Chapter 32: A Ripple That Stirs a Thousand Waves

“Creak, creak, screech…!”  

Three off-road vehicles barely came to a stop before Ren Ye swung his door open and rushed out, his expression tense as he headed straight for the police station.  

Close behind, Huang Wei followed with over a dozen Vigil Keepers, quickly ascending the steps.  

“Bang!”  

Ren Ye shoved the glass doors open with brute force, breathing heavily as his sharp eyes scanned the station’s lobby. Only when he spotted Ren Qingning did he let out a sigh of relief.  

In the corridor, Ren Qingning sat on a bench, glaring fiercely at a Vigil Keeper as she demanded, “What exactly is my brother doing for your department? We’re in a harmonious society, aren’t we? What kind of case would make criminals resort to kidnapping me? Don’t try to deceive me… or I’ll record this on my phone!”  

The young Vigil Keeper being interrogated looked utterly exasperated. This girl wasn’t easily fooled and had been relentlessly pressing him about Ren Ye’s current “job,” even threatening to livestream if she wasn’t satisfied with the answers.  

“Slap!”  

Before the conversation could go further, a pair of warm, rough hands grabbed Ren Qingning’s slender arm. She looked up to find her brother’s pale face staring down at her.  

“Are you okay?” Ren Ye asked urgently, his tone sharp.  

Ren Qingning blinked, her expression turning accusatory. “Are you okay? What exactly are you up to?”  

Ren Ye didn’t answer right away. Instead, he quickly examined her, his gaze finally locking on the wound on her side. “…You’re hurt?”  

“It’s nothing, just a scratch.” Ren Qingning didn’t pout or whimper. Instead, she grabbed her brother’s arm and pulled him aside.  

The siblings faced each other, Ren Ye’s eyes a mix of guilt, worry, and hesitation.  

“What exactly are you working on?” Ren Qingning asked softly. “If this hadn’t happened today, I wouldn’t have even known there were police officers watching me.”  

“I…” Ren Ye furrowed his brows, opting for a lie. “It’s still related to that case near the border. There’s one incident left unresolved. I can’t go into details.”  

Ren Qingning didn’t get angry. Instead, she asked seriously, “…Is it dangerous? Can we choose not to do this?”  

Ren Ye was silent for a moment before deflecting, “How about we go to the hospital and get you checked out?”  

Hearing this, Ren Qingning didn’t press him further. She simply loosened the bandage on her waist, revealing a wound that had already stopped bleeding. “See? I’m tough; it’s no big deal.”  

As they spoke, Huang Wei emerged from the office of the precinct chief, striding over quickly. “Ren Ye, come with me.”  

“My sister’s still here,” Ren Ye reminded him grimly.  

Huang Wei nodded heavily. “I just spoke to the chief. Someone will escort her back to your unit right away.”  

“You go with them,” Ren Ye instructed his sister. “I’ll return soon.”  

“Take care of yourself,” Ren Qingning said with a slight nod, not standing in his way.  

…  

Tongren Road – “Blood Feud” gaming parlor.

Old Yin, still nursing a sore backside, stood by the second-floor window. Holding his phone in one hand, he said, “Mm, mm, got it, boss…”  

Shortly after, the call ended.  

Old Yin immediately opened a player group chat, noticing an influx of new messages.  

“Did you hear? A few Chaos Faction players clashed with Vigil Keepers over at the university district.”  

“Chaos Faction players are all rabid dogs and scumbags. They should all just die!”  

“To the person above: Look at my lips—screw your mom!”  

“Friendly reminder: No insults, or you’ll be kicked out.”  

“I heard the commotion in the university district was massive. Two of my friends felt intense Stellar Energy fluctuations over there.”  

“…!”  

Old Yin quickly scrolled through over a hundred messages and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Heh, that little punk really has guts—snatching people right under the Vigil Keepers’ noses.”  

…

Suburban Apartment  

“Whoosh!”  

The sound of a toilet flushing echoed through the small apartment.  

Ren Daguo, Ren Ye’s father, stepped out of the bathroom with a dazed expression, muttering to himself, “It’s all about laying the groundwork… only then will it feel like a grand scheme, one that makes your scalp tingle when it all comes together…”

At the dining table in the living room, editor Old Xu was munching on a burger while rubbing the still-bruised area around his eye. “Blow on it for me, and maybe dab some ointment—it hurts like hell.”

“Yeah, this idea works. Has a solid punch to it,” Ren Daguo replied absentmindedly as he walked over to the table. His thoughts were a whirlwind, and as his hand reached for the Coke bottle Old Xu had tossed aside—complete with two cigarette butts floating in it—he took a swig without hesitation.

“Holy crap!”  

Old Xu froze for a second before shouting, “What the hell are you doing? Drinking cigarette juice?!”

“Huh?”  

Ren Daguo snapped out of it, instinctively touching his lips. A disintegrated cigarette butt, soaked in Coke, hung off the corner of his mouth. “Damn it! Why didn’t you warn me?! I was wondering why the Coke tasted like Lihua cigarettes.”

“If I hadn’t warned you, you’d probably end up eating something even worse,” Old Xu quipped, rolling his eyes while holding his bruised face. “So, have you figured it out yet?”

“Let me check the story outline I saved on my phone. Don’t distract me.” Ren Daguo hurriedly wiped his mouth, slumped into a chair, and grabbed his phone.

Ren Daguo, ever the struggling writer, had a habit of recording ideas on his phone whenever inspiration struck—whether in the bathroom, during meals, or at gatherings. His notes app was his lifeline.

