Nightmare Apostle

The soup was a deep brown color, and with a sniff, he knew it was braised pork soup, but it seemed that there was no meat inside.

The master chef used a large ladle to scoop a big spoonful of soup and poured it directly over Yang Xiao’s rice, then used a slotted spoon to scoop around the bottom of the pot. No meat was found, but there were quite a few meat scraps.

After handing the lunch box to Yang Xiao, the master chef waved his hand, "Off you go."

"Thank you, Master!" Yang Xiao was filled with gratitude towards this tough-looking master chef; appearances could indeed be deceiving.

"Keep it down, and be careful not to attract those hungry wolves." The master chef gave him a glare, "You’re new here, right? Young folks need nutrition. If you crave some meat in the future, come find me. My surname is Wu, everyone calls me Master Wu. We don’t have meat, but if there’s leftover meat soup, I can spare you a ladle."

"Oh, and remember to come later, not at mealtime. If it’s crowded, I can’t look out for you." Wu’s tone wasn’t very pleasant, speaking as if he were disciplining someone.

"Thank you, Master Wu! You’re really kind!" Yang Xiao knew these older generation masters weren’t always soft-spoken, but they were very kind-hearted. When they encountered someone in need, many times you wouldn’t even need to ask; they’d help out if they could.

Yang Xiao took Ye Zheng, and the two of them went to a secluded place to eat. They each picked different dishes so that together they could try four different dishes in one meal.

While they came, they observed that nearly everyone did the same. Workers who got along well would share a table, put all the dishes in the middle, and everyone would mix and eat together, having both meat and vegetables for a healthy diet.

Yang Xiao and them actually also saw some acquaintances, Ma Jing and Zhang Xiaomin, but nobody greeted each other, passing by like strangers. This was as Chief Zhou had instructed.

Even though Yang Xiao was well aware there were no enemy spies and it was the Ghost killing people, to avoid unnecessary trouble, they decided to follow Chief Zhou’s instructions, since they would need the security chief’s assistance for future investigations.

After filling their stomachs, the two headed to today’s target, the Cultural Palace. They needed to conduct an in-depth exploration of the place before nightfall.

Yang Xiao firmly believed that the key issue was hidden here, as all three victims had visited this Cultural Palace before their deaths, which was unlikely to be a coincidence.

Walking into the first-floor lobby of the Cultural Palace, it was a completely different scene from the bustling welcome ceremony in the morning. At this moment, the lobby was almost empty, and the doorman’s area was vacant, though the door was open.

Through the glass window, an enamel tea canister placed on a crack-filled table could be seen, faintly steaming.

An old-style thermos with a wooden stopper was set to the side, probably indicating that the doorman was out for a smoke or a stroll.

In the vast hall, besides the two of them, only three other people were present.

Yang Xiao scanned the surroundings and fixed his gaze on a woman inside the small shop. She was a middle-aged woman, and from her attire, she didn’t look like a legitimate factory worker. He guessed she was probably a worker’s family member, with no official job, doing small chores arranged by the factory to earn some hard-earned money each month, essentially being looked after.

Suddenly, the woman, who was spacing out, noticed Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng approaching. She immediately stood up, her eyes filled with obvious tension.

Although she didn’t recognize Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng, she noticed the armbands on their left arms.

It was a red armband, fixed with a safety pin on the outside of the sleeve, located on the left upper arm. It had white characters on a red background, which read "on duty." This was the exclusive insignia of the factory security inspection team, granting them authority to supervise the entire factory.

The factory inspection team’s authority was vast, overseeing production discipline, factory security, conduct, anti-theft measures, fire prevention, sabotage prevention, infiltration prevention, handling violations, and maintaining order. They even managed to reprimand male and female workers who publicly engaged in displays of affection.

Seeing Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng approach, the middle-aged woman stood upright because she didn’t know these two people, meaning she couldn’t appeal to the usual acquaintances in the inspection team like before.

Her merchandise on the shelves couldn’t withstand scrutiny; a small portion of the sought-after items, like cigarettes, were mostly empty boxes. She had secretly exchanged the cigarettes with food ration coupons with acquaintances in the cafeteria, or swapped them for cloth coupons. Her daughter’s floral dress came about this way.

"We need to check the main hall. The doorman’s not here; who do we find?" Yang Xiao got straight to the point.

The middle-aged woman was stunned for three seconds, and upon confirming that their target wasn’t her, she relaxed considerably, immediately leading Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng to the main hall entrance. Then she deftly removed the lock on the door and pushed it open.

The inside appeared quite dim, with poor lighting, only a few rays of light coming in from a row of small windows on the walls.

"You guys go in and check. I’ll guard the door for you." The middle-aged woman volunteered.

Honestly, the atmosphere was drastically different from the morning, and Ye Zheng was momentarily hesitant to go in.

"Liu Dahuan, Zhuzi, Wang Jianjun!" The middle-aged woman suddenly shouted into the interior, "The security team is here to inspect. Where on earth have you gone?"

As soon as she finished speaking, rustling sounds came from the direction of the stage. In less than ten seconds, several figures hurriedly emerged and darted over.

Among the three was a burly man, leading the way, with small eyes, thick lips, dark skin, and dressed in an old, faded work outfit. His appearance looked very naive.

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