ebookslot Chapter 61 The Demon
Chapter 61 The Demon
Zhou Xing nodded: "Okay. Wait here for a bit."
Sun Youfu responded, retreated to the courtyard gate, squatted down by the wall, and took out half a cigarette to light.
In the courtyard, Ip Man and Ah Leung were packing their things.
The two rattan trunks were open, containing several folded clothes, a few books, and a tea set.
The Tianjin Martial Arts Promotion Association allocated a small courtyard as a branch of the Cantonese boxing club, and Ip Man will move there tomorrow.
Zhou walked over. Ip Man was putting a boxing manual into the bottom of a box when he saw Zhou approaching and straightened up.
"Master Ye,"
Zhou Xing said, "I have some business at the police station. I'm afraid I won't be able to have lunch with you and Ah Liang."
Ip Man nodded, his expression gentle: "You've had a hard time these past few days."
"It's nothing."
Zhou Xing laughed and said, "It's all thanks to Master Ye's excellent teaching."
Ip Man looked at him, his expression becoming more serious, and his voice lowered:
"The person who possessed Guo Zhen was so powerful that even we, with our advanced cultivation, couldn't detect any flaws when he was right in front of us. His true cultivation level is at least at the 'demon' level."
Now that he's set his sights on you, be careful from now on. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to come to me.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xing's mind raced.
The Realm of the "Demon"...
During this period, he roughly pieced together the different levels of sorcerers from Mr. Qin's notes, scattered records gathered from the ghost market, and old stories about the martial arts world that Ip Man occasionally mentioned.
At the very bottom are the shamans, mostly rural sorceresses and spirit mediums who can summon small items to treat illnesses and exorcise evil spirits, but they themselves have little spiritual cultivation.
Above them are sorcerers, like Mr. Qin, who are proficient in one or several evil arts. They can exorcise ghosts, refine corpses, and cast curses to harm people. Their methods are bizarre, but their physical bodies are mostly fragile and they fear masculine energy and righteous thunder.
But the sorcerer represents a qualitative change.
According to scattered records, the sorcerers in this realm are no longer purely human. They either cultivate in conjunction with demons or refine themselves into half-human, half-demon beings. Not only are their evil arts powerful, but their physical bodies are also exceptionally strong, and their vitality is tenacious.
What's more troublesome is that they are often skilled in parasitism, creating clones, and other evil methods to protect themselves, making them extremely difficult to kill completely.
A master of transforming internal energy possesses a substantial and powerful fist technique. Their qi and blood are like a furnace, making them difficult to harm with ordinary swords and spears, and they are no longer afraid of concentrated fire from ordinary firearms.
The level of sorcerers at the demonic level is comparable to that of martial artists at the Transformation Realm.
A sorcerer, at least at the demonic realm, was watching him from the shadows...
Zhou Xing nodded, raising an eyebrow:
"Then he'd better hurry, otherwise by the time I reach the Transformation Realm, I won't know who will be looking for whom."
Ip Man glanced at him, shook his head and smiled, then pointed to the small courtyard:
"The rent for this room is due at the end of next month. If you're looking for a quiet place, you can come and stay here."
"Thank you, Master Ye." Zhou Xing clasped his hands in thanks.
Ip Man waved his hand and continued tidying up.
Ah Liang, who was tying up the bedding, glanced up at Zhou Xing and muttered something in a low voice:
"Take care, Senior Brother Zhou."
Zhou Xing nodded to him, then turned and left the hospital.
Sun Youfu and others waited at the alley entrance. When they saw Zhou Xing come out, they quickly followed. The two of them walked out of the old alley one after the other.
The sun was high in the sky, shining so brightly that the bluestone pavement turned white.
The tram clanged, the carriage was packed with people, and the edges of melon-shaped hats and cheongsams peeked out from the windows.
The rickshaw driver took a shortcut through the alleyways, his feet slapping the ground with a crackling sound as he called out, "Excuse me!"
The utility poles were covered with faded stickers, and the words "Rintan" and "Laodu Eye Drops" were faded and mottled.
The two walked through the city noise and entered the South City.
It was more lively here, with the sound of the gavel and scattered cheers coming from the storytelling venue.
A red lantern with the words "The soup is hot before the rooster crows" hung at the entrance of the bathhouse. Two or three men wearing only undershirts and slippers walked out, their bodies steaming.
The two walked through the streets and alleys for about 15 minutes before entering a restaurant called "Dengyinglou".
