"I heard his Spirit Realm ID is 'Sanqing Daozu,' profession unknown." The woman in the qipao smoothed out the sheet of A4 paper in her hands. "This is a sketch drawn by someone inside the security bureau."
The Spirit Society had planted moles inside the security bureau—a routine tactic. The various branches of the Five Elements Alliance favored setting up their offices within the local security bureau, meaning that as long as they turned ordinary peacekeepers or clerks into informants, they could maintain a fairly clear grasp of the official Spirit Walkers' movements.
It was an open scheme. The Five Elements Alliance could conduct grand health checks on official walkers, but they held no authority to subject peacekeepers and civilian court officials to such examinations.
Official walkers were few, whereas public personnel were practically limitless and easily corrupted; there was simply no guarding against all of them.
The Five Elements Alliance was well aware of this, which was why they rarely shared classified intelligence or upcoming operations with ordinary peacekeepers.
Even when they took peacekeepers along on missions, they never laid all their cards on the table.
Lord Dou fixed his eyes on the sketch for a second, then looked away. "There is no such person among the Five Elements Alliance's Level 6 Saints."
He pondered for several seconds before saying, "Tell our people in the casino to stay put for now and see what happens. Our stronghold in Nanming City wasn't hit anyway, so that senior deacon won't dare come here. If he keeps stirring up trouble, he'll eventually move to another area, and someone else will deal with him."
Across the entirety of Nanming City, there were only six strongholds, accounting for a few hundred million in cash, assets, and goods. It was hardly worth making a huge scene to hunt down a senior deacon, which would only provoke the powerhouses of the Qinghe clan.
The Qinghe clan's Spirit Walkers were hands-off caretakers who rarely meddled in anything. The Spirit Society appreciated their tactfulness, and for years, both sides had coexisted peacefully, living quite comfortably.
Neither side wished to shatter this unspoken understanding.
***
Three days slipped by in a flash. Zhang Yuanqing toured Nanming City with the three female members of his team. Though it was a modest border city, Nanming possessed remarkably beautiful landscapes.
Under the guise of sightseeing, Zhang Yuanqing combed through the mountains and rivers of the entire Nanming area.
In Biluo Village, rolling low hills stretched one after another, and emerald-green water flowed through the valley into sweeping swathes of farmland. In the fields, golden ears of rice undulated like waves as straw-hatted villagers bent over to harvest the crop.
Wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat, Annie reached the summit of a hill and pulled out a wet wipe to dab at her sweat. Her delicate, porcelain-fair face was flushed pink. Free of sophisticated makeup and corporate business attire, she looked all the more vibrant and full of life.
"So tired... We've been walking all day. Brother Yuanshi, let's take a break," Xie Lingxi panted.
Sweat trickled down the young girl's slender neck, causing strands of dark hair to stick to her porcelain-white skin.
Neither Desire nor Musician were professions known for physical endurance, and running up and down hills all day had thoroughly exhausted them.
Queen, on the other hand, was neither flushed nor breathless, not even breaking a sweat.
"I'll get you some water!" She walked over to the mountain brook and reached out.
Two basin-sized spheres of water pulled free from the stream, hovering in midair under Queen's control. She plunged her hands into the floating spheres. After a few seconds, she said, "Purified. Do you two want a drink?"
She pushed the water spheres toward Annie and Xie Lingxi.
Annie leaned forward, pressing her red lips gently against the surface to take a sip, then shook her head in disappointment.
"Not sweet at all. You purified all the minerals out."
She scooped some water to wash her face, dabbed the moisture dry, and turned to Zhang Yuanqing.
"Mr. Yuanshi, these hills border the farmland, and I just saw villagers heading into the mountains. Pluto probably wouldn't choose this place to slumber."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded in agreement. "If he slumbers for three days, the security bureau would trace it right here the moment a single villager goes missing. This mountain range isn't dense or deep, so we can rule it out. We'll keep searching this afternoon. There are still two and a half days before Pluto falls asleep."
