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Chapter 584 Framed
Zhou You stared at the severed head, his expression grave.

Maki Aida brought this upon himself, so he deserved to die; he couldn't care less about the consequences—but the manner of his death, and the way he was displayed like a work of art, were concerning.
For some reason, he always had a feeling.

—This is a deliberately set rat trap, and the target.
Nature is yourself!

He took a deep breath, and this time he didn't use any magic tricks. Instead, he slid a few coins out of his sleeve—the change he had received when he ate earlier—and then flicked them up one by one.

The "Nine Palaces Suppressing Dragon Book" contains some techniques for finding burial sites, which are generally used to find auspicious feng shui locations for burying people. However, by changing the approach, the same principle applies to finding corpses.

"The northeast position, three feet, is the location here?"

Without any hesitation, Zhou You swung his sword, Duanxie, and created a huge crater in the ground.

then.

A head, contained in a crystal box, was thus revealed before our eyes.

It was indeed Maki Aida's head—but unlike Zhou You's expectations, there was no sign of terror in it. The girl simply had her eyes lightly closed, her lips painted a bright red, and she seemed to still be smiling.
It's as if they're still alive.

No.

Indeed alive.

The next moment, the head buried underground suddenly opened its eyes.

At the same time, Zhou You's Demon-Slaying Sword also suddenly struck down—

This is his usual method. No matter what killer move the opponent has hidden, as long as the core is cut off cleanly and neatly, even the strongest move cannot be used.

pity.

He miscalculated this time.

The head wasn't some kind of offensive spell—it merely glanced at Zhou You before letting him dissect its skull.

But soon, someone realized something was wrong.

He touched his face, and the greasy feeling immediately seeped into his hand—his previous disguise had actually turned into powder and fell off!

But the question is, what are they after?
However, the answer was found before the question even crossed my mind.

The next moment, a piercing alarm suddenly blared!
Zhou You frowned, then quickly took out the Guan Gong mask he had gotten from Pi Men and put it on his face.

When I looked up again, I was met with several faces.

There was bewilderment, astonishment, anger, and confusion.
But this is not the point.

The key point is the clothes these guys are wearing—those are the standard uniforms issued by the Kyoto Metropolitan Police Department!
These people were also looking at this place, and after a long while, one of them murmured something.

"We received a report of a murder here, but it turns out it really happened! You actually killed Aida Maki!!!"

Zhou You paused for a few seconds, then burst into a bitter laugh.

Yes, he now understood what kind of trap the other party had set.

They knew he was there and deliberately avoided his presence, then used Hu Shuang as bait to lure him into the venue.
The ultimate goal is simple.

They just wanted to lure themselves to the Kyoto police so they could use public authority to deal with them.
Admittedly, if you could easily take down those few low-ranking police officers even with a gun, then you'd be insane!
No matter how powerful Zhou You is, he can't single-handedly withstand a bunch of modern guns and cannons—if he kills these policemen, the other side might just send in the army—so he made a very clean and decisive decision.

It would be best to leave now!
At least we need to get out of this place first. Then we can think about rescuing Hu Shuang!

Taking a deep breath, before the opponent could react, he had already assumed a fighting stance.

He did not choose to use Duanxie or Wanren, but instead directly used the Hunyuan Jin he had recently acquired, intending to force his way out.

At this moment, the police officers hurriedly pulled out their guns and shouted at the police.

"lay down your weapon!"

"do not move!"

"Or we'll just shoot!"

Zhou You ignored the blustering but cowardly reprimands—the police in Kyoto had been at peace for too long and had long forgotten how to use violence in emergencies—and then threw a punch.

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to shake!
The police officers immediately lost their footing, and Zhou You rushed out—one of the more quick-witted ones even tried to fire, but Zhou You had already activated the second thing.

—A tiger's roar suddenly rang out, and the policeman with the gun felt his mind go blank. His weapon fell from his hand, and he could only watch helplessly as the ghostly figure swept past him, then climbed the wall like a gecko and suddenly jumped out.

It took a long time for people to recover from the shock.

The man didn't chase after them; he just stared at the direction Zhou You had fled in, and after a long while, he murmured a sentence.

