Chapter 316: Sounding Out Each Other

To that end, both Qin Ye and Li Jixi had even been allocated single rooms.

The three eastern provinces were too close for comfort.

The daolord might not have known of his arrival, and he still had the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal at his disposal. However, it would still be prudent to be guarded against all exigencies.

However, such an orthodox Hell’s Art could never be used in front of others around them. Thus, Qin Ye had already planned to bide his time until everyone was asleep, before finally heading out to go about his business. But now, given that he had been assigned a single room, it would make moving about far more convenient than before.

Qin Ye lay silently on his bed, biding his time. The lights had just gone out, and the best time to head out would naturally be some hours later, ideally between 2.00 a.m. to 4.00 a.m. Qin Ye was waiting.

He made a cup of coffee and likewise switched off his lights. Then, he set up a black device on the door and the wall separating his room and Qin Ye’s.

It picked up every slightest bit of sound from Qin Ye’s room and fed it straight into his wireless earpiece. Li Jixi was like a seasoned hunter, waiting patiently in the deep darkness of his room.

Things went on just like a stalemate, until it was finally 2.00 a.m.

Simultaneously, Li Jixi also opened his eyes and licked his lips greedily.

He had done this because he didn’t want any sound to distract him from the sounds that he was picking up.

Yet, he remained still, no different from a corpse that was lying on the bed. He waited patiently, until he heard the listening device at his door pick up the soft shuffle of footsteps moving past his door.

“Fifteen minutes, and you’re not back yet. Where could you have gone at such a time at night?” He muttered softly in front of his room door, before quietly opening it.

His eyes flickered, and he promptly caught it before it hit the ground. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it was a card that was commonly seen everywhere small hotels like these. There was a portrait of a fine-looking lady right on the front of the card, while a telephone number was printed on the back of the card.

How coincidental.

And what was more coincidental was the fact that their room doors were the only ones along the entire corridor with such cards on them.

It was apparent to him that Qin Ye had begun to grow suspicious of him.

Unfortunately, he needed much more than just what his intuition told him.

And if he even shifted the card on Qin Ye’s door, it would be tantamount to telling Qin Ye that not only did he leave his room, he had even entered Qin Ye’s room in his absence.

He might have set up the position of the card properly, but… given how cautious he is, I dare say that he would most certainly have a second layer of verification within.

Then, sighing, he walked downstairs and picked up a phone, “Hello, it’s me. Yes… I believe Chief Bai would already have briefed you on the details. I’m taking charge, and I insist on a meeting right away.”

Qin Ye might look like a grouse-filled teenager, but only an insider who had dealt with him could fully appreciate just how difficult he was as an opponent. After all, we’re talking about a man who had kept the truth about his identity concealed over the last hundred or so years, without any blemish in his resume or loopholes in his activities. His stealth and life-preservation skill trees were clearly already maxed out.

The windows on this floor were completely covered by light-absorbing paper, and it would be pitch-black within no matter when one looked at it. But notwithstanding the fact that it was 2.00 a.m. right now, the area within was still brightly lit.

Li Jixi nodded and walked right in along the corridors. A series of plaques identified the contents of each closed door along the corridor - a data room, an operations room, a planning office, a finance office, and so on. The final door on the corridor had a corresponding plaque that had only two words written on it.

A man in his thirties dressed in his camouflage uniform sat right in the center of the conference room. He was 1.84m tall, and had a large scar running across his face. Despite his young age, he was already a lieutenant colonel.

Li Jixi nimbly caught the cigarette and sat down, while the door to the conference room shut on its own. He placed the cigarette into his mouth, “It’s a mask… There aren’t many who know my true appearances. Officially, I’ve already perished in the line of duty. Even my parents have been notified of my ‘death’.”

“One week of solitary confinement, and a major demerit against my name.” Li Jixi rested his legs lazily on the round table in the conference room, “Humans… all have their own selfish desires. Otherwise, what makes us any different from the other Yin spirits out there?”

Just like that, the two men finished off their cigarettes in silence, before the man finally spoke up once more, “Let’s get down to business. The fact that you’ve gone out of your way to bring your team here means that there’s something big going down. I’m only a puny Operative-class expert, and I’m not sure I can be of much help to you.”

“No.” The man responded directly, “Hale Province boasts of the lowest rate of supernatural incidents across all of Cathay. Where would we find zones above regular hunting zones?”

“I recall that there was a record of a mutated zone, where the danger level was classified just shy of the predatory zone. Wasn’t it… zone C-56?”

“Release it.” Li Jixi locked eyes with him, “I want you to release it tomorrow night. Send it towards the D-72 hunting zone. Furthermore, I want you to direct it at a particular student when neither Instructor Qin nor I are around.”

“Are you crazy?!” The man gasped, “Even though this hunting zone isn’t properly a predatory zone, it’s not something that regular Soul Hunters are able to deal with! Have you read the dossier about the subject? The subject had gotten lost in the grasslands, only to be devoured alive by wolves. Several cars passed him by, but refused to lend him a helping hand. Are you even aware of how grievous this soul must be? Are these students even Hunter-class experts? If not, they wouldn’t even be able to hold out for more than ten minutes on end!”

The man snuffed out his cigarette and stared him straight in the eye, “He’s going to die because of this.”

“And for that conjecture of yours, you’re willing to sacrifice an innocent student?” The man stared at Li Jixi with great disbelief, as though he didn’t know him anymore.

“And I’m not negotiating with you right now. I’m ordering you.”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Guan Gen stared at the document with disbelief, and then turned back to Li Jixi. Finally, he shut his eyes in dismay and sighed with great exasperation.

“Thank you.” Li Jixi picked up the document and stood up, pausing on his way out, “Ah, that’s right. If I end up perishing in the line of duty, please remember to report everything that has happened here. Also, don’t tell my mother about what has happened.”

After Li Jixi’s departure, he turned to gaze deeply at the dark windows around him, muttering to himself with immense bitterness, “Damn it all… When will all of this madness finally end?”