Over the past three days, they had scouted almost all the mountainous areas around Nanming City, narrowing the options down to six likely locations Pluto might choose.
According to intelligence relayed from the Association of God of Beauty's headquarters, Pluto's primary character flaw was jealousy.
He was jealous of anyone stronger, more handsome, or richer than him—as long as someone possessed an advantage he lacked, Pluto would resent them and seek to destroy them.
For now, this character flaw offered nothing they could exploit.
As a Spirit Walker, Pluto's life tier was far beyond mortal reach; very few people could trigger his envy. He could easily avoid triggers simply by staying where people were scarce.
Therefore, the most reliable approach remained Zhang Yuanqing's original plan: scout locations beforehand, wait for the target to enter deep slumber, use Stargazing for an initial fix, and finally mobilize people to search.
"Speaking of which, our merits were submitted days ago. Why hasn't an announcement been issued yet?" Zhang Yuanqing led the three downhill. "I'm still waiting for my Morality Points reward."
"Isn't it normal for official procedures to drag on? There's formality after formality, and the bureaucrats love slacking off. As long as it's not saving lives or putting out fires, they'll delay as long as possible," Queen scoffed. "I used to want to be an office clerk myself. It's so comfortable slacking off—an iron rice bowl either way."
Just as she said that, the phone in Zhang Yuanqing's pocket rang.
The caller was Poison Chaser.
Continuing downhill, Zhang Yuanqing answered, "What's up?"
Poison Chaser's tone was grim. "Where are you? You'd better get back here right away."
Zhang Yuanqing frowned slightly. "What happened?"
"Auditors from the Qinghe Branch brought people from the Investigation Department over. They want to see you!" Poison Chaser said heavily. "It's about the illicit money."
For an official walker, pocketing confiscated funds was a serious offense, especially when the sum approached a hundred million yuan.
If committed by a public official, it would warrant twenty years in prison at minimum, or execution at worst.
Zhang Yuanqing gave an indifferent chuckle. "Just tell them I've already left and am no longer at the Nanming Branch. And don't mention that I handed out money to the branch staff."
To most Spirit Walkers, this was indeed a severe crime.
Zhang Yuanqing, however, could not care less. Embezzling confiscated funds led to nothing more than detention, disciplinary sanctions, and ruined promotion prospects. Given his current standing with headquarters, promotions were out of the question anyway.
He was already at the very bottom rung of the ladder.
The only remaining penalty was detention, but headquarters would never lock him up over this. At this point, Yuanshi Tianzun had nothing left to lose; pushing him any further would simply drive him to defect from the Five Elements Alliance.
Unless a fundamental principle was crossed, headquarters wouldn't punish him over such an issue. And in their eyes, was this amount of money truly a matter of principle? Clearly not.
Poison Chaser said with gravity, "It's not that simple. The Investigation Department belongs to the Qinghe clan. Furthermore, they already know you distributed money to the branch members. They've confiscated the funds and are demanding the recovery of the share you embezzled."
"I don't care for the word 'embezzled.' It harms my rapport with Heavenly King Demonic Eye," Zhang Yuanqing corrected. Then he asked, "Don't you have your own system? How did the Qinghe clan get dragged into this?"
The Qinghe clan served as the administrative hub of Bagui Province's official authorities, but only in name. The Qinghe clan never actually managed daily operations; the real administrative nerve center was the Xini Branch.
It was similar to the Hang City branch in Jiangnan Province, where two elders oversaw operations.
"The Qinghe Branch holds the highest administrative rank after all. They don't run things only because they're too lazy to bother. But once they decide to step in, every branch across Bagui Province has to listen. That's the baseline respect owed to an organization rivaling a demigod," Poison Chaser explained.
