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墨書 Inktalez
Pei Huaizhi was unaware of the situation. He had just returned from Maijishan and rushed to report to the President's office, leaving him no time to hear any news. However, he was curious about the important documents that had been stolen and asked, "What documents were taken?"
"The people from the Second Department might not even know what the documents are, so why are you asking me?" He Guannan initially spoke earnestly, then a smile crept onto his face as he continued, "Well, you asked the right person. I heard from Lao Lin that the stolen documents are related to the Forbidden Technique Diagram. Interestingly, the Forbidden Technique Diagram was also stolen two months ago. Everyone in the organization suspects that the thief is from the Second Department. With such strong security measures in place, if a thief could still succeed, it shows they are not ordinary."
He Guannan had said quite a bit but received no response from Pei Huaizhi. Turning to look at him, he noticed Pei Huaizhi deep in thought. He nudged him with his elbow and asked, "Are you wondering who stole the Forbidden Technique Diagram? You seem really lost in thought."
"No," Pei Huaizhi replied.
"Then what are you thinking about?"
"I'm just thinking about whether I should have fish or chicken for dinner."
This answer made He Guannan roll his eyes. Seeing Pei Huaizhi look so serious, he thought he was contemplating something important, only to find out he was just thinking about food.
As they turned a corner, they encountered Lin Shaoqin, a department head coming up the stairs. His face was grim as he hurried upstairs.
He Guannan greeted him, " Minister Lin, where are you rushing off to?"
Lin Shaoqin glanced at them but didn’t respond, hurrying past them and quickly making his way to the President's office. Once inside, he immediately reported on the theft of documents from last night. He mentioned that among the stolen documents were not only details about the Forbidden Technique Diagram but also a list of personnel from the Five Departments. Meanwhile, He Guannan and Pei Huaizhi were eavesdropping at the door.
Noticing someone outside, the President signaled to Lin Shaoqin to be quiet. Understanding his cue, Lin Shaoqin stealthily approached the door and pulled it open. The two eavesdroppers quickly adjusted their posture and stood straight side by side. He Guannan wore a mischievous grin while Pei Huaizhi appeared lost in thought.
Earlier, seeing Lin Shaoqin's anxious demeanor led He Guannan to suspect something significant had occurred—perhaps related to the Second Department—so he had dragged Pei Huaizhi to eavesdrop outside the President's office. His hunch proved correct as they overheard information about the mysterious Five Departments; at that moment, He Guannan felt this venture was worthwhile.
However, when Pei Huaizhi heard "list of personnel from the Five Departments," his body stiffened noticeably; his breath seemed to halt as his gaze became unfocused, as if he were immersed in disbelief. He never expected that the thief would steal something he most wanted to know.
For years, Pei Huaizhi had been gathering information about the Five Departments because he suspected that those responsible for his father's death were connected to them. His certainty stemmed from having witnessed his father's murder; although he hadn’t seen the assailant’s face clearly, those glowing blue eyes that flickered in and out of sight in the darkness left a lasting impression on him. Whenever he thought of those eyes, memories of that horrifying scene would resurface, causing a dull ache in his heart.
Those glowing blue eyes belonged to what was known as Heavenly Eye. Those who possessed Heavenly Eye could see all spirits and energies and could move through darkness as if it were daylight. They could also see through physical objects and observe their surroundings without any blind spots. It was said that these were merely basic abilities of Heavenly Eye; beyond that remained unknown, but what Pei Huaizhi understood about Heavenly Eye was limited to these capabilities.
Those who possess the Heavenly Eye are few and far between, and only Spirit Masters can have the Heavenly Eye.
So, who are Spirit Masters?
Throughout history, there has always been a group of individuals who can transform their spiritual energy into magical techniques. They use these techniques to exorcise demons and eliminate evil, which is why those who practice magic are referred to as "Spirit Masters."
The largest community of Spirit Masters in the country is the Spirit Master Association. When Pei Huaizhi learned of the existence of the Spirit Master Association, he resolved to join it with a singular purpose: to find the person who killed his father.
