I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 542: What is the Purpose of the Man in the Black Robe?
After an unsuccessful search, Wang Lan and Lige returned to the Tianjian Bureau. They had just sat down in Lige’s office when the forensics department released their report.
"Wang Lan, look at this. Yan Tong’s body has no issues; both kidneys are intact, and so is the liver. Could Yan Tong’s military discharge papers be fake?"
"That’s unlikely. The Star Martial Warriors’ disability assessment and rulings are handled by two separate departments, with detailed procedures integrated with a big data terminal. No one in Yan Tong’s social circle could have helped him with that. I’m more inclined to believe that Yan Tong recovered on his own."
"How is that even possible? Yan Tong isn’t a medical Star Martial Warrior."
"When Yan Tong was discharged, he was only at the peak of the Star Shine Stage. However, his strength had not only not regressed but had actually advanced further."
"To go from the Star Shine Stage to the Star Cloud Stage requires a massive amount of Soul Beads. Yan Tong has no record of entering the trial spaces, nor has he had the opportunity to acquire a large number of Soul Beads. Plus, he wouldn’t have had access to the widespread Immortal Cloud Mysterious Green Record.
Besides, in less than a year, Yan Tong had not only undergone a complete physical transformation, but his strength had also increased immensely. This is too illogical..."
"Have you ever paid attention to a detail?" Wang Lan asked with a light chuckle.
"What?"
"He spent almost all his money on tonics. Combined with his injury report, I can deduce that he bought all those tonics to recover from his injuries."
"Can ginseng, ganoderma, and the like really restore bodily organs?" Lige felt his entire worldview violently shaken. While ginseng and other traditional medicines were known to have health-boosting effects, they were, after all, classified as health supplements.
Physical injuries that even medical Star Martial Warriors can’t heal, and defects that not even Soul Beads can restore—he recovered using just some health supplements? And his strength didn’t regress but broke through to the Star Cloud Stage?
"There’s a big problem with that black-robed person’s motive for killing Yan Tong. And did you notice the Star Martial Skills Yan Tong used during the competition? They were a set of Star Martial Skills, not just a single one. We refer to such sets of Star Martial Skills as a Cultivation Technique."
"A Cultivation Technique? The Cultivation Technique from the ancient cultivation civilization?" Lige, as a member of the Chu Family of Star Martial Warriors, had naturally heard of Cultivation Techniques. Those that reach the level of a Cultivation Technique are usually ranked as super S-class Star Martial Skills.
Thinking of this, Lige’s eyes suddenly turned icy cold. "Yan Tong really deserved to die! He must have had a fortuitous encounter in a Different Dimensional Space, obtaining such a transformative Cultivation Technique, and he didn’t turn it in?"
"Everyone has their selfish motives. I can understand why he didn’t hand over the Cultivation Technique. But if this Cultivation Technique is of great use to the human race, then the black-robed person’s reason for killing him might indeed be for the Cultivation Technique."
"So what do we investigate next?"
"I suspect it has to do with his last mission. Contact the Pioneer Space of the Cloud Sea and check what their last mission was, where it took place, and what happened there."
"I’ll contact them right away."
It was already late at night when Wang Lan returned to the Xinyu Building. Jiang Xinyu had gone back to her own home, so Wang Lan was alone again.
No sooner had he lain down than the text message alert on his phone chimed.
"Haven’t you come back yet?" It was from Jiang Xinyu.
"Just got home."
"Hmm, then you should sleep early."
Wang Lan waited for a while, but Jiang Xinyu sent no further messages. He smiled to himself. Perhaps Jiang Xinyu also felt the loneliness of an empty home.
The next morning, Wang Lan returned to the Tianjian Bureau. Although it was only the death of a single Star Cloud Stage Star Martial Warrior, the black-robed person’s strength made this case extremely significant—definitely ranking within the top ten Wang Lan had ever encountered.
In the conference room of the Tianjian Bureau, Lige was briefing the special task force on the intelligence and progress of the case when suddenly, his phone rang. Lige paused, took out his phone, and answered.
"Hello, Director Zhang... What? Okay, I’ll be right there."
After hanging up, Lige turned to Wang Lan and said, "That was a call from the police station. The black-robed mystery man has struck again; he attacked the Suzhou City Museum."
"Let’s go to the police station!"
Upon arriving at the police station, they were greeted by an old friend, Hu Qing. Hu Qing wasn’t surprised by Wang Lan’s arrival; he knew that Wang Lan was back in Suzhou City. Considering the magnitude of the incident, and knowing Wang Lan, Hu Qing was certain he wouldn’t just stand by.
The group entered the conference room, and Hu Qing immediately played the video footage.
"This morning at 9:20, a black-robed person appeared at the Suzhou City Museum. Anyone who came within three meters of him collapsed dead. It’s unclear how he attacked."
In the video, a black-robed figure appeared, walking straight into the museum. At that moment, there were several tourist groups inside; all those who approached him collapsed.
The black-robed figure didn’t seem to move quickly, yet he entered the museum’s interior in the blink of an eye. He then headed straight for the private areas in the back, his path marking a trail of death.
The black-robed man’s actions displayed a strong sense of detachment. Regardless of how panicked and scattered the surrounding people were, he moved forward as if he saw none of them.
"The black-robed man eventually broke into the museum’s residential building and then disappeared without a trace. Everyone in the museum’s residential building, a total of thirty-seven people, died!"
"Looking at his route, it seems he had a clear objective."
"Did the black-robed man take anything?"
"We don’t know yet. It’s only been an hour since the incident occurred. Over a hundred tourists were killed."
