"I'm not unwilling to believe, it's just..."
"You just don't want to believe."
Chu Yue tossed the fruit pit away, her tone cold.
"If you remain like this, being dictatorial, I believe Duan Chen's pawn can be brought out. He has no obligation to be a seesaw between you and the Evil God."
"I know, I will try to change."
Wu Suowei took a deep breath.
Hearing him say this, Chu Yue's expression softened slightly.
...
Meanwhile.
The owner of Ruijie Photography Studio was a middle-aged woman. As soon as Duan Chen met her, he identified himself and placed the photograph in front of her.
"Officer, I process so many photos every day, this one is too inconspicuous. You ask me who developed it, and I don't know."
"Do you have any general impression? Around which day did you develop it? Could we conveniently check the surveillance footage?"
The woman took the photo and examined it from left to right, finally recalling a general timeframe.
"Around the 13th."
Today was the 20th, so not much time had passed. Fortunately, the proprietress didn't make a habit of regularly clearing surveillance footage. The group gathered around a computer and began watching at an eightfold speed.
"It's a bit blurry, can you see clearly?"
"Okay."
For two full days, they were holed up there watching the surveillance. If Duan Chen and Mi Xue'er hadn't shown their high-level special agent credentials, the proprietress would likely have kicked them out.
Finally, at noon on the second day, Duan Chen saw on the monitor someone showing a mobile phone to the proprietress. The image on the phone bore some resemblance to the photograph.
He quickly called the proprietress over.
"Oh, it's him, it's him, that's right."
After all, it was a photo that had passed through her hands. Although she couldn't remember the specific features, seeing the surveillance immediately made her certain.
Duan Chen continued to play the video. The man was quite tall, and at this angle, the surveillance didn't capture his face clearly.
A few minutes later, a familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Isn't that... Qu Yan?!"
Qi Qing exclaimed involuntarily.
"You know him?" Jun Ci, Qin Nanyuan, and Mi Le looked bewildered.
Qi Qing gritted his teeth and explained.
"Then let's go find him."
Qi Qing drove them to the street below Qu Yan's residence.
"Officers, why are you here again? Do you know I'm very busy?"
When Qu Yan opened the door and saw them, he was slightly surprised.
"We have something important, we need your help."
"Alright, please come in."
Qu Yan poured them a glass of water, tidied up the mess on the table, and asked, "What is it, officer? Do you want to go into Peach Blossom Pool again? You should be able to use the Young Lady's power now, so you can go in by yourself."
"It's not about that."
Duan Chen, helpless, took out the photograph and placed it in front of Qu Yan.
"On March 15th, was it you who brought this photo to Ruijie Photography Studio to be developed?"
"I take on so many commissions, this small matter... let me think."
After a moment, Qu Yan nodded.
"It seems there was such a thing. This client was anonymous, they just sent me the letter and money."
Saying this, he rummaged through a pile of documents and produced a manila envelope, which he handed to Duan Chen.
"The address, do you have it?"
"He sent it to me, and I mailed the photo back to him, it was two different addresses. He probably wanted to keep it confidential," Qu Yan replied, taking a sip of water.
"Two addresses, please write them both down for me."
Just as Qu Yan was about to put pen to paper, he suddenly looked up and stared at Duan Chen with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Duan Chen got goosebumps.
"You're not going to have us few tools help you complete the commission again, are you?"
Qu Yan chuckled heartily.
"No, officer, I'm just teasing you. Look how scared you are. You're our Young Lady's future #@%, right? How could I trick you?"
"Ah? What did you say?"
The others hadn't clearly heard the title he used.
Qu Yan winked at Duan Chen, who understood and chuckled twice.
"Got it, write quickly."
"Got what?"
"I advise you, don't ask about things you shouldn't." Qi Qing grinned, seemingly understanding too.
"Oh, right, officer, near this address, there seem to be sea monsters lurking. Be careful," Qu Yan pointed to the first address, which was where the anonymous person had mailed the envelope from.
"Okay, I understand."
"We'll go in order."
The first address was in the northern district of Sucheng, at a small real estate company. The Sucheng Spirit Hunter Guild had clearly also received news of sea monsters in the area and had dispatched a team of spirit hunter agents.
"Brother Duan Chen?"
Several young agents who knew him were slightly surprised to see Duan Chen.
Duan Chen smiled, "Hello."
"Brother Duan Chen, did you receive the commission?"
One of the young men eagerly approached, his eyes filled with admiration for Duan Chen.
Duan Chen was taken aback.
"Aren't you guys working on this commission?"
He gave a wry smile, pointed to a girl leaning on a crutch, injured, and shook his head, "No, the sea monsters here are unusually strong. We were just about to hand over the mission."
"Perfect, hand it over to me then."
Duan Chen's eyes lit up. He had been wondering how to legitimately take over this mission to facilitate his investigation.
"Really?"
The young men's eyes sparkled as they looked at him.
"Yes, since we're already here, it's just one more mission."
"That's great, Brother Duan Chen!"
The young man was enthusiastic and rushed forward to give him a hug.
After completing the mission handover, they left.
"Uh... officers?"
The person in charge of reception watched, stunned, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
How did this Officer Duan seem so formidable?
Duan Chen nodded, pulled out the photograph.
"Did this photo come from your company?"
"I'll go ask for you." The middle-aged man took the photo after a glance.
"Okay, thank you for your trouble."
The company wasn't large, and there weren't many employees. They were all quite familiar with each other. It was evident that the receptionist was a minor leader, but he showed no airs in front of his employees, asking each one individually.
"I asked the cleaning lady and the maintenance worker too, neither of them mailed such a photo."
"Then, have there been any employees who have resigned recently from your company?"
"That... no, there haven't been any. Our company has a very low employee turnover rate." The receptionist smiled and returned the photo to Duan Chen.
He sighed.
"Then please take me to the location where the sea monster appeared. Also, could you tell me how that spirit hunter got injured?"
"No problem, this way please."
The receptionist was overjoyed and quickly led Duan Chen and the others to the reception area.
The reception office was rather shabby, with even unconquered blood on the floor and a damp smell in the air. Duan Chen and the others didn't mind, and each took a seat on the sofa.