Slaying God: I, the insane and witty god

Chapter 748 Zuo Qing detained Chen Lao,

Zuo Qing stood at the entrance of the alley for half a cigarette.

The night wind blew the smell of grass into his collar. He took out a cigarette and lit it, and the sparks flickered in the dark.

The shadow of the man wearing a bronze mask on Chen Lao's window paper was still shaking, like a black plaster stuck to the glass.

The night watchman's clapper rang again, and this time he heard it clearly.

The low howling sound like a wolf came from the direction of the mass grave in the south of the city - exactly the same sound as when the bone-eating monster appeared last month.

He pressed the cigarette butt against the wall, and sparks flew into the cracks between the blue bricks, scalding two night-flying crickets to death.

"Old Chen." He pushed open the door, and the straight knife came out of its sheath half an inch with a buzz.

The blade, reflecting the moonlight, touched Chen Lao's brow. "Do you remember the three iron laws of the Night's Watch?"

Mr. Chen was adding water to the teacup when the tea strainer hit the porcelain rim with a "ding" sound.

When he looked up, the mask had been taken off, but the broken grass leaves were still on his temples.

"Xiao Zuo, the knife is too close. My old bones are shaking easily."

"Rule number one, do not make deals with evil spirits."

Zuo Qing's mouth was clenched until it turned white, and the blade cut a thin line of blood on Chen Lao's forehead.

"The human-faced owl you let the Psychic Team release last month had the Mask Team's hidden seal tattooed on its wings.

Second, do not keep anything to yourself.

"He slapped the stack of files on the table with his other hand, and Chen Moyu's secret letter flipped over the page.

Even I, the commander-in-chief, have never seen the 'July 15th' plan locked in your drawer.

Article 3 - "

“Don’t harm your own family.”

Mr. Chen suddenly laughed, and started coughing, with blood seeping out from between his fingers.

"Xiao Zuo, you're pushing too hard. Can I have some tea before we talk?"

Zuo Qing flipped his wrist and the blade sent the teacup flying.

The celadon fragments hit the wall, splashing some hot tea, which burned the back of Old Chen's hand red.

The old man stared at the red mark on the back of his hand, as if he was looking at something interesting.

"When you were a kid, you were imprisoned in a dark camp for three days and three nights. I once gave you five roasted sweet potatoes."

"The last sweet potato was cold, and you took a bite and spit it out, saying, 'Grandpa Chen, this sweet potato is harder than monster meat.'"

“Now is not the time to talk about this.”

Zuo Qing's Adam's apple moved, and the knife was pressed down half an inch.

"What exactly is hidden in the tour group organized by the Masked Team in Ningchang County?

You asked Lin Qiye to go to the Old City God Temple. Is it related to them?

Old Chen suddenly stretched out his hand and placed his index finger on the blade.

Blood beads flowed down the blade and formed a small pool of blood on the bronze mask.

"Xiao Zuo, who have you ever seen the Night's Watch slash with the most brutal knife?"

His voice was as light as a sigh.

“When you strike at your own people, the knife must first cut out your own heart.”

Zuo Qing's hands began to tremble.

He recalled that three years ago, Old Chen had taken him to identify the body of the first night watchman—that was Old Chen's first apprentice.

He was tortured for seven days and seven nights by the masked team using bone-eating insects.

When the body was brought back, Mr. Chen squatted in the morgue and smoked a whole pack of cigarettes. Finally, he said, "Someone has to sharpen this knife."

"Give me your phone." Mr. Chen said suddenly.

Zuo Qing didn't move.

"Call the interrogation team and have them bring a pair of silver handcuffs."

Old Chen wiped his face with his bloody fingers.

"My old bones can stand the test."

He pointed to the bronze mask on the table.

“But Xiao Zuo, after you’re done interrogating me, remember to go to the Old City God Temple.

There is a record buried under the City God statue - how the Masked Squad turned our people into ghosts over the years.

Zuo Qing's phone vibrated in his pocket. He didn't even look at the number and pressed the hands-free key.

"Commander Zuo, Captain Lin and his men have arrived in Ningchang County."

It was An Qingyu's voice, with car horns honking in the background.

"Hei Tong located the Masked Team's tour bus. The license plate number is Jin A."

"Captain Lin said he wants to rent the entire bus and is bargaining with the tour guide."

Old Chen suddenly laughed out loud, and blood foam sprayed on the bronze mask.

"This kid's bargaining skills are just like yours when you bought talisman paper on the black market."