After entering the Spirit Master Association, he successfully became part of one of the five major departments. He then began secretly investigating but found no leads on the person he sought. One day, he accidentally overheard a colleague mention that those with the Heavenly Eye were all within the Five Departments. From that point on, he started gathering information about the members of the Five Departments. However, after years of effort, he only managed to collect fragmented information, mostly through hearsay from others in the association. The descriptions he heard made the Five Departments seem like a mysterious entity, shrouded in darkness and intrigue, igniting a desire for exploration and curiosity.
Their thoughts were not without reason.
After all, the Five Departments held a unique status within the association. Aside from the President, no one had ever seen any member of the Five Departments, not even their names were known. This led many to suspect that the Five Departments might simply be an empty facade. It wasn't until the "West Lake Demon Incident" in 2008 that people began to believe that each member of the Five Departments was extraordinary and possessed unfathomable skills. This belief stemmed from witnessing several golden pillars descending from the sky, obliterating Evil Spirits in an instant. Once this event passed, everyone was left wondering who had summoned those "golden pillars." At that time, Liu Changze, the head of one department and the most skilled practitioner in the association, claimed he could not summon such pillars himself. Consequently, speculation shifted towards the Five Departments, leading the President to assert that it was indeed their doing.
With such a declaration from the President, the Five Departments quickly became a hot topic throughout the association. Everyone began discussing who might be members of these departments and tried to pry information from the President, but he remained tight-lipped. To this day, any mention of the Five Departments causes a stir within the association. Now that a list of their members has been stolen, if this news leaks out, it would undoubtedly delight many within the association.
At this moment, the President spoke up in his office: "Let them all come in."
Once two individuals entered, Lin Shaoqin locked the door behind them.
He Guannan grinned at the President and said, "President, it was unintentional! If it weren't for Lao Lin being so anxious, we wouldn't have done this."
Lin Shaoqin retorted angrily, "Just because you saw me anxious doesn't mean you should eavesdrop! And when I’m in danger, you won’t even step in front of me! And you too, Pei Huaizhi—don’t you know how reckless he is? Why didn’t you pull him back?"
"I couldn't hold him back; instead, he dragged me along," Pei Huaizhi replied nonchalantly. He understood that He Guannan was carefree and had an insatiable curiosity about things. He had previously advised He Guannan against eavesdropping for fear of being discovered and violating regulations. But He Guannan had insisted: "If we get caught, at least it’ll be an experience." Pei Huaizhi didn’t know what had possessed him to follow He Guannan to eavesdrop at that moment.
Lin Shaoqin exclaimed angrily, "You couldn't hold him back? You wouldn’t..."
Before Lin Shaoqin could finish speaking, the President interjected, "Alright, everyone quiet down." He then continued, "What have you all heard?"
Pei Huaizhi replied, "The personnel list of the Five Departments has been stolen."
Upon hearing this, He Guannan quickly nodded in agreement and added, "The matter regarding the Five Departments was completely unexpected. I thought you would only mention the Second Department."
The President initially stared at He Guannan in surprise, but then spoke seriously, "Since you've all heard it, I won't hide it from you. However, what you hear next must remain confidential."
Seeing the President's grave expression, both men nodded solemnly, realizing they were about to receive very important information. Perhaps the identities of all personnel in the Five Departments would soon be revealed, and they felt an unusual tension in their hearts.
The President was accustomed to seeing the two report their work and had grown familiar with them over time; he trusted them quite a bit. He said, "You should know that someone broke into the database managed by the Second Department last night and stole some files. Among those files were details about the Forbidden Technique Diagram and the personnel list of the Five Departments. The Forbidden Technique Diagram went missing two months ago, and now that this file has disappeared as well, it must have been done by the same person—someone from within our organization." As he spoke, anger flickered across the President's face.
He Guannan asked in confusion, "But why would this person want to steal the personnel list of the Five Departments?"
The President shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps they wanted to find out who the members of the Five Departments are."
He Guannan then inquired, "President, I'm also quite curious about who is in the Five Departments." This question was shared by Pei Huaizhi as well.
"I know very little about the personnel of the Five Departments, so I can't tell you who their members are."
