Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 53

Long Shen flattened Dong Zhi’s wrist, put three fingers on the other hand, tightened his pulse for a moment, and released it.

“Inviting Gods is a very strenuous task. The greater the energy of the spirit body invited, the greater the consequences. Zhong Yuyi is suitable for this job because he’s born with a yin spirit body, but even with that, the side effects of inviting Gods are still great. Therefore, I don’t allow him to go out to the field.”

Suddenly, Dong Zhi understood why Kan Chaosheng and He Yu were sent on their mission, but Zhong Yuyi never followed.

Long Shen: “Are you afraid?”

Dong Zhi nodded obediently. “How did I invite Qianliyan and Second Master Guan? It can’t be that my body is more suitable for this than Lao Zhong?”

Long Shen thought deeply. “Let’s put it this way. Asking the Gods is to ask for their attention. It is the Yin God who is looking for you, not you looking for the Yin God. Zhong Yuyi should have told you that burning incense and praying is to let the Yin spirit hear your prayers. This means you’re allowing them to possess you to give you advice. Still, it all comes down to chance. Since you can invite righteous gods like Qianliyan and Second Master Guan, you have caught their eyes, but in terms of what you need to give up, if you ask for too much, it’ll be very detrimental to your body.”

He continued, “The Special Administration Bureau taught you this course not so you can play around when you have nothing to do, but to teach you more and make you aware of it. In the future, only as a last resort should you use it.”

The first time Dong Zhi attempted it, he invited Qianliyan. The second time, he was directly possessed by Second Master Guan. It seems that he was particularly popular with the gods. Hearing Long Shen’s words, he started to feel the aftermath again. His head became dizzy and light, and he started to gasp for breath after saying a few words. This was a sign of loss of energy and spirit. If this continued to develop, he could become like Zhong Yuyi, with his extremely delayed reflexes and reactions.

Long Shen said, “You can’t fall behind on your kung fu tona, but the matter of practicing every day on the rooftop can be put on hold for the time being. It’s also very energy-consuming to use the Five Thunder Talisman.”

Dong Zhi nodded.

In fact, he was never neglectful in his practice. He even incorporated a few sword moves that Long Shen had taught him into his daily routine. Although he wouldn’t reach Liu Qingbo’s level of perfection in the short term, this gap between them is only due to time, not diligence.

The improvement of physical strength also has an impact on the invitation to Gods. If the body is not good enough and he invited another righteous God, it wouldn’t just be dizziness that he would experience but rather a trip straight to the hospital.

Thinking of Lin Xuan’s words, Dong Zhi hesitated for a moment and said, “Lin Xuan told me that one of those Japanese people was killed by me. It won’t have any bad impact on you, will it?

Long Shen frowned. “Why are you mixed up with Lin Xuan?”

Dong Zhi told him how he ran into him.

Long Shen didn’t comment on Lin Xuan’s motives but said, “It’s fine. Don’t think about it. We were able to get the information on the pattern of the mirror because of you.”

So, did this mean he made another contribution?

Dong Zhi belonged to the type who “could open a dye workshop if he got three points of color*”. When he heard this, he said happily, “Is there any reward?”

*(得了三分颜色，就要开染坊) Refers to getting carried away when you receive face/favors from others.

Long Shen glanced at him. “What reward do you want?”

Dong Zhi said, embarrassedly, “I don’t want bonuses or anything. Can you give me a place as your apprentice?”

Long Shen felt a bit amused. “Do you know what Liu Qingbo came in to do just now?”

Seeing Dong Zhi’s look of uncertainty, he said, “Their group met zombies in the tomb and were separated. Liu Qingbo took one out by himself. In the end, he found his way out and asked me for some credit. He hoped that I would take him as an apprentice.”

Dong Zhi: …

Compared that to his performance, isn’t his own performance lacking?

Long Shen: “Do you think I can agree?”

Dong Zhi felt righteous. “Of course not. Competition should be conducted under the same conditions. The results of unequal competition cannot be counted!”

Long Shen smiled and said, “I think so too. Go and rest first, and there will be the next round of training waiting for you in a few days.”

Coming with complacency and returning with disappointment, Dong Zhi suddenly understood why Liu Qingbo’s had such an expression when he ran into him just now.

“Wait.” Long Shen stopped him.

Dong Zhi turned his head quickly, with a look of “hurry up and keep me”.

Long Shen took out a talisman folded into a triangle and strung with red money from the drawer.

“This is a soothing talisman from Mount Longhu. It doesn’t have much effect, but it’s good for your current state. Wear it and don’t let it leave your body.”

Seeing as how Dong Zhi was holding a box with both hands and didn’t have one free, Long Shen personally put the talisman on him. The Soothing Talisman seemed to have an instant effect as his mood calmed.

At the end of the day, Liu Qingbo didn’t get such treatment, and the male god had personally put the talisman on him.

He went downstairs with the box in his arms, intending to ask the gatekeeper if he wanted a cat. He happened to run into two people standing around the door talking. One was Ba Sang, and the other was Li Ying.

Li Ying smiled when he saw Dong Zhi. “I heard you killed some Japanese?”

Dong Zhi smiled bitterly. “Why don’t good things come, yet bad things spread thousands of miles*?”

*(好事不出门，坏事传千里) Refers to good things aren’t easy to find, yet bad things spread quickly and widely.

Li Ying laughed. “How can this be a bad thing? That higher-ups said yours was a special session held, and the evaluation is good, and we need to keep up our efforts. I regret that I didn’t follow you to the god invitation class!”

Dong Zhi said, “I still envy you. How were you over there? I heard from the Boss Long that you really ran into zombies?”

Ba Sang shook his head. “Don’t talk about it. Some people like to play by themselves and hog all the prestige. They obviously agreed to meet at an appointed time, but never showed up. We thought he was missing, so we went to look for him, but almost got caught in a trap.”

Dong Zhi said curiously, “Who? Liu Qingbo?”

From the expressions of Ba Sang and Li Ying, he knew that his guess was correct.

Li Ying sighed. “I thought since he’s from a famous family, he would be level-headed overall. I didn’t expect he would be so willful, but then again, his performance is indeed good. Though he might have killed a zombie alone, he’s probably a headache.”

Ba Sang didn’t understand. “Why a headache?”

Dong Zhi explained, “He has the capability to fight alone, so it’s a pity not to recruit him, but if he enters the Special Administration Bureau, he may not be able to cooperate with others.”

Li Ying agreed.

“Meow~”

Unwilling to be ignored, the kitten poked its head out of the box. Ba Sang stretched out his hand to pet it on its head, causing the cat to shrink back quickly.

Li Ying said, “You have to be mentally prepared first. I heard that there will be a test next.”

With his father as a consultant in the bureau, and he would know more gossip than the others. Ba Sang and Dong Zhi looked at each other.

“What kind of test? Is it a zombie simulation again?”

Li Ying sneered, “The zombies have been simulated once, and everyone’s prepared for it. It’s unlikely they’ll do it again. I heard that we may be going northwest this time, but I don’t know the details. There should be news in the next two days.”

After a few more words of gossip, the three of them dispersed.

Dong Zhi held the box to the doorman and asked if he wanted to keep the cat to catch mice. The uncle slowly raised his head and glanced at him. “There are no mice in this building. I’ve eaten them all.”

Dong Zhi: …

He looked at the uncle, and the uncle looked at him. Dong Zhi gave him a stiff smile and slowly backed away.

“Then-Then I’ll raise it myself!”

The uncle looked at the other party’s back, walking away while holding the box, and shook his head, thinking to himself that young people nowadays are always so rushed. He then narrowed his eyes and continued to bask in the sun with his head down.

When Dong Zhi took the cat back to the dorms, the kitten timidly stuck its head out, curious to observe the surrounding environment.

“I haven’t found you an owner for the time being, so it seems like I’ll have to raise you first.” Dong Zhi said as he looked at its hairy head.

The kitten hadn’t realized that its life had changed drastically in a single day. It has now upgraded from a stray cat to a domestic one.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Dong Zhi got up and opened it.

“You left something behind.” Long Shen brought the bag of fried chicken and handed it to him.

Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “Uncle Qian gave me this. I have already eaten before, so you can have it.”

“I won’t eat it.” Long Shen shook his head and handed him the bag.

Behind Dong Zhi, the cat jumped out of the box and ran to his feet to meow.

“Why did you bring it back?” Long Shen said, with hints of disagreement in his voice.

“I can’t find anyone to raise it, so I can only raise it for now.”

Long Shen: “You will go on a mission in two days. You can’t raise it when you’re going to be gone for ten days to half a month.”

Dong Zhi was taken aback. “What mission? Is it urgent?”

“It’s part of the training exam.”

Li Ying’s gossip was accurate.

Dong Zhi picked the cat up. On the way back, he had dropped by a pet store and given the cat a bath. Though the cat was really thin, it looked much cleaner now as its fur was snowy-white. It’ll look even better once it gets a bit fatter in the future.

“Then when I leave for my mission, can I leave the cat with you?”

Long Shen shook his head. “I’m going with you too.”

Dong Zhi tentatively said, “Is this exam difficult?”

“I don’t know. You have to practice your kung fu tona well in the next few days. Don’t slack off.”

This was the second time he had told Dong Zhi. Long Shen never drabbled nonsense, so for him to repeat it twice meant it must be extremely important.

“I won’t,” Dong Zhi said as the fluff ball in his arms kept twisting restlessly, causing his heart to be moved. “I can’t think of a name for it. Why don’t you give it a name?”

Long Shen: …

“Name it yourself.”

Dong Zhi pretended not to understand the other party’s refusal and said with a smile. “I heard Uncle Qian say that you have fed it several times, otherwise it might have died a long time ago. This can only be regarded as a fate.”

He had long known that Long Shen ate soft not hard*. He wouldn’t refuse such innocuous, non-principled small requests, just like when he gifted Long Shen the succulent last time.

*(吃软不吃硬) Metaphor for someone who accepts gentle persuasion without coercion.

However, for Deputy Director Long, such a task was monumentally difficult for him. He stared at the cat for a long time before saying, “Just call it… Kitten*?”

*Clarity: [Xiao Mao] (小猫) literally translates to kitten/little cat.

Dong Zhi: …Then why not just name it Meowmeow or Maomao*!

*Clarity: [Maomao] [毛毛] literally translates to baby.

Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck. “Why not call it Longlong?”

Long Shen: …

Dong Zhi took advantage before Long Shen could speak and raised the kitten towards him and smiled. “You’ll have a name from now on, Longlong!”

Long Shen wanted to speak out against it, but after thinking about it, he decided to let it go. After all, it was just a name.

However, naming was only the first step in this long, thousand-mile march for Dong Zhi. He found that raising a cat wasn’t an easy task. Even if it was only temporary, cat food, cat litter, hair combs, flea repellent, and nutritional ointment were all indispensable. He bought some at the pet store and had to order more online after a while.

Longlong had a very good temper. It may be because of its previous experience as a stray, but it wasn’t as playful or mischievous as ordinary domesticated cats. It just slept and ate to its fullest every day. Dong Zhi was worried that at this rate, it would balloon up like Kan Chaosheng.

