Chapter 512: Upper Capital

“Ah, more trouble – a rebellion by the Law Sect and the ongoing encirclement of the Sitting-Forget Path. Everyone has been dispatched.”

Nangong appeared quite impatient with the current situation. Hearing this, Li Huowang’s heart stirred. “How is the Sitting-Forget Path’s encirclement progressing?”

“See for yourself, I’m still busy here.”

As the thick book was opened, Li Huowang saw large sections marked with ‘executed’ on the wanted notices for the Sitting-Forget Path. This immediately lifted his spirits, which had been feeling quite suppressed. The Celestial Monitoring Bureau was indeed doing an excellent job in dealing with the Sitting-Forget Path. Based on the records in this booklet and the previous battle in the capital, Li Huowang judged that most of the lower-ranking members had been purged.

Even among the 'Three Yuan and Four Joys' (specific ranks), the Celestial Monitoring Bureau had achieved significant results: all four North Winds were annihilated, three East Winds died, two Red Dragons died, one White Board died, and one Prosperity died. Furthermore, one of the 'Dice' members had already been killed, meaning the remaining Die was almost entirely isolated.

“Our Celestial Monitoring Bureau has expended considerable effort to deal with the Sitting-Forget Path,” Li Huowang said to Nangong, who was behind the wooden cabinet, as he flipped through the pages.

“More than that,” Nangong replied, “I heard that in order to combat the Sitting-Forget Path, not only did we collaborate with Celestial Monitoring Bureaus from other countries, but our own Bureau also enlisted many renowned orthodox sects to join the effort. Persuading them came at a significant cost to the internal treasury.”

“Renowned orthodox sects?” Li Huowang recalled some unpleasant memories.

“However, the Sitting-Forget Path is now very difficult to locate,” Nangong continued. “Facing such a formidable presence, they’ve all gone into hiding, not daring to show their faces. No one has been apprehended in the last month.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded silently. He himself was in a precarious situation, threatened by the Die, but the plight of the Sitting-Forget Path members wasn’t much better. From this perspective, his odds of success weren’t as slim as he had initially thought. The current dilemma, however, was Bai Lingmiao’s capture. If he couldn’t guarantee her safety, even a victory would be meaningless.

Li Huowang closed the booklet and looked at Nangong, asking again, “Why haven’t I seen a wanted notice for the Sitting-Forget Path’s Die?”

“Oh, you know quite a lot,” Nangong replied, surprised. “To even know about the Die… The Die’s matter is handled by the Administrator of the Celestial Monitoring Bureau. That’s a key figure of the Sitting-Forget Path, someone ordinary people simply cannot contend with.”

The Administrator of the Celestial Monitoring Bureau… Li Huowang recalled the three pairs of unnaturally long-fingernailed hands beneath that cloak. He wasn't surprised that the Administrator could deal with the Die. What troubled him was that even he, a Red Dragon of the Sitting-Forget Path, didn't know the Die's current whereabouts. Could they truly locate the Die? “Wait a moment,” Li Huowang mused, a chill running down his spine. “What if those Sitting-Forget Path members from Great Qi haven’t left yet, and have conspired to ambush the Administrator?”

“Don’t worry, Brother Li,” Zhuge Yuan’s voice interjected. “They are not the persistent kind of entities. After all, they are people of Great Qi and cannot remain in Great Liang for such an extended period.”

Hearing Zhuge Yuan’s answer, Li Huowang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He realized Zhuge Yuan was right; the Administrator had indeed witnessed the arrival of the Great Qi Sitting-Forget Path members and would surely have taken such possibilities into account.

“By the way, Brother Nangong,” Li Huowang asked, “the capital has been in a great stir recently. Does the Celestial Monitoring Bureau have any internal news?”

Hearing this, Nangong, who had just seemed nonchalant, grew serious. His voice took on an unfamiliar edge.