"Is this guy even human?"

Zhou You wasn't sure if he was even human.

But he knew one thing.

I'm in big trouble!

After all, no matter how bad Aida Maki's personality is, she is still a famous star in Japan, and even a rising star in the world.

And he was at the crime scene in full view of everyone.
"Too many words to defend oneself" might be an exaggeration, but at least the main suspect is absolutely certain.

Tsk, why not just turn yourself in?

It was indeed a good method, since I hadn't actually done anything wrong. But the problem was that the other party was able to set up a trap and frame me so easily in such a high-end club, under the watchful eyes of a bunch of surveillance cameras and security guards. Who knows if they had any inside contacts on the police side?
Although Kyoto is a modern city, it wouldn't take much effort for him to escape if he didn't turn himself in. However, given the magnitude of the incident and the fact that he had just joined Aida Maki's side, even with Hu Shuang's help, returning to his country would likely require considerable effort.

After all this trouble, who knows if we'll even make it in time for the return of Black Book!
Therefore, there is only one solution.

"Damn it, I didn't want to get involved, but you guys had to mess with me."

Just as Zhou You was gritting his teeth and preparing to teach the mastermind a lesson—to show them that some people are not to be trifled with—the familiar Ode to Joy suddenly started playing.

Zhou You paused for a few seconds before realizing it was his own ringtone, and quickly took his phone out of his pocket.

Then, in the next moment, Hu Shuang's voice came from within.

"Mr. Zhou? Are you alright?"

This girl wasn't kidnapped?
Although slightly puzzled, Zhou You finally breathed a sigh of relief and then said.

"Where did you go? I've called you several times, but it's always busy."

Hu Shuang answered in a low voice.

“I was approached by another production team before, but because they required confidentiality, I was put on Do Not Disturb mode, etc. That’s not what we’re talking about now.”

The girl's tone suddenly became impatient.

"Mr. Zhou, what exactly did you do? I heard that Maki was murdered, and now a bunch of police are out arresting people, and the killer's build seems to be very similar to yours. Could it be that you..."

Zhou You's voice remained steady as he spoke slowly.

"Don't panic, listen to me—I was framed this time. I originally planned to find you, but when I got there I found that Aida Maki had been killed. I can assure you, I absolutely did not lay a hand on that guy."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

But just when Zhou You felt that the matter was a bit uncertain, a confident voice came from among them.

"I believe you."

"—I know you won't believe me, after all, we haven't known each other for very long, but... wait, what did you say?" "I believe you."

Hu Shuang repeated herself, and then said.

"Mr. Zhou, what are you planning to do now? The root of this problem lies with me, and I still have some connections. I can help you find a way to get him out of Japan first."

Zhou You raised an eyebrow in surprise, but still smiled.

"No need. I'm the kind of person who always seeks revenge. These people went to so much trouble, even killing their target beforehand, just to eliminate me as an unexpected factor—so I might as well do the opposite and go after them directly."

Hu Shuang remained silent again this time.

She seemed to fall into deep thought, and after a while, she asked Zhou You.

"Mr. Zhou, do you have any leads?"

"Not yet, but I've caught a whiff of them. If I wander around this city a bit more, I'll eventually find some clues about them."

This is a clumsy method, but given the current situation, it's the only option we can use.

However, Hu Shuang offered another solution.

"Mr. Zhou, if you really have no other choice, I do know someone who might be able to help you."

Upon hearing the name given, Zhou You frowned slightly—but in the end, he nodded.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go find one."

Before the word "one" had even faded, he had already thrown a powerful punch at the wall beside him!
With his current strength, the force of this punch was enough to split stone and shatter monuments—however, the plain wall only rippled, and then a person wearing a pure white robe was 'hammered' out!

The man rolled on the ground a few times, his clothes covered in filth from the alley. But he didn't care about that; he scrambled to his feet, and before he could even stand up straight, he vomited a mouthful of foul blood.

Zhou You glanced at him sideways and then said something.

"Onmyoji?"

He had never been to Japan, but thanks to a roommate who was a homebody, he was quite familiar with this famous thing.

The man who had been hammered out didn't answer, but instead spat out another mouthful of blood, his complexion improving slightly. Then, he looked at Zhou You and said with a grim expression.