He unlocked the phone, ignoring the low-battery warning as his mind remained elsewhere.

“Ding!”  

A notification from a social media app shook the screen. Instinctively, he tapped on it.

Under the dim light, Ren Daguo’s initially dazed expression shifted. His eyes grew wide with astonishment, then furrowed with anger, a fleeting but intense emotion flashing across them.

“I’m running out of time, man. I’m about to lose my mind here!” Old Xu exclaimed, rubbing his face vigorously. “Come on, let me sip some cigarette juice too to wake up. Hurry, hurry!”

Ren Daguo set his phone down slowly, turned to Old Xu, and loosened his collar. “The air conditioning in this dump is busted again, blasting hot air. Let’s go downstairs.”

…

In a dimly lit shantytown near the university district, Ren Ye and Huang Wei arrived at the second crime scene with their team. Their expressions were grim.

Skinny Monkey’s corpse hung suspended, his arms broken, chest hollowed out, and his mouth clamped onto his own heart.  

Not far away, Fat Dragon lay rigid on the ground, his body surrounded by a dark, grimy substance. His severed head had bitten into his own neck, a gruesome and grotesque sight.

Ren Ye already knew from Huang Wei that these two were the culprits who had tried to abduct his sister. But as he took in the horrifying and ritualistic scene before him, he felt no satisfaction—only growing fear and unease.

“Who… who killed them?” Ren Ye asked, turning to Gu Nian.

“When I arrived, they were already dead. I didn’t see the killer,” Gu Nian replied in a crisp, logical voice. “However, judging by the scene and the Stellar Energy fluctuations I sensed, these two didn’t even have a chance to fight back. The battle was over in mere moments. The killer also left a strange message on the ground.”

Ren Ye and Huang Wei followed Gu Nian’s gaze to the ground beneath Skinny Monkey’s dangling body.

It read:  

“To my fellow players from afar, you’ve pissed me off. Don’t even think about leaving!”

Standing under the dim light, Gu Nian frowned slightly as she analyzed, “Look, Ren Ye’s sister was abducted in front of the police station. Then we arrived in time and scared these two Chaos Faction players away. Logically, the killer must have known Vigil Keepers were nearby. But not only did they commit the murders, they left a message like this. Do you think this was written just for the victims’ accomplices?”   

Ren Ye turned to Gu Nian. “You’re right. There were Stellar Energy fluctuations after the fight. The killer must have known Vigil Keepers would arrive first and would see this message.”

“Is this some kind of goodwill gesture?” Huang Wei followed their line of reasoning. “Maybe the killer is trying to tell us they don’t mean harm to the Vigil Keepers and that these two just pissed them off?”

“Exactly.” Ren Ye nodded. “There are two possibilities. First, the killer had a personal grudge against this Chaos Faction group, and the murders were an act of revenge. Leaving the message was their way of saying they don’t intend to harm the Vigil Keepers. Second, the killer acted because my sister was kidnapped. After all, the two incidents happened close together. But apart from the Vigil Keepers, I don’t know any other players, let alone someone who’d act like this for me. So the likelihood is small.”

“No, you do know other players.” Gu Nian’s sharp instincts kicked in. She looked at Ren Ye and said, “What about players from the Qingliang Prefecture Star Gate? Could it be someone from your faction secretly protecting you?”

Ren Ye considered this for a moment. “That’s possible, although still unlikely. I haven’t exposed my real-life identity in Star Gate.”

The group fell silent for a moment. Gu Nian then added, “Oh, by the way. Based on the Stellar Energy fluctuations and their supernatural abilities, these two were likely the ones who murdered that couple.”

“Are they from the Bell Society?” Ren Ye asked, his voice trembling.

“I sent a report to the higher-ups earlier. We’re verifying it now,” Gu Nian replied. “But personally, I think it’s highly likely they’re Bell Society members.”

Hearing this, Ren Ye didn’t hesitate. He stepped aside, pulled out his phone, and called his father.  

“Beep… beep…”

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

The automated message played before the call ended.  

“Damn it.”  

Ren Ye gritted his teeth. His father had an infuriating habit of turning his phone off or ignoring calls when he was working.

Turning to Huang Wei, he asked urgently, “What’s the situation on my dad’s end?”

Huang Wei glanced at him and replied calmly, “On the way here, I already sent a second team over. They should have arrived by now. But if you want, we could bring him to the station too—it’d be safer.”

Ren Ye hesitated, conflicted.  

He didn’t like the idea of the Vigil Keepers monitoring his father. It would likely make his father worry or even scare him. What kind of case would require such close protection for family members?  

But when Ren Ye looked back at Skinny Monkey’s gruesome corpse, he made up his mind.  

“Let the team watching my dad know. Have them find him and call me—I’ll explain. Bring him to the station to stay for a couple of days,” Ren Ye said with a furrowed brow.

“Got it.” Huang Wei nodded, immediately pulling out his phone to notify the Vigil Keepers assigned to protect Ren Ye’s father.

…

Late at night, around 9 PM.  

Two Vigil Keepers arrived at the apartment building where Ren Ye’s father and Old Xu were staying. They knocked on the door.

“Knock, knock…”

After a dozen knocks, there was no response from inside.

One of the Vigil Keepers called softly, “Mr. Ren, are you there? We’re friends of Ren Ye…”

Ten seconds passed, and still no response.

“Crack!”  

One of the Vigil Keepers struck the door’s lock mechanism with his palm. With a sharp snap, the lock broke, and the door creaked open.  

The two stepped inside, one after the other. They glanced around the room—and immediately froze.