Stranger Danger

Chapter 471: Deciphering the Threads of Fate

“Hmm?”

Everyone frowned upon hearing this. An Yifang asked, “Apologies, but can you tell us exactly what ‘misfortune’ means in this context?”

Misfortune could mean many things. It could mean tripping on nothing while you were walking, or dying because of a freak accident. If the price was too severe, then he would rather seek out other methods to confirm Ye Qing’s status.

After all, their lives were a million times more valuable than a criminal who might already be dead.

“It depends,” Lei Xiaodan answered vaguely. “It could be as minor as a flu, or it could be as severe as death. The severity of the punishment hinges completely on the question that is asked. If the question you ask is perfectly trivial, then the punishment you receive would be inconsequential. But if the question can, say, change the fate of Chu itself, then the punishment could easily be fatal.”

“Of course, I’m certain that inquiring about Ye Qing’s status would not incur a severe punishment, not to mention that everyone here possesses more than enough power to protect yourselves. I’m certain that you have nothing.”

“That’s good to hear.” Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“In that case, you can just ask the question yourself and tell us the result later, right? Why do you need all of us?” Hong Jianglong’s eyes glinted. “If there’s nothing else, then the chief and I will be taking our leave!”

Lei Xiaodan smiled. “Wait, Brother Hong. This matter relates to the Pacification Bureau, so your presence is necessary. Besides, the more people are present when Tattletale is used, the milder the punishment each person would receive would become. That’s because the misfortune is split between all of us.”

“Of course, that doesn’t mean that anyone’s fine. It must be someone who’s related to the question that will be asked. So please.”

You think you can run away after using my name to freeload in a brothel? Don’t even think about it.

Chu Qingge saluted everyone on behalf of her father. “Sorry for the trouble, my lords. On behalf of my father and my brother, I thank you all for lending us a hand today.”

The Harmony King also chimed in, “Please, help us.”

“There is no need for such courtesy, Your Highness! It’s our natural duty,” Everyone else replied politely as well.

“Fine. Let us begin then,” Hong Jianglong acquiesced.

“Very well.” Lei Xiaodan looked at Tattletale and asked, “We would like to know if Ye Qing, the Patrolman of the Luo Shui Pacification Bureau, is still alive.”

“Are you kidding me? Considering how much you bitches were humming and hawing, I thought you guys had something deadly important to ask. What a waste of my feelings.”

Tattletale harrumphed with displeasure before beginning, “He’s—”

“—Huh? Strange.” Tattletale’s expression suddenly turned serious. As it shook its head left and right, its face began alternating between good and evil, yin and yang rapidly.

Tattletale’s expression only grew more serious after a few breaths. It gritted its teeth and uttered, “No fucking way I’m going to fail here.”

“Decipher the threads of fate, peer into yin and yang...” Tattletale chanted as ancient runes began appearing on its face. They looked both enigmatic and profound.

The word “Yang” was protruding on the yang side of Tattletale’s face. It looked majestic and grand.

The word “Yin” was sunken in the yin side of Tattletale’s face. It looked evil and bizarre.

The lines of the word “Yang” slowly came together into an eyeball and moved to the center of Tattletale’s forehead. It shone as bright and clear as the sun and moon, and it was looking upward at the heavens.

The lines of the word “Yin” writhed like worms before joining into an eyeball as well. Dark and murky like the abyss, It moved to the bottom of Tattletale’s chin and looked downward into the Nine Nethers.

When the eyeballs swept past Hong Jianglong, Tu Yulei, Zhou Hengshan, An Yifang and Tie Wuying, everyone felt exposed all of a sudden. It was as if the pair of eyes had seen through them completely; grasped the very essence of their being.

“Tattletale possesses a yang face and a yin face. The yang face peers into the living, and the yin face probes into the underworld. That is how it is able to find out everything,” Lei Xiaodan explained with a smile.

His smile didn’t last, however. The longer Tattletale took, the sterner his expression became.

Tattletale was a Disaster-class Strange Artifact, and Ye Qing was just a late-stage Spirit Purifier. Under normal circumstances, it should be able to find out Ye Qing’s fate in just a matter of breaths.