"Who are you? With such abilities, why are you hiding your face and even plotting to harm the abbot of Ryōan-ji Temple?"

Such skill?

Zhou You was stunned for a moment.

No, bro, I haven't even used 30% of my strength yet.
Zhou You didn't say much more, but instead flicked out a few more coins.

Upon seeing his actions, the Onmyoji immediately felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy—he quickly retreated a few steps and simultaneously drew a talisman in the void to protect himself.

But the person had no intention of making a move at all. Instead, he watched where the coin landed and suddenly revealed a playful smile.

Then, he raised his head and looked at the Onmyoji.

"First of all, shouldn't you state your identity before asking others?"

After hesitating for a few seconds, the Onmyoji surprisingly followed Zhou You's words and spoke decisively.

"Imamiya Shrine, Shinichi Domoto, currently under the jurisdiction of the Third Division of the Metropolitan Police Department's Paranormal Crime Countermeasures Department, has been ordered to apprehend the murderer of celebrity Maki Aida and the priest of Ryoanji Temple."

Is this guy so obedient?
Zhou You looked at the overly young face and finally shook his head.

"Secondly, I'm definitely not the murderer who killed those two people. I was framed. Do you believe me?"

The words were spoken very sincerely, but judging from the other party's expression...

—It's obvious that this guy doesn't believe it.

However, the Onmyoji did not want to anger Zhou You, so he made a few gestures discreetly and then slowly spoke.

"Then please come back with us, sir—rest assured, we will never forgive a good person, nor will we let a bad person go unpunished."

Zhou You simply sighed.

"Why do you keep repeating the same thing no matter where we go? Forget it."

After stretching his muscles, he smiled again.

"Unfortunately, I'm in a rush lately and really don't have time to deal with your hassle—you know, the Japanese police are notoriously slow—so..."

"--I'll have to trouble everyone to make way."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a step forward and then his body shot out at lightning speed!
However, the target was not the prepared Honshinichi, but an open space next to him!
The young Onmyoji's expression changed instantly, and he shouted loudly in a voice that seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Be careful, this person—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou You had already unleashed a powerful swing punch.

It was a perfect replica of what had just happened; another figure in white was smashed out of thin air—however, compared to the original Shinichi, this one was clearly much weaker. With that punch, he didn't even utter a sound; his head immediately lolled to the side, and he promptly and cleanly passed out.

"Reimei!"

Ignoring the other's cries of pain, Zhou You suddenly spun around, his body gliding to the side like a windmill.

Another punch, and another thing flew into the air.

At this moment, Shinichi Domoto finally thought of a solution. He quickly changed his hand gestures and desperately formed a magic seal. The next moment, a claw suddenly shot out from the shadows and, before anyone could react, went straight for Zhou You's chest.

however.

Someone only glanced at it.

"This is the first time I've seen a spirit beast... no, I should say a shikigami or something from Japan. It's quite strange."

Without drawing his sword or even throwing a punch, Zhou You casually reached out and grabbed the claw that had appeared out of nowhere.

Then, pull it downwards.

—A creature resembling an ape was forcibly pulled out of the shadows.

The moment it appeared, that thing and Domoto Makoto simultaneously emitted a sharp, explosive sound—

Zhou You showed absolutely no pity, simply crumpling the thing into a ball and casually tossing it into the nearby trash can.

Then, seeing Domoto Shinichi kneeling helplessly on the ground and vomiting blood again, he shook his head, swaggered past him, and left the alley.

After a long while, a person emerged from thin air, looking disheveled.

The moment he landed, he first scrambled over to his companions to check on their condition—finding that they were all only seriously injured and not in any life-threatening danger—before he sat down on the ground with a thud.

He wiped his forehead, which was covered in cold sweat.

"They didn't notice me. No, it should be that they simply don't even notice me?"

It was a very humiliating act, yet the person felt only relief at surviving such a calamity.

Looking at the miserable state of his team, he hesitated for a long time before uttering a single sentence.

"We need to ask our superiors for help; this is beyond our capabilities. Damn it, what kind of monster is that?"

(End of this chapter)