"Case of missing persons?" Fu Qingyang had left the killing realm two days after Zhang Yuanqing, and since then, due to promotions, position transfers, and the transition of responsibilities, he had not paid much attention to this case. However, upon hearing that it involved the "Divine General of Passion," his tone grew serious and he asked directly, "Tell me your address." "Four-Corner Plaza Residential Area, at the main entrance, in Li Dongze's business vehicle." Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking and then hung up the phone. Sitting back in his seat, Zhang Yuanqing closed his eyes and rested, his brows furrowed, calming the rising anger within him. Li Dongze held his walking cane, gazing silently at the brightly lit streets, waiting without speaking. The atmosphere in the carriage was somewhat tense. After a pause of half a minute, Li Dongze suddenly asked, "Yuanshǐ, what did you see in your target's memories?" Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes, not quite understanding the meaning of the question. "I've already told you everything I saw." Li Dongze nodded, holding his walking stick, studying him carefully and said, "If that's all, why are you so angry? I'm not saying the matter isn't worthy of anger—I'm merely suggesting that you should be more composed." Zhang Yuancheng squeezed his brow, speaking with a sigh, "Commander, right now you're being overly formal. Anyone in their right mind would be angry when faced with something like this. In fact, when handling the case of the Copper Rooster Pavilion, I was even more furious than I am now." "Not being formal!" Li Dongze shook his head, his expression utterly serious. "Precisely because you've handled the Copper Rooster Pavilion case, you should be more composed and mature, Yuanshi. Though your time as a Lingjing Traveler is brief, you've faced more life-and-death crises than I have. Having endured so many such trials, how have you become more rigid and inflexible?" "More rigid and inflexible?" Zhang Yuancheng was startled. "Commander, what exactly do you mean?" "Li Dongze paused and said, 'Do you remember that during the investigation of Lei Yibing's disappearance, the person who entered your home to conduct the search was Guan Ya?' Zhang Yuanqing nodded, 'I still remember warning her not to look at my web page activity logs—I'm not sure if she actually followed through.' Li Dongze: 'At the time, her assessment of you was that you appeared optimistic and cheerful on the surface, yet deeply thoughtful, reserved in social interactions.' Zhang Yuanqing was momentarily taken aback, thinking: 'This woman must have seen me quite differently back then.' Li Dongze continued: 'Thoughtful, mature, polished, principled—excellent at understanding human relationships and social dynamics—and possesses her own deep understanding of society and human nature. This is how I see you. As a scout, I believe I have a keen eye for people. Therefore, in my view, when faced with cases like this, you should remain composed and steady.' "Yet today, your mood, your expression, your gaze—all of them tell me that you are profoundly angry, eager to dispatch the Lord of Desire. I've noticed that you haven't matured at all; in fact, you've become more passionate and rigid than ever before. 'I haven't worked alongside you for some time,' so the contrast between now and then is quite striking." Zhang Yuanqing was clearly troubled by these observations. Li Dongze himself didn't feel these changes, but as a scout, he couldn't have been speaking at random. "Yet why haven't Guan Ya and the centurion mentioned this to me?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. Li Dongze shook his head: "Insight arises only when there are observable phenomena. People's emotions and personalities are often concealed in daily life. If they remain hidden, how can they be perceived? Without this very case today, I would never have noticed your shift." "I've mentioned before that many night wanderers gradually distort their inner selves when completing solo dungeons, and many items carry transformative costs—over time, these items subtly alter the very nature of their bearers. You have so many items, perhaps without realizing it, you've already been subtly influenced by one of them." "Yuan-Shi, perhaps you should visit Tang Hospital and see Brother Sun for a psychological evaluation." Yet among my items, none carry a cost that would make someone more passionate or eccentric... Zhang Yuanqing listened to the suggestion and carefully reviewed his inventory, but found no item that seemed to match. Instead, it reminded him of something he had almost forgotten—the curse of the King of the Divine Eyes! It wasn't exactly that. The curse of the King of the Divine Eyes seemed more like a series of eloquent complaints. Brother Dog had checked it over—there was no curse upon me. Moreover, even if there were a curse, I had used the power of the Sun God so many times afterward, and it would have been purified long ago. At that moment, a soft tapping sound came from the window of the carriage. Zhang Yuanqing and Li Dongze both turned their heads, peering through the window to see a tall, poised figure in a white suit standing beside the car—having appeared there without any prior notice. Li Dongze immediately opened the door and said, "Master Fu, you're here so quickly?" Fu Qingyang nodded. "As the number of missing persons continues to rise, the cases will inevitably draw official attention and investigation. Therefore, the person responsible for identifying and luring victims is likely to be exposed. Thus, the cicada pupa administered to the Desire God of Color—most probably—has the ability to detect the victim's condition. Once the victim dies, the Desire God will be able to sense it." Li Dongze expressed regret. "It's my oversight. We should have adopted a long-term strategy to catch larger fish." Fu Qingyang replied calmly. "The outcome won't differ much. The Desire God has