I stared at the now-black computer screen and said, "There really was no other way? If he knew what would happen, couldn't he have prepared in advance?"
"It's not that simple," Sun Fatty said as he permanently deleted the contents of the USB drive. "I asked Blind Jin the same thing. He said Director Gao encountered a life-ending tribulation—a destined death on that very day. The only way out was using the Dragonborn Divination Shell to alter his fate. But Gao couldn't accept the cost that came with rewriting destiny. Sigh… what can I say, some things are just fate…"
He hadn't even finished speaking when a violent pounding erupted on the office door, shaking it on its hinges. There was a faint but unmistakable sense of killing intent leaking through from the outside. Both of us jumped. With the Bureau still on high alert after recent incidents—and with Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi resurfacing—everyone's nerves were on edge. That banging nearly snapped Sun Fatty's nerves in two.
He leapt from his chair, spun around, opened his bookshelf, and swept away a row of books from the top shelf, revealing a brand-new, short-barreled five-round pump-action shotgun hidden behind them.
The shotgun, like the sidearm I wore at my waist, was etched with talismanic sigils—though far denser, forming a dense web of mystical patterns. With the weapon in hand, color returned to Sun Fatty's face. He grabbed a few shells tucked in behind it and stuffed them into his pockets, then aimed the gun at the door, muttering, "Did I get it wrong again? They really dare come back?"
I was already reaching out to summon the Blades of Sin and Retribution hidden in the Sixth Office's wardrobe when something clicked inside me. I sensed the presence outside the door—it wasn't Lin or Hao. It was someone else I knew all too well.
I turned to the door. "Put the gun down, Da Sheng," I said. "It's not who you think."
Before Sun Fatty could stop me, I opened the door—and there he was, thin as a scarecrow, Director Hao Wenming himself.
Because the Bureau had invested in soundproofing for the offices, we hadn't heard what he was yelling as he pounded on the door. That nearly led to an all-out battle between a department director and the deputy commissioner.
As soon as the door opened, Hao Wenming stepped inside with long strides. He glanced at me just once before storming straight toward Sun Fatty.
In that instant, Sun Fatty discreetly shoved both the shotgun and the ammo under the desk. Then, with his usual grinning face, he greeted Hao Wenming—but before he could speak, Director Hao beat him to it:
"Sun Dasheng, I heard Lin Feng's whereabouts have been discovered. Why haven't you sent anyone yet? What's your plan? Wait until they fully master the Heavenly Principle Diagram and then take half our people down with them in a suicide fight?"
Sun Fatty squinted and chuckled. "Hao Tou'er, so you're finally back, huh? I think someone didn't pass along the message clearly. Yes, Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi did show up—but they brought more than just themselves."
Hao Wenming froze. The intel had come from Ouyang Pianzuo, but the call hadn't even finished before Director Hao hung up and rushed over the moment he heard about his brother. Judging from the sweat soaking through his shirt, he must've sprinted all the way.
With no choice, Sun Fatty quickly explained how Lin Feng and Hao Zhengyi had reappeared in such a bizarre fashion.
After listening, Hao Wenming's brows furrowed again. "All the Natal Talisman Papers left behind by Lin Feng in the Bureau were burned…"
He sat down in the chair I'd been in just moments ago, then glanced at both me and Sun Fatty before fixing his gaze on the latter. "Da Sheng," he said, "what do you think they're trying to do?"
Sun Fatty spoke with a half-smile. "With how far gone they are, what else could they want? They're just looking for a way to run. But with how closely we're watching them now, what can they really do? Maybe something like this…"
As he spoke, Sun Fatty wrote the character "天" (Heaven) on a notepad in front of Director Hao, then tore out every single page in the notebook, tossing the entire stack of loose sheets into the air. Then, he threw the empty notebook cover into the trash bin. Finally, he turned to look at the two of us and asked, "So, where's the sheet I wrote on just now?"
"It's in the bin," I replied before Hao Wenming could speak. "You hid it inside the empty notebook shell and tossed it out with everything else. Da Sheng, that misdirection trick is outdated. Throwing away the notebook cover was already unnecessary. And your sleight of hand needs work—it's way too slow. With eyes like mine, I couldn't not see it even if I tried."
As I spoke, I reached into the bin, picked up the notebook shell, opened it, and—sure enough—inside was the sheet with the character "Heaven" written on it.
Sun Fatty looked at me with a tangled expression. "Lazi… not to complain, but can we just have a normal conversation sometime? I know your eyes are sharp. But next time, can you at least pretend to play along? Humor me a little. Going straight for the kill shot like that—who can take it?"
Before I could respond, Hao Wenming jumped in. "You mean Lin Feng's using a smokescreen? That the locations tied to the talisman papers aren't actually where they're hiding—and that they're trying to make us chase shadows while they slip away?"
"Half right." Sun Fatty tossed the notebook shell back into the bin and smiled at Hao Wenming. "We're talking nearly two hundred locations. Lin Feng and that other guy—both of them are top-tier clever. They won't make it so easy for us to just cross off places. Odds are, they are hiding somewhere among those two hundred, biding time until they can make a proper getaway."
Hao Wenming's brows, already furrowed, tightened further. "Getaway? Where could they possibly run to?"
Sun Fatty glanced at the firmly shut office door, then lowered his voice. "To a place Wu Rendi can't follow."
That reply caught Hao Wenming off guard. After a pause, he asked, "Is there even such a place? Somewhere Wu Rendi can't go?"
"There is." Sun Fatty gave a very certain answer. He shot me a glance before continuing. "I know for a fact—someone a few hundred years ago tried to escape Wu Rendi. Ran all the way to Europe. Lived peacefully there for a long time. But the moment he came back, Wu Rendi found him and locked him up for over a century."
The moment Sun Fatty brought up Guangren, I fell silent.
Unaware, Hao Wenming asked, "You're saying Wu Rendi can't leave this country?"
"I never said that." Sun Fatty gave him a sly smile, then said, "He's always gone wherever he pleased. We've found traces of him all over these years—but never outside of the near seas. Even that time with the ghost ship, he only went as far as coastal waters. I don't think he's physically restricted. My guess is that he once made an agreement with someone, and part of that agreement was to not appear in far-off lands."
That last line struck me. "You think Wu Rendi made a pact with someone? Da Sheng, have you forgotten what kind of person Director Wu is? You think he's the kind to honor agreements?"
"That depends on who the agreement was with." Sun Fatty shrugged. "If it's us? No chance. But there's gotta be someone out there that even Wu Rendi would willingly keep a promise to."
Hao Wenming's expression turned curious. "Who?"
Sun Fatty chuckled. "Hao Tou'er, not to dodge the question—but maybe you should ask the man himself."
As soon as Wu Rendi's name came up, Hao Wenming clearly lost interest in that line of questioning and pivoted. "Let's get serious. Sun Dasheng, what exactly do you plan to do? You're really going to check each of those addresses one by one?"
"That won't be necessary," Sun Fatty replied with a laugh. "As long as Ouyang Pianzuo hands over the list of addresses, I've got a way to pinpoint exactly where Lin Feng and his accomplice are hiding."