Chapter 12: Dispute

"A target of high importance?" Lv Zhenhai's brows twitched violently.

To investigate the "Peach Blossom Spring" case, the Liangzhou branch had already committed over eighty percent of its elite forces. The entire system was operating at full capacity, and the entire leadership team was in a state of extreme tension. To have another high-risk individual emerge at such a critical juncture was, for them, tantamount to being attacked from both front and rear.

"What is the situation with this target? Give me a brief summary."

"Yes, sir. He was discovered in this city a month ago. Recent archaeological findings suggest a connection to him..."

The assistant reported the situation as quickly as possible. As Lv Zhenhai listened, the knot between his brows tightened.

"A suspected ancient cultivator from the Five Barbarians period?" He pondered for a moment. "What is his cultivation level?"

"Still under investigation."

"And his sect affiliation? Is he an ancestor or an inheritor of some known sect?"

"None discovered so far."

"Criminal record?"

"No record of harming ordinary people. However, he did kill several cultivators a month ago. The reason remains unknown, but those cultivators were all 'evil cultivators' with criminal records, placing them outside the protection of the Cultivator Management Act."

To deal with individuals as powerful as cultivators, the Chinese authorities had gathered various resources and held several major conferences, attempting to restructure the primitive world of immortal cultivators using modern laws. The Cultivator Management Act was the product of these efforts.

In the minds of ordinary people, cultivators were often seen as free spirits who shunned constraints. In reality, even in ancient times, most cultivators were managed through sects and had to follow their rules. Throughout history, true self-sufficient, free-roaming rogue cultivators were rare—most were powerful experts. The vast majority of rogue cultivators struggled on the brink of life and death, desperately trying to enter the "cages" of sects to gain resources and protection.

Because of this, many cultivators were willing to join the official ranks in the modern era. To them, the authorities were essentially a modern, large-scale sect, offering resource management far superior to ancient sects, not to mention modern amenities like food delivery, express logistics, and the internet.

In this environment, they were naturally willing to pledge to "abide by modern laws and ethical standards" in exchange for official resources and protection. This was the foundation upon which the Cultivator Management Act was built.

In plain terms, if you did not commit evil acts against the public and were willing to sign a pledge to follow the law and not harm mortals, then any attack on you by another cultivator would be treated as an attack on an ordinary citizen. The state had a duty to protect you, usually by dispatching other official cultivators, or, if things escalated, by delivering "East Wind Express" (missiles) directly to the perpetrator's doorstep.

Conversely, if one was already outside the legal system, being killed by another cultivator would merely be judged as an internal dispute among cultivators. The state would not interfere, and the killer would face no consequences. After all, many ancient cultivators had lived for hundreds of years; it would be a fantasy to imagine they didn't have blood on their hands.

The cultivators Zhou Qing killed a month ago fell into this category. They had harmed mortals first, were no longer under state protection, and their deaths did not constitute a criminal case.

The "Peach Blossom Spring" case, however, was different. It had not only triggered several malicious social incidents but had challenged the bottom line of modern society, inciting a revival of "feudal cultivationism." It was the primary target for the state's iron fist.

Lv Zhenhai's brows relaxed slightly. Within seconds, he had made his decision.

"Notify the Intelligence Department. Treat this task as a routine matter, according to the rules. No matter who that ancient cultivator is, do not waste manpower on unnecessary actions. We must ensure this period passes stably."

Lv Zhenhai added, "The situation right now is extremely special; we cannot afford any accidents. One ancient cultivator is a minor issue, but if he disrupts the 'Peach Blossom Spring' investigation, none of us can bear that responsibility."

"Understood, I will notify them immediately."

...

"Handle it according to the rules? Is this a matter of rules?"

High-pitched words echoed in the office. Several intelligence officers stood there, not daring to breathe, watching Li Yulan pace the room, the veins on the back of her hand bulging as she gripped her phone.

"You mean to treat a lion with the rules meant for sheep? With that man's strength, it would take less than a day to raze half of Liangzhou to the ground. Give him a few more days, and he could kill his way from Liangzhou to the Second Ring Road of the capital. And you want him to follow the rules?"

"Listen, this must be reported to headquarters immediately. This is not a Liangzhou-level problem; we must request support from above and concentrate all available manpower..."

But after only a few seconds, her voice lowered, her tone tinged with surprise and hesitation.

"...Peach Blossom Spring? Has the head office already issued a formal notice?"

"Yes, I know. Everything is prioritized for 'Peach Blossom Spring' now. But this cannot just end here! We must file an application to the higher-ups! Have them transfer people from the capital..."

"This... yes, you're right. But this case is truly different from the others. That file..."

Her voice grew increasingly somber, eventually ending in a sigh.

Watching Li Yulan put down the phone with a weary expression, the people standing nearby exchanged glances, until one finally couldn't help but speak.

"Don't waste extra manpower? How could the higher-ups issue such an order?" an officer asked, puzzled. "That man is from the Five Barbarians period..."

"Other branches have discovered individuals with astonishing lifespans before, some tracing back to the Han or even pre-Qin dynasties. But they were all proven to have used inheritance methods to be reborn in the bodies of descendants, or used special techniques to enter a state of suspended animation, waking after thousands of years."

Li Yulan's tone remained flat. "According to Qin Jiajia's earlier description, when she first met Zhou Qing, he seemed unfamiliar with the common knowledge of this era. This suggests he likely didn't live directly into the modern era, but skipped through time using a similar method."

"If this hypothesis holds, his true age might not be as long as it appears, and his cultivation level wouldn't be as terrifying as feared. We shouldn't divert energy to him at this time—that is the judgment made by Lv Zhenhai's side."

