Chapter 728 — Very Strange

So that evening, at Yang Juehuan's suggestion, everyone held a small banquet to celebrate. At the banquet they all drank a good deal; the wine was their own brewing and not strong enough to intoxicate, but the wine did not intoxicate—the drinkers intoxicated themselves. Their hearts were glad, for success might well be right before their eyes. And so by the end of that night every one of them was dead drunk, sleeping out in the open, sprawled across the bare ground of Listening Snow Valley...

The days that followed, however, did not go so smoothly. Under the action of the catalytic enzyme, the Great Strength Divine Gu failed time and again!

The concentration of the catalytic enzyme was also subject to very strict requirements!

The catalytic enzyme for the Vajra Gu had been pre-compounded—just one bottle of it, a single unique portion, handed down from long ago. So once it was added, the Vajra Gu could be refined. But the catalytic enzyme for the Great Strength Divine Gu was a different matter: both its concentration and its dilution had to be adjusted by hand, and the slightest deviation would not do!

Meanwhile, in a private house in Songjiang City, two people sat before a computer!

These two were Dong Jun and Huang Shu. They had already opened their hearts to each other and spoken of their own affairs. Huang Shu now understood Dong Jun's difficulties and the various reasons he had given up dealing with Yang Juehuan, and Dong Jun likewise knew what Huang Shu was thinking now.

The hatred in Huang Shu's heart was gone, and he had become an ordinary man once more. His only hope was that his younger sister Huang Yan could live a happy life—but that depended first on Yang Ce returning safely.

So where Heng's safety was concerned, Huang Shu was especially attentive.

At this moment, Dong Jun was chatting with Dr. Ban Lin.

"Falcon, how have things been lately? Any word of that little girl and Sun Ce?" Dr. Ban Lin's questions were much the same as always, mechanical.

"Doctor, you know as well as I do that after they left Songjiang City they never came back. I've been keeping watch as hard as I can on my end, but there's been no news at all!" Dong Jun lied outright.

"Mm, I know. Just do your job," Dr. Ban Lin said mildly.

"Yes! Understood!" Dong Jun replied.

"By the way, weren't you going to deal with Yang Ce? How did that go?" Dr. Ban Lin asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Dong Jun started, caught off guard that Dr. Ban Lin should suddenly raise the matter. Fortunately they were separated by the computer screen, and Dr. Ban Lin on the other end could not see Dong Jun's expression—otherwise it would have been hard not to give himself away.

"Doctor, I haven't dealt with him lately. I obeyed your orders and set aside my personal grudges for the time being. I haven't moved against Yang Ce again!" Dong Jun replied.

"Oh? And what is this Yang Ce doing now?" Dr. Ban Lin pressed on.

Dong Jun stared oddly at the question on the screen and replied quickly: "Doctor, sorry—nature calls. I need the toilet. Back in a moment!"

"Mm, go on. We'll talk when you're back." Dr. Ban Lin seemed not to suspect in the least that Dong Jun was deceiving him.

"Youcai, help me figure this out—why has Dr. Ban Lin suddenly taken an interest in Yang Ce? Before, whenever I brought it up myself, he didn't much want me stirring up trouble and going after Yang Ce. Why bring it up suddenly today?"

"This... I can't quite make it out either, because I'm not very familiar with Dr. Ban Lin. My impression of him all comes from your account..." Huang Shu smiled wryly. "But since he's asking you like this, I'd say he's taken an interest in something about Yang Ce—or he's discovered something..."

"Discovered something? You don't think—he's found out I want to turn on him?" Dong Jun asked, startled.

"Hard to say, but it's unlikely!" Huang Shu shook his head. "Still, I think whatever he asks, just answer normally and don't hold anything back. First let's see what Dr. Ban Lin is getting at."

"Fair enough!" Dong Jun nodded, then put on the air of someone just back from the toilet and said to Dr. Ban Lin: "Doctor, I'm back. What was it you were asking? Yang Ce?"

"Yes. What has Yang Ce been doing lately? Do you have any word of him?" Dr. Ban Lin asked.

"Earlier I kept wanting to deal with him, so I teamed up with a man called the Right Elder..." Following Huang Shu's advice, Dong Jun concealed nothing and told the truth about his plan against Yang Juehuan and about the Right Elder. "After that, he went off to Miaojiang to deal with the Right Elder..."

"So he's not on your side anymore—he's run off to Miaojiang?" Dr. Ban Lin asked.

"That's right. He's been gone over half a year!" Dong Yan said.

"Then do you have any word of him? Did the Right Elder succeed in dealing with him?" Dr. Ban Lin asked.

"That... I don't know. Ever since you told me not to keep going after Yang Ce, I figured I'd let the Right Elder's hand teach him a lesson. As for how it turned out, I never looked into it..." Dong Yan said. "I haven't been in touch with the Right Elder lately either. I really don't know!"

"Oh. Then get in touch and ask whether Yang Ce is still alive!" Dr. Ban Lin said.

"Fine, no problem. But Doctor, why the sudden interest in Yang Ce?" Dong Jun asked, puzzled.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" Dr. Ban Lin shot back.

Dong Jun was thoroughly put out, but he still replied: "Yes!"

"Still, there's no harm in telling you this much! I've received word that Yang Moyi has some special ability—extrasensory perception, so to speak! It seems to have something to do with the glasses we're looking for. As for the specifics, I haven't found solid evidence yet. I'm investigating Yang Ce now, so I wanted you to get up to speed first!" Dr. Ban Lin said.

"What? Yang Ce? Extrasensory perception?" Dong Jun was stunned for a moment. "All right, I'll go ask right away!"

Whether Yang Moyi had extrasensory perception, Dong Jun did not know. But since Yang Ce had been able to join the Mysterious Investigation Bureau and be valued by its people, he naturally had Yang Juehuan's abilities. So if Yang Ce really did have some special power, Dong Jun for one believed it!

Only—Dr. Ban Lin was going to move against Yang Ce? Was that good for him or bad? Dong Jun frowned, half glad and half worried.

On the one hand, if Dr. Ban Lin wanted to deal with Yang Ce, then Yang Ce would have no choice but to make an enemy of Dr. Ban Lin. And as for helping him break free of the Center's control, that too amounted to helping him—it would come as a matter of course.