Chapter 24: The Enchantment Potion and Doubts

A buzzing sound suddenly erupted. It was the vibration of a mobile phone.

The vibration was not loud—one could even say it was extremely faint—but it could not escape Lin Lei’s terrifyingly acute senses. He turned around, walked to the bedside, and threw back the quilt, spotting the phone resting on the bed.

It was an exquisite black device, clearly not an ordinary piece of hardware. Lin Lei stepped forward and picked it up. As the screen lit up, a notification appeared on the lock screen: "You have one new message."

Because the phone was locked, Lin Lei could not view the specific content. The screen also displayed a message indicating a facial recognition mismatch.

"Right, a smartphone—something modern people cannot live without—must surely contain secrets waiting to be uncovered..."

He walked over to Long Wentian, noticing that the man’s expression was highly unnatural. It was unclear whether this was due to hearing the name "Qi Fangyan" or because his phone had fallen into Lin Lei’s hands.

Lin Lei grabbed the phone and scanned it against Long Wentian’s face. With a soft chime, the facial recognition succeeded, and the lock screen opened. Lin Lei tapped the notification, which automatically jumped into a chat application.

The app had no name and looked incredibly minimalist. It resembled "Weichat," the most popular messaging app in Xia Ya at the moment, yet it carried an eerie, unsettling vibe. "It must be some kind of private, internal application..." The Bureau of Investigation had similar communication software.

The message interface contained only one conversation thread. A person with the alias "Fourth Young Master" and an anime avatar had sent a new message: "How many 'Yin Women' have you gathered so far?"

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow, not quite grasping the meaning. However, the image of Qi Fangyan suddenly flashed through his mind. He scrolled up, discovering that there were few message logs, only from the last few days; Long Wentian likely had a habit of clearing his history. The previous messages were mundane, and Lin Lei could not discern what "Yin Women" meant from those logs alone.

What did catch his attention, however, was that in every exchange with this "Fourth Young Master," Long Wentian’s tone was cautious and extremely deferential. Conversely, the "Fourth Young Master" spoke in a high-handed, commanding tone.

"Could this person be the Young Master of the Purple Dragon Gang?"

Anyone who could make Long Wentian act with such deference was likely a top figure in the Purple Dragon Gang. Lin Lei raised an eyebrow, turned to look at Long Wentian, and asked directly, "Who is the Fourth Young Master?"

Upon hearing this title, Long Wentian’s pupils constricted sharply before he forced himself to appear calm. "The Fourth Young Master is the son of our Purple Dragon Gang's leader."

Lin Lei narrowed his eyes. His senses were too sharp; not a single subtle change in Long Wentian’s expression could escape him. Long Wentian’s forced composure was too abnormal. There was definitely something wrong!

He stepped forward, staring intently at Long Wentian. "And what are 'Yin Women'?"

Long Wentian’s pupils contracted again. "Yin Women are... they are..."

Lin Lei tilted his head, smiling as he stepped closer and gently gripped Long Wentian’s neck. "You have regenerative abilities, but sometimes that might not be a good thing for you... listen carefully and give me a proper answer."

Long Wentian let out a bitter laugh and sighed. "'Yin Women' are a type of special, prohibited drug. They possess intense hallucinogenic and addictive properties... I didn't want to engage in this kind of business, but when you're under someone else's roof, sometimes you have no choice."

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow. He certainly did not believe Long Wentian’s words easily.

Just then, the phone in his hand buzzed again. He picked it up and saw another message from the "Fourth Young Master": "If there are extras, try to pick the younger ones."

Lin Lei sneered and turned the phone to show Long Wentian. "So, 'younger' prohibited drugs, is that it?"

Seeing the message, Long Wentian’s mouth twitched, and a flash of extreme embarrassment crossed his face. He took a deep breath and lowered his head. "I was wrong! 'Yin Women' refers to women born in a 'Yin' year. The Purple Dragon Gang is working for 'The Deathbird.' It seems 'The Deathbird' requires a certain number of 'Yin Women' to preside over some special rituals..."

Lin Lei sneered, "Preside... or serve as sacrifices?!"

Long Wentian swallowed hard and shook his head violently. "Not sacrifices! The Deathbird has performed similar rituals several times in the past, and those women all returned home safely afterward! After all, if so many people went missing or died, it would likely attract the attention of the Bureau of Investigation. The Deathbird is a registered, orthodox superhuman group; they wouldn't do anything so foolish."

Lin Lei laughed coldly. "Do you really think I still believe a word you say?"

Long Wentian’s mouth twitched, and he replied with a bitter smile, "I'm not lying to you this time..."

Lin Lei stared straight into his eyes, then flicked his wrist and produced a small glass vial. "I naturally have ways to ensure you can't lie to me!"

The vial contained a soul-confusing potion. The effects of standard truth serums were limited and significantly weakened against Source Energy users, but the soul-confusing potion was far more effective. To prevent any mishaps, Lin Lei gave him a brutal beating, leaving him lethargic and coughing up blood, before forcing the potion down his throat.

After all, the man was a Second-Tier Source Energy user; even if his abilities were weak, his resistance would not be negligible. Beating him into a state of semi-consciousness made it much easier to extract the truth.

Lin Lei looked at him and asked the first question: "Who is the Fourth Young Master?"

Long Wentian’s mouth twitched, and he spat out blood foam. "The Fourth Young Master... is a Third-Tier Source Energy user within 'The Deathbird.' His name is Lei Siguang..."

"Heh... so Long Wentian was lying to me earlier."

Lin Lei sneered and asked again, "What are Yin Women, and why does this Fourth Young Master want you to hunt for them?"

"Yin Women are women born in specific years. They are sacrifices required for the Fourth Young Master's ritual..."

Lin Lei’s eyes narrowed. Just as he thought. He asked again, "Sacrifices... will they die?"

Long Wentian paused. "Death is the ultimate fate for us all; no one can escape it."

Lin Lei’s mouth twitched slightly. In truth, when he was told they were sacrifices, he had already guessed the answer.

"The Deathbird is not an evil organization like the Blood Cherry Society; they even cooperate with the Bureau of Investigation. Yet, this Lei Siguang is still working with Long Wentian to conduct these evil sacrificial rituals. Their actions must be kept hidden from the rest of The Deathbird..."

With this hypothesis in mind, he turned back and asked the question he most wanted answered: "Is Qi Fangyan a 'Yin Woman'?"

Connecting this to what Xie Jielun had said—that Long Wentian often had his "gigolo squad" approach various women—he assumed these women were all Yin Women. He suspected they couldn't be used as sacrifices directly, otherwise Long Wentian wouldn't have gone to such lengths to have his men approach them instead of simply kidnapping them.

However, Long Wentian’s response left Lin Lei stunned:

"Qi Fangyan is not a Yin Woman."