There was a village called Nanchuan seventy kilometers away from Lingzhou City.
It was now uninhabited, however, with all residents having been evacuated away half a month ago.
Nonetheless, the Sixth Elder of the Sky Demon Cult and three Decans were standing around in the courtyard of one of the bright and spacious farmer’s homes, with many other Sky Demon Cultists standing before them.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Didn’t Pain Star say that she controls a hundred Ferals and almost twelve hundred corpses?”
“With two rank-eights in the horned boar and Killer Star, two rank-seven Heavenly Generals in Earthen Diction and Earthen Majesty, as well as the Earthen Savage Heavenly General, how did they fail to take Lingzhou City?”
“Forget not invading it—how did they manage to disappear mysteriously? How could any of you not know whether they are dead or alive, captured or killed?”
Rage was all over Sixth Elder’s face, and his voice was rather hysterical.
The other Sky Demon Cultists were all shivering, with someone quietly saying, “Please calm down, Sixth Elder. Pain Star had us stay undercover and follow her orders… We did not expect something like this to happen.”
“Pain Star also told us that she would attack from Jinyintan Village, killing Jiang He first and slaughter her way into Lingzhou City. We’ve been hiding near Lingzhou City, but we did not expect Pain Star to never arrive.”
“Also, there was a big explosion at Jinyintan Village and military reinforcements soon arrive… could it be…”
The cultist hung his head then, afraid to look at Sixth Elder straight in the eye.
He was beside himself with complaints inside.
‘What use is there bellowing at us?
‘We’re just average members. The weakest amongst us is rank-two and the strongest is a B-class Awakened. Who would dare to disobey Pain Star’s orders?’
Sixth Elder’s gaze shifted.
“Jinyintan Village, a big explosion?”
“Jiang He… the rank-five martial artist who ruined the Holy Faith’s plan many times, killing the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General?”
Sixth Elder mused to himself for a long time then and growled, “Contact headquarters. I want every information about Jiang He, and send someone to find out about the battle last night!”
The Sky Demon Cult’s double agents in Lingzhou City had all been rooted out previously, and they were basically blindfolded when it came to information about the city.
In fact, they would have charged into Lingzhou City if they knew that Chen Jingzhou was temporarily away from the city. And once they took control, the Martial Arts Department (MAD) and the military would have to consider the hundreds and thousands of civilians in the city if they wanted to reclaim it.
***
Meanwhile, Jiang He had driven his sports car into Lingzhou City.
He even played an insert song when he entered the city.
That is, before the police stopped him, because he was driving a car without plates.
Jiang He was immediately displeased. ‘Why would I get car plates when I don’t even have a license?’
Of course, not having a license was even more serious.
Nonetheless, Jiang He did not muster his body’s powerful presence and petrify the police, or tell them how awesome he was.
He merely opened his car door quietly and pointed at the driver’s seat.
“Mister policeman, my car has no steering, pedal, or even gear stick. Why would I need a license?”
“…”
Jiang He drove off even as the policeman remained bewildered.
“I can’t continue like this. I have to get some sort of driver’s license…”
Entering the city, Jiang He first found a property agency.
Surprisingly, real estate was not falling apart because of the revival of qi or the rampage of Ferals. Instead, it was trending now that the city had become safer than the outskirts.
Be that as it may, the government had kept a tight control over property prices, and limited purchases as well.
Inflating prices randomly?
Jailtime!
Hoarding properties?
Jailtime!
Special measures for a special age.
Moreover, if those with money would purchase any property in the city, they would reduce the government’s burden.
That was why the bustling sight at the property agency left Jiang He surprised. There were droves of people and it could not be more crowded, and there was even a queue to the showroom.
Not bothered to queue up, Jiang He sought out the manager directly, who turned out to be a pompous man.
The moment he set eyes on Jiang He, he said, “Buying a house? Go queue up.”
After all, there were too many people wanting to get a property and he did not have care about not making sales. It was totally normal for him to react like that.
Nonetheless, Jiang He smiled. “I’m just trying to make things easy since I have urgent things to see too. Moreover, I’m not buying a property—if I remember correctly, your company developed mansion districts before, and I want one of your models.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to refuse either.”
“I’ve also read your advertisements that you offer special treatment to martial artists and Awakened, that they wouldn’t have to queue up?”
Jiang He gently put his palm on the wall, and then lowered it, leaving a deep palm print on the stalwart concrete wall.
The manager promptly put on a smiling face then, “Please wait a moment, sir. By the way, do you have any mansion models in mind? We should have a batch if memory serves, and I’ll have someone bring it to you right now.”
Around half an hour later.
Jiang He was holding a mansion model as he stepped out of the property agency.
It was the model of a three-floored mansion.
The mansion’s design was a simplistic fusion of western and Chinese styles, and quite fine in appearance. As for the interior… it was only a model anyway. Jiang He was unconcerned, and he would just have to accept whatever grew out.
“Mansion, check. Now, about the maid.”
That was harder to get—Jiang He did not manage to get his hands on any even after running through several supermarkets.
After asking around, someone actually suggested he either go to an adult toy store or joss paper shop.
‘Are they making fun of me?
‘Why would I get a maid doll at an adult toy store?’
That was why Jiang He found a joss paper shop and entered. Just as expected, there were many charming joss paper dolls available, with some fashioned with vivid impressions of various star celebrities. Jiang He even found one particularly familiar foreign star called Aoi something, boasting a spicy figure and was incidentally a maid too.
There was one thing that left Jiang He unsettled, however…
Why wsas her maid costume so lewd?
“Boss, isn’t your premises a shop for funeral items? What’s with the paper dolls?”
The shop owner grinned in return. “Some people have such taste. After they have gone down there, their friends and family would occasionally burn those to send them over.”
Jiang He understood with a start just then.
Should he burn a dozen for his late ‘grandfather’?
Well, forget it. That’s a little inappropriate.
Instead, Jiang He bought the doll of the familiar celebrity, asked the shop owner to wrap it up and stuff it inside his car before driving to the MAD. He was about to conduct the trade he previously agreed with Mu Wanqiu, only to run into Cheng Dongfeng the instant he entered the main entrance of the MAD.
“Jiang He, the weapon Commander Chen promised you has arrived—I was about to bring it to you.”
There was a military truck behind Cheng Dongfeng.
A cyan cloth was covering its load, and he pulled the cloth down to reveal several huge containers.
Jiang He leapt off his car to find Cheng Dongfeng opening a box, drawing out a rocket launcher, saying, “This is the PF-89 model light rocket launcher. It’s just 3.6 kilograms, and easy to carry around…”
After that, Cheng Dongfeng opened another container, drawing out a rocket launcher that was twice larger than the last one.
There was somberness on his face as he introduced, “This is the M4088 nuclear missile launcher, capable of loading a light-nuclear missile warhead with a yield equivalent to twenty tons of TNTs. It’s a technology that only three countries possess, capable of flattening a small military fort and the most powerful integrated weapon at present!”
