First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 314: Bountiful Harvest — Corpse-Oil Tree

...

With a swing of his blade, fire trailed through the air in a sweeping arc before slowly fading.

The severed body ignited in flames.

Thick black smoke billowed out.

Not until Di Kongshan was completely incinerated did Lu Ding turn around.

Yan Feifan, having everything prepared, waited quietly by the side.

Now, he reported:

“Lu-ge, after I submitted Di She’s name, the Bureau sent back some info, including that IP address you asked for.”

“Go on.”

As they spoke, the long blade was gently retrieved from Lu Ding’s hand by the Red Coffin Woman with a graceful motion.

Yan Feifan’s eyes flickered with amazement.

That move was just... perfect!

He continued, “Di She. Male. Twenty years old. Previously recorded cultivation was at the ninth level of the Divine Palace Realm. Considered a prodigy of the Di family—he’s been cultivating since childhood.”

“His current cultivation is unknown.”

“Di She’s mother is named Di Mianlan. She was Di Kongshan’s most beloved youngest daughter. She had decent talent, but nothing top-tier.”

“As for who Di She’s father is—that we couldn’t find. He was born and raised in the Di family.”

At this point, Yan Feifan clearly paused to think.

“In my personal opinion, you know what they say: dragons birth dragons, phoenixes birth phoenixes, and rats have kids who know how to dig.”

“Looking across the whole Di family—from Di Kongshan, who had the highest cultivation in this generation, to the old ancestors, even several generations back—not a single one had talent on par with Di She.”

“Could be a genetic mutation, I guess.”

Yan Feifan chuckled at his own comment.

“But more likely, it’s because of this mystery father of his.”

“Look, I get that the Di family might not want to say who Di She’s father is. But for Bureau 749 to have no record at all? That just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Either Di She’s background is problematic—and that issue might be internal to the Di family, which I won’t elaborate on since it’s unpleasant—”

“Or he had some kind of miraculous encounter.”

“Or his unseen father has one of three things: a terrifying background, origin, or cultivation. Maybe even all three.”

Lu Ding listened quietly, eyes fixed on the towering Corpse-Oil Tree in front of him.

“No matter how terrifying, we still have to handle it. Can’t leave a ticking time bomb just wandering out there.”

“If his talent sucked, I might sleep easier.”

“But since he’s gifted, I’d probably lose sleep.”

“His whole family—even though more than ninety percent were killed by his grandfather—his grandfather was killed by me.”

“If he’s rational and doesn’t get involved with the Tianli Sect, then fine. Let him chase after me—he won’t even see my shadow.”

“But if he joins up with the Tianli Sect, lacks reason, and ends up interfering with my missions—or starts targeting me—then that’s a no-go.”

Lu Ding wasn’t someone who killed the innocent.

On the public side, as an investigator, he had to see the facts, confirm the evidence, and handle things by the book—he could do that, no problem.

On the personal side, if Di She wasn’t involved with the Tianli Sect but still refused to accept reality—

Well, Lu Ding would just take off his epaulets and handle it.

If someone’s bent on starting trouble, what’s the point in talking so much?

He’d have done everything by the book—if you still weren’t satisfied and came after him, then settling things privately was already doing you a favor.

But regardless of all that, first they had to find the guy.

“The location?”

While he spoke, Lu Ding reached out and touched the Corpse-Oil Tree.

It felt warm and smooth to the touch.

A treasure indeed.

A tree like this was a renewable, long-term heaven-and-earth treasure.

It didn’t bear fruit or blossom—

But the corpse-oil it produced was a rare and valuable ingredient.

Whether taken internally as medicine, or applied externally after a low-level Qi Refiner trained their body, it worked wonders.

This Corpse-Oil Tree provided the main ingredient in the secret elixir used for the Di family’s Wax Corpses.

And such a huge tree—

Submitting it to the Bureau would earn quite a few contribution points.

It could also offset some of the Bureau’s losses.

The Di family left behind a mess.

Whether it was the disrupted feng shui of Xianshan Town or the trouble caused by their collusion with the Tianli Sect—

Bureau 749 would have to spend money cleaning it up.

Now that the Di family was gone, they obviously couldn’t pay up. Since 749 had seized their assets, 749 had to foot the bill. That was one reason.

Another was that all this stemmed from 749’s lack of oversight.

So they should compensate the public for the loss.

749 might have massive power, but that came with responsibility.

It couldn’t all be benefits flowing in without any costs going out, right?

If the battle ended and nothing followed up, who would cover the public’s visible financial losses and hidden fortune loss?

What—just let the common people suffer?

No way.

The follow-up repair and compensation would be the real expense.

Of course, they wouldn’t be handing out cash. Money solved some problems, not all.

Lu Ding figured they’d probably introduce some public welfare programs specific to Xianshan Town.

Other regions’ issues were handled by their local 749 branches.

But this time, the Tianli Sect case was managed by Yunhai’s 749.

Even though this area wasn’t officially under Yunhai’s jurisdiction—

Yunhai’s 749 took full credit for the Tianli Sect case, so out of courtesy, or other considerations, they should be the ones to offer compensation.

That way, relations between the regions wouldn’t sour.

And Yunhai wouldn’t be hurting financially either—because the Tianli Sect would keep bringing in more cases.

Yan Feifan flipped through his phone: “About the IP location. For the first half of this year, Di She stayed in the Di household. In the second half, he moved upstream along the Huang River.”

“Eventually he stopped at the Heishui River area. Stayed there for a long time.”

“After that, his phone either shut down or something else happened.”

“Then, it reappeared three months ago—exact location: Heishuifang, a very hidden gathering spot for Qi Refiners, with dense natural spiritual energy.”

“Lots of shady folks mixed in.”

“Since then, Di She has popped up there a few more times—each time turning his phone on and off in that same location.”

“As for specifics, Heishuifang has three major factions. Di She’s visited all of them, but we don’t know what for.”

See?

That’s the benefit of living in a tech society.

Everyone uses phones, right?

Unless someone’s already on high alert, who just randomly swaps out their device?

Sure, there are workarounds—use a burner, fake identity.

But in the age of big data, once a burner is traced even once, it gets linked back to you.

Clearly, Di She hadn’t thought that far—he was still using his own.

“No worries. We’ll just go ask. Conveniently follow the Huang River upstream.”

“Oh right—anyone in Heishuifang tied to the Tianli Sect?”

If they could take down another faction along the way, Lu Ding would score a double win.

Yan Feifan had already looked into that.

So he answered immediately: “No specifics, but lower- and mid-tier members of the Tianli Sect often pass through there to distribute or purchase goods. The place is huge and chaotic—not easy to monitor.”

“Dirty stuff changes hands fast. No one knows if it ends up domestic or overseas.”