While he raised a cat, he didn’t neglect his training and did everything according to what Long Shen told him. In the past two days, before he got up and went to bed, he would do two sets of kung fu tona, and sometimes he would do it again after lunch. Eventually, after two days, the fatigue that had accumulated in his body seemed to have eased a lot, and the heavy and minor side-effects of inviting god had almost disappeared.

As the group of people who went to the tomb returned one after another, their next stage of training was once again back on the table.

For Dong Zhi and his group, they had followed Zhong Yuyi and learned how to invite gods, but because of an accident in the middle of the course, it had to be cancelled halfway. Everyone stayed in the farmhouse for a whole week and looked like they had grown long hair and beards by the time they were free. It was hard for them to wait for the other group to come back, as the ceaseless idleness was driving them impatient.

With everyone’s return, they have all arrived in the classroom on time on this morning’s day in accordance with the notice.

“What do you think we are going to learn today?” Gu Meiren asked Dong Zhi and them.

Everyone shook their heads, feeling a little uneasy. Generally speaking, the content of the course was usually notified in advance, unless it was to purposefully catch them off-guard, like the simulation training.

Dong Zhi jabbed Ba Sang’s arm with his elbow and said, “Was it fun going to the tombs?”

Ba Sang scratched his head. “It’s okay. I just followed a big army and worked with a few people to eliminate a lich. It wasn’t dangerous, but the period inside the tomb was more torturous.”

Gu Meiren also joined the chat. “What do you mean?”

Ba Sang: “In a dark environment, I have no idea what’s ahead or what’s behind. Unknown danger could be lurking everywhere, so it made me uneasy.”

Gu Meiren sighed. “That’s better than ending before you even start. I thought it would be fun to invite God.”

Dong Zhi faintly guessed that the suspension of this course should be related to the scene he saw with his clairvoyance, but since the higher-ups were involved, he remained silent about the matter before he got permission.

The buzzing voices suddenly stopped as people came in from the outside. Everyone had a surprised expression on their face.

It wasn’t just one or two, but all three Deputy Directors were here!

This was a rare lineup.

Even after the simulation training was over that day, only Wu Bingtian and Long Shen gave them lessons to summarize their experience. Today, the last Deputy Director, Song Zhicun, was also present.

The three of them were followed by a young man. While others didn’t know him, Dong Zhi was quite familiar with him. It was Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan quickly spotted Dong Zhi sitting in his seat and winked at him. Dong Zhi pretended he didn’t see it.

As usual, Wu Bingtian spoke first. With a smile on his face, he looked around at everyone. “How are you resting these few days?”

“I’m getting moldy from all this leisure.”

He didn’t know who said it, but it made everyone laugh. They didn’t need to ask to know that it was from the group that stayed back.

While Li Ying, Liu Qingbo, and a few others returned early and had taken a few days off, they were much more reserved.

“Not bad.”

“Let’s continue class.”

“I’m doing good.”

Wu Bingtian’s smile narrowed and became serious. The atmosphere instantly condensed, and everyone’s mood was raised.

“You have to listen carefully to what I say next.”

Everyone unconsciously adjusted their sitting posture and pricked up their ears.

Wu Bingtian said, “There is a group of tomb robbers who stole a batch of artifacts from the northwest, including a bronze mirror, which fell into the hands of the Japanese. The police have caught the head of the tomb robber gang. According to their account, they were only on the periphery of the tomb at the time. They have not yet entered the real core area, and now those Japanese have already taken the bronze mirror to the northwest, wanting to enter the core of the tomb. All we have to do is stop the Japanese and get the bronze mirror back. This should have been the work of the police and the archaeological department, but because it is likely to involve demons, it was handed over to us, so it’s our job to carry out the preliminary cleanup. Do you understand?”

“Understood!” Everyone responded.

Wu Bingtian nodded. “Now you can ask any questions.”

Li Ying said, “Boss Wu, is that bronze mirror valuable? In case we encounter a situation where we need to choose between people and the mirror, what should we do?”

Wu Bingtian said, “We tentatively speculate that that mirror is likely to be the key to the core area. At present, we don’t know for the time being what the Japanese’s purpose is, so we need to find out, but if we encounter the kind of situation you mentioned, the safety of your companions is the top priority.”

His gaze swept across the crowd and stayed on Liu Qingbo for a moment.

“This mission is both an assessment and a practice. The purpose is to see what progress you have made during this period of time, and I must remind you that some may die during this trip.”

There was no sound in the classroom, and there was silence.

Wu Bingtian’s words were like boulders, pressing heavily on everyone’s hearts.

“Those Japanese forged their documents and pretended to be foreigners and pretended to be Chinese in order to go to the northwest. Due to the diversity of transportation means and complexity of data, it’s difficult to identify them, but according to the confession of the leader of the tomb robber gang and the information we collected before, there are probably powerful Onmyojis among them. You must not underestimate the enemy! The opponent is not a zombie in the simulation training. At a critical moment, while fighting for life and death, they will not give you a second chance to survive! In addition, there are many dangers in an ancient tomb. Even if you are cultivators, you can’t be careless. Life, once it’s gone, will never come back, so if any of you want to quit now, you can leave right away!”

Withdrawing from this mission means withdrawing from the Special Administration Bureau.

No matter what everyone was thinking, no one stood up and walked out.

Wu Bingtian’s tone became a bit more solemn. “Don’t think that I’m joking with you. You can ask about it. In the past few training sessions, there have been many people who have sacrificed their lives. They didn’t even have time to become members of the Special Administration Bureau before they already fell down. Don’t regret it later when it’s too late!”

He waited for a while, but still no one got up.

Wu Bingtian nodded. “Very good. There are no cowards in the Special Administration Bureau! Since everyone has decided to stay and participate, let me tell you the specific details. Although the bronze mirror was looted by the Japanese, we got the engraving on the back of the mirror and found that there were two inscriptions on it with the words Helan and Phoenix. Based on the situation, we speculate that Helan refers to Helan Mountain while Phoenix refers to the ancient name of Yinchuan. It’s preliminarily estimated that the tomb is located near the mausoleum of the Western Xia Dynasty. When we get there, we’ll go down from the cave that was dug by the tomb robbers. The Japanese should be one step ahead of us. They can block the cave from the inside, but they can’t cover up the traces outside, so we can still find it…”

Everyone listened intently for fear of missing every detail, because it was not only related to everyone’s assessment but also to their own safety. No one would joke about their own lives.

After Wu Bingtian finished speaking, he took a breath, which also gave them time to digest the information.

“This mission will be led by Boss Long and Boss Song personally, with Boss Long as the team leader and Boss Song as the deputy team leader. I will sit in the General Administration Bureau and also serve as logistics to deal with unforeseen needs. Next, I’ll ask Boss Long to talk more about it.”

Hearing these words, everyone had their own thoughts in their hearts. With two Deputy Directors personally leading the team, it gave them a new understanding of the importance and the difficulty and severity of the mission.

Long Shen nodded to Wu Bingtian and took a step back.

“This mission is equivalent to a practical exam. The final result will determine whether you can stay and become a member of the Special Administration Bureau. Outside, my request is very simple. Everyone must follow instructions. I don’t want to have a situation where you do your own thing and it backfires. If you try, even if you can return alive, I won’t let you enter the Special Administration Bureau. That’s all.”

His speeches were always concise and powerful, shocking people’s hearts. Even for someone like Liu Qingbo, who didn’t listen to commands, when he heard such a thing, it held more weight to him.

Song Zhicun coughed lightly. “Let me introduce everyone. This is Lin Xuan. He has had contact with the Japanese before and is more familiar with the situation. He will join us this time.”

It seems that the reason why Lin Xuan was not dealt with was because he was very smart, surrendered to them in time, and turned into a “tainted witness*”.

*(污点证人) Refers to witnesses who are also participants in criminal activities (usually the crime itself) but testify for the prosecution in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution or reduced or lenient charges.

Although the Lin Family is quite prestigious in Lignan, since Lin Xuan had only recently inherited the family business, everyone had no reaction to his name.

Seeing that everyone was not in high spirits, Song Zhicun smiled and said, “Today is a holiday. Tomorrow morning at nine, gather here and we’ll set off on time. Everyone should rest early today and stop playing around. If you can’t get up tomorrow morning, we won’t wait for you. Just go to Yinchuan by yourself.”

He deliberately reconciled the atmosphere, but everyone was still so immersed in what they had just learned that no one could laugh. Seeing this, Wu Bingtian didn’t say much, so he let everyone disperse, and he left with the other two.

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The author has something to say:

Dong Zhi: Longlong, come here. Do you want to play with a cat teaser?

Long Shen, who was in a meeting, sneezed.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Dong Zhi skipping steps here. Usually, you become a couple first before adopting a pet.

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<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 52

The police soon arrived, hearing that a murder had taken place. Seeing the handover personnel finally came, Song Zhicun got up and introduced himself, “Special Administration Bureau, Song Zhicun. This is Long Shen of the Long Bureau.”

Ordinary people may not have heard of the Special Administration Bureau, but they aren’t strangers. The leader immediately saluted them. “Boss Song, Boss Long.”

Song Zhicun nodded. “Those outside are all Japanese. This is a case of smuggling cultural relics. I’ll hand the situation over to you first. I will go through the handover procedures with you later, and then send these guys to you.”

Naturally, the other party had no objection.

Song Zhicun looked at Lin Xuan. “And this is Boss Lin—”

“I know who the gang leader of the tomb robbers is. I can pretend to be a buyer to contact them and expose them. All you need to do then is to bring people to catch them!” Lin Xuan’s reaction was extremely quick. As they say, a great man is one who understands the time*.

*(识时务者为俊杰) Refers to a person who can recognize the trends of time and is smart and capable to adapt to them.

In front of the knife, he can only be the fish*. The initiative was now in the hands of his opponent. Even if the Lin family has connections to get rid of the suspicion of reselling cultural relics, for the sake of the dragon bone, he had to bow his head to the Special Administration Bureau.

*(但人为刀俎,我为鱼肉) Idiom referring to one’s fate is in the hands of others.

Song Zhicun and Long Shen looked at each other. The former pondered for a moment before saying to the person in charge of the handover. “This is Boss Lin. We still have questions to ask him, so please give us some time. We’ll send him to you after we finish our questioning.”

He then said to Lin Xuan, “We can’t make a decision about the dragon bone, but we’ll report it to the higher ups for instructions.”

This sentence was pure nonsense. Although the bone dragon has been turned over, the Special Administration Bureau made the greatest effort, so they had leeway in private. However, Song Zhicun would definitely not agree on the spot.

Lin Xuan also understood this and cupped his hand and bowed. “Then I thank you both.”

Long Shen looked back at Dong Zhi and wanted to ask him to leave but found that the other party was leaning on the sofa, already asleep while still holding a pen in his hand. He gently took the pen out of Dong Zhi’s hand, who remained motionless, as he continued to slumber. The fatigue could not be concealed between his eyebrows.

Long Shen didn’t wake him up. Instead, he picked up his arms and slung them on his shoulder, then carried him on his back and walked out.

Song Zhicun didn’t think there was anything off with Long Shen’s action. Besides, Dong Zhi made a great contribution and was able to draw the pattern on the bronze mirror. With this, they can take a more active approach to their investigation.

On the contrary, Lin Xuan smiled upon seeing this. “It turns out that the Boss Long values this little brother so much. No wonder he rushed over so quickly!”

