“What happened?” Lu Yun recomposed himself and shoved all random thought out of his mind.
“Nothing much. I ran into a rival and we had an altercation,“ Zhuo Bufan responded awkwardly. “Young master and mistress, I’d wanted to arrange an internal position for you, but now that my rival is here… If you remain at alliance headquarters, you’ll likely meet a nasty death at his hands as well.”
He explained the current layout of the land with an unhappy expression. An incredibly unpalatable surprise had been waiting for him earlier—his faction in the alliance had almost been completely uprooted. Anyone having to do with him had either betrayed him, left the alliance, or been killed under flimsy pretexts.
As the newest members of his camp and personally vouched for, Lu Yun and the little fox would be easily exposed if anyone wanted to look into them. That would land them in danger as well.
“Then… let’s go with whatever you think is good.” Lu Yun was a bit speechless at the situation. Zhuo Bufan was indeed trash like the lizard-dragon had said. It’d only taken a few days’ absence for his entire clique to be erased.
He’s probably not just an airhead, but also a spoiled dandy who regularly makes a lot of enemies.
Lu Yun was actually reminded of the old him. He’d been in similar straits when he first arrived in the world of immortals.
“Don’t worry, young master and mistress. I’ve successfully arranged for your identities as enforcers.” Zhuo Bufan’s father was a king, after all, one with high authority and prestige in the Hongmeng. Installing two new enforcers was a piece of cake.
“I’ve assigned you to Starcloud City—part of my father’s domain. It’s not a big city, but that means you won’t attract anyone’s attention. As long as you don’t blow up the city, young master, no one will pay attention to you,” Zhuo Bufan explained earnestly.
“Okay, then.” Lu Yun nodded, not knowing much about the Hongmeng. Though he’d once been here in the form of his past self, he hadn’t ventured deep into the realm. He also wasn’t sure if the great war that the little girl had mentioned had taken place then yet.
“Right, find out about something for me,” he remarked. “I want to know what kind of force Violetgrave or Bluegrave commands in the Hongmeng and what relationships my son may have developed in the realm.”
Since Violetgrave hadn’t told him the name of her faction, Lu Yun had to find out for himself. There were a hundred and eight kings backing the Enforcer Alliance. Investigating something of this caliber would be an exceedingly easy task.
“Understood!” Zhuo Bufan quickly agreed.
“Alright. Take us to Starcloud City and then be about your business.”
A great sense of relief wrapped around Zhuo Bufan when he heard this. He had indeed been worried that Lu Yun would just stay here or have him follow by their side forever. If his rival killed these two…
Well, if Lu Yun died, Zhuo Bufan was certain that both he and the Scorch King, and the rest of their family could only beg for death.
There was also another king behind Zhuo Bufan’s rival that made the situation extremely difficult.
Lu Yun and the little fox changed into their new enforcer uniforms. They were completely black and came with a black mask to hide their faces.
Black-robed enforcers were ranked only beneath the executives. With Zhuo Bufan’s background, it’d still taken considerable effort to arrange for their new positions. The Enforcer Alliance wielded a great deal of authority and oversaw a number of matters. Hunting down Hongmeng beings who intruded into the chaos was only part of their duties.
A myriad of orders and laws abounded in the realm, and the Enforcer Alliance existed to maintain these rules in their multitude so that Hongmeng denizens wouldn’t sink into confusion. Thus, kings of the Hongmeng highly respected the enforcers—not to mention that the hundred and eight kings backing the organization made it the strongest in the realm.
Though the alliance was a loose one, no one dared belittle it.
Zhuo Bufan’s father was one of the hundred and eight, which was why his son was able to install his new friends as black robes.
The uniforms themselves were also a powerful treasure. Not only did it conceal their faces, but it hid their cultivation so no one could accurately gauge their true strength.
Enforcers frequently offended others when they were carrying out their duties; any slip in attention could result in a death feud. Thus, the clothing was also another layer of protection for the enforcers.
As the saying went, open spear thrusts were easily dodged, but an arrow from the dark was hard to detect.
……
Exiting Zhuo Bufan’s meditation chamber brought them into the Hongmeng proper. There was a sky, ground, and definition of space here. Though time also exerted no power over the realm, there existed its concept.
The sky of the Hongmeng was purple and stretched on without end. The legendary fourth realm lay beyond it, and it was said that whoever could smash apart their sky would enter the fourth realm, becoming an unparalleled existence.
Of course, that was only a myth. No one had broken through that barrier since the dawn of time.
A large sun hung in the purple sky and threw off splendid radiance, illuminating the entire realm.
“That sun…” Lu Yun gaped incredulously at the huge celestial body overhead.
“Correct, that’s the chaos sun!” Zhuo Bufan murmured. “When the chaos sun rises from the chaos sea, it shines upon not only the chaos, but all of the Hongmeng as well!” He waxed eloquent with appreciation. “That treasure is beyond the limits of our understanding. Even our kings seek to find the truth about the chaos sun and moon.”
The chaos sun and moon were in the chaos sea, but they illuminated the entire third realm too. They were the most mysterious treasure of both the Hongmeng and chaos, and Hongmeng denizens were forbidden from visiting the lower realms primarily due to those two celestial bodies.
“Yo, isn’t this the most eminent and distinguished Zhuo Bufaaaan? I heard someone just beat the crap out of you! What are you doing out and about instead of hiding away and licking your wounds?” A somewhat sarcastic voice sounded before a young man, at the head of a group all dressed in the long robes of executive enforcers, swaggered up to Zhuo Bufan.
Though they wore the robes of enforcers, they weren’t wearing their masks and thus showing their true faces to the world.
Zhuo Bufan scowled darkly. These were the fellows who’d cornered him earlier and given him a thorough beating. They’d been wearing their masks then, and now they’d taken the masks off so they could jeer at him.
They were also the ones who’d uprooted his entire faction in the alliance.
However, Zhuo Bufan then jerked with surprise before his lips curved slightly upward.
“Are you looking to die, Du Guxun?” he sneered. “I investigated Dubiety Realm on orders of the venerated one and accidentally discovered that someone’s tampered with the chaos sun and moon. You made things difficult for me in every possible way after my return, going so far as to attack me so I can’t make my report. Are you the ones behind the sabotage?!”
The crowd of youths paused, startled by the unexpected rejoinder.
“Executive Zhuo Bufan of the Enforcer Alliance requests an audience with the venerated one!” Zhuo Bufan brought out the Execution command token without further ado and sent a pillar of brilliance into the sky, scaring the wits out of Du Guxun and the others.
