"Pure Land" / "The Sky Is About to Change"

Section 66: Chapter 64—Pure Land

The Emperor had been attacked.

Late at night, on the expressway outside Lungmen.

On the sealed-off expressway, the roar of a heavy motorcycle tore through the silence of the night like a beast's howl.

Its crimson taillight streaked across the darkness like a red serpent coiled upon the road.

"Hey, did it arrive?"

"Yeah, got it. I'll be there soon."

Before long, the road ahead was no longer smooth.

The asphalt that had once been properly laid was now riddled with potholes, with metal fragments scattered everywhere.

It seemed a battle had taken place here. Even the white road signs had been stained black.

Car parts lay scattered across the ground in twos and threes.

There were also plenty of bullet marks on the concrete walls.

On the asphalt, tiny metal fragments glimmered faintly.

The motorcycle's heavy tires slowly came to a stop.

A pair of pitch-black combat boots appeared beside the metal fragment.

Their owner, Hoshiguma, bent down and picked it up.

It was a golden, shield-shaped piece of metal. A pistol bullet, twisted and deformed by the immense impact, remained lodged in it.

Around the bullet was the emblem of Lungmen.

It was a police badge.

There was even blood still clinging to the badge.

With a pistol bullet lodged in it, one could imagine what the situation had been like.

It was clear that at least three groups had exchanged fire at the scene.

The owners of the black cars, the Lungmen Guard Department, and a third party.

They were easy to distinguish by the scrape marks.

The Guard Department would never use weapons of this caliber. As for the crossbow bolts, their effects clearly did not come from standard Guard Department equipment.

But it was not the mob either. These marks could not have been made by the sort of black-market goods the mob acquired.

"Looks like things have gotten lively."

Hoshiguma slipped the badge into her pocket, mounted her motorcycle again, and sped away amid the roar of the engine.

···························

Late at night, inside a casino.

It was a casino tucked away in a corner of the busy district.

Pure Land

It did not look like a particularly large casino, but it was always filled with noise and luxury far exceeding that of anywhere else.

The vehicles parked nearby also highlighted the extreme wealth of the place.

The pitch-black motorcycle slowly came to a stop nearby.

"May I ask if you're here to enjoy a moment of peace at Pure Land, too?"

Seeing that the visitor was dressed very ordinarily, the suited man at the door did not chase her away simply because she was an Oni.

There was no such thing as "a little gambling for relaxation" here. Every guest who came was willing to throw away a fortune. People who only wanted a casual gamble generally did not come here, and they were not welcome either.

"I'm not here to spend money. Call your Speaker out. I want to see her."

"Huh?"

What was this woman talking about?

"You think you can see the Speaker just because you ask?! If you aren't here to spend money, get lost! We don't welcome vagrants here!"

She was a tall Oni. Even the bodyguard on duty could not look her straight in the eye.

"You don't need to know who I am. Call Yan out."

How did this woman know the general manager's name?

However, when the tall Oni removed her sunglasses, the faint light spilling through the doorway allowed him to make out that she was a woman.

A female Oni? That was a rare species, especially in Lungmen.

And in Lungmen, there seemed to be only one female Oni with any real reputation.

That person also loved motorcycles.

And this woman seemed to...

have ridden here on a motorcycle too...

"Big... Big Sis?"

The man shakily removed his sunglasses, finally seeing clearly who had come.

"Mm. It's good that you recognize me. Call your Speaker out. I have something to discuss with her."

The visitor was Hoshiguma.

She was a famous enforcer in the organization.

"Ah, yes! Big Sis, would you like to come in and rest for a while?"

Everyone here knew Hoshiguma, and they spoke to her ingratiatingly.

"No, I won't be going in. I'll wait for her outside."

--

The sliding door repeatedly scraped against its frame from the force of its movement. Every time it opened or closed, the decadent scent from inside wafted out.

The smell of money, the clatter of colliding chips, and the overlapping tiles in the hands of the female dealers—this was a pure land of desire and wealth.

Hoshiguma did not particularly like places like this. Though she was an enforcer, her reputation and personal reasons meant that she had never worked security here.

She went to a dark corner untouched by the lights of the pleasure district. The metal wheel scraped, striking a tiny spark.

She lit the cigarette she habitually held between her lips. Bathed in the light, the smoke hazily veiled Hoshiguma's vision.

She was waiting for Yan.

She was the girl Hoshiguma had once saved through her connections at the scene of a clash between two criminal groups. Hoshiguma was not quite like the other gangs.

