Bab 39: This 'Assassin' Isn't Very Calm

Editor: Atlas Studios

They left the room of the tiny apartment.

Zhang Yuchou didn't leave immediately. Instead, he knocked on the opposite door.

The door opened to reveal a tanned man. He took a quick look at the surroundings before his gaze lingered on Tang Luo's face. Then, he asked, "What is it?"

"We're going out for a meal. Does Officer Tan want to join us?" asked Zhang Yuchou.

Officer Tan frowned. "I'll pass. Come back soon after the meal. Also, I told you not to expose my identity."

He was probably protecting him secretly. Whether or not this was in line with the rules, when it came to serial murder cases like this, extraordinary circumstances demanded extraordinary arrangements.

There were only two remaining survivors. Thus, setting aside a bit of manpower to protect him might lead to new discoveries.

Since the murderer knew the victims' whereabouts like the back of their hand, they needed to scout the area beforehand.

"My friend visited me… So I poured my woes to him, that's all. I didn't say anything that I shouldn't," said Zhang Yuchou. He looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes, I don't know anything at all," said a smiling Tang Luo.

Tan Song almost wanted to facepalm himself. He could only say, "Mister—"

"I get it. I'll keep it a secret. I won't reveal anything to others at all." Tang Luo nodded.

"Come back early," said Tan Song to Zhang Yuchou again.

Although he was protecting him, he didn't need to follow him around the clock.

Judging from the murderer's modus operandi, it was only relatively more dangerous when they were alone at home at night.

After the third victim had met with danger, Zhang Yuchou and the two remaining survivors had stayed at a hotel for a period.

This could be considered as open protection. In comparison, what they were doing this time was secret protection. Surveillance cameras were also installed in Zhang Yuchou's rented apartment.

In Zhang Yuchou's words, this form of protection would probably continue for roughly half a month to a month, or until the murderer was caught.

Slightly over a month later also happened to be when Zhang Yuchou's apartment lease would be up. When that time came, he intended to return home for the time being. Not for marriage but just purely going back, nothing more.

He mustn't set a death flag¹.

Zhang Yuchou gulped alcohol and asked, "Do you think the Dish God or things like ghosts really exist in this world?" The mental pressure was pretty bad for him too.

"Yes," replied Tang Luo, very affirmatively.

"F*ck! Why did it come after me of all people?" Zhang Yuchou swore. "Didn't they say that spirits are forbidden after the founding of the country¹?"

Rather than saying that he agreed with Tang Luo, it was more like he was just venting his emotions.

"Don't worry, I've already blessed you," said Tang Luo, smilingly. "Demons and evil spirits won't be able to harm you."

"That would be for the best. Cheers." Zhang Yuchou downed his glass of alcohol. "No, wait. I'll drink, you can take it easy."

He remembered that Tang Luo was a teetotaller. There was no special reason behind it. He simply didn't like the taste of alcohol, that was all.

After the meal, Tang Luo sent Zhang Yuchou, who was already somewhat drunk, back to his apartment.

"Go and enjoy your big bed in the hotel," said Zhang Yuchou.

"Alright. I've already told you, but I'm staying at Hotel XX. My reservation is for seven days," said Tang Luo. "Call me if anything comes up."

"'kay, I'll contact you again tomorrow afternoon. Let's go out and hang out," replied Zhang Yuchou.

Why specifically the afternoon? Because back in their university days, if there weren't any classes in the morning, there was basically no such thing as the morning.

And now, on a rare day off, mornings similarly didn't exist.

The door closed.

However, before he left, Tan Song opened the door at the other side and invited Tang Luo in.

There wasn't anything in particular.

He merely wanted Tang Luo to keep the case a secret as far as possible and that as someone unrelated to the case, he hoped that he could stay away.

Tang Luo took on a Buddha-style attitude of Yes, of course, you're right.

As for what he would do, that depended on Tang Luo's will.

After walking down the bustling streets, Tang Luo took in the boisterous and lively nightlife that he hadn't seen in a long time. He then arrived at his hotel.

After checking in, he went up the floors and entered his room.

The vital energy in the real world was as thin as ever, meaning it wasn't of any help to the recovery of Tang Luo's injuries.

'I didn't expect that there would still be something in the real world that's in such a state,' thought Tang Luo.

When he was blessing Zhang Yuchou earlier, he had intentionally suppressed every visible external sign.

Otherwise, a flickering light enshrouding Zhang Yuchou would have become visible.

Then, something attached to him was dispelled.

Initially, Tang Luo had been under the impression that there weren't any demons or monsters in the real world. However, his speculation seemed wrong.

"Dish God? Is it a vengeful spirit attached to the dish?"

When looking at things from a different perspective, frequently, it would result in entirely different outcomes.

When the police looked at it from a world perspective that they had built over the years since they were young, the so-called Dish God case was undoubtedly a malicious serial killer case caused by human factors.

However, in Tang Luo's eyes, that was not necessarily the case.

Honestly speaking, vengeful spirits and whatnot were actually easier to resolve.

What Tang Luo was skilled in were demon subduing and vanquishing techniques, not chanting sutras.

Destroying vengeful ghosts that hurt people and enlightening them was Master Xuanzang's forte.

Except that he had a problem… He was skilled at enlightening them but unskilled at finding them.

During the journey to the west, Sun Wukong's eyes would brighten. "Master! That's the demon/monster/ghost!"

"Oh? Then step back and leave it to Master here."

Then, Tang Luo's eyes would light up too, and with a chuckle, he would charge right toward it.

But now…

"Wukong, Master misses you so much."

Being too overly proficient in one aspect wasn't a good thing. But Tang Luo didn't wish for this either.

