Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 87: Peculiar Atmosphere

After parting ways with Fang Che, Zhao Ying'er skipped her way back home with a jovial spring in her step.

Zuo Guanglie was standing at the entrance of the administration hall, waiting for Fang Che with an envious expression as he remarked, "You're a lucky man, Brother Fang."

Fang Che merely chuckled in response. He had already decided that he was going to make his feelings clear to Zhao Ying'er at dinner so that she didn't waste her time on him.

The residual effects of the Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit still hadn't completely faded, and Fang Che was on the verge of reaching the fourth-rank Lord tier.

However, before that, he wanted to condense the spirit qi in his dantian a little more.

With that in mind, he left the Hall of Protectionists with Tang Zheng.

On this day, Tang Zheng was looking particularly vigorous and purposeful, completely different from the Tang Zheng that Fang Che had met on his first day at work.

"You made a breakthrough, did you?"

"I did! I took some of the pills that I've been saving up after I went back home yesterday, and I'm now a ninth-rank Great Grandmaster! Once I earn some more merit points, I'll be able to prepare for a breakthrough to the General tier! Once I become a General, I'll be sure to work even harder so I can become an administrator, just like you. I never thought that I would ever have the chance to become an administrator!"

Fang Che fell silent as his mind wandered to Mo Ganyun and the others.

In order to build the most solid foundations possible, they had pledged to avoid all pills before reaching the General tier.

However, the pills that they would carelessly discard were prizeless treasures to Tang Zheng, things that he may not have been able to obtain even through an entire lifetime of hard work!

After a brief silence, Fang Che pulled out a vial of pills that were fit for consumption for Great Grandmasters before tossing it to Tang Zheng.

"I found these from a demonic church member that I recently killed. You can have them."

"Administrator Fang, these... these pills are far too precious! I..."

Despite his protests, he really wanted to keep the pills, and he was feeling very conflicted.

"Just take them. I have no use for them anyway. Doesn't that battle hall master brother-in-law of yours give you any cultivation resources?"

"There's no way he would give resources to a coward like me," Tang Zheng replied with a bashful smile. "There are many prodigies in our clan, and it's only right that they get access to cultivation resources ahead of me."

"Do you feel resentful over that?"

"Why would I feel resentful? They are the hopes of the clan, so it benefits all of us for them to grow stronger. Sometimes, when I come across good cultivation resources, I would even take it to them."

Fang Che fell silent as he turned his gaze to the vial of pills in Tang Zheng's hand, and he was suddenly feeling a little remorseful.

He wasn't regretting giving Tang Zheng the pills. Instead, he was worried that those pills would be more trouble to him than they were worth.

***

The armed escorts of the Unmatched Escort Agency were hidden in the crowd, constantly monitoring Fang Che before reporting any demonic church members that they came across.

However, Fang Che was only able to claim two victims from his morning patrol.

This tactic of relying on reports had been very effective in the past, but it was becoming less and less effective over time.

Many of the remaining demonic church members had gone into hiding, but on the flip side, the good news was that an entire week had already gone by in which the Hall of Protectionists had suffered no casualties.

"During the meeting this morning, Hall Master Song says that things will most likely begin to slow down from here," Tang Zheng said. "We'll have to go back to our original tactics of scouting for demonic church members in secret and being patient in our approach."

"It sounds like Hall Master Song has experience with these situations," Fang Che remarked.

"He does. This has actually been quite a common occurrence over the years," Tang Zheng explained. "Many demonic church members will pass through like tourists, staying here for a while before disappearing on their own after a certain period of time has passed. Last time, we were told that over two thousand demonic church members had infiltrated the southeast, but we only managed to kill fewer than two hundred of them before the rest disappeared.

“This time, we're supposed to be dealing with over ten thousand demonic church members, and up to this point, over two thousand of them have been killed in the southeast. Given that progress has really slowed down of late, I presume it's about time that they disappeared on their own."

"I see," Fang Che mused in a contemplative manner.

No, it's definitely going to be different this time. I can sense it. The true storm is still yet to come.

He had been quite perplexed about all of this from the very beginning.

