"My father is doing well, aside from the fact that he can’t practice martial arts or get worked up," said Qiu Ye.
"It’s easy for him to avoid martial arts, but difficult to avoid getting angry." A small smile flickered across Zhou Henn’s lips before vanishing.
Qiu Ye gave a wry smile. "He played chess with Marquis Dingbei a while back. When he couldn’t win, he spent the whole way home cursing him."
"Where’s General Fei?" Li Qingxian asked, looking around.
Shen Xiaoyi said, "He and a powerful Eunuch were the first to escape. Now he’s busy digging rescue tunnels in the mountains. Before he left, he was moping about, full of regret. He kept saying he should have listened to you and destroyed the mountain, ending it once and for all. Now that the army is buried, his merits and demerits cancel each other out. These past ten days or so have been a complete waste. From the sound of it, he’s probably going to be reprimanded by Duke Lu."
Li Qingxian frowned. "I’ll go too..."
Zhou Henn suddenly took out his Communication Talisman Disc. After listening, he said, "Lord Zhou has a task for us. We’ll take our leave for now. You three, come with me."
The three of them followed Zhou Henn into a patch of dense woods nearby. "Time to use the Forgetfulness Talismans and Life Oath Books," Zhou Henn said.
Li Qingxian nodded. He first took a large tent out of his Qiankun Bracelet, then used a Spirit Talisman to seal it off from the outside world. Next, he produced a table and writing materials. "Brother Han, draft two Life Oath Books. I’ll cast the spell."
"Three," Zhou Henn said.
"You’re using one too?"
"I won’t use a Forgetfulness Talisman, but I will use a Life Oath Book," said Zhou Henn.
Han Anbo finished writing the three Life Oath Books. Li Qingxian cast the Oath Law Technique, and a magical light rippled across the papers.
The three of them signed their names and added a drop of blood.
The oath was sealed, and the Life Oath Books burst into flames.
Li Qingxian took out two Forgetfulness Talismans. With a flick of his wrists, the Spirit Talismans turned into motes of fiery light and shot into the space between Han Anbo’s and Zheng Gaojue’s eyebrows.
The two men’s eyes rolled back in their heads, and they passed out.
About a quarter hour later, the two of them slowly began to stir.
"What... I remember experts from the Demon Sect suddenly destroyed the mountain, and we were escaping. How did we..." Han Anbo trailed off, frowning as he looked around.
"Yeah..." Zheng Gaojue looked completely bewildered.
Zhou Henn explained, "We were on the run. The two of you were caught in the shockwave and passed out in a cave. You’d already recovered, but then you were affected by the Teleportation Technique and fainted again. Qingxian gave you the best medicine he had. You’re fine now."
"No wonder..." Zheng Gaojue said, rubbing his hair in resignation.
Han Anbo glanced at Zhou Henn and Li Qingxian, remaining silent.
"What happened inside the mountain?" Zheng Gaojue asked.
Zhou Henn said, "We hid in a cave, and later Lord Zhou had people from the Daoist Record Department teleport us out. By the way, something major happened in the Divine Capital."
"What was it?" Li Qingxian asked, recalling Zhou Henn taking out the Communication Talisman Disc earlier.
"The Mud Society, coordinating with an inside man, broke into the Ministry of Justice’s Celestial Prison. They freed the imprisoned Mud Layman and released a large number of the Ministry’s most dangerous convicts. The Divine Capital is in absolute chaos right now," Zhou Henn said.
Han Anbo said, "So the Ministry of Justice transferred its experts here, leaving the Celestial Prison vulnerable, and the Mud Society seized the opportunity to strike?"
Zhou Henn nodded.
"What’s the Mud Society?" Zheng Gaojue asked, looking clueless.
’The Celestial Prison’s security is on par with the Imperial Prison West Courtyard,’ Li Qingxian thought. "How severe are the consequences?"
"Not for us, but it’s a huge problem for the Demon Sect. Initial reports indicate at least five Upper Grade masters escaped, along with countless Middle Grade ones. The Divine Capital is on complete lockdown, the entire city under martial law. But it’s useless. The city is massive, the escapees have people on the outside, and the Mud Society’s common folk already control numerous industries. They could easily hide a thousand people, let alone a few hundred," said Zhou Henn.
"A few hundred?" Li Qingxian asked in disbelief.
"The Celestial Prison housed over a thousand inmates. Fortunately, the Mud Society is still wary of the Imperial Court, so they didn’t dare release everyone wholesale. If it had been the Nether Mountain sect, they would’ve just blown up the entire prison..."
