“Little brother! Are you coming or not? I think there’s a new movie out today. Big Sister will treat you to a movie over at Wanda Plaza!”

Hearing the shout from outside his door, Wu Wang fell silent for a moment.

He quickly typed into the panel, “When do you plan to investigate the 【Calamity Lair】?”

Xiezhi’s reply came swiftly.

“Tomorrow night at the latest. I have another friend coming to help. She’ll arrive tomorrow evening.”

“There will be four of us in total for this operation, including you.”

A friend? In other words, besides himself, Xiezhi had found two other helpers.

Wu Wang was taken aback for a second before laughing self-deprecatingly.

Of course. It made perfect sense that someone as upright and incorruptible as Xiezhi would have trustworthy friends. Not everyone was like him.

Compared to friends in the real world, he was probably more familiar with his 2D wives.

He sighed and typed a reply on the panel.

“No problem. See you at the coffee shop tomorrow at 8 PM.”

He still decided to go and help. After all, his interactions with Xiezhi had been quite pleasant so far.

Besides, Xiezhi was the person in charge of Mingyang City. If he lost his job and a new person took over, Wu Wang would have to get to know them all over again, which was far too much trouble.

After sending the message, Wu Wang raised his head and shouted, “I’m coming! Of course I’m coming! I’m just changing my clothes!”

After changing into a set of casual clothes, he opened the door and saw the beautiful figure sitting on the living room sofa, staring blankly into space.

The white one-piece dress made Wu Xiaoyou look like an ethereal fairy. Even the cheap bracelet on her wrist seemed like a luxury item against her transcendent beauty.

The sound of his footsteps made her stand up.

“How do I look?” she asked with a smile. “Does it look good?”

“You still have that?” Wu Wang retorted, rolling his eyes. “I figured you would’ve gotten too fat for it and thrown it out ages ago.”

Wu Xiaoyou puffed up her cheeks and twisted his arm.

“You’re the one who’s fat!” she said fiercely. “My figure will never change, no matter how much time passes!”

She wasn’t lying. Perhaps it was due to her 【Yin Body】 constitution.

No matter how much Wu Xiaoyou ate or drank, her figure never changed in the slightest. During her annual hospital check-ups, her physical data was so perfect that the doctors thought she was a professional gymnast.

After all, this was a body prepared for her by the Yin Fate Great God.

It had been crafted from an 【Old Days’ Fragment】. Naturally, it wouldn’t be altered by something as simple as binge eating.

The same, of course, was true for Wu Wang. He hadn’t had a physical check-up since the accident five years ago. No matter how he was checked, his physical condition was always at its peak.

The constitutions of this brother-sister pair were enough to make countless people grit their teeth in envy.

“Besides, you bought this for me with the first salary you ever earned,” Wu Xiaoyou said, sticking her tongue out playfully. “I couldn’t bear to throw it away. We’re not some super-rich family. We save where we can.”

Wu Wang shrugged without replying. That was many years ago. He really hadn’t expected his Second Sister to still have this dress.

“Let’s go. If we delay any longer, we’ll miss the early show.”

Watching his Second Sister’s back as she hurried to change her shoes, Wu Wang couldn’t help but smile faintly.

I really hope these ordinary days can last forever.

Bickering with Second Sister, cooking, playing games, and just living.

Unfortunately, this peaceful daily life was short-lived, fleeting in an instant. If he wanted to truly maintain this routine, he still needed to work harder.

“Are you coming or not? What are you grinning like an idiot for?”

Hearing Wu Xiaoyou’s urging after she had changed her shoes, he quickened his pace to follow.

“Coming.”

Outside a residential complex called Jingcheng in Mingyang City, two men in casual clothes sat inside an inconspicuous taxi, puffing out clouds of smoke.

One of them, a man with a wolf-cut, glanced at the complex entrance from time to time.

“Master, he’s been assigned to Mingyang City for years,” he said with a puzzled look. “Why is he still living in such a dump? Look at the other branch heads. None of them live in some rundown old complex.”

In his eyes, the residential complex looked utterly unremarkable. It was just an ordinary complex that could be found in any city. Renting a place here would probably cost a thousand yuan a month at most.

For someone of the status they were monitoring, living in a place like this was shabby, to say the least.

The man with a buzz cut in the passenger seat sighed. “Otherwise, why do you think he was sent to Mingyang City?”

He extended his fingers and began to count them off.

“One, he’s upright and incorruptible. No matter how high or low your rank, if he catches you slipping up, you can just wait to be thrown in jail. You weren’t in the capital back then, so you don’t understand how heavy the name ‘The Capital’s Judge Bao’ was.”

