The lights had been lit in the governor’s study.
The moon had climbed to the treetops. Most of the chaos in Xingke County had already subsided, but it was destined to be a sleepless night for many. Everyone from the Statistical Departnt, Imprisonnt Departnt, City Guard Departnt, and County Garrison rushed back and forth nonstop, clearing up the aftermath and hunting down rebels under the command of "Lan Yan."
Yingu Yue walked through the moonlight into the Governor’s Mansion. Once stately and solid, the great front gates were now battered beyond recognition, with traces of blood and flesh from a battle lingering on the ground. The air was thick with a nauseating stench of blood that made Yingu Yue pinch his nose.
"Captain Yin," said an agent hurriedly, who was busy loading corpses for on-site cleanup, "the director said, you can go to the study to report to him when you arrive."
Yingu Yue nodded, swept his gaze around and observed the agents nearby, then asked, "What about casualties?"
"No casualties."
"No casualties?"
"Yes," the agent replied with a look of longing, "actually, we were a bit slower than the director. By the ti we arrived, the rebels guarding the gate had already been wiped out. We just followed the director’s instructions to finish up and stand guard. We hardly did anything."
Yingu Yue was montarily stunned. Then he cast another glance at the mansion’s broken walls and main gate.
"What a monster he is..."
Yingu Yue strode toward the mansion’s courtyard, saw many people bustling in the main hall, but didn’t join in—he went straight for the study. He pushed open the door to find Lan Yan standing and browsing through docunts there.
At that mont, Lan Yan had already disard. No weapons were visible nearby, and he wore an elegant deep-blue robe. A stick of incense burned in the study, filling the air with a calm, faraway fragrance.
"Welco back," Lan Yan said, his eyes still on the docunt. "Please, sit."
"If you’re not sitting, I wouldn’t dare."
Lan Yan smiled faintly at that, shook his head, placed his hand on the back of the study’s main chair, and said, "This chair represents the pinnacle of power in Xingke County. If I sit, it’s overstepping."
In the old days, Ding Yi never held discussions for important matters in the guest hall with all doors open. The mansion’s study was the true seat of covert power and intimate strategy. Directors from the Assistant Office, Imprisonnt Departnt, and Statistical Departnt would gather here to receive instructions. In short, the study’s main chair was indeed the county’s seat of power.
Yet, Yingu Yue’s expression went oddly peculiar when he heard that. Lan Yan glanced at him and smiled, "Have sothing to say?"
"Hehe, wouldn’t dare," Yingu Yue waved his hand.
Not that he didn’t, just that he "wouldn’t dare."
"I know, you think I’m just posing. Pretending to be righteous when I’m full of sches, acting virtuous and loyal while really being hypocritical and deceitful." There wasn’t any annoyance on Lan Yan’s face, as if he were telling soone else’s story, "But if it were you, would you sit in this chair and issue orders?"
Yingu Yue thought about it, then shook his head, "Probably not."
"Why not?"
"Doesn’t feel right."
"And why does it feel wrong?" Lan Yan said, "Now everyone in the county knows I saved Xingke County. They know all the senior agents perished. They know I, Lan Yan, control all authority here. Whether or not I sit in this chair doesn’t change reality at all. But...you can feel it too—there’s sothing off about it, isn’t there?"
Yingu Yue nodded thoughtfully.
"This world never had any rational people," Lan Yan continued, pulling out another docunt to read, "Everyone acts according to ’feelings.’ Righteousness, reasoning, oaths, justice, Celestial Mandate, edicts...all these abstract ideas and words an nothing on their own, but because we act on ’feelings,’ they beco rules, beco morals, acquire weight, and press upon us at every mont."
"Why did Executive Lv need Master Ding to die in the chaos? Why couldn’t I just help Master Ding along? Of course interests matter, but so do righteousness and kindness. People instinctively chase interests, but at the sa ti their hearts long to be good—because they know, morality itself is the greater good."
"If you have only interests but no righteousness, in the end you’re left with betrayal and abandonnt, like Master Ding trying to resist Executive Lv. If you have only righteousness but no interests, that’s just idealists chasing pipe dreams, like the White Night rebels. Only by balancing righteousness and interest can you win the hearts of the people and the support of the masses."
"So complicated," Yingu Yue sighed, "can’t it be simpler?"
"You think we’re taking the long way, but in fact, we’re already on a shortcut," Lan Yan said with a laugh. "Intelligence is our tool. When you learn to use it proficiently, taking both interest and kindness into account, you’ll discover the shortcut to this world—conspiracy."
