Undercurrents in the Capital Region

Returning to the Inspector Envoy's residence in the western district of the inner city, Lu Chen found everything in the manor as usual.

Wang Meng and the others were delighted to see Lu Chen return safely, his aura even stronger than before.

His three disciples were still building their foundations at Qingzhou's "Eaglet Camp." The manor felt somewhat deserted, but that suited Lu Chen perfectly for handling important matters.

Lu Chen first had Yun Qingyue rest in the manor. He then immediately used special channels to report his return to the Demon Suppression Division's headquarters and its Director, Mo Qianqiu. He briefly mentioned the attack by undead cultivators in the Western Wasteland, warning the Director to be wary of possible infiltration by undead forces there.

At the same time, he sent a secret message to the Sixth Prince, Xiao Jingyan, arranging to meet the following afternoon at Listening Rain Pavilion, a secluded teahouse in the west of the city.

After finishing these matters, Lu Chen sat cross-legged in a quiet chamber and carefully sensed the anomaly in the fate-and-fortune web hanging over the Capital City.

That faintly perceptible chill seeped everywhere like spilled mercury, slipping through every crack, yet it was exceedingly difficult to grasp.

It was not a direct attack or contamination. It resembled more some seed of spying, parasitism, or slow erosion, lurking beneath the surface of prosperity and forming a strange symbiosis with the Capital City's vast human fortune and the dynasty's dragon aura.

"This is absolutely not something an ordinary ghost or low-level undead could accomplish."

Lu Chen pondered. "It would require superb concealment techniques and a profound understanding of fortune. Perhaps... it even relies on some formation or medium."

He recalled the undead monarch in the Western Wasteland, whose methods were clearly far more sophisticated.