Chapter 166 : Evidence from the Ancient Castle
Chapter 166: Evidence from the Ancient Castle
Forced the Disaster Management Bureau elder to give way—Li Yiting stood beside, his expression unchanged, but within his eyes, a trace of delight quietly surfaced.
The Doctor and Hei Hu wore blank faces, but internally sighed, “What an act!”
It was the Aries Investigator behind them whose expression suddenly turned awkward. If only he hadn’t stepped aside! But now that he instinctively yielded, his earlier momentum instantly deflated.
Though the Disaster Management Bureau was founded not long ago, it still had a strong seniority hierarchy.
This was due to the fact that the Investigator License was extremely hard to acquire, yet held great power—so much so that short-lived Executioners viewed Investigators with an air of unfathomable awe.
New Investigators who had successfully obtained their licenses, immersed in the Disaster Management Bureau’s culture of mutual support and its mystic inner circle, naturally developed reverence toward senior Investigators, which in turn reinforced this tradition.
And that was just within the Bureau. In Esoteric circles, the hierarchy was ten times stricter.
But that was for others.
Who was Han Su?
He had shattered the Bureau’s three-year record—a star Investigator so radiant he blinded others.
With a record of solving 17 cases in three days, even the Four Chief Investigators would avoid clashing with him.
So when the Aries Investigator was left outside, Han Su didn’t bother with patience or courtesy.
He had already met him back at the Lilac Courtyard club. It was clear that he was allied with that Drunkard Investigator—his enemy.
What’s more, his codename was Aries, and Han Su’s was Butcher. Naturally countered him!
He walked straight to the guest area and sat down, facing Li Yiting, who looked both anxious and excited, and said, “Mr. Li, what exactly is going on?”
“It’s related to an ancient ruins project I recently invested in.”
Li Yiting, who seemed to have been hoping for a conversation with Han Su, answered quickly: “Not long after the project began, my workers started showing signs of inexplicable hysteria.”
Han Su frowned slightly. “What kind of ruins project?”
Something felt off.
Though the Magic Box Corporation had once been in its prime, Li’s father was still, by status, an ordinary person.
According to what Special Assistant Xu had said, he was wealthy, but held no real status.
Projects related to the Pre-Civilization Era were extremely confidential.
Ordinary people had no authority to even study them. Even if accidentally uncovered, they would be immediately seized by the Bureau or other mysterious departments. Someone like Li Yiting—an outsider—how could he casually invest in such a project?
Cough cough!
A sudden cough came from afar—it was the Aries Investigator. He pulled out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and cast a cold glare at Li Yiting.
Li Yiting frowned slightly and stopped speaking.
Han Su caught the signal and turned his head to bark, “What are you coughing for? If you're sick, see a doctor! Is that the professional conduct of an Investigator?”
He exchanged a glance with Hei Hu and the Doctor. The Doctor, who had been listening with interest, frowned as well and pulled the screen in the center of the office to block off the tea room.
On the other side, Aries and his assistant immediately showed irritation. The assistant even stepped forward to protest.
But Hei Hu rose to his feet, stood outside the screen, drew his gun, chambered a round, and clicked off the safety.
“?”
Both Aries and his assistant stopped dead, staring at Hei Hu’s towering build and stony expression. Whatever argument they were about to make, vanished instantly.
This damn rookie! Not only is he in his prime, but even his assistant is this aggressive?
Han Su took out a crystal pendant, held it in his hand, and silently infused it with spiritual power, creating a private space. Only then did he say to Li Yiting, “Mr. Li, you can speak freely now.”
Seeing Han Su’s move, Li Yiting looked pleased, though he still instinctively lowered his voice. “Han, I originally intended to come find you for this matter.”
“When the hysteria appeared, even the security staff and doctors I sent to check on them showed similar symptoms.”
“I realized something was wrong and immediately reported it to the Public Security Bureau. I even mentioned you by name, but they didn’t seem to catch my hint. Instead, they just sent over that Aries Investigator.”
“After he saw the artifacts we unearthed from the ruins, he immediately sealed and confiscated them. He also cited a bunch of confidentiality clauses I didn’t understand, forbidding me from revealing anything. Recently, I’ve been waiting anxiously…”
“…”
“I understand. Take your time,” Han Su nodded and asked directly, “Ruins projects are very dangerous. How did you get involved?”