Long Shen glanced at him coldly. “Your cooperation with the Japanese is not resolved yet.”

Lin Xuan raised his hands. “Yes, yes, of course. I’ll deeply reflect on it!”

Long Shen said nothing, turned and left. There was a car already waiting at the door. Long Shen put Dong Zhi in the passenger seat and laid him down flat, and told the driver to drive slowly, then went to the back seat to sit with Song Zhicun.

“How’s it going on those patterns?” Song Zhicun asked.

Long Shen said, “Two words, Phoenix and Helan.”

Song Zhicun frowned and thought about it. “Helan… Is this a surname, a first name, or Helan Mountain? That’s right, there’s a bird and a mountain range on the bronze mirror. If the bird corresponds to the Phoenix, then that mountain should be Helan Mountain. Lin Xuan is right. It really is northwest!”

Long Shen said, “I think that what Phoenix wants to express may not only be the bird, but may have another meaning, such as orientation or location.”

Song Zhicun advised, “Let Lin Xuan get in touch with the other party first. As long as we can find the place where they took the bronze mirror, we should be able to determine the location.”

Long Shen said, “I have an idea.”

Song Zhicun looked at him.

Long Shen: “This is a good opportunity for trial.”

Song Zhi was a little surprised. “You want them to go to the northwest?”

Long Shen nodded. “Those Japanese are so eager to leave with the bronze mirror. They must be looking for something desperately. According to the information revealed on the back of the mirror, their goals and ours are probably the same.”

Song Zhicun also thought about it. “According to our information, Aso Kenzo is probably the one who told Master Fujikawa about the bone dragon on Changbai Mountain. He not only provided the information, but he also accompanied him all the way there. Afterwards, he made frequent contact with Otowa Hatsuhiko. Lin Xuan said that the dead Japanese, Otowa Saburo, was a member of the Otowa Conglomerate. In my opinion, there must be a lot of connections here. Perhaps we can take the opportunity to track down the mastermind behind the last incident.”

Long Shen nodded. “Not only that, but there may also be progress on the clues of the stone tablets.”

Song Zhicun smiled and said, “It seems our decision was right to let the small fish go in order to catch a big one. Now, they are about to make their move again. It’s just that this kind of thing is a bit too risky for a group of green guys who haven’t even finished their training yet.”

Long Shen said, “Do you remember the first training we hosted back then?”

Song Zhicun sighed. “How can you not remember? It was too tragic. Twenty-five people went deep into the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia, and only ten people came back in the end. I still remember that among the fifteen who were lost, many were excellent disciples from Mount Longhu and Mount Maoshan.”

“But their session was also the best one.”

“Indeed. Zhang Hang in Group One I can see won’t have an issue being promoted to head of a branch in a few years. There’s also Tang Jing, who’s solely in charge of the South China Branch.”

Long Shen said, “The more rigorous the training, the more they can grow during a crisis. If they only train here, they’ll always leave room for unpredictable circumstances.”

“I understand what you mean, like the little girl Chi Banxia, I was very optimistic about her, but if she’s still standing like this, I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to make any progress. I will discuss this matter with Boss Wu. As long as the three of us have a unified opinion, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Originally, during the training period for the Special Administration Bureau, there would be a loss rate of personnel each year. This loss refers to the number of deaths of the participants. As long as the death number isn’t too exaggerated, this was considered normal.

True warriors were tempered with blood. A nursery could never raise copper bars and iron bones*, so every session of training would usually result in a few deaths. The only difference between each session was the number of deaths, and this number was in the hands of all the students. To live or to die was their own choice.

*Reminder: Metaphor for a very strong body. Also, it could refer to a person who can bear heavy responsibility.

Long Shen looked forward. Dong Zhi was still hunched over, quietly asleep, as if he was isolating all the violent storms from his dreams. The slight bumps made by the car were insignificant and could not wake him up from a beautiful dream. In his world, perhaps it was already spring, as the dazzling sun brightly shone on all the blooming flowers.

Dong Zhi felt that he had had a long dream. He no longer remembered what he saw or did in his dream, but when he woke up, there was still a smile at the corner of his mouth, as if he had just eaten a lollipop.

Even his mental exhaustion was somewhat relieved after a thorough rest. It was the second time he had woken up in Long Shen’s bed, so he was calm this time around. Dong Zhi pushed off the blanket and rolled to the side of the bed, as if he wanted to leave his own mark on it, and then went through his phone.

There were many missed messages and phone calls. Uncle Qiong sent a few asking him about his condition. Ba Sang had sent him one inviting him to go to the martial arts hall to practice some martial arts. There was even one from Kan Chaosheng.

Kan Chaosheng’s “news” was all posts about how he’s “so hungry”, with zero substance at all. Dong Zhi couldn’t help but laugh. First, he sent a message to Uncle Qian to update him on his well-being, and then he replied to Kan Chaosheng: [Are you still in Fuxian Lake?]

Kan Chaosheng replied in seconds: [I’m starving to death! When you show up, my body will be cold!]

Dong Zhi: [Where are you now? Can you accept express delivery? I will send you something to eat.]

Kan Chaosheng instantly sent a bunch of screaming emojis before replying: [Yes! Yes! We’re staying at a resort by the lake!] Then he immediately sent the address.

Interacting with him so many times, Dong Zhi felt as if he was taking care of a pet that required a large amount of food. However, if this thought was known to the other party, Kan Chaosheng would definitely explode.

Kan Chaosheng: [It’s very troublesome right now and we can’t go back for the time being. Last time, the boss asked us to look around the middle of the lake. I have swum a few laps underwater in the past few days and I really found a group of corpses at the bottom of the lake.”

Reading this, Dong Zhi immediately asked: [What kind of corpses? Can you describe it in detail?]

Kan Chaosheng: [He Yu has the photos. I couldn’t take them at that time. They were just a group of underwater corpses, just like living people, but I don’t know why they stuck to the bottom of the water instead of floating up. They all looked like they were pulled in to fill the lake with enough food.]

Black lines appeared on Dong Zhi’s face as he thought to himself: ‘Is all you care about food all day long?’

Kan Chaosheng: [Later, after investigation, it seemed that some corpses had been contaminated by demonic energy.]

Dong Zhi: [Why is there demons again? Is the energy of the Archfiend that great?]

Kan Chaosheng: [It’s not necessarily an Archfiend! There are many demons and monsters in the world. Archfiends are very powerful, but they are not the most powerful.]

Dong Zhi: [What is the most powerful?]

Kan Chaosheng: [Why are you so dumb? If there are Archfiends, then there must be Earth Demons and Heavenly Demons. They are even more powerful ones on top of them, but it’s useless to tell you anyway, so I won’t waste my breath!]

Dong Zhi: [Don’t you know that I can cancel the order before it is shipped?]

Kan Chaosheng: [What? What’re you saying? I have a bad signal here, so I can’t talk anymore.]

Dong Zhi couldn’t laugh or cry, so he hurriedly sent a message: [You, wait. Tell He Yu to send me pictures of the underwater corpse later!]

Kan Chaosheng: [Why do you care so much about this matter?]

Dong Zhi: [The last time I invited the gods, I saw many corpses underwater. In short, I can’t clearly explain it in just a few words, so I want to confirm it.]

Kan Chaosheng: [Ah, you can invite God?! Don’t be such a braggart. Shall I go to Zong Lao and intercede for you and ensure that your training is stable?]

Dong Zhi: [No, even if you help me go through the back door, I won’t be able to improve my own strength, and it’ll be dangerous for me in the future. Besides, don’t just look down on me all the time. I performed the best in the simulation training last time.]

When the message was sent out, he felt a little immodest and added another word: one*.

*(之一) Refers to the best, however it can be used jokingly if there’s a pause in between sentences, so instead it would be referred to as one of the best (not as complimentary as the former).

Kan Chaosheng sent a tsundere reply: [Then don’t come to me crying for help in the future!]

Putting down the phone, Dong Zhi found that Kan Chaosheng habits had rubbed off on him. He now especially wanted to eat something more appetizing, like spicy noodles with minced meat or beef sour soup.

He went back to his dorm to take a shower, changed his clothes, and went out for food.

Looking around he couldn’t find any place that sells spicy noodles with minced meat. He only found a dan dan noodle restaurant. The owner is from Sichuan, so it looks quite authentic. He explained to Dong Zhi that his noodles were less spicy as Dong Zhi sat down and waited for his food.

“Such a coincidence?” There was a greeting from above the head.

He looked up and found that it was Lin Xuan.

“You haven’t been arrested yet?” Dong Zhi’s tone was bad. The way he squinted his eyes didn’t seem at all like a deterrent, but rather looked like a kind of soft, cute, and harmless little animal. Lin Xuan couldn’t help but smile as he sat down.

“Of course not. I am now a guest of the Special Administration Bureau. How could your leaders arrest me?”

Dong Zhi glared at him, then looked down at his phone and regarded him as air.

Lin Xuan said, “Your leaders made me promise to cooperate with you. I can contact the gang who stole the bronze mirror and help you find its whereabouts.”

He saw that his opponent’s ears moved, signifying that he was clearly listening. He smiled and continued, “And I also know that those Japanese people seem to be related to the Japanese who have done bad things to you on Changbai Mountain.”

Dong Zhi finally raised his head.

“Even without you, we can find these things.”

Lin Xuan nodded and smiled again and said, “Of course, if you don’t even have this ability, how can you be worthy of being called the Special Administration Bureau? It’s just that I can help you save a little time and make it more efficient. Isn’t that still good?”

Because this guy had watched from the sidelines while never intervening in the slightest to help save him, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes and rather gave him a smile that wasn’t a smile. “You can just tell our leaders this kind of thing. There’s no need to explain it to me.

“Actually, I came to apologize to you. In order to get the dragon scale from the Japanese and save my father, I had to cooperate with them.”

Dong Zhi made an ugly face. “If our leaders hadn’t arrived in time, I would have been trapped there.”

Lin Xuan smiled and said, “Even if your leader didn’t come, you killed Otowa Saburo on my territory. I wouldn’t dare deal with you after that. The Japanese will definitely hate me because of this matter, but in the end, I still have to choose to cooperate with you.”

“What’s the origin of Otowa Saburo?”

Lin Xuan said, “He is from the Otowa Conglomerate in Japan. The water there is very deep.”

Dong Zhi frowned. He suddenly remembered that the Japanese man he saw from his clairvoyance was the president of the Otowa Conglomerate, Otowa Hatsuhiko! He occasionally watches the news channel on TV, so it’s no wonder why he felt familiar when he saw him but couldn’t quite place who he was.

He calmed down and asked, “So, do they really have something to do with the Otowa Conglomerate?”

Lin Xuan nodded. “That Otowa Saburo is said to be Otowa’s Hatsuhiko’s bodyguard. He’s equivalent to a domestic samurai. Since you have beaten the dog, you’ll meet its master*. I’m afraid that you have really forged a bond with the Otowa family this time.”

*Metaphor referring to when dealing with bad people, you should take into account their background. || In this context, he’s saying since he killed Saburo (dog) he’ll have to contend with Hatsuhiko (master).

Dong Zhi said angrily, “If I don’t attack them, won’t they want to retaliate anyway? This kind of grudge won’t be over until it’s fully resolved!”

