Chapter 13

Ten minutes later, inside the Resurgence Management Office:

Zheng Shangyun withdrew his hand and rubbed his brow. His gaze shifted back to the computer. “So, you’re saying this is a complaint letter from someone claiming to be an ‘ordinary citizen,’ reporting the illegal positioning of Yunhe Convenience Store?”

“That’s probably it.”

Yin Liao twitched the corner of his mouth and had to reconfirm once more.

“I know what you want to ask.”

Before his superior could speak, Yin Liao took the initiative to calm down and said, “This complaint letter does indeed carry a strange aura.”

And it was too much of a coincidence.

This made the seemingly ordinary and normal complaint email take on an eerie vibe.

Seeing both of them furrow their brows as they sat in front of their computers, the technician couldn’t help but cough lightly and speak up weakly.

“Ahem, um, has no one noticed that he’s reporting Yunhe Convenience Store for building code violations?”

“I checked, and it doesn’t seem to be in violation at all?”

Yunhe Convenience Store had existed in Wenhua Street District for twenty years. All its business licenses and permits were fully in order. Plus, it was a 24-hour unmanned convenience store—there was no way it violated any regulations.

Had this complaint letter gotten it wrong?

The air fell silent for a moment. Yin Liao was slightly stunned; he hadn’t even considered that angle.

He subconsciously recalled the sudden email incident. Amid his vigilance, he inexplicably found it somewhat absurd.

What kind of nonsense was this?

Zheng Shangyun took a deep breath. He felt a bit dazed himself. At that moment, he gathered his thoughts and made a decisive call. “So for now, our priority is to figure out where this email—imbued with a strange aura and delivered straight to the Resurgence Management Office’s inbox—came from.”

“We’ll deal with everything else once we find the sender.”

…

Bo Ting had no idea that his email had caused a massive stir the moment it was sent. After playing the role of a helpful citizen, he simply logged out of the page.

Truth be told, it was his first time sending a report for the greater good, and he felt a bit excited. His mood hadn’t settled down yet.

He reached out and touched his chest near his heart. Bo Ting felt it pounding fiercely—almost deafeningly so.

But as an air conditioner, did he even have a heartbeat?

He instantly noticed the inconsistency and grew puzzled. He looked down at his body for two seconds before shrugging it off, figuring it might be a malfunction in the refrigeration unit or something, which had just produced that loud noise.

No good.

He had just received 5,200 yuan in dog-raising fees and hadn’t spent it all yet. He absolutely couldn’t have issues now. He needed to get repaired while the problem was still minor.

Of course, he wasn’t an expert in this field, so he’d have to call a repair technician for the specifics.

Fortunately, he was still within the warranty period. Contacting the manufacturer’s customer service should still work… right?

Bo Ting reassured himself as he found the manufacturer’s customer service contact from before.

But the exact same problem from a few days ago cropped up again.

—He couldn’t reach the manufacturer at all!

Bo Ting: …

Fine.

He’d just have to endure it for now.

However, whether it was Bo Ting’s imagination or not, after messing around with his phone for a bit, his body seemed to have recovered somewhat.

Did refrigeration units read the room or something?

He twitched the corner of his mouth. Since he couldn’t figure out the principle behind it, Bo Ting simply shook his head and set the matter aside for the time being.

…

After forwarding the Citizens Exchange Forum link to Bo Ting, Xu Qinglai rarely felt curious about the place.

But due to his identity hidden among humans, he didn’t search it directly. Instead, he contacted the Resurgence Management Office under the guise of a friendly inquiry.

After all, he was the human in Mengjia City with the highest attainment in occult studies.

He had once voluntarily assisted the Resurgence Management Office as an occult scholar and had captured quite a few strange entities.

His social record among humans was impeccable, making him highly trustworthy.

However, what made Xu Qinglai raise an eyebrow slightly was the unexpected information he gleaned from this phone call.

—The Resurgence Management Office seemed to be in big trouble lately.

Though confidentiality principles prevented them from disclosing details to outsiders, Xu Qinglai vaguely inferred that the trouble had arisen while they were tracking the Wandering Chef.

Thinking of that low-level strange entity that only knew how to hunt and feed—stupid and ugly—Xu Qinglai’s eyes flashed with a hint of mockery.

He then grew slightly curious: What kind of trouble could it cause? Even the Resurgence Management Office was taking it seriously now.

Yes, seriously.

