The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 496 An Unexpected Encounter

"The specific information is on this piece of paper."

As Tang Yu spoke, he took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Qin Lang.

It was a color-printed piece of paper with a middle-aged man's name, photo, and brief biographical information on it.

“Zhao Lihong…” Qin Lang read out the other person’s name, while taking a deep look at the photo and memorizing the other person’s appearance.

"Because time is a bit tight, we haven't gathered much useful information yet, and we still don't know why they joined Hai Sheng Yan," Tang Yu explained. "We should have more detailed intelligence by tomorrow."

"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Tang Yu." Qin Lang showed a grateful expression. "Knowing who the other party is is already very good news."

Before this, they could hardly even see each other.

"This is nothing." Tang Yu shook his head, then changed the subject, "Did you find anything when you searched the location where the third rare spirit appeared today?"

"I think I just heard Zhao Qian mention something about a competition?"

"That's a long story, but we had quite a few gains today." Qin Lang smiled and recounted how they went to the String Sound Plaza to investigate, accidentally participated in the cooking competition, discovered the mastermind behind the competition, and finally visited Zhang Hui.

After Qin Lang finished speaking, Tang Yu, who had been listening patiently, let out a soft sigh.

"It sounds like you had a very eventful day."

Her hand tapped lightly on the table, as if she were organizing her thoughts.

After a moment, Tang Yu slowly spoke, "Meng Yan's appearance, coupled with the invitations Xie Rui and you received, is enough to prove that the Treasure Hunting Team is the mastermind behind the cooking competition. Zhang Hui has already reported this matter to the Public Security Management Team. Based on my understanding of the Public Security Management Team, they will take action immediately."

"With the involvement of the public security management team, the situation will become much clearer." At this point, Tang Yu looked at Qin Lang, "Contact information."

"Huh?" Qin Lang was taken aback. "What contact information?"

"Of course it's the contact information that Meng Chang gave you." Tang Yu shook his head helplessly. "This is a way to directly contact members of the treasure hunting team."

"So this is it."

Qin Lang looked enlightened. "I thought about contacting them to assist the security management team, but they are so cautious that even if I contact them, they might not give anything away, so I haven't figured out what to do yet."

As he spoke, Qin Lang placed the Mengchang business card from his pocket on the table.

Tang Yu picked up the business card, glanced at it, and then put it down.

“Indeed, the fact that they dared to leave their business card so openly shows they weren’t worried about anyone being able to trace them through the contact information on it.” Tang Yu paused slightly. “Moreover, they gave you the business card themselves.”

"This eliminates the possibility of impersonation."

"But it would be too dangerous for you to contact them personally."

After thinking for a moment, Tang Yu returned the business card to Qin Lang.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Don't lose the business card; it might be useful later."

"Okay!" Qin Lang took it and put it away.

It was getting late, and after chatting for a while, the group parted ways. Qin Lang was exhausted from the events of the day.

After a quick wash, he held the two little ones and went to sleep.
-
The next day.

Tang Yu continued to Wang Lixuan's house, keeping an eye on his actions. As expected, today was the day Qu Dong would return, and it was precisely at times like this that Wang Lixuan was more likely to act impulsively.

Feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep, Qin Lang, along with Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian, headed straight to the location where Zhen Ling was last seen in the records.

"According to the records, the last place where that rare spirit was seen was in this residential area right in front of us."

Qin Lang glanced at the information and slowly said, "The time Zhen Ling appeared this time was the night before we arrived in Xianyu City."

"It's only two or three days away now," Cao Dongdong couldn't help but ask. "Qin Lang, do you think the hunting team has caught that rare spirit?"

“I feel that we may have already caught it.” Qin Lang paused for a moment. “Although the locations of the previous four appearances of the precious spirits were far apart, the time intervals were very close, usually not exceeding one day.”

"But two or three days have passed and there has been no new news."

“This is obviously unusual, so the rare spirit may have already fallen into the hands of the rare spirit hunting team.” At this point, Qin Lang’s eyes became firm. “But in that case, we should try even harder to rescue that rare spirit.”

"After all, the hunting team's exploitation of the rare spirits is violent, which could very well lead to the spirits being injured or dying completely, and this is absolutely intolerable!"

"Shh!" Zhao Qian suddenly put a finger to her lips, signaling Qin Lang and the other person to be quiet. She leaned against the wall and carefully pointed to the two figures walking towards them.

"Look who's that?"

Qin Lang glanced at it, and his expression changed instantly.

That signature red hair was none other than Meng Yan, whom I had met yesterday!

And the person standing next to Meng Yan…

Qin Lang glanced at it and immediately recognized it. A moment later, he was shocked to realize that it was the photo from the file Tang Yu had given him last night.

That's Zhao Lihong, the head chef of Hai Sheng Yan!
One was a member of the hunting team who was chasing after Zhenling, and the other was the person who contacted Wang Lixuan during the Hai Sheng Yan event and persuaded Wang Lixuan to rebel against Hai Ba Wang.

These two actually got together!
"Hide! Meng Yan saw me yesterday!" Qin Lang said in a low voice, then quickly found a nearby corner to hide in.

The other two also went into hiding.

Meng Yan and Zhao Lihong, who were in the distance, did not notice the three hidden Qin Lang. After they walked to the nearby area, they stopped.

"Are you sure that rare spirit went missing around here?" A deep, slightly hoarse voice quickly drifted over.

Qin Lang had spoken with Meng Yan yesterday and knew exactly what Meng Yan's voice sounded like. This was not Meng Yan's voice; it clearly belonged to Zhao Lihong.

"Nonsense, how could I not know where Zhenling went missing?" Meng Yan's voice was tinged with impatience. "I, a member of the Zhenling hunting team, am not worried, so I don't know why you are so anxious."

"It's all because of my good senior brother." Zhao Lihong snorted, "I promised him a rare spirit as a price to make him an inside man for the Sea Overlord."

"Now that the matter is over, he's come to me for payment."

"He contacted me first thing this morning, saying that if I didn't hand over the promised Zhenling today, he would reveal everything." Zhao Lihong's tone was tinged with anger. "Does this guy want to drag us all down with him?!"

"I can't be bothered with your affairs," Meng Yan said lazily. "We agreed that I would temporarily lend you the rare spirits I had painstakingly captured to deceive the other party into cooperating, but what happened?"

"The rare spirit I captured has escaped! I'll have to go through the trouble of catching another one!"

"I haven't settled this score with you yet!"

(End of this chapter)