They say a dying man's words are kind. Perhaps it was because Min Tianyuan sensed his end was near that he sought someone to confide in and unburden his secrets. Jin Beihai was fortunate enough to be that person, becoming the only outsider—besides a few senior elders in the Religious Affairs Commission—who knew the truth.
Back when Li Jianghe and Min Tianyuan had their falling-out and Li left the Commission, Min soon discovered that the Heavenly Principle Diagram had been switched. Naturally, his first suspect was Li Jianghe. Fearing the matter might spiral out of control, Min Tianyuan personally traveled to the United States in search of Li—but it was as if Li had vanished into thin air. Min searched nearly half the country and still couldn't find a trace of him. Over the years, he kept probing for news, but it always came to nothing.
If not for the risk of outsiders learning that the Heavenly Principle Diagram had been lost, Min would have long asked Jin Beihai to divine Li's whereabouts. With only days left to live, the Chairman didn't want to carry this regret to his grave. So he made Jin a promise: if Jin could uncover where Li Jianghe had gone, Huang Ran and Hao Zhengyi would let him choose two items from the Commission's collection as a reward.
Jin Beihai agreed, at least outwardly—but he also had pressing matters of his own. Originally, he'd intended to handle them through the Commission, but the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation had been steadily rising in influence, while the Commission was showing signs of decline. Jin began adjusting his strategy. Using the incident with Ma Xiaolin as a probe, he began testing the Bureau's boundaries.
After he finished explaining how the lower half of the Heavenly Principle Diagram might be in the hands of someone named Li Qimu, both Gao Liang and Xiao Heshang exchanged glances without saying a word. Sun Fatty had no real interest in the Diagram; what he was curious about was Jin Beihai's skill. "Master Jin," he asked, "no offense, but isn't finding things one of your specialties? Can't you just divine it?"
Jin turned toward him with a smile. "You're giving too much credit to the art of divination, Deputy Director Sun. If you asked about feng shui, fate, or fortune—I might be of some use. But for locating objects? I'd suggest turning to professionals. Even when Min Tianyuan consulted me about the Diagram, all he wanted to know was whether he, Huang Ran, or Hao Zhengyi still had karmic ties to it."
Just as Gao Liang was about to speak again, my phone suddenly rang. The timing couldn't have been worse, but when I saw the caller ID—it was Yang Xiao—my heart skipped a beat. Don't tell me Director Wu is asking for me early…
I quickly said to Director Gao, "Sir, there's something from Sixth Division. I'll go check on it." At the mention of the Sixth Division, the smile on Jin Beihai's face momentarily stiffened, though it quickly returned to normal.
With Gao Liang's approval, I stepped out and answered the call. Sure enough, it was what I suspected—Yang Xiao said, "Come to Sixth Division. Director Wu has something for you this afternoon and wants you there early." I was about to ask what it was about, but Yang had already hung up.
I'd been to the Sixth Division before, but only briefly. Now, being specifically summoned by Director Wu, I felt more anxious than curious. When I reached the entrance, I ran into Yang Xiao just stepping out. He gave me a look that was—strangely enough—tinged with envy.
Before I could speak, he walked up and smiled. "Remember what I told you under the Qing River?"
The Qing River… That was last year. I blinked, racking my brain, but couldn't recall what he'd said. Seeing the confusion on my face, he patted me on the shoulder and said, "You'll understand once you're inside. Don't keep Director Wu waiting." With that, he gave me a light push into Sixth Division.
The layout wasn't much different from the other divisions, but the space here was significantly smaller. Outside were only two desks—one for Yang Xiao and one for Yang Jun. Inside was a partitioned office: Director Wu's domain.
Despite Yang's expression suggesting this wasn't anything bad, my nerves were taut. I reached the door and braced myself before knocking.
Inside, Director Wu was reading. He held an old thread-bound book with yellowed pages—clearly an antique. As I entered, he glanced up, then closed the book with a sigh. "If you'd arrived earlier, I wouldn't have started. If you'd come later, I'd have finished. But no—you show up right in the middle. Now you've ruined the mood."
Was this reasonable? You're the one who called me! I swallowed the complaint and gave a placating smile. "Director Wu, maybe I'll step out for a bit? Come back once you're done reading?"
"Forget it," Wu Ren'e said, tossing the book on the desk. "Mood's gone." I glanced at the title—The Nether Codex.
Before I could say anything, Wu Rendi spoke first. "Last time your uncle came, I promised to make sure you'd live a long life. But now, I regret it." He shot me a look full of disdain and continued, "If it weren't for Yang Jun this time, that half-formed Nyeh could've killed you a dozen times over on that island. Think about your half-year in the Bureau—when have you not come back by the skin of your teeth? And who's been cleaning up your messes every single time? You call that 'longevity'? If you make it to the end of the year in one piece, your ancestors better be burning incense in their graves."
