Chapter 48: Extremely Drowsy

  If someone else told me about this experience, I definitely wouldn't believe it, but it strangely happened to me.

  I put my phone under the window sill and compared it back and forth. I looked at it for a good two rounds, and it's really not different from the original by even one number.

  It's late at night and I couldn't sleep, so I squatted down, using my thumb to vigorously rub the phone screen while thinking deeply. To be honest, I didn't even understand what I was thinking about myself. In the end, I looked at Panzi and Luyu Feng and thought, with them around, what's there to fear?

  I picked up my phone again and dialed the number out with persistence.

  Although I didn't dare to be optimistic about myself, when the ringing sound started, my heart still jumped up involuntarily. It was very clear that this phone number did exist.

  I didn't know if anyone would answer the phone, so I just gritted my teeth and waited. The phone rang for over ten times before the voicemail picked up automatically, and I felt like I had broken out in a cold sweat.

  Considering the current situation, I won't be able to verify the phone number anymore. After some thought, I decided to sleep first and ask Ah Feng about it tomorrow morning after waking up. He's clever, maybe he can come up with a plan or something.

  And for fear that the window would be blown open by the wind again, I specially locked it. After lying down, there was nothing strange about this night, and I slept particularly well, even feeling a bit dizzy.

  When I came to my senses again, there were very chaotic sounds in my ears, "ding dong", and it seemed that someone had shouted. I wondered if the two of them had gotten out of bed? But why did they make such a big noise when getting out of bed?

  I opened my still sleepy eyes and turned my head to take a look.

  The scene in front of me was a bit bewildering. The room was filled with sunlight, probably close to noon, Hei Zi was standing in front of A Feng's bed, and A Feng had raised an iron plier, pressing it against Hei Zi's neck. Hei Zi still held up his hands, indicating he wasn't in danger.

  It suddenly occurred to me that Hei Zi was a traitor, otherwise how could Ah Feng attack him? I hastily shouted a sentence at Ah Feng.

  Lu Yifeng turned his head to look at me, then glanced at Panzi who had just opened his eyes and was still in a daze. He let out a long sigh, sat back down on the bed with a thud, saying he had been so sleepy that he couldn't even recognize people.

  I thought it was a misunderstanding, but I'm also to blame for being stupid. After a while, I suddenly reacted and stared at Hei Zi, "Brother, how did you get in?"

  Hei Zi had already found a chair to sit down, he looked at us with a suspicious gaze and said, "What's going on with you guys? You're sleeping so soundly. I called A Feng this afternoon but no one answered, and when I came over to knock on the door, no one opened it. Luckily, I also have a key to this house, so out of concern, I came in to take a look. And what did you eat last night? The room smells really bad."

  As soon as I smelled the smell, I hurriedly smelled it, but Heizi had already opened the window, and we had been in the house for so long that we were used to it, and didn't smell anything.

  I thought of the pile of lunchboxes at the door again, and Lu Yifeng also thought of this, he really didn't mind the dirtiness, hastily got up from bed to check the lunchbox. However, after getting out of bed, he looked a bit tired, walking a few steps gave people a particularly sluggish feeling.

  Since Hei Zi has arrived, I don't feel like continuing to lie in bed either, so I called Pan Zi together to wash up.

  I was just about to wash my face when my phone rang. I picked it up and looked at the screen, only to find that it was the number I had dialed last night.

  I held the phone with a frown. Panzi was brushing his teeth, with a mouthful of foam, and asked me vaguely, "Xiaobai, there's a call! Why aren't you answering?"

  I was moved by Panzi's words, and with a surge of courage, I pressed the connect button.

  I didn't say a word and stuck my ear tightly to the receiver, the other party was also silent for a while before speaking up and asking, "Who is this? You called me in the middle of the night yesterday."

  Before I could say anything, he urged me again and asked another question. Finally, I was forced to have no choice but to lie that I dialed the wrong number.

  He smiled and said it was nothing, then hung up the phone again.

  Panzi saw that I was out of sorts and asked me what was wrong. I calmed down and told him to hurry up and rinse his mouth, then we would go find A Feng and the others to talk things over.

  Lu Yifeng has already returned and is sitting on the bed rummaging through his backpack. Seeing us enter, before I could even mention the mobile phone number, he hastily asked us to draw blood.

  He took out three empty syringes from his bag and, without hesitation, each person got one, filling the tube with a full pipe of blood.

  He stared at the syringe and said, "I still think that Xiaogui and Daokou's colds are suspicious. We slept so soundly today, it's not necessarily a good thing. I want to get our blood tested by the organization to see if we've been infected with a virus."

  Although what he said was just speculation, I couldn't help but feel uneasy in my heart after hearing it.

  Hei Zi stretched out his hand and said to Lu Yu Feng, "Let me handle this matter. After all, I am a local and familiar with the organization."

  Lu Yifeng trusted Heizi, and without hesitation, he wrapped the syringe in a small box and handed it over.

  Before the results are out, I don't want to consider whether we have contracted the virus or not, otherwise it's pointless worrying, and I repeated what was strange about my phone number again.

