Chapter 54: Super Detective on the Case

Early Sunday morning, Fu Lan arrived ahead of schedule at the agreed meeting point a few blocks from his home and got into Shi Ningyu's car.

He wasn't very sensitive to car brands, and it was only after riding in it several times that he finally noticed she was driving a white Haval H6.

This car wasn't expensive; it had a spacious and practical interior and was purchased by a vast number of people.

In theory, this was a low-profile choice that blended into the crowd, and one could also tell from her choice of the Wuling's exterior that she cared a lot about this aspect.

The problem was that the Haval's slightly robust appearance contrasted too sharply with her own petite figure. Fu Lan finally understood where her vibe of a child secretly driving an adult's car came from.

The car drove to the foot of a mountain in the suburbs, where the two of them met up with that burly subordinate of Old Tian's, who introduced them to the supplier, Brother Qiang.

Brother Qiang looked every bit the businessman accustomed to frequent social banquets. With his protruding beer belly, he led them halfway up the mountain and was already covered in sweat.

"This place was originally an abandoned bomb shelter, which I leased and converted into a wine cellar," Brother Qiang said, wiping his sweat with a large handkerchief. "Of course, I won't hide anything from you two; the lower level of the wine cellar is entirely a breeding farm."

Fu Lan couldn't help taking off his hat to fan himself for a moment, feeling a slight chill on the top of his head, but he quickly put it back on despite the sweat, a wave of melancholy washing over him.

He stood outside the bomb shelter to observe the surrounding environment and discovered that in the distance, a Ferris wheel and roller coaster were actually visible. He couldn't help asking, "Is that Happy Valley over there?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just saw it and asked out of curiosity. Take us to the accident site."

The group entered the bomb shelter, passed through the wine cellar, and descended via a hidden entrance to the deep-set orb-beast breeding farm.

Compared to Boss Tian's establishment, this place was slightly more primitive, smaller in scale, and most operations were done manually.

Brother Qiang called his men to bring over a charred iron cage, pointed to a compartment opposite, and said, "It was originally placed over there. Puppies in the incubation period are all concentrated in that area. The blast blew apart a few surrounding ones."

"Fortunately, the space is still relatively open and far enough apart, so there were no other losses outside that room."

Fu Lan stared at the iron cage, recalling the surveillance footage he had watched.

Like other orb-beasts, there had been no suspicious objects approaching this one before its self-detonation.

Putting on gloves with a theatrical air, he collected the flesh fragments sticking to the cage, placed them in a sealed bag, and handed it to Shi Ningyu standing nearby.

In reality, this routine had no practical significance; it just made them look more professional. Because Shi Ningyu did not possess Insight-type magic.

Elemental, Conjuration, Insight, Illusion, and Protection—if a wizard could master one or two of these five branches, they were already considered formidable. Most spellcasters chose to delve into a single branch and then learn functional spells from other branches as needed.

The Insight branch was even more special. Even the most basic mana detection was quite difficult to learn, requiring a considerable degree of talent, and after mastering it, the application scenarios were not numerous.

Therefore, wizards who specialized in this branch were extremely rare, and most were recruited by the Bureau of Magical Affairs.

Shi Ningyu couldn't do it herself, but she figured Fu Lan could.

At this moment, Fu Lan was paying attention to other details. He looked at the ventilation duct on the wall very close to the incubation room and frowned slightly.

Shi Ningyu put away the sealed bag and, while looking around, spotted several employees moving boxes. With her powers of observation, she instantly recognized what was inside the boxes.

"You also deal in magical cinder on the side?" she asked Brother Qiang.

"I don't sell it, it's just a transit station. After all, this place is large and secluded, and some people are willing to pay the price."

Shi Ningyu curled her lips; mixing business like this was rather unprofessional. She didn't say anything further—anyway, it was someone else's territory, and they could use it however they pleased.

Just then, a subordinate walked up to Brother Qiang and whispered a few words in his ear.

Brother Qiang's expression turned somewhat ugly. He pulled the man aside, asked a few more questions in a low voice, and then dismissed him with a flustered look before returning to his spot. "Shall we continue? Is there anywhere else you need to see?"

Fu Lan glanced at the now-emptied incubation room and asked, "Where are the orb-beasts in the incubation period kept now?"

...

