On his drive back in the Jiade car, Chen Chuan took a deliberate detour past the former site of the Molan Building. Sure enough, the place had now been taken over by the Yuangan Company.
As an arms manufacturer, Yuan'an possessed formidable security forces of its own, boasting security units even more elite than those of the Molan Company. Armed patrol vehicles passed by from time to time, while transport carriers and armored vehicles stood stationed across the plaza, primed to deploy at a moment's notice.
Yet the Yuangan Company differed from Molan. This site appeared to serve merely as a corporate outpost; they held no industries or factories in the vicinity of the city, nor did they fraternize with the municipal high brass.
If one were to speak of their primary endeavors, it was maintaining Yuanwang Port to the east and the construction of the Northern Railway, as though laying the groundwork for something.
After departing the area, he stopped by the telegraph office to send off a telegram to He Xiaoxing.
During their previous telegraph exchanges, He Xiaoxing had mentioned that beyond the breathing method itself, the Furnace Breathing Technique included a separate set of applications, though only—
Once he was done and had stepped outside, he returned home. The moment he walked through the door, he saw the two little ones sprawled on the sofa, resting their chins in their hands as they wrestled with a cross-checkers set he had brought back.
Chaoming perched on the crest of the sofa, seemingly watching the game as well. Seeing him enter, the creature immediately lifted its body, let out a cheerful chirp, flapped its wings, and hopped down, scurrying all the way to his side before clambering up onto his shoulder.
Chen Chuan walked over to the telephone. On a nearby memo pad, someone had scrawled crookedly: "Brother Ding Jiao called at three o'clock." A smile touched his lips, knowing it was the handiwork of his younger cousin, Nian Lu. Although Nian Mo was clever too, he was far more playful, and he still couldn't write out all those characters properly.
He picked up the receiver and dialed back. As soon as Ding Jiao answered, he instantly declared that he had already gathered everyone; they would have a great reunion tomorrow, go boating, and catch a movie.
Chen Chuan agreed.
Since he was on break, he might as well unwind properly.
He felt that once he returned to Center City, he likely wouldn't have such relaxed leisure time for a very long while.
Just as he hung up the receiver and prepared to walk away, the telephone rang again. He lifted it and had barely voiced an inquiry when a hearty voice boomed from the other end.
"Junior? I hear you're back?"
Chen Chuan smiled. "Brother Wei? Yes, I just got back yesterday."
Wei Chang'an said, "Ah, Junior, you didn't even give a heads-up when you came back! Your Brother Wei has to treat you to a meal no matter what. Are you really going to treat me like a stranger?"
Chen Chuan chuckled. "How could I? I was just thinking of looking you up, as well as the folks from our old squad, to get everyone together for a gathering."
Wei Chang'an replied, "That's easy. After you left for Center City, the rest of us still met up often, and we even teamed up on commissions now and then. Leave it to your Brother Wei; I'll let you know once everyone's assembled."
"All right, I'll leave it in Brother Wei's hands then," Chen Chuan said.
After chatting casually for a few more moments, he hung up, headed to his room, and took out his prescribed calming medication to ingest. After practicing his breathing technique for a while, he felt his mind clear and his spirit brighten.
He then retrieved the volume of *Investigations of Varied Anomalies* from his luggage, sat on the bed, and slowly leafed through it.
Since drawing in his outward aura, the awe-inspiring presence about him had faded, yet his vitality had become all the more striking, and his thoughts felt swifter than ever before.
Without a boundary credential to cross-reference and convert the text, he could only read the vertical edition in his hands. But after reading for a while, he gradually grew accustomed to it, even finding that reading it this way seemed to carry greater resonance.
Most of the book discussed how to confront anomalies. The experiences recorded by many were bizarre in the extreme, reading so grim and chilling that they could send shivers through a reader's heart even in sweltering heat.
Yet some figures showed remarkable wit and character.
For instance, there was an eccentric named Liu Cai, whose chapter Chen Chuan particularly enjoyed reading. This man was exceedingly fond of sleep; he even carried out his combat training in dreams. At times his limbs would move spontaneously, and he would even sleepwalk out of the house. Consequently, nearly all the anomalies he encountered took place in a state between sleeping and waking.
Once, while he was half-asleep, rustling sounds suddenly arose in his home, as if someone were burgling the place. Yet being fast asleep, he couldn't be bothered to care.
Then someone shouted right in his ear that the house was on fire. A brilliant red glow flared behind his back, and he seemed to smell the scent of scorching. He simply bellowed, "The one getting roasted is your old man, what business is it of yours?" and went right back to sleep.
When he woke, there had been no fire, but his household possessions had been picked clean. Yet he merely laughed heartily, not minding in the least.
Another time, shortly after lying down, he felt cold hands caressing his body, accompanied by someone whispering sweet nothings in his ear. But his wife had passed away long ago, he had never remarried, and his servants had long been dismissed—where could another person have come from?
Yet when he awoke, he found the chamber door wide open, with marks on the floor where a giant serpent had slithered past. He merely smiled, bowed toward the outside, and said, "My thanks to you for the kindness of not eating me."
On yet another occasion, while sound asleep, he suddenly felt himself drifting above the clouds, beholding fine wine, exquisite delicacies, and ravishing beauties before him, yours for the taking with a mere stretch of the arm. Yet he was too lazy to reach out. When he woke, he found himself sprawled atop a mountain cliff edge; had he reached out at the time, he would have plunged straight down.
This Liu Cai was truly a man of magnanimous spirit and pure optimism. It was only after his reputation reached the imperial court that they invited him to join in compiling the book.