A two-story brick and wood building with a black lacquered sign with gold lettering, and two stone drums squatting at the entrance.
It was lunchtime, and the room was mostly full.
The waiters, with white towels draped over their shoulders and trays of food, flitted between tables and chairs like butterflies, their voices loud and clear.
"A plate of braised chicken wings... turn around slowly!"
Zhou Xing and Sun Youfu went up to the second floor.
The waiter on the second floor was a young man in his early twenties with lively eyes and brows.
Seeing that Zhou Xing was dressed plainly but had a calm demeanor, and that Sun Youfu was acting like a follower, he tactfully led him to a quiet private room, quickly wiped the table, served tea, and handed over the menu.
Zhou Xing glanced at it and immediately recited the names of the dishes:
"Braised carp, braised cuttlefish, stir-fried shrimp, pan-fried pork tenderloin, stir-fried pork belly, braised pork belly... and a bowl of white rice. And a pot of hot sorghum liquor."
The waiter jotted down notes at lightning speed, then couldn't help but look up to confirm:
"Sir, how many of you are there?"
"The two of you."
"This portion of food would probably take seven or eight people to finish."
"Go ahead."
The waiter said no more and bowed as he withdrew.
Sun Youfu was stunned. After the door closed, he whispered:
"Old Zhou, you ordered so much, I can't finish it all..."
Zhou Xing picked up the teacup and blew on it:
"Who said this was for you? This is mine. Order whatever you want to eat."
Sun Youfu was taken aback, then chuckled awkwardly, thinking to himself: This guy's appetite is a bit frightening.
The dishes were served quickly and filled the octagonal table. There were glistening, reddish-brown braised carp, crispy fried cuttlefish pieces, tender pink shrimp, and steaming, dark brown braised pork.
Zhou Xing picked up his rice bowl and kept eating with his chopsticks.
He was really hungry.
In a single day, from the Guo family's one-on-one battle against Liu Yishou to the one-on-ten confrontation at the symposium, a series of fierce battles left him physically and mentally exhausted.
Now my internal organs are empty, and my stomach feels like it has a hole in it.
He ate very quickly, but not rudely. His chopsticks were steady, and his bites were precise, focusing on the thickest parts with fewest bones.
The carp, bones and all, was chewed with a crunching sound before being swallowed; a piece of cuttlefish was devoured in a few bites; and shrimp was scooped into the rice spoonful by spoonful before being eaten.
His cheeks bulged, and the veins in his neck were slightly visible.
Sun Youfu's eyelids twitched as he read it.
This looks like they haven't eaten for three days. The food, enough for seven or eight people, has visibly shrunk in size.
He picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks and ate it slowly with his rice, his mind churning:
How long has it been? Just a month ago, he was a lowly Chinese constable in the foreign concession. Now the changes are so drastic it's unsettling.
Zhou Xing ate a little more to ease his stomach, then looked up at Sun Youfu:
"Tell me, Old Sun, what exactly happened?"
Sun Youfu quickly put down his chopsticks, sat up straighter, and lowered his voice:
"The first thing is to shut down the charity's public strongholds. As you instructed, Inspector Li led his men to inspect those shops and charitable halls. They were clean on the surface, and no evidence was found."
However, according to what you said, "old items that have been around for a long time and have been used by famous people," some of them were secretly collected, and Inspector Li had them sealed and stored in the police station's evidence room.
In addition, he also collected several strange items through other means and put them in as well.
Zhou Xing grunted in agreement, picked up a chicken leg, chewed it up, skin and bone, and swallowed it.
Sun Youfu continued, "The second case is the 'Tianjin Judge' case. The French Concession is pressing us hard, wanting to set up a special investigation team to solve the case within a limited time."
The captain is a foreigner, newly transferred, his name is something like Renault.
When he said that name, his voice unconsciously lowered, tinged with a hint of apprehension:
"According to Inspector Li, this foreigner is no ordinary person. He was an officer in the Annam colony in his early years. Once, when he was suppressing a local rebellion, his platoon was ambushed and suffered heavy casualties."
He was all alone, carrying a military knife, and in the dark, he raided three enemy hideouts, killed more than forty armed rebels, and escaped unscathed.
Later, somehow he was transferred to the police system, specializing in handling difficult cases. This guy was eccentric; no matter the case, he'd solve it within days. His methods were incredibly ruthless.