Shan State

Thanks to the influence of the Xianhe's glance, the interrogation process was exceptionally easy.

In just half an hour, the contents of the separate interrogations were summarized and brought to the Xianhe's attention.

"This travel company, almost everyone involved has problems. We should send someone to shut them down immediately."

The Xianhe stood on one claw by the table, while its other claw gently fiddled with the paper.

A few dozen seconds later, Crane's gaze lingered on the background and relationships of this group of Ghost God believers.

"According to these people's confessions, they always had companions with them during their work and daily lives?"

The clerk beside him nodded. "They're still giving their statements on this matter."

"It's clear that they tend to harbor resentment towards their close companions, leaving a very deep impression, and when you try to describe them, they rarely have anything nice to say."

"As for the people who came on this trip together, since we hadn't had much contact before, we've gotten along quite well so far because we're all working together for the Ghost God."

The Xianhe's claws tapped lightly on the table.

"However, their backgrounds are completely different, and each of them has a group of companions. Wouldn't that mean that most social classes in Shan State have followers of the Mirror Ape?"

The clerk considered carefully and said, "Well, based on their rough statements, the total number of their companions shouldn't exceed a thousand."

The Xianhe shook its head.

"Believers in Ghost God and spirits are like cockroaches; when you find one or two, it usually means there's already a whole swarm in your house."

The Xianhe's tone was heavy, "We are people who are very diligent in cleaning our houses, but in Shan State, there is no special agency set up to handle special incidents involving civilians."

"There is only one department that will intervene when an official's life or property is threatened by a special threat."

"When strange things happen in their area, they either record them as ordinary cases or they go and consult various sorcerers themselves."

The clerk's expression also turned very serious.

In that environment, the rate at which cockroaches reproduce would probably be terrifying.

"Immediately issue a warning to them, and hopefully they will do something to remedy the situation."

"Sigh! Actually, this kind of thing isn't exactly unexpected."

The Xianhe spread its wings to cushion the impact, hopped to the ground, and paced back and forth, looking around.

"Back in the day, when I had meetings with old friends, I discussed this topic many times."

"If you can't even keep your own family stable, then naturally everything else is out of the question. But if you work diligently and manage to maintain a relatively peaceful situation..."

"What should we do about the huge pile of sewage from our neighbor's yard that has already caused a major flood?"

The clerk asked expectantly, "Do you all have contingency plans?"

"Yes, of course there are."

The Xianhe pondered for a moment, then laughed, "You don't need to worry about that. Just focus on what you're doing."

"The Spirit Realm passage here must be maintained, and all the surrounding buildings must be renovated."

"How's the process of persuading residents to relocate going?"

Another clerk on the sofa got up and brought over his laptop.

"Because we offered very favorable terms, the relocation negotiations went very smoothly."

"Several families even held banquets beforehand, saying they never expected that the good fortune of being a recipient of demolition compensation would fall into their laps."

The clerk turned the computer around for Xianhe to see, "We've also contacted professionals to help them move. We expect our staff to be able to come in and do some initial renovations by the end of next week."

"However, people from Jianghuai District also want to get involved in the renovation plan."

The clerk sounded somewhat embarrassed.

"Lin Baisui was originally an insider in the Jianghuai District, and Mr. Chu also held the title of consultant for the Jianghuai District at the time."

The Xianhe nodded. "I'll discuss this with Tianshu and the others. You can tell the Jianghuai Branch that they're welcome to participate."

"But the people sent over must be truly capable; we need to plan ahead and see if we have enough manpower."

"Also, in my name, inform the people in Shencheng and ask them to send some people over as well. Although they are operating independently outside the Jianghuai Branch, they still need manpower if something happens."

The clerk smiled and said, "I understand. They're definitely willing to contribute their manpower for this kind of thing."

After settling these matters, the Xianhe flew to the altar and calmed down.

A faint, almost imperceptible cry of a crane drifted through the air.

By the time the human ear can detect it, it is already faint and distant.

Looking back now, it all seems like a dream.

The soul of the Xianhe descended into the Spirit Realm and appeared in the incense burner.

Chu Tianshu was meditating and cultivating in the haystack.

A bamboo mat was placed in front of him, displaying more than twenty kinds of medicinal herbs, like a street stall.

Sensing the appearance of the Xianhe, Chu Tianshu opened his eyes.

"Senior He, how's the interrogation going? Those people must have accomplices within Hailing territory, right?"

The Xianhe stated frankly, "We've identified a travel agency and have already taken action to dismantle it. As for the other accomplices, they're all currently overseas."

"In addition, the Jianghuai Branch..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Tianshu laughed and said, "Brother Baisui has already guessed this trend. I'll just have him handle the negotiations and then show it to me."

The Xianhe remarked, "You two have a really good relationship. Lin Baisui is indeed a very capable worker."

"If everyone in our Special Investigation Bureau had your dedication to spiritual practice and Lin Baisui's competence in handling affairs, that would be wonderful."

The Xianhe, realizing the impracticality of the situation, stood silently by the incense burner.

Chu Tianshu noticed something was amiss.

People generally only like to imagine unrealistic things when they are under too much pressure.

In the past, when he was under a lot of pressure, he chatted with netizens and even said that he hoped the earth would explode the next second.

If everyone in the world became ghosts, drifting aimlessly through the universe, that wouldn't be such a bad thing as freedom.

Is it because of Shan State?

Chu Tianshu suddenly said, "Senior He is worried about the situation over there?"

The Xianhe exclaimed in surprise, "You're a little too perceptive."

"Some of our neighbors are across the sea, while others are inherently more resilient."

Chu Tianshu said, "It's easy for them to not be able to withstand it, and only a few will actually affect us."

"Besides, the members of that previous tour group happened to be from Shan State, so some things were easy to predict."

The Xianhe let out a long sigh.

"Yes, it's easy to foresee, but how do we deal with it?"

The Xianhe said indignantly, "We have to put in so much effort to keep our own home decent. If our neighbors' dirty water flows over here too, wouldn't all our hard work be ruined?"

"They created this mess themselves, and now they're dragging us into it. Just thinking about it makes me furious. But back then, we discussed it back and forth, and we couldn't come up with a single good solution."

"Aside from the routine filing, everything else... was basically just said in anger."

(End of this chapter)