Chapter 1757: Delivering the Decree

A cool evening breeze brushed through the street.

Chen Ling brushed his theatrical robe sleeves, folded the single-page script filled with writing with his slender fingers, put it in his pocket, and continued walking forward calmly.

Li Laide saw this scene and opened his mouth to ask something, but in the end, he didn't speak and followed silently behind.

Just a moment ago, Li Laide witnessed Chen Ling writing something on the paper while walking. Li Laide had good eyesight; although he pretended to be completely uninterested, he had actually seen most of the content on the page through his peripheral vision.

It seemed to be a... script?

Li Laide saw the name Li Shangfeng repeatedly in it, along with several characters whose names he didn't know, just replaced by "Boss," "Second," and "Third," and there seemed to be something about a power plant...

Li Shangfeng's sister had been kidnapped, and he wasn't doing anything, just staying here, unhurriedly writing some inexplicable fan-fiction script?

What kind of sick hobby was this?

Could the things he wrote down casually actually turn into reality?

Of course, the life or death of the Li Shangfeng siblings had nothing to do with Li Laide. He touched the gold bar in his chest, still unable to understand what Chen Ling wanted him to do...

"Where are we going?" Li Laide finally spoke.

"The Grand Historian's Office."

Chen Ling replied indifferently.

"...Then what about me? I can't go with you. Xuanwu Avenue is too bustling. If I show my face, the Chengtian Prefecture will come to hunt me down... the scene will be very chaotic by then."

This wasn't Li Laide trying to run away again; he was stating a fact. There were Chengtian Prefecture patrols on Xuanwu Avenue. If a wanted criminal like him showed his face, the situation at the Comet Hotel would probably repeat itself.

"It's fine." Chen Ling didn't look back. "In a while, the scene will be more chaotic than you can imagine... no one will notice you at all."

Even Li Laide was shocked by this statement. He asked in astonishment: "What exactly do you want to do??"

Chen Ling didn't answer.

A dull silence enveloped him and Li Laide again, and the latter's hands clenched silently...

It was like this again.

Whenever he encountered such difficult questions, he would stop talking...

"Since you don't want me to know anything, why do you insist on keeping me by your side?" the young Li Laide said, somewhat annoyed. "What am I? Your accessory? Or a mascot?!"

"If you want a mascot, that Li Shangfeng who obeys your every word should be more suitable. At least he won't constantly cause you trouble! At least he's more like a normal person! Instead of someone like me who is..."

Li Laide gritted his teeth, the dream from just a moment ago reappearing in his mind, and he finally spat out those two words:

"...a heretic."

Chen Ling suddenly stopped walking.

The slow evening breeze brushed the hem of his theatrical robe. He looked back at the stubborn, twisted face of the youth, his eyes, which emitted a faint scarlet glow in the night, narrowing silently...

"Do you think..."

"That you are a heretic?"

"Am I not?" Li Laide sneered. "You've read my diary, you should know that I'm different from you... In this era, people like me are heretics."

Chen Ling shook his head. "I understand what you mean... but you are just a bit special, nowhere near the level of a heretic."

"I'm just special?" Li Laide clenched his fists. The ugly figures etched into his childhood memories, and the bearded figure who had almost killed him just now, reappeared in his mind. "You're just like them, born enjoying equality. You haven't experienced the contempt of others, you haven't seen the fear in others' eyes. What right do you have to understand me?!"

The youth's angry questioning echoed in the wind. The pain he had tried so hard to cover up was like a scar that would never heal, all exposed before Chen Ling at this moment, showing its hideousness.

Chen Ling just looked at him quietly, silent for a long time...

Before speaking slowly:

"Stay close to me..."

"Soon, you will know."

Chen Ling continued walking forward without looking back.

Li Laide didn't understand what Chen Ling meant, and he knew it was meaningless to try to escape now. He took a deep breath, tried to calm his mood, and followed silently behind Chen Ling.

The dim street continued to stretch out before the two figures, one red and one black...

At the end of the silence and darkness,

Xuanwu Avenue, pointing straight to the Chengtian Dynasty, was bustling with activity.

……

Chengtian Imperial Palace.

Imperial Study.

"Your Majesty, Chong Zhiqiu has already accepted the decree and left the Chengtian Domain."

Outside the blurry curtain, a young figure stood respectfully. His figure was obscured, making it impossible to see his appearance, but a few strands of gray hair could be vaguely seen hanging over his shoulders.

"Hmm." A calm voice sounded from behind the desk. "How is the matter I asked you to pay attention to?"

"Your Majesty asked me to pay attention to the strange events occurring within the Chengtian Domain recently, regardless of size... naturally, I remember." The young man smiled bitterly. "But the Chengtian Domain has too many people, and countless strange events happen every day. I screen and identify them every day, but I can barely manage..."

"However..." the young man changed the subject,

"Yesterday, there was indeed a strange event at the Chengtian Prefecture that is worth noting."

"Speak."

The figure behind the desk said indifferently.

"Yesterday, the Chengtian Prefecture received a report about a wanted criminal on the run, so they sent people to hunt him down... but later, everyone from the Chengtian Prefecture who went to hunt him down seemed to have forgotten about it and just came back on their own."

The figure behind the desk didn't express an opinion on this and remained silent...

The young man didn't finish and continued:

"Originally, I didn't think there was anything strange about this, it was nothing more than the 'Heart Python' at work. That wanted criminal was a Thief Path user, so it's not strange to have such means..."

"But what's bizarre is that even if memories can be stolen, the traces left by the battle shouldn't be erasable... The restaurant where the Chengtian Prefecture used force to hunt him down remained intact afterward, not even a cup or a table or chair was damaged..."

"It was as if someone had not only stolen everyone's memories but also restored the entire scene."

The figure behind the desk suddenly paused.

"...Your Majesty?" The young man seemed to notice the Emperor's abnormality and asked tentatively.

"Immediately convey my decree, have the Duke of Han set off for the Lingxu Prison to guard against disaster attacks." The figure behind the desk's tone became grave.

"Patrol and security?" The young man asked in astonishment. "But Your Majesty, you have already dispatched the Duke of Zhao. If the Duke of Han leaves as well, apart from you, there will be no demigods left in the Chengtian Domain... Besides, I haven't heard of the Lingxu Prison being attacked by disasters recently?"

The figure behind the desk didn't answer, but a gaze full of pressure rolled out from behind the curtain like a tidal wave, suddenly pressing down on the young man!

The young man was instantly covered in cold sweat and hurriedly saluted: "It is my place to be silent... I will go handle it immediately!"

"Wait."

The young man had just turned around when he was called back. When he turned his head, a piece of paper filled with names drifted through the curtain and landed in front of him.

"A few months ago, the Chengtian Prefecture submitted a report, feeling that the security arrangements on Xuanwu Avenue were not quite appropriate... After much consideration, I think it should indeed be changed."

"Just..."

"Change it to these people on the list."

The young man took the list and just glanced at it, and those names made him break out in cold sweat... He took a deep breath and said respectfully:

"I... accept the decree."

……

……

Thinking about how to develop the plot later today, 19 signing off~