Chapter 8 Thanks Oliver told Richie the time and place of his meeting with Investigator Marquette tomorrow, then put down the phone. Turning back, he saw Chief Norman pacing in the room. He paced and muttered to himself, his facial expression changing several times, and from time to time he revealed a brilliant smile that only appeared after an illusory victory. "Hey, Chief, do you think Agent Rich's mental condition is good enough to complete two missions? Should we call him back for a comprehensive mental evaluation?" "No hurry, no hurry." Commander Norman waved his hands repeatedly. Perhaps he felt that he had lost his composure a little, so he quickly sat on the sofa at the back of the room and poured himself a cup of coffee. "While many of Agent Rich's wording is elusive, there is one detail Oliver you may not have noticed." "Uh...what details?" "He's very concerned about his salary! Oliver, think about the other agents you've come into contact with, what do they care about?" Oliver recalled that the last agent he met claimed that another personality had split out in his mind, which was the personality of his 80-year-old self who traveled back in time. That personality often tried to kill him secretly, and he had been applying to the headquarters to find an ancient relic to help him take the initiative. There is also an agent who claims that he completes all the tasks for pilgrimage, and his god is a meatball and ketchup noodles floating in the sky. He needs to find the heavenly steps that can listen to the voice of the god, uh, that is, some kind of cheese... Come to think of it, Investigator Rich's pursuit, while vulgar, is indeed... normal.
"You noticed it, too." Commander Norman continued with a cunning smile: "He accepted the mission just to...get promoted, right? This is what a normal person should pursue. He dares to admit that he investigates cases just to make money. This Ricky's mental state is not only fine, but also very reliable!" Oliver couldn't help but look at the chief. He had joined the investigation department three years ago and thought he had some experience in identifying the mental state of investigators. He didn't expect that the chief was the most experienced and taught him another lesson. “Well, inform me immediately if there is any news from Investigator Rich. In addition, I will personally select the partner who will support him in the next mission." The commander left the room after leaving these words. …… The next morning, Liu Yonglu walked down the street to meet Marquette, but he was still thinking about his dream yesterday. Yes, he had the same dream again last night. It was still the same beach, the same plot of the Toads’ meeting, and he still worked all night. However, this time Liu Yonglu learned his lesson. In his dream, he did not walk along the dirt road to the center of the island. Instead, he circled the island and returned to the starting point, sitting cross-legged and waiting to wake up naturally. But after sitting for a while, the ancient whispers began to sound in his ears again, bewitching him to walk unconsciously towards the open space and towards the stone tablet. With the experience from last time, he did not fall to the ground with his head in his hands, but faced the sea and spoke continuously. After speaking for seven or eight paragraphs, the half-human monsters appeared. They continued their rituals as if they didn't see Liu Yonglu. A monster slowly walked into the sea holding a small blood-stained bag. After a while, he came back, but the bag was gone. Perhaps the frog-faced baby was wrapped in the bundle, and this was the final part of the ceremony. In this way, the monsters in the dream were busy with their rituals on the beach, and Liu Yonglu was doing his own work, and the two sides did not interfere with each other. Walking on the street with his head down, Liu Yonglu smacked his lips. He always felt that something was wrong. Even if he was dreaming, he couldn't have the same dream for two days. Could it be that the heavens took my words that I whispered yesterday seriously? Did my mouth have a blessing? Or maybe the ancestor felt that my work was not solid enough and asked me to practice harder? As he was thinking, Liu Yonglu turned a corner and ran into an acquaintance. It was none other than Isaac's wife, Yulia. She was wearing an old black sweater, a black top hat, and holding a bag in her hand, and it seemed that she was going out to buy something. When Liu Yonglu came to his senses and saw her, they were only four or five steps apart. Oh my god, how come I met such a bad guy here? Liu Yonglu's calves cramped and his whole body shuddered. He quickly turned around and walked back, but it was too late.
