Chapter Ninety-Two: Aftermath and Gathering

Xiao Han returned in disappointment and reported to Wu Jue and the others that the target had been lost.

Wu Jue comforted him. “It seems the enemy came prepared. You can hardly be blamed for this. We can only take things one step at a time.”

After Xiao Yang and the others finished clearing the battlefield, they finally withdrew from the municipal building. After all that turmoil, the city administration offices were effectively ruined.

But in this apocalypse, where was there ever a truly safe place?

When the people heard the news, they all rushed over. Seeing the damage to the municipal building with their own eyes, they were filled with fear and unease.

The mayor silently shed tears. He said to Wu Jue and the others, “I was too optimistic. I thought that with An Yi and all of you here, everything would pass. Who would have thought it would end like this? What are we supposed to do now?”

“Move everyone out,” Wu Jue and Xiao Yang analyzed. “At the moment, it seems necessary to find a place that is safe, easy to defend, and hard to assault, to shelter everyone in C City. Are there any underground air-raid shelters or the like in the city?”

The mayor said, “That’s under the jurisdiction of the Building Bureau. Even if the blueprints for all of C City existed, they were kept in the municipal building. I’m afraid they’ve all been destroyed.”

“Clear everything out as quickly as possible,” Xiao Yang said, patting Xiao Han on the shoulder. This was a job only he, the Mirror Hero, could help with.

Xiao Han did not refuse. He flashed into the building and began moving out every document and file. Xiao Yang, together with the surviving municipal staff, started helping deal with the affairs that lay ahead.

Seeing this, Wu Jue felt he could contribute little, so he stepped back on his own.

He chatted with Xun’er. “Where have you been these past few days? We’ve all been worried about you.”

Xun’er smiled. “Really? Since we last parted, I was truly suffocating. Everyone vanished and scattered, and I even wondered whether something had happened to you all. By the way, do you know where Hu Lun is?”

Wu Jue then told her about the encounter with Hu Lun earlier. At that moment, An Yi arrived together with the two sisters, Lily and Mimi. Seeing Xun’er, they were delighted, and the two sides grabbed each other’s hands and chatted happily.

Mimi could not help asking Wu Jue who Xun’er was.

Wu Jue smiled. “She’s no ordinary person. She’s a young witch. You’d best be careful not to offend her.”

Lily snorted. “What’s the big deal? She looks like a little loli to me. In the end, she’ll still have to call me sister, won’t she?”

Xiao Han, stealing a moment amid the bustle, chimed in, “Don’t underestimate her. If Xun’er uses witchcraft even a little, you might end up needing to worry about your own belly.”

The others joked and laughed, and with everyone helping one another, things no longer felt quite so exhausting.

After An Yi finished catching up with Xun’er, she came over to ask Wu Jue and Xiao Yang what they planned to do next.

Wu Jue said, “The people of the Heavenly Punishment Clan are too cunning. I suspect they’re searching for a great treasure on Earth. We can’t stop moving forward. It seems we’ll have to split up.”

He briefly recounted their earlier encounter with the organization called Ming, and spoke of the treasure known as the Divine Relic. After hearing this, Xiao Yang took out a tablet computer and pulled up a special file.

“I’ve been paying attention online to all kinds of mysterious treasures,” he said. “The Divine Relic is one of the most mysterious and legendary of them all. Some say the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Huaxia is one such place, though I’ve never had the chance to see it for myself. Wu Jue, go do what you need to do. We’ll take care of things here.”

An Yi also said, “That’s right. Now that we’re basically all together again, Xiao Yang and I can stay behind, and with Xiao Han helping us, we’ll have this place sorted out soon enough. You go handle the more important matters.”

But Xun’er refused. “That won’t do. I only just met you again, and you’re already leaving, holy monk? I won’t agree to that. Unless you take me with you!”

Wu Jue could not help laughing. “That’s rather inconvenient, isn’t it? You should stay here. Maybe you can help everyone.”

Lily and Mimi joined in, laughing, “Exactly. Wu Jue is a monk—how could he take a little loli running around everywhere? How inconvenient. Better stay here and let the sisters take care of you.”

Hearing this, Xun’er stuck out her tongue at them hard and made a face. “Who’s your little sister? You don’t look good at all. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Humph! The little girl’s got quite a sharp tongue. Just wait and see how I deal with you!” The two sisters rushed over and got tangled up in a playful scuffle with Xun’er. Wu Jue and the others could only shake their heads.