survived thus far, which speaks to his caution and experience. The cicada pupa is certainly not his only means. Therefore, focusing on a long-term strategy to catch large fish offers little advantage." Zhang Yuanqing immediately informed the driver of the restaurant's address. The business vehicle sped along the streets illuminated with soft, golden light, entering and exiting the expressway twice, taking half an hour to finally reach the bar street remembered in fragments. Deep within the street, there stood a bar with its colorful sign lights suspended high, the interior brightly lit yet empty, the glass door locked. As Fu Qingyang had said, the deity of passion had already withdrawn. "Kangqing Bar..." Zhang Yuanqing glanced up at the dazzling sign, glowing brilliantly against the night. The three stepped out of the car. Fu Qingyang pressed his index finger against his forehead, a pale glow spreading out like ripples in all directions. He turned to Zhang Yuanqing and nodded. Still uneasy, Zhang Yuanqing checked his facial expression in the makeup mirror—no ill fortune apparent—and then strode confidently toward the locked glass door, kicking it with a powerful stride. With a loud "crash," the reinforced glass door shattered into fragments, scattering like a snowstorm. The three entered the bar, where circular tables still held untouched glasses of wine—imagine the guests who must have been seated here before their arrival. Past the foyer, along the corridor, a double iron door nearly two meters tall appears at the far end. Zhang Yuanqing is about to push it open when Fu Qingyang speaks firmly, "There's poison on the door!" Poison on the door? Colorless and odorless? Zhang Yuanqing examines the double iron door carefully and sees no obvious signs of anomaly, yet Fu Qingyang would not deceive him. So he steps back two paces and kicks one foot against the two iron doors. "Bang!" The door lock is violently forced open, and cries of surprise immediately echo from behind. The entrance leads to a spacious hall, with a central swimming pool. Long tables laid with white tablecloths are arranged around the pool, serving fruit and food. To the left of the pool is a water bed measuring four meters long and two meters wide. Everything matches exactly what Zhang Yuanqing had seen in the memory fragments of the man with the scar. Women in swimsuits stand either at the tables or in the pool, their faces filled with alarm, gazing toward the entrance. "Who are you?" "A mature woman near the entrance stepped forward, her voice firm, declaring, 'To dare enter the lord's wine and feast halls is to meet death!' They're still alive... Zhang Yuanqing silently exhaled, then noticed the woman's unusual tone, frowning, 'Lord? Do you even remember who you are?' The woman immediately lifted her head, her face beaming with pride, 'My name is Xu Jiao. I am the lord's slave. This is where we serve him. How can you, intruders, possibly expect to survive?' The other women remained silent, gazing at them with a mixture of fear and hostility. 'They've been influenced. Their sense of identity has been compromised. At the level of the color and desire of the divine generals, this effect is irreversible. They will never forget their status as slaves,' Fu Qingyang said, his voice low. 'Is there no way to restore them?' Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank. "The ordinary people's spirit is too fragile," Fu Qingyang walked to the table, picked up a dish, and threw it to the ground. "Some things break easily, yet you can never restore them to their original state." The Color-Desire Deity did not kill them, but was even more cruel than killing them. Even after being rescued, these victims could never return to their normal lives— their later years were effectively ruined. Zhang Yuanqing felt no joy in rescuing them; instead, he felt a deep sense of weight. Fu Qingyang added, "It's impossible to restore them to normal, but there is a way to suppress the influence of the enchantments, allowing them to live as ordinary people do." With a sudden, intense gaze from his subordinates, Fu Qingyang said, "The musicians will use hypnosis—attack the illness with poison itself." To forcibly reshape their distorted perceptions through hypnosis, and have them live their lives immersed in it forever? Zhang Yuanqing chuckled, indeed, it was a case of treating the illness with poison. He remembered the missing woman, Li Zhi from the Stop-Kill Palace, and searched the crowd, but no woman matched the image of the graceful young lady he had in mind. In the end, Zhang Yuanqing found Li Zhi on that vast water bed. The bed was soft, and she was covered with a blanket, her body sinking slightly into it, making it hard to notice someone lying there without close attention. Zhang Yuanqing lifted the blanket and first saw a pale face, eyes wide open, pupils lifeless, the delicate features twisted in distress. He paused his hand as he lifted the blanket, then gently lifted a portion more, revealing her bare upper body. Her fair skin was dotted with bruises, clearly indicating she had suffered abuse and humiliation before her death. He stopped there, loosened the blanket, and gently touched the no longer graceful face, closing her eyes. A woman in a swimsuit at the edge of the water bed said: "She refused to obey her master's orders and offended him, so he granted her death." When she said this, she was completely unaware of anything being amiss—as though the host were naturally destined to govern their lives and deaths. Li Dongze, holding his cane, walked to the bedside and frowned, asking, "Was she killed by the Divine General of Passion?" "Her position was in the Palace of Stillness, a guardian of order," Zhang Yuanqing replied. Li Dongze suddenly understood: the Divine General of Passion did not spare these women out of mercy, but because their moral standing precluded such an act. Yet, killing a guardian of order—something that would not diminish the General’s