signingbooks Chapter 1300 The Cleaner's Shock
Chapter 1300 The Cleaner's Shock
Lin Yi did not interfere with their actions. He simply observed them in his mind for a while, and after confirming that no one showed any abnormal reactions, he withdrew his attention from the divine kingdom.
For the rest of the day, Lin Yi stayed in his personal space, helping the students of Kivotos to rebuild their buildings.
Although they were capable enough to build it in a short time, with Lin Yi's involvement, most of the trivial matters could be omitted.
For example, building materials. Although the current divine kingdom can be generated directly through condensation ability, it takes a lot of time. Lin Yi can directly purchase a large amount of resources from the Paradise of Reincarnation and store them in the divine kingdom.
Building materials are also sold by merchants in the Paradise of Reincarnation, but the price is very low; frankly, they are just selling a transportation fee.
After all, most people have very little need for building materials. If they do need them, many contractors can contact the Paradise of Reincarnation directly and just spend a little more Paradise Coins. Only employees can save a little money.
However, the Paradise of Reincarnation couldn't intervene in Lin Yi's situation, so he specially purchased a lot of materials.
Timber, stone, metal frames, glass sheets, pipes, and other materials of various sizes were piled up like a small mountain.
Lin Yi delivered these materials to the Divine Kingdom in batches and placed them in the temporary warehouse area planned by the students.
Just as Lin Yi was about to go back to the Divine Kingdom to check on the progress of the project, the notification sound from the Paradise of Reincarnation suddenly rang in his ears.
The hunter has reached its time limit in the Paradise of Reincarnation and is about to return to the real world.
[Transmission has begun.]
Lin Yi was stunned for a moment. He had indeed spent quite a while in the Paradise of Reincarnation. The battle for supremacy, plus the subsequent rest and construction of the divine kingdom, had taken him almost a month in total.
The Reincarnation Paradise has a rule that contractors can only stay in the paradise for a limited time after completing a mission; if they exceed the time limit, they will be forcibly sent back to the real world.
This rule is to prevent contractors from staying in the park for too long, which could negatively impact their mental health and cause them to develop problems.
By the time Lin Yi realized what was happening, he had already been thrown back into the Chinese medicine clinic by the Paradise of Reincarnation.
The light from the teleportation faded behind him, and he stood in the lobby of the traditional Chinese medicine clinic, his feet resting on the familiar wooden floor.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting bright patches of light on the ground.
Dust particles floated in the beam of light, and tiny particles spun slowly in the air.
Lin Yi was away for quite a long time this time, after all, there were quite a few rounds of the battle for supremacy.
He looked around and noticed that a thin layer of dust had settled on the furniture.
Dust had accumulated on the edges of the windowsill and the top of the medicine cabinet, places that are not usually cleaned.
He smeared his finger on the table, leaving a fine layer of grayish-white powder on his fingertip.
What surprised Lin Yi even more was that his traditional Chinese medicine clinic had been burgled.
This is truly a very strange thing. If you said a thief went to Su Xiao's jewelry store to steal things, Lin Yi could understand it, but why would you go to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic to steal things?
The most expensive thing Lin Yi owns is probably the high-end standing air conditioner in the lobby, which cost him over 100,000 yuan. The other medicinal herbs are also quite expensive, but not by much.
He went to the medicine cabinet and checked it over.
The cabinet door showed no signs of being pried open, and the lock was intact.
He walked over to the examination table and noticed several small scratches on the drawer handle, as if something had tried to pry it open but failed.
The small drawer of the cash register had been pried open, and some loose change inside, probably a few hundred yuan, was missing. Apart from that, the equipment and instruments of slightly higher value were still there.
Lin Yi stood in front of the cashier, looking at the pried-open drawer, his brows furrowing slightly.
It wasn't that he was heartbroken about the few hundred yuan, but rather that the whole thing struck him as odd.
The street where the TCM clinic is located is on the outskirts of Guangming City. There is usually not much foot traffic and not many shops are open around. Even if a thief wanted to steal something, he should go to the commercial street or residential area. It doesn't make sense for him to come here to steal a few hundred yuan in change.
He crouched down and checked the door lock.
There were no signs of the lock being pried open, nor were there any signs of forced entry on the door frame, indicating that the thief used a key or some other skill to unlock the door and get in.
This is even stranger. People who are skilled at picking locks wouldn't go to such a remote place to steal things for a few hundred dollars.
Lin Yi stood up and glanced around the store.
He noticed several faint shoe prints on the floor next to the counter. The prints were small, and the treads on the soles were shallow, resembling some kind of soft-soled athletic shoe.
The shoe prints stretched from the doorway to the cashier, then from the cashier to the medicine cabinet, and then back to the doorway.