"Then why do they care all of a sudden?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
"The Qinghe Branch controls the purse strings. According to proper protocol, all seized illicit money must be surrendered to the Qinghe clan." Poison Chaser cut straight to the bone. "By pocketing the money, you essentially robbed them—robbed them of a hundred million. If you don't turn it over, they won't recognize this operation, and the brothers won't receive a single shred of merit."
'I scouted the strongholds with my own blood and sweat, and I wiped out the enemies single-handedly. Since when did my hard-earned money become theirs?' Zhang Yuanqing gave a cold laugh.
"Tell them to wash their necks and wait."
Hanging up the call, Xie Lingxi immediately asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"
"Going back to the Nanming Branch to put a few tactless underlings in their place," Zhang Yuanqing said expressionlessly.
***
Nanming City Branch, office area.
The frosted glass doors were shut tight. Every member of the branch sat quietly at their desk with heads bowed, looking utterly dejected in a suffocating atmosphere.
An hour ago, their salary accounts and every bank card under their names had been frozen. The leadership from the Qinghe Branch demanded they surrender the illicit money within three days and announced a formal disciplinary reprimand for the Nanming City Branch, along with the revocation of their annual performance bonuses.
Six hundred and sixty thousand yuan had been snatched away before the money had even warmed in their hands, and their year-end bonus was gone too.
Now, everything hinged on whether Deacon Sanqing Daozu was willing to cooperate. If he adopted a reasonable attitude and turned over the illicit money, the Qinghe Branch might show leniency.
"And here I thought I'd struck it rich. I went apartment-hunting just this morning..." Wang Xiao'er sighed.
"I just placed a deposit on a new car at the dealership! My old clunker has been running for years; I've wanted to replace it forever!" A female clerk knitted her brows, her face full of bitter misery.
The others either forced wry smiles or sighed, wrapped in gloom.
"Deacon Daozu doesn't belong to our Qinghe Branch; let's hope no conflict breaks out," a female employee murmured.
"No conflict will happen. Unless it's an elder, everyone answers to the same rules. A single formal email from the Qinghe Branch to Songhai would be enough. Even if it escalates all the way to headquarters, a leader at his level wouldn't face harsh punishment, but an internal warning on his record would be more than enough of a headache," Liangshan Water Force said.
Just then, the frosted glass door was pushed open. The plain-looking Sanqing Daozu strode in, trailed by his three strikingly gorgeous female teammates.
The staff in the office sprang to their feet at once, their worry mingled with a sudden flicker of hope.
"Where are the Qinghe clan people?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Wang Xiao'er scrambled forward and whispered, "In the office next door. The leader is chewing out Deacon Poison Chaser. Y-You... please remember to tread carefully."
The others looked over with pleading eyes. They no longer harbored any hopes of keeping the 660,000 cut; so long as the Qinghe Branch dropped the disciplinary reprimand and spared their bonuses, it would count as a smooth landing.
Knowing what everyone was hoping for, and keeping in mind that Deacon Daozu was a Fire Specialist, Wang Xiao'er nervously added, "That leader from the Investigation Department has an explosive temper. I hear he's in charge of the Qinghe clan's discipline and is exceptionally strict. Please don't escalate the conflict."
Having said his piece, he braced himself for a fierce slap to the face from Sanqing Daozu.
To his surprise, the Fire Specialist from Songhai merely nodded and asked, "An elder?"
Wang Xiao'er shook his head vigorously. "How could an elder bother with small matters like this?"
'Good, as long as it's not an elder. Below elder rank, I am invincible; above elder rank, I trade one for one,' Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself. He brushed past Wang Xiao'er and headed toward the conference room.
Halfway there, he abruptly turned around and gave Wang Xiao'er a brisk smack across the back of his head.
"'Don't escalate the conflict'? Are you teaching me how to do my job?!"
Wang Xiao'er clutched his head in bewilderment. "???"
Ignoring him, Zhang Yuanqing strode through the office and shoved open the conference room door at the far end.