  Lu Yufeng didn't think much of it, but Panzi was stunned. He continued to say something even more bizarre. Last night, he also dreamed of a phone number, and the speaker's tone was very soft, so he listened vaguely and didn't dare confirm whether it was the same as the number I dreamed of.

  Now that we've all realized something's off, Lu Yifeng thought of a plan. He wanted to report this phone number to the organization and have them investigate it, or even tap into its movements. Of course, this task was also handed over to Heizi to handle.

  Hei Zi also said some other things later, and he was mainly talking to Lu Yu Feng.

  Last night, Ah Feng and Hei Zi didn't send that mother and son to the "Printing Society" for a blood test? The organization tested the blood of the mother and son and found that the mother's blood was fine, but the son had a virus in his body, exactly the same as the one on the official's corpse. Moreover, the organization also checked the file of the woman's husband, and he and the official were two completely different people with no intersection or contact at all.

  I've been thinking about Hei Zi's words, and I feel that this task has fallen into a stalemate. What is the connection between the experience of the woman and her family and the death of the official? How did the virus spread to these dead people, we can't figure it out now.

  The atmosphere suddenly became silent, and after a while, Lu Yifeng waved his hand, as if to drive away these troubles. He asked Heizi again, "I also mentioned that divine brush method, have you helped me investigate?"

  Hei Zi nodded and smiled, "Actually, there's no need to investigate that Daoist priest specifically. He has a bit of a reputation locally, is a Zhengyi Daoist, lives in the suburbs, and usually writes talismans and drives out evil spirits for free for everyone. Additionally, he also has connections with some wealthy merchants and government officials, and often lectures on the Heart Sutra and such. Coincidentally, I know a wealthy merchant who is quite familiar with him, so I had the merchant make contact, and we can go meet the Daoist priest today."

  I think there's something suspicious about this Taoist priest too, otherwise how could he have calculated it so accurately, sending the woman to the bridgehead to find Star Officer and even finding us?

  It's getting late now, we shouldn't delay any longer, let's hurry up and get going.

  The four of us first had a meal together. Hei Zi left again, he wanted to take the syringe to the "Printing Society" and then go to Fa Shi's house to find us later.

  Before he left, he also gave us the address of the law firm's home. The two of us had a car and rushed over according to this address.

  I found that the Law Master's house was conveniently located right at the edge of Moose Town, not far from the farmhouse where the mother and son lived.

  I also don't know what day it is today, when we arrived at the gate of the law teacher's house, I was stunned.

  There were a lot of people surrounding the house, almost to the point of being packed like sardines. It was a two-story small villa with the front door tightly closed. These people didn't knock on the door but instead stared at the window on the second floor of the law enforcement officer's house.

  We two stopped the car and asked someone nearby a few questions.

  This man is indeed honest, seeing that we are outsiders, he says a few more words.

  The Divine Brush Master also has a nickname, called Qian Shou Dao Jun. On the 9th of every month, he would paint a batch of talismans and throw them out from the window. Those who are destined to get the talismans will be guaranteed good luck for that month. This is how his nickname came about - on average, he can paint a very complex talisman in just three to five seconds.

  During this time, I also heard the discussions of people around me and found that everyone was full of praise for this divine brushwork master, even being called a living Bodhisattva.

  We two are also interested, and it seems that Master Divine Brush is about to perform a ritual. At this time, we can't find him with the same intention.

  We just stood around these people on the outside, like watching a play.

  I counted the time and another quarter of an hour passed, at exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, the window on the second floor of Master Fa's house was opened, these people all burst into a frenzy, rushing forward with a loud shout.

  Suddenly someone took the lead and shouted, everyone raised their hands high, and from the window, paper slips flew out one after another.

  I pressed the button, and in just over three seconds, a talisman flew out. Pan Zi loves to join in the fun, especially since he's big and strong. In the end, he squeezed his way over, busily jumping up and down for a good half day, grabbing a talisman before burrowing back.

  I and Lu Yufeng looked at the symbol in Pan Zi's hand, on which were written some strange characters with ink mixed with cinnabar, and this ink was really fresh.

  I was just taking a look, but Lu Yifeng suddenly became sentimental and muttered, "Qian Shou Dao Jun also has the two characters 'thousand hands', but compared to Qian Shou Tan Chang, it's far inferior. He can only draw talismans quickly, whereas Tan Chang's thousand hands can make many lawless people unable to escape the law. It's a pity he chose to 'hide in seclusion', otherwise we wouldn't be so tired now."

  I don't know who this detective is, so I'll ask another question.

  Lu Yifeng looked at me with profound meaning and replied, "He is Li Feng's former boss. Xiao Bai, you know him."

  I'm puzzled and even thought about it carefully, but I'm sure I've only met Li Feng before. Who his superior is, I have no way of knowing.

  Just as I was about to ask, Hei Zi hailed a taxi and joined us. The divine brush master's activity of sending talismans also ended. I had no choice but to put down this idea, greeted Hei Zi, and waited for everyone to disperse before going to see the Thousand Hand Path Master again.