Tong Shan was stunned. He hadn't expected that even after slipping away to Ji Jue's workshop to slack off, he'd still hear someone talking about work. Yet recalling Ji Jue's consistently outrageous style paired with his consistently reliable plans, his spirits lifted.
"Elaborate."
Ji Jue reached out and pointed toward the screen. A feed in the corner abruptly enlarged, displaying a flood of data values. Soon, a distant video feed materialized before their eyes.
It was a rather bustling market, packed with storefronts and dense rows of stalls beneath white pagodas. From withered, stunted fruits and vegetables to damp, clumped herbs and spices, all the way to hardware, bronzeware, handwoven blankets, and second-hand clothes, people bustled to and fro, haggling and bargaining—an uncommonly lively and noisy scene compared to the bleakness of other districts.
At a distant intersection, military trucks could faintly be seen flashing past.
It was a live stream transmitted from surveillance cameras.
Mercy Market, currently one of the largest markets in all of Tacheng.
Finally, the camera locked onto a storefront nestled in a corner. The closed wooden shutters still bore high-water marks from flooding, and piles of garbage outside the doorway lay uncollected.
"Something's off here," Ji Jue said, pointing at the shop.
"You sure?" Tong Shan asked, puzzled. "Where'd you get this lead?"
"Mmh, just consider it a tip from an informant." Ji Jue grinned, offering no further detail.
An informant?
Of course he had one.
Kaierbasu, the werewolf who had suffered the misfortune of being seized and instantly refined by Lu Changsheng into an expendable tool, only to perish under the Empire's fifth-generation power armor.
Back when he still thought he had latched onto a powerful backer, he had blabbed a whole host of deductions and leads, both useful and useless. Ji Jue had investigated most of them without finding much, while a large chunk of the rest had been dug up outright during the Empire's dragnet sweeps across heaven and earth.
One of the rare remaining leads stemmed right from here.
As a double-agent traitor jumping back and forth between the Evil Transmutation Cult and the White Nation wolves, his instinct as a turncoat-in-waiting—always watching for an opportunity and preparing to abandon ship—had led him to notice clues his own comrades would overlook.
Once, when meeting with other wolves at a White Nation Restoration Front stronghold, he had noticed a piece of paper someone had used to line the bottom of a crate.
On that paper was an unremarkable printed pattern.
Because Kaierbasu had spent a long time undercover as a print worker, he was exceptionally sensitive to such things, and by paying close attention, he had grasped a key detail.
One had to realize that here in the Mid-Continent, there were no legitimate printing presses at all; they were all artisanal family sweatshops, and similar pigment blends relied on crude makeshift formulas that varied from shop to shop. Consequently, with just a little attention, tracking it down was child's play.
Wrapping paper with that printing technique almost exclusively originated from this very market.
Thus, he had deduced that his fellow wolves were most likely hiding out somewhere in Mercy Market.
Considering the risk of startling the snakes by beating the grass, Ji Jue hadn't barged in to investigate. Instead, he kept an eye on the market's surveillance feeds and sold off a batch of lighters.
Until today, when a spirit of the Lord of the Flies hidden within the surveillance feeds picked up a trace of spiritus staining, pointing straight at a shop that sold hookahs and related paraphernalia.
Tong Shan was astonished. "With such massive crackdowns in the city over the past few days, there are still wolves that haven't been ferreted out?"
"Almost all of them were found, though," An Ning raised her hand to chime in. "Uncle and the others already searched this market and didn't find any trace of wolves."
"Even if they're wolves, they can't squat in the exact same spot twenty-four hours a day without moving, can they?"
Ji Jue shook his head impassively, omitting the part about using lighters as groundbait. "Regardless, even if we turn up empty-handed, at worst it's just a wasted trip. What do you say, Brother Shan? Interested? I can accompany you."
"Then let's go."
Tong Shan had already gotten to his feet. Without asking what Ji Jue was scheming, he slipped on his coat and pulled out his phone. "The terrain's a bit complicated. I'll go borrow some manpower from Liang Mo... Can you confirm someone's inside?"
"Guaranteed."
Ji Jue flashed an OK sign. "I just hacked the Wi-Fi in there."
...
Tong Shan was momentarily speechless.
In a modern society packed with complex equipment, Deus Ex Machina was simply too versatile. Even if a person didn't have a single shred of truth in their mouth, their browser history was undeniably honest.
Even if faced with catastrophe, earthquake, or flood, when people fled, the thing they snatched up on their way out was guaranteed to be their phone.
According to the router logs, from the night the Empire began its grand investigation, no device had connected to it—until just moments ago.
Coupled with the lighter's spiritus dye, if someone claimed nothing was amiss, not only Ji Jue, but not even a dog would believe it.
Tong Shan immediately flashed an OK sign back and placed a call.
Ten minutes later, an unremarkable, filthy little minivan pulled up downstairs. Through the rear window, Ji Xue popped her head out excitedly and waved at Ji Jue.
"Master Ji, long time no see!"
"Huh? Sister Xue, you came too? Why haven't you come looking for me all this time?"
Ji Jue was dumbfounded; he hadn't expected Ji Xue to have followed all the way to the Mid-Continent. He cast a meaningful glance at the nonchalant Tong the Vegetable beside him, then asked, "Where's Brother Liu? Aren't you two together?"