Lin Xuan clapped his hands and said with a smile, “So courageous, truly worthy of being an elite of the Special Administration Bureau!”

Dong Zhi also found that his mentality had changed a lot. Before he went to Changbai Mountain, he was one of the most ordinary people alive. He had the mentality that if others didn’t offend him, he wouldn’t offend others and would retreat first to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Now, when he encountered things, his first thought was not to avoid it, but rather how to solve it, and he even took the initiative to “seek trouble” to help others solve the problem.

At that time, he received a new text message. He looked down and saw that they were photos sent by Kan Chaosheng. The photo was taken underwater. In the blue water of the lake was a body with stiff and eccentric characteristics that was hovering in the water as the clothes it was wearing showed rippling motions due to the water fluctuation.

With just a glance, he recognized that the photo was exactly the scene he saw when he invited God. If this is true, then could the cloaked person who was sitting opposite of Otowa Hatsuhiko have something to do with demonic magic?

The dan dan noodles were cooked and delivered, but as soon as he started thinking about it, he didn’t even pay much attention to eating the noodles, let alone to what he was eating.

Lin Xuan couldn’t laugh or cry. “Hey, why don’t we put aside our differences and forget each other’s grievances. Are you just going to eat by yourself?”

“I didn’t say that I forgive you. Besides, Boss Lin, do you need someone else to invite you to eat a bowl of noodles?”

“Well, then why don’t I invite you?”

“No merit, no reward*! You can eat by yourself!”

*(无功不受禄) Refers to if it’s not beneficial to people, it’s not acceptable to accept gifts or preferential treatment from others.

After taking a few bites, he ran to the boss to settle the bill and walked out with his backpack.

“Hey, you’re really refusing to forgive me?” Lin Xuan shouted.

Dong Zhi didn’t look back, and instead waved his hand. In an instant, he had already walked away.

Lin Xuan looked at the bowl of noodles that still had food in it and scratched his nose, thinking to himself if he was that annoying.

Dong Zhi wanted to meet with Long Shen and discussed it, but after thinking about it, he assumed the other party would be busy with meetings and wouldn’t have the time to meet him. He combined all the information he knew and sent it over in a text message, then took a taxi towards the antique alley.

Uncle Qian was on the phone. When he saw Dong Zhi coming in, he stopped his call, hung up, and greeted him in surprise, “Are you okay?”

Dong Zhi apologized and said, “It’s my fault that I lost the mirror…”

“Bah!” Uncle Qian waved his hand, “Boss Long told me that it was robbed by the Japanese. I can’t blame you. I also heard that the Japanese kidnapped you too. I was worried that something happened to you. If I hadn’t asked you to help bring the mirror to Boss Long, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“What about A’Shun’s side?”

“He recruited the Japanese. Boss Long said he would deal with it and would not involve me.”

“A’Shun won’t be dissatisfied with you, right?”

Uncle Qian didn’t care. “I have seen this kind of thing a lot and have experienced it a lot. I have a bit of prestige in this arena, so A’Shun doesn’t dare mess around. He knew that things were not clean but still bought them. It’s nothing more than the mentality of coveting short-term gains in lieu of long-term success. The kid isn’t bad, but he’s lazy. After a few days, he’ll be stable again.”

Dong Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

Uncle Qian took out a bag of hot food.

“Fortunately, you are fine this time, otherwise I will never feel at ease again in my life. This is fried chicken made by my daughter. Take it and eat it. Come to the store often in the future. I’ll pick out a few things and send them to you as atonement.”

Dong Zhi took the food and said with a smile, “No one expected this. I will accept the food, but I dare not ask for your send off.”

Uncle Qian said, “They’ll just be here collecting dust if I don’t. I’m closing this shop for a while. I’ll come back after all this ruckus have passed.”

Dong Zhi was surprised. “Where are you going?”

Uncle Qian smiled. “I still have a daughter who is abroad and always wanted me to visit. I’ve refused before, but now I’ve agreed. She’s very happy about it. Having said that, I heard from Boss Long that you performed particularly valiantly this time, and you beat those Japanese people up. He must be very satisfied with you. Hurry and strike while the iron is still hot and ask him to be your master. Maybe he’ll agree!”

Dong Zhi scratched his nose. “If he rejects me, won’t there be no room for turning back?”

Uncle Qian disagreed. “Why is are you so thin-skinned? If you are rejected, just keep making persistent efforts!”

It’s not like he hasn’t tried. On multiple occasions, he pretended to act dumb or naïve, but he didn’t get a response from the other party. Moreover, he also found that Long Shen had a consistent and upright ideal that couldn’t be controlled by others. It’s useless to fan the flames if he doesn’t want to do it, and others can’t stop him from doing what he wants.

Bidding farewell to Uncle Qian, Dong Zhi left the shop with the fried chicken. He suddenly heard a meowing sound nearby. He followed the sound to investigate its source and found that not far from the base of the wall, a cat poked its head out and looked at him with black eyes. He subconsciously motioned with his hand and beckoned it, “Come here. Come here.”

The kitten came over and walked right under the bag of fried chicken and circled it a few times, raising its head and looking at him wistfully.

Dong Zhi: …

“You can’t eat this.” He lifted the bag higher.

The kitten meowed eagerly, pawing at his pants as it straightens up. It was covered with grime that made its white hair turn gray, and it wasn’t wearing a collar around its neck. Seeing how hungry it looked, Dong Zhi surmised it must be a stray cat. He sighed, squatted down, and petted its head.

“You can’t eat fried chicken. Wait here. I’ll find you some cat food.”

The street he was on was all filled with antique shops, so there wasn’t anything suitable for a cat. He had to walk a few blocks before he came across a stall that was selling sausages. He thought the cat had already run away by the time he returned, but surprisingly, it had squatted on the spot where he told it to wait for him.

“Why are you back again?” Uncle Qian said. He had gone out of the shop to go buy something, and as soon as he stepped out, he saw Dong Zhi squatting in front feeding a cat.

“I ran into this cat, so I went to buy something to feed it.” Dong Zhi said.

Uncle Qian groaned. “Isn’t this the same cat as last time too? It has come over here a few times to beg for food and water. It’s also the same one Boss Long fed last time he was here. Why does it seem like it has lost a lot of weight?”

Dong Zhi touched the kitten’s back, and it bowed its head as it continued to gobble on the food.

“Uncle Qian, give me a box.”

“You’re planning to take it back?”

“There are so many people in the Special Administration Bureau, maybe someone will want to adopt it. It’s better than leaving it here and having it wander around.”

When Uncle Qian heard this, he turned around and went in to find the box. The kitten meowed at Dong Zhi, causing him to look at it only to discover that the sausage he had given it was already eaten.

He came to the store empty-handed but returned with a full load.

Dong Zhi arrived at the front of Longshen’s office with the box and the fried chicken, just in time to see Liu Qingbo coming out of it. Like they say, the enemy’s road is narrow as this was the second time they have encountered this situation. However, Liu Qingbo had a look of disappointment on his face, and after seeing Dong Zhi, he was startled before making an even uglier expression. Dong Zhi wanted to greet him politely at first, but before he had the chance, the other party had already hurriedly walked away.

He knocked on Long Shen’s door a few times, and a response quickly came from inside.

“Come in.”

He pressed the box against the door frame with one hand, holding the fried chicken in the other, and turned the doorknob with difficulty.

Long Shen looked up and saw him coming in carrying a load full of items and couldn’t help frowning. “You’re not resting properly. What are you doing out?”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “I went to grab something to eat. Did you receive my text message?”

Long Shen nodded. “We already have some news here, so we’ll handle it.”

In other words, Dong Zhi didn’t need to ask.

Dong Zhi calmed down and said, “I stopped by to see Uncle Qian after dinner, and he gave me some fried chicken.”

The box was heavy mainly because it contained cat food and cat litter, which he bought on the way back.

“There is also this cat, which you have fed several times before. I happened to see it when I was leaving. Uncle Qian said it’s very thin, so I’m guessing no one has fed it for a while. I think someone here might want to adopt it, so I brought it back. If there’s no one, I’ll adopt it myself.”

Long Shen gave him a disapproving look. “If you go on a mission in the future, it could be ten days or even half a month before you return. Can you take care of it?”

Dong Zhi never thought about this. Looking at the kitten’s innocent and pitiful expression, he couldn’t help but say, “Then I will ask Uncle Qian to help raise it for those days.”

Long Shen said nothing, but instead asked, “How is your body?”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “It’s much better, but my head is still a little dizzy. I get even dizzier when I’m lying down, so I have to get up and walk.”

“Give me your hand,” Long Shen said.

Dong Zhi stretched out his hand towards Long Shen. Long Shen held his wrist with his slender fingers, causing him to feel a slightly cool and dry feeling wherever he touched. It took a while before he realized that Long Shen was feeling his pulse.

Dong Zhi couldn’t help but think nonsensically, ‘If Long Shen diagnosed him with a terminal illness and showed him a heavy face, should he show him a smile as light as a chrysanthemum* to win his sympathy or take the opportunity to fall into his arms and confess?’

*(人淡如菊) Describes people’s conduct and character as indifferent (like a chrysanthemum).

What if Long Shen raised his head in horror and said that it’s a joyful pulse*?

*Clarity: The term used is [ximai] (喜脉) which is a pulse that signifies one is pregnant.

As his imagination ran wild, he couldn’t help but make fun of himself.

Long Shen: “…Is pulse diagnosis funny?”

Dong Zhi hurriedly suppressed his laughter, shaking his head like a rattle. After a while, somehow, instead of being relieved from his desire to laugh, it only became stronger. His shoulders trembled as he endured hard.

Long Shen reluctantly withdrew his hand. “Let your laughter out first.”

As soon as he spoke, Dong Zhi fell on the sofa next to him, clutching his stomach while laughing.

Long Shen: “What’s so funny?”

Dong Zhi shook his head violently, continuing to laugh hysterically. He absolutely, positively, couldn’t tell, or it would end up with a certain someone’s death!

---

Kinky Thought:

I don’t know Dong Zhi… With all this supernatural shit going on, getting pregnant by Long Shen could very well be on the table.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 51

He couldn’t run anymore as he had hit a dead end. At the end of the corridor was a side hall with a screen tea table and a shrine dedicated to Lord Guan Yu hanging on the wall. Everything was arranged in an ancient style.

It was said that in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, many people, especially businessmen, liked to worship Guan Yu to ward off evil. Even casinos regarded him as the god of wealth. Considering this place was owned by the Lin family of Lingnan, it wasn’t surprising that a shrine worshiping him was here.

Catching sight of the statue caused Dong Zhi’s heart to inadvertently be moved.

He could still treat a dead horse as if it was still living*!

*(死马当作活马医) Idiom referring to you know things are hopeless, but you still hold onto a glimmer of hope. Usually refers to as making a final attempt.

He found the unlit incense from the lattice nearby, lit it with a lighter, and bowed respectfully to the statue.

“I, Dong Zhi, disciple of the Hezao Sect, sincerely implore the virtuous, loyal, and righteous gods, the gods of martial arts, the benevolent, valiant, and mighty emperor Guan Sheng to come down and help this disciple!”

