The Zoo.
A white lion paced with an elegant, majestic gait, tilting its head as it scrutinized the human behind the iron bars.
Within the enclosure stood a prison cell. Inside grew a camphor tree with a gnarled trunk and lush foliage, from which dangled vines thick as human arms.
These vines bound a young man wearing a headband across his forehead. Half of his body was "melted" into the tree trunk, leaving only his chest and head exposed.
A curly-haired toy poodle sat crouched before the tree. Its button eyes turned solemn, and it spoke in a deep voice:
"Where is the headquarters of the Soldier Master sect?"
Heavenly King Demonic Eye, sporting his athletic headband, stared off into space, entirely unmoved by Elder Gou's questioning.
Only after a long while did Demonic Eye return to his senses. His expression was languid and his aura feeble, yet the smile never left his face as he said:
"Even if I told you where the Soldier Master sect's headquarters is, would your Five Elements Alliance dare to go? Ugh, this feels pretty uncomfortable. This lack of freedom is truly awful. If that fellow 'Terror' were trapped here, he'd probably commit suicide on the spot. He's always clamoring on about freedom.
"Hmm, although committing suicide seems impossible here..."
Elder Gou remarked impassively, "Arrogance. Do you truly believe Asura can fight five Alliance Leaders single-handedly?"
"If your Five Elements Alliance's leaders could kill Asura, they would have made their move long ago. Still..." Demonic Eye said nonchalantly, "whatever, who cares? That old bastard Asura won't help me purge the world anyway. I can tell you where the headquarters is, but you have to do one thing for me."
Elder Gou nodded slightly. "What is it?"
"I have a list containing every dignitary involved in the Bronze Sparrow Tower case. Help me slaughter every last one of them. Until that's done, I'll always feel an itch in my chest."
"Impossible!" Elder Gou said sternly. "They will be punished by the law."
"Then there's nothing more to say." Demonic Eye tried to shrug, only to find he couldn't budge.
Without dwelling on the sect's headquarters, Elder Gou pressed on:
"Why did the Soldier Master sect exterminate the Chu family back then? Don't tell me it was for a rule-based item. I looked into the details of the case from those years. The Soldier Master sect mobilized at least two Heavenly Kings, four Protectors, and dozens of cult members.
"A single Chu family was never worth such a massive mobilization. That rule-based item had been in the Chu family's hands for decades; if you wanted to seize it, you could have done so long before."
His aura waned, yet Demonic Eye smiled faintly.
"I have another list here—a list of government-underworld collusion in Gotham City. My trip to Songhai was rushed; I thought I'd purge that list after dealing with the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, but it looks like I won't be heading back now. Handle them for me."
Elder Gou simply ignored him.
Demonic Eye pondered for a moment, then suggested, "How about a different condition? Bring Yuanshi Tianzun to see me, and I'll tell you the truth."
"Impossible!" Elder Gou refused flatly.
"Don't be so quick to say no. Let me tell you one thing first, and you can reconsider after you hear it," Demonic Eye said. "Before the Chu family was wiped out, Dark Night Rose had no leader."
*Before the Chu family was wiped out, Dark Night Rose had no leader...* A strange glint flashed within Elder Gou's button eyes, and his breathing grew slightly hurried as he demanded:
"What do you mean by that?"
Demonic Eye chuckled. "Bring Yuanshi Tianzun to see me."
Elder Gou took a deep breath, his stance softening. "I'll consider it."
***
*Knock, knock!*
Early in the morning, the bedroom door was knocked, followed by his aunt's sweet voice:
"Lazy pig, get up and eat breakfast!"
"Not getting up! Get lost!" Zhang Yuanqing, reluctant to leave the cozy warmth of his bed and thoroughly indulging in his sluggish stupor, rolled over and paid her no mind.
"I'm coming in!" His aunt turned the doorknob, stepped into the room, and yelled, "The sun is already scorching your butt and you're still not out of bed?"
Curled under the quilt, Zhang Yuanqing retorted grumpily:
"I was exhausted last night and didn't sleep well. Let me sleep a bit longer."
After days on edge, he had finally eliminated his greatest threat. He planned to sleep in and let his mind and body completely unwind.
No sooner had he spoken than he heard Jiang Yu'er's eerie voice:
"So you took my underwear to do bad things again last night, didn't you?"
The air instantly fell dead silent. Swaddled in the quilt, Zhang Yuanqing froze completely. Standing by the bedside, Jiang Yu'er didn't move an inch either.
It was as if time had been paused.
Zhang Yuanqing sprang up from the bed, protesting, "No way! I absolutely didn't use your underwear for anything bad! If you don't believe me, smell it your—"
Mid-sentence, he lowered his head with a sigh, scratched his hair, and mumbled:
"Fine, my bad."
