Chapter 52: Weeds and Will-o'-the-Wisps, Leaving Not a Blade of Grass Behind

The voices in the recording were undoubtedly those of Zheng Si and Ma Bin, and the contents verified the unfolding events by nearly a hundred percent. The final trace of doubt in Li Xiang’s mind was dispelled, and his eyes were flooded with an overflowing intent to kill.

Clutching the voice recorder, Li Xiang spoke in a fierce and grim tone: "The precinct is critically short-handed right now, but we cannot allow Zheng Si to continue his madness. So, what is your plan?"

Ma Bin’s eyes were bloodshot: "Not many people are needed, because I can find an opportunity to draw everyone else away. At that time, Captain Li just needs to ensure that he disposes of Boss Zheng, and everything will be settled once and for all."

Li Xiang looked at Ma Bin with a deeply meaningful gaze: "Are you certain?"

Ma Bin let out a long breath, like a gambler wagering all his chips on the table, and said harshly: "Once I take control of the Green Wolf Gang, I guarantee to hand over thirty percent of the monthly profits to Captain Li."

Li Xiang shook his head and extended five fingers: "Fifty percent. In exchange, I will make the precinct suppress this matter and draw a period to it with Zheng Si's death."

Ma Bin agreed, but put forward one request: "The corpse of Boss Zheng after his death must be handed over to me. After all, he was my boss; I must carry him into the coffin with my own hands."

……

At the same time.

In the western suburbs of the Ninth District, two blocks away from the incineration plant, stood an old and dilapidated residential compound.

The compound was not large, and the buildings were low, consisting entirely of low-rise corridor-style apartment blocks numbering around a dozen. However, because it backed onto a snack street, the pedestrian density was extremely high.

At this moment, as noon approached, the diners on the snack street were gradually increasing.

Inside a top-floor room of Building 14, behind drawn curtains, several constables were closely monitoring the location of the building opposite.

Wang Yilin, the Chief of the Precinct, frowned as he spoke into the phone: "Li Xiang, you are the only deputy captain left in the bureau at the moment. You must guard the home base properly for me."

"I don't care what method you use; you must quell the incident and reduce the impact to the absolute minimum. Otherwise, don't even think about the year-end captain evaluation, and be careful lest I strip you of your deputy captain's uniform as well."

Without waiting for a reply, Chief Wang hung up the phone unceremoniously.

"Did something unpleasant happen?" On the sofa, a young man with a hooked nose and a cold expression asked.

Wang Yilin turned around, half-bowing, his gaze lingering covertly for a fraction of a second on the dark emblem embroidered on the other's chest.

The pattern of the emblem was quite abstract, and his shallow knowledge prevented him from describing it, but he knew that anyone capable of embroidering an emblem on their chest must belong to a family with considerable status even in the Upper City.

Furthermore, the latter held the rank of Special Envoy, so even though the young man looked to be about the same age as his own son, Chief Wang had to display the utmost respect.

He answered the young man truthfully: "A street gang in the city is being disobedient and stirred up a small disturbance, resulting in the deaths of a few blanks. The deputy captain left behind to guard the home base is somewhat immature and requested that I pull some manpower back."

Wang Yilin paused and said solemnly: "Please rest assured, Special Envoy, I flatly refused."

Hearing words like "gang" and "blanks," the Special Envoy instantly lost interest. He scratched his ear and spoke in a chilling voice:

"That's right, blanks are just like weeds in a wheat field, growing crop after crop. If they die here, more will grow elsewhere; there is no need to pay them much mind."

"However, [Destiny] is different. Even its outermost members are like bone-gnawing ghost fires; if you are not careful for even a moment, they will burn vast stretches of wheat fields into barren ashes."

Wang Yilin wore a serious expression, though inwardly he thought little of it.

Harboring a hint of doubt, he asked: "I've heard that [Destiny] traditionally only operates in the Upper City. Why have they changed their temperament this time and appeared in the Lower City? Our Ninth District is so barren—is there anything here that could attract such an ultra-evil organization?"

The Special Envoy’s expression darkened slightly as he said: "Previously, [Destiny] suffered heavy blows from the Council, causing them to go into hiding and vanish for many years."

"A while ago, they suddenly emerged and engineered the [Heavenly Rift] major incident. Many prominent families in the Upper City suffered heavy blows, and panic still lingers among the populace."

"Of course, the Council also captured some of the core members of [Destiny]. Unfortunately, their bones are all extremely hard, and their tongues are branded with secret arts, making it virtually impossible to interrogate anything out of them."

"In the end, they had to dissect their brains while they were still alive just to obtain a tiny scrap of useful information."

Wang Yilin listened with rapt attention and asked out of curiosity: "What information? If it's inconvenient to share, never mind; I was just wondering."

The Special Envoy did not feel it needed to be kept secret; after all, information accessible at his rank could hardly be considered deeply confidential, let alone a mere operational codename whose underlying meaning was entirely obscure.

"Netherworld Hell!" he uttered the four words.

Wang Yilin was momentarily stunned. Not quite understanding the profound implications, he humbly asked for enlightenment: "What does that mean?"

The Special Envoy’s face flushed imperceptibly for a fraction of a second before he answered resolutely: "I don't know."

