Yunxi lifted her umbrella slightly, her gaze falling on the group clearly blocking her path. She waited patiently for them to speak.
The man in the suit glanced at Yunxi's ordinary-looking face and politely asked,
"Miss, was the commotion at Master Yu's residence caused by you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Yunxi lied without hesitation, her expression calm.
The man seemed unaccustomed to dealing with such shamelessness. He gestured behind him, and a woman in a black suit stepped forward, handing him a round metallic button.
He pressed the button, and a three-dimensional image appeared in front of Yunxi, showing a recording of her duel with Master Yu. She realized she had been careless and forgotten about surveillance cameras.
Still, she had no intention of admitting it. Yunxi gave the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella a gentle twist, and the black umbrella transformed into white. The Glazed Jade Mask dissipated, revealing her true face, while her white gown shifted into a crimson dress. She spoke again, her voice calm:
"You've got the wrong person. I'm completely different from whoever that is."
The man's mouth twitched, while the woman's eyelid gave a slight twitch as well. They both realized this mission had just become far more difficult. Their target clearly had no intention of cooperating, and they had yet to assess her strength, making rash action unwise.
Still, the man braced himself and said, "Miss, regardless of the circumstances, you are not permitted to detain souls without authorization. Please release the ghost you have confined."
Yunxi raised an eyebrow. "I'm not allowed to capture souls, but that Yu fellow is? What gives him the right? What qualifications does he have to turn spirits into Soul Puppets?"
The two exchanged a glance. This time, the woman in the suit responded,
"Miss, Mr. Yu is a state-sanctioned Soul Captor, so he is permitted to capture souls. As for your claim that he is privately refining Soul Puppets, we will investigate further. We won't allow him to break the profession's rules."
Yunxi was genuinely shocked by that response. Her almond-shaped eyes gleamed with suspicion as she lifted her umbrella slightly, her cold gaze fixing on the pair. "And what authority do you have to appoint Soul Captors?"
The two immediately sensed her displeasure and instinctively stepped back. The eight cars parked behind them opened, and more personnel stepped out, all watching Yunxi intently, clearly awaiting orders.
The woman in the suit frowned. They hadn't come here to start a fight, especially not with such an unpredictable woman. She pulled out a badge from her inner pocket and showed it to Yunxi."We are members of a special division under the Azure Star Security Department, specializing in handling supernatural phenomena. Your clash with Mr. Yu disrupted the magnetic field in this area.
When our monitoring systems flagged the disturbance, we immediately deployed. Please don't doubt our professionalism or credentials. We have no intention of making things difficult for you. The problem is, we couldn't find any information on your identity. Where are you from?"
Yunxi gave the badge a cursory glance. She wasn't suspicious of their affiliations, but her doubts only deepened. She put away the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella and said,
"To prove you're telling the truth, I'll come with you."
She then stepped forward and got into the lead SUV without hesitation.
The suited man and woman widened their eyes. They'd never encountered someone so unpredictable. Exchanging a look, they quickly followed her into the vehicle.
The other operatives saw their target obediently boarding the car and climbed back into their vehicles as well. The lead car made a U-turn and began heading back the way they'd come.
At that moment, Yunxi's phone rang.
She didn't even need to look; she knew it was Xia Mengmeng calling. Only Xia Mengmeng had her new number.
The woman in the suit sitting beside her was again surprised, glancing at Yunxi in disbelief. They hadn't expected her to have any communication device, especially since no records had shown up during their checks. As the woman hesitated over whether to intercept the signal, Yunxi answered the call.
"Master Ran Xi, I've taken care of everything on my end. I'm sorry I left you alone with Master Yu. I'll have Lan Lan come pick you up."
Xia Mengmeng sounded apologetic. After Ran Xi had helped her uncover the truth, her anger had boiled over, and she'd stormed off without a second thought.
"No need. I'm riding with someone else. I've handled Master Yu's situation as well. In the future, don't involve yourself with scum like him."
The woman in the suit, who had been eavesdropping, felt that Yunxi's words were aimed at them too.
On the other end, Xia Mengmeng quickly replied, "Understood. I'll remember that. How should I pay you, Master?"
"I don't need the payment right now. Keep it for me, and I'll contact you when I do."
Yunxi was a ghost in this world, without any legal identity. Spending money was a challenge. It was more convenient to have Xia Mengmeng hold onto it for her, and she wasn't worried about being cheated.
"Of course, no problem. If you ever need anything, Master Ran Xi, please call me."
They ended the call.
Afterward, silence filled the car. Yunxi absently rubbed the storage bracelet on her wrist, her brows furrowed as she processed everything the suited pair had said. Each piece of information felt like a spark jumping along her nerves.
Half an hour later, the convoy of nine vehicles drove into the underground parking lot of a towering skyscraper. With the suited man and woman flanking her, Yunxi stepped into a private elevator that carried them straight to the top floor.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing a pair of identical twin boys waiting at the entrance. Both had identical faces filled with curiosity as they looked at Yunxi. They were stunned by her beauty and instinctively stepped back under the weight of her imposing aura.
Yunxi swept her divine sense over them, her displeasure evident. With a wave of her hand, she sent both boys staggering backward with an invisible force. The twins stumbled several steps before regaining their footing, their eyes wide with shock.
"Miss, why would you attack juniors without cause?"
A middle-aged man stepped forward, his face calm as he questioned her.
Yunxi glanced at him coldly. "They're cultivating with their souls. Sure, their spiritual power has surged, allowing them to intimidate and suppress more spirits. But this path will inevitably spiral out of control. This is a heretical method. Who taught you this?"
Her words left the man and the twin boys equally startled. It was as if they were speaking from two entirely different worlds.
Yunxi didn't bother probing further. She had come here for answers. She cut straight to the point:"Who gave you the authority to appoint Soul Captors? By what standards does your special division judge someone fit for that title? Where are the spirits taken by these qualified Soul Captors sent? And how do you handle the spirits you capture?"
Her rapid-fire questions silenced the suited operatives, who looked to the middle-aged man for guidance.
The man gestured for Yunxi to sit. Only then did he speak: "Before I answer your questions, shouldn't you first tell us who you are?"
Yunxi took a seat and replied evenly, "My name is Ran Xi. I recently came into this world for training. The first thing I encountered was someone possessed by a ghost, orchestrated by one of your so-called qualified Soul Captors. Did you know that Yu fellow has been refining Soul Puppets?"
"Soul Puppets? Are you certain?"
One of the twins immediately pressed her.
"Of course. Don't you have surveillance? Wasn't it recorded?"
This time, it was the man in the suit who looked embarrassed. He leaned close to the middle-aged man and whispered,
"Master Yu only uploaded the footage favorable to him as evidence for his report."