Li Qingxian smiled and bowed with his hands clasped toward Songg Yunjing and his wife inside the room. "It’s late," he said. "I’ll see my senior sister out. The next time I have the chance, I’ll definitely have to try Madam Songg’s fish soup again."
"As long as Youfei comes, there will always be fish soup for her. The dear child is wonderful, but she’s just too thin. Poor thing," Madam Songg said with a benevolent smile.
From a distance, Songg Baige was making faces.
The two of them walked out of the Songg Residence to find a Night Guard carriage parked outside.
"Let me see you out of the city."
"Mhm."
Once they were in the carriage, Li Qingxian acted as if nothing was amiss, idly chatting about this and that. Jiangg Youfei was as placid as ever.
At the gates of Divine Capital City, the moon shone down upon the land and the stars glittered brightly.
"I’m leaving now." Jiangg Youfei’s face was serene as she channeled her Magical Power. Like a Moonlight Fairy, she floated away into the distance.
"Send me a message when you get home," Li Qingxian called out.
Watching the white silhouette recede into the night, Li Qingxian boarded the carriage and returned to the Patrol Bureau.
The Ministry of Justice issued no documents regarding the tailing of Chen Zhu, nor did they send anyone to look for Li Qingxian.
Li Qingxian spent his days cultivating in peace.
Every day, he would gain one Qi Fortune Fish.
Just as the sun set, Li Qingxian walked out of the Night Guard Office. Songg Baige stood beside a carriage, his usual playful grin absent. He simply watched Li Qingxian approach.
The two exchanged a nod, and Li Qingxian boarded the carriage.
The carriage rumbled forward.
"Is everything ready?"
"Mhm."
"Put this on when you get out of the carriage," Songg Baige said, handing over a square of white cloth.
"We have to wear masks for the battle?"
"It blocks the stench of blood, and it’s also for identification."
Li Qingxian took it.
A short while later, the carriage came to a stop.
"Put it on." Songg Baige picked up his square of white cloth, folded it into a triangle, and tied it around his face, leaving only his eyes exposed.
"Let’s go."
Under the cover of night, the two white-masked figures stepped out of the carriage and stood before the gate to a courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, squads of people with identical white masks stood in neat rows.
Stepping through the gate, Songg Baige announced, "Assault Team, Fourth Battalion, Fifth Company, Second Squad. Literature Cultivator Songg Baige, with reinforcements, Fate Master and Daoist Cultivator Li Qingxian, reporting for duty."
In the courtyard, hundreds of pairs of gleaming dark eyes turned to look at them.
’The squad names are a little odd,’ Li Qingxian thought. He realized they must have abandoned formal military designations in favor of this simpler naming system to avoid overstepping their authority.
"Over here." A man in the Second Squad beckoned.
Songg Baige and Li Qingxian joined the Second Squad. With the addition of Li Qingxian, the squad now had eleven members.
The man who had beckoned saluted Li Qingxian with clasped hands. "I’m Fuu Mingcheng, Squad Commander of the Second Squad and a Seventh-Grade Scholar Cultivator. You’ll be with my unit for this Six Ministries assault. Let’s go around with brief introductions."
Li Qingxian returned the salute to the group. "Li Qingxian, from the Night Guard. Eighth Grade. I’m somewhat versed in Fate Skills and Thunder Skills."
Songg Baige introduced himself next, followed by the rest of the squad members in turn.
Once the introductions were complete, Li Qingxian fell into formation, standing at the rear with Songg Baige.
Before long, the company commander began his briefing.
"My name is Lur Yunyan, captain of the Fifth Company and a Fifth-Grade Scholar Cultivator. I will be your commander, but I will not be participating in combat..."
"A Six Ministries assault is not a street brawl, nor is it the same as fighting the Demon Race. Remember, do not kill anyone who surrenders. If you become afraid, you may also raise your hands, surrender, and leave the battlefield. But if you surrender even once, you will never be allowed to participate in a Six Ministries assault again..."
"A Six Ministries assault is no romantic affair. The moment you walk out this gate, you will act strictly according to military orders..."
Li Qingxian carefully committed everything to memory.
’He’s the one,’ he thought, recalling the register of Imperial Court officials he had reviewed. ’Lur Yunyan serves in the Ministry of Rites as a Deputy Disciplinary Officer.’
Finally, Lur Yunyan turned to Li Qingxian. "Your Fate Skill," he asked, "can it ascertain the Ministry of Justice’s movements?"
Li Qingxian thought for a moment before replying, "I’ve never tried. The Ministry of Justice is an extraordinary place. Its Great Trend Formation is powerful enough to suppress any Middle-Lower Grade Fate Master. I should only be able to detect the movements of nearby enemies."
