To prevent any other experts from staging an ambush, Zhang Yuanqing had sent Yi Chuanmei to scout the surroundings before intervening in the battle. And unexpectedly, she had indeed found an oriole lurking in the shadows behind the mantis.
What he had not anticipated was that it turned out to be an acquaintance.
Zhang Yuanqing swept a discreet glance across the surrounding darkness and asked via mental communication without giving anything away, "Friend or foe?"
Acquaintances came in many forms; friends and foes alike counted.
"A friend, roughly speaking. You met him at Wuhen Hotel—a middle-aged man wearing glasses." Though Yi Chuanmei could communicate telepathically, she deliberately leaned close to his ear in a flirtatious gesture.
Wuhen Hotel? A middle-aged man wearing glasses? Zhang Yuanqing paused, and an image surfaced in his mind—a cheap shirt, spectacles, and an honest, timid middle-aged man.
A member of Master Wuhen's crew, a Level 6 Spirit Medium whose ID was Wanderer of the Mortal Realm.
Why would he be here? Was he local to Nanming City, or here on business? Zhang Yuanqing asked via telepathy, "Where is he? Did he spot you?"
"He's already gone. I'm at the same level as him, and since I'm in spirit servant form, I couldn't hide from him," Yi Chuanmei whispered. "However, my experience points are far higher than his, so he couldn't see through my disguise and didn't discover your true identity."
Yi Chuanmei had made an appearance at Wuhen Hotel before. Without a disguise, Wanderer of the Mortal Realm would have recognized her.
*As long as your identity wasn't exposed, that's fine. Why would he show up here? I'll ask Xiao Yuan about it later...* Zhang Yuanqing frowned inwardly. The presence of a rogue Saint on a battlefield where the Spirit Society had ambushed an official deacon was inherently anomalous.
The time and location of the drug cartel's transaction were confidential, and the official walkers' sting operation had been equally classified.
A rogue cultivator shouldn't be appearing at an occasion like this unless he was also embroiled in the incident.
Poison Chaser answered his phone and said, "The operation is over. We successfully eliminated two Spirit Mediums and a crowd of underworld thugs. Notify the nearby police stations to come clean up the scene."
On the other end of the line, Boundless Sea of Learning breathed a sigh of relief, then asked in confusion, "Wasn't it an ambush this time?"
"It was," Poison Chaser said.
"What were we up against?"
"Two Spirit Mediums of equivalent level. The Transcendent stage casualties haven't been counted yet." Poison Chaser's tone was calm, his face devoid of expression.
Most Scouts were like this—stern and rigid as soldiers.
The other end went quiet for a moment, as if processing this astonishing news. After a long pause came Boundless Sea of Learning's excited, delighted voice: "I understand! Deacon, you've worked another miracle!"
"No, I almost died this time," Poison Chaser said in a heavy voice. "It's thanks to our colleague from the Songhai Branch. He saved me."
"?"
The other end suddenly froze up. After quite a while, Boundless Sea of Learning asked tentatively, "S-Saved you? That colleague from the Songhai Branch?"
Poison Chaser gave a terse nod into the phone.
Boundless Sea of Learning muttered, "What... what level is he? Isn't he a Transcendent captain?"
Poison Chaser replied indifferently, "A Level 6 Fire Specialist. Spirit Realm ID: Sanqing Daozu. Songhai only has two 'Disgraces of Fire Specialists'—one is World Returns to Fire, and the other is him. You didn't even know that?"
Boundless Sea of Learning was thoroughly dumbfounded.
The man he had taken for a Transcendent captain was actually a Senior Deacon?
Level 6! Was that someone he had any business casually chatting with?
That was a big shot he ought to have knelt to welcome!
Shock fermented in his heart, but Boundless Sea of Learning did not linger in it; instead, he immediately caught the deacon's drift.
The clattering of keyboard keys came through the phone. A moment later, Boundless Sea of Learning laughed wryly: "I truly am ill-informed. To think I didn't know Songhai had such a deacon."
Hearing this, Poison Chaser narrowed his eyes.
What he had said just now was a hint for Boundless Sea of Learning to look up this "Sanqing Daozu." The reason was simple: while the Five Elements Alliance had quite a few Level 6 Saints, one this young was exceedingly rare across the entire official organization.
He had never heard of this ID.
Boundless Sea of Learning had given a rather troubling answer—no such person on record.
Even though Boundless Sea of Learning was only captain-level, he managed the Nanming Branch's system. With the branch's clearance level, looking up someone's ID below the Elder rank was no problem, even if detailed dossiers were out of reach.
"However..." Boundless Sea of Learning lowered his voice. "Is it convenient to talk right now?"
Poison Chaser pondered for a moment, held his phone, and stepped aside. "Speak."
"That Sanqing Daozu—well, let's just call him Sanqing Daozu—is here on a secret mission. He has a letter of guarantee from the Songhai Branch, but his identity information is classified," Boundless Sea of Learning said.
Poison Chaser instantly frowned. "A secret mission?"
