Here’s the updated text with all instances of “—” replaced with commas:
Changmei Zhenren’s voice was filled with urgency.
Ye Qiu’s heart tightened, and he immediately asked, “Old thing, what’s happened? Hello, hello…”
A busy tone came through the phone.
The call had been disconnected.
Ye Qiu quickly redialed.
The call soon connected, and Ye Qiu hurriedly asked, “Old thing, where are you?”
“Old thing?” A strange male voice came from the other end, sounding slightly puzzled. “Are you Ye Qiu?”
“I’m Ye Qiu. Who are you?” Ye Qiu asked.
“This is Ping’an Road Police Station. My surname is Wang. Ye Qiu, please come to the station right away. Your father’s in trouble.”
“Father?”
Ye Qiu was stunned, then said, “Officer Wang, have you got it wrong? My father went missing over twenty years ago.”
“Missing? But that old Taoist said you’re his son!”
Damn,
Ye Qiu’s face darkened with frustration.
This unreliable old fool was spouting nonsense again.
Ye Qiu asked, “Officer Wang, could you tell me if that old Taoist is in any life-threatening danger?”
“This is a police station, it’s very safe. How could there be any danger to his life?” Officer Wang said, “You’d better come quickly!”
“Officer Wang, can you tell me what’s happened to him?” Ye Qiu asked again.
“Well… it’s better if you come and we’ll talk about it here!”
Ye Qiu hung up and said to Qian Duoduo, “Let’s go to Ping’an Road Police Station.”
Twenty minutes later.
The two arrived at the station.
Ye Qiu found Officer Wang.
Officer Wang was a middle-aged man with a square face, exuding an air of righteousness. He led Ye Qiu and Qian Duoduo into his office.
“Officer Wang, what exactly happened to that old Taoist?” Ye Qiu asked.
Officer Wang studied Ye Qiu for a moment and said, “You’re really not that old Taoist’s son?”
Ye Qiu gave a wry smile. “Of course not. I grew up with my mother.”
“I didn’t think so either. That old Taoist has a pointed chin and monkey-like cheeks, how could he have a son as handsome as you?” Officer Wang then asked, “Can you contact his family?”
“He has no family,” Ye Qiu said.
Officer Wang nodded. “That’s what the old Taoist said too. It seems he wasn’t lying to me. Are you his friends?”
“Yes.”
Ye Qiu gave a small grunt and asked again, “Officer Wang, what did he do?”
Officer Wang gave Ye Qiu a complicated look and said, “He’s involved in soliciting prostitution.”
What?
Ye Qiu’s eyes widened in disbelief, then he asked, “Officer Wang, could there be some misunderstanding here?”
“Are you wondering if we nabbed the wrong person?”
Officer Wang shook his head, his tone firm. “I’ll tell you this, we didn’t get the wrong person.”
“Some time ago, we received reports from the public that an apartment in our jurisdiction often had unfamiliar men and women coming and going, acting suspiciously. We staked it out for a week.”
“After undercover investigation, we confirmed that a group had rented an entire floor of the apartment specifically for that kind of business.”
“Today was the day we moved in to shut it down.”
“When we entered the room, that old Taoist was pulling up his trousers, and there were two young women inside, not wearing any clothes.”
Ye Qiu’s face instantly turned ashen.
“Though that old Taoist’s behaviour was improper, I have to criticise you lot too.”
Officer Wang lectured Ye Qiu, “As his friends, you should keep a proper eye on him.”
“At his age, what if something happened to him during vigorous activity, like if it got too intense and he couldn’t catch his breath? That’d be a tragedy, wouldn’t it?”
“So, you need to pay more attention to him in the future, got it?”
Ye Qiu nodded repeatedly.
“You’re right. I’ll definitely keep an eye on him from now on.”
Originally, Ye Qiu had planned to get the full story at the station and then flash his Underworld Palace credentials to take the old man away.
Who could’ve known it’d be a situation like this?
He immediately scrapped the idea of showing his credentials, otherwise, it’d disgrace the War God.
“Of course, don’t blame the old man too much.”
Officer Wang’s tone softened a bit. “For an elderly person like him, with no wife, no children around, not even someone to talk to, feeling lonely, empty, and cold is perfectly normal.”
“So, you lot need to care for him more, like taking him to the park, playing chess, exercising…”
“Alright, get the paperwork done and take him back!”
Ye Qiu said, “Officer, I have a request.”
“Go ahead.”
“Keep him locked up for a few days, let him learn a lesson.”
Officer Wang laughed. “You think I don’t want to? I’ll tell you this, if he were fifty years younger, I wouldn’t just detain him, I’d give him a proper talking-to as well.”
“But at his age, keeping him here means I’d have to find someone to look after him. If something happened to his health, wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?”
“Besides, our station is already short-staffed, and grassroots work is complicated enough. Where would we find the manpower to care for him?”
“You’d better just take him back!”
Ye Qiu paid a five-thousand-yuan fine, then left Officer Wang’s office. Another officer led him to a room.
There was a square glass window on the door.
Ye Qiu stood outside and peered in.
The room held thirty or forty people.
A large portion of them were scantily clad young women, all fairly attractive with striking figures. A few had long, flowing hair, innocent looks, and high appeal.
“Not bad quality. Your friend sure knows how to pick them, huh, big brother,” Qian Duoduo whispered behind Ye Qiu.
Ye Qiu let out a cold snort and scanned the room, spotting Changmei Zhenren.
The old fool was sitting cross-legged in a corner, holding a horsetail whisk, looking like some aloof sage.
A group of young women surrounded Changmei Zhenren, eagerly asking him to read their fortunes.
The old man took the chance to cop a feel, rubbing his face against them here, sneaking a touch there, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Old bastard!
Seeing this, Ye Qiu’s anger flared.
Clang,
The officer opened the door and shouted at the people inside, “This is a police station, not a leisure club. All of you behave yourselves!”
The room instantly fell silent.
“Old Taoist, your friend’s here to pick you up,” the officer called out.
In an instant, everyone in the room looked up towards Ye Qiu at the door.
“Wow, a handsome guy’s here!”
“Taoist, is he your friend? Bring him along next time to hang out with us~”
Some of the bolder girls even winked at Ye Qiu, sending flirtatious glances.
The officer turned back to Ye Qiu and asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”
Ye Qiu replied calmly, “I’m Qian Duoduo.”
The officer bellowed, “Old Taoist, your friend Qian Duoduo is here to pick you up!”
Changmei Zhenren: “…”
Qian Duoduo: “…”
