They originally wanted to say Fang Zhu was abusing a newborn, but now it seems he just has a bit of understanding about his own species. Looking at Fang Zhu again, the new father had already fainted in relief.

"Damn, a desk worker like me." Mu Fei rubbed the circle of talismans and turned to Tan Xiao, "Is your company still hiring? I feel my daughter is very suited to work for you."

"Another exchange? I do part-time work for Bureau 404, and then your daughter works for me?" Tan Xiao quipped, but he had to admit this thing really looked quite useful. Fang Zhu's aim was wasted.

See, it knocked out the calamitous beast with one hit. Besides being a supreme treasure pearl, it definitely had to do with the talismans on it. This mixed-blood really mixed the right essence.

Mu Fei helped the fainted Fang Zhu up. Tan Xiao went to pick up the terrier, and Qingfeng also picked up the injured Elder Baoping.

Elder Baoping pointed at the unfinished building. Liu Qingquan immediately said, "I'll go clean up!"

He wanted to see what background this sniper had.

The others also quickly protected and tidied up the scene, even picking up the shell casings. "It can't be a gun spirit, right? If it's a weapon spirit, it would naturally carry extremely ominous energy."

But if it was such an existence, it would make sense for it to be able to suppress the calamitous beast, seemingly treating it like a hunting dog.

However, when Liu Qingquan returned, he only held a few wooden boards with bloodstains. "...Escaped."

Tan Xiao wasn't particularly surprised. He even had a vague premonition in his heart. He was no longer a novice who had just gotten involved in supernatural cases. After the tempering of this period, he could more or less understand the effects of his talismans and techniques.

The talismans he brought today, combined with the Taiyin slingshot, were designed for dealing with dogs.

But this also gave Tan Xiao more experience. One must be fully prepared for everything. He looked at the bloodstains and said, "It's fine. Since traces were left behind, we can investigate. There are still shell casings here."

"That's right, I'll contact someone to check the bullets and trajectory." Mu Fei also said. This case had taken a sharp turn and directly connected to Fang Zhu's demon-slaying trap, giving her a strong feeling that overtime was inevitable.

"By the way, is Elder Baoping alright?" Tan Xiao secretly observed Elder Baoping, who was licking its fur in Qingfeng's arms. It lightly nodded, indicating it was fine.

Mu Fei remembered that Tan Xiao had mistaken Elder Baoping's identity and found it a bit amusing. She explained, "The elder just happens to be the one who took form from the batch of Emperor's Essence 120 years ago. It has the most seniority in Laomei Temple and is currently the eldest."

"My apologies..." Tan Xiao said softly. "I just didn't expect Laomei Temple to also accept non-humans." He thought only Bureau 404 was all-inclusive, after all, Laomei Temple looked like a more traditional secular religion.

"That was indeed a groundbreaking move for a long time. Elder Baoping also steadily worked its way up from an acolyte, single-mindedly seeking knowledge and the Dao, before gaining the sect's recognition." Mu Fei sighed. Elder, elder, first you have to live a long time. Elder Baoping can be considered to have persevered and succeeded.

Elder Baoping slowly nodded, indicating it had also suffered hardships.

"And at the elder's age, it's still contributing to the sect. Not only does it accept dispatches from Bureau 404, it also has to accompany tourists to play and such..."

Halfway through Mu Fei's words, she saw Elder Baoping give her a stern look. She quickly shut her mouth and bowed, "Thank you for your hard work, Elder."

Hearing this, Tan Xiao brought over the animal innards he used to lure the dog today. The elder had been sniffing them all day. He said to Master Qingfeng, "Then let's use these to nourish the elder's body. The elder isn't vegetarian, right?"

Master Qingfeng nodded and quietly bowed to him, either because he had been with the elder for a long time or because he was naturally taciturn.

Tan Xiao: "Oh, but I don't know if the elder prefers his meat and bones raw or fully cooked cat food..."

......

Some of the group were dazed, some were injured. They returned to the Bureau 404, handed Fang Zhu over to the logistics medical team, and Mu Fei went to prepare the documents.

Tan Xiao borrowed the kitchen of the Laomei Temple to make cat food. He wanted to see how big the appetite of a 120-year-old cat could be.

Mu Fei had Ah Jin pull up the information while discussing Tan Xiao's ferocity just now with her colleagues. She was the most emotional of them all, after all, she was the one who had first gone to contact Tan Xiao.

"You definitely won't believe it. When I went to No. 1 Middle School to find him back then, I asked him what he thought a shaman was. He said it was a splendid and gorgeous folk art. It almost made me look stupid."

"Tsk tsk tsk... And then..."

Ah Jin said calmly, "This is called a feel-good story."

Everyone laughed. Mu Fei looked at Aperture and said with great interest, "I was going to have you cosplay as the Peacock God today, but there wasn't a chance. Why don't you transform now and let me see how similar you look."

