seemed to be dead, so this place was—the afterlife?
Although he was guessing wildly, his inner guidance told him that this was not the place.
He remembered that he had used the sorcerer's synesthesia before he died, a purely spiritual technique that did not require the use of magical power.
Furthermore, he had exhausted his physical strength before he died and was unable to use any magical power at all.
It was this synesthesia that brought him to this place.
"So this is—" Zhou Yiwen muttered to himself as the scene before him gradually became clearer, "An abandoned wooden cabin?!"
He looked up at the ceiling of the roof, and it no longer resembled a wooden house; it was more like a dome.
I never expected the space inside the deserted wooden cabin to be so large.
The fiery sunset outside the house and the moonlight as gentle as water on the other side divide the house in two, presenting two completely different scenes.
At this moment, Zhou Yiwen was standing between these two lines, his left shoulder bathed in sunlight, while his right shoulder was shrouded in darkness.
My left side felt warm, while my right side felt cold.
This feeling made Zhou Yiwen subconsciously step to the left, moving away from the darkness of the other half of the house.
With no one in sight, Zhou Yiwen realized that since he was already here, he should look around to see if he could find Li Jiuhe's missing daughter.
He took a step forward, each step accompanied by a distinct tremor in his legs.
He had been sitting in a wheelchair until his death, and he hadn't felt this normal walking ability in a long time, so he couldn't help but walk faster and faster.
He didn't go into the dark side, but instead walked briskly along the center line in the space on the side of the setting sun.
In reality, he couldn't distinguish front from back at all at that moment; he simply considered the direction he was facing when he first appeared as front and the direction of his back as back.
I kept walking like that, without feeling tired or stopping.
The house was so large that it took a long time to see the boundary.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Zhou Yiwen saw a short figure appear in his line of sight.
The figure was like a small mushroom that had been left behind, facing away from itself, standing in front of the midpoint between yin and yang, on the side of the setting sun.
In the sunlight, the shadow on the ground shrank into a small oval shape.
"It's a child!"
Zhou Yiwen quickened his pace, rapidly approaching the small figure.
He noticed more of the child's physical characteristics.
There was a little girl standing in front of me, wearing a yellow top and light blue jeans, but she was only wearing dirty socks and no shoes.
The little girl had two pigtails, but the one on the right seemed to have come loose, with a few strands of black hair sticking to her little ear.
She stood straight, her feet pressed tightly together, staring intently into the darkness, without moving an inch.
Just as Zhou Yiwen was about to get close to the other person, a strong stench of decay appeared beside him, and he turned his head to look.
Then a man whose body was missing a third of its length, his face mangled, bones exposed, and flesh dripping, limped past him.
The terrifying man's only eye twitched, glancing at Zhou Yiwen before stepping without stopping into the dark space from the side of the setting sun.
Dragging his other crooked leg and half of his rotting body, he walked into the darkness, going further and further until he was completely swallowed up by the darkness.
The putrid smell gradually faded.
Zhou Yiwen watched this scene in astonishment until the person disappeared.
He then remembered to move closer to the little girl and stand beside her.
The little girl's bright eyes flickered, but she didn't turn her head or give any reaction, as if everything around her didn't exist.
However, Zhou Yiwen could clearly see that the little girl was a little scared and was trying hard not to turn her head to look at him.
He cleared his throat, and to avoid frightening the little girl further, he asked in an extremely gentle voice, "Don't be nervous, little girl. What's your name?"
The little girl didn't answer, or even seemed not to hear him at all, giving him no response whatsoever.
Zhou Yiwen turned her head to look at the darkness she was gazing at, but could see nothing.
After a moment's hesitation, he bent down and asked softly, "Excuse me, are you Li Yi? Are you Li Jiuhe's daughter?"
The little girl, who had been standing still without reacting, suddenly shuddered, slowly turned her head, and opened her clear, big eyes to look at Zhou Yiwen's wrinkled face.
Although she didn't answer, Zhou Yiwen was certain from this reaction alone that the child in front of him was Li Yi, Li Jiuhe's daughter!
He suppressed his excitement and continued, "Li Yi, I am your father's friend. I promised him that after I die I would find a way to look for you and take care of you—"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Yi opened her mouth slightly and said, "Grandpa, you shouldn't have come here."
"Why?" Zhou Yiwen asked in surprise.
"Because—" Li Yi looked up at the dome of the room, "it's getting dark."
"Is it getting dark?" Zhou Yiwen looked around in surprise.
He didn't realize what darkness would bring to this place, but Li Yi's words seemed to reveal a strange danger.
Just then, footsteps sounded from the other half of the dark space that Li Yi was facing, and someone was striding closer.
Zhou Yiwen immediately tensed up. He remembered the person who had voluntarily entered the dark space earlier, whose whole body was rotting. So, the one who could come out of there must not be a kind thing.
Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed Li Yi's small hand, preparing to pull her back, away from the danger in the darkness.
But Li Yi did not move.
At the same time, the person who strode in from the darkness shouted, "Let her go!"
Then a lean figure emerged from the darkness, his entire body shrouded in a strong aura of blood.
Upon seeing the old man holding Li Yi, he suddenly paused, "Zhou Yiwen? Tsk tsk, long time no see!"
Zhou Yiwen exclaimed in surprise, "Tong Cheng!"