Chapter 52: Demon Arbiter?

At this moment, inside one of the shops on Frost Street.

Dozens of owners were gathered together, all of them frowning, as if the world were about to end.

“He… really said he wanted ‘peaches’ that were exactly the same?” one owner asked tentatively.

“That’s right.”

“He said the same to me.”

“When he shoved that heart over, it was still dripping blood… Do you know I was almost scared to death at the time??”

“But… but where are we supposed to get human hearts for him?!”

“He doesn’t want us to perform some kind of living sacrifice, does he?”

“……This is truly sinister. The previous Arbiter was overbearing and savage, but at least it could be solved by stuffing money into his hands. But, but this Chen Ling… what does he want human hearts for?”

“Today, a neighbor next door told me they saw with their own eyes Chen Ling walking on the road, finishing off a heart in a few bites…”

“！！！”

Hearing this, everyone’s eyes widened, and the scene of Chen Ling grinning while tearing apart a heart appeared in their minds… The temperature in the room dropped suddenly.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed their saliva.

The more timid owners were shaking all over.

“He… likes to eat human hearts? Isn’t that something only demons in storybooks do??”

“If he doesn’t like to eat them, why would he walk around with such a big bag of human hearts?”

“So… where does he get his human hearts from?”

“……Wait, you guys are making this sound weirder and weirder.”

Uncle Zhao, who had been sitting silently in the corner, couldn’t help but speak, “I know A-Ling well. I watched him grow up; he’s a good kid… How could he be as sinister as you say? Did you guys see wrong?”

“Impossible, so many of us saw it!”

“Do you think… should we report this to the Arbiters?”

“Are you crazy? Report it to the Arbiters? Chen Ling is an Arbiter himself! Do you want to have your heart dug out and eaten on the street by him too?”

The owner who made the suggestion shuddered and immediately fell silent.

“Then what should we do next… we can’t really get him human hearts, can we?”

“……”

Everyone spoke one after another, the atmosphere of panic and confusion growing thicker. In the end, no one spoke anymore, and they all lowered their heads in silence, seemingly considering whether to move away…

But even if they moved, where could they go? Could they afford houses on other streets?

“How about this.” The oldest owner spoke slowly, “Offering human hearts is definitely impossible… Boss Xiao, aren’t you in the slaughterhouse business? First, get a few pig hearts and chicken hearts and send them to him, and see his reaction…”

“Pig hearts and chicken hearts, will that work?”

“If it doesn’t work, what else can we do? We can’t get the kind of ‘peaches’ he wants…”

“Let’s see how it goes first. In any case, everyone must, must not provoke him. I have a feeling he is more brutal than any Arbiter we have ever seen before…”

“Understood.”

……

Chen Ling waited until dark, but the peaches never came.

“Where exactly did the link break down… does it take that long to buy a few peaches?” Chen Ling was completely baffled.

Just as he was about to get up to close the door and go inside to rest, a figure walked up to his doorway.

Seeing the person’s appearance, Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly…

“Officer Han Meng? Why are you here again?”

Han Meng wasn’t wearing that black trench coat with the four-stripe insignia today, but casual clothes. Perhaps because of this, Chen Ling didn’t feel the pressure from him this time, as if a completely ordinary young man were standing before him.

“I’m here to deliver your documents… Your quota for the Armory Vault has been approved.” Han Meng held a piece of paper between his fingertips and said calmly, “What? Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit for a while?”

Chen Ling hesitated for a moment before getting up to clear a path.

If it were before, Chen Ling wouldn’t have let Han Meng into his house, but since hearing those things at headquarters today, his impression of Han Meng had changed.

Han Meng sat down at the table naturally, glanced at the neatly folded Arbiter uniform to the side, and asked casually:

“How does it feel to be an Arbiter for the first day?”

“The power of an Arbiter is even greater than I imagined.” Chen Ling said blandly, “I’m not used to it.”

“That’s normal. Many people are blinded by the sudden power and benefits after becoming an Arbiter and degenerate… but you didn’t. I didn’t misjudge you on that point.”

“How do you know I didn’t?”

Han Meng looked at the house that was still leaking wind everywhere and said nothing.

“Of course, being too soft isn’t a good thing either. It will make the public think you’re easy to bully. You must establish your authority appropriately…”

Han Meng was halfway through his sentence when a figure riding a bicycle happened to pass by Chen Ling’s doorway. Perhaps because the doorway was too slippery, he fell to the ground with a thud.

He cursed and was about to ride away, but seeing this house and Chen Ling inside, his face changed instantly!

“I’m sorry! Officer Chen Ling!! I disturbed your rest… I’m truly sorry!!”

Without a word, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, bang, bang, bang.

Then he scrambled up from the snow and fled out of the alley as if running for his life, leaving a bicycle spinning in place at Chen Ling’s doorway…

Han Meng: …?

“…” Han Meng was silent for a long time, “Your authority… you’ve established it well.”

Chen Ling recognized him; the man who had just fled in a panic was the shop owner he had met that afternoon, and he had even given him a peach… But he couldn’t understand why the other party acted like they had seen a ghost upon seeing him.

“Let’s talk about business first.”

Han Meng handed the document to Chen Ling, “Tomorrow at noon, gather with the other Arbiters at the District 3 headquarters and prepare to set off for the Armory Vault.”

“So soon?”

It had only been two or three days since the martial arts exam ended. He had just put on his Arbiter uniform, and they had already arranged for him to go to the Armory Vault?

“Originally, the Armory Vault opens every three months, but this year there are some exceptions.” Han Meng paused for a moment, “Yesterday, Districts 5 and 6 encountered a large-scale Gray Realm convergence, and a Fifth-Order Disaster crawled out. Almost all the Arbiters of the two districts lost their lives…”

“Another Gray Realm convergence?” Chen Ling asked in astonishment, “Isn’t it said that Gray Realm convergences are very rare within human domains?”

“Usually, yes, but recently… the Aurora Domain has been abnormal.”

Chen Ling remembered that Chu Muyun had also said something like this. Not long ago, that once-in-a-decade heavy rain caused a Gray Realm convergence at the mass grave, and the continuous heavy snow these past few days had triggered a large-scale convergence in Districts 5 and 6… It seemed that every chaotic weather event triggered a convergence.

“Related to weather phenomena?” Chen Ling asked tentatively.

“Perhaps.” Han Meng narrowed his eyes as if thinking of something, “And… the Dusk Society has also appeared.”

Hearing the words “Dusk Society,” Chen Ling’s heart stirred, and he asked as if casually:

“Dusk Society? What is that?”