He stood up with the help of the table, his back straighter than that of a young man.

"Let's go, Xiao Zuo. I'll be handcuffing you, but the agreement at the Old City God Temple—"

“I’ll go.”

Zuo Qing retracted the knife, and the scabbard hit the door frame.

"After I have examined you, I will go there myself."

When the interrogation team's car stopped at the entrance of the alley, Old Chen had already put the bronze mask in his arms.

As he passed by Zuo Qing, he lowered his voice and said, "Xiao Zuo, when you finish reading that account book, you will know that the people we are going to kill are not our own.

yes......"

He paused,

"It's a demon that's possessed one of our own people."

Zuo Qing watched Mr. Chen get into the car.

The sirens of police cars pierced the night. He took out a cigarette and found that there was only one left in the box.

Just as I clicked on it, my phone vibrated again. It was a video sent by Lin Qiye.

In the video, Wu Hen was leaning against the bus window and smiling at the camera, with a tour guide wearing a floral shirt sitting behind him.

The tour guide held a calculator in his hand, his forehead covered in sweat:

"I really can't book the whole car, sir! This tour was booked two weeks in advance, and you'll have to pay a penalty if you cancel the tour!"

"How much compensation?" Lin Qiye's voice came from outside the picture.

“Three thousand eight!”

Wu Hen suddenly pressed his face against the glass, smiling until his eyes narrowed into slits:

"Sister, our Commander Zuo said we should pay 38,000, not just 3,800.

But there is a condition—"He pointed to the badge on Guiyou's chest.

"You need to tell us exactly what happened with that 'Sunset Red' tour group you led last week."

The tour guide's face turned pale.

Zuo Qing put out his cigarette and looked towards the Old City God Temple.

Under the moonlight, dark clouds rose from the south of the city, like a group of black crows huddled together.

He touched the straight knife at his waist. The copper ring on the scabbard was still stained with Old Chen's blood and felt a little sticky.

“Old Chen.”

He whispered to the empty alley, "I hope the account you mentioned is thick enough."

The door hinges of the Old City God Temple creaked like they were about to die.

Zuo Qing's leather shoes rolled over the broken tiles on the ground, and the musty smell mixed with incense ash penetrated his nose - this temple hadn't been opened for at least ten years.

The apple on the altar was as dry as a piece of dead bark, with half a faded yellow talisman stuck to it.

He took out his lighter and the flame illuminated the face of the City God statue.

The bamboo bones were exposed where the clay had peeled off, and the gold paint at the corners of the statue's mouth had cracked into spider webs, making it look like it was grinning.

Zuo Qing pulled out the straight knife with his backhand and struck the back of the knife on the third brick of the statue's base—a hollow sound followed by a "dong".

When the tip of the knife was picking up the moss in the cracks between the bricks, Zuo Qing's fingers suddenly stopped.

He remembered what Mr. Chen said, "The account book is buried," but what his fingertips touched was not a page of paper, but a cold copper box.

The lid of the box was engraved with the totem of the Night Watch, and the patterns of the eagle's head and snake's tail were condensed with dark red, like blood that had not been wiped off.

"Shit," he swore, digging his nails into the cracks in the box.

The moment the copper box was opened, a burnt smell suddenly emerged from the musty smell - a stack of photos were neatly stacked in the box.

The picture at the top is of Xiao Zhou, the night watchman who died three years ago.

The person in the photo is standing in front of the mass grave monument, with his mouth grinning from ear to ear, but if you look closely, you can see that his pupils are two cloudy whites.

Zuo Qing's back teeth felt sore from biting them.

The second photo is the deputy captain of the psychic team.

The third one is Old Zhang, who was transferred to logistics last year - these are all names that he signed the eulogy with personally.

The date was written in blood on the back of the photo.

The last one was dated seven days ago.

The person in the photo is wearing the uniform of the interrogation team and holding a barbed steel needle in his hand.

"The ghost that possesses one of our own..."

He whispered Chen Lao's words to the photo, and the lighter fell to the ground with a click.

Before the fire went out, he saw a map at the bottom of the photo.

The location of the mass grave was circled seven times with red pen.

Written next to it in Mr. Chen’s handwriting was the following: On July 15th, ghosts borrow human bones.

The phone vibrated in his pocket, and this time it was Wu Hen's voice.

Zuo Qing turned on the hands-free mode and heard the sound of glass breaking in the background.

