Chapter 379
Chapter 379
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 379
>Chapter Title: Records
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Chapter 379: Records
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> Upon hearing Li Huowang's question, the eunuch hurriedly explained with utmost respect.
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> "In response to Your Excellency, ordinary duties at the Geng Banner level and below are assigned this way. But if you advance further up, it becomes quite different..."
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> Listening to the eunuch's detailed explanation, Li Huowang realized it matched exactly what Tuoba Danqing had told him before.
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> The Supervising Heaven Bureau was lax on the outside but strict within. The higher one climbed, the tighter the corresponding restraints became.
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> By the time one reached the Recorder position, it was essentially no different from entering court as an official—complete with official robes and superiors to answer to.
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> In return, however, one could access perks invisible to others in the Bureau, such as methods to dispel inner obsessions for longevity, along with various secret cultivation techniques and treasures kept from the outside world. The higher the rank, the better the items one could exchange with one's stipend.
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> Of course, for lone wanderers like Li Huowang, none of that was available—mere pills trading lifespan for common goods at best.
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> As for when one might move from the outer circle into the inner Supervising Heaven Bureau, it all depended on one's usual conduct.
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> Only after the Bureau's leadership deemed someone diligent enough, clever enough, and with a completely trustworthy background would they send someone for a detailed discussion.
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> But Li Huowang naturally had no interest in any of that. He had his own goal.
>“Within the Bureau, what duties involve the Sitting Oblivion Dao?”
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> "Your Excellency, please wait a moment. This servant will fetch them for you right away."
>The eunuch bowed his head and slowly backed out from behind the screen.
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> Seeing Li Huowang's actions, Sima Lan's brows furrowed slightly. The blind bird beside him spoke up.
>“Why are you only seeking duties on the Sitting Oblivion Dao?”
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> "I have a grudge against them."
>Li Huowang gave the most normal answer imaginable.
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> Sima Lan gave no indication whether he believed it or not, and asked no further.
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> Before long, the eunuch returned, cradling a stack of papers filled with writing in both hands.
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> "Your Excellency, these are all—"
>Before he could finish, Li Huowang snatched them and began flipping through page by page.
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> Yet after scanning from start to finish, Li Huowang found no trace whatsoever of North Wind.
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> When Li Huowang looked up again, he realized Sima Lan had left at some point without a word.
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> He paid it no mind and turned directly to the eunuch beside him.
>“Why are these all about minor lackeys? And even those are just suspects—no confirmations at all. Aren't there any duties targeting the likes of Four Joys or Three Essences?”
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> Hearing Li Huowang's words, the eunuch paled in fright.
>"Oh dear, Your Excellency, if there were duties involving Four Joys or Three Essences, that would be a major incident! The Bureau would have dispatched people immediately to handle it—there'd be no leisurely picking here!"
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> "Let this servant tell you, Your Excellency—these duties come in various grades too. Something like Four Joys or Three Essences from the Sitting Oblivion Dao counts as Propyl-grade, extremely urgent. Speed is of the essence—no time for sifting through files like this."
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> Li Huowang nodded in understanding. That made sense—if they dragged their feet even against Sitting Oblivion Dao's upper echelons, the Great Liang populace would be turned upside down by them.
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> But now Li Huowang faced a dilemma. He'd come all this way, yet had zero leads on how to track down North Wind.
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> After pondering for a moment, Li Huowang turned to the eunuch again.
>“Then, are there any records here on Four Joys or Three Essences? Anything at all.”
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> "Mm, Your Excellency, please wait. This servant will look for you."
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> Li Huowang had only asked offhand, but to his surprise, the eunuch really fetched a thick stack.
>"Your Excellency is at Geng Banner, so these are naturally viewable."
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> Li Huowang took the documents and began rapidly flipping through, his target still North Wind.
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> After all this effort, he finally had a hit—three years ago in Tanzhou County's Wuzhou, North Wind's last appearance.
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> According to the Supervising Heaven Bureau's records, he'd shown up to assist East Wind in controlling a perceptually pure.
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> He'd claimed that if this perceptually pure didn't follow their instructions, North Wind would kill the family in their hallucinations.
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> Li Huowang's brows furrowed as he forced himself to read on.
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> As one of the Four Joys, North Wind was naturally powerful. He could plunge people into instant bewilderment and, in tandem with East Wind, swap bodies with others.
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> With just a glance at anyone they chose, they could exchange their own body for the target's—and this ability persisted even after the swap.
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> Back then, Tanzhou County had descended into total chaos: grandmothers stuffed into daughters-in-law's bodies, grandsons in husbands' bodies.
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> Human ethics and familial bonds had been utterly toyed with and scrambled.
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> More critically, as one of the Four Joys, North Wind excelled at exploiting human darkness. Under their deceptions, many quickly became accomplices.
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> Not only that—in the face of defeat, North Wind had, within a single hour, deceived a seventeen-year-old woman into becoming one of the Sitting Oblivion Dao's Five Chains.
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> The outcome: the loss of one Recorder and one Supervisor Vice Minister's life, in exchange for securing the perceptually pure and taking East Wind's life.
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> Li Huowang pored over the pages repeatedly, committing every detail on North Wind to memory.
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> He already knew about the Recorder, and this so-called Supervisor Vice Minister was undoubtedly even higher—and that was the result after mobilizing over a dozen people. It was proof enough of North Wind's strength.
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> More importantly, North Wind's abilities were bizarrely anomalous: body-swapping with others, and converting a normal person into one of their own through pure deception.
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> Li Huowang now felt immense pressure, finally grasping the true power of the Sitting Oblivion Dao's Four Joys.
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> Dealing with such a being as he was now would be extraordinarily difficult.
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> If there was any good news, it was that Li Huowang no longer saw the enemy as a mere faceless shadow.
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> "But... could North Wind really threaten people in a perceptually pure's hallucinations?"
>A sliver of doubt stirred in Li Huowang's mind.
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> The thought of his mother and Yang Na threatened by the Sitting Oblivion Dao—or worse, completely deceived by them—twisted Li Huowang's face into a savage snarl.
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> "Your Excellency...? Any further instructions?"
>The eunuch asked cautiously.
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> Li Huowang handed back the pages.
>"Take them away."
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> "Yes, Your Excellency."
>Just as the eunuch was about to withdraw from behind the screen, Li Huowang suddenly called him back.
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> "Wait—can this token of mine access most of the Bureau's books?"
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> "Yes, Your Excellency—from Library One to Library Four."
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> Hearing this, Li Huowang clenched his fist tightly.
>"I want books and records on perceptually pures—the more detailed, the better."
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> Li Huowang knew he was a perceptually pure, but one question had always weighed on him: just what the hell was a perceptually pure?
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> Since he'd come here, he naturally had to see how the Supervising Heaven Bureau explained it!
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> (End of chapter)