She could even be said not to truly belong among them, and yet to belong among them all the same.

In the eyes of the Guard Department, she was a member of the organization, a villain burdened with accusations.

But in the eyes of the younger members, she was more like a guiding beacon to those who could only live in darkness, someone who did not live for profit.

A calm Oni who stood out so distinctly among her many peers.

She never committed evil, never bullied the weak, valued favors and loyalty, and could drink a thousand cups without falling. Perhaps Hoshiguma really had been born in the wrong era—born in a modern age of drunken indulgence and gold, rather than in those more legendary times.

No one knew why such a learned and capable Oni woman, the least suitable person to be a mob enforcer, had taken up that position among the gangs.

As for Yan, that girl had also found her own place in Lungmen after growing up.

With a click, the sliding door was pushed open once more. A young, tall female manager in a black suit and skirt appeared, her long black hair hanging all the way to her waist.

It was difficult to believe that such a young woman could have climbed to a manager's position.

Yet she had truly reached that rank, relying solely on card skills refined to an invincible level.

Perhaps it was a gift.

After all, Hoshiguma had never beaten her at the card table.

"Big Sis? You're finally here."

Yan always wore a cold expression in public. It was also a psychological tactic: no matter what happened, she would never let an opponent read any information from her face.

But when she saw Hoshiguma, the girl broke into a radiant smile, like a field in spring after winter had passed, with everything blooming in warmth.

"I came to see you, and I'll take care of something while I'm here. How have you been lately?"

"Thanks to you, Big Sis, I've been doing very well."

"That's good. And also..."

As if she found it difficult to bring up, Hoshiguma scratched at her hair, feeling that something about this was wrong.

She had clearly said she was coming to see Yan, yet in the end, it still had to turn into a work discussion.

If she talked about it, it felt a little insincere. If she did not, the matter at hand was still important.

Moreover, she did not want to drag anyone she knew into danger. But in all of Lungmen, if she wanted to find a place that no one could locate and no one could easily interfere with, this was the only one left.

The gambling hall known as Pure Land.

Because in a certain sense, this really was a "pure land."

PS: Today was another day of getting by on stored chapters without writing a single word. Collapses.

Section 67: Chapter 65—The Weather Is About to Change

"Come with me. The goods are in the VIP room."

Yan was the first to speak. The myriad forms of life in the casino had taught her what she needed to do to ease the troubled feelings of this woman who meant so much to her—someone who had long since become more important to her than even a blood relative.

"All right... I'll listen to you, Yan."

···················

Rather than passing through the gambling hall overflowing with desire and money, curses, women's laughter, and the scent of hormones, Yan led Hoshiguma through another relatively narrow rear entrance into the staff passage.

She knew Hoshiguma did not like places like that.

They followed the white-painted staircase downward. Finally, Yan took out a key and opened a large door that was rarely opened under normal circumstances.

This was not a place the staff could enter either.

Beyond the door, the pitch-black room was unusually low-ceilinged. It was not cramped, but it was dark beyond measure.

Being underground, the room's only window was fitted with iron bars. A humming ventilation fan stood there, its flickering light repeatedly sliced apart by the blades before joining together again.

The light filtering through the dust made the place extremely cold.

The so-called "goods" was a human silhouette outlined by faint light in the darkness.

The person had been tightly bound and locked to a chair. A black hood covered his head, and he trembled nonstop, letting out muffled whimpers.

"This is the only informant we found. Yang San, a Lungmen native. He entered the trade three years ago, went to prison for intentional assault in his second year, and was released a few months ago."

As she spoke, Yan's gloved hand removed the cloth sack, revealing a man's face beaten almost beyond recognition.

It seemed that to force him to tell the truth, the local gang had not cared what methods they used.

They still had not made him tell the truth.

Those people seemed to have had their minds consumed by desire. Their entire temperaments had changed, becoming violent and crazed.

It was not just him. Quite a few of those who had participated in the attack were in the same state.

They were utterly insane. When the Guard Department arrived at the scene, they had even dared to engage the Guard Department in a street shootout.

There were many rules in this world. People often said that once you stepped onto the road, you would have to pay the price sooner or later.

The underworld had rules too, and one of them was never to go against the cops.

No matter how powerful a boss was, they would not dare casually mess with the cops. After all, theirs was a gray industry. The rulers of Lungmen had only just secured their foothold and had no time to deal with the rats in the gutters, allowing these people to lend money at high interest, help construction companies drive away holdout residents, and collect debts.