"Have the bodies been brought back yet?"
"Yes, they’re in the morgue now."
Wang Lan stood up and went to the morgue. Dozens of corpses covered in white cloths were laid out, a shocking sight. Although Wang Lan had witnessed many life-and-death situations, the scene before him still struck his heart.
People accustomed to life and death can become numb. Fortunately, Wang Lan hadn’t.
He lifted the white cloths. Everyone’s death was the same as Yan Tong’s. The expressions on the faces of the deceased were very peaceful; some even had radiant smiles. This suggested they had died very quickly—in an instant. Their eye sockets were pitch-black, as if their eyeballs had been stained with ink. It was the black-robed person. The method of killing was exactly the same as how Yan Tong was killed.
"What does this black-robed person want? Why kill a group of helpless ordinary people? If they have the skill, they should come for us!" Lige said angrily, his fist striking the wall and leaving a deep imprint.
"Director Hu, we’ve got a statement..." A guard hurriedly pushed open the morgue door. "We found a museum worker who luckily wasn’t killed. He’s the janitor for the museum’s dormitory. We took him through the dormitory, room by room, and he said a Buddha statue was missing from Professor Lu’s room."
"A Buddha statue? Are you sure?"
"He’s certain. This Buddha statue is quite large, taller than a man. Professor Lu had been researching it recently. Also, there are many Buddhist scriptures in Professor Lu’s dormitory, all showing signs of frequent handling, which indirectly corroborates the janitor’s statement."
Wang Lan said, "Is the black-robed person’s target the Buddha statue? I have a feeling the black-robed figure is trying to erase something... All their actions seem aimed at erasing something."
Wang Lan and the others left the morgue. Soon after, word came that the museum director had been found. Hu Qing promptly brought the director to the interrogation room. The director was a middle-aged man in his forties, slightly overweight, and visibly panicked.
It was understandable for anyone to be panicked after such a major incident at the museum.
"Director Jin, you’re aware of the situation. I want to ask, do you know about the Buddha statue Professor Lu was researching?"
"Yes, that Buddha statue was brought by a Star Martial Warrior in March to be sold to the museum," Director Jin said without hesitation.
"A Star Martial Warrior? Was it this person?" Wang Lan immediately took out Yan Tong’s photo and showed it to Director Jin.
"Yes, yes, that’s him."
They exchanged glances; the connection was clear. The black-robed person had first killed Yan Tong and then gone to the museum to steal the Buddha statue Yan Tong had sold. The black-robed person’s objective was becoming clearer.
"Tell me in detail what happened," Wang Lan requested.
"Okay, okay!" Director Jin’s hand trembled as he took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Do you have a cigarette?"
After lighting a cigarette, Director Jin calmed down a bit. "Around March," he began, "a Star Martial Warrior drove to the museum with a bronze Buddha statue, about a man’s height, and asked us to appraise it.
I remember it so clearly because it’s rare for anyone to come to the museum to sell cultural relics. We’re the cultural relic protection department; for an antiquities dealer to bring relics to us, isn’t that like walking into a trap?
At the time, I thought the Star Martial Warrior didn’t understand the situation. But to my surprise, after Professor Lu saw it, he immediately said we should appraise it and insisted on buying it."
"Oh? Why was that?"
"Professor Lu estimated that this Buddha statue is likely the Demon Subduing Buddha. Buddhism was introduced into Jade Country about three thousand years ago. And Professor Lu estimated the age of this Buddha statue to be three thousand years as well. That is to say, this Buddha statue was one of the first, a national treasure."
"The Demon Subduing Buddha? What’s that?"
"Legend says that three thousand years ago, demons ran rampant across the land. Buddha Shakyamuni came from the east with his disciples to enlighten all beings. While passing through the Cloud Sea, he found the local people suffering terribly, enslaved by evil demons.
Buddha Shakyamuni joined forces with the local Sacrificial Priests to fight back against the demons. After decades of battle, the demons were finally defeated. However, the demons were too powerful to be completely destroyed.
In the end, Buddha Shakyamuni severed a part of his golden body, transforming it into a Demon-restricting Buddha Statue to suppress the evil demon. Only then was Buddha Shakyamuni able to continue eastward to spread his teachings, and subsequently, Buddhism was established in Huaxia.
Buddhist scriptures record that Buddha Shakyamuni attained parinirvana in Jiuhua, leaving behind two original Buddha statues: one for universal salvation and one for compassion. However, the scriptures have always mentioned three statues; the last one was for demon restriction.
Of the two Buddha statues for salvation and compassion, one is kept on Jiuhua Mountain and the other in Nanhai Cihang Zen Temple.
Professor Lu told me all this during his leisure time."
"Do you know where Yan Tong got the Buddha statue?"
"He only said it was in the Cloud Sea, nothing more specific. Since this Demon Subduing Buddha statue had never appeared before, it couldn’t be classified as a protected cultural relic. Yan Tong said he obtained it, so it was his. We couldn’t very well confiscate it under the pretext that it was a national treasure.
Yan Tong asked for five million, and Professor Lu agreed without a second thought."
After asking a few more details, Hu Qing let Director Jin leave.
Once Director Jin had left, Lige frowned and asked gravely, "Could that black-robed person be the evil demon that was suppressed by the Buddha statue?"
"Isn’t that just a mythological story? I’m more inclined to think the black-robed person is a powerful Star Martial Warrior who, for some unknown reason, wants to steal the Demon Subduing Buddha statue," Hu Qing mused, stroking his chin.