I felt a surge of defiance—surely I'd done something worth defending? But no matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't think of a single case that Sun Fatty and I had handled entirely on our own. Then again, ever since I joined the Bureau, the things I've gotten involved in aren't really on the same level as what Xiong Wanyi or Old Mo deal with. While they're still handling lingering spirits and Hungry Ghosts, Sun Fatty and I are already dealing with ghost ships, Tombs of Transcendent Beasts, and island bosses.
Before I could argue back, Wu continued, "I've found a way out for myself." As he spoke, a pale yellow wax pellet—about the size of a ping-pong ball—materialized in his palm. He flicked it lightly, letting it spin slowly on the desk. Watching the endlessly turning pellet, Wu said coolly, "You just might live well past a hundred after this… but," he dragged out the word and glanced at me, "it might also kill you on the spot."
My excitement from the first half of that sentence died instantly. Wasn't it some kind of secret pill that Yang Xiao and Yang Jun had taken? But now I wasn't so sure.
I shifted my gaze from the wax pellet to Wu. "Director Wu, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed—can you explain this clearly?"
Wu tapped the desk with his index finger, and the pellet stopped spinning. He picked it up again, rolling it between his fingers. "Yang Jun, Yang Xiao, and I have all taken one of these. After the pill is absorbed, your body undergoes one of two changes. Either your age becomes fixed at the moment of absorption—call it eternal youth or immortality, it doesn't matter—or your body rejects it and dies instantly."
Immortality or instant death? That's a pretty big gap. Then it hit me—what Yang Xiao had said beneath the Qing River: that he, Wu Rendi, and I shared the same 'constitution.' But if we're the same, how can there still be two different outcomes? I glanced again at the pellet in Wu's hand.
Wu seemed to read my mind and snorted. "Even if your body's like mine, it doesn't guarantee anything. Want the truth? I've given this pill to four hundred and nineteen people—people who shared our so-called constitution. Know how many lived?" He paused. "Nine."
Four hundred and nineteen to nine... My mind went blank. That's... absurdly low odds. This was literally gambling with my life.
Wu seemed to enjoy my stunned silence. With a flick of his fingers, he sent the pellet drifting toward me. Whatever technique he used, it moved so slowly that even in my daze I had time to raise my hand and catch it.
Still unsure, I looked down at the pellet in my palm. Wu sneered, "Now it's your problem. I promised your uncle I'd make sure you lived a long life. If you take that thing, you'll live a lot longer than that."
I looked up at him. "And if I die the moment I take it?"
"That's your bad luck. Not my job to rewrite fate," he replied indifferently.
I wanted to say more, but Wu was clearly losing patience. He picked up The Nether Codex again and flipped back to the page he'd been reading earlier. Without looking up, he said, "Well, now I feel like reading again. Whether you take it or not is up to you. If you don't have anything else, get out."
Message received loud and clear: even if I did have something else, I wasn't welcome here. With a sigh, I muttered a polite word or two and left Wu's office, exiting all the way out to the Sixth Division's main door.
To my surprise, Yang Xiao was still waiting outside. And Yang Jun—who knows where he came from—was standing beside him, and the two were whispering about something.
When they saw me, Yang Xiao waved and, unusually animated, said in a trembling voice, "Shen La! Did he give it to you? Show me!"
You already took one—what are you so worked up about? Puzzled, I handed him the wax pellet.
Without asking for permission, he crushed the wax shell open, revealing a marble-sized stone sphere inside.
So this is the legendary immortality pill? Yang Xiao's reaction seemed to confirm it. He raised the stone sphere to his nose and took a deep breath, eyes closed, as if he were a junkie taking a hit of something potent.
Whatever it was, it clearly worked. But now the wax seal was broken—would that affect the efficacy? I snatched the pill back from him and said, "Yang Xiao, a little heads-up next time? What am I supposed to do now? You cracked it open—should I take it or not?"
"If I were you, I'd think it through first," said Yang Jun, who rarely spoke. His eyes flicked toward the pill in my hand, a little too intently.
Maybe because I might soon be one of them, Yang Jun's tone was noticeably more relaxed than usual. "You can keep it," he said. "The shell's broken, but the medicinal power is already condensed. It won't dissipate easily." Then, after a glance at me, he added, "Just be careful where you keep it. A lot of people around here would recognize it. Last thing you want is for that pill to bring you trouble."
I nodded and tucked the pellet into the inner pocket of my jacket. After a few polite words, I was ready to leave—but then Yang Xiao suddenly said, "Shen La, wait. I've been through this. Let me give you some advice."
Hearing that, I paused, one foot already out the door.