Lie Huo Jiao Chou Volume 3 Chapter 46

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"Is that so, then it's not convenient for me to stay for a long time." Sheng Lingyuan wiped his hands, thinking.

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    Xuan Ji was first stunned by his question. Then, he felt that Old Wang's words were not something someone should've asked.

    Whatever changes the special abilities had, they would need to go and report to the office. But, what did his next two questions mean?

    Does this government employee plan to arrange a marriage leave?

    Xuan Ji: "What's my plan?"

    "How you are planning to document this," Captain Wang said seriously. "Do you know there is a 'human-like assessment scale' in our bureau? The highest is 100, and if the score is more than 60, it means that the 'human-like degree' is too high and it will be in the limelight. The likes of your sword spirit are more human than you, I think he will get a 101."

    Xuan Ji's eyes twitched; he felt this didn't sound like a compliment in any way. 

    "In this case, there are two ways of reporting. Either you sign a 'full responsibility agreement,' and the Deviant Control Office will set up a special ID card for him. From the outside, he has the same identity as a normal human, and he can open a bank account, but it's actually connected with your identity information, and you will be responsible for everything he does in the future."

    Xuan Ji had an ominous premonition: "In other words..."

    Captain Wang explained kindly, "Oh, that is to say, when he owes money, you pay the money, when he kills people, you pay with your life."

    Xuan Ji: "Wait... Brother Wang, can you help me see if there are four characters 'professional scapegoat' written with blood on my back?"

    Captain Wang shrugged, "If your sword spirit doesn't listen to you at all, it's really not an easy thing to do. Otherwise, you can choose the second way, to 'general filing' —— just tell the Deviant Control Office such a thing exists."

    Xuan Ji felt that this idea was good. But as he was about to nod his head, he heard Captain Wang add, "That way, you have to bring him to the 60th underground floor of the head office building for an isolated review. It lasts at least six months, and the higher the human-like degree, the longer the review time will be. Finally, he has to go through a series of experiments and safety tests, and he can only be released after being approved by at least three experts with level above the director."

    Xuan Ji: "..."

    He wouldn't dare even with a borrowed courage! 

    The 60th underground floor of the headquarters, Xuan Ji had just been there two days ago, it was the place where dangerous goods were isolated. The mutated Mirage Butterfly was also there.

    "Why so strict?" Xuan Ji asked, "Ancient creatures should be quite common, right?"

    "Well... don't tell anyone I told you." Captain Wang looked around and said in a low voice, "I don't know if you've heard about it. The former leader of the Fengshen I — my boss, last name Yan, full name Yan Qiushan, was a metal-type. He used to have a long sabre inscribed with the word 'Zhichun'. Now, the fragments of the sabre are on the 60th underground floor of the headquarters."

    As they spoke, they entered the hospital building.

    Xuan Ji asked, "What happened?"

    "The spirit of the sword... It's evil, the blade is especially bright, so bright it can show people's reflection, but if you see your reflection in it, you can feel there's something wrong. Because when you see your face, it's not like you're looking at a mirror, but like someone is using your eyes to look outside... do you understand what I mean?" Captain Wang whispered, "One time during Lunar New Year, we drank too much, us water-type had higher tolerance than other people, in the end, only I could stand. I called their families one-by-one, asking to pick them up. At that time, from Captain Yan's family, came a man. I still remember what he looked like until this day —— very tall, his nose and eyes were sharp, he looked like he was born to be a model. Captain Yan had a twisted tongue and told me to call him 'sister-in-law.' I thought nowadays 'sister-in-law' being a man was no big deal, so I happily followed, I didn't think much... but when I helped Captain Yan get in the car, I heard him call him 'Zhichun'."

    "Is he the sword spirit?"

    Captain Wang nodded: "Yes."

    "And then?"

    "Later, there was a "shen* island" floating from the South China Sea —— do you know what a shen island is?"

*Shen is a mythical clam-like sea creature.

    A shen island was an island floating on the sea. It was said that there was a kind of marine creature called 'shen bug,' which could be understood as a sea dung beetle; they liked all kinds of filthy things and often traveled in a large group to gather sunken ships, bodies in the sea, garbages, and stuff... They all gathered and huddled together, looking like a moving island from a distance.

    But deep in the sea, there were too many unknown things. Besides filthy things, there were often other deadly things hidden in the shen islands. Until now, people hadn't been able to make an accurate distinction and definition, so they had to call them "sea poison."

    "Shen islands are usually active in the deep sea, but somehow they drifted into the continental shelf that time. There were many fishing and working ships near the mainland; it was too dangerous for this thing to come close. So we, the Fengshen I, received an urgent task to move it away. Captain Yan and we had it under control, but there was a group of uncivilized fishermen in the local area who heard rumors that there were sunken ships and treasures there, and secretly dug up the shen island. The sea poison inside leaked a lot. In order to save those fools, Captain Yan was also trapped on the island. We all thought that he would be killed in action, but then, as we were crying, we saw Zhichun come out with Captain Yan on his back. He had turned his sheath into a protective cover. Captain Yan didn't even breathe in a little bit of poison, but he on the other hand..."