...

Happy Valley was built at the junction of the urban area and the provincial capital. Several surrounding cities shared this single amusement park, which was usually crowded and became even livelier during holidays.

Just as the park opened in the morning, a large number of visitors had already arrived.

The cheerful and laughing atmosphere was easily infectious. He Yue had been in high spirits ever since entering the park, skipping and hopping as she walked, looking nothing like a woman nearing forty.

Fu Linxing kept his hands in his pockets, letting her drag his arm around as she ran everywhere, a subtle, business-like smile plastered across his face.

"Ha—hahahahaahahaha, help! Hahaha..." He Yue shrieked at the top of her lungs on the roller coaster.

Fu Linxing furrowed his brows tightly, maintaining his business-like smile.

"Woohoo↓hoo↑, you little chicks ripe for the slaughter!" He Yue drove her bumper car in a wild, crashing rampage.

Fu Linxing's neck was knocked sideways by an impact; he calmly straightened it back up and maintained his business-like smile.

"Ahahaha! I can't take it anymore! I hate the feeling of weightlessness so much, haha..." He Yue said as she pushed open the safety harness of the drop tower, finishing the ride.

Fu Linxing turned a pale, sickly green, but maintained his business-like smile.

He had known that coming to the amusement park with his mom would inevitably mean letting loose, but he never expected it to be this agonizing.

At his age, he was no longer a child. He was no longer a little kid eligible for free or half-price tickets; he was a mature middle school student. Acting this wildly and out of control in front of a parent would obviously be extremely embarrassing.

Not to mention he had learned many secrets he shouldn't have known, and with his mind heavy with concerns, how could he possibly enjoy himself the way the person beside him was doing?

Then why come at all?

Because he needed to observe more closely this woman whom he lived with every day yet still knew so little about—this terrifying and mysterious creature.

Just like with his deeply secretive old man, he had to re-acquudge himself with the mom right before his eyes.

And there was another inconspicuous little reason: if he didn't choose to come here, his only alternative was to receive a box of practice workbooks.

Fu Linxing's stiff corners of the mouth twitched a few times. What kind of mother forces her child to go out and play...

On Friday night, He Yue suddenly announced to him that to celebrate her divorce, she was taking a week off and had handed her studio over to her business partner to manage. And this weekend, she cordially invited Fu Linxing to go to the amusement park and have a blast.

Fu Linxing wasn't an idiot; he could naturally sense that this carried a strong implication of asserting territory.

He foresaw that henceforth, he would drift further and further down the path of a master balancer of relationships.

In truth, He Yue could also imagine what it would look like if just the two of them came to the amusement park, so before coming, she had generously declared that Fu Linxing could invite a few more buddies and she would cover all their expenses.

However, it was difficult to get anyone to respond to such a last-minute invitation.

After a round of phone calls, absolutely no one could come; each one claimed they either had homework to do or family matters to attend to.

Fu Linxing understood those obvious excuses. If it were him, he would also prefer to spend his precious weekend tapping away at his computer rather than wasting time idling in an amusement park.

He Yue asked him with a gossipy look, "Why did you only call guys? Find some girls instead. Could it be that our little Xing doesn't have enough charm to invite a single female classmate?"

Fu Linxing couldn't be bothered to entertain such banter, and ultimately hardened his heart and came with his mom alone.

He maintained his smile at all times, chiming in with cheers at appropriate moments, not wanting to ruin Old He's fun.

Secretly, however, he started pondering that problem that had troubled him for days.

It was strange, he thought. The half-finished drawing was left unclosed right there on the monitor display. She should have known what he would see when he helped send those files. How could she have zero reaction at all...

After going on a few rides, He Yue had long since noticed Fu Linxing's reluctance, so she suggested they split up and explore separately, agreeing to meet up at a set time under the most easily identifiable Ferris wheel.

"Keep your phone with you, pay attention to notifications, and don't end up unreachable," she instructed.

Fu Linxing looked at the parent who was guilty of the very thing she warned against: "You're the one who needs to. Can you turn your ringtone up? It's always in your bag so you never hear it. Last time I called you a dozen times—"

"Hey, you little brat, starting to pick up your dad's habit of dredging up past accounts, are you?"

Right at that moment, someone nearby said, "Classmate Fu, what a coincidence."