Wu Hen's panting sound was mixed with a suppressed laugh: "Commander Zuo, guess what?

There was a 'retired teacher' sitting in the last row of the bus.

Just now I tapped his shoulder to ask for directions, and my hand sank directly into his arm - it was all muddy.

"Hold on." Zuo Qing stuffed the photo back into the copper box and knocked over the altar when he turned around.

The dried apple rolled to the corner and hit a curled-up body - an old man in a gray shirt.

There was a three-inch iron nail stuck in the back of his neck, and there was new mud stuck in the cracks between his nails.

He suddenly remembered the night watchman's clappers and the howling of wolves at the mass graves south of the city.

"Let Lin Qiye check the back of everyone's neck. If there are any nail holes..."

“He’s already lifting his collar!”

Wu Hen's voice suddenly rose.

"I have an old lady here, and the nail holes on the back of her neck are still oozing black water!"

"The tour guide wanted to run away just now, but Xia Simeng held her back."

"She cried and said the 'Sunset Red' group didn't even go to Yuntaishan, they were all taken to the mass grave..."

"What are you talking about?" Zuo Qing's straight knife came out of its sheath with a "hum".

“Hey Gu!”

Lin Qiye's voice came in, and in the background there was the crackling sound of burning talismans.

“An Qingyu sensed the fluctuations in the earth’s veins, and the bus’s chassis was engraved with a Yin Gathering Array.

Wu Hen, pull that muddy arm off!

Captain Xia, use the thunder talisman to seal the front door!

Zuo Qing heard the sharp sound of metal tearing, Wu Hen cursed "It's so fucking sticky", followed by the dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground.

He put the copper box into his arms, turned around and ran out of the temple. Under the moonlight,

The dark clouds from the south of the city were rolling towards Ningchang County, like a ball of black cotton wool wrapped in a fishy smell.

"Commander Zuo!"

An Qingyu's voice suddenly interrupted, with a rare tension.

"Old Chen's secret letter mentioned that July 15th is the day when the Gu King is formed, and buried under the mass grave..."

"What is buried?" Zuo Qing stopped at the temple entrance.

"The bones of the night watchmen are buried there." Old Chen's voice came from the phone.

Zuo Qing then realized that the call interface showed "Interrogation Team Monitoring".

In the picture, Mr. Chen is sitting in the interrogation room.

The silver handcuffs were fastened to the back of the chair, and the bronze mask was placed on the table, “Xiao Zuo, the bronze box in your hand is the key.

Go to the mass grave and pull out the poisonous nails that are nailed to the bones——"

He coughed, and blood foam splashed on the surveillance camera.

"Otherwise, when the moon passes over the City God's Head, Ningchang County will become the second lair of the bone-eating Gu monster."

Zuo Qing reached for the straight knife at his waist. The blood on the scabbard had dried, and it hurt his hand.

He looked up at the sky and saw the moon climbing towards the top of the City God statue, like a coin soaked in blood.

"Lin Qiye."

He yelled into the phone.

"Take everyone to the mass grave."

"Wu Hen, pry open the guide's mouth and ask him where the Gu array's core is."

"An Qingyu, locate the bone mound that Old Chen mentioned."

He pressed the copper box to his chest, turned and rushed into the night, the straight knife flashing coldly at his side.

"Old Chen, you better not lie to me—"

“Have I ever lied to anyone?”

Old Chen's laughter mixed with the hum of sirens.

"Xiao Zuo, remember who the Night's Watch attacked with the most brutal blow?"

Zuo Qing's footsteps suddenly stopped.

He recalled the first corpse that Mr. Chen had taken him to identify.

Thinking of the empty pack of cigarettes in the morgue,

I remember the tears in the wrinkles at the corners of Lao Chen’s eyes when he said, “Someone has to sharpen this knife.”

"Kill the demons that are possessing one of your own people."

He spoke into the phone, his voice as hoarse as a rusty knife.

The howling of wolves in the south of the city was heard again, this time closer, mixed with the honking of bus horns.

Mixed with the crackling sound of burning spells and Wu Hen's cursing laughter,

Like a taut string, it broke with a clang on the night of July 14th.

Zuo Qing took out his last cigarette and lit it.

The sparks reflected the totem of the night watchman on the bronze box.

It reflected the dark clouds rolling in Ningchang County in the distance and the red corners of his eyes.

"Walk."

He put out his cigarette and drew his sword three inches from its sheath.

"Go kill the ghost."