moral standing, but rather enhance his reputation—was a clear violation. If the General could no longer continue to benefit from such a relationship, why would he have spared her at all? While they were speaking, Fu Qingyang had already inspected the entire hall, paying attention to every detail. He then walked over to the bedside and instructed, "Li Dongze, call the District Police Office of Kangyang and have them come to wrap up the situation." After speaking, he turned and walked out of the hall. He intended to use his scouts' abilities to track down the Divine General of Passion. Zhang Yuanqing sat by After the other party answered, he gave only an address and then hung up. Twenty minutes later, hurried footsteps came from the corridor outside, followed by a middle-aged man with a rounded belly and a burst hairstyle bursting into the room. He rushed into the lobby, scanning the crowd with urgency, and finally turned to Zhang Yuanqing by the bed, asking, "Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun? Where's the lychee? Where is the lychee?" Zhang Yuanqing said nothing, instead directing his gaze toward the thin blanket beside him. It seemed as though Qing Dian Da Sheng had understood. His face changed, and he strode quickly to the bedside, grasping one corner of the blanket, hesitating briefly before reaching to lift it. Zhang Yuanqing held his hand and shook his head. Qing Dian Da Sheng's lips trembled, his hands gripping the blanket also trembling—sometimes tightening, sometimes loosening—until finally, he lifted the blanket a little at a time. He stopped soon after, realizing why Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun had stopped him. "Who did it?" Qing Dian Da Sheng's eyes flashed a touch of melancholy. "General of the Army, the Divine General of Desire," Zhang Yuanqing said. "Desire..." Qingdian the Saint murmured to himself, after a while, and then said, "I've taken the lychee. Thank you." He rolled the lychee's body in the thin quilt and carried it horizontally, silently departing. We've gathered quite a few fingerprints and are currently cross-referencing them against the fingerprint database. "The Public Security Bureau has arranged physical examinations for the thirty-two women rescued from the assault. Unfortunately, we couldn't detect any deoxyribonucleic acid traces of the Desire God in their bodies—indicating they were likely eliminated earlier. The women are currently staying at a hotel outside the Public Security Office in Kangyang District, awaiting hypnosis by the Saint-Realm musician. Their families have not yet been notified." After Li Dongze finished his report, Fu Qingyang gave a slight nod, glanced around at the various deputy commanders at the conference table, and said, "The Desire God is inherently passionate and indulgent. He can endure for a while, but not for life. As long as he remains in Songhai, he will inevitably continue to commit crimes. From now on, each district's Public Security Office should keep a close watch on missing persons cases and immediately report any new developments—I will personally oversee this." Pursuing the evil professionals of the Saint-Realm is a long-term effort and won't yield significant progress in the near term. Bai Long and the others all nodded in agreement. Fu Qingyang added, "Qingteng, White Dragon, Guan Ya—please avoid going out alone in the near future. When you go out, it's best to have a colleague accompany you. I'll post an announcement on the forum to warn all the female colleagues at Songhai." "Mom, I'm not going to work anymore—I'm afraid." Grandmother scoffed, "You're just trying to slack off! But the security in Songhai is getting worse. First, the terror attack at Pingtai Hospital, then the mass killings at the financial firm—now there's another incident involving a group being forced to sell their silver. "How about this: from now on, Yuanjun will drive you to and from work." Grandmother was deeply dissatisfied with the world around her. "I don't want that—I want Yuanzi to take me." Young aunt leaned slightly, resting her head against her nephew's shoulder. Zhang Yuanqing gently pushed her aside and said, "I'm going back to my room." Young aunt watched his back, looking puzzled. "Mom, was Yuanzi kicked out by Guan Ya?" "Nonsense!" Grandmother raised her hand as if to hit him. In the bedroom, Zhang Yuanqing lay on the bed, gazing at the ceiling. Recently, he hadn't been particularly worried about the Color-Desire General making a move—he knew the other party would likely keep things low-key, avoiding the spotlight, even if the urge returned, "The Color-Desire Divine General had only recently arrived in Songhai, yet he has already ruined so many innocent women. He's been active in the north, and one can only imagine how many lives he's claimed. He's truly terrible—so terribly terrible..." "We need to eliminate the Color-Desire Divine General. I hope he hasn't left Songhai yet. Oh, right—Little Yuan often attends the Black Market events hosted by the Commander of the Army. Maybe she has some leads." Zhang Yuanqing picked up his phone and sent a message to "Magical Aunt Yuan": "Yuan, can you track down the Color-Desire Divine General's whereabouts?" After sending the message, he waited for a long time without receiving a reply. For some reason, Yuan has been ignoring him lately. Should he seek advice from a life coach? Subconsciously, Zhang Yuanqing opened Lingjun's profile, only to realize he'd been blocked by the great mentor. Well, he'd first have to find a way to calm Lingjun down. "Beep!" At that moment, a short message arrived in his inbox. Zhang Yuan checked the message—sender was an unfamiliar number, with a brief line: "At the old place!" Just from the message content, Zhang Yuan knew who had come to see him. The Master of the Halt the Kill Palace! This was the first time since he had cleared the Killing Quest that the wildly eccentric one had reached out to him. It must be about Li Zhi's death.