Chapter 860: Tricky Enemies

“[Mask] is missing?”

A serious expression appeared on the faces of those present.

“Did that traitor get caught?” Lin Qiye recalled the bloodstains on the wall and asked in confusion, “Can’t we extract [Mask]’s whereabouts from his mouth?”

“He’s already dead.” Zuo Qing paused for a moment, “I’ve basically figured out the identity of the people behind him… However, trying to get anything out of him is not a simple matter.”

“So, you want us to go look for the [Mask] team’s whereabouts first?”

“Exactly.” Zuo Qing nodded, “I will handle the traitor among the Night Watchmen as quickly as possible, but I’m a bit worried about the situation of the [Mask] team. No matter what, you should go look for [Mask]. If I have any updates here, I will notify you immediately.”

Lin Qiye decisively nodded, “No problem!”

“Let’s set off now.”

……

Half an hour later.

“Dear passengers, the plane is about to take off. Please turn off your mobile phones or switch them to flight mode…”

On a passenger plane, Lin Qiye, wearing a baseball cap, walked to a window seat and glanced outside, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Qiye, why are we taking a passenger plane?” Beside him, Bai Li Pangpang took off his sunglasses and asked in confusion, “Aren’t we supposed to go to Hainan to find [Mask]? Wouldn’t it be faster to take the Nimbus? At the very least, we could take a private plane, right?”

On the other side, An Qingyu shook her head, “Things aren’t that simple. You know the strength of the [Mask] team. If it were a direct confrontation, unless a god-level being intervened, it would be impossible to wipe them out quietly. But if such a battle were to occur, the Night Watchmen wouldn’t fail to notice…

The most likely scenario is that, without any fighting, someone used means to lure the [Mask] team to a certain location.

So, to find the [Mask] team, we first need to understand what exactly they encountered…”

Bai Li Pangpang scratched his head in confusion, “So what does this have to do with us taking a passenger plane?”

“Generally speaking, mental manipulation techniques would definitely be detected by the [Mask] team. So the best approach is to use seemingly reasonable natural inducements without supernatural means.” Lin Qiye spoke calmly, “The most effective method now is to put ourselves in [Mask]’s perspective, personally experience this journey, and see where the problem lies…

The position I’m sitting in now is where Wang Mian sat that day.”

“So… are we going to Hainan for a vacation now?” Shen Qingzhu asked with a strange expression.

“You could say that.”

As the group was conversing, a flight attendant walked by with a smile, checking everyone’s seatbelts and reminding them to switch their phones to flight mode or turn them off before continuing down the aisle.

Just as she turned to leave, a shadow coalesced from Lin Qiye’s shadow. He gently lifted the brim of his cap, and a crimson-eyed black pupil opened rapidly on his forehead, beginning to perceive everything around him.

The psychiatric nurse from the gods’ mental hospital, Black Pupil.

Black Pupil’s [Eye of Secrets] could perfectly see the past and future events occurring on this plane, which naturally included the encounter of the [Mask] team on the plane that day. With Black Pupil present, Lin Qiye could find more details through this aircraft.

This was also the reason he insisted on taking this passenger plane to Hainan.

However, the most regrettable thing was that Black Pupil could only “see” the past images through the [Eye of Secrets] and could not hear the content of Wang Mian’s phone call at that time; otherwise, all these problems would be easily resolved.

“The plane is about to take off.” Lin Qiye said lightly, glancing at the time in the cabin, “It was at this moment that Wang Mian received a call from Zuo Qing…”

Dinglingling—!

The crisp sound of a mobile phone ringing echoed, and everyone turned to look at Lin Qiye simultaneously.

Lin Qiye slowly took out his phone from his pocket, stared at the number for a moment, and answered the call.

“Hello? Commander Zuo…”

Bai Li Pangpang glanced suspiciously at Lin Qiye, then turned to look at An Qingyu, who was calling Lin Qiye, his mouth twitching slightly…

“Do we really need to restore it to this extent?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Lin Qiye held the phone, fell silent for a moment, then hung up and put it down.

“Did you discover something?” An Qingyu, sitting beside him, asked.

“Very strange.” Lin Qiye listened to Black Pupil’s recounting of the past images while pondering, “After Wang Mian finished the call, although his expression was somewhat serious, it was far from urgent. The other team members also only looked a bit regretful. There was still some time before the plane took off, and they didn’t choose to disembark.”

“In other words, the task given to them by the traitor was very likely in Hainan?”

“I think so too. If it were an urgent task from another location, the [Mask] team would have definitely disembarked immediately instead of continuing on the passenger plane.”

“That makes sense.” An Qingyu nodded, “Once the traitor who called them instructed them to go to another location for a mission, the [Mask] team would have certainly taken their private plane. Using a private plane would definitely attract the attention of the Night Watchmen, but if they were on a passenger plane to Hainan, the Night Watchmen wouldn’t notice at all; they would just think the [Mask] team was going on vacation.

The timing of his call was perfect, allowing the [Mask] team to board the passenger plane to Hainan without any suspicion while evading the attention of the Night Watchmen.”

“The layout is too meticulous.” Lin Qiye frowned, “Who exactly is that traitor within the Night Watchmen?”

“Unknown.” An Qingyu paused, “But that must be a very tricky enemy…”

As the engine roared, the passenger plane took off from the runway, disappearing into the clear sky in the blink of an eye.

……

Huaihai City.

A streak of azure light swept across the sky, precisely landing in front of a small house on the outskirts, transforming into a young figure draped in a dark red cloak.

Zuo Qing stood before this familiar small house, a complex expression in his eyes.

This was the outskirts of Huaihai City, the most remote area of the entire city, surrounded mostly by desolate farmland and rolling hills. Occasionally, wisps of smoke rose from distant villages, and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking echoed across the fields.

The house before him was no different from the most common brick houses in the countryside. The gray exterior walls had gradually peeled away under the wind and sun, revealing the passage of time. Beside the chicken coop, a few hens were nestled in their nests, curiously observing the unexpected guest, Zuo Qing.