"Ricky...Mr." Yulia's voice sounded behind her. "Hey! Who was I thinking? Sister-in-law, going out to buy something? I think the water radish at the stall in front is pretty good, why don’t you go over and buy some? I have arranged a horse carriage, and the horse is waiting for me at the intersection in front. We can talk next time if we have the chance.” After saying a set of incoherent speeches, he was about to slip away, but unexpectedly Yulia trotted over and stopped him. If she brings up the matter of the old lady's death later, I will deny it. Liu Yonglu has made up his mind. "Mr. Rich, old Jenny...is dead..." "Ah! The old lady is gone!" Life is so tiring. I have to say the same words twice. Liu Yonglu rolled his eyes. "At midnight the day you left, old Jenny died in the bathroom on the second floor." "Well, that's what I wanted to say at the time. The old man shouldn't bathe so often. He must have fallen because he didn't stand firmly. Please accept my condolences, sister-in-law. You still have to live your life in the future." "My condolences? Hahahaha, I'm so happy." Yulia's pale face suddenly broke into a sickly and wild smile. She laughed nervously until she couldn't stand up straight. This time it was Liu Yonglu who was dumbfounded. What happened? As the old saying goes, "A daughter-in-law crying for her mother-in-law is just hypocritical, and a son-in-law crying for his father-in-law is just a fart." You don't even have hypocrisy, so why don't you just stop pretending, right? “Mr. Rich, that night…I finally got to see my child. He was so small, and he was put in a bottle, and the bottle was placed in the attic on the third floor. Only old Jenny had the key to the attic, and she usually didn't let us go up there." "Put the child in a bottle?" Liu Yonglu tried to follow Yulia's thoughts. "No... that's not my child, it's a monster that crawled out of my belly. It's all her fault! That evil old witch, she did it all! Now she is finally dead, what a good thing she died. Why didn't I listen to my father's advice and insist on marrying into this damn place... The people here are all a bunch of sick freaks!" Yulia's voice was sharp and crazy, attracting everyone around to look here. Liu Yonglu was a little at a loss and quickly pulled Yulia aside. The two of them moved to a cafe, and Yulia felt a little more stable after drinking a cup of hot tea. "Thank you, Mr. Rich. You must have killed old Jenny, didn't you?" "Hi..." Liu Yonglu lowered his head and drank tea, waved his hand and asked, "Is Isaac okay? My mother is gone, can you still hold on?" “Isaac…is not doing well. He’s been very traumatized. I came out today just to go to the hospital to get some sedatives for him. But he has accepted the reality, and we are going to pack up our things and move out of this town in a few days." "Let's go quickly, change the place and change the mood." When Liu Yonglu heard that there was no victim looking for trouble with him, his head immediately perked up. "Well, if Isaac had found you earlier, Mr. Rich, we don't have much savings, but I still want to thank you. This brooch was given to me by my father. It is made of pure gold. I hope you can accept it." "No, no, no, sister-in-law, you are being too polite. This is our job and we cannot accept gifts." Liu Yonglu's head shook like a rattle. The couple was already pitiful enough, their child was gone, and the mother-in-law was a mean person. If he accepted their things at this time, he would be punished. But...if you don't accept those things, you can accept other things. "Sister-in-law, you really want to thank me, right?"
"Yes... as long as I can afford it..." Yulia saw Mr. Richie's smirk on the opposite side and felt a little nervous. "How about this, you can give me a silk banner and ask someone to send it to our unit." "Banner?" Yulia looked confused. "Tsk, you don't know about the silk banner? It's a small banner with yellow characters on a red background, with words of thanks written on it." Liu Yonglu was very smart. He was afraid that the chief-in-chief's promise to his captain was just a lie and he wanted to exert some public pressure. To put it bluntly, he wanted to build momentum for himself. "Oh, I understand. But what should I write specifically?" "What to write...Wait a minute, I'll tell you." Liu Yonglu asked the waiter for a pen and paper, wrote the content of the banner and the address of the headquarters on it, and handed it over. After Yulia took it, she saw two lines of large characters on it: "Evil cannot prevail over justice, and harm will be eliminated for the people." There were also two lines of small characters on the left and right. On the left was "Isaac and his wife" and on the right was "Presented to: Investigator Ricky Baldwin." To be honest, she really didn't understand these words, but since they were written clearly for her, she might as well do it. It didn't cost much to make a flag. After explaining the matter of the silk banner, Liu Yonglu said goodbye to Yulia, walked two more intersections, and finally arrived at a tavern. This tavern has a small frontage and is sandwiched between two private villas. If you don't notice the small green door, you might miss it. Pushing open the door, there were only three small tables in the bar besides a bar counter, and a bald bartender was wiping the bar counter listlessly. "Master, I'm looking for Marquette." Liu Yonglu took off his hat and greeted him. The bartender tilted his head and winked at him. Liu Yonglu saw a middle-aged man sitting at the end of the bar. The man was in his thirties, with a fashionable black moustache. He wore a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his strong forearms. On his left arm was a black tattoo of a woman's profile. He swirled the amber liquid in his glass while picking through the assorted nuts on a small dish. Seeing Liu Yonglu come in and ask questions, he looked up, smiled happily, and patted the chair next to him. "'Blow-off' Marquette, Investigator Ricky, come sit here." Welcome everyone to collect and comment (End of this chapter)