Wang Yilin bit his lower lip: "……"

The Special Envoy said coldly: "Although the meaning is unclear, what is certain is that [Destiny] is gradually expanding its sphere of activities into the Lower City."

"In short, regardless of what [Destiny] is plotting in the shadows, the Upper City Council always upholds a single principle toward them—kill them all."

Wang Yilin perceived the unquestionable attitude of the Special Envoy, but in truth, he was still far from comprehending how heavy the weight of the words "kill them all" truly was.

Until...

A quarter of an hour later.

During the operational briefing, Wang Yilin drew a red circle around Building 11 on the map.

He stated: "Through this period of close surveillance, we have become extremely certain that this faction of ultra-evil members is hiding in Room 404 of Building 11."

"We are no longer waiting for the big fish. Tonight, we will take action and cast the net, trapping them all in one sweep, dead or alive."

The heavily armed precinct members standing by acknowledged the order.

"Not enough." The Special Envoy frowned. Snatching the red pen from Wang Yilin's hand, he drew a circle encompassing the entire residential compound in red.

Wang Yilin looked at the Special Envoy in astonishment, only to hear the latter say coldly: "The ultra-evil members of [Destiny] are exceptionally cunning. Their operations generally follow two lines—one overt and one covert, meaning there are at least two groups mutually covering each other."

"Since Room 404 in Building 11 has been exposed, there is likely another group hidden even more deeply, lurking nearby just like us, constantly observing and monitoring the developments of Room 404."

"We monitor to capture; they monitor to provide early warning."

Wang Yilin conceded that what the Special Envoy said made a lot of sense, but so what? They hadn't discovered the hiding place of the other group anyway.

Wang Yilin probed tentatively: "So, are we going to use this group of people to flush out the other group?"

Realizing that Wang Yilin was truly somewhat dull, the Special Envoy spoke bluntly: "They will not show themselves. If they showed themselves, wouldn't this group on the overt line have been exposed for nothing?"

Wang Yilin seemed to understand, though he dared not be entirely certain. As he looked at the massive red circle on the map, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

The Special Envoy tapped the red circle with his finger, his voice carrying a ruthlessness unbefitting his age: "Kill them all."

Not only Wang Yilin, but all the constables who heard the order stood frozen in place, a chill running through their hearts.

Although they usually paid little attention to the life and death of blanks, and had fabricated or wrongfully arrested quite a few people themselves, drawing a circle with a casual stroke of a pen to unjustly execute hundreds or thousands of human lives... was still something they wouldn't even dare to imagine.

Seeing Wang Yilin remain silent for a long time, the Special Envoy frowned in bewilderment: "Is there a problem?"

Wang Yilin swallowed hard: "This compound probably houses over a thousand people?"

The Special Envoy nodded earnestly: "I know, so what?"

Wang Yilin braced himself and replied: "There are simply too many people."

The Special Envoy scoffed: "Those living in old, dilapidated housing are all blanks, am I correct?"

Wang Yilin: "Basically all of them, though there might be a small minority of lower-class citizens."

The Special Envoy: "I deeply regret the deaths of any lower-class citizens, but this is a necessary sacrifice."

Wang Yilin's teeth were chattering. In his entire life, he probably never imagined he would hear such a humanitarian sentiment come from his own mouth: "But there are still over a thousand blanks! Most of them are innocent, and they are human beings too!"

The Special Envoy's expression gradually grew impatient. He patted Wang Yilin's shoulder and said softly: "You didn't understand what I told you earlier, did you?"

Wang Yilin: "???"

The Special Envoy sighed: "Blanks are like weeds; one crop dies and another grows in its place. Therefore, what we must care about is [Destiny]. They are like ghost fires reducing everything to barren ashes, and they must be completely exterminated!"

Wang Yilin felt his scalp go numb. Meeting the distinct black and white eyes of the Special Envoy, he finally grasped the true weight contained within the man's words.

Whether [Destiny] was a ghost fire or not, he didn't know, but you are the kind of person who really would plow an entire plot of land until not a single blade of grass survived.

The surrounding constables all had dry throats. Standing in the formation, Feng Ju felt a succession of chills running down his spine.

As expected of someone sent down from the Upper City; this truly opened their eyes collectively.

Sensing that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, the Special Envoy remained entirely unbothered. Habitually rubbing his index finger and thumb against the family crest on his chest, he smiled and said: "Could Chief Wang be questioning the Council's policy, or perhaps sympathizing with... [Destiny]? Wanting to let them go?"

Wang Yilin hurriedly shook his head: "No, it's just that the precinct's manpower is insufficient, I'm afraid..."

The Special Envoy shrugged and pulled an emblem from his pocket, the pattern identical to the one on his chest.

Handing it to Wang Yilin, he instructed: "Have someone take this emblem and deliver it to Zhou Yifu of the Investigation Corps. He will know what to do."

Wang Yilin took the emblem, wearing a smile that looked uglier than crying.

"Feng Ju, you go." Handing the emblem over to Feng Ju, Wang Yilin said in a deep voice: "Go quickly and return swiftly."

Feng Ju received the emblem with both hands, his expression shifting uncertainly. In the end, without uttering a single word, he simply snapped a rigid salute.