Her expression was dark as she said this. She had challenged this assessment earlier, but it was overruled by superiors on the grounds of insufficient evidence, and she was criticized for lack of experience and indecisiveness.

The logic of the whole argument sounded self-consistent, and the subtext was clear. The person who had spoken immediately closed his mouth.

They were all veterans who had been in the bureau for years; they could see that Li Yulan was not convinced by her superior's words. Unlike Lv Zhenhai, who was working with second-hand reports, she had witnessed the entire event and had a deeper understanding of that person's terror. Otherwise, she wouldn't have broken protocol to argue with her superiors.

But she also knew the importance of "Peach Blossom Spring."

Even if they ignored the single ancient cultivator case, "Peach Blossom Spring" would rank among the most critical tasks since the Bureau's inception. With the whole city busy with it, making a scene now would undoubtedly shake morale, with incalculable consequences.

"Director, what should we do now?"

Another officer asked cautiously, "According to Supervisor Lv, we need to ensure he doesn't cause trouble during the 'Peach Blossom Spring' investigation... should we send people to monitor and control him?"

Li Yulan looked at him. "Do you trust Lv Zhenhai's judgment, or mine?"

"This..." He wanted to say the supervisor's judgment sounded more reliable, but facing Li Yulan, he answered honestly, "Naturally, I trust your judgment."

"Then your idea is the worst possible course of action." Li Yulan gave a bitter smile. "Control? With that person's strength, we have no possibility of controlling him. Any restrictive measures are a joke in front of an entity of that level; it would only enrage him and bring us an even greater disaster."

"Unless the state is willing to start a local war over him, all we can do is pray that he is a law-abiding person with no hostility toward society. Even if we can't be allies, let's at least not make him an enemy."

The officers stood looking at each other, thinking that asking a guy who had hunted down an entire lineage to be "law-abiding" was no different from asking a capitalist to boycott overwork—even a three-year-old wouldn't make such a ridiculous demand.

Yet, faced with the current situation, these elite officers who controlled the dark currents of Liangzhou felt just like three-year-olds.

A moment of silence followed. Li Yulan leaned against the desk, lost in thought, dark currents swirling in her eyes. Like Lv Zhenhai, she was a veteran with many years of experience, and she knew there were many reasons to support the opposing view.

But for some reason, she could still smell something unusual about the Zhou Qing case... "Intuition" was not a reason sufficient to convince her superiors, but it was already influencing her own judgment.

"As things stand, we only have one person left who can be deployed..."

After a long silence, she looked up again. "Call Qin Jiajia here."

...

With a creak, the office door opened. Everyone in the room looked up at the young girl walking in.

Ever since the incident at the Third Observation Station, she had been required to undergo 72 hours of isolation, during which she was subjected to various cognitive tests by different people. It was only after over a dozen rounds confirmed she carried no trace of evil cultivation and had not been influenced by any lingering mental imprints that her personal freedom was restored.

Contrary to the heated discussion earlier, Li Yulan adopted a casual tone, simply asking about her physical and mental state. Only at the end of the conversation did she bring up the topic, seemingly offhandedly.

"According to the schedule, you are to engage with Zhou Qing in three days. Before you carry out the task, there are a few things I need to remind you of."

Li Yulan paused. "After departmental assessment, we have determined that Zhou Qing possesses significant strategic value. We should strive to establish a cooperative relationship, bring him into the national system, and provide him with the highest level of benefits and subsidies. Your mission is precisely to achieve this goal."

"During your conversation with him, forget your identity as an officer. Do not mention anything related to the Bureau. You only need to maintain your existing relationship with him, and on that basis, show him goodwill. Inquire if he has any current needs and tell him the authorities can help him solve them."

"Of course, while keeping a calm heart, you must also remain vigilant." Her voice deepened. "No matter what, Zhou Qing is an immortal cultivator. There is an essential difference between his way of thinking and ours."

"For a long time, except for new cultivators specifically trained by the state like us, immortal cultivators willing to stand with the public have always been in the minority. In terms of proportion, it's less than 30%."

"Are the rest hostile to us?" Qin Jiajia asked.

"No, they aren't hostile." Li Yulan shook her head. "They just don't care."

Qin Jiajia's pupils constricted slightly, and she lowered her head.

"If you have no other questions, that's all for today. Go back and rest, and remember to keep your phone on."

Li Yulan said, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself; this is an opportunity for you as well. If you can complete this task smoothly, you should be approved to formally begin your own cultivation."

The talk ended there, and Li Yulan saw her out of the office. As the door closed behind her, Qin Jiajia leaned against the wall, feeling as though her brain might explode.

During the 72 hours of isolation, she had been thinking about the unfinished negotiation task constantly. As soon as the isolation ended, she hurried to ask about it, only to be told that her clearance level was insufficient to view Zhou Qing's full file.

What exactly had been investigated in the Hu Jie Sect case remained a mystery to her. Yet, although the conversation and atmosphere today were perfectly normal, she still sensed a subtle change.

When Zhou Qing was deemed somewhat dangerous for killing other cultivators, the Sanitation Bureau had immediately proposed a plan for violent suppression. But after the investigation into the Hu Jie Sect, everyone had tacitly stopped mentioning armed intervention.

No, even that was a polite way of putting it. Even a rookie like her, who knew nothing of the situation, could feel the change in the department's attitude. That could only mean the shift behind this was unimaginably deep; the entire strategic direction had undergone a 180-degree turn.

Deterrence. The word popped into her mind. The results of a single investigation had already exerted a deterrent effect on these veteran officers and this massive department. They realized that ordinary means could no longer influence that man's actions.

Thinking back to everything she had seen at the Third Observation Station, all the clues combined, the investigation results seemed almost obvious.

Qin Jiajia bit her lip.