    "Corroded by the sea poison in the shen island," someone interrupted him from behind.

    As soon as Xuan Ji and Captain Wang turned around, the two saw the person approaching, and they acted in unison; their actions were also consistent as they jumped backward.

    Xuan Ji was surprised. "Amitabha, my mother!"

    Captain Wang seamlessly continued, "Sadhu, sadhu*, my father!"

*A Buddhist expression like 'Amitabha' is usually used to praise or show approval.

    Xiao Zheng: "..."

    It made him wonder if the suburban cemetery could put up a "second coffin for half price" package, he really wanted to bury them at once.

    It really was Director Xiao, Mr. ATM of the Deviant Control Office. He was holding a crutch and had a cast on his leg... along with a shaved head.

    Xuan Ji and Captain Wang exchanged glances —— it seemed that "Director Xiao's hair was cut into teddy curls by lightning" was not a rumor.

    Fortunately, Xiao Zheng had a good head shape, it was round, so he didn't look ugly even after becoming bald, he just looked like a serious boiled egg.

    The boiled egg jutted his chin at them. "Let's talk in the room."

    Director Xiao's ward was a single room, and there was a huge energy detector at the door. The doors and windows were painted with the demon-repellent spells. Xiao Zheng was isolated in the ward for 24 hours, they had confirmed he had no other special energy on him, and he had just regained his freedom.

    "It's OK, being bald is good," Xuan Ji thought of his miserable experience as a 'shampooist,' his fingers were scratched in water until they turned white, then said sincerely, "Save on water and less work, I'm planning to shave my head in a couple of days."

    Xiao Zheng was angry just by looking at him —— It's all because of this unreliable non-trustworthy douche!

    In the Deviant Control Office, when he had finished talking about politics and history, he vowed that he would investigate the mutations of the Mirage Butterfly clearly. In the end, not only did it not become clear, he was led around into a messy roll of threads. 

    "Shave your hair? You might as well shave off your whole head, after all, the ball on your neck couldn't be used for business." Xiao Zheng looked at him coldly. "Leaving such a big hole like that, yet you didn't even mention a single word. Director Xuan, don't you think of the life of your colleagues as human lives?"

    Xuan Ji was stunned for a while, only to realize that Director Xiao had also counted the misdoings that Bixia had done against him, and instantly felt he was even wronged than Dou E*, but he couldn't clear it up. He choked for a long time, then had to take the huge black pot in silence and put it on his head**.

*a character from a Chinese play who was wrongly convicted of crimes 

** this is a slang for taking blame for someone else, more commonly illustrated by this meme

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    Xuan Ji sighed: "I can't, how can I? From a conspiracy theory standpoint, in my opinion, the people who used the gloomy sacrifice know too much, they can't be outsiders. A hundred percent sure there is a spy in the Office, but we don't even know whether this internal spy is voluntary or forced —— Before the lightning had struck, we didn't know whether it could be transferred to different people either. I just came here less than a month ago. In the whole administration I can count with one hand the faces I know, who do you want me to believe, who to not believe?"

    Captain Wang hurriedly pacified. "Yes, the big 'demonic moth' that flew out of the coffin chased us for dozens of miles; the bone arrows and wind-like knives almost sliced Director Xuan into strands of noodles."

    Xuan Ji: "..."

    All thanks to you; I was so miserable because someone directed me the wrong way!

    Xiao Zheng actually understood this truth in his mind. If it was him in that position, he would choose to do it eight out of ten times. He was a lightning-type, if he was struck by lightning, there would be nothing wrong, but the people of the field investigation team told him that the ancient version of the lightning charm that had been lost was used in the spell, it was too powerful. Therefore, in Director Xiao's opinion, his punk style at this time was completely because that Xuan had to be pretentious.

    Xiao Zheng sneered: "Then let me ask Director Xuan who never miscalculates anything, can you let me know now if me getting struck by lightning was worth it?"

    Xuan Ji summarized the experience in the forest park. "The second gloomy sacrifice which woke up the shaman tribe leader should have completely disappeared, only, the white shadow which was struck by lightning should only be a clone."

    Xiao Zheng asked, "Do you have a general thought for your suspicion?"

    Xuan Ji thought about it, then shook his head and didn't say a word —— in theory, if Aluojin didn't lie to him in the forest park, then everyone was suspicious.

    What Chiyuan had sealed before the Jiuzhou war broke out was the 'spiritual energy' in the world; the demon tribe and many human-like tribes could use this power to surpass all living beings... Although the word 'power' was too abstract for modern people —— after all, three thousand years later, no one remembered those masters' brilliant manipulation. Those old legends which were more like obsolete myths with no realistic and sensible senses were far less attractive than salary checks and real estate certificates.

