Chapter 856: A Choice That Shakes Qinggang

So this is the person involved in plotting my assassination?

Lu Xin looked up at him, squinting slightly as he scrutinized him.

Mr. Song, one of the five key figures holding supreme power in Qinggang…

The assassination wasn’t carried out by some unknown enemy—it was the all-too-familiar cliché of being targeted by someone close.

This only confirmed that Lu Xin’s intuition about people had not been mistaken.

In truth, when Lu Xin noticed how diabolical and coincidental the trap had been set for him, he already suspected the truth.

After Chen Jing received the security team’s report, she too immediately figured it out—only someone who truly knows Lu Xin could arrange something so targeted, especially since all information about him is top-secret in Qinggang.

Clearly, there were only a handful of people involved.

A glance at who had happened to leave Qinggang at that time made it all abundantly clear.

Once this matter was discovered, it sent shockwaves through many hearts.

It wasn’t just the shock; the very nature of the betrayal was deeply heinous.

The five key figures of Qinggang, who had each made immense contributions during its founding, now chose to partake in a plot to assassinate Lu Xin—forcing many to contemplate choosing between the Ability Users and those in power.

That is what weighed most heavily on Qinggang’s people.

……

……

“Could we… talk in the study first?”

Even Mr. Song’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

He dared not meet Lu Xin’s eyes directly, instead casting an almost pleading glance at Chen Jing.

“I won’t resist. I won’t run away,” he said.

“In fact, everything was prepared long before I decided to return.”

“I just have some loose ends to tie up.”

“……”

Chen Jing and the others did not refuse; they followed him up the stairs as if they were his guests.

Within the antique office—a place that once steered Qinggang’s economic decisions—Mr. Song took his place behind the desk. He slowly signed several documents on the table; he seemed ready to sign more, but his hand paused.

“I’ve returned solely to take care of the aftermath.”

After a laborious pause, he began slowly:

“Those people outside were all summoned by me, but they have nothing to do with this matter. The Song family’s affairs are so vast that there’s always too much to handle, which is why I had them come over to help manage things as best as possible.”

He paused, then murmured, “When the assassination failed, I realized it was over.”

“I didn’t flee to the Western Mountain City because I knew escape was futile.”

“So I returned to face the consequences.”

“……”

Listening to his wavering yet determined voice, Chen Jing furrowed her brow.

She asked, “Why?”

Just those simple three words unearthed all the questions everyone had.

Yes, why…

Lu Xin’s own curiosity boiled down to the same point.

He had always been a law-abiding man, working diligently and collecting his due rewards.

He had never done anything wrong nor did he enjoy making enemies.

Especially since, in his honest opinion, Lu Xin believed he had contributed to Qinggang—so why would someone high up in Qinggang, despite his contributions, choose to partake in an assassination of him? What benefit could Qinggang possibly derive from that?

“Why…”

Mr. Song murmured, sinking into deep silence before finally saying, “There is no reason—just a choice.”

Chen Jing and the others frowned in unison.

Number Five, peeking from behind the burly man, sported a face twisted in derisive sneers.

Such an answer was clearly unsatisfactory.

“I helped rebuild Qinggang,” Mr. Song continued slowly.

He raised his head as if to answer Chen Jing’s query, but his gaze shifted towards Lu Xin:

“I have made many decisions that benefitted Qinggang; this is merely another one of them.”

“I’ve been in contact with the Black Spade Office and have long since embraced the ideas of the Mentor and the Bishop—since as early as ten years ago.”

“Perhaps, in that sense, I was the first to truly understand our world.”

“We’ve been unable to escape since even before the Red Moon first appeared in the sky; from the very beginning, our eyes were fixed on this world.”

“From that moment on, our fate was sealed—there was no other option.”

“In the beginning, there was an unprecedentedly powerful Pollution Source. It would slowly taint, then devour every single person in the real world. Our feeble existence would be of no consequence, just like ordinary people powerless before a Mental Monster.”

“I trust the Mentor, believing they can carve out a path for us.”

“And you all…”

“……”

He shook his head slowly before continuing:

“I know that the Special Cleaning Department and Old Su are plotting something. I’ve even seen a blueprint of the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan.”

“But it’s useless…”

“Ha ha, you’re all working so hard, yet you haven’t even set your own goals or direction.”

“You’re simply taking one step at a time, gambling your future on an uncertain fate.”

“……”

At this point, his tone grew heavier as he asked, “But does it even matter?”

“I know you came here hoping to unearth a more sinister, personal motive.”