“Two, he’s honest to a fault. As the captain of Team Three, one of the only three special squads in the capital headquarters, anyone who sent him gifts would just get asked where they got the money for such luxuries, followed by a quiet investigation. If he found anything, see point number one.”

“Three, his kindness is almost overwhelming. The kind of kindness that makes you question your life. Even without taking bribes, his salary is definitely not low. But I heard he donates half of it to a charity and regularly checks to see if his donations actually reached the people in need. He sees things through to the end.”

“On top of that, he also funds the food expenses for two orphanages and one retirement home for military veterans.”

“A man like that, where do you think he’d get the extra money to buy property and live in a big villa?”

After hearing his companion’s introduction, the wolf-cut man was dumbfounded. He forgot to take a puff from the cigarette dangling from his lips, and the ash fell silently onto his trouser leg.

He quickly brushed it off.

“For real?” he exclaimed. “If he’s really such a saint, why did the higher-ups send us to monitor him?”

The man with the buzz cut was about to say something when his expression suddenly turned serious. The wolf-cut man immediately became alert.

His eyes quickly caught a man with thick eyebrows and large eyes walking out of the convenience store at the entrance of the complex. The collar of his white shirt was slightly open, and the sleeves were rolled up to his mid-arms, revealing wheat-colored skin.

His features were well-defined, and the faint blue tint of a fresh shave on his chin only added to his mature air. He walked with his back straight, and the distance of each step was almost identical. His sharp eyes revealed a keen edge as he constantly observed his surroundings.

It was clearly a habit retained from his time in the military, and a very elite one at that.

He walked straight to the taxi and raised his hand to knock on the car window.

The two men inside exchanged a look, then slowly rolled down the window.

“Sorry, man, I’m on a call, waiting for a fare. Can’t share the ride,” the man with the wolf-cut said with a smile.

He even opened his phone to show the other man. It was indeed a ride-hailing app, and it showed he was on a call, with the passenger’s location not far away. Since he was here for covert surveillance, he was naturally fully prepared.

But to his surprise, the other man simply smiled as well. He then stuffed two packs of cigarettes he had just bought into the driver’s hand.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said, his face full of apology. “My affairs have brought you two brothers all the way from the capital. I’ve wasted your time and tired you out.”

“Don’t worry. I, Xie, won’t make things difficult for you.”

“Just carry on with your surveillance as usual. Relax.”

The wolf-cut man couldn’t detect any hint of provocation or mockery in his tone. It was filled with genuine apology and sincerity.

With that, the man turned and walked into the complex without looking back. Along the way, he even stopped to help a frantic little child get an orange cat down from a tree.

Watching his retreating figure, the two men in the car looked at each other.

After a moment of silence, the buzz-cut man shrugged. “See? That’s Xiezhi.”

“In his eyes, we’re not guards here to monitor him. We’re colleagues who’ve been burdened with hard work because of him. He even feels sorry for us.”

“Go ahead and smoke the cigarettes he gave you. It’s fine.”

“Besides, we’re just putting on a show anyway.”

Hearing this, the man with the wolf-cut was confused. He took a cigarette from the pack, lit it, and asked, “Huh? Putting on a show? What do you mean?”

Taking the other pack of cigarettes and lighting one for himself, the buzz-cut man shot him a look. “You really think Xiezhi committed a crime and they sent you to watch him because they’re afraid he’ll flee?”

“During the preliminaries for the previous 【Relic Scramble】, some people didn’t want him to qualify. They even specifically arranged for two people to obstruct him.”

“And the result? He beat everyone at his level into submission with sheer strength.”

“He already had beef with them, and then he slapped them in the face publicly.”

“I heard that after entering the Instance, he offended a direct blood relative of a certain elder’s faction. Coincidentally, that elder’s youngest son was sent to prison by Xiezhi two years ago. With new and old grudges piling up, you get it, right?”

The wolf-cut man’s gaze couldn’t help but turn towards the complex entrance. This time, his expression held no mockery, only regret and admiration.

“Sigh,” he said helplessly. “He’s a good guy, just a bit inflexible. What’s wrong with just bowing your head and admitting a mistake? A tree that stands out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind.”

The man with the buzz cut expressed a similar sentiment.

“Otherwise, why is his name Xiezhi and not yours? The Judicial Divine Beast! An entity that distinguishes right from wrong, good from evil, loyalty from treachery.”

“Do you know why this easy job with a high travel allowance was rejected by everyone else in the Bureau and ended up in the hands of a hothead like you?”

“Supervising Xiezhi? For us old-timers who know the inside story, our consciences ache!”

