I Am Your Natural Enemy

”The situation here has been resolved. Wen Yan was very cooperative and didn’t ask any questions.”

”Understood. Start arresting people.”

Cai Qidong hung up the phone, sat in his office, and remained motionless.

Ever since he came to Nanwu County, it was actually to straighten out the Scorching Sun Department; setting up a so-called Sanitation and Cleansing Office was just a convenient pretext.

This time, regardless of how others see it, he had a very clear view of things.

There really were people fanning the flames, maybe more than one group, but within the Scorching Sun Department itself, there were also people with their own agendas.

The Scorching Sun Department’s personnel are spread all over the Divine Land; there are many people, and a lot of them are merely in it for a secure government job.

You can’t expect everyone in the Scorching Sun Department to be selfless and desireless. That’s just unrealistic, and you certainly can’t expect everyone to be united either— that’s even less realistic.

But when it comes to important matters of principle, the lines can’t be blurred.

This time, someone inside the Scorching Sun Department definitely let things slide on purpose.

Otherwise, that Taoist could never have sneaked into Virtue City without a trace.

Cai Qidong had been wanting to find this loose thread for a long time; the Sanitation and Cleansing Office had been established for a while— it was time to actually do something.

He couldn’t speak for other places, but in Nanwu County, if you show even a hint of carelessness, you can forget about getting away with it.

Now, he had more than enough reason— a perfectly valid excuse.

No matter how you look at it, Wen Yan was taking a huge risk this time by participating in a Scorching Sun Department mission.

Because of the mission, he ended up with a massive mess that could easily bring disaster down on future generations.

Even though Cai Qidong found Wen Yan aggravating—just three words, and he’d feel his blood pressure spike and have to drink herbal tea every day—

Business is business. Whoever tries to drag the operation down this time can’t blame him for coming down hard.

He’d started making preparations two days ago. He was going to use this opportunity to drag the loose ends into the light.

He sat quietly in his office, waiting.

After waiting more than twenty minutes, the phone rang.

”Minister, one of them is acting strange—resisting heavily, and just tried to commit suicide by jumping into the river.”

”Alive or dead, bring him in. Fish him out, and get someone to do a soul summoning,” Cai Qidong said coldly.

”Wait, Minister, something just changed...”

After a minute, the voice returned on the phone.

”Minister, the guy isn’t dead. He was pushed out of the water by a big grass carp.

He got into a fight with the carp, then a water snake showed up.

The big grass carp slapped him unconscious with its tail.

He was brought to shore.

Our people caught him; he’s still alive.”

Cai Qidong’s eyelid twitched—he almost lost his composure.

What is this mess?

”Bring him straight to me. If anyone tries to interfere or plead on the way, report to me immediately.”

Hanging up, Cai Qidong wiggled his mouse, woke up his monitor, stared at the rivers on the map, and finally sighed deeply with a complicated expression.

...

Wen Yan made his way to the banks of the West River, planning to visit King Guilong first.

After he got back, he’d been so busy he hadn’t found the time to check in on King Guilong.

He went down into the river and didn’t see any of those demons for quite a while, which struck him as odd.

Finally, after some time, the big grass carp and the water snake showed up.

The two demons immediately ranted indignantly about what had just happened.

”People these days are just rotten! Trying to mess up our cultivation!” The water snake hissed furiously, constantly flicking its tongue.

”Exactly, exactly! How can someone be so awful!”

”What’s going on?” Wen Yan was confused.

”Some guy tried to mess up our cultivation by jumping into the river to kill himself.

I worked so hard to push him back up to the surface, and he actually tried to fight me.

He even called me a fiend, blamed me for ruining his plans—said if one of us wasn’t dead by tonight, the other would be.”

”Fortunately, Brother Yu was clearsighted and realized this guy just wanted to die in the river to ruin our cultivation. Otherwise, I almost lost my cool,” the water snake said with lingering fear.

”Yeah, I knocked him out and dragged him to shore, then reported him to the Scorching Sun Department, who cuffed him and hauled him away. That guy was just rotten!”

”He was the worst! I nearly couldn’t stop myself from wrapping around his neck and strangling him—I was so pissed off! Next time, if there’s an opportunity, let Brother Yu handle it; my willpower isn’t strong enough, my cultivation’s lacking, I’ll have to wait more years.”

The water snake was badly shaken, already deferring its spot for the next chance.

If Yu Cao hadn’t held it back, it most definitely would have made a huge mistake.

Wen Yan listened to the two of them, and was thoroughly baffled.

Could someone please explain to him what the hell just happened?

No matter what, things couldn’t be this messed up, right?

...

Inside the Nether Path.

Countless conscious ghosts were advancing through the Nether Path.

Following behind them was a uni-horned ghost and a two-horned ghost.

The two-horned ghost trailed behind, speaking earnestly and solemnly.

”Trust me, this is definitely a trap. Really—did I ever lie to you last time?

The people from the forbidden zone—they’re terrifying. Seriously awful.

You can’t imagine the depths of their depravity.

That Taoist is rotten to the core, too. Just using us ghosts as cannon fodder.”

A ghost nearby curled its lip in disdain.

”We know perfectly well, that Great Killer Star in the forbidden zone—he needs a streetlight to hang people on.

The streetlights there are all occupied. If he wants to hang anyone, he has to walk a long, long way just to find a new streetlight.

There’s so many of us, how many can one guy kill?”

”Who said that? Who’s spreading these rumors? Have you no conscience? Spreading such dangerous bullshit! Ghosts like that don’t even have hearts!” the two-horned ghost shouted furiously, eyes wide in outrage.

”This is a plot!

I swear on my own life, this is a massive plot!

Believe me!

Haven’t you all noticed?

A bunch of the ghosts who spread rumors before are all missing—they didn’t even show up!”

The group of ghosts argued noisily, when suddenly, they all sensed it: inside the Nether Path, there was an eerie green light shining.

At the intersection stood a terrifying wooden sculpture, its head slightly raised, mouth agape, and inside its mouth a ghostly green flame flickered softly.

The moment they saw that hideous wooden idol, the whole crowd of ghosts stopped in their tracks and huddled together.