Amid the chaos, everyone gradually settled down and resumed dealing with the trivial matters at hand. The mayor took the initiative to gather the crowd, both to review the mistakes made earlier and to announce his intention to have Xiao Yang and the others help manage C City.

The crisis slowly passed. The group found another building nearby and established a new office there. Everything began to run again.

By evening, everyone gathered once more. It was rare for old friends to meet like this, so they inevitably drank a little and spoke freely.

An Yi said, “I’m a bit reluctant to leave C City. Being here as a heroine admired by everyone feels pretty good, too.”

Xiao Yang agreed. He felt that his talents had found a stage, and that the mayor trusted people without suspicion, giving him sufficient authority.

The only pity was that everything had moved too quickly, and they still had not uncovered who was stirring trouble behind the scenes and opposing them in secret.

Wu Jue reminded them, “Don’t be careless. The responsibility on your shoulders is heavy now. Every decision concerns the safety of many people, so you must act with caution.”

Xiao Han interjected, “Don’t worry. Brother Xiao and Sister An Yi have both been through many battles. And with me helping beside them, I’m not an ordinary person anymore.”

“Yes indeed, outstanding Comrade Mirror Hero,” Xun’er teased. “I still didn’t know you’d become the Mirror Hero, and you were so gloomy about it.”

Xiao Han blushed. “What was I gloomy about? The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. One has to adjust from time to time.”

Listening from the side, Lily and Mimi could not help envying them. “We’re so jealous of you. Every one of you is extraordinary. Wherever you go, everyone’s eyes are on you. If only our sisters had such remarkable abilities.”

Wu Jue smiled. “You already have quite a few skills. You even tricked Xiao Han and me before. It’s just that you used them in the wrong place. I believe you’ll find your own path.”

Mimi immediately began to act spoiled. “Holy monk, you speak the best. Come, let me toast you.”

She picked up a bottle of beer and came over to drink with Wu Jue. Lily followed suit, and the three of them clinked glasses. At once, the drink spilled all over one another, and the two sisters hastily began wiping it from Wu Jue’s clothes.

Xun’er could not bear to watch. She stepped in to stop them. “What are you doing? You’re taking advantage of him!”

While pulling Wu Jue away, she complained that the two were being a little too much. But Lily only became more spirited, instead slipping an arm around Wu Jue’s shoulder and saying, “What, I just like Wu Jue. Is that not allowed? Little girl, are you jealous?”

Xun’er’s face reddened. In the end, she rose on tiptoe and said, “Jealous of what? I’ve been childhood sweethearts with Wu Jue since my previous life. What do you know?”

That only made the two sisters laugh harder. “A previous life? What, are you telling ghost stories?”

They laughed so hard they could hardly breathe, which made Xun’er stomp her feet in anger. Wu Jue had no choice but to pat her shoulder and say, “It’s all right, it’s all right. They just don’t know any better.”

But An Yi, warmed by drink, came over and said, “Xun’er, what are you afraid of? If you like Wu Jue, just say so. In this day and age, does a monk really have to remain single for life? Wu Jue, tell us the truth—do you like Xun’er or not?”

Wu Jue also felt awkward then, and quickly pressed his palms together. “A sin, a sin. This poor monk has broken many vows, all under the pressure of events, and yet I still cannot entirely cast aside the Buddha. As for this question…”

But An Yi, as if drunk, leaned close and grabbed his collar. “If you avoid the question, that means you don’t like her. Then tell me, who do you like? You should at least have an answer, shouldn’t you?”

Her words made things even more awkward.

Xiao Yang and the others hurried over to smooth things over. By now, any observant person could see that An Yi’s heart also belonged to Wu Jue, though neither of them had said it aloud.

Looking at An Yi in her drunken state, Wu Jue himself was filled with bitterness. Ever since that night in the supermarket, after passing through an alluring trial, he had already sensed whose presence stirred his heart.

And yet, after breaking so many precepts, he still could not simply abandon the Buddha completely.

So he murmured inwardly, “The Buddha says it cannot be spoken. It must not be spoken.”

Then he silently recited scripture and said no more.

Only when a hearty smile finally appeared on An Yi’s face did she pat his hand and say, “I was only joking. You took it seriously. Come, let’s drink again. You won’t keep pestering him about this question, will you?”

She turned and asked Xun’er and the two sisters, and her formidable presence instantly suppressed everyone else. No one dared ask Wu Jue about his feelings anymore.

That night, everyone drank quite a bit of dull, heavy-hearted liquor.

Afterward, Xun’er said she would never drink against you lot again. It was suffocatingly miserable.

And so the chapter ends.