    "I have a feeling," Xuan Ji said, "that the person who uses the gloomy sacrifice is not only lighting up fire everywhere, but they're also differentiating between 'Special Abilities' and ordinary people."

    Xiao Zheng squinted: "What do you mean?" 

    "The first time, the site of the gloomy sacrifice was Chiyuan. They pushed Bi Chunsheng to the frontline as a target, igniting the end to the hidden rules of concealing the number of casualties in the Deviant Control Office. The second time, they used the dirty acts of Lord Yue De in Dongchuan to introduce the gloomy sacrifice to the shaman altar. Even if we didn't come to check on Ji Qingchen, as long as Aluojin showed up, Lord Yue De would not be able conceal what they had been doing underground."

    Director Huang obviously didn't want to intensify the conflict, but there was a certain force pushing them all the time and forcing them to have no choice but investigate —— just as they had wanted to hold things down, they found out that the butterflies would mutate, so they followed the mutated butterflies to find Dongchuan, which then implicated Lord Yue De and his sham.

    They knew that Lord Yue De's case was not unique. There must be more than one 'Special Ability' who lacked contracts and restraints, ones who harmed others for their own benefits. Now, Lord Yue De's case was out in the open, what would those who had not been discovered do? Living in fear and unrest, what things would they cause? 

    Then talking about the Deviant Control Office, the Mirage Butterfly affairs continued to ferment; it was chaotic until this point. It was no longer an 'internal affair' that could be solved internally. No need to talk about how Director Huang would deal with it, those field workers who did wrong and participated in concealing the number of casualties, what would they think?

    Xuan Ji remembered what Bixia had said to him before he came out of the hotel——

    Sheng Lingyuan said: "You and your leader... Hm, what's he called? Ah, Director, It's very wise of you to cover up the matter about the human face butterfly, but don't forget, this is not a coincidence. Someone is manipulating it in the back; it's not something you can cover even if you want to. What's more, you want to keep the peace, but those disciples who have ulterior motives may not understand your sacrifice. Be careful that they will 'grow evil by the gall,*' you'd better move first."

*恶向胆边生: To mean one is too cornered they become bold to do anything.

    Xiao Zheng asked: "What do you mean?" 

    "Cut the mess with a sharp knife." Xuan Ji took a piece of paper from his pocket; it was torn from the hotel notebook, on which was written a very round unknown text with a pencil.

    The moment Xiao Zheng took it, a white light appeared on the paper. Director Xiao, who had just been struck by lightning, was very frightened and threw the paper away. "What is this?!"

    "The ancient curse of the shaman." Xuan Ji picked up the note, "The Mirage Butterfly is also called the human-face butterfly, it is also a kind of incantation from the ancient shaman tribe. Most of the shaman tribe's incantations have counter-incantations, they forbid the use of evil spells to harm people. Legend said they believed this kind of butterfly could communicate with the dead. Life and death are very sacred, besides the tribe leader, no one can plant this kind of butterfly at will. This inscription is used for inspection, anyone who has abused the use of the butterflies, when they touch this inscription, in between their eyebrows will appear butterfly patterns —— you are very clean, Director Xiao."

    Xiao Zheng: "..."

    Since the day when he knew Xuan Ji, his wish to slay this dude was getting stronger day by day. 

    "No need to thank me." Xuan Ji smiled, "By the way, you two haven't finished just now, what happened after the sword spirit Zhichun was corroded by sea poison?"

    "Then the sabre was destroyed. The fragments were collected and sent to the isolation room on the 60th floor underground." In the hotel restaurant, Ping Qianru, as instructed by Director Xuan, took Bixia downstairs to eat —— lest he tear out another hole in the parking lot.

    The restaurant was a buffet, but Bixia was not willing to 'help himself'. He sat down like a rich man, not feeling embarrassed when he ordered the young lady to run around. 

    Fortunately, Ping Qianru was good-tempered and willing to take care of others, she took this and that for him and introduced her preferences.

    Sheng Lingyuan looked at the tea bag in the teapot with great interest and asked, "Why is that?"

    "The composition of the sea poison is unknown; we have no way to eradicate it. At that time, all kinds of methods were tried, and the purification speed could not keep up with the corrosion. Besides, the corrosiveness of the sea poison was not only physical, Zhichun lost control and became less and less aware, Captain Yan had to lock him up. Unexpectedly, one time, he broke the seal, then ran to a crowded area, injured six passers-by, and one almost died. It was very chaotic at that moment, there was no choice but to destroy Zhichun. Yan Qiushan also left without saying goodbye because of this, and now his whereabouts are unknown —— so the Deviant Control Office is very strict with regulating sword spirits like you."

    "Is that so, then it's not convenient for me to stay for a long time." Sheng Lingyuan wiped his hands, thinking.

T/N:
Qiu(秋) from Qiushan means autumn, Chun(春) from Zhichun means spring ; w ;

The author has something to say: 

Note: there's no such kind of beetle in the ocean, the author just made things up. 

Chapter end