“Somewhat selfishly, I want to survive—and to live well.”

“But if you ask for the real reason, it’s because I don’t trust you.”

“……”

As he spoke more, confidence and frankness slowly returned to his face.

He could even meet Lu Xin’s gaze with a semblance of calm.

In a soft voice, he said, “I wonder what you think of the Mentor and the Bishop. Do you see them as selfish or crazy?”

“But you can’t deny that in this oppressive and chaotic world, they have always had a clear goal.”

“While you, including even the Moon Eclipse Research Institute, don’t even know what you truly want.”

“You all even dared to oppose the Mentor using methods that risk awakening something primordial—methods that compromise our world’s safety. How am I supposed to choose? How can I decide?”

“I’ve already spoken with Old Su. They had no interest in taking my advice.”

“Because you are too strong.”

“……”

He continued, his gaze sharpening, “You’re so powerful that Qinggang can’t even stand against you.”

“That’s why more and more arrangements and objectives in Qinggang are shifting because of you.”

“All centered around you.”

“But I can’t accept wagering the fate of all of Qinggang, and my own, on you. So when the Black Spade Office approached me, I agreed to their terms and resolved to do everything in my power to get things back on track.”

“In the end, though, I simply lost.”

“So I returned to Qinggang to face my destiny.”

“……”

“……”

After absorbing his every word, Lu Xin fell silent for a moment.

In truth, the matter was incredibly simple.

But he couldn’t help feeling that what he saw in Mr. Song was not the result he had expected.

Having nearly merged with the primordial force once before, he had witnessed its vastness—and he realized that things might differ greatly from what the First Researcher had said. Strangely, he felt an uneasy resonance with Mr. Song’s words.

This realization further complicated his thoughts.

……

……

“So, Song Jianye was simply confused…”

Meanwhile, in a nearby office of the Special Cleaning Department, Professor Bai was removing his headset and setting it aside.

Across from him sat Mr. Su, who had just arrived. On the display screen beside him, images of several other gentlemen could be seen. Each one sat in silent contemplation, the voices captured by Chen Jing’s bug drawing them into deep thought.

“It’s not just him who is confused…”

Mr. Su wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed softly.

“Indeed.”

Professor Bai slowly picked up a cup, but didn’t drink, holding it mid-air as he pondered:

“In a world like this, everyone is confused and anxious, bearing endless pressure while facing one bizarre event after another, contending with an unfathomable presence and a danger that can turn mad at any moment.”

“What’s even more disheartening is that no one can show us a clear path.”

“And no one is able to help us…”

“So when someone makes a crazy decision—even one that seems foolish—it becomes a little easier to understand.”

“But…”

After a long pause, he finally retrieved an unopened file from a drawer.

“Old Song was too hasty. He didn’t realize that if we just held on a little longer, a small measure of patience would be enough.”

“Just a little more patience, and he would at least see a glimmer of hope…”

“……”

“……”

Mr. Su and the other gentlemen on the display suddenly looked up sharply, exclaiming, “This is…”

“It’s what Director Xue Jia from the Moon Eclipse Research Institute promised us before.”

Professor Bai fell silent for a moment before saying, “It’s also something that points us in the right direction—a creation by that genius who once jumped from the hundred-story building at the Moon Eclipse Research Institute. His research can tell us our future course.”

“Because of the First Researcher’s omnipresent scrutiny, Director Xue Jia sealed it off from the start.”

“But in truth, we’ve been executing it all along—only no one knew.”

“……”

He paused, then looked each person in the room in the eye, “The executors are me and all of you here.”

“Back when the Moon Eclipse Research Institute dispatched us to the major High-wall Cities to help fend off Mental Pollution and clean up Pollution Sources…”

“Before that, Director Xue Jia personally trained us, outlining some secret strategies which he insisted we never mention outwardly but always remembered and sought to apply.”

“Those ideas helped me shape the embryo of the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan.”

“I only recently discovered that these ideas weren’t Director Xue Jia’s alone.”

“They were the doomed vision of that genius researcher, hidden away by Director Xue Jia—he was quite adept at it.”

“So, simply put, Qinggang’s Heaven’s Kingdom Plan is actually the concept originally proposed by that genius researcher.”

“And now, in my hands is the latter half of the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan.”

－－－－－－On a Side Note－－－－－－

I’ve updated so little during these meeting days—honestly, I’m even too shy to ask for votes.

Today is the very last day of the month.

Even though my state hasn’t fully recovered to permit normal updates…

…after all, it’s the end of the month. Asking for votes isn’t too much, right?