In reality, Tattletale wasn’t able to do so even after activating its yin and yang face. This was bad.

Throughout his career, he had witnessed many cases where someone asked a question that incurred a punishment that was far greater than they believed. One time, the Intelligence Department wanted to look into the whereabouts of a Grandmaster, and Tatttletale took half a teatime to find out the answer. After that, everyone present at the scene mysteriously vanished and was never found.

Another time, a deputy head of the Intelligence Department—a Half-Step Sage—asked Tattletale about an ancient secret, and it took the Strange Artifact three whole days to find out the answer. However, Tattletale had just said three words when a lightning tribulation manifested and smote the deputy head into dust.

Generally speaking, the longer it took Tattletale to decipher the threads of fate, the worse the punishment the inquirers would receive. Naturally, he was getting worried.

He couldn’t interrupt Tattletale from its work, however. Once the process had begun, it couldn’t be stopped until it had run its course. If they did, then they would suffer the punishment and the rebound.

About half a teatime later, Tattletale suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream at the same time its supernatural eyeballs exploded. The resulting shockwave was such that the entire room disintegrated into dust in an instant.

Luckily, nearly everyone in the room was a powerful warrior. The Harmony King and Chu Qingge were also unharmed thanks to their protection.

“What just happened, Xiaodan?” The Harmony King asked with trepidation. Was this the heavens’ punishment? Did it normally appear so suddenly?

“Give me a moment, Your Highness.” Lei Xiaodan consoled the Harmony King distractedly while staring at Tattletale. “What happened?”

Tattletale’s eyeballs were deflated and bleeding profusely right now. To say it was not enjoying a good time would be an understatement. When it heard Lei Xiaodan’s question, it immediately flew into a rage, “Two-faced tiger, you fucking liar! Who really is this guy you want me to look into? You nearly got me killed because of it!”

“I don’t understand. He’s just an ordinary person,” Lei Xiaodan replied.

“An ordinary person?” Tattletale grew even angrier. “Are you kidding me? If he’s really an ordinary person, then how the fuck did I fail to find anything about him?! Not even a speck!”

“You... don’t know if he’s alive or dead, then?” Lei Xiaodan exclaimed with surprise.

“Of course I don’t! But it’s not my fault!” Tattletale continued arrogantly despite its failure, “Either that Ye Qing is greatly entrenched in the rivers of fate, or some champion is obscuring his fate threads from view, or he possesses a powerful Strange Artifact that is at least in the same class as me. You’re telling me that someone like that is an ‘ordinary person’? Really?”

“Impossible. Ye Qing is just a small Patrolman. He is quite talented, but as far as I’m aware, his background is anything but extraordinary. You should be able to find his fate threads no matter what.”

Lei Xiaodan frowned and subconsciously shot Tu Yulei a glance, and the Chief of Bureau didn’t miss it. He asked, “Are you suspecting that the Pacification Bureau may have something to do with this, Lord Lei?”

Lei Xiaodan hurriedly denied it. “You misunderstand, Chief Tu. That isn’t what I think at all.”

“He can’t do it anyway. Someone who can obscure Ye Qing’s fate threads from me is at least a Sage, and he is nowhere close to that level.” Tattletale said bluntly, “None of you are close to that level.”

“Well, it’s not all bad news though. You may have failed to obtain the answer you wish, but at least you don’t have to worry about being punished by the heavens, right? Always look for silver linings, people!”

Everyone: “...” If you’re expecting thanks, then I’m sorry to say that you’re going to be disappointed.

“My deepest apologies for failing to be of help, Your Highness,” Lei Xiaodan apologized to the Harmony King before putting away Tattletale.

The Harmony King waved dejectedly. “It’s fine. It’s just how it is sometimes.”

“If we can’t confirm Ye Qing’s status, then what should we do?” An Yifang frowned.

“If he’s alive, I want to see his person. If he’s dead, I want to see his corpse. Since we can’t confirm if Ye Qing’s alive or dead, then we should treat him as if he’s alive and issue a nation-wide bounty for his head,” said Zhou Hengshan.

Suddenly, a servant stepped into the room and said, “That would be unwise.”

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