Xu Qinglai realized this incident was no small matter. During his chat with them, he even heard the voices of the captains from the Second Squad and Third Squad of the Resurgence Management Office.

These two ability user squads, which were frequently deployed, were all gathered here…

Tsk.

It only piqued his curiosity more. What exactly was going on?

Was it related to that netizen who kept a “Bone Dog”?

Thinking back, he seemed to have overheard the word “neighborhood” or something similar. Xu Qinglai slowly turned his gaze to his phone.

…

After playing a few rounds of the game, Bo Ting was having an absolute blast.

But just as he wanted to queue up another one, his phone went “ding dong.” He finally received a message.

Hm?

Had the locks he ordered a few days ago arrived?

Bo Ting exited the game and checked the shopping app.

The page showed that the two locks he ordered were still in “pending pickup” status—they hadn’t even shipped.

“The seller claimed two-day delivery. Isn’t this a scam?”

He twitched the corner of his mouth, tapped to urge shipment on the stuck “pending pickup” status, then checked other apps.

He searched for a while, but there were no notifications on the others. The message seemed to be from… the Citizens Exchange Forum where he’d sent the complaint that morning?

Wait.

Had his complaint gotten a reply?

That was fast.

Bo Ting was stunned for a moment. He instinctively sat up straight, not expecting feedback on his first-ever report so quickly.

He stared at his phone for two seconds, then went to the bathroom to wash his gaming hands clean before seriously opening the page.

The familiar red dot indicated a reply from that forum.

Bo Ting tapped it open and saw that after his morning report, the staff had verified the information but found no obvious issues. They hoped he could provide more details.

Bo Ting: …

Huh?

Wasn’t his description detailed enough?

That “Yunhe Convenience Store” on the roadside—wasn’t it obvious?

Though puzzled about what the staff had missed, Bo Ting, as a helpful citizen doing the right thing, prepared to describe it more precisely.

But just as he was about to type, he paused, remembering that the neighborhood group had all reported it together that morning. He wondered if everyone had gotten replies.

Should he ask the others?

The chance of a scam replying directly from the Citizens Exchange Forum was slim, but Bo Ting stayed cautious. After all, he’d heard about terrifying tactics like webpage hijacking. Better safe than sorry.

The neighborhood group had discussed it all morning and had finally quieted down.

Bo Ting frowned and sent a screenshot of the email he’d just received.

“Everyone, has anyone gotten feedback on this morning’s complaints?”

“I just got this email. Not sure if it’s legit?”

The moment Bo Ting’s avatar popped up, residents responded.

[Sister Han]: “Let me check.”

“Oh, I posted it in the dog-walking group this morning. No response there.”

Bo Ting: …

Ignoring Sister Han, he looked toward Aunt Qian and the uncle’s avatars, hoping for some leads. Unfortunately, Aunt Qian hadn’t received anything either.

“I called over there. Qian Zheng said he’d inquire about our neighborhood. Still no word back.”

A bunch of messy replies flooded in, none reliable. Some suggestions were even worse than going straight to the property management.

Bo Ting was speechless for a moment. Looking at his Citizens Exchange Forum link from that netizen, it suddenly seemed like the most legit option!

Was this right?

Regardless, with feedback received, the group residents immediately got excited.

“It’s the same forum reply. What could be the issue?”

“It’s good to be cautious, young man, but this should be fine. As long as no money leaves your bank card.”

Old Zhang: “If it turns out to be a scam, we’ll all chip in to cover it for you.”

Bo Ting felt touched by the words. Recalling his mere five thousand yuan, it hardly seemed worth scamming, and… Uncle Zhang had said they’d cover it.

He cleared his throat lightly and twisted awkwardly with a straight face.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Anyway, Uncle Zhang, I screenshotted it.”

Uncle Zhang went silent for a few seconds.

His familiar ID then continued nonchalantly.

“Well, Xiao Bo, hold on. Since we’re reporting, why not include the property management too?”

After Aunt Qian spoke up, the group erupted into a cacophony of chatter.

Meanwhile, at the Resurgence Management Office:

Zheng Shangyun stared at the reply email he’d just sent, his heart pounding with unease.

“Any response yet?”

“Not yet.” The technician shook his head.

The strange aura’s source was too peculiar; they hadn’t traced the sender all day.

Now, they could only try sending another reply to lure the person out.

But half a day had passed—why no message?

Had they been found out?