In the meeting room, Chief Liu Ziqian was pulling at his hair.
The team leaders and clerks below all stared at their noses, noses to their hearts, saying nothing.
Liu Ziqian said:
"Don't all stay silent now. Silence isn't golden at this moment. Everyone, share your opinions."
A team leader timidly said:
"I actually don't think this has much to do with our security bureau.
How are animal incidents different from disasters?
We can't manage that, can we?"
Liu Ziqian sighed:
"But citizens are getting injured, and their property is damaged. That's our responsibility.
Let's not even mention the bird attacks.
A few days ago in Xinghua Alley, there was a beast murder case—that's twelve lives lost.
This happened in our North District, so we are responsible.
Moreover, that murderous beast hasn't been found yet.
The victims' families come every day for an explanation. Can you tell them animal incidents aren't our concern?"
The meeting room fell silent again.
A team leader slowly raised his hand:
"Chief, is there a possibility someone is training beasts to commit crimes?
After all... the deceased, Zhou Hang, has a somewhat unusual family background.
I suspect this is a human orchestrated incident.
The bird attack incidents and the Xinghua Alley case, I believe it's the work of the same person and can be consolidated."
After saying this, everyone immediately expressed agreement.
Though rare, it's not unheard of for crimes to be committed using trained animals.
There have been cases of dogs trained to kill, even rats.
Liu Ziqian felt his head throbbing:
"Someone trained a beast for crime, that I can somewhat believe.
But can someone really train a group of different bird species to commit crimes?
Also, what's the motive for using a bird attack on the zoo's bird forest and a restaurant?"
Once again, the room was silent.
This matter indeed made no sense.
Taming a bird flock to such an extent, humans can't achieve that.
Liu Ziqian rubbed his temples and continued:
"And there's one more matter that's baffling.
The deceased, Zhou Hang, wasn't killed by a beast.
According to the examination, he smashed his head against the wall over twenty times, killing himself.
In my thirty-plus years in the security system, it's the first time I've encountered something so bizarre."
Liu Ziqian scanned the room, looking at the team leaders with their heads down, and erupted, banging on the table:
"Are you all mute?!
You can't say a word?!
Where's your usual sharpness?!"
Liu Ziqian glared at the team leaders looking like quails, feeling his anger surge to his head.
Suddenly, his gaze landed on a drowsy young man.
His name was Wei Ming, who had some connections in the municipal bureau and joined as the archives director straight after graduating college.
Seeing Wei Ming's nonchalant demeanor, Liu Ziqian's anger erupted like a lit powder keg.
He smacked the table hard:
"Wei Ming!"
Wei Ming jolted in fright.
Liu Ziqian's face was sullen:
"What do you think?"
Wei Ming blinked.
He had no opinion whatsoever.
He was a novel enthusiast, having stayed up too late reading last night and thus had no mind for work today.
Coming to the meeting was just a formality for him.
Wei Ming only knew the meeting's theme, not what he was supposed to say.
But seeing Liu Ziqian's fiery gaze, he knew if he didn't come up with something, he'd be in trouble today.
Wei Ming racked his brains, only recalling the novel he read last night.
Weakly, he said:
"Is there a possibility that demons are reawakening?"
Liu Ziqian was momentarily stunned:
"What did you say?"
Wei Ming swallowed:
"Demons reawakening, that would connect these incidents."
Liu Ziqian's eye twitched:
"Explain yourself."
Wei Ming took a breath:
"Well, there used to be demons on Blue Star, and for some reason, they went dormant.
In recent years, human destruction of nature has become more severe, causing those demons to awaken.
After awakening, a series of inexplicable events occurred.
The Xinghua Alley incident is the work of a Tiger Demon.
The bird attacks are the work of a Bird Demon.
Similar cases might happen in the future. I'd like to call them abnormal events."
The team leaders couldn't help it and burst into laughter.
Everyone present was a staunch advocate of scientific reasoning, not easily swayed by such absurdities.
And calling it abnormal events? Was this a comedy show?
Liu Ziqian felt his blood pressure rising. He waved his hand dismissively, signaling them to leave.
After taking two blood pressure tablets, he turned on his computer.
It was an unreplied email from the municipal bureau asking for reasonable suggestions regarding the two events.
Reasonable suggestions could be anything, even unscientific. The municipal bureau needed various ideas for brainstorming.
After two hours of meeting, none of the team leaders had any reasonable suggestions.
Upon reflection, the most plausible suggestion was actually Wei Ming's idea of demons reawakening!
Liu Ziqian's head throbbed once more. In the end, he made a difficult decision and bravely clicked the reply button.
With his single-finger typing style, he wrote eight characters: "Demons reawakening, abnormal events."
...
By evening, in South Sea North District, inside a medicine shop.
Li Yang sat at the counter reading.
A crow poked its head out from his chest, tilting its head as if it could understand the book.
At this moment, the wind chime on the door rang, signaling the arrival of a guest.
The visitor was a burly man.
He had slicked-back hair, a thick gold chain around his neck, a large gold watch on his wrist, and a gold bracelet of Pi Xiu beads.
Even though winter hadn't arrived, he was already wearing a fur coat.
He removed his sunglasses and surveyed the shop.
After a glance, Li Yang didn't even raise his eyelids as he asked:
"What do you need?"
The man showed hesitation on his face and said:
"Well, you see, I, um...."
Li Yang knew this was a person referred by Suzu.
Suzu's Black Witch enchantment could make things seem unreal.
Or perhaps this person hadn't even seen Suzu herself.
Much like how Zhang Shi'ai was guided here through the internet, and college student Xiaocheng was led here through a dream.
The man was afraid to speak about his issues outright, fearing he'd be mistaken for having mental problems.
Li Yang turned to a new page and calmly said:
"What's troubling you?"
The man's eyes suddenly lit up.
He pulled out a gold-trimmed business card from his chest and placed it on the table before Li Yang, exclaiming:
"Oh my gosh, you're truly a sage!"
Li Yang's mouth twitched slightly.
A sage?
The man clumsily pulled out a cigarette to offer Li Yang.
Li Yang turned him down with a stern face.
The man showed flattery all over his face:
"Recently, I've been seeing my great-grandmother a lot.
I feel like it can't just be an illusion.
My great-grandmother always said if I ever faced insurmountable troubles, I should come here!"
Li Yang glanced at the man.
How much torment did Suzu put him through?
He then looked at the business card.
Da Jun Media Culture Co., Ltd., General Manager—Zhu Dajun.
Zhu Dajun sat down and began talking to himself:
"Old Zhu here, I didn't even finish middle school before heading out. I'm not well-educated.
It's tough out in the world! Fortunately, my great-grandmother doted on me.
Even twenty years after her passing, she's still looking out for me."