Zhong Yuyi had taught them the benefits of familiarizing themselves with known historical figures of the world. If they were not familiar with the information, it would be impossible to memorize the complete seal for the Second Master Guan*.

*Another name for Guan Yu. Due to his brave and loyal image, he’s often honored by people as Second master of Guan.

Zhong Yu once said that when statues were worshipped by people, it would have more or less a spirit. For example, police stations in Hong Kong enshrined the Second Master, as such a place in and of itself had a murderous aura, which would naturally attract evil spirits, but they couldn’t enter due to the Second Master’s blessing. As for whether the spirit of this statue in this kind of entertainment club existed, Dong Zhi wasn’t certain, but in such a critical moment like this, he could only give it a shot.

The incense curled and the statue on the shrine looked as if it was twisting its beard with a knife while looking at him with long and narrow phoenix eyes, seemingly unresponsive.

The sound of footsteps behind him was getting closer, and he had nowhere to hide, causing his heart to sink. Dong Zhi held his breath and concentrated, letting go of his thoughts and abandoning all the noise from the outside world.

Suddenly, his eyes darkened! His body seemed to have been hit hard by something, but it seemed as if it was just an illusion. He remained where he was standing, but his hands and feet were disobedient.

He could clearly “see” himself slowly inserting three incense sticks in his hand into the incense burner, then he turned around quickly to face the chasers. The feeling was weird. He was still him, but he had lost all autonomy over his body and was replaced by another force.

Seeing that he was cornered, several of the Japanese men laughed at him as the person surnamed Li slowly walked forward.

“Please come with us.”

“What if I say no?” Dong Zhi “heard” himself say.

Mr. Li: “Then pardon us for being rude.”

Dong Zhi said slowly, “I will not kill the nameless. Report your names.”

Several of the Japanese men looked at each other as if they had heard some big joke. The person surnamed Li said, “It doesn’t matter, so I’ll tell you. My name is Otowa Saburo.”

Dong Zhi wanted to ask if he was connected to Otowa Hatsuhiko, but while his mouth opened and closed, the sound he wished to utter did not follow as he wanted.

“Japanese people dare to be so presumptuous?”

Otowa Saburo chuckled. “Mr. Dong, there is a word in your country called zhuang bi*. It seems that it describes people like you. You don’t have to pretend to be brave for fear of death. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to die until Mr. Otowa sees you.”

*Pretending to be B [Zhuang bi/B] (装逼 or 装B) Has two meanings. 1. Refers to self-satisfaction or even deceitful behavior of showing off and contriving to gain vanity, but actually lacks abilities. Stupid people often think they are smarter than others (AKA Dunning-Kruger effect). 2. Refers to pretending to hide one’s talent and is actually very capable underneath. Smart people tend to think they are dumber than others. || I’ll be leaving it pinyin because of the next footnote. Note: it’s called B or 13 instead of [bi] (逼) sometimes to avoid vulgar language, as [bi] (逼) translates to cunt.

Having said that, he waved his hand and ordered, “Catch him!”

Several people swarmed up to him, and Otowa Saburo quickly realized how ridiculously wrong he was. The other party wasn’t putting on a front as he wasn’t really bluffing*.

*Clarity: As explained above, [zhuang bi] has two meanings. So, while Otowa Saburo was referring to the number 1 meaning, ironically, it turns out to be number 2.

Just as several people tried to grab Dong Zhi, his wrists turned, and a white light suddenly appeared in his hands. Dong Zhi waved it at them with it, and several famous warriors in the judo world were beaten to pieces in an instant. Otowa Saburo didn’t even see how they had fallen.

He couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes. If the opponent had been this powerful earlier, he wouldn’t have fallen into their hands.

Despite his shock, his reflexes were still quick. When the white light blasted over to him, he leaned back just in time to avoid it, rolling to the ground. He grabbed Dong Zhi’s ankle, wanting to pull him down, but Dong Zhi took advantage of the situation and spined his legs, kicking him in the waist. He flew back and landed firmly on the ground.

Otowa Saburo was extremely agitated. After he cursed and swore, he rushed up again with bloodshot eyes, while his hand reached for the gun hanging by his waist. He unlocked the safety and pointed it at the expressionless Dong Zhi, then suddenly pulled the trigger.

Bang!

—

The demeanor of Long Shen and the others was different from that of ordinary guests. As soon as they came in, they were noticed by the lobby manager, who hurriedly reported it to Lin Xuan. Seeing that they were up to no good, he stopped them from entering. As the atmosphere got more tense, Lin Xuan arrived.

“Isn’t this Boss Long and Boss Song? I’ve heard so much about you for a long time. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. How can this little temple be blessed with two great gods at once?” He smiled and bowed with his hands. “This club has not opened yet, but when it does, I’ll be sure to invite the two of you-“

Long Shen interrupted him, “Where’s Dong Zhi?”

Lin Xuan’s smile remained the same. “I’m not understanding. What winter and summer solstice*?”

*Clarity: Remember, Dong Zhi’s name means winter solstice, so he’s pretending that Long Shen is referring to the winter solstice.

Long Shen looked at him coldly, his eyes full of murderous intent.

The lobby manager on the side couldn’t help but shudder and took two steps back, but Lin Xuan was still motionless and continued to greet him with a smile.

If such an incident hadn’t happened, Long Shen would’ve looked at him quite highly.

Song Zhicun eased the situation and said, “Mr. Xiao Lin¹, I also have some friendship with Mr. Lin¹. Furthermore, Lin Jun is a working member of the Special Administration Bureau. With this in mind, we’re not enemies so if you know-“

¹Clarity: He’s calling him this because the second Mr. Lin is referring to the patriarch of the Lin family so think of it as like Mr. Lin Jr..

Before he finished speaking, a gunshot was heard from inside! Everyone’s faces changed colors.

Lin Xuan cursed his own mother and strode towards the source of the gunfire while others hurriedly followed.

When many guests heard the gunshot, they all ran out one after another and bumped into Lin Xuan, who was walking towards it. Some people directly grabbed him and asked, “Xiao Lin, what the hell is going on?!”

Lin Xuan angrily said, “That’s what I fucking want to know! This here is a legitimate place of business, and I have no hidden weapons or firearms!”

With that said, he knew in his heart that the gunfire must have something to do with the Japanese. He shouldn’t have brought them here if he knew that they would dare shoot on his own territory. It was better to have found an abandoned factory and just thrown them all there. That would’ve saved him a lot of trouble.

When they arrived at the scene of the crime, everyone was stunned. Otowa Saburo fell to the ground while holding a gun in his hand, but there was a black hole in the middle of his forehead with blood seeping out. He was dead.

The surrounding Japanese were either injured or dead, as they all lay motionless on the ground. Everyone looked in horror at Dong Zhi, who was standing there.

“How did this-” Lin Xuan was about to step forward, when he was shoved to the side.

Long Shen saw at a glance that something was wrong with Dong Zhi. Not only was his expression too cold, but the way he was looking at them wasn’t like they were acquaintances, let alone a living person. Under such a gaze, it seemed to deem all things were dead.

This look was not human. Seeing as Dong Zhi was motionless, a Japanese quietly stretched out his hand, reaching for the gun around his waist. Before he had the opportunity to touch the gun, pain filled his wrist as he suddenly screamed.

“Dong Zhi!” Song Zhicun couldn’t help but shout. He watched in horror as the white light flashed in Dong Zhi’s hand towards the Japanese man’s wrist.

Long Shen said in a deep voice, “I don’t know which righteous god is here, but please forgive our rudeness. These are all Japanese thieves, and we are here to arrest them. We ask O’Righteous God¹ to please raise your hand².

¹Clarity: Long Shen is referring to him as [Zhengshen] which means a true formal god. The translated term “Righteous” doesn’t refer to morally upright/virtuous but to the god being a rightful god of worship (think God in Christianity or Zeus in Greek mythology ect.). Because he’s addressing him as “Righteous God” some sentences in English (like this one, for example) will be awkward unless I add in an O/Oh at the beginning. 
²(高抬贵手) A polite expression that means please raise your hand and have mercy to let people pass by. It’s to express politely when seeking forgiveness and accommodation from the other party.

Chi Banxia felt uncomfortable when she heard Deputy Director Long’s words, but what surprised her even more was the change in Dong Zhi.

Hearing Long Shen’s words, Dong Zhi’s indifferent eyes finally reacted a little.

He said slowly, “Since you’re from the official government, it should be handed over to you then.”

Long Shen’s gaze swept past the shrine next to him and he cupped his hand and said, “Thank you, O’Righteous God. Please return to the Great Emperor Guan Sheng.”

Dong Zhi nodded slowly.

Chi Banxia’s mouth dropped wide open. She found that Dong Zhi’s voice was very strange, as if there was another person talking through him, and the tone was overlapping like an echo. It was exactly the same as that day when Zhong Yuyi invited a god.

Dong Zhi returned Long Shen’s salute with his own.

“I am Guan Er*, and I dare not call myself a great emperor in front of a destined person.”

*Clarity: Another name referring to Guan Yu.

Long Shen said, “We’ll finish this matter and deal with the aftermath, so we won’t bother you, O’Righteous God anymore.”

Dong Zhi nodded, then his body suddenly shook slightly and fell limp. Long Shen reached out his hand and hugged his waist as he steadied him.

“Lin Xuan, now we can talk.”

A Japanese had died in an entertainment club run by the Lin family. Lin Xuan didn’t kill him, but he would inevitably be associated with it. Even if Long Shen and the Bureau didn’t hold him accountable, the Japanese definitely would.

When he sat in the conference room with Long Shen and the others, his expression wasn’t as calm as he had put on at the beginning and was even a little ugly.

“I know what you are going to ask, but I am only responsible for helping them inquire about the whereabouts of the bronze mirror and sending a car to take them over. As for other matters, I did not participate in any of them. I don’t have the things or people you are looking for.”

Song Zhicun’s voice was ugly. “There are people dead, and the mirror is now lost, yet you dare claim to hold no responsibility? Lin Lao is an upright man, yet why is his son so irresponsible?”

Lin Xuan said indifferently, “My dad is my dad, and I am me. As things are getting messy, this club will be closed for a period of time, and I have nothing to do with it!”

Song Zhicun narrowed his smile. “You must know the purpose of those Japanese people and the whereabouts of the mirrors. As long as you are willing to cooperate, you can redeem some merits, and we will no longer hold the Lin family accountable. Lin Xuan, now that the two of us are talking to you, there is still room for things to change. If you wait until the top comes forward, you won’t be sitting here. I heard that your business has been booming in the past few years. Presumably you don’t even know how deep this goes. Stealing and selling cultural relics, kidnapping, even if you’re just an accomplice, it’s still enough to implicate you! What’s more, there are still a few Japanese who are alive. Even if you don’t speak, we can ask them.”

Lin Xuan was silent for a moment. “The mirror was really taken away by Otowa Saburo’s accomplices, but I guess they didn’t rush to leave the country, so they should still be in China.”

Long Shen: “What’s so special about that bronze mirror?”

Lin Xuan: “I only know that the Japanese value that mirror very much, but they can’t interpret the text above, so they went to Guizhou to hire a sorcerer.”

Long Shen frowned. “Text to the dead?”