Participating in compiling the book was hardly an enviable assignment. As compilers recalled their experiences, various anomalies would often surface before their eyes, and some would even perceive the anomalies recorded by others while reading them.
These anomalies seemed to entangle and attract one another, frequently driving compilers mad midway through the process or causing sudden death. Liu Cai was among the few recorded in *Investigations of Varied Anomalies* who managed to emerge entirely unscathed.
Surveying his conduct, it all came down to being unburdened by attachments. Utterly indifferent to every apparition, he had avoided each of those external disturbances one by one.
Chen Chuan reflected on his own situation. Although he had reined in his outward intent, which might reduce instances of manifesting anomalies, as long as he sought further progress, they were bound to occur again.
Moreover, he had noticed that these phenomena only surfaced when his emotions underwent significant shifts. Thus, they could be controlled and avoided, though one could not force it too deliberately, for the more conscious effort one applied, the more likely it was to trigger them.
Another necessity was maintaining absolute calm during battle, so that his mind would not be disrupted when facing powerful adversaries.
While he was turning the pages, dusk gradually settled over the sky, and Nian Fuli returned from the constabulary. Yu Wan noticed that his mood seemed somewhat off. Waving for Nian Mo and Nian Lu to go out and play, she stepped forward and asked with concern, "Lao Nian, what happened?"
Nian Fuli pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff. "That newly arrived Instructor Che has clashed with Director Guan again."
"That doesn't have anything to do with you, does it, Lao Nian?" Yu Wan asked worriedly.
Nian Fuli said, "Since I'm in the bureau, how could anything be avoided? That Instructor Che has sought me out twice already. Even squad captains like Wei Laohu were pulled aside for private talks. He's looking for people to back him, both openly and behind the scenes."
Surprised, Yu Wan said, "Instructor Che has only been here a few months, hasn't he? Would anyone actually listen to him?"
Nian Fuli took another drag of his cigarette and exhaled a long plume of smoke. "This Instructor Che has his methods. Right off the bat, he demanded assessments for the patrol officers. Fail once, docking pay; fail twice, internal disciplinary action; fail thrice, dismissal. But whether someone passes or fails rests entirely in his hands, isn't it his say? Quite a few patrol officers couldn't hold out and have already leaned over to his side."
Yu Wan was somewhat perplexed. "Does he have the authority to dismiss patrol officers?" The constabulary was exceptionally tight-knit internally; if the director, deputy directors, and major squad captains did not agree, such a thing could never be done.
Nian Fuli said, "Dismissing people outright is beyond his capability for now, but he can pack them off to the surrounding towns and counties. Deputy Director Shang has been cooperating with him closely on that front."
Chen Chuan had emerged from his room by this time. Hearing those words, a thought crossed his mind, and he immediately realized how potent that move was.
The surrounding towns and counties only had modest Public Security Bureau personnel, who all hoped to be transferred into the constabulary of Yangzhi City. If sent out there, one's pay and status would drop by a wide margin. Faced with such a steep downgrade, an ordinary patrol officer would find it virtually unbearable.
Nian Fuli continued, "When this Instructor Che arrived to assume his post, he brought along a whole team of men. He's now slotting them into lower positions as squad instructors, claiming it's to enhance the patrol officers' combat readiness. While technically within the scope of his duties, anyone can see he wants to run things his own way."
Yu Wan grew a bit anxious and said, "Can't Director Guan do something about it?"
"Director Guan..." Nian Fuli shook his head. "Director Guan actually has competence, and he cares for his subordinates, but he's too upright. At crucial moments, he often can't bring himself to be ruthless. It wouldn't have been like this if our old company commander were still here—he would've pushed back long ago. No matter how formidable that man Che might be in a fight, he wouldn't have stirred up the slightest ripple."
Though his old company commander had been ruthless in his methods, he held the constabulary's interests supreme and would never allow an outsider to meddle on his home turf.
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "Director Guan probably doesn't want the relationship to turn completely sour. After all, key figures in the bureau still rely on this instructor for protection. Still, transferring Instructor Wen away and sending this one over suggests that higher-ups might want him to accomplish something."
"Xiao Chuan sees it clearly." Nian Fuli slapped his thigh. "What they want is to deal with those fortified villages outside the city.
"Have members of resistance organizations stayed there? Certainly they have. But that hasn't been a matter of just a year or two. Those villagers have no one to protect them to begin with; facing raids by bandits and armed outfits, what else could they do but fortify their villages for self-defense? If decent folk could live in peace and security, who would choose to fight and kill?
"Instead of going out to wipe out the bandits and armed outfits, they turn around to strike at those villagers—it's simply dishonorable."
At this, he took another deep pull from his cigarette. "The bureau has an operation scheduled for the day after tomorrow, going outside the city to eradicate a village suspected of harboring resistance organization members. Originally, they planned to have me lead the squad."
"And then?" Yu Wan asked anxiously.
Nian Fuli seemed somewhat puzzled by it as well. Frowning, he said, "Later, for reasons unknown, that fellow Che came to see me this afternoon. His attitude was noticeably more polite than usual, telling me the task had been assigned to someone else and that I didn't need to go. Hah, not going is for the best. I have no desire to get mixed up in dirty work that weighs on the conscience."
As they were speaking, someone banged on the door from outside, calling out loudly, "Captain Nian, someone from the bureau is here!"
Nian Fuli cursed under his breath. "Who is it, picking a time like this..." He walked out, exchanged a few words outside, and then returned with an odd look on his face, glancing toward Chen Chuan. "Che is here. He says... he wants to see Xiao Chuan."
Chapter 354