Chapter 216: Array

Xiao Wei was waiting in complete ease inside the SUV. He was very experienced in this regard. When Chen Chuan left for a mission without telling him to head back, it usually meant he’d return soon.

Xiao Wei turned on the radio in the SUV, and a news broadcast immediately started playing. Over the past few days, the most frequently broadcasted news was about who was trying to get ownership of Black Orchid Co.’s company building.

This topic was really popular in Yangzhi City, because a lot of companies were interested. The names that popped up often belonged to state-owned companies, like Enclosed Shore and Azure Floodworks, and domestic mega corporations, like Grand Morals Food and Tiancao Baicao Corporation, but foreign companies were also vying for ownership.

Xiao Wei wasn’t interested in that, though. After adjusting the dial, he switched the channel to a paranormal exploration show. He was quite fond of listening to paranormal stories like urban legends.

Aside from being a good driver and a reliable person, Xiao Wei had also been sent to be Chen Chuan’s driver because he was interested in supernatural beings. He felt that he had seen plenty of things he would never be able to see while chauffeuring Chen Chuan around.

He had only started listening to the program when Chen Chuan came back, so Xiao Wei got out of the car to open the door for him.

Chen Chuan thanked him, got into the back seat, waited for Xiao Wei to return to the driver seat, and said, “Let’s go back, Mr. Wei.”

“Alright. Sit tight, Mr. Chen.”

The car eased into motion to return to the city.

Chen Chuan set Han Chang’s briefcase beside him. There might be a lot of clues inside, but he had no intention of opening it. Lei Guangcheng could go through them.

Once they returned to the city, Chen Chuan called Lei Guangcheng. When Xiao Wei sent him back to Martial Valor University, Lei Guangcheng’s car was already parked there.

Chen Chuan told Xiao Wei to head back, then got out with the briefcase and got into Lei Guangcheng’s car. After the latter listened to him give an account of the mission, he asked his assistant to record it before opening the briefcase, revealing a stack of gold certificates, bundles of banknotes, an account book, agreements, and a notebook.

Lei Guangcheng ignored the gold certificates and picked up the notebook. After reading it for a bit, he asked, “Chen Chuan, have you read the documents I sent you?”

“I have,” Chen Chuan answered.

Lei Guangcheng handed the notebook to him. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”

Chen Chuan flipped through the notebook. There were some simple drawings on it, along with a table that listed the prices for the materials for a ritual.

After reading through it, he gave it some thought and said, “The documents contained a sketch of the Life Cult’s array, along with materials the cult needs, but a lot of them are missing from here. I’m guessing that it isn’t because they don’t want to cast an authentic ritual, but can only perform a simpler version because their options are limited and they can’t gather all the materials.”

“You’re right, but things aren’t that simple. The steps to conduct a ritual are finalized through generations of tests. They can’t be modified easily. The ones who can come up with a simplified version are usually highly talented elites, and you don’t see them often.”

“A simplified ritual might not be as effective as the original, but it’s much easier to teach, and that’s not a good thing,” Lei Guangcheng stated.

He took out a notebook from his briefcase and turned to a specific page before handing it to Chen Chuan. “We’ve found some other arrays formed by the Life Cult. Compare them to the array the cult used a few days ago and tell me what you think of it.”

Chen Chuan flipped through the pages and saw that the arrays looked generally the same, but there were some small changes. After comparing them, he looked up and asked, “Are they trying to improve upon the original array?”

Approval shone in Lei Guangcheng’s eyes as he nodded. “That’s right. That’s what the cultist is doing. I have reason to believe that he wanted to use the members of the Blood Scars Gang to occupy Cai Hamlet, then conduct more rituals to improve upon their structure.”

He took the notebook back from Chen Chuan and turned to another page. “Take a look at this.”

Chen Chuan found the array familiar. He mumbled, “This looks like the one the Mutual Aid Group used in the abandoned factory…”

“Yes, it’s from three years ago. Turn to the next page. The one there is the one used on you,” Lei Guangcheng said.

Chen Chuan did as he was told and compared them. Just as Lei Guangcheng said, they weren’t completely the same. Some details had been changed. An idea struck him, and he looked at Lei Guangcheng. “Mr. Lei, I have a theory.”

“It’s exactly as you think it is. After comparing the arrays, we’re certain that the one who drew the array in the abandoned factory is the same person who drew the array for the Life Cult,” Lei Guangcheng said with a nod.

His expression turned stern. “We have reason to believe that many of the cults in Yangzhi City have an inseparable relationship with this person. If we find him, we may not be able to get rid of all the cults in the city, but they will definitely fade for a long time.”

A thought crossed Chen Chuan’s mind. This cultist had been hiding behind the scenes for a long time. Even Black Orchid Co.’s collapse had been unable to pull him to the light.

