Chapter 81: Strategy God Heavens (Four)

Yun Xueqing lifted his gaze slowly and looked at him. Moments later, he shook his head. “Impossible.”

Rejected by the other party, Mei Qujun’s face still showed a faint smile. “That’s truly a pity.”

Yun Xueqing’s tone was flat. “No matter the reason, I refuse to associate with evil cults.”

Mei Qujun looked at him, his smile widening. “If that’s really the case, then why didn’t you expose my identity directly in front of your companion?”

Yun Xueqing hesitated. “……Perhaps he already knows.”

After all, Mei Qujun had concealed it somewhat, but not thoroughly. Fu Wuxuan was so clever; he might have already guessed and was just playing dumb.

Mei Qujun observed his expression and found it somewhat amusing. “Once someone enters our organization, they can’t leave so easily. I don’t want to let you go, but I’ve decided to give you a chance.”

He pointed toward the door. “Walk out from here. Within one day, I won’t kill you. But after one day, not only will the Divine Temple forces hunt you down—Strategy God Heavens will pursue you relentlessly to the death.”

Yun Xueqing’s expression changed, but considering the other’s identity, he didn’t dare object.

The other party was now the leader of a major faction; mobilizing an entire organization to hunt them down would be effortless.

Moreover, Strategy God Heavens was a dangerous cult. Those who emerged from it were ruthless characters. Being hunted by them was no joking matter.

Seeing Yun Xueqing’s troubled look, Mei Qujun said amiably, “Do you want to discuss it with your companion?”

“No need,” Yun Xueqing’s tone grew firmer upon hearing this. “He definitely won’t join Strategy God Heavens either.”

“You’re deciding for me just like that?”

Fu Wuxuan’s voice drifted in eerily from outside the door.

Yun Xueqing looked toward the door and met Fu Wuxuan’s gaze. “You heard it all.”

Afraid of a misunderstanding, Fu Wuxuan explained a bit more. “I waited so long without seeing you come out, so I thought something had gone wrong and came to check.”

He hadn’t expected to hear the last part.

Yun Xueqing’s lips pressed together slightly, somewhat bothered by what the other had just said. “You……want to stay?”

Mei Qujun wore a faint smile. “Yun Xueqing, your friend seems to have ideas different from yours.”

“Of course not,” Fu Wuxuan smiled naturally, speaking to Mei Qujun word by word from the heart. “If it’s a refusal, I should say it myself.”

He glanced casually at Yun Xueqing, his tone light. “Letting you bear all this pressure alone wouldn’t be fair.”

Watching the two who were so in sync, Mei Qujun’s smile didn’t fade. “Since you’ve made the same decision, then……escape together.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a fierce gust of wind suddenly blew in. The half-open door slammed fully open.

Fu Wuxuan grabbed Yun Xueqing’s hand, his expression serious. “Together, we escape.”

“……Alright.”

Wu Xue, who had been standing outside and was now forced into fleeing with them: “……”

Wu Xue stepped inside and pieced together the cause and effect from their mouths. Her tone was calm. “If you want answers to some questions, you shouldn’t refuse the leader’s invitation.”

Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing exchanged a glance, understanding her meaning: Pretend to comply first, then extract intel from the old man.

Their earlier decision had put them in a terrible spot, but they didn’t regret it.

If they had both submitted, it would have seemed too fake.

At that moment, they made a different choice from Wu Xue.

Fu Wuxuan looked into Wu Xue’s eyes and said deliberately, “If you want to stay here, then stay.”

Even if Strategy God Heavens was dangerous, staying was better than being hunted.

Wu Xue’s gaze was icy as she looked at him. “Take care of yourself.”

Fu Wuxuan thought of Wu Xue’s past experiences and sighed at her, his eyes filled with a mix of heartache and complexity.

Who would have thought, after all the twists and turns, they’d end up back here.

In the end, only Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing left Strategy God Heavens. Wu Xue stayed behind.

Fu Wuxuan looked at the somewhat downcast Yun Xueqing and smiled faintly. “Before, it was always me being hunted alone. Now there’s one more, so we can watch each other’s backs. It’s good.”

Yun Xueqing looked at him, his tone complex. “Even if it was just for show, I didn’t want to join Strategy God Heavens…… That was my decision alone, but you followed me……”

Fu Wuxuan understood the unspoken implication. “You don’t need to worry that your decision affected me, or that you’ve dragged me down. I’m following you because I want to—my heart decided it.”

Yun Xueqing looked at him in surprise, his eyes widening slightly.

Their relationship was like a thin window paper. Fu Wuxuan wasn’t sure if he understood, nor did he deliberately point it out. He just smiled faintly. “We only have one day. Let’s leave Cold Edge Town first—it’s crawling with his people everywhere.”

