Destiny in Cinders

At this point, any debate over the cruelty of An Jing’s actions vanished. Anyone in the right mind would agree that he did the right thing. A few of them even felt that their deaths were too swift, wishing instead to keep survivors for their most ”effective” interrogation methods.

Lost for words, Constable Wang stole a glance at An Jing before lowering his head to help the others with the wounded. Just as he had feared, An Jing was entirely capable of wiping out a whole block alone, except this time, his target was the True Fiend Cult.

”Brave warrior...”

Zheng Mo approached to exchange greetings, but the boy answered him coldly, ”How could this happen under your watch?”

The strained smile instantly vanished from Zheng Mo’s face. Though he tried to swallow his anger, he finally snapped. ”It’s easy for you to say! How is any of this my fault? This infiltration clearly began long ago, when Guardian Shu was still in charge...” The name seemed to cool his anger, but the lingering resentment in his chest still pushed through as he said, ”With this level of infiltration, who’s to say we weren’t already leaking like a sieve?”

That’s exactly how it is, though it was just a different cult.

None of this mattered to An Jing. In his eyes, everyone had the right to harbor grievances and complain except for the public officials. ”Your duty is to protect the people, and this oversight is entirely your failure. But let’s not waste time on that. By now, you must have deduced that Honor Pavilion is their base. Secure the victims, but don’t send in your men yet, or you’ll alert them. The snow calamity is coming. Reinforce the guards at the terrestrial-vein nodes and prepare to channel your abilities. I will provide support. When the time comes, you’ll know whether to strike.”

”My deepest thanks, brave warrior.” Although his face burned red and the veins at his temples throbbed, Zheng Mo still bowed and offered his thanks. As an official of Grand Chen, his own dignity meant nothing to him; achieving the objective was his sole priority.

Though this young Dustdawner appeared to be at the River Aura Stage, his true strength easily eclipsed that of the average Tide Aura Stage martialist. He was clearly a meticulously raised heir of a prominent clan. A martialist capable of single-handedly wiping out an elite True Fiend Cult squad and their warehouse guards was more than capable of defending over half the terrestrial-vein nodes.

Above all, Zheng Mo was acutely aware that the government stood no chance against Honor Pavilion. They had two Fortification martialists who could potentially summon subfiends, and their hidden aces were still a complete mystery. On their side, Keensight had only four Fortification martialists to spare, Zheng Mo included. Despite their numerical advantage, their primary duty was to guard the terrestrial veins and keep the people safe.

Even if Honor Pavilion were destroyed, the enemy would simply disperse to sow chaos, which would only make things worse. After all, disrupting order took less effort than maintaining it, so the safest move was to stay put and let the enemy come to them. They wouldn’t be defeated as long as they didn’t chase victory.

But, An Jing was lying to him of course. He had originally intended to play the part of a warm, friendly Dustdawner and exchange polite small talk with the city manager to lay the groundwork for his future plans. But after witnessing the True Fiend Cult’s barbaric actions, An Jing was consumed by a blind rage and completely lost the patience to pretend.

Damn it! If I don’t slaughter these monsters, then I don’t deserve to call myself human! Screw waiting around for the enemy to make the first move; he would strike tonight! The True Fiend Cult was probably reeling from his sudden attack, and a follow-up attack tonight was the last thing they would expect.

An Jing shook his head, his eyes drawn once more to the children being carried out of the warehouse. ”How can this world change for the better when we share it with those fiend-worshipping vermin?” Muttering under his breath, he turned and strode away. The snowstorm had intensified.

***

”What?” Inside Honor Pavilion, Lu Jin could no longer sit still. He had been in secluded cultivation, seizing the opportunity of his rejuvenation to push toward the peak of the Fortification Realm and condense his fifth wonder.

”The entire team sent after Jing Xuan was slaughtered, the warehouse was attacked, and the government has also rescued all our backup offerings?!” He slammed his hand down, shattering the solid wood table as he roared. ”Isn’t he supposed to be just a young Silk Aura martialist? How could our intelligence be this far off?!”

The fiend follower broke into a cold sweat while reporting to his superior, who had visibly regained his youth after receiving the heavenly fiend’s grace. ”Our intel was wrong. Jing Xuan is actually a River Aura martialist with powerful techniques. I fear he’s no spoiled young master, but rather...” He hesitated, but as a Dustdawner, he couldn’t resist gazing northward with reverence. ”But rather a genius worthy of joining the Dustdawn Sects. That’s equivalent to entering the inner circle of Grand Chen’s martial academy or even the True Martial Arena!”

”How could someone like that travel all the way to Keensight alone, only to run out of funds after spending just a few hundred liang of silver?” Lu Jin looked utterly incredulous. He immediately dismissed the notion that the major Dustdawner tribes had sent the boy to gather information. No tribe would ever waste a genius on a mission like this.

”Who knows how much silver he squanders each day on feral-beast meat alone? How many days’ worth of food would a few hundred liang of silver even get him?” At that thought, a wildly unbelievable yet perfectly logical explanation flashed through Lu Jin’s mind. Could he have run away from home?

The more he contemplated, the more plausible it became. It sounded absurd, but as a lifearc bearer himself, Lu Jin knew all too well that his peers were often eccentric and extreme by nature, which led to frequent conflict with their families. Or rather, it was precisely because of their eccentric and extreme personalities that they awakened these extraordinary lifearcs. Much like himself.

”Perfect.” Lu Jin suddenly chuckled, exposing an even row of white teeth. ”Capturing a lifearc bearer like him is usually impossible, but he’s delivered himself right to our doorstep. Captain Guo and I will work together to take him down tomorrow.”

His strange decision made the fiend follower look up in surprise. Lu Jin let out a smug laugh. ”The kid is incredibly strong and utterly reckless. It’s obvious his own power has gone straight to his head. He would never expect us to be this careful in capturing him! Haha! The reward for sacrificing a lifearc bearer is ten thousand times greater than what we would get for any ordinary martialist!”

”How wise of you, sir!” The fiend follower was completely at a loss for words. Lu Jin’s line of thinking was unconventional. If Jing Xuan truly were just a young genius from Dustdawn, he wouldn’t stand a chance of anticipating this.

After a brief moment of marvelling at his own brilliance, Lu Jin turned around, frowning as he looked at his respectful subordinate. ”Now that we’ve been exposed, all future operations will be executed under the banner of the Heavenly Divine Cult.”

”Yes!”

It was something the fiend followers were familiar with. The Heavenly Divine Cult and True Divine Cult, which was what the True Fiend Cult called itself, were both known as demonic cults. The reason was simple; both cults routinely committed atrocities under the guise of the other. It was impossible to know who was truly responsible between the truth and the lies. Granted, the True Fiend Cult was guilty of far more heinous acts. The Heavenly Divine Cult hadn’t been active in Keensight lately, but demonic cults didn’t care about a perfect alibi anyway; their absence simply made it easier to shift the blame.

The True Fiend Cult was busy plotting their next move, but on a street across Honor Pavilion...

Trying to pin this on the Heavenly Divine Cult? I find them despicable, but these cowards who won’t even own their own crimes are downright disgusting. Fully armed and cloaked in the Hidden Earth ability, An Jing piloted the drone, watching them coldly through a window.

He put down the drone goggles. It’s confirmed. None one is innocent, so they must all die.