Chapter 150: Hell (I)

Looking at the Head File Keeper who was shaking like a sieve before him, the Director sighed slightly and said, “Being soft-hearted is not exactly a mistake. The Immortal said that the Pan Family would eventually be wiped out even if you didn’t touch them. Acting now would just make our Eastern Depot seem unjust. As for the Eternal Mother statues and the like, they are not the main point. Those Donglin Party members, if they really wanted to argue, could always find countless excuses. Let them be, let them be. It is not that there is no retribution, the time just hasn’t come yet.”

Pausing for a moment, the Director added, “Saying you were wrong isn’t about this matter. What I meant was, it’s one thing for you to invite the Immortals to the Eastern Depot, but why did you have to do it in front of everyone? Is this something the Eastern Depot can shoulder alone? You could have secretly invited the Immortals for a meeting, or directly invited them to the Meridian Gate, where the Imperial Guard would receive them. His Majesty didn’t sleep all last night. Even if it meant breaking some rules, receiving the Immortals for a direct audience this morning, even in front of those Grand Secretaries and the Chief Grand Secretary, to let them see what these filthy things look like, wouldn’t that have been good?”

Seeing the Head File Keeper raise his head, the Director looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and severity, saying, “You brought the Immortals into the Eastern Depot so openly. Even if His Majesty doesn’t say anything with his mouth, won’t he think about it in his heart? Why didn’t the Immortals go to His Majesty first, but came to the Eastern Depot instead? Even if you tell those Donglin Party members, they will say the news came from the Eastern Depot. Even if it’s true, they will just slander it. By then, many things we want to do will be hindered. You turned a good thing into a bad thing.”

The Head File Keeper broke out in a cold sweat again, his body trembling as he knelt there, not daring to speak.

Seeing this, the Director sighed again and said, “Forget it, forget it. It is destiny, and I cannot blame you. If you really had such cunning nature, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate you either. Just go. Next time you do things, think more, speak and act with caution, and do not be greedy for merit or rash. That is all. I don’t know how much of these words you will remember, or who will hear of them in the future.”

The Head File Keeper looked at the Director sighing to himself. He wanted to say something but didn’t know where to start. He kowtowed heavily on the ground a few times and said, “Grandfather has treated me with great kindness. Although I am not a good person, I know what it means to repay kindness. If that day comes, I will just go with Grandfather. So what?”

After saying this, the Head File Keeper wiped the tears from his face, turned his head, and left the small room.

The Director watched the Head File Keeper’s retreating figure, tried to smile, and said, “Now that is a loyal one. It’s just a pity that at a time like this, loyalty is useless. Some things cannot be solved by loyalty, no matter how heavy it is.”

After speaking, the Director turned his head to look at the other side. In the corner of the small room, the Taoist who had judged the situation in that room early in the morning had his eyes lowered, seeming completely unaware of the current events, calm and tranquil, making it almost impossible to notice his existence.

Looking at this Taoist, the Director asked in a low voice, “Daoist Master, do you have any opinion?”

The Taoist remained quiet for a while, then opened his eyes and said calmly, “People must be killed.”

The Director didn’t find anything wrong with these few words, he just asked, “Who must be killed?”

“In the Directorate of Astronomy, there are many people entangled with the Donglin Party. If you say East, they say West. The Donglin Party members are best at tangling things up. Back and forth, nothing gets done. Even a major event like this is being messed up by them into a rotten situation.”

The Director was silent for a moment, then said, “This kind of thing shouldn’t require the Eastern Depot to step in normally. Some people, you can’t kill them all. I really don’t know what is in the heads of these Donglin Party members. Is this major event important, or is their power struggle important? If power was so important, how could His Majesty let them hold power? Have all their brains been fed to the dogs?”

The Taoist shook his head slightly and said, “Nothing else, it is just greed blinding their wisdom.”

The Director asked again, “Besides purging the Directorate of Astronomy, is there any other way?”

The Taoist shook his head again and said, “No. These matters are complicated and intertwined. Just as those two said, they are all old cases from ten years ago. Over these ten years, there have been so many changes. Even if we wanted to handle it, we wouldn’t know where to start. It would just be an advantage for that thing.”

The Director tapped the table lightly, scribbling randomly on the paper. After a while, he asked, “Relying only on those two, how much of a turning point can there be?”

The Taoist shook his head again and said, “Not much of a turning point. Even if those two activate all the corks, it will still be a situation where many die and few survive. That thing has been setting this up for so many years. Now is the time to launch it. The general situation cannot be changed. Everything is too late.”

The Director threw down his brush, sighed, and said, “It is late, it is late. If it were three years earlier, it wouldn’t be like this now.”

A bitter smile seemed to appear on the Taoist’s lips as he suddenly asked, “Is your living shrine built completely?”

The Director shook his head again and said, “It is not complete. Those Donglin Party members are always causing trouble behind the scenes. Over in Liaodong, there is only one, which cannot suppress the situation. It is just as I said earlier, if it were three years earlier, it wouldn’t be the situation it is now.”

Only then did some expression appear on the Taoist’s face. He looked somewhat desolate and sad as he said in a low voice, “No matter what, the time cannot be earlier. Sighing in vain here is useless. We should make more preparations. When the time comes, we will do our best and leave the rest to fate.”

The two looked at each other and sighed in unison again. Neither spoke anymore, each burdened with heavy thoughts. Even the bright sunshine outside looked extraordinarily gray.

Xiao Fen did not know about the extensive discussion between Wei Zhongxian and the Taoist afterwards. He also didn’t know that the scene behind this Trial World far exceeded his current understanding. For him, resting as well as possible and then completing the mission as well as possible were the top priorities. As for the rest, frankly speaking, history was history, and knowing the cause and effect was enough.

Because of this mindset, Xiao Fen’s sleep that morning was exceptionally long. It wasn’t until around 2 PM that he crawled up. He called two Agents to get some water to wash his face. He looked at his tattered clothes, then asked the Agents to find a new set of short clothes. He put them on, covered them with a long gown on the outside, and slung his backpack diagonally across his waist. Looking rather odd, he walked to Lycaon’s door and knocked.

Not long after, Lycaon opened the door. Seeing Xiao Fen’s outfit, Lycaon smiled slightly. Then, without saying much, the two turned and left the small courtyard together. In the distance, an Agent led the way secretly. Before long, they exited through the side gate of the Eastern Depot. They looked left and right. There were already some people watching them from afar, seemingly whispering to each other.

The Eastern Depot was a restricted area, always existing like a living hell. Not to mention the main gate, even the side gate of the Eastern Depot was rarely visited by people, everyone avoiding it in fear. Today, surprisingly, there were so many people here. Clearly, the clearing thunder last night had caused panic in many hearts. Hearing that Immortals were appearing in the Eastern Depot, they couldn’t help but summon the courage to come and take a look.