Chapter 490 - 504: A Case of Mysticism

"Someone buried something here?"

The Huang Daxian cupped its paws and nodded, its small eyes shining as if it were presenting a treasure.

"Is it treasure? Who would hide treasure here?"

An Ning kept digging as she asked. For once, it didn’t occur to her to probe with her spiritual power. She muttered to herself, "I might as well enjoy the fun of digging for treasure."

"Thanks, Huang Da— What the hell!"

The curse slipped out as she snapped the shovel in her hands with her strength.

"Th-th-this... is the ’treasure’ you were talking about?"

The Huang Daxian’s small, surprisingly human-like eyes blinked knowingly at An Ning.

’It... is innocent.’

’It never said it was treasure!’

’And most importantly, it can’t talk!’

Bafflingly, An Ning understood what the Huang Daxian meant. She let out a breath and chided herself.

"I’ve really regressed. It’s just a bone, is it really worth this reaction?"

In the freshly turned soil, a hand with five distinct fingers, a dingy gray tinged with blue, was reaching out. It looked as if it was trying to claw its way out from beneath the earth.

Even as she chided herself, An Ning’s other hand moved swiftly to pull out the protective talisman her master had left her, pressing it against her chest.

"Whew— That’s much better."

Logically, she shouldn’t be afraid of such things. After all, she had received special training during her interstellar days.

It was just that she had gotten her hopes up, truly believing the Huang Daxian had found some kind of treasure. Reality, however, had given her a rude awakening.

Having recovered, An Ning didn’t continue digging.

She turned to the still-innocent-looking Huang Daxian and asked helplessly, "Are there more here?"

The Huang Daxian nodded.

"You just wanted to show me this?"

The Huang Daxian nodded again.

"Alright, I’m going to need you to be a witness."

The Huang Daxian wanted to nod, but ’what was a witness?’

An Ning didn’t explain. She once again lamented the inconvenience of not having a portable phone. She put away the broken shovel, covered the hand with some dry branches, and left with the Huang Daxian.

An Ning returned quickly. Once she reached the village, she borrowed a phone and called the police.

After calling the police, An Ning didn’t just wait around. Instead, she called Yu Zheng.

Yu Zheng contacted Director Zhao and arrived with a specialist even before the police did.

A frantic Yu Zheng rushed over to An Ning, looking her up and down. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. I just dug up a corpse. It wasn’t even tiring."

Such a fresh and unconventional answer certainly didn’t make it seem like she was unwell. Still, Yu Zheng was a bit worried. He said to An Ning, "This is an expert sent personally by Director Zhao."

"What kind of expert? For an autopsy? I have someone better in mind."

An Ning saw Yu Zheng shake his head.

The female expert behind him stepped forward and extended a hand to An Ning. "Hello, I’m Qiu Rui, a psychology expert."

’Psychology?’

An Ning shook Qiu Rui’s hand, but tilted her head to look at Yu Zheng. "A psychology expert?"

Yu Zheng gave a forced smile and a nod, shooting An Ning a look. The two of them moved to the side to speak privately.

"Didn’t you call me to report this to the higher-ups? I contacted Director Zhao and told him you found a body in the woods. Director Zhao was startled and worried you might be traumatized, so he immediately sent a psychology expert to help you debrief."

"It’s not just a psychologist. A nutritionist, a personal aide, bodyguards, and others are all on standby."

The more An Ning heard, the more it felt like a premeditated move.

"The psychologist can stay for now. I don’t want the others."

"Don’t worry about it. I’ll call Director Zhao myself."

An Ning didn’t like having people follow her. If she were truly helpless, then accepting protection would be one thing.

But she was strong enough to take on an entire company by herself, and she even had weapons in her space capable of obliterating a small country. What did she have to fear?

In fact, for someone with so many secrets, it would be highly inconvenient.

"Okay, but... are you sure you’re okay?"

Yu Zheng’s concerned question earned him a "what do you think?" look from An Ning.

"You’re fine? Then why keep the psychologist?"

"To analyze the corpse, of course."

An Ning said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, then turned and went back to chat with the psychologist, Qiu Rui.

Yu Zheng stood frozen in place with a strange expression.

’A psychologist... analyzing a corpse? That’s a first.’

Yu Zheng followed An Ning and stood to the side, waiting with her and the others for the police to arrive.

A little over ten minutes later, the police arrived. The man in the lead made An Ning’s gaze pause for a moment. He gave her a slight nod before walking over to greet her.

"Hello, Comrade An Ning. I’m Shen Weidong."

"Hello."

An Ning had seen Shen Weidong once before.

It was when she was taken to the police station because of the incident with Jiang Xia. When she came out after being questioned, reporters and lawyers had arrived.

At the time, Shen Weidong had been standing behind the reporters and lawyers. He hadn’t said a single word, but everyone in the police station was in a panic.

She remembered someone stammering "Chief, Chief, Chief..." for a long time. It wasn’t hard to guess the man’s rank.

’But does a case like this really require Shen Weidong to show up in person?’

"Comrade An Ning, please lead the way."

"Alright, this way."

An Ning walked in front with Shen Weidong beside her. He wasted no time in asking, "May I ask how you discovered the body?"

"My Huang Daxian led me to it."

That one sentence stunned everyone, superstitious or not.

Even Shen Weidong, who was acting on orders from above, was momentarily stunned. He quickly recovered and asked, "And where might this Huang Daxian be?"

’He believed me?’

"Huang Daxian, come out and lead the way."

An Ning called out. The Huang Daxian, which had been keeping its distance, emerged looking a little sullen.

It didn’t like so many people, but thinking of An Ning’s methods, it came out anyway.

The appearance of the Huang Daxian lent the case a mythical air.

Shen Weidong hadn’t expected to see a real, live Huang Daxian either.

"It... doesn’t seem to want to come closer."

An Ning glanced at it and replied, "Its abilities are limited. It’s afraid you’ll ask it for favors."

Shen Weidong gave An Ning a very formal look. ’This girl... she’s interesting.’

He had been ordered to investigate this case personally.

Normally, a case like this would be far beneath his pay grade, but the person involved was very important. Shen Weidong hadn’t wanted to come at all, but he couldn’t win against his superiors, so here he was.

But after exchanging just a few words with An Ning, his reluctance had already lessened somewhat.

A very strange scene unfolded in the wilderness.

A nimble Huang Daxian led the way, followed by a large procession of people.

An unknowing observer might have thought they were about to perform a sacrificial ritual.

Arriving back at that spot in the woods, the branches An Ning had deliberately used for cover quickly came into view.

"It’s right there. I only dug up to the hand and didn’t go any further. I left the rest for you."

An Ning was so calm it was uncanny. It made Shen Weidong ask curiously, "You’re not afraid?"