“And they have the gall to say Xiezhi is connected to the 【Calamity Cult】.”

“Bah! If the 【Calamity Cult】 was full of people like Xiezhi, would it have become the public enemy of all players? What utter bullshit!”

The wolf-cut man gave an embarrassed smile. He really hadn’t known the details before and thought he was genuinely supervising a traitor. He’d been thinking of earning some merit and making a good impression, so in a moment of hot-headedness, he had accepted the job.

“Then why did you still come along? Doesn’t your conscience ache?”

Hearing his own apprentice say something so foolish, the man with the buzz cut cursed, full of disappointment, “I’m thinking of you, you idiot!”

“Next year, you’re scheduled to be sent out to a branch for training.”

“I was just worrying about where to send you, and then this opportunity came along, didn’t it?”

“Take this chance to get familiar with Xiezhi. When it’s time for your assignment, you can come to Mingyang City. I’ll feel at ease with you under his command.”

Hearing his master’s words, the wolf-cut man flinched, almost dropping his cigarette. He thought his master had lost his mind.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked uncertainly. “We’re supervising him right now. We’re practically his jailors. Won’t he hold a grudge if I show up here for an assignment later?”

His master, however, slowly shook his head.

“No, he won’t,” he said seriously.

“During the preliminaries, do you remember a low-level player named 【Baili Dao】? He’s also from Mingyang City.”

The apprentice nodded. He had a clear impression of that rising star.

“If you do some digging, you’ll find out that before 【Baili Dao】 became a player, he was basically a hooligan. He was in and out of the police station constantly for petty fights.”

“When he first became a player, he also offended a lot of people with his bad temper. In the end, he thought of joining the Abnormal Affairs Bureau to hide from his enemies.”

The apprentice was stunned.

“The Abnormal Affairs Bureau takes in people like that?” he asked. “Our recruitment standards are way too low now, aren’t they?”

His master rapped him on the head.

“Under normal circumstances, of course not,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But he was lucky enough to run into Xiezhi right when he was assigned to Mingyang City.”

“After Xiezhi put him through a series of assessments, he concluded that the kid was a raw talent with a good heart and a sense of justice. His hot temper was just a defense mechanism from being scammed and cheated too many times.”

“Then, against pressure from everyone in the Mingyang City branch, he recruited 【Baili Dao】.”

“And then?” the apprentice asked.

The master smiled. “And then? After some time under Xiezhi’s guidance, nobody calls him a hooligan anymore. He’s a man of outstanding character now, you get me? Xiezhi even takes him along to headquarters.”

“You still think Xiezhi would make things difficult for you over something as small as this? He didn’t even hold a grudge against a hooligan.”

“He truly believes in educating everyone, no matter their background.”

“As long as you work diligently and conduct yourself properly, Xiezhi’s Mingyang City is the best branch for you.”

With that, the two took another deep drag from their cigarettes. Their gazes no longer lingered on the complex entrance. They might as well treat this as a good opportunity for a publicly funded trip to slack off.

It was relaxing and pleasant.

They completely failed to notice a faint crease on one of the cigarette boxes, a trace of it having been folded.

“Well, well, Little Brother Xie. I didn’t expect your colleagues to think so highly of you.”

Upon returning home, Xiezhi heard the teasing remark from the living room.

He shook his head and said, “It’s an honor that they think so highly of me. It’s nothing to be proud of.”

He then poured a cup of hot water to make tea for his guest. The other person placed the 【Thousand Paper Cranes】 in his hand on the table.

After accepting the tea and taking a sip, he nodded in approval.

“You deserve such recognition. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to help.”

“My previous offer still stands. Have you considered it?”

“If you can’t make it in the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, just leave. Come help out at my 【Continental Hotel】 as a notary.”

“I’m telling you, if you came, the hotel’s reputation would rise to another level!”

If Wu Wang were here, he would have immediately recognized the other person. They had just met not long ago.

It was the paper man, 【Book Boy】!

Xiezhi looked at 【Book Boy】 with a complicated expression. He shook his head.

“I’m honored by your kind offer, but for now, I want to stay in the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.”

“I still have unfinished business, and I believe the Bureau won’t stay this way forever.”

“It will become better.”

“Eventually, someone will come and purge the filth.”

Hearing this, 【Book Boy】’s expression grew curious. He toyed with the teacup in his hand.

“What if you can’t wait for such a person to appear?”

At this moment, the air seemed to freeze, the hopeful atmosphere pricked like a balloon.

However, Xiezhi’s eyes showed no trace of hesitation or confusion. Instead, he clenched his fist and spoke with firm resolve.

“Then, I will be the one to purge the filth.”