Chapter 53 – The Dish Was Sweet

Since Bai Ze had started losing hair two months ago, Yun Xiguang focused on the people who visited the sanatorium around that time.

Weaver Ants were a new generation of spirit beasts; their knowledge about them was limited. Perhaps the opponent had used some special method to hide, which would not show up on the list.

In any case, it would be better to see who stayed during that time first.

On the list, Yun Xiguang saw several familiar names: the head of the records department, Zhao Yu, and a few classmates who had interned together. After the battle with the bookworms, they all got injured and spent some time at the sanatorium .

Most people left after five days at most, while Zhao Yu, who had expended the most energy, stayed for ten days before departing.

During this period, Qin Shu, despite his illness, attended a discussion meeting regarding the bookworm incident. It was at that meeting that the Yun family proposed using Yun Xiguang’s blood to lure out the Crimson Chi.

At that time, Qin Shu still had the energy to attend meetings, meaning Bai Ze was not showing signs of death yet and was merely recovering from injuries. Something happened afterward.

Apart from Zhao Yu and others, two more people checked into the sanatorium during that time: an employee of the Special Affairs Bureau on an external assignment and Hai Ruobo.

Hai Ruobo was a Spiritbond Master of The Mirage. After the bookworm incident, The Mirage reconstructed the confidential archives’ “illusory reality” space, which required considerable effort. So, Hai Ruobo brought The Mirage to recuperate, and left after about a week.

None of these people seemed suspicious.

Yun Xiguang frowned as he looked at the list.

Meanwhile, Li Zheng and Inspector Zhang approached Bai Ze to examine his injuries. Azure Dragon explained Bai Ze’s condition to them. Inspector Zhang took out a high-powered magnifying glass from somewhere and observed Bai Ze’s wounds. Through the magnifying glass, they could clearly see the skin stitched by the Weaver Ants. Bai Ze’s skin was torn apart, with densely packed stitching marks covering his entire body, a horrifying sight.

Li Zheng and Inspector Zhang exchanged glances, their eyes filled with worry.

“Bai Ze is in such a state; even if we can eliminate these ants, he might not make it,” said Li Zheng.

Inspector Zhang added, “Even if we invite a healer, they might not be able to save Bai Ze.”

Qin Shu’s face turned even grayer upon hearing their words, and the flicker of hope gradually extinguished.

The Golden-Winged Little Peng was also anxious. It left Li Zheng and flew onto Yun Xiguang’s shoulder, suggesting, “How about I use my Divine Eye to locate the ants, then get Lord Bleep to attract nearby birds, and we’ll eat these ants together?”

Li Zheng was speechless.

Wait, who was the Golden-Winged Little Peng’s Spiritbond Master? Why did it seem so eager to recognize Yun Xiguang as its master? These past two months, the Golden-Winged Little Peng had been absent-minded. Could it be missing Yun Xiguang?

Yun Xiguang poked the Golden-Winged Little Peng’s forehead and said, “Rascally, the bodies of Weaver Ants are incredibly tough, they could even drill two holes in your mouth. If ordinary birds ate them, they’d probably end up with perforated intestines. Wait, let me call Director Zhao first.”

There were no clues to be found from the list, but Zhao Yu had stayed here for a long time, perhaps he noticed something.

Zhao Yu had already returned to work. The workload in the records department was not heavy, so he quickly picked up Yun Xiguang’s call and enthusiastically said, “Little Yun, I haven’t congratulated you yet on getting your internship certificate and Grade A Spiritbond Master certification early. Keep up the good work; you’re bound to have a bright future!”

Yun Xiguang briefly exchanged pleasantries with Zhao Yu before getting straight to the point. “Director Zhao, during your stay at the sanatorium , did anything unusual happen? Just tell me anything that struck you as odd or memorable.”

Li Zheng feared that Zhao Yu might not take this seriously, so he chimed in, “Old Zhao, this matter is crucial. Your memories are important to us. You must think carefully.”

With Li Zheng’s involvement, Zhao Yu realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly recalled things seriously.

As the manager of the records department, years of handling records had instilled in him the habit of meticulous documentation. During his stay at the sanatorium , he occasionally jotted down notes on his phone’s memo app to help him remember what happened each day.

Zhao Yu recalled from his phone’s memo, “I arrived at the sanatorium on March 25th. Nothing special happened that day. The dishes were a bit sweet. I don’t particularly enjoy sweet dishes, so I suggested to the sanatorium’s life manager that they should avoid adding sugar in the future.

“On the second day, March 26th, I took White Tiger for a walk in the yard. No special events occurred. The dishes were still very sweet, so I suggested again to reduce the sugar.

“March 27th, the dishes were sweet, and I made the suggestion for the third time to cut back on sugar.

“March 28th, the dishes were sweet, and I had an argument over the phone with the sanatorium manager.

“March 29th, Senior Hai Ruobo came to the sanatorium to rest. I went to visit him, but he didn’t see me. Today, the dishes weren’t sweet anymore. They leaned towards the Northern salty taste, and I enjoyed them. Perhaps because I was happy, White Tiger meowed in the spirit beast space. When I asked why it was meowing, it said it didn’t know, it just wanted to meow.

“From March 30th to April 4th, the dishes were all delicious. White Tiger meowed twice every day, and I got used to it. On April 4th, I left the sanatorium to resume work. Records related to the Yun family started coming in, and I had to return to work.”

That was the entirety of Zhao Yu’s experience at the sanatorium , mostly eating and sleeping, nothing noteworthy to record.

“Why does White Tiger mimic cat calls so often?” asked Li Zheng, taking the phone.

Zhao Yu also complained, “I don’t know. It can’t explain the reason either. Every time it speaks, it goes ‘Bleep bleep,’ which gives me a headache.”

“‘Bleep bleep’? How is that similar to the situation with my Golden-Winged Great Peng?” Li Zheng rubbed his temples, feeling a headache. It was as if some memory was buried deep in his mind, unable to surface.

Li Zheng and Zhao Yu discussed the abnormalities of their spirit beasts on the side, while Yun Xiguang, recalling Zhao Yu’s words, realized they had overlooked something.

“Inspector Zhang, besides Spiritbond Masters staying here, we should also pay attention to the sanatorium’s staff. They are the ones who live near the sanatorium regularly,” Yun Xiguang said.

Once someone was living in the sanatorium , they did not cook their own meals or clean their rooms.

Qin Shu didn’t want others to disturb Bai Ze, so he chose to clean his room himself and cook his own meals. However, most Spiritbond Masters staying there would let the staff handle such trivial matters.

“But they aren’t Spiritbond Masters,” Inspector Zhang pointed out. “Very few people have the talent to become Spiritbond Masters. Weaver Ants are unique spirit beasts. To become their Spiritbond Master, one should be exceptionally gifted, right?”

Yun Xiguang shook his head. “No, if they possess such powerful spirit energy, spirit beasts can reverse control and render the spirit bond ineffective. Spiritbond Masters are those with strong souls and spirit roots, capable of restraining spirit beasts. That’s the true talent of a Spiritbond Master. But if a spirit beast’s initial goal is to dominate humans, it doesn’t need the so-called talent of the spirit beast realm. Any person can become an ‘ant nest.'”

Inspector Zhang suddenly took it seriously. He immediately said, “Based on Zhao Yu’s information, the chef at the sanatorium changed on March 29th. I’ll check the staff list of the sanatorium right away.”

Most of the sanatorium’s staff were students who had not graduated from Spiritbond Academy.

Due to the secrecy surrounding spirit beasts in society, the regular staff at the sanatorium were informed parties. If Yun Xiguang had not become a Grade C Spiritbond Master and had not passed the entrance exam, he would have likely become a staff member of the sanatorium .

The job was leisurely, the salary was high, and it came with a stable position, making it a great job that many people were willing to do.

This meant that although the staff members weren’t Spiritbond Masters, they had certain qualifications that could attract spirit beasts.

The Lingxi Department was efficient. Within five minutes, Inspector Zhang received a detailed list of the sanatorium’s staff on his phone.

After obtaining the list, Inspector Zhang disappointedly told Yun Xiguang, “We may have guessed wrong. The staff members are all permanent employees. New employees are recruited uniformly every October. This year’s recruitment has not taken place yet, and the personnel on the list have not changed for over half a year.”

This place was not a hotel or restaurant; the staff were all permanent employees with no temporary workers, and changes were not frequent.

Yun Xiguang carefully reviewed the list and confidently stated, “No, our direction is correct. It’s the staff. Staff members aren’t Spiritbond Masters, but they can become Spiritbond Masters at a certain point in time. What I want to see is whether the chef at the sanatorium changed on March 29th.”

Inspector Zhang immediately understood Yun Xiguang’s implication. He looked at the list and said, “Zhao Yu protested many times about the sweet dishes, but nothing changed due to his suggestions. However, on March 29th, the flavor suddenly changed.”

Yun Xiguang nodded and said, “Actually, the fact that the dishes’ flavor didn’t change according to Director Zhao’s request is normal. The staff here are not professional chefs, and they will not get fired. People usually don’t stay at the sanatorium for more than a week. If they really don’t like the food, they can cook their own meals like Dean Qin. There’s no need for the staff to specifically alter their culinary skills and style for the people here.”

“No personnel change, yet the flavor of the dishes changed. This means the person’s essence has changed,” said Inspector Zhang.

He opened the chef’s profile, and everyone looked at the file of a chef named Luo Ju together.

He used to be a student at Youying Spiritbond Academy. Five years ago, he failed to form a bond with a spirit beast and did not pass the university entrance exam, so he was assigned to work here.

Before starting work, he underwent three months of culinary training, but his cooking skills were mediocre and often complained about for being unpalatable.

However, he was once a student of Spiritbond Academy. Due to focusing on studying Spiritbond Master knowledge, his academic performance was average, and he did not pass the university entrance exam. The spirit beast realm took care of such individuals, and when complaints came in, the administrator would simply scold him a couple of times.

For such a person to suddenly cook well was indeed suspicious.

Inspector Zhang checked Luo Ju’s recent complaints, and sure enough, no Spiritbond Master complained about Luo Ju after March 29th.

Something must have fundamentally changed within this person.

“At this time, he’s probably taking a nap. Let’s go meet him,” said Li Zheng confidently.

Their combat strength was not weak.

He was an Earth-grade Spiritbond Master, and Azure Dragon was a divine beast that could move freely, with combat power comparable to a Heaven-grade Spiritbond Master. Although Inspector Zhang was only a Grade A Spiritbond Master, his spirit beast was called Xiang San. It had fiery red eyes, resembled a ferret, had bat wings, and was good at flying, a bat with terrifying insight.

Inspector Zhang could release ultrasonic waves to lock onto targets. Even if Luo Ju hid the ants scattered around, they could not escape Inspector Zhang’s insight.

Judging by combat strength alone, they had a hundred percent chance of winning and could not possibly lose.

Only Yun Xiguang deeply furrowed his brows.

According to the address provided by Inspector Zhang, Luo Ju lived nearby. If Chi Qiong could sense the Phoenix Feather located in the middle of the mountain, how could he not detect the Phoenix Feather so close by?

He felt that things were not that simple.

Unfortunately, Chi Qiong had a special identity, and Yun Xiguang could not explain his concerns to Li Zheng and Inspector Zhang.

He could only look at Azure Dragon.

Azure Dragon calmly said, “Don’t worry. The fact that you discovered Bai Ze’s abnormality today proves that Bai Ze should not die yet. It also proves that your luck has grown strong enough to defy fate. Believe in your fate-defying luck, proceed cautiously, and we will surely regain the fourth bleep and save Bai Ze.”

Azure Dragon had complete confidence in Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang whispered, “This matter seems fishy, but I have a hypothesis. Only this hypothesis can explain the current phenomenon. If it’s as I hypothesize, this battle will not be easy. Senior Azure Dragon, please protect Senior Bai Ze first. I’m afraid our fight might affect him.”

Azure Dragon’s expression became serious. He opened his mouth and spat out a bubble to envelop Bai Ze. Yun Xiguang keenly noticed a small red snake swimming inside the bubble, seemingly smaller than an ant.

Azure Dragon left the Crimson Chi to protect Bai Ze.