Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

After a flight of several hours, the plane landed smoothly at Guangzhou Airport.

After collecting my luggage and stepping out of the arrival gate, I was greeted by a cacophony of noise and heat, mixed with various accents.

July in Hiroshi is unbearably hot and humid, a stark contrast to the coolness of Ungakusan.

Wei Qingyi stood at the airport exit, the humid wind blowing her ponytail.

"Anran, I'll go back to school to settle in and take care of some things. Go find Section Chief Shen, and be careful. Call me anytime if anything happens." She waved her phone in her hand.

"Okay, Second Senior Sister, please be careful too. Let me know when you're settled." Chen Anran nodded.

The two parted ways outside the airport. Wei Qingyi walked skillfully toward the subway station, her figure quickly blending into the bustling crowd.

He took out the note Qi Lan had given him, which had Shen Zui's address on it: [Room 201, No. 17 Rongxing Lane, Wenchang North Road, Liwan District]. It didn't sound like a hotel; it sounded more like a residence in an old town.

Chen Anran hailed a taxi and gave the driver his address. The driver, a talkative middle-aged man, laughed upon hearing the address: "Young man, going to Rongxing Lane? That's the old town area, the roads are very narrow, it's hard for cars to go in. I can only take you to the entrance of the lane at most."

"Yes, thank you, sir."

The car traveled along the elevated highways of Guangzhou, with dense glass curtain wall buildings and crisscrossing overpasses visible outside the window.

About forty minutes later, the taxi stopped near a cluster of old buildings with Lingnan style. The driver pointed to a narrow alleyway that could only allow two people to pass side by side: "Look, Rongxing Lane is in there. Number 17 should be in the middle. Go in and find it yourself."

Thank you.

Chen Anran paid the fare and got out of the car, stepping into the alleyway that bore the marks of time.

The road surface was worn smooth, and on both sides were mottled brick walls covered with moss and vines. Occasionally, old neighbors would slowly pass by on bicycles, looking at him, this unfamiliar face, with curious eyes.

He searched according to the house number and soon found an inconspicuous black wooden door in the middle of the alley. The house number read "No. 17 Rongxing Lane". The door was ajar, and there was no doorbell.

Chen Anran gently pushed open the door, revealing a narrow, dimly lit courtyard with some miscellaneous items piled in the corner. A steep wooden staircase led to the second floor.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor, where he found an old-fashioned iron gate with a wooden door inside. The iron gate was unlocked. He pulled open the iron gate and knocked on the wooden door.

"Who is it?" came a wary voice from inside; it wasn't Shen Zui.

"Chen Anran from the Yunyin Sect. I've come to see Section Chief Shen Zui on Qi Lan's behalf," Chen Anran replied calmly.

There was silence for a few seconds, then the sound of a lock being opened could be heard.

The wooden door opened, and a young man dressed in casual clothes, looking somewhat tired, appeared in the doorway. He sized up Chen Anran and stepped aside, saying, "Please come in, Shen Ke is inside."

Chen Anran entered the room. It was a typical old-style Xiguan mansion, with a small hall and light mainly coming in through the courtyard and a high window on one side, making it somewhat dim.

Shen Zui was sitting on an old sofa, holding a tablet computer in his hand, his brows furrowed. He looked more haggard than when he was at Yunyin Mountain, with stubble growing on his chin.

"sit."

Chen Anran sat down opposite him. "Fellow Daoist Qi said you encountered a little trouble in Guangshi. She can't leave for the time being, so she asked me to come and take a look."

Shen Zui twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a slightly mocking smile, whether it was directed at Qi Lan's "inability to leave" or at the so-called "minor trouble".

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh. The customs of Maoshan... well, it's a long story."

As they spoke, Shen Zui turned the tablet computer in his hand toward Chen Anran.

The screen displays an enlarged city map, with several points marked in glaring red.

Drunk's voice was a little hoarse. "Starting last week, five bizarre deaths have occurred in different areas of Guangzhou. The victims had no visible injuries, but the forensic autopsies revealed that their internal organs... were in a strange 'withered' state, as if something had instantly drained their life force."

Chen Anran took the tablet, swiping his finger across the screen to carefully examine the locations of the marked points and the case details. The deceased were both men and women, of different ages and professions, seemingly unrelated, but the only thing they had in common was their bizarre deaths—life was instantly robbed, leaving only withered shells.

"Where is the residual spiritual energy?" Chen Anran asked, looking up.

"Very faint." Shen Zui rubbed his temples. "These cases occurred in different administrative districts and were handled by different police stations. They haven't been merged yet. Our miscellaneous affairs department only got involved because we discovered traces of spiritual energy."

Chen Anran asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Not yet," Shen Zui shook his head and said, "We've already mobilized resources, and several teams are conducting separate investigations, including retrieving more comprehensive surveillance footage and tracing common locations the deceased made before their deaths. Since it was deliberate, there will definitely be traces left behind, and finding the culprit is only a matter of time."

After saying that, Shen Zui lit a cigarette. "I invited Fellow Daoist Chen here not for you to investigate the case. We have the means to investigate cases. I just hope that you can lend a hand when we find the culprit."

Chen Anran asked, "Are you really that short-staffed?"

Shen Zui glanced at the young man not far away, sighing and shaking his head. "Fellow Daoist Chen, you don't know. With the resurgence of spiritual energy, demons and monsters have resurfaced, and the number of abnormal events requiring handling in various places is increasing exponentially. Our Miscellaneous Affairs Department has limited staff, and those with true cultivation and the ability to handle these kinds of events independently are extremely rare. Headquarters is in an uproar, struggling with resource allocation and personnel arrangements."

Chen Anran asked curiously, "If that's the case, why aren't you hiring?"

"The higher-ups are already negotiating with the major righteous sects, asking them to send some disciples into the world, just like Maoshan did. But this can't be resolved in a short time; the gap is too large."

Chen Anran put down her tablet and looked at Shen Zui. "So you need me to take action?"

"That's one way to understand it, and it's clearly the work of an evil sect. In order to eliminate it without fail, I must be careful."

Shen Zui stared intently at Chen Anran. After fighting together that night, Shen Zui had a clear understanding of Chen Anran's strength. He knew that Chen Anran was not just a Qi Refining cultivator; his methods were mysterious and unpredictable, and he was not someone to be underestimated.

Shen Zui stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, which was already piled high with cigarette butts, stood up, and stretched his stiff neck.

He glanced at Chen Anran's backpack and luggage, then turned to the young man organizing documents in front of a cabinet not far away and asked, "Xiao Qi, did you book the hotel I asked you to?"

"Booked! Booked!" The young assistant, Xiao Qi, quickly turned around, holding a room key in his hand. "It's a business hotel not far away, about a ten-minute walk. The environment is fairly quiet."

Shen Zui said irritably, "Then why don't you hurry up and take Master Chen there?!"