The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 475 Confusing
"Is Wang Lixuan's address around here?"

Upon receiving this news, Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian stared wide-eyed in astonishment, exchanging bewildered glances.

After a moment, Zhao Qian spoke uncertainly.

"This must be a coincidence, right?"

"What a coincidence!" Qin Lang frowned. "This place isn't exactly close to the Hai Ba Wang Restaurant."

“Wang Lixuan was once the head chef of Haibawang Restaurant, but he lived in a place so far away from Haibawang Restaurant, and Zhenling also appeared here…” Qin Lang’s gaze turned to the surrounding industrial area.

"Sister Tang Yu hasn't sent me the specific address yet. Before that, let's go to the place where Zhen Ling appeared and take a look."

Cao Dongdong and the other nodded at the same time. With the help of the information, they quickly found the place where Zhenling appeared: No. 128 Changxian Street.

“According to the information, that rare spirit appeared here in the early morning two days ago,” Qin Lang said slowly. “In terms of time, it was right behind the location we went to before.”

“The two places are half a city apart, but the rare spirit came here from the seaside, and the interval between them was only about three hours.”

"That's too fast!" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but say. "It took us almost an hour to get here from over there, and that was by car."

"Yeah," Zhao Qian couldn't help but chime in, "Did that rare spirit not come by itself, but by car?"

"Take a car?" Qin Lang looked thoughtful.

"It doesn't seem impossible."

"Huh?" Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian both showed speechless expressions.

"I was just kidding, you actually took it seriously." Zhao Qian couldn't help but shake her head. "How could Zhenling possibly ride in a car?"

“If… I mean, if…” Qin Lang paused slightly, “if that rare spirit was captured and driven here from that place, then the time issue can be explained.”

“But according to you, that precious spirit was already captured,” Zhao Qian couldn’t help but say. “However, intelligence indicates that every time the precious spirit appeared, it was without being imprisoned.”

"This is clearly not true."

"That's something I can't figure out either." Qin Lang frowned and pondered for a moment, then temporarily gave up. "Never mind, I'll stop thinking about it for now."

"Sister Tang Yu should have already sent over Wang Lixuan's address. Let's go find him first..." Qin Lang said as he opened his phone, but his words stopped abruptly when he saw the specific address sent by Tang Yu.

"what happened?"

Seeing that Qin Lang's expression was unusual, Cao Dongdong asked him.

Qin Lang did not answer, but silently turned his gaze to No. 129 Changxian Street, which was only separated from the place where Zhenling appeared by a wall.

“Wang Lixuan’s home is there.”

"what?!"

Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian both showed expressions of astonishment.

If the two are simply located in the same area, there's a slight possibility that it's a coincidence.

But Wang Lixuan actually lives right next to the place where Zhenling appeared!
Qin Lang and his group arrived in Xianyu City and have only investigated two things so far. One is the problem behind Haibawang Restaurant, and the other is the information about Zhenling that Du Ziyan gave to Qin Lang.

And now, these seemingly unrelated things are appearing to be connected in a strange way.

“Then we…” Cao Dongdong opened his mouth, about to say something, but Qin Lang suddenly pulled him back.

With his other hand, he grabbed Zhao Qian and quickly pulled the two of them to an inconspicuous corner, his eyes fixed intently on a figure walking from a distance at the other end of the street.

He was a tall, thin middle-aged man with slightly sunken eyes that gave him a somewhat gloomy and fierce look. His lips, which he often pursed, were thinner than average, making him seem unapproachable. Because Song Yu had shown the photo to Qin Lang and the other two before, they recognized him instantly.

The person who arrived was none other than Wang Lixuan.

The three of them fell silent at the same time, hiding in an inconspicuous corner and observing Wang Lixuan approaching from a distance.

The other person didn't notice the three of them; they were just holding their phone in one hand and talking quietly.

"Damn it, I can't hear anything!" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but mutter under his breath after straining his ears to hear nothing.

"Quiet!" Zhao Qian slapped Cao Dongdong on the head and continued to listen intently, trying to hear some key information.

Finally, Wang Lixuan stopped in front of his own house.

He didn't go in immediately, but continued to hold the phone, talking to an unknown person on the other end.

As he spoke, Wang Lixuan's expression seemed to grow increasingly gloomy, and even his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"Qu Dong will be back soon!"

“Song Yu isn’t very bright, but Qu Dong is different!”

"I have to leave Xianyu City before Qu Dong returns, otherwise he will definitely cause me trouble, and you won't be any better off."

"Therefore, the goods must be delivered as soon as possible!"

"Otherwise... don't blame me for being impolite!"

After a furious outburst, Wang Lixuan hung up the phone, gave a soft snort, and went into his home.

Qin Lang and the other two nodded and came out from their hiding place.

"We really did overhear some important information." Cao Dongdong snorted. "The matter of Hai Ba Wang is indeed related to Wang Lixuan!"

"Yes," Qin Lang nodded. "This has now been basically confirmed."

Qu Dong is the manager of Haibawang Restaurant and also the person who is temporarily on a business trip to solve the restaurant's ingredient problem.

If it weren't for Qin Lang and the others, Song Yu wouldn't have noticed Wang Lixuan's unusual behavior. However, from what Wang Lixuan had just said, it was clear that Wang Lixuan was very wary of Manager Qu Dong, whom Qin Lang and the others had not yet met.

Therefore, Wang Lixuan wanted to run away before Qu Dong returned.

“If the person who just spoke to Wang Lixuan on the phone is the boss behind Hai Sheng Yan, then everything makes sense.” Zhao Qian looked thoughtful. “Hai Sheng Yan promised Wang Lixuan some benefits, which led him to betray Hai Ba Wang Restaurant.”

"I'm rather curious, what kind of benefits did Hai Sheng Yan offer that made Wang Lixuan choose to betray him?" Cao Dongdong looked interested. "Hai Ba Wang treated him very well."

"There aren't many things that would tempt a spirit master to such an extent, even risking exposure and fleeing,," Qin Lang said slowly. "And coincidentally, a few days ago, a rare spirit was spotted near Wang Lixuan's house, very likely passing by..."

"You mean..." Zhao Qian gasped.

"It's Zhenling?!" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"This is just my guess." Qin Lang fell into deep thought.

Chili Spirit appeared in an uncaptured state, yet was able to traverse half a city's distance within hours.

In addition, there were the benefits Hai Sheng Yan offered to sway Wang Lixuan…

Everything seemed to be becoming increasingly confusing and unpredictable.

(End of this chapter)