The thief didn't linger in the store; his target was clear: the cash register.
Just as Lin Yi was pondering whether other contractors had come to probe his background, a familiar square dance tune began to reach his ears.
The music was very loud; the subwoofer's vibrations made the ground tremble slightly. The melody was the kind of electronic music with a strong rhythm and high repetition, accompanied by a powerful female voice repeatedly singing the same lyric.
Lin Yi looked in the direction the sound came from and saw a group of middle-aged women dancing in the square not far from his street.
They were dressed in matching outfits, red tops with black pants, and holding pink fans.
The middle-aged woman leading the group stood at the front, with a megaphone attached to her waist, and shouted "one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four" in rhythm with the music.
The dozens of people following behind weren't exactly synchronized, but everyone was very engaged in the dance, their faces showing seriousness and enjoyment.
A group of people jumped around the big speaker, completely ignoring the shops that were still open nearby.
Next to the square dance group, Bubuwang was squatting to one side, looking dazed, as if he was just watching the fun.
Lin Yi stood on the steps, looking at Bubuwang's eager expression, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
A few seconds later, Su Xiao also came out of the jewelry store.
Upon seeing the scene at the entrance, even Su Xiao, with her personality, was speechless.
The group of middle-aged women were dancing enthusiastically, and the sound from the speakers was beyond loud; it was deafening.
The vibrations from the subwoofer caused the glass windows of Su Xiao's jewelry store to tremble slightly, and the jewelry displayed inside swayed gently on the trays, making soft, clinking sounds.
Several middle-aged women jumped onto the steps in front of Su Xiao's shop, their fans almost touching the glass of the shop window as they waved them.
If it were based on Su Xiao's previous personality, he would have already thrown the speakers of this group into the trash heap.
But now Su Xiao was too lazy to deal with these people, so she directly called the Cleaner and told him that someone was doing heavy metal square dancing in front of his store.
When the call connected, the woman on the other end sounded somewhat surprised.
"Mr. Su, why did you contact us this time?"
"Someone is doing square dancing in front of my house, it's very noisy."
"Wh-what?!"
The woman on the other end of the phone was clearly shocked; her voice cracked.
She couldn't fathom what level of recklessness this was.
In the Cleaner's mind, people of Su Xiao's and Lin Yi's caliber were the kind of people who should absolutely not be provoked.
The criminal gangs that ran rampant in the underworld of Guangming City had no chance to struggle in front of them. Those vicious criminals were probably not even ants in the eyes of these two people.
Now, some people actually dare to come to their doorstep to dance in the square and bombard their ears with heavy metal music. This behavior is not just courting death, it's courting death in a fancy way.
The woman took a deep breath, her voice filled with barely suppressed tension.
“I’ll handle it immediately. Your neighborhood is very remote, please forgive me. I’ll send someone right away, no, I’ll go myself.”
Su Xiao said okay, and then prepared to hang up.
Lin Yi took the phone from Su Xiao and explained his situation.
"My things were stolen. Can you handle this? If not, I'll find someone else myself."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and when Kongque's voice came again, it was even more tense than before.
"Mr. Lin, please don't worry. We will definitely handle this matter. Please do not take action yourself."
Her voice trembled slightly, as if she were pleading, or perhaps trying to calm a bomb that could explode at any moment.
Upon hearing Lin Yi's call, Kong Que's forehead was instantly covered in cold sweat.
She is now at the fourth level, but because of this advancement, she has a clearer understanding of just how terrifying Lin Yi and Su Xiao's strength is.
A sixth-tier contractor is considered a mid-to-high-level fighter in the Paradise of Reincarnation, and in the real world, they would be an existence that crushes everything.
If Lin Yi really starts looking for the thief in Guangming City, with his abilities, the entire city's underground order will be completely overturned within a few hours.
Last time he struck, he already severely damaged Guangming City. If he strikes again this time, those forces that have barely recovered will suffer again.
Peacock couldn't understand which thief was so blind as to steal Lin Yi's things; they really valued money over their lives.
She told Lin Yi that they would definitely handle this matter seriously, and asked him not to worry and not to leave Guangming City.
She used the word "certainly" twice, and her pleading tone was almost like a pleas.
She knew Lin Yi's temperament; if the cleaners were too slow or the results didn't satisfy him, he would definitely take matters into his own hands.
By then, the situation will be beyond her control.
After receiving a reply, Su Xiao hung up the phone.
He and Lin Yi turned and walked into the jewelry store, sitting down in the rest area behind the counter.
Su Xiao took out a packet of tea from the cabinet, unpacked it, scooped two spoonfuls into the teapot, and poured in hot water.
The aroma of tea permeated the air; it was a very ordinary Tieguanyin, with a fragrance that was not particularly strong but very long-lasting.