"That will be enough."
As he spoke, Lur Yunyan tossed a half-inch-thick white board, about a foot square, which flew to a stop in front of Li Qingxian.
"This is Developing Paper. It’s inscribed with a map of the Ministry of Justice that you can zoom in and out of. Do your best to mark the scale of enemy forces on it. Whatever you mark will be transmitted to my own sheet of Developing Paper." Lur Yunyan brandished a larger sheet in his hand.
"Understood," Li Qingxian said.
Three shrill blasts from a metal whistle sounded in succession.
Lur Yunyan announced, "A formal notice has been delivered to the Ministry of Justice’s main West Gate. Everyone, move out!"
At Lur Yunyan’s command, the squads filed out of the courtyard in an orderly fashion.
As they marched, Li Qingxian mulled over the situation.
’The Second Squad has eleven people. I’m a Destiny and Daoist Cultivator, we have seven Scholar Cultivators, and three Martial Cultivators. The team composition is barely adequate, I suppose.’
’He glanced at the three Martial Cultivators. ’They don’t move like they’re from some Martial Arts Hall or a band of sellswords. Their movements are too disciplined. They’re more like soldiers on loan from the army.’`
The contingent marched onward, and soon they arrived outside the western wall of the Ministry of Justice.
The West Gate was sealed shut. Behind it, a ten-foot-high wall had been erected, and shadowy figures moved atop it in the darkness.
Atop the wall, the front rank was composed of shriveled Demon Sect Puppets. Interspersed among the Puppets were several Martial Cultivator Demon Sect Disciples, while behind them stood ranks of Magic Cultivator Demon Sect Disciples.
In the street before the West Gate, the Scholar Cultivator Assault Teams continued to converge until more than six hundred people had gathered.
Every last one of them was Graded.
Squad Commander Fuu Mingcheng said in a low voice, "You can begin Observing Fate and Qi now."
Li Qingxian nodded. ’I’d better not use the Opening Array Skill,’ he thought. ’With my current level of Cultivation, trying to observe a Great Trend Formation inside the Divine Capital would get my eyes burned out in an instant.’`
With a flicker of his will, a fist-sized Mother Immortal-Seeking Bee took flight.
The Mother Immortal-Seeking Bee’s yellow-and-black abdomen undulated, squeezing out pea-sized Child Immortal-Seeking Bees from its tail. With a collective BUZZ, they flapped their wings and scattered in all directions.
Several of the Immortal-Seeking Bees flew directly toward the West Gate, only to smash against an invisible barrier and burst with a sharp POP.
Li Qingxian nodded. ’Just as I thought.’
A small portion of the Child Immortal-Seeking Bees flew to the sides and rear, but the majority circled the Ministry of Justice Office several times, searching for a weak point to penetrate.
The Ministry of Justice appeared unremarkable, but in the eyes of the Child Immortal-Seeking Bees, the place was a ghostly killing field. The slightest deviation from a safe path would result in being obliterated by an immense force.
A total of forty-seven Child Immortal-Seeking Bees made it inside the Ministry of Justice compound, but moments later, only seven survived.
In Li Qingxian’s perception, the entire Ministry of Justice Office was filled with a black mist that obstructed his Fate Skill Power.
There were no clear areas, only a distinction between thick fog and thin fog.
The Great Trend Formation of the Ministry of Justice was more powerful than that of a small country, stronger than an army of ten thousand.
Li Qingxian replayed the entire process in his mind, then unfurled the Developing Paper. He touched the map on its surface, and with a flex of his will, fine lines of text began to appear.
"Approximately three hundred Demon Cultivators atop the wall."
"A large number of Demon Cultivators are concealed in this location. Based on the general Qi Fortune intensity and the size of the building, I estimate at least one hundred are hidden inside."
"This courtyard also conceals roughly one hundred people."
"Fewer people here, only twenty are concealed..."
Li Qingxian marked each location. After a rough calculation, he determined that the Ministry of Justice had prepared at least two thousand Lower-Grade Demon Cultivators to participate in the assault.
Li Qingxian asked quietly, "Captain Fuu, is it normal for the Demon Sect to gather two thousand people?"
"Perfectly normal."
Li Qingxian let out a sigh of relief.
"The Demon Sect is aiming for mutual destruction."
Li Qingxian shot Fuu Mingcheng an exasperated look. ’How is that considered normal?’
Just then, a message from Company Commander Lur Yunyan appeared on the Developing Paper.
"You have performed a great service. The number you discovered is double our original estimate of one thousand. This information alone has saved hundreds of lives!"