“Mr. Lei, since the powerful families need this person to draw arrays for their rituals, doesn’t that mean that they know who he is?” he asked.

“They don’t. The families contacted him through the Two-Faced Cult. There is a set of rules all cultists adhere to when communicating to each other. Even the cultists of the Two-Faced Cult didn’t know who he was, so we can only wait for him to show up. We believe that he’s still in Yangzhi City.”

“I think so too,” Chen Chuan agreed.

“Is that so? Why? Tell me.” Lei Guangcheng stared at him. It seemed like he was really interested in why Chen Chuan had arrived at that conclusion as well.

Chen Chuan pondered over his words before saying, “I feel like he’s trying to reach some sort of breakthrough in his craft, just like how us martial artists always strive to become stronger and challenge those stronger than we are.”

He pointed at the two arrays. “I’m getting the feeling that he’s chasing after something. It’s so obvious in the arrays that I can’t ignore it, even if I wanted to. I think that he won’t give up until he reaches his goal. Even if he faces a temporary setback, he’s not going to admit defeat.”

Lei Guangcheng observed him for a while before saying, “You’re very observant.”

He then took out a hard-cover file, opened it, and motioned for Chen Chuan to read it.

Chen Chuan put down the notebook and took the file. It contained an analysis of the cultist who drew the arrays.

Judging by the handwriting, Lei Guangcheng had done the profiling himself.

He also believed that the cultist was obsessed with his chase for perfection.

His last comment was: Such a person won’t stop trying to achieve his goals because of a temporary mishap. He will continue to perfect his craft in Yangzhi City until his arrays are flawless.

“My reasoning is the same as yours. You martial artists need to challenge other people to get stronger, and he’s the same. The arrays he creates are for increasingly larger rituals. It’s as if he wants to use the scale to offset the negative effects of the simplified rituals, but with the current climate of the city, he’ll have a hard time getting chances to attempt this.

“If he wants to fine-tune his skills, he’s either going to have to think of ways to perform rituals outside the city or bring external forces into the city to attract our attention so that he has the space and time to set up his arrays. Fortunately for him, there is an external force that he can bring into the city, which hasn’t collapsed even after Black Orchid’s fall.”

Chen Chuan immediately realized what he was alluding to. “You’re talking about the resistance group?”

Lei Guangcheng nodded. “They commit all sorts of malicious attacks in the name of fighting against the government. They don’t even care about the citizens’ lives.”

Chen Chuan nodded at that. Traces of the resistance group could be found behind the Fang Dawei’s gang. Chen Chuan had also witnessed just how brazenly they acted when they worked with the Merkarians to attack the Foreign Affairs Department. They had fired at the crowd and were not at all like how they claimed to be.

But Lei Guangcheng made it sound like there were different, smaller teams within the resistance group, and the one in Yangzhi City was just one of them. Still, this was a sensitive topic, so Chen Chuan didn’t ask about it.

“Since we lack clues, we can’t do anything about it and can only wait. Read the documents I gave you and know how to protect yourself against the cults and their rituals. Martial artists are great at fighting head-on against people, but it’s difficult to defend against cults and rituals. Having more knowledge about them will do you good,” Lei Guangcheng cautioned.

Chen Chuan agreed with this wholeheartedly. Shen Zheng had been undefeated in the university, but he was killed by a ritual.

Also, not only was Chen Chuan interested in the occult and the supernatural, but he had also learned that rituals were able to bind supernatural beings.

If he could do that too, could he use supernatural beings as another form of “medicine” to complement his training?

After his conversation with Lei Guangcheng, Chen Chuan got out of the car and went back into the university. While he was on his way back to the dorm, he thought about the case.

He wouldn’t necessarily say that there weren’t any clues.

When he was digging around the corpses, he found that some of them weren’t members of the Blood Scars Gang. The gang members had five bloody gashes stitched onto their lapels and clothes, making it easy to differentiate them from the non-members. Meanwhile, the non-members had nothing on them that hinted at them having any sort of unique identity.

Could they be members of the resistance group?

While pondering over this, he reached the dorm. The dormitory supervisor called out to him. “Chen Chuan, Mr. Cheng asked for you. Call him when you return to your room.”

Chen Chuan snapped out of his musings and thanked the dormitory supervisor. As soon as he got back to his room, he called Cheng Zitong. His mentor’s excited voice came through the line.

“Xiao Chuan, get ready, the armor permit’s examination committee will come to the university tomorrow. They’ll give you the practical test in the campus itself. If you pass, you’ll get your armor permit.”

“They’ll be testing me here?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Mostly, they’ll just be asking you some questions. We have to go through the formalities. Otherwise, there’s no point in the examination committee, right?” Cheng Zitong answered.

Chen Chuan understood what he meant. After confirming the meeting time, he said, “Got it. I’ll be there on time tomorrow, Mr. Cheng.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep