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Hou Niao was somewhat frustrated. He was considering how to broach the subject with Li Chuping.
He had always shared a very strange relationship with this former head of covert operations for the Commandant Prefecture, now serving the Minister of Justice Prefecture: mutual appreciation, mutual wariness, and mutual reliance.
Even he did not know what exactly he was guarding against. He simply felt instinctively that this man was dangerous, and so unconsciously resisted getting close.
He believed Li Chuping felt the same about him.
Judging by his experiences since entering the Dao, there seemed to be no other viable path besides joining the commandant system under the Minister of Justice. All the old hands in Jincheng knew this.
Yet neither of them would speak first.
If Li Chuping invited him, he would accept; if he took the initiative to join, Li Chuping would certainly have no reason to turn him away.
But things were just that strange. For various inexplicable reasons, he, who should have joined the Commandant Prefecture upon ascending to Profound Connection, had dawdled until now, left hanging between heaven and earth, a wandering ghost with nowhere to belong.
He was already a Second Heaven Realm cultivator, yet remained unaffiliated with any of the three prefectures-a rare anomaly even within the Quanzhen Sect.
Was it a matter of bowing his head and yielding? Or that ridiculous pride?
He was somewhat bewildered himself. Fortunately, there was still plenty of time, and he could make his decision with a