Coffin of Slumber

The four Wind Mages wore form-fitting, combat-ready nano suits with walkie-talkies hooked to their waists. Their silhouettes were sleek, like agile free-divers. Tight nano suits were the exclusive uniform of Wind Mages, said to reduce air resistance and increase speed, negligible though that increase was. At their head was a handsome young man with curly hair and blue eyes. Hurrying straight toward Jumang, he asked in a heavy voice, "What happened? We saw this place shrouded in nightfall. Were you attacked by someone from an Eternal Night class?" The other three Wind Mages followed closely on his heels, their eyes also fixed on Jumang. At the same time, they noticed a shriveled corpse lying face-down on the ground, its features obscured. "I was ambushed by Hecate and Bacchus," Zhang Yuanqing said, pointing at the corpse on the ground. "I turned the tables and killed them. This is Bacchus's body. Hecate was taken away by my companion." "What?!" The curly-haired, blue-eyed young man nearly doubted his own ears. Both startled and skeptical, he stepped closer, leaned down, and flipped the dried corpse over onto its back. Then his face twisted into an expression of utter disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost. It really was Bacchus! Though the corpse was shriveled and wrinkled, its facial features were still recognizable. They had studied Bacchus's portrait countless times; there was no mistaking him. Bacchus was dead! This was Bacchus—ranked second on the Class A Wanted List, one of the foremost Saints in the Dionysus Club. Below the Dominator stage, those stronger than him could be counted on one hand. How could such a legendary powerhouse be dead? Dead at the hands of an obscure Beast King from the Second District? The other three Wind Mages wore similar looks of shock. The curly-haired youth shot a complicated look at Jumang, grabbed his walkie-talkie, and spoke in a trembling voice: "Hudson River Park! Everyone get to Hudson River Park immediately! Bacchus ambushed Jumang and has been... eliminated!" A beat of silence followed over the radio, and then a chaotic uproar erupted, filled with overlapping cries of "Fuck!" and "What?!" *** At 1:30 AM. On the 106th floor of the New York County Bank Building, the Operations Department was brightly lit. In Large Conference Room 3, Sean Meade sat at the head of the table, gazing intently at Jumang. The Chief Executive Officer was taking the statement in person. "We've verified Bacchus's identity. First, on behalf of Heaven's Punishment, I thank you for this incredible feat. This is the New York branch's greatest achievement in years." Sean Meade's tone was remarkably relaxed, and his face fairly glowed. As one of the Big Three in the New York branch of Heaven's Punishment, the branch's achievements were his own. Bacchus carried tremendous prestige and fame within the evil faction; sending such a figure back to the Spirit Realm was enough to offset his previous failings. Headquarters' board of directors would likely reconsider whether to send a special commissioner to replace him. And all of this had been delivered by the young man before him. Thus, even if he disliked this kid who had once beaten up his son, Sean Meade had to swallow his pride and acknowledge the favor. "Since I'm drawing a salary from Heaven's Punishment, it's only right that I risk my neck for it," Zhang Yuanqing said, delivering a polished platitude. Sean Meade nodded and asked, "I've reviewed your mission report. Where is Hecate?" "Teleported back to the Second District. I handed him over to Elder Fu," Zhang Yuanqing replied. Sean Meade frowned. Hecate was only slightly less significant than Bacchus, representing another monumental credit. He intended to email the Five Elements Alliance afterward to verify the matter and discuss who had claim over Hecate. Naturally, that was a matter for later. Sean Meade pressed on. "You mentioned earlier that a Dream Master took part in the ambush. Where is he?" "My guess is that he hid inside Hecate's dreamscape and managed to escape," Zhang Yuanqing said. "No one can stop a Dream Master from traveling through dreams, except for a higher-level Dream Master." Sean Meade grunted in acknowledgment, then added, "According to Heaven's Punishment intelligence, Bacchus possessed a Dominator-grade item." The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth curled up. "It's already my trophy." Sean Meade stared deeply at him. "You didn't detail the combat process in your mission report." "I doubt you would write your own trump cards into a mission report either, Chief Executive Officer." "You have a Dominator-grade item?" "It's all thanks to Elder Fu's trust and favor!" Zhang Yuanqing's tone and expression remained completely relaxed. Sean Meade fell silent in thought for a moment. Seeming to reach an understanding, he dropped the subject of the Dominator-grade item and shifted the topic. "The provocations by evil classes tonight were abnormal. As you say in China, there was loud thunder but little rain. We suspect the whole thing was engineered to ambush you. What do you think?" Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew solemn. "I believe so. The evil faction wanted to hunt me down to avenge Beast Haas. After tonight's incident, I'll be in even greater danger. Chief Executive Officer, I request Heaven's Punishment's protection and permission to take some time off here in the bank building." Sean Meade was not surprised by this. Jumang's reaction and concern aligned perfectly with his expectations. "The Operations Department has no further questions for now. Go get some rest. Your reward for hunting Bacchus will be issued within three days. As for Hecate, unless you can deliver him back to Heaven's Punishment, you won't receive any reward for him." Zhang Yuanqing automatically tuned out the latter half of the statement. He stood up and left the conference room. As he walked through the Operations Department's office floor, the Wind Mages and clerical staff he passed bowed in greeting, their demeanor bordering on reverent. These proud members of the Operations Department looked upon this Beast King from the Second District with eyes full of awe and admiration. He had been in New York County for less than half a month, yet he had successively hunted down the second and fifth names on the Class A Wanted List. Bacchus in particular was an outlaw whom only a Dominator was thought capable of killing—a thorn in the side of the orthodox faction. Yet starting today, Bacchus was history. Upon learning that Bacchus had been slain, most Operations Department members hadn't even washed their faces or brushed their teeth before throwing on clothes, driving back to the bank building, and rushing to the morgue to view Bacchus's corpse. Only when they saw the shriveled body lying on the morgue gurney did it truly sink in that Bacchus had really returned to the Spirit Realm, feeling like a dream. That very night, Sean Meade instructed the public relations department to post an announcement on the Heaven's Punishment forum declaring that Bacchus and Hecate had been eliminated. Over the past two days, the Chief Executive Officer had endured immense outside pressure, and he was eager to silence the criticism and turn public opinion around. *** In Queens, inside an abandoned house whose windows and doors were boarded shut, Commandery Princess Yinyao sat atop the coffin lid, quietly awaiting her master's arrival. The house had sat vacant for a long time, its chairs, sofas, and other furniture covered in dust sheets. Unoccupied houses like this were plentiful in New York County. Under the laws of the Free Confederation, if squatters occupied a vacant home and paid utility bills for a certain period, the property would automatically become theirs. Consequently, landlords often boarded up the windows and doors to keep squatters from seizing their property. Dreamlike starlight rose within the room. Commandery Princess Yinyao tilted her head slightly to see the handsome, fresh-faced youth step out from the starlight. Seeing Zhang Yuanqing arrive, Commandery Princess Yinyao immediately raised her little loudspeaker. "I have seen this class before, in Western teachings." "Western teachings?" Zhang Yuanqing asked in confusion. Commandery Princess Yinyao tapped her speaker. "When I roamed the mortal realm, I encountered Western missionaries. In the name of proselytizing, they swindled money and women among the common folk. There were practitioners among their priests, and I killed a few. Some of them couldn't be slain; after suffering mortal wounds, they would turn into something like this." "In the era you encountered those Western missionaries, they had probably just come out of the Black Death. Europe was in ruins and times were hard, so they came to the Ming dynasty to eke out a living," Zhang Yuanqing brushed it off casually. He walked over to the coffin, pressed his palm against the lid, and read the item information: [Name: Coffin of Slumber] [Type: Coffin] [Function: Amplification, Sealing] [Description: It once served as the resting place of a certain Eternal Silence Walker. Having been steeped in that powerhouse's aura over time, it gradually developed miraculous properties and acquired a powerful sealing function. When someone of an Eternal Night class lies inside the coffin, the intensity of all their skills receives a boost.] [Remarks: An exclusive item for Eternal Night classes. To other Spirit Realm walkers, its sole function is sealing.] A class-exclusive booster item, similar to Fu Qingyang's Court Swordsman Cloak, though worlds apart in quality... It could be used to seal away things—evil objects, enemies, and the like... Zhang Yuanqing was very pleased with the item's "sealing" function. After all, that was precisely what he lacked. Naturally, his immediate concern was how to deal with Hecate. On that point, Zhang Yuanqing already had a plan. He pulled out his phone and dialed the President's number. A dozen seconds later, the call connected. Zhang Yuanqing