Four people were seated in the spacious conference room. At the head of the table sat a lean, middle-aged to elderly man with the dark complexion distinctive of the Qinghe clan. He was not particularly tall, barely over 1.7 meters.
His attire was not the blue-based, intricately embroidered traditional ethnic clothing Zhang Yuanqing had imagined, but a formal casual suit. His stern, rigid demeanor radiated cold detachment—and an aloof arrogance.
The other two were a middle-aged man and a young man, both wearing white dress shirts and slacks.
"You're an experienced deacon yourself. How could you pull something like this? Did you really think the branch was blind? We suspect there are serious issues with the entire Nanming City Branch." The Qinghe clan leader was in the middle of castigating Poison Chaser. Hearing the door open, he deliberately raised his voice, whether intentionally or otherwise: "As a deacon, having no respect for rules or discipline—do you hold no regard for the Five Elements Alliance either?!"
The staff outside caught every word, casting anxious glances through the doorway.
"Well now!" The middle-aged man in the white shirt rose to his feet, looking toward Zhang Yuanqing before glancing back at the stone-faced Poison Chaser. "This must be Deacon Sanqing Daozu, right? Come, come, take a seat!"
He gestured to the empty chair beside Poison Chaser.
Zhang Yuanqing eyed the Qinghe clan leader, then took the seat beside Poison Chaser.
"Allow me to introduce ourselves," the middle-aged man in the white shirt said, clearly adept at smoothing over tension. "I'm the Group Leader of Group Six of the Xini Branch Investigation Department, Spirit Realm ID: Gods Above. And this is the Deputy Head of the Qinghe Branch Investigation Department, Spirit Realm ID: Poppy."
Deputy Head Poppy of the Qinghe clan kept his eyes straight ahead, not sparing Zhang Yuanqing so much as a glance.
Gods Above then introduced the young man. "Same as me, Group Leader of Group Three of the Xini Branch Investigation Department."
The young man in the white shirt volunteered his name: "Spirit Realm ID: River Snail Rice Noodles."
'Nice name. You're making me hungry...' Zhang Yuanqing mused inwardly.
Gods Above sat down and began, "Here's the situation. You surely know why we're here. This illicit money—strictly speaking, it ought to be surrendered. Rules are rules, after all."
"It will be surrendered," Zhang Yuanqing said with a nod. "Surrendered to the Songhai Branch."
Gods Above choked on his words. Put that way, he truly could not point out any procedural fault.
"Surrendered to the Songhai Branch?" Deputy Head Poppy of the Qinghe clan interjected coldly. "Since when do personnel from the Songhai Branch have law enforcement jurisdiction here? The Spirit Society strongholds were cleared by the Nanming Branch. The operational merits and the confiscated funds should rightfully be received by us."
"The illicit funds I seized have nothing to do with you," Zhang Yuanqing refused with a shake of his head.
"Deacon Sanqing Daozu—assuming that's even what you should be called—we ran a check on you. No such Spirit Realm ID exists in the Five Elements Alliance," Deputy Head Poppy stated in a cold, overbearing tone. "Your embezzlement of the illicit funds seized by the Nanming Branch constitutes a severe breach of Five Elements Alliance discipline. If you refuse to surrender them, the Qinghe Branch has full authority to take you into temporary custody and report the matter to headquarters."
The deputy head showed no sign of intimidation in the face of a higher-level walker, maintaining his stiff arrogance. As far as the Qinghe clan was concerned, arrogance was their birthright.
"I'll say it one more time: my money has nothing to do with you," Zhang Yuanqing replied, his stance completely unchanged. "No one takes money from my hands. Even Fu Qingyang has to hand his cash over obediently when he sees me."
Deputy Head Poppy pointed to the surveillance camera behind him and said chillingly, "You will answer for your words."
Zhang Yuanqing cast him a sideways glance, then stretched out both wrists together.
"Go on, then. Handcuff me!"
The air inside the conference room froze instantly.
Chapter 576