Aperture was also a newborn calf that wasn't afraid of tigers. Having never seen Kong Xuan before, it immediately transformed into the image of Kong Xuan from its memory card. With 45 million pixels, it was indeed identical.

With this, even if Big Beard Zhong saw it, he would probably pee himself.

It's just that the clothes were a bit different, but the Bureau 404 had information on Kong Xuan, which was provided by Tan Xiao, who later supplemented it with an ID photo. It could be transformed by imitating it.

Now, it's unknown if Big Beard Zhong peed himself, but Ah Jin's chassis was definitely overheating. With this, he had 800 related searches.

"What do you think, how long would it take for Tan Xiao to recognize Aperture transformed into the Peacock God if he saw it?"

"Hard to say. It's so similar that he might not recognize it until school starts..."

Mu Fei knew that Tan Xiao had a bit of face blindness, but the clothes, styling, and hairstyle were all identical. "Hmm, it's indeed hard to say."

......

Kong Xuan was originally supposed to stay until the first day of school, but after learning that Tan Xiao had prepared good things for him, he couldn't hold back. So, he returned to school a few days early.

Kong Xuan found the Bureau 404. Having not seen Tan Xiao for many days, he deliberately didn't reveal his presence, thinking about how to suddenly appear and give Tan Xiao a fright. Tan Xiao might slap him, or poke him with his arm, or even dare to glare at him.

But after excitedly imagining for a while, he suddenly deflated, because he realized that if he was dressed no differently from ordinary people, even if Tan Xiao saw him, he might not recognize him at first glance, let alone have the surprise he imagined...

His heart suddenly felt sour. Although Kong Xuan had long been clear about Tan Xiao's problem and knew that as long as he showed his exclusive accessories, Tan Xiao would recognize him, but this didn't stop him from imagining.

His expression changed. He didn't know what face to appear with for a while. If he deliberately wore the keychain and hairpin, would it make him seem very undignified as the sect leader?

While he was thinking, Tan Xiao had already brought the cat food to the office. Opening the door, he saw a long-haired man in splendid clothes looking over at him, smiling at him, "Happy New Year."

Seeing the vivid colors, Tan Xiao couldn't help but feel dazed...

Kong Xuan was even more startled. He almost directly brushed away this impostor. What the hell was this thing! It even dared to give New Year's greetings!

What made him more panicked was that this thing was dressed almost identically to him. Tan Xiao might immediately go up and get handsy with this impostor! Then, then when Tan Xiao touched the other party, he would realize that he had mistaken them, but by then it would be too late, he would have already touched them, already mistaken them!!

The more Kong Xuan thought about it, the angrier he became, wishing he could immediately grab Tan Xiao.

Seeing this man, especially the familiar color scheme and the overall splendor, Tan Xiao indeed felt it was very confusing. He was dazed for a moment, but before Kong Xuan could grab him, he had already smiled and said, "Aperture?"

Aperture widened its eyes, "...How did you know?"

This was simply challenging its dignity as a camera.

"You're cosplaying as Kong Xuan, right?" Tan Xiao actually just discovered that he seemed to be able to identify and even confirm Kong Xuan not only by his clothes and hairstyle. "His demeanor definitely wouldn't be as amiable as yours."

Aperture said loudly, "But I look exactly like him!"

"...Sorry, I can't tell." Tan Xiao said innocently. The part where Aperture looked the most similar happened to be the part he was least able to discern. Knowing Aperture's abilities, he could even guess who was cosplaying as Kong Xuan.

Everyone: "...Impressive."

Mu Fei couldn't help but applaud.

This was another kind of awesomeness.

Ah Jin couldn't help but whimper. Okay, he could do a battlefield of death, and he could also do pure love.

"Haha, Elder Baoping isn't here?" Tan Xiao had originally come to deliver cat food. Hearing that the elder was in the outer courtyard, he went out again.

But as soon as he turned around, he saw a man standing under the eaves, wearing a No. 1 Middle School winter uniform. Glancing at him, the man secretly peeked over, then quickly turned back.

Tan Xiao walked over and patted the man's shoulder, "Kong Xuan, let's see how many red envelopes you received over the New Year."

Kong Xuan turned around reservedly, not speaking, but unable to hide his delight at being recognized. He said indifferently, "I'm so old, why would I still want red envelopes? I didn't really go visit relatives much." He emphasized that he was an adult peacock who didn't want red envelopes, a step ahead of Tan Xiao.

Originally, Kong Xuan was filled with emotions dominated by satisfaction and supplemented by showing off. Suddenly, he felt something was off. Getting closer, he seemed to smell something... There were even some residual ashes on Tan Xiao's sleeves.

"What's this?" Kong Xuan sniffed Tan Xiao and his eyes blazed as soon as he identified it. "Whose incense ashes are these?! They're not mine. Who did you secretly make offerings to?!!!"

Tan Xiao was stunned. It took him a long time to remember that he seemed to have helped Master Lü hold the incense burner... How could he smell even this?

Author's Note:

Ah Jin (starts singing): There's the scent of his incense on your body