got straight to the point. "I killed Bacchus and Hecate. Hecate's passive triggered, so come over and deal with him." The President sighed. "While I ought to give you a thumbs-up right about now, aren't you calling me a bit too often? I'm your sugar daddy, not your babysitter." "Sugar daddy, come over and deal with it." "..." A few minutes later, the President teleported in. Standing by the coffin, he examined Hecate, whose body remained in an ethereal state. Zhang Yuanqing explained, "I killed him inside the dreamscape. The identity of Sect Master Tongtian was exposed, so Hecate has to die." "The Eternal Night passive is indeed troublesome. Although it can only be used once at the Extraordinary stage, twice at the Saint stage, and three times at the Dominator stage, as long as the passive remains active, killing them is exceptionally difficult." Dressed in shit-yellow pajamas, the President reached out and grabbed Hecate by the throat. Like Hecate's body, his hand shifted into an ethereal state. When it came to Void abilities, Merchants were the true experts in that domain. Crack! With a slight exertion of force, the President snapped Hecate's neck. Head separating from torso, the peak Saint Abyss Apostle dropped out of his ethereal state, turning into a warm corpse. Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Yuanqing activated Spirit Devouring, swallowing Hecate's soul. A few minutes later, the thick, pitch-black power in his eye sockets receded. He had obtained information regarding the Night God Church, the Eternal Night classes, and the Hunter Guild. The Night God Church was a relatively loose organization. Its Pope and elders almost never showed their faces, sleeping for years on end, which meant the organization had neither discipline nor management. The elders occasionally issued orders to internal members using specialized items. You could choose to obey the orders, or you could simply ignore the elders—it wasn't as if they would wake up to beat you. Not that they were unwilling, but that they were unable. High-ranking Eternal Night walkers spent most of their lives slumbering; sleep was their state of existence. According to Hecate's knowledge, the culmination of the Eternal Night class was transcending the form of carbon-based life and becoming the Abyss itself. The Abyss devoured all, including light. To date, no one of an Eternal Night class had reached that realm, not even the Pope of the Night God Church. As for the Hunter Guild, Hecate's superior was one of its three vice presidents, who went by the name "Thor"—a Dominator-grade Lightning Mage. "Thor..." The President gave a dry laugh. "That's the Spirit Realm ID of Heaven's Punishment's Chief Prosecutor." The esteemed Chief Prosecutor, a demigod powerhouse, obviously could not be a vice president of the Hunter Guild. For that vice president to adopt such a name demonstrated his wild ambition to usurp and replace Heaven's Punishment's Chief Prosecutor. The President said, "Next, you need to give Catherine a satisfying explanation so she accepts the mission's failure without suspecting you. With the Hunter Guild losing both Bacchus and Hecate, and Cocktail hiding inside a Spirit Realm dungeon, there are very few peak Saints left that the Hunter Guild can mobilize. They're bound to rely heavily on you. When that happens, you'll gain access to higher-level information and find opportunities to score major achievements." *And then get promoted into a big boss of the villain faction?* Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, *President, don't keep me under cover for "three years and then another three years"—I definitely can't resist temptation.* "I'll find a way to fudge things with Catherine." Inwardly, Zhang Yuanqing added: *Worst case, I'll sacrifice my good looks.* When a supposedly surefire mission failed, Catherine was bound to suspect him. That was precisely why he had been so patient tonight in answering Sean Meade's questions. There was a Covenant of Freedom spy inside the Operations Department! The spy would surely look into this incident to uncover the truth. When the time came, Jumang's mission report would serve as the evidence clearing Sect Master Tongtian of suspicion. Zhang Yuanqing put away the coffin and Commandery Princess Yinyao, bid farewell to the President, and departed as starlight. *** The next day! Turning on his backup phone, he found a text message and missed calls from Catherine. [Catherine: The moment you see this message, come meet me at the wellness club.] *** Songhai, Beijing time, 8:30 PM. Having finished dealing with official business, Fu Qingyang was just about to change into his martial arts uniform and head to the training room to hone his swordsmanship. With a ding from his inbox, a new email arrived. He opened his inbox and found an email from the Five Elements Alliance's Foreign Affairs Department. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elder Miao, was inviting him to attend an online conference scheduled for fifteen minutes later.