Chapter 166: Behind the Scenes

"To have a train driving on the main road... it's hellish."

A massive steam locomotive pulling a train engine moved slowly along the road on the edge of Aurora City. The driver complained while operating the machine.

"Stop complaining. If those Enforcers hear you, be careful they don't dock half your transport fee." his companion said. "Deliver the goods and let's finish up and go home."

In front of White Dove Plaza, the train from outside the city had been dismantled into several sections. The carriages were completely separated and transported to a large warehouse by several steam locomotives. After a busy day, it was already dusk.

As the sun sank behind the western mountains, the carriages finally reached their destination. Looking at the charred train sections being sealed into the warehouse, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute, let's check one last time."

The accompanying Enforcer spoke suddenly.

The porters' faces darkened, but they couldn't say much, so they stood honestly at the warehouse entrance and waited.

Several Enforcers carried kerosene lamps and searched through each carriage. After confirming there was no one left, they nodded to the group.

"It's fine."

As the cordon was pulled around the warehouse, the Enforcers finally left. A few birds flew across the dim yellow sky, and the entire warehouse area fell into dead silence.

A few minutes later,

A figure slowly stepped down from the dim carriage.

He brushed the dust off his clothes like a passenger who had just gotten off a train, pulled aside the cordon, and walked out with a leisurely stroll.

He wore a brown coat and a pair of half-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, with a black chain dangling from the temples, looking like a scholar from afar. His young and unfamiliar face scanned the surroundings as he walked toward the sunset.

However, he stopped after only a few steps.

The orange-red sunset, like a crimson flame, floated at the end of the horizon. On the straight and long road, two figures were watching from the afterglow.

One wore a white flat cap with a silver snake ornament hanging from his ear, his slightly curled smile mysterious and flippant; the other wore a gray coat with a scarf wrapped around his neck, his azure eyes seemingly capable of capturing souls.

Seeing these two, the passenger who had just stepped off the train had a subtle expression.

He let out a long sigh. "How did you find me?"

"Guessed." Chu Muyun shrugged. "Ever since the train entered Aurora City, you stood on top of the engine and never moved. At first, I thought you just wanted to stand higher, but after thinking about it carefully, I realized it wasn't that simple...

Your position was right above the chimney used by the train to vent steam. When you burned your body, the ashes or embers would fall into the boiler through the chimney.

At the same time, you only needed to create an illusion of playing cards flying into the sky to attract everyone's attention... and you could take that opportunity to hide in the engine through the chimney, completing a perfect escape trick."

Chu Muyun paused for a moment and continued, "To be honest, you did it perfectly. If I didn't know your background, I would have definitely thought you were burned to nothing but ash... But I still can't figure out how you survived that fire?"

Chen Ling smiled without explaining further.

Chu Muyun's deduction was basically correct. The only flaw was that Chen Ling hadn't survived at all... He had truly been burned to ashes and then reborn in the unattended boiler. After his rebirth, he immediately used [Faceless] to mask his form, so even if the Enforcers searched again, they wouldn't find any clues.

The inspiration for this performance came from escape magic he had occasionally seen in theaters in his past life. Although Chen Ling wasn't a professional magician, he had watched from backstage long enough to know how it was done...

As it turned out, his escape performance was perfect. Even the five-striped Enforcer standing right there hadn't noticed anything unusual, except for Chu Muyun, who had assumed he wasn't dead and worked backward from there.

After all, who would have thought he could be reborn even after turning to ash?

"Seriously, I really liked your final playing card performance." Bai Ye couldn't help but exclaim. "Cards filling the sky is indeed very fitting for our Twilight Society. Next time we have a chance to make a high-profile entrance, we must try it..."

Chen Ling followed the two toward the city streets and asked:

"After I exited, what happened?"

"The survivors you brought into Aurora City wanted to stand up for you, but they were taken away by the Enforcers. They should be receiving treatment now. The other residents were likely shocked by you and haven't recovered yet, but once public opinion ferments, it's hard to say how things will develop..."

"What about Han Meng?"

"Him? He was taken away. Defying headquarters' orders, fighting with other Enforcers, and questioning Aurora City in public... With these charges, his appearance at the Tribunal is a certainty."

"The Tribunal? What's that?"

"A special court for Enforcers. All traitors or criminal Enforcers are tried there. The light punishment is stripping away all rights and life imprisonment; the heavy punishment is public execution. Either way, it's not a good place."

Chen Ling frowned slightly, walking forward in silence, wondering what he was thinking.

The sun slanted westward,

The dim yellow sunset spilled onto the streets of Aurora City. Children ran by with paper kites, smiling; a crisp bell rang, and a postman on a bicycle stopped helplessly to let them pass... The scent of life, along with the rich aroma of food, drifted into every corner of the city.

This was Chen Ling's first time walking on the streets of Aurora City. In a daze, he felt as if he had returned to a small town from his past life. Although the technology was far less advanced, that sense of human warmth and bustle was something the Seven Districts didn't possess.

Just then, Chen Ling's peripheral vision caught the other side of the street, and he paused slightly.

A ragged figure was sitting against a wall in an ignored corner, traces of wind and snow still on him, seemingly out of place with everything around him.

Chen Ling stopped.

"What?" Chu Muyun asked in confusion. "Do you know him?"

A flash of complexity crossed Chen Ling's eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he walked toward the person.

Chen Ling's shadow blocked the sunset's afterglow. The figure sitting in the corner slowly raised his head, his disheveled face full of emptiness and confusion... Chen Ling wouldn't forget this face, because not long ago, he had fought against him in the wind and snow.

He was the District 3 Enforcer, Xi Renjie.