But Yang Xiao had a different idea from Zhao. He rembered the hiding place for the mask was very secretive, not sothing found hurriedly; this person was quite familiar with the layout of the script room, making it highly likely it was an inside job.
"Has the script store taken on any new people recently?" Yang Xiao asked.
Zhao nodded without hesitation, "Yes, business has been good recently, and I can’t manage alone, so I’ve hired three more employees."
"Who among them could have had the opportunity to stay in the script room extensively?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao thought for a mont and recalled, "Only Xiao Chen then; of the three, he’s the experienced one, knows how to manage the script room. He’s responsible for tidying up the props after the ga each night, and then he leaves work."
"Oh, he was here earlier, the big guy with the heavy accent and dyed yellow hair. His na is Chen Long," Zhao introduced.
After listening, Yang Xiao imdiately pictured the man in his mind: yellow hair, small eyes, a flat nose, and so freckles on his cheeks, his appearance fairly simple; but Yang Xiao rembered that this guy was the first to question him after he said the issue was resolved.
"Where does he live?" Yang Xiao inquired further.
"He said he just arrived in Rongcheng and had no place to stay, so I rented a room in the old residential area as a storage room. It has a bed, so I let him stay there temporarily until he finds a suitable place to move out," Zhao replied.
Yang Xiao nodded, plotting in his mind, "Is he coming to work tonight?"
"Yes," Zhao confird.
By now, Yang Xiao was 70 percent sure this man was the perpetrator. His tactic of startling the snake had already succeeded, and tonight he planned to trap him.
From his previous impression of Yellow Hair, this person wasn’t very clever; even if he was an Angel Envoy, he was rely at the bottom of the Grudge Level, the weakest. Catching him was also ant to lure out the mastermind behind him; Yang Xiao guessed this was not targeting Zhao alone.
As per Yang Xiao’s plan, Zhao arranged for the usual night shift, and to perform a complete act, Zhao even treated Yang Xiao to a big dinner downstairs in the evening, after which Yang Xiao took a taxi away while Zhao drove ho alone.
However, Yang Xiao soon silently sneaked back into the Script Club using the power of the Soul-Capturing Mirror, hiding himself in Zhao’s office.
Ti ticked by. Yang Xiao, monitoring the situation through surveillance, watched as the last group of custors left and the other employees went off-duty. Chen Long told them to go ahead while he started to clean each room one by one.
"There’s definitely a ghost here," Yang Xiao murmured coldly in front of the screen. No matter what, there had just been ghostly trouble here, which everyone avoided, yet he dared to stay alone. Yang Xiao didn’t believe there was no issue.
Soon, the fox’s tail appeared. While cleaning room number seven, Chen Long pretended to accidentally knock over a trash can, then kneeled on the ground, using his back to block the surveillance, his hands busy with sothing unknown on the floor. With a thought, Yang Xiao appeared behind Chen Long, peering over to see what he was doing.
Chen Long had already put on a silver glove on his left hand, then lifted a corner of the floor mat. Beneath the mat, there was another face mask, the cheapest one Yang Xiao had picked up from the departnt store downstairs. Chen Long, with the gloved hand, carefully picked up the mask, looking it over from left to right, sensing sothing off. The mask... why was it still damp and slippery, as if just unwrapped?
"Sothing seems off?" Yang Xiao asked from behind him.
"Hmm," Chen Long didn’t turn his head, focusing on the mask and nodded, "It feels weird. Why does it sll like milk?"
"Like it? I just bought it this afternoon," Yang Xiao said with a smile.
In fact, after answering the first question, Chen Long had realized sothing was wrong. He had definitely sent all his colleagues away; he should have been the only one left in the store... how could there be...
With almost no chance to resist, Chen Long was subdued single-handedly by Yang Xiao, who hadn’t even expected the guy to be so weak; he wasn’t an envoy, just a physically weak ordinary person.
Yang Xiao pinned him to the ground, his left knee pressing on the other’s neck, gradually applying pressure, "Talk. Who sent you?"
"Don’t...don’t do this, I’m suffocating!" Chen Long pleaded desperately, but Yang Xiao remained unmoved, his face cold.
"Cough...cough..." Soon, Chen Long’s cheeks turned red, and his entire deanor beca delirious, his speech weak and breathless, "It’s... it’s Boss Wu! Boss Wu sent ."