"Guyu, you’d best get used to these ga rules quickly. Only by adapting to the rules can you exploit their loopholes and win the ga...because next ti, the ga won’t be in a little place like the Statistical Departnt, but in the Linhai Army."
Yingu Yue blinked, "Am I going to the Linhai Army too?"
Lan Yan said, "Of course, you’ll be serving as my deputy from now on."
Yingu Yue shrugged, "But your forr deputy just got killed by ...Why pick ? There’re plenty of people who worship and obey you, and besides, you don’t even trust ."
Lan Yan smiled faintly.
"Admiration is the feeling farthest from understanding. And actually, you’re wrong—I trust you very much."
"So long as I don’t fall, you’ll always be my strongest, most loyal subordinate."
At that, Lan Yan gave a soft sigh, "Actually, Deputy Director Kui could have earned my trust too, but it’s a pity. He wasn’t rational enough—he had weaknesses."
Lan Yan’s voice sounded natural and gentle, his words soft and modest, but for so reason Yingu Yue could feel a chill down to his very bones.
He wasn’t in much of a joking mood just then, and reported, "Kui Zhao is dead. The Saint’s Relic was taken by your ’trader.’"
Lan Yan nodded without much comnt, and Yingu Yue asked, "So you’re just letting the Extre Divine Weapon go? Out of all the Extre Divine Weapons, the Saint’s Relic was probably the only one close to the Illusion Divine Weapon level, right?"
"Don’t dwell on benefits that were never yours—they’re just illusions, moonlight on water," Lan Yan shook his head, "Executive Lv has already made his stance clear. He won’t let us get the Saint’s Relic, and taking it by force would just make people suspicious...Why let our father-son bond get tainted over a re artifact?"
Father-son bond...Yingu Yue blinked, "Director, are you going to beco Executive Lv’s son-in-law?"
"Maybe a son-in-law, or maybe an adopted son," Lan Yan said calmly. "That’s how these great clans operate...Without that connection, how could Executive Lv possibly trust with command of the Linhai Army?"
"People always want to believe blood, morals, closeness, and humanity can be strong shackles, but that’s part of the ga too...If you want to be a pawn in this ga, you have to dance in those chains."
Yingu Yue asked, "So your ’trader’—you’re just going to let him go?"
"Just conduct a normal manhunt. At night, you can’t possibly take him. And before sunrise, he’ll definitely be gone from Xingke County."
Suddenly, Lan Yan rembered sothing, "Is Qian Yuliu dead?"
"Probably dead."
"What a pity. I actually thought he might also beco my deputy."
Yingu Yue found that pretty odd, "But wasn’t he very loyal and righteous? Doesn’t seem to fit your requirents."
"My requirent isn’t to be cold and heartless," Lan Yan said after a mont, suddenly looking at Yingu Yue, "Actually, I think he was a lot like you."
Yingu Yue pulled a wry smile, "That’s not funny. You told before I was a lot like Kui Zhao too."
"I’m not joking. You both carry this air of detachnt, as if you’re always watching the world with cold eyes—never bound by any chains..."
Lan Yan suddenly shut his mouth, then shook his head and laughed, "Sorry, I think I’ve been talking too much nonsense. Go take care of your own business."
Yingu Yue agreed it really was all nonsense, and left the study.
Passing through the courtyard, he saw agents piling wood and other flammables in the main hall. He walked over and asked, "What are you all doing?"
"Director ordered us to burn this main hall," the agents replied.
"Why?" Yingu Yue looked toward the main hall’s tightly shut doors, striding up to them.
"It’s supposed to be unusable...Captain Yin, don’t!" the agents quickly tried to stop him, "Captain Yin, the director said best not to open the door to the main hall!"
That made Yingu Yue all the more curious. He took a lantern from a nearby agent, "I’ll just take a look."
He stood before the main hall doors, pressed his ear to listen, and hearing nothing inside, slowly pushed open a sliver of the door, holding up the lantern to illuminate the scene within.
Yet before Yingu Yue could see anything clearly, the stench assaulted him so violently that every cell in his body seed to protest at once, his gut spasming in intense discomfort.
When he finally saw what was inside, Yingu Yue instantly shut the door and fled outside, gulping in the fresh night air, waving at the other agents, "Follow the director’s orders. Burn the place down. Don’t you dare open that door."
