Dead silence.
Only the ticking of the clock echoed through the empty room.
Under Minerva's overlooking gaze, Zhou Cheng was already drenched in cold sweat. He parted his lips several times to speak, but no sound came out. No matter how hard he tried to mobilize his spiritus and rally his mind, all he felt was layer upon layer of ever clearer, ever greater terror.
It was not just Minerva.
It was as if behind this elusive phantom lurked something far more violent and ferocious, casting down a disdainful glance.
What the White Stag resisted most about Tianyuan was that Tianyuan was like a chain: everyone caught within it had their own designated place and binding links, where the meaning of the individual was endlessly diluted by the collective, unable to exist outside one's stance.
Chains and authority shared the same origin; order and fetters coexisted.
Even if one was not a follower of Tianyuan, being immersed in it meant being gradually assimilated, reduced to a faceless, featureless mass-produced object.
Yet now, the moment Wen Wen cast her chains aside and merely made a gesture of tearing the damned links apart, what he felt was the stony, unyielding nature inherent to the Path of the Desolate Ruins.
The majesty and horror of an unfeeling entity!
Even though both were Celestial Chosen, the gap between them could not be measured in inches—it was an abyss.
Just what level was this... Regeneration, or... Exaltation?
In his increasingly chaotic thoughts, his consciousness sank into a void. His expression froze, unable to pull himself free, as though he too was turning into part of that cold stone.
Until a low sound arose.
Footsteps.
So soft.
They emerged amidst heavier footsteps, yet distinct enough to make one involuntarily prick up their ears. The moment people realized who had arrived, they instinctively straightened, stepped aside to flank the corridor, and offered respectful greetings.
"Mr. Lei."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Lei."
"Good afternoon, Director Lei."
"Hello, everyone. Good afternoon."
The figure strolling into the company smiled warmly. His short hair was slightly grizzled, his beard meticulously groomed. He waved a hand dismissively. "Carry on with your work, don't mind me."
With that, he walked straight toward the reception room.
Ignoring the suffocating pressure filling the room, he pushed open the door, only to pause in mild surprise.
"Aiya, look at this mess. Why let things get to this point?"
Lei Yaoxing sighed ruefully, turning to the furious woman with a smile. "Supervisor Wen, don't make things hard on the people below."
"Is that so?"
Wen Wen replied coldly, merely glancing at Zhou Cheng, who was sweating buckets. "Funny, I thought he was the one making things hard on me."
"Did he?"
Lei Yaoxing turned back in mock confusion, looking at Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Cheng trembled. The moment the terrifying pressure lifted, he dropped to his knees, scrambling forward on all fours. But under Lei Yaoxing's glance, he dared not approach any closer. He prostrated himself, kowtowing in sheer terror, his words incoherent.
"Brother Xing, I did it all for the syndicate! Brother Xing, I—I had no selfish motives..."
Lei Yaoxing sighed and gave a wave of his hand, and Zhou Cheng didn't even dare offer another excuse.
"Forgive us, Supervisor Wen. Syndicates have their rules. Without my word, how could someone down the ladder dare take matters into their own hands? If caught betraying the family, it'd mean six stabs from three blades."
"Ha—"
Wen Wen sneered. "Finding a cheap pawn to take the fall, letting him spew all the ugly words, and then stepping in to play the good cop—isn't that a bit cliché?"
"Can't be helped. When Minerva comes knocking to demand accountability, who wouldn't be afraid? We have no choice but to cling tight to the protective talisman of the Wild Gathering."
Beneath Wen Wen's indifferent gaze, Lei Yaoxing's smile remained unchanged, completely unbothered by the violent aura in the air. He seemed calm and breezy, and though his tone sounded yielding, there was a subtle pause when he uttered the name "Minerva"—as if issuing a discreet reminder.
Wen Wen asked bluntly, "The Baitiao Gang affair—was that your people?"
"Nothing to do with me," Lei Yaoxing shook his head emphatically. "Am I crazy? To handle Chen Xingzhou, why would I hire a pack of lunatics who don't know the rules? I'm sure there's some misunderstanding here."
