Chapter 96: Delusional Painting

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If you’ve struck a superior, do you still expect not to be given a hard time?
That’s absolutely impossible!
Even if the leader says they don’t mind and shows no intention of retaliating, there will always be those eager to curry favor who will teach you how to behave.
And even if you’re not physically punished, you’ll be relegated to the cold bench until the leader suddenly becomes diligent one day and clears all the backlog of tasks—which usually means a transfer.
Therefore, Chen Sheng was particularly mindful about having laid hands on the captain of the Spirit Investigation Squad.
After putting on the gold necklace, he asked, “Now that I’ve received the token, what’s the task assigned to me that would conveniently have me go off and die?”
After all, that’s how it’s always written in the novels.
“That’s not my business; those assignments usually come from Captain Yan,” the mid-level officer said, glancing at Chen Sheng with some sympathy. A supreme warrior at the First Yuan Realm is indeed powerful, but dealing with one is not necessarily difficult.
Because within the same system, rank always trumps strength—outright killing an opponent is impossible, but making life difficult for them is easy.
Moreover, a First Yuan Realm warrior is still human—far from some truly transcendent being. They still need food, drink, clothing, shelter, social interactions, and status.
Chen Sheng’s previous attack naturally made these Spirit Investigation officers regard him as a supreme warrior at the First Yuan Realm.
Though martial arts focused on speed are rare, they do exist.
Chen Sheng turned and walked toward the captain’s office, where “Captain Yan” was now sporting a bruised face and several bandaged wounds.
Upon seeing Chen Sheng enter, Captain Yan immediately trembled—an instinctive reaction.
After all, there was no one in the Spirit Investigation Squad who could stop Chen Sheng.
So Captain Yan could only put on a fierce front while trembling inside and said, “Chen Sheng, this is the Spirit Investigation Squad, part of the police bureau. This is not a place for you to run amok with your martial arts, nor a place that will tolerate your reckless behavior. Even if you have backing, remember: who in this officialdom doesn’t have backing? Those without backing can’t even enter the police bureau’s gates and are stuck doing menial labor. You’d better watch yourself!”
“I’ve also beaten Yan Shidong’s uncle,” Chen Sheng said calmly.
Having vented some frustration by speaking out, Captain Yan’s face went pale, and even while seated, his legs began to shake uncontrollably.
He knew that the police chief of this bureau had been beaten before.

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But who had done it was never made public, and no one dared inquire, for fear of being seen as mocking the chief behind his back.
What an idiot!
Captain Yan’s gaze toward Chen Sheng suddenly changed, and the anger in his heart dissipated.
There was no point arguing with a fool.
“Are there any tasks suitable for me to be promoted to mid-level officer?” Chen Sheng asked proactively. Since he was back within the police bureau system of Upper Sanjiang City, naturally, he wanted to advance his position.
Captain Yan was momentarily stunned by Chen Sheng’s question. After some thought, he said, “Actually, there are three such tasks. If you complete any one of them—and with the backing of your patron who can put in a good word for you—you can be promoted as an exception. If you complete all three, no one can stop your promotion.”
“Give me all three!”
Captain Yan said no more, simply instructing a female officer who was applying medicine to fetch the case files for Chen Sheng.
Soon, three files with different numbers appeared in Chen Sheng’s hands.
Chen Sheng took the files to his desk, sat down, and began to read through them.
File number 14457: The Case of the Mysteriously Missing Corpse Fragments.
Summary: During a night patrol by a trainee officer, a report was made about discovered body fragments. Upon investigation, these were indeed corpse fragments, and a case was filed. The case number is on record, with the regular sealed archives stored in Drawer 7, File 3.
The case grew strange and was suspended, then transferred to the Spirit Investigation Squad. The original lead was junior officer Fang Chen’an, later taken over by mid-level officer Yan Shidong.
Junior Spirit Investigation officer Xu Jinyin was sent to investigate but mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only a gold necklace belonging to the Spirit Investigation Squad.
Special note: The ghostly entities involved in this case are extremely vicious, and the corpse fragments may belong to another ghost, suggesting two ghost entities are involved.
“So it really has something to do with this gold necklace…” Chen Sheng was not surprised. Giving him this gold necklace clearly implicated him somehow.
“Come to think of it, this case seems oddly familiar. Maybe I heard about it somewhere… no, I heard about it from a ghost,” he mused.
Chen Sheng decided he would soon seek out the headless girl for clarification.
If she knew nothing, then he would go to that “old mansion” and relentlessly toggle the TV switch there. His cheap master should be able to help him find out.
He then set aside this file and picked up the second one.

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He opened the file.
File number 14463: The Baffling Painting.
Summary: The origin of this painting remains unknown; it seemed to have suddenly appeared in Upper Sanjiang City. There are seven known related cases.
The first was reported by an elderly father whose daughter had gone missing; she had been clutching a painting before her disappearance.
After investigation, the missing woman had no enemies, and her body was eventually found beneath a bridge.
She had committed suicide, with no signs of assault, injury, or poisoning.
The second case involved an old man who mysteriously starved to death. Three days before his body was found, someone saw him holding a painting.
Investigations showed the old man was thrifty and disciplined, with ample food at home. Yet he starved to death in his own house, dressed in luxurious clothing from head to toe, with an expensive hat, clothes, and shoes.
His body showed no signs of binding, injury, or poisoning.
The third case…
Chen Sheng read through the file continuously. When he finished reading the second file, he was momentarily stunned.
The description in this second file gave him an equally uncanny sense of familiarity with ghosts, even stronger than the first file.
“Have I encountered this painting before…”
“Wait!”
He suddenly remembered, “This painting… is a Delusional Painting!”
It was the one he brought from the Skull Temple.
“But isn’t this painting with Yan Shidong and his uncle?”
Could it be that the painting has a male and female version? The one he had was the female Delusional Painting, so this must be the male one that had been sought after?