"I don't know the specifics—it's a secret mission, after all. What a stroke of luck, though. If not for this big shot's unexpected visit, our branch would have suffered catastrophic losses this time. Before a new deacon arrived, the brothers would have had to hunker down at home, terrified to even report for work."
Poison Chaser had no desire to listen to his ramblings and quietly ended the call.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanqing pretended to collect spoils and inspect the corpses. Aided by Star Illusion to deceive the onlookers, he invisibly and seamlessly claimed the spirits of the two Spirit Mediums.
***
Nanming Branch.
Boundless Sea of Learning hung up the phone. Looking around at the staff members gazing at him in anticipation of good news, he smiled. "The crisis is resolved. Our branch has scored another major merit—two Spirit Mediums eliminated."
Cheers erupted at once, and the employees working overtime breathed sighs of relief.
"Eliminated two Spirit Mediums?" A female employee said joyfully, "Another bonus is coming! Did our deacon create another legend?"
Just as everyone was agreeing with this, Boundless Sea of Learning shook his head. "It wasn't the deacon. It was the colleagues who just arrived from Songhai. Their leader is a Level 6 Saint; he saved our branch's brothers."
The cheering choked off. The staff members wore looks of utter astonishment.
That utterly unremarkable young man was a Level 6 Saint?!
To think he was such a prominent figure!
"Did headquarters send him to inspect our work? Do we have a Level 6 Saint overseeing us now?" someone asked excitedly.
The astonishment on the other employees' faces turned into anticipation and delight.
Boundless Sea of Learning forced a smile, choosing not to shatter their hopes. "The superior's work is confidential. I'm not in the loop."
Headquarters occasionally sent Senior Deacons on inspection tours to sweep away criminal syndicates along the border and maintain public order.
Every major cleanup relied on such visits.
However, most Senior Deacons only came to go through the motions, sweeping up a few inconsequential minor factions, staying for a period while the Spirit Society cooperated by lying low for a while, and then the inspection would conclude.
After all, broad stability was already the objective, and the Spirit Society possessed quite a few Dominators.
As long as no catastrophic incidents broke out and there were no fierce clashes of interest, Senior Deacons were reluctant to risk their lives.
***
By late night, the bodies of the fallen constables and official walkers were transported back to the Public Security Bureau. Led by Deacon Poison Chaser, all members of the Nanming Branch held a brief mourning service in the morgue.
The official memorial service would have to wait until all procedures were cleared, to be conducted with due honor.
As Liangshan Naval Fleet put it in self-deprecating humor: *"We are enforcers in the shadows. Only on the day we die do we get our moment in the sun."*
Zhang Yuanqing also attended the memorial service, silently watching these heroes of the dark. Compared to scheming and vying for power, he felt far more drawn to people like them.
Simple, pure, and passionate, steadfastly defending what they wished to protect—perhaps their homeland, perhaps their convictions.
During the service, a whimsical thought struck him: Why didn't Demonic Eye come to the border? This place was practically a paradise for him, teeming with criminals everywhere.
On second thought, if Demonic Eye came here, his obsession would erupt, he would go on an indiscriminate killing spree without restraint, bleed all his Morality Points dry, and end up wanted worldwide.
That explained why he stayed away from the border.
Cleansing the world was truly a long and arduous endeavor.
Once the memorial service concluded, Wang Xiao'er enthusiastically escorted Zhang Yuanqing to the staff dormitory.
"This is your room." Wang Xiao'er pushed open a dorm door. The quarters were rather Spartan, furnished with bunk beds—four berths in total.
"Not bad!" Zhang Yuanqing glanced around. Seeing that the bedding was clean and neat, he nodded.
In the past, he never would have stayed in a place like this. But ever since becoming a Spirit Realm walker, he had experienced every kind of environment. He could even sleep comfortably among piles of corpses, feeling as right at home as a dog curled up in its den.
"Captain Wuya mentioned that you have three female teammates. I've already arranged rooms for them in the women's dormitory," Wang Xiao'er said with utmost deference.
Originally, the branch intended to put this big shot up in a five-star hotel, but Deacon Daozu had refused, saying, "I climbed up from the bottom step by step too. Ten years in, I've endured more hardships than any of you. I'm not that delicate."
Everyone had been startled: this Deacon Daozu looked so young, yet he had already been a Spirit Realm walker for ten years? Deeply experienced indeed.
"No need. Just put them in here with me." Zhang Yuanqing pointed at the empty bunks. "There are four beds, after all."
"O-Okay..." Wang Xiao'er shot him a look.
*Hey, what's with that look that screams 'you're planning an orgy'? I can see right through you...* Zhang Yuanqing pretended not to notice.
Wang Xiao'er added, "The deacon said he'll book a private room at a restaurant tomorrow to host a welcome dinner for you."
Zhang Yuanqing hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "Do situations like tonight happen often?"
