Chapter 167: Chaser of the Aurora

"Hello." Chen Ling said in an unfamiliar tone. "Have we met somewhere before?"

Now that Chen Ling had completely changed his appearance, there was no reason to reveal his identity to Xi Renjie. Helplessly, he chose this cliché but useful excuse.

Xi Renjie stared blankly at the face. A moment later, he suddenly laughed, revealing two rows of neat, snow-white teeth on his face covered in wind, frost, and mud.

"I've seen you! We looked for Aurora City together!"

Chen Ling was startled. He looked at Xi Renjie's exaggerated smile and suddenly felt something was wrong... But he followed the conversation and asked:

"When? Are you okay?"

"Did you find Aurora City?" Xi Renjie asked back.

"This is Aurora City."

"Oh..."

Xi Renjie thought for a while, then lowered his head to observe the ground carefully. He was seriously looking at every crack in the floor tiles, the weeds growing by the wall, and the puddles floating with hair and mud... He seemed to be looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Chen Ling asked.

"I'm looking for Aurora City... I'm almost there!"

"This is Aurora City." Chen Ling repeated. He looked at Xi Renjie's strange behavior, and a thought suddenly flooded his mind. "You..."

"I'm almost there... I'll definitely find it!!"

Xi Renjie held a bulging cloth bag in his arms and stumbled onto the street. His eyes, flickering with hope, scanned the surroundings—a longing Chen Ling had never seen before.

Xi Renjie's pupils reflected the dim yellow sunset and the kites still floating in it. His hands kept grabbing at the air, as if he wanted to catch those kites.

"Aurora City has kites... I have kites too! Follow the kites... I'll definitely be able to reach Aurora City!!"

"I'm almost at Aurora City..."

"I'm almost there!!"

He reached into the cloth bag in his arms, pulled out a handful of golden coins, and threw them hard into the sky!

The coins flipped in mid-air like golden kites flying in the sky, rushing straight into the clouds under the sunset, only to fall powerlessly to the ground... The clinking sounds echoed on the street, and passersby were stunned.

Xi Renjie's face was filled with excitement and madness. He pulled out handful after handful of coins and scattered them toward the sky, like a demented lunatic.

"Look! These are the kites they gave me!! Follow the kites... I'll definitely reach Aurora City!!!"

The eyes of the pedestrians on the street went wide. They dropped everything they were doing and swarmed toward him, scrambling behind Xi Renjie, fighting for the coins on the ground, their faces full of ecstasy.

"Gold coins?! So many gold coins!!"

"Is this guy crazy? He doesn't even want his gold coins?"

"Hit the jackpot! Hit the jackpot!! So much money! Enough for our family to live for a long time!!"

"Don't grab! These are all mine! All mine!!"

“……”

Xi Renjie emptied the last handful of coins and threw them hard into the sky. A brilliant golden rain fell from the sky, and his laughter echoed through the street.

Countless Aurora City residents bent down behind him to pick up the money, their eyes smiling into crescents. No one cared where the madman who was throwing money came from. Even children were lying on the ground picking them up one by one, knowing that even picking up one would be enough to buy a hundred new kites.

Chen Ling watched this scene blankly, but didn't step forward... His eyes were full of complexity.

"This guy is really interesting." Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "He's clearly in Aurora City, yet he's still looking for it?"

Chen Ling shook his head:

"No... he never reached Aurora City."

The ragged figure walked staggeringly out of the crowd of people bending down. His silhouette disappeared bit by bit at the end of the street as the sun set behind the western mountains.

Chen Ling knew that from now on, there would be no more Enforcer Xi Renjie in the world... In Aurora City, there would be one more madman bitterly chasing the Aurora.

"...Let's go."

On the noisy and chaotic street, Chen Ling withdrew his gaze. He pushed up the half-rimmed glasses on his nose and walked calmly toward the east of the road... the opposite direction of Xi Renjie.

Ever since he let Xi Renjie go outside the city, the other's fate had nothing to do with him. Even witnessing Xi Renjie's end didn't affect him, because that wouldn't be Chen Ling's end;

The kites of Aurora City would always survive the winter, and the sun that set in the west would eventually rise from the east.

……

Enforcer Headquarters.

Bright lights tore through the night, and a steam car drove through the dim streets, slowly stopping at the headquarters entrance.

Chu Shiduo, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, immediately stepped forward and opened the back door... [Tan Xin] stepped out of the car, his black coat swaying slightly in the night, and walked straight into the headquarters.

"Teacher, you're back so soon?" Chu Shiduo followed immediately. "How is the Aurora Lord's condition? Is he any better?"

[Tan Xin] didn't answer, but walked calmly toward his office. All the Enforcers and officers who passed by stopped to salute the figure, but he acted as if he hadn't seen them.

Black leather gloves pushed open the office door. [Tan Xin] hung his coat on the coat rack in the corner. Chu Shiduo keenly sensed that his teacher's mood seemed bad, so he stood quietly in front of the desk, waiting for the other to speak first.

Finally, after [Tan Xin] turned on the desk lamp, he spoke unhurriedly:

"What happened at the Southwest Gate?"

"It has been quelled." Chu Shiduo seemed to have guessed he would ask, picked up a document from the side, and handed it over. "That Chen Ling is a member of the Twilight Society, card face [Hearts 6]. After he sent everyone into the city, he burned himself to death on the train engine... Everyone saw him turn to ashes with their own eyes, so his death can be confirmed.

However, after Chen Ling burned himself, public opinion has started to lean toward him... Many residents believe that Chen Ling cannot be considered a heretic. With the promotion of interested parties, the image of our Enforcers is also being constantly smeared..."

[Tan Xin] waved his hand. "I said, how the public views us is not important... especially now."

Chu Shiduo opened his mouth as if to refute, but ultimately didn't speak.

"However... this Chen Ling went to such lengths to enter Aurora City, just to burn himself to death?"

Chu Shiduo hesitated for a moment before saying: "He... he also said some things before burning himself... one was expressing contempt for the lower-level management of the Enforcers, and the other... was a 'warning'."

"What 'warning'?"

"He said... the cold wind of the Frozen Sea has already blown to Aurora City, and the destruction of the Seven Districts is not the end of the story... perhaps, it is just the beginning." Chu Shiduo repeated Chen Ling's words word for word.

Hearing this, [Tan Xin]'s eyes narrowed slightly. He was silent on the desktop for a long time, then chuckled.

"Worthy of being a member of the Twilight Society... this Chen Ling is not simple."

As he spoke, he picked up a long, narrow black box. As he turned the knob on the edge of the box, glowing "8"s lit up one by one, like some kind of digital clock.

Under [Tan Xin]'s adjustment, the numbers in the box changed one after another, finally settling on a string of numbers, and then began to jump automatically.

【93：03:39】

【93：03:38】

【93：03:37】

【93：03:36】……

"93 days, 3 hours, 36 seconds... Teacher, what does this mean?" Chu Shiduo asked in confusion.

Tan Xin put the box back on the desk, the flickering digital glow making his face appear in light and shadow... A moment later, he spoke slowly,

"This is the remaining lifespan of Aurora City."