Lie Huo Jiao Chou Volume 1 Chapter 22

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The great devil probably got mad at him after realizing he had f.u.c.ked up and didn't make a single sound.
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　　"I have stated my reasons. If you have anything you wish to discuss, feel free to do so."

　　Xiao Zheng sat upright, eyes staring straight at the computer screen. Since Director Huang was still stuck at the conference center of Penglai Safety Union, he had to manage the office.

　　Director Huang was unable to go against the pressure. He contacted Xiao Zheng, calling him to come to the conference to give report on the latest developments in the investigation.

　　Xiao Zheng, this extraordinarily-gifted person, normally only had two kinds of expressions on his face: either a face so angry as if he wanted to spit out blood, or a face showing no emotion at all.

　　He dressed in a way government workers could never afford in two years, sitting down calmly yet still showing his dominance. This kind of person could go out and greet the diplomatic team without losing any face at all. At this point, when he was faced with a group of Special Abilities' bigshots, he was unfazed. One couldn't even tell he actually came from a normal family.

　　Xiao Zheng systematically repeated what Xuan Ji had told him in the quarantine room, then waited for the 'Three Divisions' Judgement'*.

*三堂会审 (sān táng huìshěn) = Trial of the Three Divisions is a trial system used in Ancient China, which was only commenced upon a major case. In this case, it's used as a hyperbole. Knowing what he had said would make a big wave, Xiao Zheng prepared himself to be 'tried' by the conference's members.

　　'The Penglai Conference' might sound ethereal, when in reality, it was really down to earth. The meeting room was possibly decorated in the last century with a white wall and wooden tables. On the wall hung some maps and decorations, and on the two rows of cheap-looking reddish-brown conference tables, were cups and enamel jars.

　　The members partic.i.p.ating in the conference were split into two rows. Men and women didn't sit separately since all of them were emitting equally powerful auras — their hairlines rose up while the corners of their mouths fell down, 'just like how a round belly will protrude out, a heart full of uncontainable knowledge and talent cannot be hidden'.

　　The bigshots stared at Xiao Zheng unblinkingly through the screen, their glares looking like people at the farmers' market who were inspecting a herd of animals: unmoving and calculating how much he would weigh in the future.

　　On this note, while Director Huang was indeed the government's representative, in the end, he was only a normal person. At the Penglai Conference, normal people were inferior. Just by looking at the position of the seat, his was several seats away from the meeting's chairperson.

　　The chairperson of the meeting was a senior woman with grey hair seeming to be in her 60s. She wasn't a tall person. Donning light makeup, she had a small scarf around her neck and wore fas.h.i.+onable clothes, but the way she talked and moved were slow and gentle, her manner was strangely righteous like that of a maiden back in the old days.

　　"Young Xiao, correct?" The senior woman asked slowly, "You must have known who I am."

　　Xiao Zheng nodded, "Grandma Yu."

　　Grandma Yu was the convener of the Penglai Conference. Usually, she stayed in the Northeast area. n.o.body among the bigshots who arrived knew her full name, some thought she was young, yet in reality, she was already more than three hundred years old. Some rumors didn't stop there, saying that she must be at least a thousand years old, living even before the people of the Qingping Division. 

　　"Seeing young people progressing forward, each new generation excels the previous one*, I am able to rest a.s.sured," Grandma Yu smiled gently at him. Xiao Zheng didn't dare to take it as it was, so he kept his usual face and even tensed up; Grandma Yu had met so many people one after another, she wouldn't actually be this caring and generous.

　　Surely, Grandma Yu's voice changed: "So, what you mean is, this Mirage b.u.t.terfly shouldn't have been infectious and this time was merely an accident, is that right? Let this old woman ask you one question: First of all, you said this was all just speculation, then you backtracked and said you have investigated this logically, saying that the b.u.t.terflies which had infected people were the mutated ones. How could you know there wouldn't be another case of mutated b.u.t.terflies?

　　The phone on Xiao Zheng's table suddenly vibrated, the two words 'Luo Cuicui' ran across the screen. He glanced at it once and pressed 'Decline'. "Our people are investigating the mutated b.u.t.terflies to see what's going on, I believe we can give you seniors an answer soon…"

　　Grandma Yu interrupted him, mildly saying, "That's what you said, but in reality, you just don't know. Mirage b.u.t.terflies have existed since the old days, they were truly dangerous and none of us here could uncover the truth about them. Do you think you can simply find out about it clearly now?"

　　Xiao Zheng was speechless and couldn't continue.

　　Grandma Yu's eyes curved up, mouth slightly smiling as she said: "Second of all, let's say you can really dig through the dirt, find me one person who is an expert on the Mirage b.u.t.terflies, and this person can guarantee that the b.u.t.terflies' infections are just coincidences, how does that relate to our demand to investigate the Deviant Control Office? Your honorable office's director used public danger to fake casualties, the evidence was enough to build a mountain, shouldn't we start looking at the problem more directly?"

