"Chief is in there. The cleaning work is still ongoing. It"s all messed up." Tun Shanhai flicked a glance at He Zheng, a complex expression in his eyes, each of which was of a different color, but he didn"t stop him.

This att.i.tude was far better than that of Zhang Jingqiu, which made He Zheng feel somewhat better. At least Li Zong was unharmed.

He had no intention of getting involved in internal affairs of SMB. In the knowledge that Li Zong was still in one piece, He Zheng planned to leave.

"Humph. With Chief"s powerful strength, an explosion of this level could never have caused him any harm." There were some black patches on Tun Shanhai"s white face, which was very obtrusive when he spoke.

He Zheng fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief but didn"t find it. He casually pulled a scarf out of his shirt pocket and tossed it to Tun Shanhai, who mistakenly took it for a hidden weapon, waved its claw and tore it in half without thinking.

The corners of He Zheng"s mouth involuntarily twitched. Without saying anything, he turned around and left.

Surprisingly, among all, Li Zong was the one whose clothes were the cleanest after the explosion. He leisurely walked out of the single detention room which had been reduced to ruins and, seeing Tun Shanhai crouching on the ground with a guilty face, patted him on the shoulder.

Tun Shanhai was abruptly taken aback and subconsciously put his claws at the back, his eyes moving around, like a child who had just misbehaved.

Li Zong, who originally had wanted to say something, flicked Tun Shanhai an amused glance. Tun Shanhai hurriedly hid the scarf in an attempt to keep it secret that he had torn He Zheng"s scarf in half. With that, he quickly pointed at the head of the stairway and said, "A moment ago, He Zheng came here to look for you. He seemed to be worried that you might have got hurt."

"Oh?"

On hearing this, Li Zong noticeably squinted his eyes. Tun Shanhai secretly swore that he had detected a tone of delight in the voice of his Chief! At this time, another couple of staff members dusty all over walked up the stairway, coughing uncontrollably. "Supt. Li, the cleaning work is almost done."

"Got it. Good job."

After that, Li Zong headed for the staircase to leave. At this time, He Zheng leaning against the trunk of a big tree was playing with his cellphone in fidgets, dappled with sunlight, bangs overhanging his eyes leaving a faint shadow on his cheeks, which made him seem somewhat meek and mild.

"What are you playing?"

He Zheng embarra.s.sedly quit the cellphone game, cast a glance at Li Zong and, to his surprise, found that there wasn"t even any dust on Li Zong"s clothes, and He Zheng himself was more unpresentable than Li Zong.

Li Zong casually brushed the wall chips off He Zheng"s hair and wiped the dust off his face. Then he looked aslant at He Changchun who was transfixed with shock. Li Zong patted He Zheng on the shoulder, signaling him to wait for a moment.

He turned around and informed He Changchun in a businesslike manner, "Patriarch He, I"m sorry to tell you that a while ago, He Jin ended his 21-year-old life."

This remark brought a violent tremble to He Changchun"s lips. His eyes instantly reddened. Though he was fully aware that what was done was done, given that the victim was his natural son after all, he could barely control himself.

"I know." He Changchun"s voice was faintly choking.

He Zheng didn"t hear a single word of his father"s, his chest heaving. A moment ago when Li Zong raised his hand, his exquisite face had seemed to be magnified in front of him and surrounded by some kind of uncanny charm. He Zheng licked his lips, as if the touch of Li Zong"s fingers on his face was still lingering.

"Supt. Li, I"d like to go back and get some rest." He Changchun"s voice was full of grief.

Of course Li Zong wouldn"t be so cruel as to reject this request. "I"ll have someone drive you home in a while."

"Thank you."

"But this case concerning your son"s collusion with demons is not closed. SMB will continue the investigation."

"What"s this supposed to mean, Supt. Li?" He Changchun abruptly twisted his head around and stared fixedly at Li Zong, the grief on his face allayed somewhat.

"The literal meaning."

Li Zong paused briefly and then continued, "All staff members of SMB will keep this secret."

In the realization of what Li Zong meant, He Changchun closed his eyes with resignation.

"We"ll specially a.s.sign someone to modify your memory." Li Zong snapped his fingers and started reciting the Spell of Erasure, his lips slightly moving. When the incantation was finished, He Changchun gave a violent sneeze and opened his eyes again, which were full of perplexity.

"Supt. Li, how did I come to be here?"

Seeing this, He Zheng was amazed.

"He Zheng, how come you are here as well?" He Changchun was completely puzzled.

Zu Zhichong, who saw the wink his Chief had just given him, immediately walked up and drew He Changchun to the side, deep grief on his face. "Patriarch He, I"m so sorry to tell you about this bad news..."

After all this, Li Zong kneaded the inside corners of his eyes, looking somewhat exhausted. At this time, Han Zhuo arrived. "Group Leader Zhang and his men have checked the surveillance video and found some questionable points. Director Zhen calls an emergency meeting."

"You"ve got to go there, Chief."

"I know." Li Zong flicked a glance at his watch and saw that it was almost 2 p.m.

He Zheng stood under the tree amusedly, arms folded across his chest. As if having just had a sudden twitch of inexplicable feeling, he slightly curled up the corner of his mouth and just watched Li Zong with a shadow of a smile on his face.

But Li Zong didn"t do anything.

He Zheng gave a smile which was typical of that of a hooligan. "You are not going to put a Spell of Erasure on me?"

Li Zong suddenly chuckled, which slightly surprised He Zheng. "Don"t all people outside regard this man as a mobile iceberg in human shape? He can also smile?" He Zheng wondered.

"That won"t be necessary." He kneaded He Zheng"s ear lobes which had reddened. "As my partner, you enjoy the privilege of keeping your memory of this incident for the moment."

He Zheng"s eyes were darting back and forth and his lips felt somewhat dry, so he licked them.

Also, his heart was fluttering and there were some particular remarks that he felt an urge to make. "This man is very interesting."

However, Li Zong spoke first before he could say anything.

"Go out with Zu Zhichong and get yourself something to eat. Then go home and pack." The look in Li Zong"s eyes deepened.

"Why?" He Zheng was thrown into puzzlement by his words and didn"t push away Li Zong"s hands on his ear lobes, but after being interrupted, he was no longer in the mood for saying those words.

Li Zong gently stroked He Zheng"s forehead and said, "Close your eyes."

Remarkably, as if there was something bewitching in his voice, He Zheng closed his eyes obediently as he had been told to. A scorching heat spread from Li Zong"s fingers to the middle of He Zheng"s forehead and a low groan escaped He Zheng"s lips.

"It"s burning hot!"

A golden light disappeared and with that He Zheng, bursting with impatience, slapped Li Zong"s hand away, held his brow and demanded angrily, "What did you do to me?"

"Zu Zhichong"s sect-uncle is about to finish his closed-door cultivation. I want you to go with him to the Qingwei Sect. I"ll be engaged on a task during the next few days, so I won"t be able to join you. Bring my Thermos bottle with you and try to drink water from it on a regular basis." Li Zong fished a Thermos bottle out of thin air and handed it to He Zheng.

Then Li Zong answered his question. "I"m not really comfortable with the idea of you messing around out there alone, so I injected a small portion of my primordial spirit into you. If you encounter any danger, it"ll come to your help."

Zu Zhichong standing on the side was transfixed, his feelings badly hurt. "Holy s.h.i.t! What did I just hear and see?! Do I not count as a person? What"s the word "alone" supposed to mean?"

"I didn"t see that. I was imagining things."

"I didn"t hear that. I was hallucinating!"