Chapter 1 When the Black Hood Was Removed

When the black hood was removed, a blinding light shone on Feng Bujue's face, making it difficult for him to open his eyes.

But after a few seconds, he adjusted to the brightness, then squinted and began to observe his surroundings.

At this moment, he was sitting on a chair, located in a cubic room with sides of four meters. All six sides of the room were made of concrete and were covered with patterns similar to street graffiti.

There were no windows in the room, and the only exit was a metal door that looked very thick.

In the center of the room were two chairs with backs and an ordinary wooden table. On the table was a dirty table lamp. Since he didn't see any wires, Jue-ge speculated that the table lamp had a built-in battery (in Feng Bujue's era, micro-battery technology was very mature, and many home appliances used built-in battery designs. Usually, a set of batteries could last for several months or even a year, and many manufacturers also offered door-to-door replacement services).

In addition, behind and to the side of Feng Bujue... at the intersection of the ceiling and two walls, there was also a very obvious surveillance camera. The plug of this camera was connected to the only socket in the room. And the height of that socket was also close to the ceiling. Normally, unless you were Yao Ming's height, you wouldn't be able to touch that switch or unplug it, even if you were standing on the table.

Of course, besides these, the most noteworthy thing in this room... was undoubtedly the person who had removed the hood from Jue-ge's head.

It was a man who looked to be in his thirties, wearing a black casual suit, with a white shirt and black tie underneath.

His appearance could be considered handsome, and he also gave off a mature, detached feeling. The laziness and gloom in his eyes were also a very charming quality.

"My name is Gu Chen." Gu Chen didn't waste any words. He got straight to the point. "Next, I will ask you some questions. Please answer me seriously." As he spoke, he sat down in the chair across the table and casually placed the black hood he was holding on the table.

"Heh... may I... refuse?" Feng Bujue asked with a smile, while subtly trying to struggle against the handcuffs (his hands were still cuffed).

"Using a smile to conceal inner thoughts and politely asking a meaningless question... in response to my request." Gu Chen looked at Jue-ge calmly and said, "Very good, quite like me when I was young." As he spoke, he took out a thermos from his pocket, unscrewed the lid (the lid itself was designed to be used as a cup), and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I say... elder brother, how old are you this year?" Feng Bujue said.

"Seventy-six." Gu Chen replied without changing his expression.

"Oh~" Feng Bujue's expression was quite interesting. "You're very well-maintained..."

"It's called 'Super Spiritual Body'." Gu Chen replied. "It has nothing to do with maintenance."

"Sounds amazing..." Feng Bujue felt that the other party was seriously bullshitting with him, so he cooperated and bullshit along.

"It's alright, but compared to Woody, I'm still far behind." Gu Chen replied, "But dealing with trash like Zachariah is relatively easy."

"That's what I wanted to ask you..." Feng Bujue said, "How did you know..."

"I don't remember... allowing you to ask questions." Gu Chen interrupted him directly. "You're here to answer questions, you don't have the right to ask them. I'm chatting with you out of friendliness and interest. You'd better not take an inch after gaining a foot."

"Okay, okay." Feng Bujue's eyes changed slightly. "Ask away, I'll answer as best as I can."

Gu Chen paused for half a second before saying, "Where are we?"

"Huh?" Feng Bujue was immediately stunned.

"Didn't you hear me clearly? Then I'll ask again." Gu Chen repeated with emphasis, "We, where are we?"

"In..." Feng Bujue looked around. "An interrogation room?"

"I'm not asking about the environment, I'm asking about the location." Gu Chen continued.

"How could I possibly know that?" Feng Bujue widened his eyes. "I was handcuffed by Bao Qing at home and had a black hood put on my head; as soon as I left the building, you guys stuffed me into a car... you guys brought me here all the way, and you're asking me?"

"Answer my questions properly." Gu Chen said coldly, "Or I'll shave your hairline back five centimeters."

"Hey!" When Feng Bujue heard the words "hairline," his expression changed drastically, and he immediately raised his voice and shouted, "Do you people respect human rights? Do you have any humanity!"

"It's fine if other people say that to me, but is it appropriate for you to talk to me about human rights and humanity?" Gu Chen replied calmly, "Putting aside your various actions that crossed the boundaries of law and morality when you were a minor... just the fact that you secretly investigated the 'Ninth Division' gives me the right to make you disappear from the world in any form."

"Damn it! Are you trying to scare me?" Feng Bujue still didn't show weakness, and he replied loudly, "I want to see your superior!"

"I am the chief of the Ninth Division." Gu Chen put down his coffee cup and looked directly into Jue-ge's eyes. "My only superiors are all in B City... here, I'm the highest authority." He suddenly slammed the table. "Now, answer me quickly, where are we! Otherwise, I'll immediately call in a few strong men to come in and flick your jj to death!"

"Underground at 200 Renmin Avenue." The next second, Feng Bujue blurted out these nine words like lightning.

"Good!" Gu Chen said in English, and then he returned to his calm expression. "Please explain the deduction process."

"It's just like that..." Feng Bujue replied with an unwilling expression. "The first thing that can be ruled out... is the address I investigated last time. I know that you guys moved soon after I found it, and turned that place into a fake stronghold that was like a trap. Secondly, places more than forty kilometers away from my house can be ruled out, because you couldn't have traveled that far in that amount of time... So, within the remaining range, I used my sense of direction and body to precisely calculate the time based on the frequency of my breathing, and I used the feeling in my body to calculate the speed... and then I factored in things like traffic lights and uphill/downhill slopes, which gave me a distance data with an error of no more than fifty meters. Based on my knowledge of the S City map, I came to the above conclusion..." He paused after saying all of this in one breath. "Of course, I also considered the possibility that you used some method to greatly change my perception of time and space. If that were the case, I really wouldn't know where I am."

"Well, not bad, you have strong investigative abilities and you're very thorough in your considerations." Gu Chen was still as lazy as ever, took another sip of coffee, and continued, "The key is... you're pretty good at pretending to be stupid, you have potential."

"Heh heh... thank you for the compliment." Feng Bujue chuckled dryly, not feeling happy at all.

"Alright, next question." Gu Chen quickly continued, "At this stage, how much do you know about the supernatural forces in the human realm?"

"Not much." Feng Bujue replied.

Gu Chen didn't respond to him, but the silence... made him feel even more pressured.

"Really not much..." Feng Bujue immediately added, "The related literature is too complicated, and each has its own claims. I can't tell which set is correct."

"Then how did you kill Zachariah today?" Gu Chen asked, "According to the feedback from Bao Qing and the others, they could still detect the other party's existence on their way to your house, but when they arrived downstairs at your house, they clearly sensed the other party's death."

"I did hide a magic array in the wall (the place where Asathoth left his palm print. Before repairing it, Jue-ge copied a relatively versatile suppression-type magic array inside it for emergencies)... and during the conversation with Zachariah, I led him to within the range of the magic array." Feng Bujue replied, "However, I didn't kill him. A guy named Simon (Feng Bujue had seen Simon once in *Death Questionnaire*, knew his name, but never knew who he really was) killed him."

"Oh... I see." Gu Chen muttered thoughtfully.

Two seconds later, he stood up from his chair, put away the thermos, turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll just ask this much for now. Next... I'll give you a task."

"What is it?" Feng Bujue asked with a puzzled expression.

"There's a demon in this room." Gu Chen's words made Feng Bujue gasp. "You can't see him right now, but I can tell you that he'll take action soon after I leave." As he said that, he opened the metal door and walked out. "I'll give you ten minutes. If you can come out alive... we'll talk further."

Before he finished speaking, he had already closed the door from the outside.