Lin Xuan nodded. “The mirror should have some secrets. I can help you track down the whereabouts of the Japanese and the mirror, but I want one thing.”

Song Zhicun: “What?”

Lin Xuan: “Dragon scales or bone. Doesn’t matter which part as long as it’s part of a dragon. I heard that last time in Changbai Mountain, you subdued a bone dragon.”

Song Zhicun answered without having to even think about it, “Impossible! That bone dragon has been handed over to the state!”

Lin Xuan spread his hands. “Since Boss Song has no choice, then I also have no choice.”

“What do you want it for?” Long Shen asked.

Lin Xuan was silent for a while before saying, “Medicine.”

A few years ago, Lin Xuan’s father, Lin Ji, was doing business in Southeast Asia. On the first day, he was fine, but then suddenly on the next day, he couldn’t move his limbs. He was sent to the hospital for examination, but the cause couldn’t be found. What’s even more terrifying was that Lin Ji’s body began showing unexplained ulcers. Only then did the Lin family realize something was wrong and immediately sent Lin Ji back to his country and searched for a famous doctor.

The Lin family of Lingnan is not a leader in the spiritual world, but they have operated in Lingnan for a long time. Many of their family members have connections to high places and officials, so everyone will more or less give them face. As head of the family, when he fell into this situation, it sent the Lin family into chaos.

An old traditional Chinese medicine doctor felt that Lin Ji’s symptoms did not look like an illness, so he suggested that they find someone else to take a look. There were many practitioners in the Lin family who said that Lin Ji seemed to have been hit with a curse, so the Lin family asked the Chi family from Shanghai for help.

Chi Banxia’s father came forward to help Lin Ji and confirmed that he was indeed cursed, but the trouble was that he did not know what kind of curse. He stated that there were many schools of witchcraft in Southeast Asia, and each school had its own method of cursing and blessing. What Lin Ji was afflicted with was not some low-level curse but the most difficult and vicious, called the ghost-faced peach blossom curse. The person who’s cursed with this would consciously watch as his entire body festers, and in the end, all that remains would be his skeleton. The only way to resolve it would be for the one who cursed him to lift it.

However, Chi Chongxing gave Lin Xuan a recipe, saying that it was passed down from the ancestors of the Chi family and could solve all kinds of problems. There was one ingredient that was difficult to get, dragon powder. In other words, they needed any part of a dragon’s body that could be ground into powder and put into the medicine. The prescription paid attention to the emperor, minister, and envoy* and specifically mentioned paying special attention to the “emperor” in the prescription. Without this, Lin Ji’s curse could not be resolved.

*(君臣佐使) In terms of Chinese medicine, it refers to the arrangement of the relationship between all the ingredients in the medicine. Each ingredient has a part to play and is assigned “importance” by their rank (emperor, minister, envoys). || In this context, dragon powder is the “emperor” of the prescription and is the crucial ingredient they need.

Lin Xuan said, “At first, I thought Chi Chongxing was playing tricks on me when he asked me if I could find a part of a dragon’s body. The news that I was looking for this medicine spread to the ears of the Japanese, who sent someone to me and said that they could give me a dragon scale on the condition that I help find the whereabouts of the bronze mirror.”

He took out the prescription he carried with him.

“This prescription was written for me by Chi Chongxing.”

Long Shen looked at Chi Banxia.

Chi Banxia understood, took it for a look, nodded, and said, “This is indeed my father’s handwriting.”

Lin Xuan raised his eyebrows, showing a look of surprise. “It turns out you’re Chi Chongxing’s daughter.”

Chi Banxia said, “Ghost-faced peach blossoms curse is very rare. I have also heard from my family about you.”

Lin Xuan motioned with his hands. “Since Miss Chi has proven that I did not lie, then you should believe it.”

Song Zhicun frowned and asked, “Where did the Japanese get the dragon scales? Who did they steal from?”

Lin Xuan laughed. “You have wronged them. Japan used to have dragons, but it was during the Jomon period. One of their three artifacts, the Yasakani-no-Magatama*, was thought to be jade by the people who didn’t know the truth. In fact, it is said to be dragon bone. Moreover, other parts of the dragon are now enshrined in their shrines and imperial palaces.”

*One of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial Family. It’s a large magatama that’s been handed down for generations. According to Japanese mythology, the jewel was made by Tamanooya and is an object commonly used to demonstrate status for regional rulers in Japan.

Song Zhicun: “As you said, dragon scales should not be accessible to ordinary people, let alone you.”

“It’s true, but Otowa Saburo,” Lin Xuan said as he nudged his head towards Dong Zhi, who was still sleeping on the sofa, “was killed by him. He was a man under Otowa Hatsuhiko, who is the president of the Otowa Conglomerate. I heard that he’s connected to the royal family, so how can he not pit me with dragon scales?”

Song Zhicun snorted, “You speak lightly. Do you know how precious dragons are?”

Lin Xuan raised his hands. “I know! Now that Otowa Saburo is dead, the Japanese may put the blame on me. Even so, chances are the dragon scales may even fail, and I have already suffered heavy losses. A dragon bone is only a drop in the bucket for you, but to me it can save lives. I still remember the pattern on the bronze mirror, so I can draw it for you.”

Song Zhicun and Long Shen looked at each other, as if considering his suggestion.

“I remember the pattern on it…” A voice suddenly sounded untimely. Dong Zhi moved a little while holding his forehead. His face looked like a tangled ball.

His head was in great pain, as if he was being dragged by his hair and was slamming repeatedly against a wall. His ears were buzzing, and he had double vision of the scene in front of him. The center of his brow suddenly became cold, and he opened his eyes with great difficulty to look around. He saw Long Shen stretching out his finger and tapping it in the center between his eyebrows.

“How is it?”

“It’s better…” Dong Zhi said weakly. He reluctantly propped up his body, wanting to sit upright.

Long Shen helped him up while holding his arm with one hand.

If this was an ordinary time, Dong Zhi would rejoice being in such an intimate position, but he currently didn’t have the strength to notice this. After taking in some breath, he turned to the topic at hand. “I can draw the pattern on the back of the mirror. The difference shouldn’t be too big.”

Lin Xuan raised his eyebrows and said sarcastically, “Wouldn’t it be difficult for you to remember?”

Dong Zhi felt a little dizzy and nauseous. This was the aftereffects of inviting a god, especially to someone like him, who never have much experience doing it. Surprisingly, he had invited Second Master Guan, so naturally the sequela would be even more serious.

He leaned against Long Shen, caught a few breaths, before slowly saying. “I come from a background of artists. I am more sensitive to patterns. If I want to remember something, I can basically remember up to 70-80% of it. Give me a pen and some paper. I can draw the patterns and inscriptions on the mirror. Uncle Qian has also seen the mirror, so maybe he can add more details to it.”

Lin Xuan’s face darkened. Dong Zhi’s words have made him completely lose his bargaining chip.

Song Zhicun frowned. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter whether you say it or not, and now you’ve missed your opportunity to cooperate. You can’t escape the charge of kidnapping!”

Lin Xuan made a quick decision and immediately changed his position. He smiled slightly and said, “I have told you all that I know. I heard that this bronze mirror was unearthed in the Northwest. When it was discovered, there were also batches of gold, silver, and jade there, so the mirror wasn’t taken seriously at first. After changing multiple hands, it was discovered by the Japanese. They came to me with the pattern that was on the back of the mirror and asked me to help them find its whereabouts. In exchange, I asked someone to inquire about it, and only then did I know that it was in the hands of a man named Zheng Shun. The other party had taken the mirror to find Lao Qian to get it appraised.”

“The Japanese found Zheng Shun and wanted to buy it for five million. Zheng Shun immediately went to Lao Qian to ask for the mirror back. As a result, the mirror had already fallen into his hands. He probably wanted to bring it back to the Special Administration Bureau, but he was discovered by the Japanese, so they kidnapped him and brought him directly to me. You should all know the rest.”

Having said that, Lin Xuan spread his hands and made a helpless expression.

Long Shen: “And now the mirror’s in the hands of the Japanese?”

Lin Xuan nodded. “There are two groups of them. One group took the mirror and left. The other group is the one that was put down by your people just now.”

Otowa Saburo was directly shot in the head and couldn’t be saved. Everyone knew that he wasn’t stupid enough to take a gun and shoot himself in the temple, but the other Japanese were in a state of disarray and couldn’t explain what happened. Dong Zhi had invited a god into his body, so the entire scene was still hazy to him. Even he himself could not explain it clearly.

A murderer must pay with his life*. The issue was that these people were foreigners, and as such, it could easily cause an international dispute. However, these people were caught in relation to the smuggling and reselling of cultural relics. Besides, what Dong Zhi did was self-defense. Even if they were investigated, it was the Japanese who were guilty, so they wouldn’t be able to make any waves in the end.

*(杀人偿命) Saying that part of (杀人偿命，欠债还钱) A murderer must pay with his life as a debtor pays with money. || In this context, it should be more like an “attempted” murderer.

The most important thing now is the whereabouts of the mirror. If the Japanese wanted the mirror, there must be more to it than just the patterns.

Song Zhicun asked, “What’s so special about that bronze mirror? Why do the Japanese want it so badly?”

Lin Xuan smiled bitterly. “I really don’t know this. In order for me to help find its whereabouts, the Japanese were willing to give up even a dragon scale. It must be of great significance.”

While they were talking, pen and paper were brought in. Dong Zhi wanted to reach out to grab them, but Long Shen had already handed them to him.

“Don’t push yourself,” he said.

“I’m fine.” Dong Zhi smiled at him.

He thought intently for a moment, and then began to draw. Dong Zhi moved quickly, and with a few strokes, he sketched out the general outline. For fear of disturbing his thoughts, Song Zhicun didn’t ask any more questions, and the room was silent.

Half an hour passed quickly before Dong Zhi finally stopped writing.

“It should probably be like this, but there may be some deviations.”

Lin Xuan had also seen the patterns on the bronze mirror. When he glanced at Dong Zhi’s drawing, he found it was basically everything that was on the original mirror. Even the shadows of the ridges on the mountains were reflected accurately. At the edge of the paintings, there were four symbols that looked like Chinese and English, corresponding in pairs.

“What is this?” Long Shen pointed to a small black shadow on the painting.

Dong Zhi: “There should be patina here. On the other hand, I don’t remember the text very well, and the strokes may be missing.”

Long Shen nodded. “It’s okay.”

The characters on it were enough for him to recognize what the characters were.

Lin Xuan said sourly, “The Special Administration Bureau is really hiding dragons and tigers! I will never forget this when I catch anyone from there again!

---

Kinky Thoughts:

We’re finally done with arc 3. Such a long arc, and the others just keep getting longer…

Dong Zhi repaying back his grudge:
Lin Xu: I can draw the patterns as long as you negotiate with me. 
Dong Zhi: Fuck you, I can do it better and for free! (Bonus, I got to snuggle with my hubby too~)

Also, a big shout out to Crazy Mama for your generous ko-fi donations and support, as well as everyone else. Thank you for your support!

—

Yasakani-no-Magatama One of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial Family. It’s a large magatama that’s been handed down for generations. According to Japanese mythology, the jewel was made by Tamanooya and is an object commonly used to demonstrate status for regional rulers in Japan.