The Church of the Self-Righteous had sent so many young Lords and Warlords to the southeast to accumulate experience. Were the higher-ups really not aware that a large number of them was going to die? What were they really trying to accomplish?

Were these people not just serving as cannon fodder for the Hall of Protectionists?

Perhaps this was a form of training for the people from the Church of the Self-Righteous, but the Protectionists actually stood to benefit far more in that regard.

The top brass of the Church of the Self-Righteous had to have been aware that the Protectionists always benefitted more from these operations than they did, so why did they still insist on sending so many young people to their deaths once every few years?

The rest of the afternoon proved to be very uneventful, and even while eating lunch, Fang Che was still pondering these questions?

***

Zhao Ying'er had already returned home and given herself a fabulous makeover. Even the dress that she had originally picked out had been discarded, and there were currently dozens of dresses strewn all over her bed, being tried on one by one in front of the mirror.

Finally, she was able to decide on a dress, and she had also put on the snow beast leather boots that she had deemed too precious to wear up to this point.

Even as she was about to leave, she doubled back to examine herself carefully in the mirror once again, making sure that her hair and makeup were as perfect as they could be.

Only then did she skip out the door to buy some wine.

Wine was a necessity if she was going to visit Ren Chang.

Ren Chang had been very stingy throughout his life, always drinking the cheap stuff, so she bought him twenty jars of Iron Will Wine so he could enjoy the finer things in the afterlife.

"What's going on today, Administrator Zhao? Are you celebrating something?" the shopkeeper of the wine shop asked with a wide smile.

"No, I'm going to visit Administrator Ren Chang."

"Ah, Administrator Ren. He was a good man," the shopkeeper sighed in a forlorn manner. "I'll throw in a free jar of wine for you."

Zhao Ying'er was very moved by this kind gesture, but she refused, "It's fine. Small businesses like yours aren't easy to run, and I certainly shouldn't be adding to your burden."

"It's really dangerous out there nowadays, so make sure to be careful if you're going to visit Administrator Ren's grave on your own," the shopkeeper cautioned.

"I'm not going alone, Administrator Fang will be coming with me," Zhao Ying'er said with a smile.

"Ohhh! Please allow me to offer my congratulations to you in advance then, Administrator Zhao," the shopkeeper said as a look of realization appeared on his face.

Zhao Ying'er instantly turned beetroot red, and she hurriedly fled the wine shop in embarrassment.

She rented a small trolley from the wine shop, then towed it along behind her as she made her way toward the western mountain, where the Graveyard of Heroes was situated.

That was where Ren Chang and all of his deceased former colleagues had been laid to rest.

It was a very bittersweet walk for Zhao Ying'er. Her heart was weighed down by the grief that she felt over Ren Chang's death, but also set aflutter by the prospect of a romantic dinner with Fang Che later that day.

Before long, the graveyard was within sight.

Zhao Ying'er took a moment to compose herself, then strode over to Ren Chang's grave, which was clearly newer than the rest.

The inscription on the tombstone read: "Here lies Ren Chang, second-rank administrator of the White Cloud Prefecture Hall of Protectionists, and his wife, Kong Xiang."

The inscription had been made under Fang Che's suggestion.

"I've come to visit you, Teacher Ren Chang," Zhao Ying'er said as she lit some incense, then slowly ignited the paper money that she had prepared.

After that, she opened a jar of Iron Will Wine, then filled two bowls as she continued, "Thank you for looking after me for all these years. I had no way to repay you in life, so I can only buy you some wine in death."

Zhao Ying'er added some more paper money to the fire, then slowly poured the wine onto the wine in front of the grave.

"I earn a decent monthly salary, and I also get spoils from the demonic church members that I kill, so drink to your heart's content. I'll make sure to buy you some more soon so you never run out. You can finally rest now, so don't be so stingy anymore."

***

Fang Che had already arrived in the western area of the city, but his search for demonic church members continued to prove fruitless.

Thus, he decided to end his afternoon patrol earlier than usual.

"You can go back now, Tang Zheng. I'm going to pay my respects to Ren Chang."

"I'll come with you."

"Maybe some other time. I'm already going with someone else."