It suddenly dawned on him that he couldn't possibly explain to his aunt that an infant ghost had stolen the bra. Whether he liked it or not, this blame was his to bear.
Jiang Yu'er gave him a complicated look and let out an exasperated sigh. "You really need to get a girlfriend. A perfectly fine young man, turning into a pervert... What did I say last time? If you steal my underwear again, I'm telling your grandma."
Zhang Yuanqing immediately fell to his knees in surrender. "Auntie, I was wrong! Name any condition you want, just please show mercy!"
His aunt stroked her nephew's head with a grin. "How much have you saved up?"
"Fifty or sixty thousand, probably."
"Didn't you claim last time that you made five million this year?"
"I was bragging."
"Mom! Your grandson stole my under—mph, mmph!"
"Six or seven million! Six or seven million! I'm willing to offer fifty thousand to honor your esteemed self!"
"Good boy!"
Shuffling in his slippers, Zhang Yuanqing entered the living room, where the family of five was gathered around the dining table having breakfast.
His cousin Chen Yuanjun was eating a meat bun in silence, his brow tightly furrowed and his mind clearly weighed down by worry.
Zhang Yuanqing grabbed a fried dough stick, popped it into his mouth, and sat down beside Jiang Yu'er. In front of him was a bowl of plain porridge his grandma had already scooped out.
"Share some salted duck egg with me." He nudged his aunt's shoulder with his elbow.
"Here!" Jiang Yu'er handed the duck egg over.
Zhang Yuanqing took it, took one look, and flared up. "You jerk, you hollowed out all the yolk! How am I supposed to eat this duck egg now?!"
With that, he reached out his chopsticks toward the whole egg yolk sitting in Jiang Yu'er's porridge bowl.
His aunt was quick on the draw. With a swift slurp, she sucked the entire yolk into her mouth, puffing out her round cheeks as she looked at him with smug triumph.
Infuriated, Zhang Yuanqing clapped both hands onto Jiang Yu'er's cheeks, and with a soft *poof*, the yolk shot right out of her glossy red mouth.
Jiang Yu'er wailed in tears, "Mom, he's bullying me! Hit him for me!"
Grandpa set his chopsticks down heavily and snapped sternly:
"Stop eating, all of you! The elders don't act like elders, and the youngsters don't act like youngsters! Fooling around all day, a bunch of good-for-nothings!"
Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er froze, shrinking their necks and burying their faces in their bowls.
Grandpa had lost all appetite. He stood up from the table and stepped out for a walk.
Once the security door clicked shut, Zhang Yuanqing immediately turned to Grandma. "What happened? Is Grandpa going through male menopause too?"
Grandma smacked the back of her grandson's head with a backhand swat.
Chewing on his meat bun, Chen Yuanjun said calmly:
"It's nothing. My promotion fell through. The contact Grandpa reached out to said Songhai is about to launch a strict disciplinary crackdown, and things are tense, so it's hard to pull strings. Nobody wants to stir up trouble at a time like this for petty favors, afraid of getting caught in the crosshairs."
Pausing, he added, "It's also because the person he asked doesn't hold a high enough position. If they wanted to make it happen, gifts would have to change hands. If it were someone higher up who actually wanted to promote me, it would really just take a single word."
His tone was calm and his expression as steady as ever, but the vertical crease between his eyebrows had instinctively tightened. His cousin had ambition and ideals; of course he hoped to climb another rung up the ladder. Yet there was no need to display his disappointment and helplessness before his aunt and younger cousin, only to add to their worries.
Zhang Yuanqing understood at once.
No wonder Grandpa was in such a terrible mood. In his uncle's words: *My son is my father's heir, my nephew is my heir, and my nephew will definitely accomplish more than my son.*
Because of an unbending, stubborn temperament, Grandpa's career had hit a ceiling, ending at the post of Inspector without advancing an inch for decades. Consequently, he had pinned his aspirations on his grandson Chen Yuanjun, regarding him as the true heir to his legacy.
Now his cousin had missed an exceptional opportunity for promotion; the next chance might take another five years, or even longer.
In Grandpa's experience, if one couldn't make Inspector before thirty, the Director's chair was practically out of reach. And if one couldn't become Director before forty, entering the Songhai Public Security Bureau Headquarters was virtually impossible.
Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said, "I know a friend whose friend works at the Public Security Bureau Headquarters. How about I try pulling some strings?"
Chen Yuanjun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Yuanzi, this isn't like treating someone to dinner where a few casual words can settle it."
A college student's connections rarely involved real interests, and lacking shared interests meant "shallow ties," incapable of pulling off such significant matters.
Grandma tapped her chopsticks against her grandson's bowl, scolding playfully, "Eat your food and stop worrying about nonsense.