In Cold Edge Town, they found a beat-up old motorcycle. The two rode it and barely escaped.

Winter had already set in, and the cold wind stung their faces.

Yun Xueqing sat in the back seat, gripping Fu Wuxuan’s shoulders from behind. He couldn’t see his expression.

As long as they weren’t face-to-face or making eye contact, many hard-to-voice questions could be asked.

So he asked, “What did you mean by what you said earlier?”

Yun Xueqing waited a while but got no answer from the person in front. So he repeated it.

After a long pause, he finally heard the casual reply: “I’ve said a lot today, each word full of meaning. Which one are you asking about?”

His tone was languid, trailing up at the end, off-key and unserious.

Yun Xueqing commented objectively, “You do talk a lot, but mostly nonsense—like right now.”

Fu Wuxuan laughed. “Such heavy resentment.”

“No,” Yun Xueqing ignored him, brushing off the earlier topic for a serious one. “How much do you know about my mas……Shen Le?”

Even though Mei Qujun had admitted it, Yun Xueqing still couldn’t quite believe that the master he’d finally found had turned out to be the leader of an evil cult.

Fu Wuxuan caught the regret in his tone and wanted to reach out to pat his head, but remembered he was driving, hands on the handlebars, so he gave up.

He tried to recall the intel he’d gathered before. “There’s very little info on Shen Le. He’s extremely mysterious, with all sorts of rumors about his origins. Probably only the official archives have real details on him.”

Instead of hiding like street rats, scurrying everywhere, they might as well seek official protection. Fu Wuxuan turned the motorcycle around, and the two headed to the Spiritual Energy Special Control Bureau headquarters.

They got lucky and ran into Su Bai. Through his relay, they were fortunate enough to meet Tu Hexiangchu again in the conference room.

After briefly recounting the day’s events and their purpose, Tu Hexiangchu’s expression darkened slightly. “Shen Le is an extremely tough opponent. Provoking him means inviting major trouble.”

Fu Wuxuan said, “We’re fine for now, but Wu Xue is still in Strategy God Heavens.”

Hearing this, Tu Hexiangchu grew even more troubled, pinching his brow. “I didn’t expect that just probing for info would provoke such a big reaction…… From what we’ve gathered, Shen Le is unpredictable but not bloodthirsty. As long as you don’t show killing intent first, he shouldn’t make things hard for you.”

Yun Xueqing and Fu Wuxuan exchanged a glance. Finally, Yun Xueqing spoke up. “I have some past ties with him…… Maybe that’s why he’s paying extra attention to us.”

It was an “attention” few could withstand.

Tu Hexiangchu sighed. “Dealing with an all-out pursuit from the entire Strategy God Heavens organization isn’t easy. One slip, and we’d take heavy losses. This still needs approval from above.”

He pointed at the ceiling.

Fu Wuxuan remembered then that Tu Hexiangchu was just the vice director—there was still that tricky old man above him.

Seeking protection seemed hopeless, but Fu Wuxuan wasn’t disappointed. He just smiled. “Can you at least help check Shen Le’s file?”

Tu Hexiangchu nodded. “I have clearance for that.”

He ordered someone to pull it. Less than half an hour later, the file arrived—thin, just a few sheets of paper.

A full Archives on someone usually had at least the thickness of a book. Cases like Shen Le’s were indeed rare.

Tu Hexiangchu skimmed it and read it aloud bit by bit.

Yun Xueqing knew from the first half-page that the personal info was fake.

After all, Mei Qujun was a millennium-old figure; much couldn’t be archived and had to be fabricated.

The front was trivial daily life, up to the apocalypse’s start. Hearing one entry, Fu Wuxuan looked up slightly. “He was a witness to the Weirds’ arrival?”

Tu Hexiangchu nodded gravely. “Correct. Back then, the S-Rank Weird Dragon Girl landed and destroyed a major city, but it also birthed seven S-Rank Oracles. He was one of them.”

“That doesn’t add up.” Fu Wuxuan’s face rarely showed such gravity.

Tu Hexiangchu was surprised. “How so?”

Fu Wuxuan muttered to himself, repeating it. “Right…… I was so caught up in assumptions that I forgot—the legendary Shen Le was a survivor of the Dragon Girl incident.”

Tu Hexiangchu was about to ask more when Fu Wuxuan continued. “You and I both survived the Dragon Girl event firsthand. The seven of us who lived, even without meeting, all know how the others survived—there’s only one way…… No need to dwell.”

“Among Dragon Girl survivors, if you’re close, you can sense the Dragon Girl’s aura on each other,” Fu Wuxuan said deliberately. “But the man we saw today had no Dragon Girl aura on him.”

Tu Hexiangchu voiced the unfinished conclusion. “That man isn’t Shen Le.”