He poured a cup for Lin Yi, then poured one for himself, leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.
The two people and their dog sat in the jewelry store drinking tea and waiting for news.
About five minutes later, a sudden screech of brakes came from the street.
The sound wasn't just one sound, but a series, like a convoy of cars slamming on their brakes at the same time.
The tires screeched as they rubbed against the ground, and the smell of burning rubber wafted in from the window, mixed with the odor of exhaust fumes.
Su Xiao put down her teacup, walked to the window, and looked outside.
Lin Yi walked over and stood next to him.
Seven or eight large black vans were parked on the street, their engines still running and humming softly.
The car doors opened simultaneously, and dozens of people dressed in black suits poured out of the car.
Their movements were swift, yet without any chaos, like a highly trained special forces unit carrying out a clearing operation. They had rubber batons and handcuffs strapped to their waists, and several carried riot shields.
The leader was a woman, wearing a fitted black suit jacket, her hair tied in a low ponytail. She walked quickly to the square dance group and raised her hand to make a stop gesture.
The older women had noticed the men in black suits long ago, but they didn't show any panic.
The leading middle-aged woman even turned up the volume of the speaker by two notches, and the vibration from the subwoofer made the ground tremble.
With her hands on her hips, she shouted at the peacocks with the kind of fierceness she'd honed from arguing with people in the market: "What are you doing? What right do you have to turn off our music?"
"We've been dancing here for years, who do you think you are?"
"Where you came from is none of our business."
Peacock pulled out an ID card from his pocket and flashed it in front of the older woman.
But the older woman didn't even look at it; she simply reached out and pushed the document aside.
"Don't give me that crap. We've seen urban management officers before. You guys in black don't think you're any more powerful than them. Who are we bothering with our dancing? This street isn't yours."
The middle-aged women behind her also stopped dancing and gathered around in twos and threes.
Some people waved fans in front of the peacock, some shouted why they couldn't jump, and some took out their phones to film.
An older woman in a floral shirt shoved her phone right in the peacock's face and said, "Try saying that again. I'll record it and post it online for the whole country to judge."
Peacock's face darkened, and she made a gesture with her right hand to her side. The men in black suits behind her immediately spread out to the sides, forming a semi-circular encirclement.
Riot shields were held up in front of them, forming a low black wall, and rubber batons were drawn from their waists and held in their hands.
Seeing this display of force, the leading auntie not only didn't back down but became even more enthusiastic.
She took a step forward, almost bumping into the peacock's riot shield.
"You dare touch a single hair on my head? My son works at the neighborhood committee office. One phone call from me and you'll be in deep trouble." As she spoke, she actually took out her phone, swiped her finger across the screen a few times, and held the phone to her ear.
"Hey, Zhang, come over here right now! A group of unidentified people dressed in black are here and they're going to start a fight."
Peacock watched her performance, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
She didn't interrupt the older woman's phone call; she just stood there quietly waiting.
After finishing her call, the middle-aged woman put her phone in her pocket, crossed her arms, and held her chin high, looking at the peacock with a victorious air.
"Just wait, the people from the office will be here soon. They'll find out your background after a quick investigation."
The peacock finally spoke.
"beat."
While the group of middle-aged women were still in a daze, the men in black suits had already begun to move.
The two riot shield bearers at the front advanced simultaneously, the edges of their shields colliding with the waist and abdomen of the leading woman.
She staggered back two steps from the impact and landed on her bottom, the fan in her hand flying far away.
She froze for a second, then let out a sharp scream.
"Someone's been assaulted! Someone's been assaulted! Is there no law anymore?"
But no sooner had she finished speaking than the second wave of attacks arrived.
A man wearing black gloves rushed out from behind the shield, grabbed the leading woman's arm and pulled her up from the ground, then swung a rubber baton and struck her on the back.
The dull thud echoed through the street, and the old woman's cries instantly turned into screams of agony.
The other men in black suits also moved. They made no unnecessary movements or said anything extra; each blow landed precisely on the backs, buttocks, and thighs of the middle-aged women.
Those areas won't leave obvious scars after being hit, but the pain will be just as intense.
The dull thuds of rubber colliding with flesh echoed throughout the streets, mingling with the screams and cries of the women.
Some people wanted to escape, but the encirclement had already been formed.
Those who tried to break out of the encirclement were blocked by riot shields and then forced back by sticks.
Someone tried to record a video with their phone, but the phone was slapped away and flew to the ground, shattering its screen.
Someone tried to lie on the ground and act like a spoiled child, but two men in black suits grabbed her arms, dragged her to the side of the road, threw her on the ground, and then ignored her.
The older woman in the floral shirt was the first to back down.