"Heh, couldn't tell, could you?"
In the driver's seat, the scruffy, heavily bearded driver removed his sunglasses, showing off a gold incisor, and gave Ji Jue a smug grin. "Disguise technique, kid! Huh? Who's this little sister? Haven't seen her before. Don't tell me she's your girlfriend?"
"That's right!"
An Ning suddenly linked her arm through Ji Jue's and flashed a sweet smile.
Then Ji Jue coldly shook her off. "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't date people without college degrees."
"Then what about an unofficial girlfriend?" An Ning blinked, mist welling in her eyes, looking pitiably tender. "A secret lover is fine too, you know?"
"Ewwww—"
Brother and sister involuntarily leaned back in unison, exclaiming in shock. The look they directed at Ji Jue turned distinctly grief-stricken: *You beast, how could you have the heart? You're even gaslighting her! Wait, is this little girl even of age?*
*Scum! Degenerate! Human trash!*
Without a shred of doubt, they bought it outright!
As for Ji Jue's moral conduct and character?
What a joke—did artisans actually possess such things?
When it came to lacking a moral bottom line, Embers were universally renowned for it.
Compared to the psychotic depths of his peers, the fact that Ji Jue had merely stopped at fooling around was practically worthy of being awarded a little red flower of commendation.
Besides, even if it was fake... they could still mock him as if it were real!
"Keep bullshitting and I'll use your phone to mass-text 'I love the Federation' a hundred times!"
Expressionless, Ji Jue pinched her lips shut, pulling his hand back just before she could snap her teeth down on him.
*Close one. Almost rewarded you!*
Fortunately, the Vegetable was an honest man after all and actually stepped in on his own initiative to get Ji Jue off the hook. "This is the An family's White Stag Hunter, Flying Light of the Hunting Finger. She'll be cooperating with our operation moving forward. Let's introduce ourselves."
By the time they got into the van, Liang Mo's dispatch and coordination orders had already arrived.
To avoid alarming the wolves, they hadn't even mobilized extra manpower or disclosed the mission objective, merely taking temporary command of several checkpoint teams near the market.
It couldn't be helped: a wolf's hypersensitivity was just too broken.
Fortunately, Tong the Vegetable was also half an Aether; the Blessed creations on him were enough to suppress the killing intent and malice inside the van. Otherwise, if they ran into an expert, the moment the accelerator was pressed, the wolf on the other end would probably catch their scent and bolt.
Once leaving the most bustling urban districts, the roads became significantly rougher. The scenery outside grew increasingly desolate and neglected, with remnants of explosions visible from time to time. On the dirt road, several poorly clad children squatted roadside, watching the passing vehicles with curiosity, while occasionally a flock of sheep brushed past.
Meanwhile, dilapidated white pagodas of varying sizes grew increasingly prominent.
Now and then, bare-chested monks with dark, sunburned skin could be seen carrying water fetched from afar, washing away traces of silt and dust clinging to the pagoda walls.
Perhaps these white pagodas were the final traces left in this world by the King of Universal Mercy.
Ji Jue sighed with emotion.
According to the sparse historical records, among the many Kings of Chaos—whose compositions were exceedingly convoluted and whose humanity was virtually nonexistent—this King Ciji could more or less still be considered a Man with a capital M.
At the end of the Age of Chaos, he was hailed as the Merciful Savior, a Saint of Resolution and Enlightenment, commanding countless followers yet leaving behind no record of strife or brutal slaughter.
More importantly, he had never pulled off the kind of vicious stunts or disastrous atrocities comparable to those of the Fire Thief, the Fate Weaver, or Lord Huaxu!
What had truly transcended into the realm of the sacred was that king's moral virtue.
It was said that in that era of chaos and turmoil, when aberrations and karmic monstrosities ran rampant and scumbags and beasts crawled everywhere, no matter who you were, so long as you listened to the teachings and speeches of King Ciji, you could perceive your true nature from the chaos within your heart.
If you had an unresolved, difficult choice or a decision you could not bring yourself to make, seeking the king's counsel would result in him bluntly pointing out the consequences of every shift, revealing everything that your actions would bring about.
Those who listened and consulted, upon meeting King Ciji, were without exception humbled by the king's mercy, turning over a new leaf to follow at his side.
It was neither committing evil nor performing good; it was simply enabling one to see oneself clearly.
Even so, amidst a world ravaged by calamity, he still forged a dreamlike Pure Land for all—Shangri-La.
And with the end of the Age of Chaos, King Ciji vanished without a trace.
It was said that the last place he lingered in this world was the region now known as the White Nation in the Mid-Continent, leaving behind legends of a Pure Land heavenly kingdom.
To this day, it had actually evolved into a religion where mortals worshipped clay idols and carved wooden figures, hoping the Merciful Savior upon the altar would ferry them into paradise after death.
*Shangri-La... the White Nation... the Priest-King...*
Ji Jue pondered. Snapping out of his thoughts, he could no longer hold back from holding down An Ning, who was practically squeezing into his lap under the excuse that the seat was too narrow. Looking up toward Tong Shan in the passenger seat, he asked:
"Brother Shan, how exactly did the White Nation's Priest-King die back then?"
Chapter 609