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<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 50

The young man looked like a rogue, with an air of idleness around him. However, in front of Uncle Qian, he had some scruples and didn’t dare to cause trouble.

Uncle Qian lowered his voice. “Why? Have you found a buyer?”

A’Shun said proudly, “The person gave this number!”

He stretched out his hand and gestured with his palm.

Uncle Qian: “Half a million?”

A’Shun: “Are you looking down on me or that mirror? Add another zero!”

Uncle Qian: “Oh, you’re very good. If it’s true, then this is a big deal!”

A’Shun smiled and said, “No need for praise. Since I bothered you this time, I’ll still pay for your hard work.”

Uncle Qian said, “Unfortunately, you’re one step too late and that thing is no longer in my hands.”

A’Shun’s expression changed slightly. “Uncle Qian, my dad has been friends with you for decades. You can’t cheat me!”

Uncle Qian gave him a blank look. “Who’s cheating you? Didn’t you hand it over to me? I couldn’t appraise it, so I sent it to my old friend to help assess it. I just sent it yesterday, and it won’t be back until at least tomorrow.”

A’Shun paused before saying, “Then call them now and help me get it back!”

Uncle Qian said, “Don’t worry. My old friend has seen countless treasures in his life. Do you want him to despise your mirror? It’s just you said three days, so I believed it was three days. Now you’re here asking for it back in advance. What am I supposed to say? I’ll look untrustworthy in front of my old friend. He may just cut off contact with me in the future!”

“But I found a buyer, and I want to sell it now!” A’Shun said anxiously.

Uncle Qian’s tone became displeased. “One or two days later will not make a difference. It’s not like the mirror will turn into glass! Truthfully, according to my speculation, the inscription on the mirror is probably Chinese. If my friend confirms it, let alone that number you’re offered, it can go beyond twice as much! Don’t want to know how much it’s truly worth so you can raise the price higher?”

When A’Shun heard this, a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

Uncle Qian waved his hand. “Okay, listen to me on this. Come back tomorrow morning. I’ll return it intact to you!”

The shop curtain was opened, and a heat wave rushed in from the outside, blowing away the coolness in the room from the air conditioning. Two people walked in.

“Mr. Zheng, how is it?” The other party was wearing a suit and didn’t seem like he was there to shop around for antiques. Rather, he looked like an urban white-collar worker.

A’Shun turned his head and smiled. “Mr. Li, unfortunately, that thing is not in this shop right now.”

The other party frowned. “Why?”

A’Shun said, “It has been sent for appraisal, but I’ll have it back soon. How about we meet here tomorrow in the early morning to make our deal?”

The other party said categorically, “No, we want to buy it now, either that or no deal!”

A’Shun hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. There’s much to be examined. Since I received that thing from someone else, it’s hard to distinguish whether it’s genuine or a fake. Experts have to make an appraisal first. This is also my responsibility to the customer. Otherwise, when you get it later and claim that it’s fake and want me to give you a refund, that’ll put me in a difficult situation. Don’t you think this is reasonable?”

Mr. Li’s expression was indifferent as he said, “I have an early flight tomorrow. Since I have the intention to buy it, I will definitely not regret it. If you can’t get it out now, then I’m sorry, we can only give up on this deal.”

“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!”

Seeing the other party turned around to leave, A’Shun rushed towards him to grab him, but it seemed as if Mr. Li had eyes behind his back. Before A’Shun could touch him, he had already withdrawn his hand to avoid him.

“Uncle Qian, ask your friend to bring it back!” A’Shun urged.

Uncle Qian pretended, “Okay, don’t worry, I’ll go in and make the call. You wait here!”

He gave Dong Zhi a wink. “Nephew, look after the store for me.”

Dong Zhi followed up smoothly. “En, go ahead!”

While Uncle Qian hadn’t told him in advance about this, Dong Zhi still pretended to him and acted dumbfounded. As Uncle Qian turned around and went to the back room, A’Shun was trying to appease Mr. Li and the other person with him. However, their faces remained cold and unmoved, and they didn’t bother looking around the shop at the other antiques.

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Sirs, we have other antiques in our shop. The goods are genuine. Why don’t you browse around and see if there’s anything you like? The price is quite favorable.”

Mr. Li said arrogantly, “We’re not interested in the things you have here.”

Dong Zhi put on his shopkeeper hat and enthusiastically promoted. “Look at this sword. It’s a sword of Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period. It’s very famous, so it’s definitely not a fake replica!”

Hearing Sun Quan’s name, Mr. Li stepped forward and took a look at it before showing an expression of disdain.

“Sun Zhongmou¹ had two swords, named Qiangu Sword² and the Wangu Dagger³. At best this sword is just an ordinary sword so I have no want for it.”

¹Sun Quan’s courtesy name (Zhongmou).
²(千古剑) Eternal Sword.
³(万古刀) Everlasting Dagger.

Dong Zhi ignored his remark and said with a smile, “Of course, if it were the Qiangu Sword, it would’ve been sent to a museum for exhibition. How could such an item be in our shop?”

Mr. Li sneered, “It may not be all in museums, right? Aren’t many cultural relics destroyed by Chinese people?”

Dong Zhi pretended to be surprised. “Aren’t you Chinese?”

Mr. Li snorted coldly, neither admitting nor denying it.

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “When it comes to the protection of cultural relics, we are definitely not as good as Japan. Swords from this era are abundant in China. When there are too many cultural relics, it’s inevitable that their protection will be inadequate. Unlike Japan where a sword older than 2,000 years can be regarded as an artifact!”

Mr. Li glanced at him coldly. “Young man, beware of the misinformation coming out of your mouth!”

His attitude more or less confirmed Dong Zhi’s guess that these two people were indeed Japanese and that this Mr. Li most likely wasn’t surnamed Li either. Uncle Qian’s previous judgement was correct. These two Japanese people wanted to buy the bronze mirror, and Dong Zhi boldly speculated that these two people were not the true end-buyers.

While speaking, Uncle Qian came out of the back room and apologized.

“I’m really sorry. The other party is out of town and won’t be back until tomorrow night at the earliest. Perhaps you could come over tomorrow night? The mirror will be here then. How about it?” He blinked innocently as his mouth spat nonsense.

A’Shun said anxiously, “Is your friend reliable?”

Uncle Qian gave him a blank look. “I told you, my old friend is not short of money. If he loses the mirror, I’ll pay you five million, alright?!”

A’Shun looked at Mr. Li. “Well…?”

Mr. Li frowned. “Wait a minute, I’ll make a call.”

A’Shun hurriedly said, “Great!”

Uncle Qian said to Dong Zhi, “Don’t you have to go back to school? Hurry now and go!”

Dong Zhi said, “Then I’m leaving first, uncle. Remember to go to our house for lunch tomorrow at noon!”

Uncle Qian waved his hand. “Got it!”

The street where the antique shop is located was on a pedestrian road. Vehicles weren’t allowed to enter, so Dong Zhi walked towards the road in order to catch a taxi. As he walked, he took out his phone and sent Long Shen a message, saying that he had obtained a bronze mirror for Uncle Qian and there were inscriptions on it, so Uncle Qian had asked him to take it back to him so he could have a look.

When he sent the message out, he switched his phone back to the main interface and heard rapid footsteps coming behind him. Thinking the other party was in a hurry, Dong Zhi turned aside and looked up.

At this moment, there was a tingling on the back of his neck, and the scene in front of him immediately blurred. His shoulder was picked up while he heard an affectionate greeting come into his ears. “Cousin, it’s been so long since I saw you!”

The tone of the voice had a sense of familiarity that it was almost as if it was truly greeting his cousin!

Dong Zhi realized that his opponent’s intention must be related to the bronze mirror, but before he could shout for help, his thoughts fell into complete darkness.

Passersby glanced at him quickly, but at most they only saw what seemed to be someone who had just met an acquaintance and was quickly pulled into a car. Very few people would notice that something was off with this kind of scene.

—

Dong Zhi tried moving his wrist. It hurt a bit. His consciousness slowly returned. He wanted to open his eyes but felt something covering them. He found that he was blindfolded, and his hands were tied.

There was a faint noise coming from outside, seemingly as if it was passing through some kind of barrier. He surmised that he must be in a separate room.

Did the two Japanese people tie him up? The bronze mirror should’ve been taken away by them too. But if they only needed the bronze mirror, why kidnap him and tie him up?

Questions filled his thoughts one by one. Before he had a chance to think about it for too long, he heard the sound of a door opening. Dong Zhi hurriedly remained motionless, pretending to still be unconscious.

“I took the mirror. What are we going to do with this kid?” Someone said.

“Mr. Otowa wants to keep an eye on him.” The voice that sounded this time was Mr. Li. He no longer disguised his voice and his words were blunt.

Dong Zhi was now certain that this guy was Japanese.

But the name Mr. Otowa… Why does it sound so familiar?

“What does Mr. Otowa want with him?”

“That’s not something Mr. Lin can ask.”

The door opened again, and someone else came in. Dong Zhi heard the sound of a bottle of wine pouring into a glass and guessed that someone had brought wine in. As the door opened, there seemed to be the sounds of men and women laughing in the distance.

He guessed that he should be held in some kind of… entertainment club?

“Go out.” This came from the man who had just entered.

“Yes.”

The sound of footsteps was heard, followed by the sound of a door closing.

The man sneered, “Don’t forget, it was I who brought you news of the bronze mirror!”

Mr. Li said, “Mr. Otowa will naturally keep in mind Mr. Lin’s friendship, but we have also paid you handsomely. This should be enough to satisfy you, no?”

The person surnamed Lin said, “The reward is for the bronze mirror, one size to one size*. This kid belongs to the Special Administration Bureau. I can’t just let you take him away. Otherwise, the Special Administration Bureau will come to my door and settle accounts! Are you asking me to be your scapegoat?!”

*(一码归一码) Saying referring to two things that should not be confused with each other/need to be looked at separately.

Has his identity been discovered?

Dong Zhi was shocked but then immediately thought that after he was unconscious, his body most likely would’ve been searched all over, which meant they most likely found his temporary access card to the Special Administration Building, and if this was the case, then the other party most likely knew that he was a practitioner as well.

Mr. Li said, “Last time, someone from the Secret Service seriously injured Mr. Fujikawa and his disciple, which we have a lot of grievances for. Mr. Otowa said that he wanted to make an example to warn the Special Administration Bureau. However, for Mr. Lin’s sake, we can let him go, as long as you help us unlock the secret on the bronze mirror.”

Dong Zhi finally remembered who the Japanese man that he saw in his clairvoyance that time was! It was the middle-aged man name Mr. Otowa, Otowa Hatsuhiko, the president of the Otowa Conglomerate!

When they were in Changbai Mountain, among the people who were with Master Fujikawa, there was also a man named Aso Kenzo, the president of the Aso Consortium. In order to catch a bigger fish, they deliberately let Fujikawa and his apprentice go, so they could spy on them secretly when they returned to Japan. Sure enough, they found Aso’s benefactor was Otowa Hatsuhiko, and they had been in contact with each other multiple times before and after the Changbai Mountain incident.

