Chapter 365: Don't Let Chao Zi Play Himself to Death...

“Tell me, what is the point of living?”

“Is it for a beautiful future, for poetry and faraway lands, or is it simply for pleasure?”

“From an individual’s perspective, eating, drinking, and being merry—these are carnal desires. Spiritual fulfillment, however, requires doing things that contribute to society.”

“But, from a macroscopic perspective, a person is nothing more than a temporary manifestation of matter.”

“Matter is never destroyed. This means the very substance that makes us up has always existed—it’s as old as the universe. Our lives, barely a hundred years, are just a fleeting instant for that substance. So, what is the purpose of this instant for us?”

January 13th.

Morning, 11:30 AM.

Inside an office at the municipal bureau, a barrage of questions was directed at Wang Chao.

Wang Chao scratched his head, looking at Chu Linhai and Li Jianye in front of him with a baffled expression.

“Huh?”

“You’re asking me?”

Wang Chao was captured… no, that’s not right.

Wang Chao had been invited back.

On the 12th, Wang Chao had been planning to find a nice place for his much older friend, Zhang Niu.

But on the 13th, he was “invited” into an office at the municipal bureau.

“Of course, we’re asking you.”

A faint smile appeared on Chu Linhai’s face. He looked amiable and kind, almost grandfatherly.

“Tell me, in the grand scheme of the universe, what does this fleeting moment of humanity even mean?”

“It’s meaningless, utterly worthless, yet to the individual, it is everything.”

Wang Chao scratched his head again.

‘I don’t get it.’

“And for a person, they should enjoy life while they can, don’t you think?” Chu Linhai asked, watching him tentatively.

“Now, I don’t mean giving up all ambition.”

“I just mean taking a little more time to rest.”

It dawned on Wang Chao.

‘Oh, so he’s talking about enjoying life. I get that.’

“Don’t worry, the businesses in Jiangsan City, Linlan City, and the Capital City are very profitable!”

“And with the future of the errand-running business, I’m sure I’ll make a fortune. Then I can enjoy life however I want!”

Wang Chao declared, patting his chest confidently.

“Could you just… run around a little less?”

Chu Linhai was at his wit’s end.

October, November, December.

Ever since this kid left, there had been basically no major cases.

But from December until now…

In less than a month, two cases had left Chu Linhai completely numb.

First, there was the “Ghost Messenger” case in Xu Huo’s eyes, and now there was a “Ghost Knocking” case…

The things uncovered in the first case were beyond Jiangsan City’s scope.

Why do I say that?

After all, the case was huge, so logically, they should have been afraid.

Because… because the case was *too* big!

If a case was big, they would be scared and rush to fix things. But if a case was so astronomically huge that it implicated people overseas, then Jiangsan City wasn’t so scared anymore.

After all, the information Zhang Liang had forwarded alone was enough to confuse the Capital City, so who had the energy to worry about Jiangsan City?

Those victims, those who abandoned their conscience for money, and even those scientific researchers…

If you pulled any single one of them out, it would be a major case on a national level!

And then…

“Do you have any idea how hard this case is to crack?”

“Seriously, the New Year is coming up. If it’s really not working out, why not give your employees a holiday?”

“Let them go home. Give them plenty of time to contemplate the meaning of life instead of working overtime.”

Chu Linhai laughed. People often laugh when they’re left speechless.

Wang Chao ducked his head.

‘A case with no murderer…’

Honestly, even if experts were sent from the Capital City, if it couldn’t be solved, it couldn’t be solved.

How do you investigate something that only exists in a hallucination? It’s impossible, no matter how hard you try!

As for investigating the laughing gas…

It was the same old story.

At this point in time, almost no one in the entire Eastern Country was familiar with the concept behind the two words “laughing gas.”

It wasn’t until 2015 that thumb-sized canisters of laughing gas began to circulate in the Eastern Country. Before that, nobody knew about it.

If Xu Huo hadn’t dealt with this before and hadn’t specifically studied it, he wouldn’t have been able to crack the case either, even knowing the killer was a hallucination.

Without a solid chain of evidence, you can’t close a case!

“I do pay them overtime,”

Wang Chao muttered, tilting his head up.

“It’s not my fault if the employees don’t want to go home for the New Year. All I can do is run around and inspect things every day.”

“Besides… Director Chu, the case really has nothing to do with me!”

Wang Chao said with great anguish.

“I wasn’t even the one who picked the house, Captain Li did! And when the body showed up, I was the one who protected my niece right away!”

“I have rendered meritorious service to Jiangsan City! I have bled for Jiangsan City! I won’t accept this!”

Chu Linhai started to speak, then stopped, then wanted to start again.

Was the case related to Wang Chao?

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.

It felt like there was.

But Chu Linhai always felt it was strange, the kind of feeling that’s hard to put into words.

He wanted to say something, but it seemed like Wang Chao really had nothing to do with it, leaving him with a grievance he couldn’t voice, like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

However…

CLACK!

The pen on the desk fell to the floor. Chu Linhai paused, then looked at Wang Chao.

Wang Chao froze. After a moment of thought, he asked, stunned:

“Is the pen falling also my fault?”

“Yes.”

“Director Chu, I must have misheard… haha, I think I’m hearing things.”

“No, it’s your fault.”

“Looks like I’ve been working myself into a daze these past two days. Director Chu, I’ll let you get back to it. I’m leaving. For the next couple of days, I won’t go anywhere except Brother Huo’s usual spots!”

Knowing his place, Wang Chao got ready to push the door open and leave.

But before he left, Chu Linhai stopped him.

“Oh, right.”

Chu Linhai paused, then pulled a certificate and an envelope from his drawer.

“Ahem, seeing as you worked quite hard in the second half of ’03.”

“And you did accomplish quite a few things…”

“So, I’m reluctantly giving you a little something.”

Chu Linhai cleared his throat, speaking with great reluctance:

“One Certificate of Honorary Consultancy for the Jiangsan City Public Security Bureau, and one medal of honor.”