Yang Xiao slightly relaxed his knee, allowing him to breathe, and coldly asked, "Which Boss Wu?"
"I don’t know his na, but he also owns a major script murder mystery store, several stores actually, including the one at Tianhong Square." Chen Long gasped for air, and as fresh air flowed into his lungs, he finally ca back to life.
At that mont, Yang Xiao finally rembered that this Boss Wu had once stolen business from Zhao and had sought Fu Qingzhu’s help to settle the matter. He hadn’t expected that in such a short ti, Boss Wu would resurface, resorting to underhand thods when overt efforts had failed.
This incident had clearly crossed Yang Xiao’s line. This was no longer rely stealing business; it involved risking lives. "Is that Boss Wu an Angel Envoy?" Yang Xiao decided to pay a personal visit to have a serious talk with this Boss Wu.
"What... what Angel Envoy?" Chen Long looked puzzled, "No, no, I’m not close to him, we’re not in that kind of relationship. I was hired by him for money—he gave thirty thousand silver upfront and promised another twenty thousand after it’s done, asking to work here for a month."
Yang Xiao, sowhat speechless, pressed further, "Then do you know what the mask you left here is?"
"Know a bit. Boss Wu said it was peeled off a dead woman’s face, quite eerie," Chen Long answered readily.
"And you aren’t afraid that this thing might be haunted?" Yang Xiao really couldn’t fathom the thought process of the young man before him. So money isn’t worth earning—it could hasten your death.
Unexpectedly, Chen Long shrank his neck and muttered softly, "Scared, of course, I’m scared, but he gave a glove and told that as long as I wear it while touching this thing, nothing will happen. Except for cleaning the room, I never co here, nor do I step on the mat covering the mask."
"Besides you, are there any accomplices around?" Yang Xiao inquired further.
"No... none." Chen Long seed to be making one last struggle, twisting his head and forcing an ugly smile, "I’m a good person, let go, and I’ll share half of the money with you. I... I was deceived by Boss Wu."
"Cut the crap!" Yang Xiao slapped him on the back of his head, then imdiately tore off the silver glove and stuffed it into his pocket, "Rember your words, and think carefully about how you colluded with Boss Wu. When we get back to the station, repeat it to . If you miss even half a word, see how I’ll deal with you!"
To ensure a foolproof operation, Yang Xiao took out the Human Bone Staff and checked for any ill intentions around him, then dialed the Patrol Defense Office’s on-duty phone. Upon connection, the sound of Beibei eating chips ca from the other end, and Yang Xiao was startled, "Why is it you?"
Beibei’s impatient voice responded, "Working the night shift, big brother, you think everyone is like you, the Director’s darling?"
After hearing Yang Xiao’s account, Beibei suggested that it might be best for the Lin’an Patrol Office not to take over the case, given that the scene of the cri fell under the jurisdiction of the Luming Bureau and there could be accusations of overstepping. Most crucially, the issue also involved Yang Xiao personally.
Yang Xiao heeded Beibei’s advice and alerted the Luming Bureau. Since this case involved the Resentful Eye and paranormal incidents, it fell under the Patrol Defense Office’s jurisdiction. Soon, a team hurried over, led by a man in a trench coat whom Yang Xiao knew well.
"Captain Wu, it’s you leading the team in person." Yang Xiao greeted him with a smile. Wu Zhe and Wu Zhengwu had really helped him a lot last ti; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy to shake off Qu Muzhi’s lingering troubles.
Seeing Yang Xiao, Wu Zhe was exceptionally friendly, laughing, "Knowing it’s Captain Yang here, how could I not show up? How serious is it?"
"A minor issue, but the matters involved behind it are quite extensive—soone’s spending money to cause trouble," Yang Xiao explained.
After having Chen Long taken away, Wu Zhe moved closer to Yang Xiao, glanced at the Script Club’s sign, and asked in a low voice, "I heard this store has part of your stake in it?"
"Sort of, just a hobby," Yang Xiao said with a wry smile. He ant it sincerely as he hadn’t expected much profit from it.
However, Wu Zhe seed to misunderstand, nodding knowingly as he whispered a promise, "Got it, with your word, I know what to do now. Don’t worry about this; avoid any suspicion. Daring to sabotage one of our brother’s businesses on Rongcheng’s turf, they really don’t know their limits. I’ll make sure he is driven out of Rongcheng, ensuring he never dares to co back."
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