She threw down her phone, covered her head with her hands, squatted on the ground, and cried out, "I was wrong, I'll never do it again."
The man in the black suit walked past her without hitting her.
It wasn't because she admitted her mistake quickly, but because she was positioned on the outermost edge of the encirclement and was therefore dealt with first.
The leading woman was still struggling on the ground, shouting intermittently, "I'm going to sue you, I'm going to the petition office, I'm going to expose you to the media."
The peacock walked past her, glanced down at her, then bent down and whispered something in her ear.
The middle-aged woman's expression froze for a moment, her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word.
She lay on the ground, not even daring to cry loudly.
The whole process took less than two minutes; the large speaker fell to the ground, with the wire ends exposed at the interface.
Pink fans were scattered on the street, blown everywhere by the wind.
Several passersby took out their phones to take pictures, but when they saw the man in the black suit glance in their direction, they immediately put their phones back in their pockets, lowered their heads, and walked away quickly.
The middle-aged women were driven to the edge of the street.
Their clothes were wrinkled, their hair was disheveled, and their faces were streaked with tears.
Just a few hours ago, they were a group of square dance tyrants who had the final say in their own territory; now they are just a group of middle-aged women who have been stunned.
The peacock walked up to Su Xiao and Lin Yi and bowed slightly.
"Mr. Su, Mr. Lin, I'm sorry to have startled you. We have brought these people under control."
Next, she will have the group of middle-aged women taken back to the Cleaners' headquarters for questioning, and at the same time, she will try to get information from them about the thief.
These middle-aged women have been active in this neighborhood for a long time and are more familiar with the surrounding environment and people than anyone else.
If someone had scouted the area, they couldn't possibly have missed it.
Once you get them to talk, you'll find clues.
The peacock had fine beads of sweat on its forehead, not from heat, but from tension.
When a fourth-tier contractor stands next to a sixth-tier contractor, the lower-tier contractor's instincts will tell him that he is facing a higher-level being.
"The square dancing issue isn't the main point. My traditional Chinese medicine clinic has been burgled. How do you plan to handle this?"
The peacock's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
"Mr. Lin, we have already sent people to investigate. We are retrieving the surveillance footage from the surrounding area, and we will have the results soon."
The information they received from Su Xiao was enough for them to find the thief's trail. After all, someone who could pick locks and was so familiar with the Chinese medicine clinic must have lived nearby or scouted the place.
Peacock said they would search the surrounding surveillance footage and investigate suspicious individuals in order to find the thief as quickly as possible.
Lin Yi looked at her and remained silent for two seconds.
"What if we can't find it?"
"If we can't find it, we'll expand our search and keep looking until we find it."
She knew what the consequences would be if this matter was not handled properly.
If Lin Yi were to do it himself, he would turn the entire underground world of Guangming City upside down.
The delicate balance that had been painstakingly established would be shattered completely in his hands.
The restoration of order will take a long time, and countless people will die in the process.
Peacock took a deep breath and looked up into Lin Yi's eyes.
"Please give us some time, and we will give you an explanation for this matter."
Lin Yi glanced at her and said okay.
Peacock relaxed slightly, bowed to Lin Yi and Su Xiao again, and then turned and walked out of the jewelry store.
The men in black suits outside have already begun their work.
Some people went into the nearby shops to inquire about the situation, some set up police tape on the street, and some retrieved surveillance footage from the surrounding area.
Their actions were very professional and efficient; it was clear they had handled this kind of situation before.
Lin Yi stood at the store entrance for a while, then turned around and went back to the rest area to sit down.
Su Xiao poured him a cup of tea, and he picked it up and took a sip.
The aroma of Tieguanyin tea was much weaker than when it was hot, but the faint smoky fragrance was still there.
Bubuwang crawled out from under the counter, jumped onto the chair next to Su Xiao, and rested its head on the edge of the table.
Its eyes were half-open and half-closed, and its tail swayed gently behind it.
Su Xiao leaned back in her chair, looking out the window at the busy figures in black suits, and asked Lin Yi, "Do you think they're just ordinary thieves?"
Lin Yi shook his head: "Ordinary thieves wouldn't come to a place like this, and even if they did, they wouldn't just steal a few hundred yuan."
Either the other party is scouting the location, or they have other motives.
The traditional Chinese medicine clinic is located in a remote area and rarely has customers. The fact that the thief was able to pinpoint the location of the cashier and unlock the door indicates that he had a good understanding of the clinic's layout. This was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Either they scouted the location beforehand, or someone instructed them to do it.
Neither possibility is reassuring.
If it's just an ordinary thief, that's fine; the cleaners can handle it.
If someone is giving instructions, it means someone is testing his background.
He didn't know who was testing him, what the purpose of the test was, or how much information the other party had about him. (End of Chapter)