"Not constantly, but things like this happen several times a year. Those Spirit Society bastards love using fake intel to lure us out and ambush us. Of course, we have countermeasures too. Tonight was definitely on the hairier side, but what can we do? Sometimes, even when you know it's a trap, you still have to jump in." Wang Xiao'er sighed before continuing, "Fortunately, our Deacon Poison Chaser is strong—very strong. He's the miracle worker of our branch."
*Strong? I couldn't tell...* Zhang Yuanqing pondered, then said, "I'm rather curious. Mind telling me more?"
Hearing this, Wang Xiao'er enthusiastically recounted Poison Chaser's past: "He was besieged by Spirit Society Saints four times. One took place three years ago, when he had just advanced to Saint. During an operation to bust human traffickers, he was ambushed by a Level 5 Witch Doctor. Everyone thought he was a goner, but unexpectedly, he managed to counter-kill the guy! When everyone found him, nobody could believe it.
"The most recent one was last year, after he advanced to Level 5. He was besieged by three Saints. Although he didn't manage to counter-kill them that time, he successfully escaped, and word has it he even severely crippled a Spirit Medium of the same level.
"Earlier this year, he charged into a drug syndicate's stronghold all by himself, slaying an overseas Saint and seven Transcendents."
Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself: *This guy has a freaking protagonist template! By all rights, someone like that should have been transferred to serve in major metropolises like Songhai, Hang City, or Capital City. Why stay in a border branch?*
But gradually, the more he listened, the more something felt off.
Judging from the skirmish he had observed tonight, Poison Chaser wasn't actually that strong.
He had only two Saint-grade items on him. Facing the siege of two Spirit Mediums of the same level, he had barely held out. His combat prowess was upper-middle tier at best, which completely failed to match the illustrious record Wang Xiao'er was describing.
"I see. I had no idea Deacon Poison Chaser had such magnificent feats under his belt," Zhang Yuanqing said. "Why hasn't he transferred to a more developed region?"
Wang Xiao'er instantly grew guarded. "You're not trying to poach him, are you? Deacon Poison Chaser won't leave."
At this point, he lowered his voice: "The deacon's father was an anti-narcotics police officer who died in the line of duty, and his mother was murdered by drug dealers. He was still in school back then and narrowly escaped. The Qinghe Branch originally wanted to transfer him away from the border, but he refused. He said he would never leave this place in his lifetime, and that he would fight those drug dealers to the bitter end. So Deacon Daozu, you should drop that idea. Anyone willing to stay on the border has convictions of their own; otherwise, they'd have thrown in the towel long ago."
*If I ever become a demigod, I'll transfer all Ten Elders here to serve...* Zhang Yuanqing snarked inwardly.
After seeing Wang Xiao'er out, he went into the bathroom, unwrapped a disposable toiletries set to wash up, and sent Queen a text along the way:
*Public Security Bureau, Men's Dormitory Building, Room 404.*
After finishing his wash, Zhang Yuanqing returned to the room and summoned Yi Chuanmei. "Keep an eye on Poison Chaser. If anything comes up, contact me via imprint."
Yi Chuanmei tilted her head. "Is there something wrong with him?"
"Something huge!" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled softly. "His strength is mediocre at best, completely inconsistent with the rumors. There must be an underlying reason. Just keep watching him."
The Nanming Branch lacked powerful figures at the Saint stage, so the Transcendents couldn't tell. But in the eyes of a Level 6 powerhouse like him, the deacon's true depths were laid bare at a single glance.
The possibility of him concealing his strength was also slim, as there was no need for it, and holding back would have only resulted in more of his comrades dying.
Therefore, there was definitely something fishy.
Yi Chuanmei thought for a moment, then asked tentatively, "If I complete the mission, would Master grant me a few lashes of the whip?"
Zhang Yuanqing kicked her. "Slut, get to work!"
Kicked flying by his foot, Yi Chuanmei drifted away thoroughly satisfied.
Zhang Yuanqing returned to his bunk, sat cross-legged, and began to assimilate the spirits of the two Spirit Society Spirit Mediums.
Absorbing spirits to bolster his lunar energy was one of his objectives. Moreover, the two Spirit Mediums held considerable status in the Spirit Society; if he could unearth more strongholds from them, he could uproot the syndicates entirely.
The Nanming Branch had no Night Roamers, so the Spirit Society wouldn't be on guard against this.
Furthermore, now that Pluto had fled to Nanming City, he would inevitably pay his respects to the local tyrants.
According to the information provided by Annie, the Eternal Night class had a major flaw: once every ten days, they had to fall into a deep slumber lasting three days.
And during each slumber, nearby living organisms would also be pulled into sleep, the area depending on their level.
Pluto was a Level 6 Saint, so his radius of effect would be substantial. He couldn't simply find any random desolate mountain range to sleep in; in this region, there was no place entirely beyond human reach.
Once or twice might go unnoticed, but if repeated, someone would inevitably discover the anomaly.
Perhaps urban legends or bizarre tales had already sprung up. As the local powers, the Spirit Society was well-informed and might just hold valuable intel.
Chapter 570