"A misunderstanding, all of it?"
Wen Wen was almost amused. "Seems like everyone says that. Yet by now, over a hundred people have died in 'misunderstandings.' I hardly know who to believe anymore."
"If I wanted to deal with Chen Xingzhou, I wouldn't need to hire outsiders."
Lei Yaoxing unbuttoned his coat, hung it up, and walked over to the liquor cabinet in the corner. Pouring himself half a glass of whisky, he downed it in one gulp and said calmly, "Supervisor Wen, you're an honest person, and I trust you. So let me share some inside word—you're not the only one tired of all this fighting. Several elders from across Haizhou have stepped in to mediate. Tonight, we're holding talks at Mingyue Tower to settle things and call a truce. Why make such a big fuss anymore?"
Wen Wen paused in surprise, her gaze turning increasingly peculiar.
Setting aside the crooked accountant and errand-boy drivers, two illegitimate sons and four or five confidants and top enforcers had already been slaughtered by Chen Xingzhou. And after all that, Lei Yaoxing was agreeing to negotiate and call a truce?
He could swallow even that?
Yet at this critical juncture, Lei Yaoxing had no choice but to endure.
As the eldest godson raised personally by Lei Wuye, he was first in line.
In terms of status, he was Lei Wuye's most trusted right hand; Chen Xingzhou was merely an accountant and subordinate on the surface, a glove used to rake in cash. In terms of strength, Lei Yaoxing had already consolidated many of Lei Wuye's subordinates, making him the undisputed king of Yacheng's underworld. Even if all his younger godbrothers and godsisters banded together, they could barely trade a few blows with him.
Once this critical juncture passed and he suppressed all his rivals, he wouldn't even need to wait for Lei Wuye to draw his last breath—he would naturally be the boss, the rightful heir.
Stepping back now opened up endless possibilities; once the storm blew over, he could always wipe out Chen Xingzhou's entire family.
In fact, he could even put on a magnanimous front and keep Chen Xingzhou working for him, relying on him just as Lei Wuye once had to bring in money. Without the Baitiao Gang to do the dirty work, Chen Xingzhou's Quancheng Association would effectively lose an arm. Clipped of its wings and given a beating or two, what kind of waves could it possibly make?
"Help yourself, Supervisor Wen."
Lei Yaoxing placed a glass of whisky before her, smiling amiably. "I hope we can count on your care in the future."
Unfortunately, there was no response.
Wen Wen didn't spare it a glance. She simply rose slowly, smoothed her cuffs, and dusted off her clothes. "Very well. Since this has nothing to do with Wild Gathering business, the Beishan Section is clear to act."
Whether Lei Yaoxing was behind it or not, what he claimed didn't matter to Wen Wen, nor did she believe a word of it. All she needed was this verbal disavowal. Once she wiped out those scumbags, no one could use the boundary between the Security Bureau and the Wild Gathering to make an issue of it.
Lei Yaoxing's smile stiffened for a fraction of a second, whether from Wen Wen's attitude or her resolve. In the end, he said nothing.
He merely reminded her, "Supervisor Wen, you left something behind."
"It's a photocopy. Feel free to tear it up for fun."
Wen Wen waved without looking back, pushed open the door, and strode out.
In the reception room, quiet once more, Lei Yaoxing sat down and sipped slowly from his glass of liquor. With a flick of his wrist, the crumpled envelope fell open, revealing the blank paper within.
Not a single word written on it.
"Heh..."
He couldn't help but chuckle coldly, letting out a soft sigh. "The Security Bureau really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."
Finishing his drink, Lei Yaoxing stood and left.
From beginning to end, neither of them looked back at the miserable wretch kowtowing in terror in the corner.
And he dared not stop.
The dull thuds rang out one after another, thick blood gradually pooling across the grey concrete floor.
From within the spreading crimson, a ferocious stag seemed to look back over its shoulder.
Bearing witness.
To this slaughter offered to the Sovereign Virtues.