Burning the main hall was clearly the right decision. Just one look and Yingu Yue, with all his experience, could tell that no matter how many tis you scrubbed it out, the sll of blood would never fade from that room.
At that mont, he suddenly rembered sothing Lan Yan had said:
"People always want to believe that blood, morals, closeness, and humanity can be strong shackles."
If Lv Zhong saw the main hall now, would he still think those chains could restrain Lan Yan...Yingu Yue couldn’t help but smile, stretched lazily, and went off to mind his own business.
He had a hunch—life under Lan Yan would never be boring.
...
...
Eighteenth Street.
The "Teeth, Hemorrhoids, Iron Bone" clinic had long since shut down, and the basent was in chaos. Yin Yinyin’s escape stash had been packed away tightly; it would be too much trouble to take it out properly, so Le Yuxin just knocked over the cabinets, rummaging through everything, not bothering to waste ti.
Le Yuxin angry.jpg
Yin Yinyin had been ready to leave Xingke County anyway. By now, Le Yuxin couldn’t stay either. No matter which of them it was—Le Yuxin or Yin Yinyin—they both felt that a city under Lan Yan’s control was no place to linger, even if Le Yuxin had a pretty good impression of Lan Yan. "Still, that’s how it felt."
While rummaging, Le Yuxin found a beautifully sealed chest. He searched Yin Yinyin’s mories and realized—it was their reward.
A reward from White Night.
According to plan, if they succeeded in taking the city, such imnse accomplishnt naturally deserved generous rewards, so White Night had sent them over in advance. These weren’t items that could quickly boost combat power, but to the White Night Walkers, they all ant sothing.
Yin Yinyin, of course, wouldn’t have done sothing as foolish as "opening his reward in advance," but Le Yuxin didn’t care at all. With a "maybe I’ll get sothing useful" gacha mindset, he tore open the chest.
Everything inside was packed in code-labeled bags. For example, Wang Zongdao’s reward was a "Star Moon" bag—who’d think such a plain middle-aged man would have a code na like that—inside was a string of purple sandalwood prayer beads.
Qi Shihao’s reward was a few pages of "Master Yi’s" notes. Master Yi had been a sword-wielding Combat Technique Grandmaster three centuries ago. His insights were outdated by now, but apparently a lot of people idolized this blind master. Qi Shihao was probably one of his fans too.
Ling Yun’s reward was a new book, Fire God’s Chronicle VI: The Epic Chapter. Le Yuxin had heard of it. Fire God’s Chronicle was a wildly popular martial artist novel in Yanjing; Xingke County only had the first volu, the story of a boy born unable to awaken his Spiritual Power striving to beco the strongest martial artist. It was famous for one line: "I want to be a martial artist, even if I’m the worst and dumbest—as long as I’m a martial artist, that’s enough." Who’d have guessed Ling Yun was also a fan; Fire God’s Chronicle VI was apparently the latest volu.
An Qian’s reward—a set of...white dresses. The material was very nice, and Le Yuxin held one up, thinking it would suit An Qian’s "tall" and "big" build. Le Yuxin had never seen An Qian wear anything feminine, but he thought about it and figured she’d look beautiful in the dress.
Le Yuxin rummaged for a while, finally finding the "teor" envelope—the reward for Qian Yuliu.
An official appointnt letter with a stamped seal, and a dal.
Because Qian Yuliu had always worked as an agent and one-way contact, he had never appeared in the White Night Organization’s records. This appointnt letter officially declared Qian Yuliu a White Night Walker, and the "teor" dal marked his achievents.
There were two blank lines for signatures on the appointnt, "Guarantor" and "Inspector," both filled in: "Lin Jinyao" and "Yin Yinyin."
Le Yuxin looked for a while, then put the letter and dal back in the envelope.
The final reward, in the "Star Picker" envelope.
This one was for Yin Yinyin.
Le Yuxin couldn’t help but feel a little curious, tore open the envelope, and found a thick sheaf of docunts. Long and winding, the contents made no sense. He understood each word, but together it was incomprehensible.
At last he reached the back, and Le Yuxin finally understood what this docunt was about—
"...According to past data and research, and following the thirteen experintal thods above, there is a significant chance of removing the binding effect of a Saint’s Relic without harming the original bearer."
Le Yuxin froze for a mont, then his mouth began twitching, and he couldn’t hold back his smile. In the end, he couldn’t stand it at all, clutching his belly and rolling around on the ssy basent floor, laughing so hard his abs popped out.
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