novelraw Chapter 373 - 124: Zi Yuan’s Followers (6002)
Chapter 373 - 124: Zi Yuan’s Followers (6002)
Zhang Ling was finally afraid.
Working for the Witch Association has always been a highly risky affair, and the internal backstabbing within the organization is never scarce.
Even though he counts as an informant and generally doesn’t have combat missions, in situations where some Witch Association members suddenly turn hostile or when there’s a leak, he’s still required to fight for his life.
His earlier experience in the military allowed him to adapt quickly; he had interacted with a lot of the diverse personnel in the Witch Association and had never truly been afraid.
But now, fear was finally settling in.
It wasn’t purely about danger.
It was that kind of freedom-loving, unpredictable instability, seemingly ready to turn hostile at any moment, while simultaneously implying possible negotiation.
A capricious child who, unfortunately, truly wielded power.
That was what was most terrifying.
"I... I was wrong, I’ll tell you everything."
"Good, that’ll save us a lot of time." The girl pressed the gun against his temple, forcing him down, "Take us to the place you just returned from."
"I came from the company..."
"I said don’t try to trick me, I’m talking about the Complete Witch."
Zhang Ling finally completely gave up resisting.
...
Hyacinth watched as Ruo Yun came down from the building with a gun pointed at the head of the middle-aged man, at a loss for words for a moment.
Ever since she learned she would be cooperating with Ruo Yun, she had been quite looking forward to it.
After all, Ruo Yun seemed like a very cute girl, and she was a junior, so Hyacinth thought she could look after this Magical Girl.
The task from Jiang Si this time was to enter the Heart Image Remains, and the job was to find a way in.
This was something Hyacinth happened to know a bit about; the Complete Witches near Anyang had basically secured spots to enter the Heart Image Remains.
So, one had to figure out a way to target the Complete Witches.
Of course, contacting the Complete Witches was a very troublesome affair; Hyacinth originally planned to reach out to the Disaster Strategy Bureau for this.
Though she had already retired, she still had some connections within the Bureau.
However, after contacting the Disaster Strategy Bureau for two or three days, there were no results.
Ruo Yun had gone out on her own for two or three days and managed to pinpoint Zhang Qiling.
Hyacinth thought it was finally her turn to take action this time; pressuring Witch Association members to reveal information was a rather brutal process, so it was more suitable for her as a senior.
After all, it was supposed to be a game of tug-of-war.
To constantly apply psychological pressure on the opponent until they couldn’t hold back anymore and opened up...
Unexpectedly, Ruo Yun stormed into Zhang Qiling’s house, tied up all his family members with a handgun, and waited for Zhang Qiling to return.
"Aren’t the methods a bit too extreme?"
In Hyacinth’s view, wasn’t this no different than how the Witch Association operates?
"I really wish you could have told that to the Witch Association when they decapitated my parents."
That statement left Hyacinth momentarily speechless.
How could one put it, there was a strong taste of Jiang Si about Ruo Yun.
That assertive, utilitarian approach...
When she spoke of her parents being decapitated by the Witch Association, there wasn’t any intention to evoke sympathy.
She was merely justifying her actions.
It made Hyacinth feel like she was executing a mission with Jiang Si...
Not sure if she had grown up this way or if she had been influenced.
Would she herself become like this in the future?
Unconsciously influenced, mimicking that figure, becoming decisive and sharp, instinctively adopting such behavior to handle problems...
Until the good girl Hyacinth, in her parents’ and juniors’ eyes, disappeared to become a complete shadow of that person...
Perhaps to negate this or to rescue her role as a senior in front of Ruo Yun.
Hyacinth finally persuaded Ruo Yun to let her take charge when Zhang Qiling returned home to extract the information.
Imitating a scene she had read in the detective novel "Sherlock Lupin III VS. Detective Saw," she waited for the criminal to come home, witness the disappearance of his wife and daughter, then turned on the television to play a magically simulated scene, slowly luring the criminal into her rhythm.
Ultimately, the criminal’s psychological defenses collapsed, tearfully confessing everything.
Then she appeared with Ruo Yun, uttering "GAME OVER" to end it all.
It was supposed to be a victorious declaration after taking action.
But the other party didn’t react to it at all; if Ruo Yun hadn’t stepped in and pummeled him, he might have escaped.
One could say that Jiang Si’s methods were indeed efficient.
Hyacinth was still holding Zhang Ling’s little daughter; the little girl had already fallen asleep, which surprisingly relieved some psychological pressure for Hyacinth.
As Zhang Ling got into the car and saw his daughter being held hostage by their accomplice, he finally became completely obedient.
He immediately started the car and drove towards the outskirts of the city.
"The target of the Complete Witch is the Heart Image Remains, so most of them don’t live in the city. They find places to live by the sea, and I don’t know many Complete Witches, only two. The remaining Complete Witches rarely contact me—can you release my daughter first?"
"Throw her out of the car now?"
"Pretend I didn’t say anything."
Zhang Ling took a deep breath; his crushed hand was still in pain, but he couldn’t care less, gripping the steering wheel and continuously assessing the two girls in front and behind.
Neither was actually very old, both wearing fox masks.
They probably weren’t from the Disaster Strategy Bureau; if they were, they wouldn’t be concealing themselves like this, and their methods wouldn’t be... so unorthodox.