I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

Chapter 100 The Candlelight Gathering

That vertical pupil lingered in Lin Ye's mind all night.

The temporary dormitory arranged for him by the Seventh Division was on the third floor of the ground floor.

The room was very clean, with a bed, a table, and a lamp. You could see the old pine trees in the park from the window.

No dead person speaks.

There were no echoes from underground.

But Lin Ye still couldn't sleep soundly.

When he closes his eyes, he remembers the red dot on the screen, the mud and water on the back slope of Qingshan, and the back view of Lai Changqing before he disappeared with Xuan Gui in his arms.

And Shen Yan's last words.

The next morning at nine o'clock, Lin Ye sat back in the B3-019 briefing room.

The water on the table was replaced with a different cup.

The screen also has a new interface.

But that vertical pupil is still there.

It has a black background, is long and thin, and has an edge that looks like a ring of burning fire.

Han Xu stood by the door, holding a tablet in his hand.

Shen Yan came in two minutes late, carrying a black folder.

He put the folder on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Today we will talk about the Candle Shadow Meeting.

"Tell us what we know."

He paused for a moment.

"They also talk about things we don't know."

Lin Ye didn't reply.

Shen Yan opened the folder.

The screen lights up, and a night vision video begins to play.

The picture is blurry.

The location seemed to be the back mountain of some remote village. The shadows of the trees swayed violently, and there were several mounds of earth on the ground, with old tombstones standing in front of them.

Several men in black were squatting by the grave, not digging, but placing things around it.

A broken jade disc.

A few copper nails.

There was also a small plate that looked like a compass.

Soon, white mist rose from the graveyard.

One of the men in black took out an instrument and measured the fog for half a minute before signaling the person next to him to do it.

Lin Ye looked at the screen.

"They're robbing graves."

"right."

Shen Yan said, "Ordinary tomb raiders find a tomb, open a hole, take the items, and leave."

"The Candlelight Guild will first test the spiritual energy; take away what is useful and destroy what is useless."

In the video, a man in black puts the jade disc into a box.

Another person stuffed something into the bottom of the tombstone.

A few seconds later, the screen jolted.

The tombstone in front of the grave is split in the middle.

Han Xu stood by the door and said in a low voice, "It's a case from three years ago. Six households in the neighborhood had the same dream for a week in a row."

Lin Ye asked, "What did you dream about?"

Shen Yan cut out the report.

"I dreamt that I was buried in the ground."

There was a half-second of silence in the briefing room.

Shen Yan turned off the video.

"So, don't mistake them for ordinary tomb raiding gangs."

"They understand tombs."

"Also knows about magical artifacts."

"What's more troublesome is that they knew about Reiki Reversion earlier than many other people."

Shen Yan opened the second file.

Lai Changqing's photo appeared on the screen.

Lai Changqing in the photo was younger than Lin Ye had seen before. He was wearing a dark Tang suit and standing in front of an old ancestral hall, surrounded by several people who looked like village officials.

The following is the file information.

Name: Lai Changqing.

Real age: Unknown.

Disguised identity: Feng Shui master, fortune teller.

Known activity duration: at least twenty years.

The locations involved are: Qingshan Underground Cemetery, Baihe Old Ancestral Hall, Nanling Grave Relocation Case, and Luobei Ancient Well Case.

Lin Ye stared at those few lines of text.

"Is someone at his level just an executor?"

Shen Yan said, "He must be very strong to be able to bring Xuan Gui out of Qingshan."

"But based on the information obtained by the seven departments, he is clearly not part of the decision-making body."

Lin Ye fell silent.

In the underground tomb of Qingshan, Lai Changqing almost dragged everyone to their deaths.

Seventh Division, Xing Shanhe, and Su Tinglan were all included in his plans.

Such a person is not even at the top of the Candle Shadow Society.

This conclusion is not very reassuring.

Shen Yan switched to the next document.

An audio waveform appears on the screen.

"This is a short communication intercepted at seven locations during the lockdown of the back slope of Qingshan."

The audio has started playing.

There was a lot of background noise.

First came the sound of wind, then a man's hushed voice.

"Let's go to the old dock."

"Wenren Heng is waiting for you."

The audio has ended.

Lin Ye looked up.

Who is Wenren Heng?

Shen Yan opened the document.

A blurry photo appeared on the screen.

It looks like it was captured by port surveillance cameras.

At night, a man in a long trench coat stood by the dock. His face was not clearly visible in the photo; only his profile was visible.

Name: Wenren Heng.

Identity: One of the leaders of the Southeast and Outer Sea routes of the Candle Shadow Society.

Related matters: Spiritual artifact transfer, sea routes, black market channels, and trading of unusual items.

Note: Involved in multiple cases of cross-regional transfer of magical artifacts.

Shen Yan said, "Wenren Heng is not the chairman."

"He is in charge of a line."

"The southeastern route, the offshore route, the transfer of magical artifacts, and underground trading channels may all be related to him."

Lin Ye looked at the blurry photo.

"Lai Changqing sent Xuan Gui out of Qingshan, is he next?"

"Very likely."

"And what about the student council president?"

Shen Yan did not answer immediately.

Three photos appeared on the screen.

The first photo is an old black and white photograph, which looks like an old dock. The crowd is chaotic, and there is a man in a long robe in the corner, with only half of his face showing.