Aside from Zheng Gaojue, who was still lost, the other three exchanged a sudden glance.
Li Qingxian said, "Don’t tell me Nether Mountain was just a decoy?"
Zhou Henn shook his head. "Unlikely. If the Mud Society dared to sacrifice an entire Nether Mountain Sub-Branch, Nether Mountain would never let them get away with it."
Han Anbo thought for a moment. "If I’m not mistaken, it must have been a coordinated effort. Nether Mountain was in charge of causing a disturbance during the Emperor’s birthday celebration, while the Mud Society would use the opportunity to stage a rescue. But they didn’t expect that, by some twist of fate, the Ministry of Justice would discover Nether Mountain’s movements early and divert forces to Beichang County. The Mud Society then decided to play along and use the new situation to their advantage."
Li Qingxian and Zhou Henn nodded in unison.
"The world is full of surprises. Let’s head back."
Li Qingxian packed everything up, and they returned to the camp.
Before he could even speak to Shen Xiaoyi and the others, he saw a squad from the Ministry of Justice passing by a few dozen yards away.
Li Qingxian’s eyes swept over the group, and he spotted a familiar face.
It was Zhang Yulin, the Seventh Grade Demon Cultivator who had crippled the Dantians of Zheng Hui and Yur Ping, and who had once boasted about claiming the greatest glory for himself.
Their eyes met.
Zhang Yulin, fair-skinned and strikingly handsome, stepped out from his group. He stopped and smiled at Li Qingxian, offering a cupped-fist salute. "On behalf of the Ministry of Justice, I apologize to our colleagues from the Factory Guard. We had no idea you had already charged into the mountain caves. Then again, if the Factory Guard had been willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice, things wouldn’t have come to this, would they? Wouldn’t you agree?"
Li Qingxian’s expression darkened, but he remained silent.
Zhang Yulin continued, "There’s no future in the Patrol Bureau. I suggest you come take a look at our Ministry of Justice. We in the Demon Sect are broad-minded and welcome all."
"Whose decision was it to destroy the mountain?" Li Qingxian asked.
"It was yours truly. Farewell, HAHAHAHA..." Zhang Yulin offered another salute, turned, and walked away, laughing.
"Wait," said Li Qingxian.
"Oh?" Zhang Yulin turned back, a smile on his face.
"You still don’t know what happened in the Divine Capital?" The barest hint of a smile touched Li Qingxian’s lips.
"What is it?" Zhang Yulin’s smile vanished.
"It’s nothing. You’ll find out soon enough," said Li Qingxian.
Zhang Yulin turned and left, looking puzzled.
Li Qingxian’s gaze shifted to a large man trailing behind Zhang Yulin.
The man was chewing on a blade of grass. He glanced back at Li Qingxian and explained loudly, "This has nothing to do with me! I just do what I’m paid to do." With that, he departed.
Once the group from the Ministry of Justice was gone, Shen Xiaoyi said quietly, "My condolences. No one could have expected things to turn out like this."
"And I should thank you."
"You helped us too. I’m just returning the favor," said Shen Xiaoyi.
"That fellow chewing on a blade of grass... he seemed like a Fate Master from the Beast Bridge," Li Qingxian commented.
"Oh, him. The ’Panda Head’. Judging by his accent and clothes, he’s a Fate Master from Jiannan Province. Quite a rarity," Shen Xiaoyi said.
"A ’Panda Head’ is certainly a rarity."
"No, a Fate Master from Jiannan Province is the rarity. Over a decade ago, the Major Fate Skill Sects in Jiannan Province started running into trouble, one after another. Some were absorbed by the Celestial Fate Sect, others were destroyed by the Demon Sect, Evil Sects, or the Martial Arts Major Clans. Not a single one survived. The Fate Skill Realm later discovered that someone was specifically targeting the Fate Skill Sects of Jiannan Province, but since it didn’t affect other regions, everyone stayed silent. Still, some people are investigating the matter."
"I remember now. My grandfather mentioned this. Jiannan Province, the Land of Abundance... It used to have many Fate Skill Sects. What a pity."
"Indeed..." Shen Xiaoyi sighed.
Li Qingxian took three mahogany strips from his Qiankun Bracelet and handed one each to Shen Xiaoyi, Xiaohua, and Qiu Ye.
"These are my calling cards. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Li Qingxian, Department Head of the Night Guard Patrol Department."
"Didn’t you tell us your name was Li Yangguang?" Xiaohua teased.
"My friends call me Sunshine Boy. Only those really close to me call me Li Yangguang," Li Qingxian said with a perfectly straight face.
"Liar!" Xiaohua made a face.