If he hadn't become overly proficient in one aspect and madly upgraded his ability of direct confrontational combat wholeheartedly, how would he have been supposed to get through the journey to the west that had been fraught with danger?

Was he supposed to wash and clean the demons after catching them?

Feh!

The behavior of bloodthirsty demons was to eat the prey alive, blood and all, alright?

Of course, this wasn't to say that there weren't demons that should be washed and cleaned beforehand. Nevertheless, those situations weren't to be expounded on.

Saying any further would just be…

Besides, at that time, Tang Luo had been feeling all along that Gautama had been a massive trap that was laid before him.

Unexpectedly, even by the time he transmigrated back to this world, Gautama didn't entrap Tang Luo.

There was always this subtle annoying feeling of I worked so hard for so many years and got all ready, but you didn't show up in the end.

"I didn't receive any power of virtuous merits. Looks like the Dish God hasn't been truly resolved."

Tang Luo cast a glance at the Jade Lotus of Virtuous Merit, as dispelling the thing attached to Zhang Yuchou hadn't produced any power of virtuous merit. This proved that what he had dispelled was, at best, just a small part of the Dish God.

The main body must still be hiding somewhere.

If he found and enlightened it, it would count as doing a good deed and saving someone. Only then would it count as virtuous merit.

Honestly, being a Buddha of Sandalwood Merit was a lot more troublesome than being a Victorious Fighting Buddha.

A respectable, fearless man of brawn actually had to become a detective now.

When the going got tough, even a Buddha had it rough.

Ringggg…

The phone at the bedside table started ringing.

"Good evening, Mr. Tang. This is the front desk."

Tang Luo picked up the phone and heard a sweet and lovely voice on the other end.

"Is something the matter?" asked Tang Luo.

This was a high-class four-star hotel. Surely, they wouldn't offer any inappropriate services, right?

Even if they did, with Master Xuanzang's upright aura, did he look like that sort of person?

"It's like this." The front desk lady said in her sweet and lovely voice, "A Mr. Sun is looking for you."

"Sun? Mister?" 99% of Tang Luo's interest disappeared at once.

"Yes, he says that he's your friend…" The lady at the front desk paused for a moment, waiting for Tang Luo's response.

"What's his name?"

There was some noise at the other end, as though she was covering the handset while asking the visitor for his name.

After a few seconds, her voice sounded again. "He says that his name is Sun Ang."

"I don't know him… Wait!" Tang Luo suddenly changed his stance. "Let him up."

"Alright, Mr. Tang. If you need any help, please feel free to let us know anytime."

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

Tang Luo opened the door without even looking through the peephole.

Outside the door was a young man, who in terms of appearance looked about the same age as Tang Luo.

He looked somewhat tired. There was quite a lot of white hair mixed among his black hair.

However, the look in his eyes was very high-spirited and self-confident.

No, it should be described as arrogance and superiority instead.

"You are…" said Tang Luo as he looked at Sun Ang.

He had allowed him to come up because Zhang Yuchou had mentioned his name to Tang Luo before. Other than Zhang Yuchou, he was the last survivor among the six people who had played the dish god game.

Sun Ang didn't answer Tang Luo's question. He went past him, entered the room, pulled out a chair, and then sat down before asking a question of his own, "Is Zhang Yuchou your friend?"

There was a look of I'm the owner here all over him.

Tang Luo shut the door along the way and replied, "Yes, you're his coworker, right?"

"That's right." Sun Ang nodded. "Since he's your friend and we're even colleagues, I'll spare him. This kid didn't offend me anyway."

"Oh?"

Tang Luo raised his eyebrows and asked, "Messing around in the real world, aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Pfft."

Sun Ang's demeanor relaxed even further. "So you're a noob. You noobs are probably the only ones who aren't aware that the restrictions have been relaxed. If you do it a little more discreetly and refrain from being flashy, it'll be fine."

An Employee of Gods and Demons! Sun Ang was an Employee of Gods and Demons too.

In addition, he was likely a true veteran Employee of Gods and Demons who had been through several missions.

The Dish God didn't exist. The one committing murders was the Employee of Gods and Demons in front of him!

What the Jade Lotus of Virtuous Merit had dispelled was likely a trapdoor that Sun Ang had left on Zhang Yuchou.

Perhaps it was some kind of means to eavesdrop? That would explain how he knew Tang Luo was staying here.

Before Tang Luo blessed Zhang Yuchou, he had mentioned the hotel he was staying.

Sun Ang must have affirmed that Tang Luo was an Employee of Gods and Demons because the latter had dispelled his trapdoor. Thus, Sun Ang visited him to give him a warning.

"You killed four people in a row. Even a special investigation team has been established. And you think that isn't flashy enough yet?" asked Tang Luo.

"Those people deserved it." Sun Ang laughed sinisterly. "The fact that I'm still safe right now goes to show even more that they deserved it!"

The Game of Gods And Demons had never explicitly informed Employees of Gods and Demons of the rules. This included the extent of what they were allowed to do in the real world.

Zhou Zhenguo had informed Tang Luo that they could use their skills—in moderation, of course—to reap some benefits and improve their lives.

Nevertheless, the restrictions seemed to have relaxed.

Chu Chongtian and others had heard about some rumors, which were seemingly real but, in truth, fake. Also, it was difficult to verify the authenticity of some rumors and pieces of news.

Sun Ang hadn't been entirely sure either when he killed his first victim. Thus, upon discovering that he was still alright after his experimental murder, he became bolder.

"That adulterous couple, that blabbermouth, and that treacherous fellow who only knows how to tattletale and suck up to others… They all deserved to die!"

Tang Luo was someone whom Sun Ang could share his joy with, so he vented without holding back.

After making it big overnight due to the restrictions' relaxation, he had become arrogant and uncontrollable!