"If you have free time, go visit your aunt. She hasn't been in good spirits, but she'll cheer up if you go."
Grandma still had immense faith in Yuanzi's talent for sweet-talking people.
Zhang Yuanqing said no more. After finishing breakfast, he hailed a cab to the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau.
Sitting by the car window, he bantered flirtatiously with Guan Ya while maintaining a steady exchange of messages with Xiao Yuan.
Yuanshi Tianzun: "Auntie Xiao Yuan, the arena tournament is starting soon. I want to hunt down a Bewitching Demon, Level 3."
Yuanshi Tianzun: "Did you hear? Heavenly King Demonic Eye has been locked up by the elders. I can finally move around out in the open. Sister Guan Ya, dinner together tonight?"
Magic Auntie Xiao Yuan: "Witch Doctors and Illusionists won't do?"
Yuanshi Tianzun: "You've got big boobs, whatever you say goes! Team Two is having dinner together tonight, my treat. How about we get a room tonight to study each other's techniques, hehe?"
Magic Auntie Xiao Yuan: "???"
*# Yuanshi Tianzun recalled a message #*
Yuanshi Tianzun: "Sorry, sorry, wrong chat! Auntie Xiao Yuan, I looked into it. Among the three evil classes, Bewitching Demons are best suited for refining yin corpses. Illusionists are best for spirit servants, while Witch Doctors are average—decent for both, but outstanding at neither."
Magic Auntie Xiao Yuan: "Who were you chatting with? Some older woman?"
Yuanshi Tianzun: "No, no, just joking around with a colleague [covers face]"
Magic Auntie Xiao Yuan: "A Level 3 Bewitching Demon, right? Come to Wuhen Hotel in three days to collect the body. Don't bother me unless it's important [smiles]"
Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to salvage some dignity, he spotted a message posted by Fu Qingyang in the "White Tiger Guards" group chat:
"@Ling Jun, I borrowed an item from the Knight class. You can attempt to contact Annie in the near future."
Ling Jun: "As expected of you, impressive efficiency. But how am I supposed to get Annie to willingly sign this kind of contract? There's no way she'd agree to sign one with me."
Fu Qingyang: "I took that into account, so I chose an item with covert usage. You only need to hold the item while coaxing her with sweet talk into making a verbal promise, and the item will bear witness to it all. The downside is that its binding strength is weaker than a contract established with mutual awareness."
Seven Times Lad: "Tsk, tsk. Is Ling Jun getting impatient already?"
Ling Jun: "I am sacrificing myself for the organization! You shouldn't be mocking me; you ought to pity me. Send a red packet!"
While the two engaged in banter, Zhang Yuanqing sent a message:
"@Fu Qingyang, Centurion, why do you care so much about the Association of God of Beauty's motives for coming to the mainland? The Demon Lord is already dead and has little to do with us. By comparison, shouldn't that mysterious President be the one investigated?"
Fu Qingyang: "There is no need to investigate high-level walkers of the Void class; it is destined to yield no results. As for the Demon Lord, even knowing he had fallen, the Association of God of Beauty still dispatched personnel across the ocean to investigate. I suspect there is more beneath the surface. Even if we White Tiger Guards do not intervene, we must remain watchful in all directions and understand the affairs of the world."
This was an essential attribute of an elite organization.
*Makes sense. Why would the Association of God of Beauty send people to investigate the Demon Lord's demise...*
Ling Jun: "Speaking of which, the Demon Lord and that President of the Association of God of Beauty were lovers. Not only that, according to the intel I gathered in the Taiyi Sect, the Demon Lord had two great sins: bloodlust and lust for women. His lovers were scattered all across the world. When I initially suspected Yuanshi was the Demon Lord's successor, it was because Yuanshi is also a massive lecher."
Yuanshi Tianzun: "Does being the Taiyi Sect Master's son give you the right to slander people at will? The truth is, I'm still single to this day, keeping myself pure and upright for twenty years, whereas your ex-girlfriends span the globe."
Phoenix Arrives: "Hmph. Ling Jun and the Demon Lord are scumbags alike. Yuanshi Tianzun is still a virgin? Hard to believe..."
Ling Jun: "The Demon Lord was lustful; I merely appreciate beauty. It's not the same."
Sweeping the World: "Sigh, my wife is emotionally manipulating me again."
The topic gradually drifted off course. Seeing that no serious business remained, Zhang Yuanqing exited the app, leaned against the car window, and closed his eyes to rest.
***
Kangyang District, behind the Public Security Bureau building, the small glass structure.
Zhang Yuanqing headed straight to the second floor's lounge area, leaning lazily against Guan Ya's desk.
"Got a question for you!"