The second image is a screenshot from overseas surveillance footage from over twenty years ago. A man in a gray-white shirt walks through a hotel lobby, followed by several people.

The third image is even blurrier, resembling a ship taken from a distance, with a figure standing on the deck.

None of the three images are clear.

But as Lin Ye watched for a while, his heart slowly grew heavy.

Those shadows looked so alike.

Shen Yan said, "We cannot confirm whether they are the same person."

"But every time a similar figure appears, the Candle Shadow Society will complete an important transfer of spiritual artifacts."

"There are seven points of doubt: the Candle Shadow Society has a long-term stable spiritual energy core."

Lin Ye asked, "How long is 'long-term'?"

"At least several decades."

Lin Ye looked at the screen.

"Only a few decades?"

Shen Yan glanced at him.

"Currently, the evidence can only cover a few decades."

Lin Ye understood.

There are seven more points that may raise suspicion.

However, doubts cannot be included in the formal conclusion.

Shen Yan closed the photo, leaving only the vertical pupil mark.

"Remember this first."

"Lai Changqing is at the executive level."

"Wenren Heng is one of the people in charge."

"There are more people up there."

"We still haven't figured out the bottom of that person's seven positions."

A curve graph is displayed on the screen.

The spiritual energy fluctuations in ordinary areas are very low, like crawling close to the ground.

Near the Qingshan Underground Tomb, the curve rises significantly.

The line over Black Locust Ridge is rising.

There are also a few unnamed locations where the curve is more stable, as if it has been artificially suppressed and then gradually raised.

Shen Yan pointed to those places.

"These are suspected strongholds of the Candle Shadow Society."

"They are not waiting for the spiritual energy to recover naturally."

"They are using spiritual artifacts to create localized high-spiritual-energy environments."

"In this way, their people can adapt, train, and gain power in advance."

Lin Ye looked at those curves.

"Getting a head start".

"right."

Shen Yan said, "And they fought for a long time."

"Seven places started late and had incomplete information, so they could only catch up passively most of the time."

Shen Yan said this very calmly.

There was no cover-up.

Lin Ye, on the contrary, felt the pressure even more.

Seven points are not a panacea.

In many places, even the seventh place is still one step behind.

Lin Ye remained silent for a moment.

Shen Yan closed the document.

"I'm telling you this today not to scare you."

Lin Ye looked up.

Shen Yan said, "It's to let you know that training isn't just going through the motions."

"You currently lack field experience, combat capabilities, equipment compatibility, and squad coordination."

"If I really threw you into a dangerous area, you probably wouldn't last half a day."

Lin Ye did not refute.

He survived in the underground tomb of Qingshan by luck, by having others shield him, and also by relying on Changqing's desire for the Xuan Gui at the time.

Shen Yan pulled out the last document from the bottom of the folder.

The cover is clean, with only one line of text.

Second field preparation team.

Lin Ye looked at those words.

"What is this?"

"Where are you going next?"

Shen Yan pushed the documents in front of him.

"You're not a formal field worker."

"But you can't just stay in the protected area and wait for someone to come and arrest you."

"Seven places will provide you with training, equipment, and teammates."

Lin Ye opened the documents.

The first page shows the team numbers.

Seventh Imperial Capital Headquarters.

Second field preparation team.

Team leader: Cheng Fang.

Member: Xu Mian.

Member: Tang Zhi.

Member: Qin Zhao.

Temporarily assigned to: Lin Ye.

Lin Ye's gaze lingered on the words "temporarily incorporated" for a moment.

He flipped to the back.

Four ID photos appear in sequence.

The first man was around thirty years old, with short hair, strong brow bones, and eyes that looked like they were filled with iron.

Cheng Fang.

Ability label: Iron will.

The second photo is of a young girl with a very pale face, who is looking away from the camera.

Xu Mian.

Ability label: Shadow Detective.

The third picture shows a girl in her early twenties with a ponytail and several thin white threads wrapped around her fingers.

Tang Zhi.

Capability label: Silk drawing.

The fourth picture shows a young man with cold eyes and thin lips, who seems not to talk much.

Qin Zhao.

Ability label: Ember.

These words don't look like a job description.

It's more like a team's combat setup.

Shen Yan said, "Starting today, you will be training with Group Two."

Lin Ye asked, "Did they know I was going?"

"Know."

"Are you welcome?"

Shen Yan paused for a moment.

"This is not my responsibility."

Han Xu glanced at the tablet.

"Cheng has been released."

Shen Yan nodded.

"Let him in."

There was a knock on the door to the briefing room.

Very stable.

Han Xu opened the door.

A man in a black training uniform was standing outside the door.

He had short hair, broad shoulders, and stood very straight. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing several old scars on his exposed skin.

He glanced at Han Xu, then looked at Shen Yan.

"Team Leader Shen."

Shen Yan said, "Come in."

The man walked into the briefing room and his gaze fell on Lin Ye.

not cold.

It's not hot either.

It's like looking at a piece of equipment that's just been delivered to the training ground, and we don't even know if it's usable yet.

Shen Yan introduced, "Cheng Fang, captain of the Ninth Field Operations Reserve Team."

Then he looked at Cheng Fang.

"Lin Ye, Special Coordinator, with the ability of clairvoyance."

Cheng Fang did not reach out immediately.

He stared at Lin Ye for two seconds.