“Er Jiu,” Nangong began, “you know the Celestial Monitoring Bureau’s rules: we absolutely do not participate in royal power struggles. If you’re seeking internal information, don’t come to the Bureau; there is none. Nothing is recorded in the Four Repositories, not a single detail. Given our acquaintance, I’ll offer you a word of caution: although you are a Geng Banner member, you haven’t entered official service. At most, you hold a freelance position within the Bureau. If you insist on getting involved, the Bureau won’t force you back. However, if something truly happens – even if you are killed or flayed alive by others – the Bureau won’t even recover your body. You need to think this through very carefully.”

“The succession of the Great Liang Emperor,” Li Huowang pressed, “such a momentous affair, and the Bureau truly won’t get involved at all?”

“Involved in what?” Nangong retorted. “The Celestial Monitoring Bureau does indeed have matters to discuss with the Emperor, but the imperial throne is not yet stable, is it? Let them fight. Whoever wins will be the Emperor.”

“You might not know this,” Nangong continued, “but such events are commonplace in historical records; there are even more outrageous ones. The Bureau has long since become accustomed to them. Don’t worry, the civil and military officials aren’t blind either. At most, some people will die, but it won’t undermine the nation’s foundation. If things truly get out of hand, someone will intervene.”

The Celestial Monitoring Bureau’s reaction was far more indifferent than Li Huowang had imagined. They seemed only concerned with when the most venomous and powerful ‘king’ would emerge, or how many ‘gu worms’ (contestants) would perish during the ‘gu-raising’ process (a metaphorical term for intense competition), without even a thought of observing it.

“Thank you for the reminder, Brother Nangong.” Seeing there was no further information to glean, Li Huowang did not linger in the underground chamber and returned to his room from the Celestial Monitoring Bureau.

Upon returning to the small courtyard Ji Xiang had given him, Li Huowang sat on a long bench under a small tree, silently pondering all the information he had gathered so far in the capital.

Li Huowang reaffirmed his objectives: to rescue Bai Lingmiao, and ideally, to cooperate with the Celestial Monitoring Bureau to eliminate the Die. If a threat emerges once, it will likely emerge again; one must eradicate the root of the problem. Only the deceased pose no threat.

However, achieving these two goals now seemed extremely difficult. He didn’t know the Die’s whereabouts, nor where Bai Lingmiao was trapped; he couldn’t even discern where to direct his efforts. As he pondered, Li Huowang’s eyes hardened with resolve, and his fists slowly clenched. “My strength is still too weak,” he thought, “I must not cease my cultivation!”

“In this situation, I don’t know if the Sitting-Forget Path has any spies here in the capital. I’ll proceed according to the Die’s plan for now, while secretly accumulating resources and seeking opportunities. In this capital city, I’m not the only one with a grudge against the Die. The God Mountain Ghost Eye was stolen by Doumu, so both the Great Liang royal family and the Celestial Monitoring Bureau must harbor deep hatred for the Die. The question is, in this current situation, how can I divert this conflict to stir them against each other and achieve my own objectives?”

“Red Dragon Boss,” an inner voice chimed, “you also need to be wary of one thing: Die Boss knows your identity. What if he burns his bridges and reveals your ‘Heart Elemental’ status and your affiliation with the Sitting-Forget Path to the entire world? That would certainly be quite a spectacle then.”

“I am not part of the Sitting-Forget Path!” Li Huowang’s voice suddenly rose sharply.

Li Huowang suddenly stood up, glaring fiercely at the Sitting-Forget Path hallucination. The next moment, he clenched his fist and slammed it hard into the hallucination’s face. The Sitting-Forget Path hallucination sat stunned on the ground for a long moment before realizing what had happened. “Hahaha! I’m alive! I’m alive!” it cackled. However, the very next second, Li Sui’s tentacle reached out from the side, wrapped around its body, and passed straight through. “Hahaha! You’re dead again! The Daoist tricked you!” Seeing the look of disappointment on the hallucination’s face, the monk beside it burst into gleeful laughter.