Chapter 3406 — Worth the Trip

"All right, then. I'll leave Xiao Ke's matter in your hands," Qiu Lingshan said with a sigh.

Just then, a knock came at the door. Wei Zhao swiftly gathered up the energy stones on the bed, then went to open it, and found Tang Taizhong and the others standing outside.

Those energy stones, Wei Zhao still had no wish for outsiders to see—after all, wealth should not be flaunted.

"Young Hero Lin, how is Heroine Yu? Has she awakened? If there is anything you need—rare heavenly treasures and the like—simply say the word. Whatever the Hidden Tang family can manage, whatever we can find, we will not refuse!" Tang Taizhong spoke with utter sincerity this time. He knew as well that the Tang family's crisis had been resolved; the capture of Little Pure and the Hypnotist meant that for the time being, no more of these biohumans would appear.

At Qiu Lingshan's instruction, Chief Tang and Tang the Second had already gone to interrogate Little Pure and the Hypnotist. The two were ordinary people—how could they withstand interrogation by cultivators?

The Tang family were not the police, after all; they cared nothing for whether their methods were lawful. Everything was done by cultivator rules, and so Little Pure and the Hypnotist confessed quickly, writing out a full account of what they knew—including the truth that Young Master Wen was An Liwen.

This saved Qiu Lingshan the trouble of questioning them again.

"For the moment, no. If I do need anything, I certainly won't stand on ceremony," Wei Zhao said mildly. "However, on my own account, there are a few things I need. You could help me look into them and think of a way."

"No problem at all. Speak, Young Hero Lin!" Tang Taizhong said hurriedly.

"I have a list here. Take a look, Old Master Tang." With that, Wei Zhao took up a brush and wrote out a list.

"Refined steel dark iron, black dark iron, colored steel, black charcoal stone, pure yellow jade, blue crystal powder, blood of the Five Baleful Dragons…" Tang Taizhong glanced at what was written and was momentarily taken aback. "Young Hero Lin, you need these things?"

"Indeed. I wonder whether Old Master Tang has them?" Wei Zhao nodded.

"Some of them we seem to have, though these items don't seem to be of much use?" Tang Taizhong had no idea what Wei Zhao wanted them for, but he still handed the list to Chief Tang beside him and instructed, "Chief Tang, go with Yuyu to our Hidden Tang family's treasure vault and search for these things."

"Yes, Father!" Chief Tang nodded and went out with Tang Yuyu.

"Young Hero Lin, I've obtained the confessions of Little Pure and the Hypnotist. Would you like to look them over?" Only then did Tang Taizhong turn to the other matter at hand.

"Just let Lingshan read them. I'll skip them," Wei Zhao said, having no interest in the two of them. "Did they admit that Young Master Wen is An Liwen?"

"They did, and they also revealed some other matters concerning the Fire Wolf Gang," Tang Taizhong said quickly.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was slightly startled. He hadn't expected the two to have such soft bones, spilling so much at once. His interest suddenly piqued, and he read through it together with Qiu Lingshan.

It was indeed An Liwen pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Moreover, several past cases now came into focus: the underground black-fist arena, the kidney-cutting case, the kidnapping case, the robbery case, and so on—all of them had been plotted and carried out by An Liwen.

Many of the people Qiu Lingshan had caught were merely An Liwen's scapegoats. Yet given An Liwen's cunning and his standing in the Fire Wolf Gang, the Qiu Lingshan of before truly could not touch him. But now Qiu Lingshan was a member of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau, and naturally had the authority to investigate the Fire Wolf Gang's affairs.

It was only that the Fire Wolf Gang's influence was too great, and Qiu Lingshan would have to investigate step by step.

From this confession, An Liwen's two most important people at present were Little Pure and the Hypnotist, and the Hypnotist was the key figure in controlling the biohumans. Now that he had been captured, even if those biohumans were built, for the time being there would be no one to control them—so they were no longer cause for fear.

Qiu Lingshan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this case could be closed once she returned. As for An Liwen, Qiu Lingshan knew he would not be so easily caught. She was no longer the somewhat rash young policewoman she had once been; the Qiu Lingshan of now knew to plan before acting.

"That's about all of it. They should have told everything they knew." Wei Zhao gave the list of crimes a rough glance; the matter of deceiving Liu Tianli was included as well. But that money could not be recovered from these two—the mastermind was An Liwen, and An Liwen had handed it all up to the Fire Wolf Gang. So in the end, Wei Zhao would still have to settle accounts with the Fire Wolf Gang.

As they were speaking, before long Chief Tang returned, Tang Yuyu behind him carrying two brocade boxes. Clearly they had found what Wei Zhao needed, and Wei Zhao's gaze sharpened slightly, delight rising in his heart.

"Young Hero Lin, my apologies for keeping you waiting." Once inside, Chief Tang said politely, "The items you named are not in common use. Our Hidden Tang family has found only two for now—one is black dark iron, the other black charcoal stone. As for the rest, such as pure yellow jade and blue crystal powder, we once had them too, but thought nothing of them, and at a certain Hidden Family Summit some years ago, gave them away."

Wei Zhao nodded. Artificers had vanished from the cultivation world ages ago. Without artificers, these forging materials naturally had little use—they looked precious but were in truth worthless, so it was only normal that the Tang family hadn't cared and had given them away.

Still, these two items had already delighted Wei Zhao beyond measure! Black dark iron, black charcoal stone! These two were precisely what Wei Zhao lacked; the others he actually had!

Blue crystal powder, pure yellow jade, colored steel—even dark iron—Wei Zhao had them all. With these two added, the only thing Wei Zhao still lacked was the blood of the Five Baleful Dragons! Though that was also the hardest to obtain, with everything else assembled, Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.

This trip had indeed been worth it. Wei Zhao did not stand on ceremony either; after taking the items, he said, "Many thanks, Old Master Tang. In that case, we shall be going. If anything comes up, contact the Mysterious Investigation Bureau again."

"Very well, Young Hero Lin. As members of the Cultivator Association Alliance, we will certainly follow the Mysterious Investigation Bureau's leadership and will not give Mr. Lin any unnecessary trouble."

"Good." Wei Zhao nodded, picked up Yu Xiaoke, and left the room together with Qiu Lingshan, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan. RS