***
Three minutes later, Tong Hua, who had been waiting for what felt like ages, received a phone call from Wen Wen.
"All right, that bastard Lei Yaoxing didn't dare admit having anything to do with them, just as expected. Get to work. When you catch them, beat them to death!"
Wen Wen's cold voice rang through the receiver. "If you catch them at the station, crush them against the train tracks. If you catch them at the docks, drown them in the sea. I don't want a single one leaving Yacheng alive, understand?!"
"Eh?" Tong Hua blinked, surprised not by Wen Wen's ruthlessness, but by something else. "Sis, aren't you going to show up?"
"I'd love to,"
Wen Wen sighed helplessly. "But guess who's sitting across from me right now?"
"Ah—"
Tong Hua realized immediately and yelled furiously into the phone, "Tong Shan, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Having received your instructions, carry out Supervisor Wen's orders. Do not take unauthorized action or complicate matters."
Another voice spoke, flat and rigid. "Use official titles on duty, Agent Tong. As head of the First Department and acting bureau chief, I merely have some matters regarding the Security Bureau's stance to discuss with Supervisor Wen."
"U~se~ of~fi~cial~ ti~tles~ on~ du~ty~~"
Tong Hua mocked her brother's words in an infuriating, moronic singsong. She was about to retort when the call went dead, sending her fury through the roof.
In a state of extreme anger, she stayed angry several times over.
Her stamina was truly formidable.
Rolling her eyes in defeat, she cursed, "Someday you're gonna marry someone just as stiff as you! You two will have to file reports before getting into bed!"
She had known since childhood that her older brother was cut from a different cloth.
Not just different from her, but different from everyone in the family. Whenever people were gossiping and laughing their heads off, he never even lifted his head to look. In the vast Tong family, he was close to nobody. He chose his own school, his own major, his own job, his own life, went through an Autonomous Awakening, and lived like he was playing a single-player game.
Ever since joining the First Department, his sour face had grown more naturally deadpan by the day.
Clear as day—that's what playing Tianyuan does to a person.
A perfectly good human being, utterly ruined by Tianyuan!
"Whatever. Back to work, back to work."
After putting her phone away, she waved to Lao Zhang, who was cooling off in the shade with his feet propped up. Rubbing her hands together, she walked toward the crime scene.
"Come on, let me take a look-see—who had the dog balls to stir up trouble in Beishan District?"
Under the tracing of the Aether records, everything that had taken place unfolded before her eyes. Unfortunately...
It was a complete blur.
It was like watching a 120p surveillance stream over a 120 KB/s dial-up pipeline—stuttering, flickering, scrambling out of order, and hopelessly grainy.
By the time she traced it to the maze of shantytowns not far from the scene, the trail had gone cold.
Cold sweat dripped from Tong Hua's forehead. Panic began to set in.
Shit. We're dealing with pros!
After buzzing around the shantytowns in circles like headless flies behind Tong Hua, Lao Zhang remained as placid as ever. But Xiao An, who treasured the prosthetic legs on his lower body and hated trudging through the mud, couldn't help but sigh:
"Sister Tong Hua, you're so weak."
"Weak where?! Where am I weak?! Our Path of Aether has always been balanced like this, okay?!" Tong Hua instantly had a meltdown, stamping her feet and babbling excuses about "they had professional jammers," "too many dropped frames," and "signal interference from all the people in the shantytown," filling the squad with cheerful amusement.
Only after Tong Hua gave it everything she had and lost the trail yet again did she start to tear up in frustration.
Only then did Lao Zhang, who was strolling along while waving a large cattail-leaf fan, lazily point up at the tangled web of overhead cables, the dense wiring, and all the miscellaneous... surveillance cameras.
"Why not ring someone up and ask?"
Lao Zhang asked curiously.
"No way!"
Tong Hua bristled defensively. "Even if I, Tong Hua, have to run myself to death, even if I jump off right here, I will never—"
Half an hour later, before Ji Jue's Little Niuma had even come to a complete stop, a deafening greeting boomed in his ears:
"—Good afternoon, Brother Ji Jue!"
Chapter 117