Chapter 116: Impermanence in a Single Thought!

Upon hearing these words, Ling Qiu finally turned his head.

He swept a faint glance over the man. Then, he set aside the trinket he had been toying with.

"I had expected you to keep something interesting here. It seems these are merely decorations," Ling Qiu said, disappointed. He had been looking around earlier, hoping to find something related to the Ghost Path, but there was nothing.

The middle-aged man’s eyes grew colder. "Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I heard it." Ling Qiu yawned, walked over slowly, pulled up a chair, and sat down with his legs crossed. "But I want to hear you say it again."

The middle-aged man's expression darkened further. Truth be told, if he hadn't known that the young man before him was no ordinary person, he would have lost his temper already.

"Fine, I will repeat it once more," the middle-aged man said, using his remaining patience. "I said, state your terms and stop interfering in this matter from now on. That man named Zhao Dezhu—you cannot save him!"

Ling Qiu shook his head. "Not that sentence. The one before it."

The one before it?! The middle-aged man’s face grew increasingly ugly. This kid was too arrogant! But for the sake of the bigger picture, he gritted his teeth and repeated it: "I asked you: do you want money, or something else?"

"Hmm. Yes, that’s the one." Ling Qiu smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction. He then looked slowly at the middle-aged man. "Does that mean if I want anything, you will provide it?"

"That depends on what you want."

"And if I… want your life?"

As Ling Qiu said this, a faint smile remained on his face, his eyes carrying a hint of playful mockery.

The middle-aged man’s expression sank completely, and the cigar in his hand snapped in two.

Veins bulged on his forehead. "Kid, do you know that for all these years, you are the first person who has dared to speak to me, Xing Lunán, like that!"

Ling Qiu looked as if he were smiling but not quite. "Well then, are you going to give it to me?"

Xing Lunán narrowed his eyes, releasing a burst of fierce, malevolent energy. "Just you?"

Ling Qiu shrugged slightly. "Is that your last will and testament?"

"Arrogant!" Xing Lunán slammed the table immediately. A powerful aura erupted from his body, accompanied by waves of cold, sinister煞气. Surrounded by swirling mist and dark clouds, he said, "Kid, you have obstructed my business time and again. For the sake of the bigger picture, I didn't want to strike hard. After all, I don't want to break the rules. But since you have pushed your luck, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

As he spoke, Xing Lunán stood up and walked slowly toward Ling Qiu.

Ling Qiu scanned him lazily and said in a measured tone, "If you want to throw your life away, I won't stop you. But your life is worthless compared to my patience. Don't waste time—let the principal show himself."

Xing Lunán was shocked. He suddenly stopped in his tracks. "What… do you mean?"

Ling Qiu said indifferently, "This malevolent energy of yours, while barely passable, is at most at the level of a [Ghost Runner]. I am looking for someone called Chief Constable Xing, not some minor Ghost Runner."

"What?!!!" Xing Lunán’s expression changed. How did he see through it?! He looked at Ling Qiu in disbelief. Judging his identity just by the aura on his body? No… that was impossible!

While Xing Lunán was still stunned, Ling Qiu toyed with the Yama Ring on his finger, speaking as if to himself: "Chief Constable Xing, are you still not coming out? If you want this man to die for nothing at my hands, feel free to keep hiding. I’ll count to three. Three, two…"

Click.

At that moment, the study door was suddenly opened from the outside. Ling Qiu didn't turn around, but the aura drifting in from the doorway told him that the person who had appeared was indeed that Chief Constable Xing.

"Father!" Xing Lunán looked toward the door and instinctively bowed.

"A-Nan, go outside and wait," a vigorous and steady voice came slowly.

"But… Father…" Xing Lunán was stunned. "This kid… you don’t need to handle him yourself, I can just as easily—"

"I do not wish to repeat myself."

Upon hearing this, Xing Lunán had no choice but to nod and walk out obediently. Before leaving, he shot a vicious glare at Ling Qiu. "Kid… I don't care who you are, but for daring to trouble the Old Master to show his face, you are playing with fire! Do you understand?!"

After throwing these harsh words, Xing Lunán exited the study.

A few seconds later, an elderly man with white hair, dressed in a black Zhongshan suit, appeared before Ling Qiu. He sat in the chair previously occupied by Xing Lunán. The old man had a rosy complexion and looked to be in good spirits, his face carrying a faint, confident smile befitting a master. Yet, hidden deep within his eyes as he looked at Ling Qiu was a sliver of malevolence.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Xing Mantang. May I ask how I should address you, young man?"

Xing Mantang was a classic smiling tiger, wearing a benevolent and kind appearance that would make anyone feel a sense of warmth. But Ling Qiu knew his true identity. Therefore, to him, this fake disguise was meaningless.

Ling Qiu lazily raised his eyelids. "Ling Qiu."

Xing Mantang stroked his white goatee and nodded slightly. "I can see you are a man who dislikes small talk. I will get straight to the point. Yes, I am the Chief Constable Xing you speak of. Since you know my identity and have the ability to deal with my subordinates, I assume you are a colleague. May I ask… which jurisdiction do you serve?"

The old man didn't beat around the bush. This finally suited Ling Qiu's appetite.

Ling Qiu looked up, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. He stared at the curling smoke for a long while before saying slowly, "I don't serve."

"Oh?" Xing Mantang raised an eyebrow. "In that case, you must not be a ghost official of the mortal realm? Then you must be a practitioner of the mystic arts. May I ask which sect you belong to, which mountain you hail from, and who your master is?"

"No sect, no school. As for my master…" Ling Qiu pondered for a moment with a serious air. "I do have an old friend who is both a teacher and a companion…"

"Oh?" Xing Mantang asked. "And may I ask… who is this high-ranking expert of an old friend?"

Ling Qiu replied casually, "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."

Xing Mantang froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Young man, that joke is not very funny. If you say that, then King Yama and I are sworn brothers!"