　　Director Huang tried to interrupt her: "This… Grandma Yu, we have an internal investigation team —"

　　"Without supervision, how can a self-investigation be enough?" On Grandma Yu's left side, a man in black Zhongshan robe spoke up. He talked quickly, his voice sharp and painful to the ears, "Ah, if you shut the door, whatever happens inside, will anybody else know? You could secretly push out the crime of that old director and kneel under his feet then. How can we know what actually happens behind the doors? Isn't that right, Young Emperor*?"

*小王 (xiǎo wáng) = Director Huang's last name is also a stem to 王 (wáng) which means 'royal', 'emperor', etc.

　　Director Huang said reluctantly: "Yue Degong, my last name is Huang. Here's what I'm trying to say: the worker who is responsible for the internal investigation this time is a very talented new worker, he had partic.i.p.ated in stopping the sacrificial ritual, fought with the summoner and the demon for hours. His resume itself is very clean, he definitely will not do anything illegal —"

　　Grandma Yu chuckled and interrupted him: "You're not answering our concern, Director Huang."

　　"That said, we're not sure if he's innocent either!" The old man in black Zhongshan robe yelled out again, "I heard this person was actually recommended by your director? How can you be so sure he will not do illegal things?"

　　Director Huang then had to say: "Of course, we're open to inspection by the seniors —"

　　"Right now what we want to discuss is exactly the inspection issue!" The old man in black Zhongshan robe slammed the table, "If you all want to confess before Penglai, then sure, we're all for it! You all give us a bunch of regulations and rules, also having experts to monitor us. We complied, cooperating with government officials, but now that you yourself have problems, you don't want to be monitored? You all at Yong'an just sat in the office, the wind couldn't blow on you and even the sun couldn't s.h.i.+ne on you, yet somehow an infected b.u.t.terfly appeared at our door!"

　　One mountain cannot harbor two tigers, all the seniors each had power over a territory. Now that the Mirage b.u.t.terflies were heading south, they directly entered the territory of Yue Degong's power. Since the location was a bit far, Deviant Control Office only had a working office there. It was a little unstable, and like what happened just now, could easily be toppled down. When something did happen in the region, the local Deviant Control Office basically couldn't squeeze in and had to ask the central office to send someone down to kneel at the mountain top.

　　Yue Degong brought his already high voice to another level, "Each of us should send down a Special Ability to the central office, creating a small monitoring team whose job is to supervise and inspect one another!"

　　Director Huang smiled painfully, "Government bureaucracy isn't as simple as that. It's not like I can establish anything as soon as I say it…"

　　"That's good then, none of us have to worry about another. Later on, if us locals want to do anything, you at the central office don't have to send people down for inspection."

　　The conference started discussing actively, Director Huang wanted to jump in to talk multiple times but it was impossible.

　　Xiao Zheng sighed. Right at that moment, his phone rang, it was Luo Cuicui again. Director Xiao was always strong and courageous and had never used the word 'hopefully', yet when he turned off the camera to pick up his phone, he thought: "Hopefully the Reparations Department has some good news."

　　"Director, I have to tell you something…" Luo Cuicui was crying on the other side, loudly talking to Xiao Zheng who was waiting for 'good news'. "Our great leader! He was grabbed by a bunch of bony claws into a dark cave and disappeared in an instant!"

　　Xiao Zheng couldn't breathe, just a little bit more and he would probably choke on his spit to death.

　　Luo Cuicui sobbed and asked, "Director Xiao, when can I be transferred?"

　　Xiao Zheng: "..."

　　This was an impossible job.

　　Seeing the 'great' Xuan Ji walking meaninglessly towards the cave, Sheng Lingyuan hurried to call him back: "Slow down, what are you doing?"

　　Xuan Ji: "You don't see that pair of b.u.t.terflies?"

　　"Why are you running at the sight of the b.u.t.terflies?" Sheng Lingyuan said, "They can't make a nest inside your body."

　　"But they can latch on this person here!" Xuan Ji entered the cave hastily, his two feet landed on the ground and his wings retracted, "h.e.l.lo, Senior, didn't you notice that there's another living being at this place? So stinky and hot in here!" 

　　"This person was a conman, he's not even an innocent citizen, why do you have to care?" Sheng Lingyuan said quickly, "There's no need to go forward!"

　　Xuan Ji suddenly felt weird, because until now, Sheng Lingyuan had never been agitated. He had never spoken in such a pace, but this time, the speed was so quick he almost couldn't hear it all.

　　Xuan Ji: "Senior, I heard your words yet can't understand it much! I'm a government official, do you think letting normal citizens die in the hands of the b.u.t.terflies is something a government official should do?"

　　"Let's just stop!" Sheng Lingyuan said in a low voice, there was a trace of anger laced in his words.

　　Xuan Ji blinked: "Why, Senior, do you know what's in this cave?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan: "If you're afraid of those b.u.t.terflies, you should know, the places where b.u.t.terflies dare not come, they are not anything good. Get out of this cave, and I will think of a way to bring you out."