“I used my old connections.”
Li Yiting exhaled softly and said, “The reason goes back to that cocktail party at the Lilac Courtyard. I sensed something strange that night.”
“It was hosted by the Drunkard and the Owner of the Lilac Courtyard. They wanted to discuss a plot of land I bought ten years ago. They hoped I’d sell it back to them at a low price.”
“In return, they’d let me ‘understand the truth of the world’…”
“But that conversation was interrupted by a sudden attack. It ended abruptly and nothing came of it.”
“Maybe they didn’t see it as urgent and thought they’d come back later. But I immediately sent people to survey that land and discovered it might be the site of an ancient ruin.”
“I realized how important this could be. If I reported it to Qinggang, I’d probably lose all rights over it. The location was remote, actually closer to Haidi City.”
“So I used my old connections and, under the name of a family in Haidi City, started excavating. Sure enough, we quickly found something critical there.”
“I knew its importance and, breaking my agreement with the partners, arranged for it to be secretly transported back. But… that’s when the incident occurred.”
“…”
“Mr. Li, you’re really bold.”
Han Su didn’t understand commercial operations, nor had he studied the permissions surrounding ruin excavations.
But he could tell—this Chairman of Magic Box Corporation seemed a bit reckless.
Not only did he get involved without any protection, he even arranged to smuggle artifacts back…
He didn’t look the type, but turned out to be pretty gutsy…
That family in Haidi City must have real power if they had the credentials to excavate that site. Wasn’t Li Yiting afraid of offending them?
“You’re not the first to say that, Han. When Aries came, he didn’t investigate the Red-Eye Disease Incident so much as threaten me to hand over ownership of the items to whoever he’s working for.”
Li Yiting chuckled darkly, “But you know, I’m at an age where I don’t care anymore.”
“I just want to get Manman back.”
“…”
Hearing that resolute tone, Han Su felt slightly moved.
But he sighed softly and still shook his head, advising, “I understand, but rescuing your daughter will take time. Doing something this dangerous might not help and could even—”
“I have to do it, Han!”
Mentioning this, Li Yiting suddenly became emotional. He lowered his voice: “Of all the items unearthed, there was one document. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to bring it back.”
“That document—just one look and I knew…”
He was so overwhelmed, his voice even choked: “I knew we wronged you.”
Han Su froze. “What?”
“The monsters you talked about back then…”
Li Yiting spoke quickly, “That Withered Butler, Lady Meat Horns, Half-Bodied Doctor…”
“No one believed you at the time. I… I’d never seen those things, so I didn’t believe either.”
“But this time, in the ruins, I found similar things.”
“The moment I saw them, I knew the monsters you described had really existed. Otherwise, how could they resemble those sunless horrors so closely?”
“…”
“You… found them?”
Even Han Su was stunned.
This sudden revelation made his mind spin.
How long had it been?
Ever since the kidnapping case, he had been searching for clues about those monsters, refusing to believe that they could exist in the world yet leave no trace.
He’d dug through mountains of materials, books—yet found nothing.
Maybe it was because, back then, he hadn’t yet entered the Mysterious Side and had been deliberately kept in the dark. Even after joining the Disaster Management Bureau, with increased clearance and access to high-level esoteric files, he still found nothing.
He had since come to understand that many bizarre beings truly existed—like the Crystal Skull, the Impostors, the Sea-Beast, the Ghost Truck, the Living Bronze Puppet, even the Banshee and Round Table Altar…
But none of them matched the monsters from the kidnapping case—especially those described in the media during his childhood interviews. Not one.
Even the Living Bronze Puppet, which he had seen in the Ancient Castle, only counted as a subordinate species.
Since he hadn’t mentioned it ten years ago, he couldn’t use it now to silence his critics.
So many years had passed. Just as he was about to give up on finding any real-world evidence linking to the castle’s monsters—something like them was dug up by Li Yiting?
Suddenly, a thought struck him: Could this be the critical proof he needed to resubmit his report and force the Bureau to reopen the case?
He leaned forward, deeply excited: “What did you find?”
Li Yiting took a deep breath and whispered: “I think it was called… the Pale Giant!”