Destiny in Cinders

”No, please! Spare me, sir!” Zheng Mo was utterly terrified to see the imperial seal edict and grabbed the overseer’s leg desperately. ”This humble servant has served the people for so many years... Even though I don’t have any amazing achievements, I have still put in blood, sweat and tears into my job! Please spare me, sir!”

That line rang so convincing to himself that he cried actual tears and leaked snot from his nose. It was true that he had relaxed in the years he served under Shu Zheng and had forgotten most of his basic duties. But in the past few days, he had truly fought the True Fiend Cult with all he had and protected the terrestrial veins of Keensight! Though it wouldn’t have worked out without the Dustdawner kid’s help, it was an achievement nevertheless! Why should he be stripped of his dao mandate because of that? Alas, he was unaware that his own superior had been the one to collude with heavenly fiends.

The overseer, however, didn’t care about everything else. The fact that he had failed to complete his own mission to capture the princess made him so mad that all he wanted to do was vent.

”Report!” Though this came out of nowhere, the overseer had predicted it would happen. Smoke gathered in the air before him and formed into a blurry visual projection of a soldier of the Blackguard.

The soldier bowed and began his report. ”Sir, we found Chen Baihu’s corpse. He was in charge of a few yin nodes. He appeared to be beheaded and had his blood drained completely, but we couldn’t identify the circulation technique that the killer used. It didn’t look like any common technique. Instead, it was a completely unorthodox one! Most likely, the elite fighters of the True Fiend Cult attacked Chen Baihu and used some method to mask his transmission.”

”Oh?” Overseer Cao no longer had the time to waste on punishing Zheng Mo after hearing the update. Furrowing his brow, he asked the soldier, ”Where’s the seal?”

”The seal was cut too!” The soldiers of the Blackguard knew that the seal was something that was used to corrupt the terrestrial veins of Keensight. That was one of their objectives, which Hexsun Mystic Mirror had foiled, hence Overseer Cao’s seething anger.

”He’s even able to cut the seal...” Overseer Cao’s wrinkles intensified even more at the thought of the power of what he was going up against. It would take the overseer quite a bit of effort to wipe out the pure fiend qi emitted by the heavenly fiends in the sky. Typically, nobody in Keensight, a city that no longer had a guardian adept, would be able to destroy a seal with brute force unless they had a fiendslaying artifact or were heavenly fiends themselves!

What if the True Fiend Cult kept this from us and wanted to have a monopoly over this information? Overseer Cao raised his caution at the thought. Even though they were working with the fiend cult to search for Princess Mingjing, there was no telling when their truce would fail. While the overseer himself didn’t know the truth behind the call to capture her, there was a chance that the fiend fanatics did, so they would do everything they could to apprehend her.

”Put the city on lockdown!” the overseer ordered. ”Have the rest of the Blackguard defend the terrestrial veins. Also, get the local garrison to seal off all the streets and track down every suspicious individual.”

When he was done giving orders, he remembered the half-dead Zheng Mo who was still lying flat on the ground. He did feel quite awkward looking at the minor official. If the True Fiend Cult had betrayed the overseer’s trust to pursue their own agenda, Zheng Mo would’ve rendered him a service. There was no need for him to punish the official by stripping him of his mandate. Yet, he already took out the imperial seal edict. Surely, he had to use it for something.

As he lamented not having any other option to deescalate this and was about to cripple Zheng Mo, a flash of gold landed in the courtyard. A sage martialist with graying hair stood there with his eyes closed. This was Sage Mystic Mirror of the Hexsun Mystic Mirror fame, Ming Guangchen.

”Why are you giving your junior so much trouble, Brother Cao?” the sage said as he stepped forward, raising his hand to push the overseer’s hand that held the edict down gently. ”I was undercover in the city for quite some time now. I can attest that this city manager has done everything in his power. If you choose to punish him for that, it would be completely unreasonable.”

Overseer Cao glared at him and snapped, ”Do not interfere with the internal politics of Grand Chen! This affair is ours to handle! If he wasn’t able to fulfill his tasks, he deserves punishment! There are no limits to my authority as overseer. Don’t think that I’ll give you face just because you decided to speak up!”

”It was just a humble suggestion,” Ming Guangchen said, reading between the lines and noting that the overseer wanted a good reason to forgo the punishment. The sage shook his head in resignation. ”City Manager Zheng has defended this city for decades and is in harmony with the flow of energy here. He would be instrumental in activating the terrestrial-vein formation to seal off Keensight. It would make things much more convenient to conduct search operations in the surrounding snowy area. There is no need to resort to the harshest punishment outright. Let him atone for his shortcomings by giving him a chance to serve.”

”I suppose you do speak sense.” Overseer Cao was able to get off his high horse when presented with a flawless, reasonable justification. He put away the imperial seal edict and pointed at Zheng Mo, returning the power and knowledge to control the terrestrial veins to him. Instantly, the pain Zheng Mo felt subsided considerably. The poor official ritualistically thanked the overseer and prostrated himself before Sage Mystic Mirror gratefully and thanked them for their benevolence, having gained a new lease on life.

”Alright, enough of that,” Overseer Cao said, annoyed. ”I will give you a chance on account of Sage Mystic Mirror. Give it your all and fulfill this task! Rejoin the terrestrial veins. I will help you scan the entire city with their power!”

***

Meanwhile, You Ruhui, who had been listening to An Jing and Madam Huai’s conversation, suddenly sat bolt upright, a look of panic appearing on her face. ”Oh no! There is a change in Keensight’s terrestrial veins! An elite is using the Heaven-Earth Sight ability and is trying to track me down through the terrestrial veins!”

”Are you able to hide?” An Jing asked, cutting the conversation with Madam Huai short. He was prepared to open the Grandvoid Pathway at any time. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy to capture You Ruhui, however. If one ability was all it took to expose her, she would never have run so far to Keensight.

”It’s different this time,” You Ruhui said with a serious look. ”We’re at the border of Grand Chen, so I can only use very little of the terrestrial veins’ power. Not to mention, I already used my power earlier to suppress the terrestrial veins to help you. The traces of my power will fade away, but until then, I could still be discovered!”

Though You Ruhui was still wearing her veil, it was clear that the blood had left her face from her panic. Then, she had an epiphany and forced a smile. ”Thankfully, I’ve been careful to never appear in public with anybody else. As long as I leave this place stealthily, they wouldn’t be able to link me to the two of you even if they find me. It’s a real shame, madam, Jing Xuan, but it appears we have to part ways.”