　　Xuan Ji was hesitant for a moment: "You will think of a way? You know the way?"

　　"There's a sacrificial temple in the human valley." Sheng Lingyuan only lost control for a moment, in a blink of an eye, he had regained his calm and collected tone and spoke to Xuan Ji, "Just now, I had wanted to let the white bones bring us to the temple. In there, there was a hidden mechanism. After one bow, a hidden path would be opened, and from there, one could go up to the ground. Even though he wakes up half-way through, but I think the temple must not be far from there... Be good, listen to me." 

　　Even though currently he was inside the sword, once he spoke, it was as if he was speaking right against Xuan Ji's ears. His voice was low, seductive, and did not sound like anything good at all.

　　Xuan Ji's ears tingled and he was startled for a moment.

　　"The b.u.t.terflies don't even dare to go ahead, the risk is high, and you're even bringing along a mortal, how are you going to handle it?" Sheng Lingyuan sighed, "Being a brute like this, yet your tribe leader was okay with letting you come out. This truly makes people worry."

　　Xuan Ji suddenly understood the reason why Bi Chunsheng, who was already crazy to that point, still almost cried in sorrow after hearing him saying "who gave you such grievance".

　　It was as if this person had a strange demonic power, his words were like an umbrella which skillfully covered everything, giving people a delusion that he only and completely loved them. It was that kind of power that made you let out all your pain, agony, and suffering even if you don't usually talk to strangers.

　　Xuan Ji couldn't help but stop walking forward.

　　"This young demon is very talented," Sheng Lingyuan coldly calculated, "Innate spiritual beings are naturally arrogant, not even wanting to a.s.sociate themselves with external tribes. It's usually difficult to breed a new offspring, so young demons are all protected well by the tribes, and they're not going to just let them go out into the world and struggle. He even called himself the tribe leader, so something must have happened in his tribe, and no one had taken care of him since he was young."

　　"Follow me," Sheng Lingyuan said next to his ears, "I'm not going to hurt you."

　　Xuan Ji seemed to be hesitating for a second, removing the  the heavy sword from the goatee guy, picking him up by his collar, then pulled him along.

　　He said: "Sure."

　　He looked at the direction which he came from — at this point, Xuan Ji saw that the entrance that was as bright as day. Mirage b.u.t.terflies were crawling all around the mouth of the cave. They dared not enter and only pushed at one another, wanting to head inside to check but couldn't. Xuan Ji stared at them for a moment, then walked deeper into the cave: "Senior, you said you won't hurt me now, but what about later?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan: "..."

　　"Counting your previous life and your death, you must've been at least a thousand years old, right? My morale really can't keep up with your skill in lying with wide eyes, you didn't blush at all." Xuan Ji said with a hint of a laugh, "Are you blus.h.i.+ng now?"

　　The heavy sword clashed with the hard surface of the ground, making a "clang" sound that traveled far. Its echo lingered after a while, as if there was an empty and s.p.a.cious area in front.

　　Although Xuan Ji carried a person in one arm and a heavy sword in another, it didn't seem like he used a lot of energy, his footsteps were effortless as he walked towards where the echo went to. He was talking leisurely as he walked, rambling to educate the big devil: "If you want to go, I can let you know a little bit about modern people's beliefs. We wors.h.i.+p equality and justice. Let's not talk about justice because the morality level of your time was very different than ours. Let's talk about equality — if you have any disagreements, we can openly discuss them. So, what is equality? It's that as long as something is still breathing, regardless of whether they have an ability or just a normal person, no matter whether they are good or bad, in this world, their rights are equal. If he still wants to commit crimes, I can take him outside and bring him to the Police Department later, but for now, I want to treat him equally and protect him. That said…"

　　The great devil probably got mad at him after realizing he had f.u.c.ked up and didn't make a single sound.

　　"...you ancient monarchs and ministers are all old-fas.h.i.+oned, do you even know what that means? Your political and moral compa.s.s are incredibly incorrect, I…" Xuan Ji suddenly stopped talking, he saw clearly the area in front of his eyes, "I… d.a.m.n, what the…"

　　He followed a narrow path and arrived in an open s.p.a.ce. In this place, there was a small lake with water so tranquil, he didn't even know what it was made of. On all walls of the cliff, there were many kinds of plants he had never seen before, blooming on them was a carpet of small flowers, looking like a bunch of small light bulbs, glimmering.

　　When Xuan Ji walked inside, the flowers suddenly bloomed, the interior of the cave became very bright as if all the lights were turned on at once, the ivory white light gently flickering, looking warmer than that of a lover's gaze. Xuan Ji's first reaction was to cover his and the goatee guy's nose just in case the flowers had poisonous pollen.

　　He only had two hands, so the heavy sword was thrown to the side.

　　The sound of the heavy sword dropping to the ground stirred the lake, the waves rippled through and the white flowers all turned pink and then withered. They transformed into blood-like liquid, rus.h.i.+ng down from all four directions into the heavy sword —