Chapter 637 - 398: Single Dog and Henpecked Husband

Chapter 637: Chapter 398: Single Dog and Henpecked Husband

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but think back to his younger self.

Back then, the high-spirited Su Chen always felt that venturing into the Spirit Realm and exploring unknown lands was the most worthwhile thing a man could do, until he met Zheng Qiuyi.

After his daughter was born, he became even more convinced that staying by his wife and daughter’s side was far more important than venturing into the Spirit Realm to explore the unknown.

"You... So what if I’m single? What’s there to be so smug about? I think it’s pathetic how henpecked you are!" Liu Shijie said resentfully.

The two friends, who hadn’t seen each other in years, sat on a roadside bench, laughing and trading insults. They didn’t say their goodbyes until it grew late. As for when they might see each other again, that was anyone’s guess.

CLICK.

The bedroom door opened. Su Chen walked in and saw his wife leaning against the headboard, a face mask on and phone in hand. He smiled and said, "You’re still up? It’s so late!"

Zheng Qiuyi paused the video she was watching and looked up at her returning husband. "I was waiting for you! Liu Shijie hasn’t contacted you in years. Did he suddenly ask you out for a reason?"

Su Chen came and sat on the edge of the bed, taking his phone out of his pocket and placing it on the nightstand. "It was nothing, he just wanted to catch up."

"Oh." Zheng Qiuyi nodded, then she suddenly leaned in and sniffed her husband’s neck.

"What are you doing?" Su Chen asked, confused by his wife’s actions.

"You smell like smoke. Did you have a cigarette?" Zheng Qiuyi said with a frown.

"No, it was Liu Shijie. I was just sitting next to him while we talked, so I couldn’t help but pick up some of the smell," Su Chen explained.

"Well, hurry up and go wash up! It stinks," Zheng Qiuyi said.

Knowing his wife disliked the smell of smoke, Su Chen immediately got up, grabbed his pajamas, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Zheng Qiuyi listened to the sound of running water from the bathroom, recalling the time when she was heavily pregnant and her husband brought Liu Shijie over to introduce his good friend to her.

’All these years, and Liu Shijie is still adventuring in the Spirit Realm. I hope he stays safe.’

...

「Rongcheng.」

In an urban village slated for demolition, a figure walked along a dimly lit street.

It was late, so the streets of the already sparsely populated urban village were nearly deserted.

’If Liu Menglong isn’t here, then something might have really happened to him, just as I suspected...’ Li Ying muttered to himself, heading straight for a remote corner of the demolition-bound urban village.

The lights were blazing inside an old, single-story house. The sound of a television drifted from the living room, and upon closer listening, one could tell the program was the midnight news.

"According to information received by this station, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Investigators from the Superpower Administration Bureau located the Mutant Beast that was previously reported to have attacked an Exotic Beast Hunter team. The creature was found in the wilderness on the outskirts of the East District, several kilometers from the safe zone.

Investigators have since re-confirmed that the Mutant Beast, a suspected new species, is indeed at the Peak of Tier Two..."

On the living room sofa, Chen Xiaoyan lay on her side in light pajamas, lost in thought as she watched the midnight news on TV.

She had spoken with Wang Hao on the phone that afternoon.

He was arriving in Rongcheng tomorrow. With a powerful cultivator like him, at Second Order High Rank, assisting the investigation into Liu Menglong’s disappearance, they should get results quickly.

If Liu Menglong was still alive, everything would be fine. If not, then as his partner on this mission to Rongcheng, she would inevitably face punishment.

’Sigh... If I had known this would happen, I should have tried my best to talk him out of it...’

’Now I can only wait for Wang Hao to arrive and see what his investigation turns up...’

’Liu Menglong, you’d better be okay! Otherwise, I’m the one who’s going to suffer...’

Lying on her side on the sofa, Chen Xiaoyan recalled the scene of that mysterious man coming to see Liu Menglong, and a wave of regret washed over her.

If she had objected at the time, as his partner on the mission, it would have been difficult for Liu Menglong to insist.

Unfortunately, you can’t undo the past. What’s done is done. No amount of remorse over the wrong decision could change anything.

By the window, a figure stood outside, listening to the sounds from the living room. Every word of Chen Xiaoyan’s muttering reached this figure’s ears.

When Chen Xiaoyan turned off the TV, switched off the lights, and returned to her bedroom to rest, Li Ying, hiding outside the wall, concluded his eavesdropping.

A faint golden Spiritual Light flashed in his eyes, and his body slowly sank into the shadow at his feet, disappearing from sight.

At the exit of the urban village, beneath a large, leafy tree, a figure emerged from the shadows.

After moving a long distance through the shadows, Li Ying appeared, a wide smile on his face.

’I can’t believe I was right. While I was off getting revenge on that traitor, Liu Menglong made a move on the mission target.’

’Now he’s missing without a trace. Something must have happened to him.’

’According to the intel provided by the organization, Liu Menglong is one of the top fighters among the Heilin Society’s Second Order Middle Stage members. In a one-on-one fight, a Cultivator of the same level shouldn’t be able to take him down...’

’He went after the mission target this time and ended up disappearing without a trace. This indirectly proves that the target, just as I reported to my superiors, is at the Second Order High Rank...’

Li Ying analyzed the situation in his mind as he walked out of the urban village.

Even though he hadn’t witnessed it himself because he was off getting revenge on that traitor, reporting these results to his superiors would be enough to consider his mission complete.

’The woman mentioned a Wang Hao. If it’s not just a common name, then he must be the one from the Heilin Society nicknamed Blood Hand, a Second Order High Rank.’

’Since that Wang Hao is coming to the city tomorrow to help the woman investigate the missing Liu Menglong, I’ll keep watching from the shadows, gather more evidence, and then report back to my superiors.’

’Tsk... using the Heilin Society to verify the mission target’s true strength was a brilliant move! I’m a genius.’

As Li Ying thought about how he had manipulated the people from the Heilin Society into helping him complete his mission, a great sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. He relished the feeling of using others as his pawns.

...

The next morning, a sliver of dawn appeared on the horizon. The golden sunlight tore through the night sky, quickly dispelling the darkness that shrouded the land.

Sunlight squeezed through the gaps in the curtains, casting patches of light on the floor.

As time passed and the sun climbed higher, more and more creatures across the land began to stir.

"CHIRP CHIRP..."

The early bird gets the worm. A while after sunrise, more and more birds began to wake up.

They flapped their wings, flying out from the leafy trees in flocks towards the suburbs to find food, leaving behind a trail of pleasant chirps in the sky.

In the dim room, Lin Li was fast asleep in bed. The incessant chirping of birds from outside his window eventually disturbed him, and Lin Li slowly opened his eyes.

"So damn noisy."

He threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked to the window to pull open the curtains. A bird, which had been chirping on the outdoor air conditioning unit, noticed the sudden appearance of a human at the window and immediately flew off in fright.

"Disturbing my sleep. If you dare do that again, I won’t let you get away so easily," Lin Li muttered to himself, watching the little sparrow that had woken him fly away.

...