Guan Ya was scanning a thick roster. The monitor's glow reflected off her alluring, delicate face as she replied concisely:
"Speak!"
"Hasn't Songhai's public security system been shaken up lately? A lot of positions should be opening up. Does my cousin have any shot at being promoted to Inspector?"
Guan Ya looked up at him. "Your cousin... Let me take a look."
She switched tabs, logged into the Public Security Bureau system, and searched for Chen Yuanjun's name.
After reviewing his resume thoroughly, the veteran coquette propped up her slender chin. "His resume is pretty solid. With this record, he's more than qualified for Inspector, but he lacks seniority. As you know, promotions don't rely solely on performance; seniority matters a great deal too, unless one has performed exceptional service."
"That's why I want to help him," Zhang Yuanqing said.
Guan Ya let out an "Oh." "I'll handle it for you. It's not a big deal."
Zhang Yuanqing gave her a skeptical look. "You?"
In his mind, he thought: *You're an outcast of the Fu family; where do you get the confidence to talk like that? Shouldn't you be saying, 'Let me ask Fu Qingyang'?*
Guan Ya gave a delicate huff. "I told the family Council of Elders recently that I'm taking part in the mid-year large killing trial. Those old men were thrilled, practically ready to set off firecrackers in celebration."
*In other words, she can mobilize Fu family resources now?* Zhang Yuanqing immediately changed his tune. "Sister Guan Ya is the absolute best! I knew Sister Guan Ya was destined for greatness! I'll add an extra dish for you tonight."
Guan Ya's eyes rippled with amusement as she asked with a teasing smile:
"Add what? Two eggs and a sausage?"
Zhang Yuanqing was just reveling in his success when he was suddenly run over by her dirty joke. For a moment, his brain couldn't pivot fast enough, leaving him with no choice but to cup his hands in defeat.
Just then, he noticed Wang Tai lifting his head and looking over. Zhang Yuanqing promptly chimed in:
"Brother Wang Tai, join us tonight. I'll call Jingwei and Teng Yuan—dinner for Team Two."
"No need!" Wang Tai refused with cold indifference.
"Then what did you raise your head for?"
"I'm working overtime tonight and will be staying late at the office. If convenient, please pack some good food for me," Wang Tai said.
"..."
Zhang Yuanqing cupped his hands in defeat once more.
"By the way, do you want your family to know about this, or should I take care of it quietly?" Guan Ya asked with a smile.
"No need to hide it. I already told them I'd ask a friend for help."
It wasn't a major affair. Letting his family know he had acquaintances of decent status would make it easier to find excuses in the future if similar matters arose, or if he ever needed to take a leave of absence from school.
*If their grandson knows so many capable friends, what's wrong with starting a business?*
***
Dusk.
The Deputy Director called Chen Yuanjun into his office.
"Have a seat, have a seat..."
The plump, middle-aged Deputy Director welcomed Chen Yuanjun with great warmth.
Chen Yuanjun couldn't help feeling suspicious. The Deputy Director oversaw internal affairs like personnel transfers, and rarely had much interaction with a patrol captain like him. What was with this sudden burst of warmth?
Maintaining his composure, he sat down and asked steadily:
"Is there something you need, Director Qiao?"
Director Qiao smiled. "It's like this: we just received a document from above. Headquarters is promoting you to Inspector. As you know, the previous Inspector Yang was dismissed and placed under investigation because of Director Zhou's affair."
Chen Yuanjun froze, utterly dumbfounded. "But I heard headquarters was dispatching an Inspector from outside."
He had originally planned to transfer out of the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau to work in Shakou District, where more vacancies were available and competition was lower.
"He was sent to Shakou District instead." Director Qiao gestured for him to sip tea together, then asked, "Xiao Chen, do you know people from the special department?"
Chen Yuanjun shook his head. "Not really, just professional interactions. Why do you ask, Director Qiao?"
Director Qiao paused in surprise. "Well, a friend at headquarters told me this matter was handled by someone from the special department."
With that, he tipped his chin toward the back of the building. "That young lady who drives the sports car—the one you youngsters call a goddess."
"..."
Chen Yuanjun walked out of the Director's office in a daze. Amid his thrill and excitement, he couldn't help feeling deeply bewildered. Why would that gorgeous female colleague from the special department help him?
This was no minor favor; it was an enormous debt of gratitude.
Regardless, a pie falling from the sky was still a pie. He would ask her about it tomorrow and thank her properly... Chen Yuanjun checked his watch, intending to head home and share this unexpected delight with his family.
Stepping out of the Public Security Bureau building, a blue sports car came into view, cruising slowly toward the main gate.
*Is that her?* Instinctively, Chen Yuanjun strode toward it.
Chapter 175