With what he knew now, he could conclude how the Japanese knew about the bone dragon on Changbai Mountain, and about the bronze mirror, were all related to Otowa Hatsuhiko. He didn’t know any other identities that Otowa Hatsuhiko would have besides being a business mogul, but Long Shen and the others must have known this information…

Thinking about this, Dong Zhi couldn’t help but inwardly smile bitterly. He didn’t know if he could even go back to them.

The conversation between the two continued.

The person, surnamed Lin, yelled, “What wishful thinking! Why should I help you find the secret to this bronze mirror in exchange for this kid?! Our cooperation is over. What does it have to do with me if you want to kill, cut, or do whatever you want with him?”

Dong Zhi couldn’t help feeling anxious. The person surnamed Li didn’t know him, but Master Fujikawa certainly does. He absolutely wouldn’t forget the trouble that he had caused them on Changbai Mountain, and the girl named Kitaichi Eiko assuredly wanted to kill him. His fate will not end well if he falls into their hands.

“But…” Lin’s voice lengthened.

Dong Zhi’s hope was rekindled.

Mr. Lin: “You can’t kill people on Chinese territory. If you want to kill him, you have to take him back to Japan before you can off him.”

Dong Zhi: …

Mr. Li agreed without much thought. “Naturally, of course. Mr. Lin has given us face, so we have to repay in kind.”

The person surnamed Lin suddenly chuckled. “Brother, did you work hard pretending to be unconscious?”

Dong Zhi’s heart missed half a beat. The next second, the black cloth over his eyes was torn away! His eyes, which had become accustomed to the darkness, squinted involuntarily under the sudden light.

Dong Zhi blinked several times to control the tears that wanted to flow out of his eyes. He looked around and saw that he seemed to be in a private room. There was a chandelier above him, and the decorations in the room looked gorgeous.

He sat on one end of a sofa while the other two people sat at the other end. One was Mr. Li, and the other was a strange young man dressed in a tuxedo, looking at him with a smile. He looked as if he was well prepared and was seemingly waiting for him to yell for help.

Dong Zhi looked innocently at them. “Hi*?”

*Clarity: He says this in English.

The young man chuckled.

Mr. Li lowered his face. “Mr. Lin, didn’t he get a sufficient dose of the drug?”

The young man shrugged. “You are all going to take him away. Does it really matter what he hears?”

Seeing his opportunity, Dong Zhi interjected, “Mr. Lin, I will not bore you with empty words about family and country. Since you know I’m from the Special Administration Bureau and the bronze mirror has nothing to do with you, there’s no need to hold me captive, right? The leaders will soon know about my disappearance. When the time comes for them to investigate, you won’t be able to get rid of their suspicion. It’s better to let me go, and I’ll do my best to help you get what you want.”

Mr. Lin sighed and shook his head. “You can’t help me. They have what I want in their hands. Anyways, I didn’t kill you, nor did I take the mirror. I just provided the information. Injustice has a head and a master. If you become a ghost, remember to settle accounts with them, not me.”

Dong Zhi: …

The more he looked at the person surnamed Lin, the more he felt he looked similar to someone.

Dong Zhi suddenly asked, “Do you know Lin Jun?”

The other party was a little surprised. “You know Lin Jun?”

Dong Zhi said, “Last time I went to Yangcheng to do business, I met him. Our friendship is pretty good.”

Of course, this was simply an exaggeration. Lin Jun works for the Guangzhou office and was very enthusiastic about their “friendship”, especially since he considered Dong Zhi a “rising star” who was likely to join the General Administration Bureau, so the two kept in contact after the Yangcheng incident.

The other party smiled and said, “What a coincidence. I am Lin Jun’s cousin. You can call me Lin Xuan.”

Dong Zhi frowned and said, “Lin Jun is also from the Special Administration Bureau, but you’re cooperating with the Japanese. Is the Lin family of Lingnan so two-faced?”

Lin Xuan smiled and said to Mr. Li, “He and my cousin are friends. We should forget about it. Besides, you’ve got your mirror.”

Mr. Li said bluntly, “No! He knows too much. If the Special Administration Bureau knows that the mirror is in our hands, it will cause a lot of trouble. I have to take him away now. You don’t have to worry about it. Mr. Otowa will send someone to deliver the things you want as well as your compensation.”

Lin Xuan raised his hand helplessly to Dong Zhi. “Well, you heard him. He doesn’t want to, and I’ve tried my best. Remember his face, so when you plan to seek revenge, don’t haunt the wrong person.”

The corners of Dong Zhi’s mouth twitched. “Are you not afraid of affecting Lin Jun’s career?”

Lin Xuan smiled and said, “Since you have met my cousin, you should know what kind of person he is. He’s bombastic, yet he’s just ordinary. Even without me, he’ll be kicked out sooner or later…”

The man surnamed Li became impatient listening to their prattle, so he stretched out his hand towards Dong Zhi, intending to grab him.

Dong Zhi had already secretly broken the rope behind his back and was pretending as if he was still bound. Seeing Mr. Li’s movement at this moment, he naturally couldn’t pretend any longer, so he quickly took out a Sunlight Talisman from his pocket and threw it at his opponent!

Everything happened within a flash, before a question popped into his mind. ‘Since Lin Xuan had searched him, why did he still have a Sunlight Talisman on him?’

He didn’t have time to think about the answer. The talisman turned into fire and flew towards Mr. Li’s face, causing him to take a half step back.

Dong Zhi took this opportunity to rush to the door!

He didn’t bring the Changshou Sword out today. Since he was having a meal, and only temporarily wanted to visit Uncle Qian, he thought having a sword on him was too eye-catching. He didn’t expect that something like this would happen to him, but if the Changshou Sword was here, it would’ve been found and taken away when he was searched.

At that moment, many thoughts flashed in his mind, and it finally boiled down to one: ‘Can he hold on until reinforcements come?’

He didn’t notice that Lin Xuan remained seated on the sofa the entire time, lowering his head to drink tea, as if he didn’t witness the scene that just happened right in front of him. He neither stopped Dong Zhi nor helped the person surnamed Li chase him.

—

When Long Shen received the text message from Dong Zhi, he didn’t pay much attention to it. Old Qian from the antique shop often asked him for his help in identifying antiques, so it wasn’t unusual for him. However, an hour later, Old Qian called and asked if he had received the mirror, and Long Shen found that something was wrong.

He tried calling Dong Zhi, but it didn’t connect, and he didn’t respond back to his text messages either. It’s absolutely impossible for Dong Zhi to have run away with the mirror. The only answer that remained was that he had been taken away and was in an involuntary situation.

Long Shen didn’t delay for a moment and immediately mobilized the surveillance team. It was easy to find the surveillance footage based on the time when Dong Zhi had sent him that text message.

The quality of the video wasn’t high. It showed a vague image of a person stepping forward to hold Dong Zhi on the shoulder, then taking him into the car. From the video, it looks as if he just met a friend and followed him, but a professional can easily tell that something was off.

“He was knocked out and taken away!” Song Zhicun, who watched the video with him, exclaimed.

Long Shen said to the employees of the IT department of the bureau, “The license plate number can be clearly seen. Run it through our system.”

The employees did not dare neglect their work and hurriedly ran the plates to dig up information.

Song Zhicun comforted him, “Don’t worry too much. According to Old Qian, they most likely just want the bronze mirror and wouldn’t hurt him.”

Long Shen didn’t lose his demeanor, but Song Zhicun knew that Dong Zhi was a promising candidate for groups one and two, and now he was suddenly kidnapped. Such a thing was quite upsetting. What’s more, Dong Zhi could be considered at least half a member of the Special Administration Bureau, but he had made it clear that he wanted to join the Special Administration Bureau cleanly and had not once taken advantage of this fact. It was clear that he wanted to join fairly and had wholeheartedly intended to pursue this to the very end.

Once the state machinery was in operation, the efficiency was not surprising. The license plate number came back, and the location of the car was quickly obtained. The plate was registered in the name of a company that engages in the cultural industry, or bluntly put, an entertainment club. The legal owner is surnamed Yue, which is a rare surname, but as far as Long Shen knows, it’s the surname of the wife of Lin Ji, the head of the Lin family of Lingnan.

They also traced the destination of the car to the entertainment club.

If they really wanted to, the Lin family could definitely kidnap someone seamlessly without leaving so many flaws. However, since this incident happened so suddenly, it was too late to analyze it. Long Shen immediately got up and walked out.

Song Zhicun hurriedly grabbed him. “Boss Long, are you just going to waltz in their front door?”

“Perhaps Dong Zhi and the bronze mirror are there.” Long Shen said.

Song Zhicun hesitated and said, “The Lin family of Lingnan has many contacts. Could it be someone is pretending to be them? Shouldn’t we report to the boss first?”

Long Shen said lightly, “For this matter, the sooner we act, the better.”

Song Zhixuan wanted to say something, but Long Shen had already walked out.

“Wait, I’ll come with you!” Song Zhicun shouted, feeling that Long Shen was being impatient. However, he also knew very well how ignorant Director Jiang was and would love to report to the upper level. However, by the time the instructions came down, the cucumber would already be cold.

In this regard, Long Shen and Wu Bingtian had always done better than him, who usually stuck closer to the rules. He bitterly smiled inwardly and hurriedly walked out.

“Boss Song!” Chi Banxia came running from the other end of the corridor, panting. “I have a question I want to ask you. Is it convenient for you?”

Song Zhicun waved his hand. “We can talk in the car. Let’s go!”

Chi Banxia followed in confusion.

At this time, Dong Zhi was embroiled in a battle. He didn’t expect that when he rushed out of the room, it was just the start.

There were more than a dozen people guarding outside the door. Up to six of them seemed to be from the same group as the person surnamed Li. Said person shouted a few words in Japanese loudly, and suddenly they all pounced on him. Lin Xuan’s people stood at the side and did not intervene, as they didn’t plan to help Dong Zhi nor the Japanese.

The club was extremely large. What’s even more troublesome was that the passages were built like a maze. Through seven or eight twists and turns, he still caught no signage. If guests were to come here and were not guided by the staff, it’s estimated that they would never find a way out.

He panicked as he didn’t know which way to go, so he could only randomly choose a random spot and rushed in as the other party was in hot pursuit.

The Sunlight Talisman and Thunder Talismans are powerful at dealing with demons and ghosts, but completely useless at handling ordinary humans. If he had known he would be kidnapped and trapped here, he should have learned a few more tricks from Ba Sang!

But then again, even if he could match four palms with both fists*, against this current number, he most likely could only admit defeat.

*Reminder: The original idiom is two fists can’t match four palms and refers to being outnumbered. He changed the wording a bit to say he can fight against more than one, but even in that situation, he certainly can’t defeat six people, so he’s still outnumbered.

The most hateful person, though, wasn’t the Japanese, but Lin Xuan. He didn’t know what kind of benefit the Japanese had given him, but he actually turned his elbows out* to help outsiders attack his own people.

*(胳膊肘往外拐) Has a derogatory meaning referring to selfishness/a person who can’t tell right from wrong, while the positive meaning is selflessness. It also refers to helping outsiders (the Japanese) instead of their own (Chinese). Obviously, he’s referring to the former.

While running, Dong Zhi couldn’t help imagining the soles of his feet stepping on Lin Xun’s head so he could greet the cats, dogs, rabbits, and turtles.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Dong Zhi sure can bear a grudge. Don’t worry, your hubby is coming to rescue you!

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