"Come on, President, just tell us. Don't keep it from us," He Guannan said with a smile. "Anyway, since the list has already been stolen, it might be posted in the association group tomorrow. Just let us know; we promise to keep it a secret." His cheerful demeanor irritated Lin Shaoqin, who felt a surge of annoyance at his playful attitude.
"To be honest, I really don't know," the President said sincerely and calmly. "Although I am the President, I have very little knowledge about the Five Departments because they are not under my jurisdiction; everything related to them is managed by their Minister."
They were incredulous; as the President of the association—its highest position—he couldn't oversee lower departments. According to what he said, it seemed that the Minister of the Five Departments held an equal rank to him.
He Guannan threw out a series of questions: "Then what is the name of this Minister of the Five Departments? Is it a man or a woman? What do they look like?"
Hearing the questions being asked, the President shot him a glare, knowing full well that they were eager for answers, but he was determined to keep them in suspense.
He began by explaining that the establishment of the Five Departments occurred in 1965, decades later than the other four departments. It was he himself who had set up the Five Departments, motivated by the need for specialized personnel to handle extremely dangerous and important events. Therefore, whenever cases arose that the Four Departments could not resolve, they would be taken over entirely by the Five Departments. Additionally, members of the Five Departments were tasked with searching for ancient Holy Artifacts left behind from bygone eras. Artifacts such as Cold Grass and Bleeding Hibiscus were discovered by the Five Departments, which is why their personnel often spent long periods away from the association.
He continued, stating that since all authority within the Five Departments rested with its Minister, the selection of new members was also at his discretion. Whenever someone joined the Five Departments, he would receive information about them. To date, he had received information on four individuals.
At this point, Pei Huaizhi could no longer contain his curiosity and quickly asked, “Do any of these individuals possess Heavenly Eye?”
“The list only indicates gender, weight, and height,” the President paused for a moment. “However, I can confirm that three of them do have Heavenly Eye. Who they are specifically remains unknown. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that I heard people at the meeting say that everyone in the Five Departments has Heavenly Eye, so I wanted to see if it was true,” Pei Huaizhi hurriedly explained before shifting topics. “Earlier, you mentioned that the list only records gender, weight, and height. This means that although the traitor stole the list, they still wouldn’t know who the members of the Five Departments are.”
The President smiled lightly and replied, “That’s correct. If they really intended to use that list to find members of the Five Departments, those few details wouldn’t be enough.” Suddenly his expression turned serious. “But let’s set aside matters concerning the Five Departments for now; what’s more pressing is the Forbidden Technique Diagram. Both Minister Lin and I suspect it was someone with a high-ranking position within our association who did this. We have no specific suspects yet; this person is very well hidden. Since you’re aware of this now, you’ll need to assist your Minister in finding this traitor.”
After their conversation concluded, both men followed Lin Shaoqin out of the office. As soon as they stepped outside, Lin Shaoqin began scolding them for a few moments. They remained silent and listened to his reprimands before he reminded them not to leak anything from their earlier discussion; things were quite unstable within the association at present.
Once he finished scolding them, He Guannan spoke up: “Minister, you’re on such good terms with the President; doesn’t that mean…?” Lin Shaoqin noticed He Guannan’s hesitant demeanor and gave him a light smack on the head while chiding him: “You spend all day daydreaming! My relationship with the President is perfectly legitimate.”
The smack stung a bit, causing He Guannan to rub his head in discomfort as he lamented, “That’s not what I meant! I just wanted to ask if you’ve ever seen the Minister of the Five Departments.”
“Then just say it directly instead of beating around the bush,” Lin Shaoqin replied dismissively before coldly answering his question: “I have seen him.”
Those two words sent He Guannan into a frenzy of excitement as he blurted out: “Quick! Tell me what they look like! Are they male or female?”
Seeing He Guannan’s reaction brought a mix of exasperation and disdain to Lin Shaoqin’s face as he said, “I’ve only seen their back; I haven’t seen their face. From what I saw from behind, it looked like a man.”
At that moment, memories of that incident flooded back into his mind.
At that time, Lin Shaoqin had just entered the association for a year and had learned quite a bit about it. One day, he was preparing to go to the Second Department to retrieve some documents. On his way, he had to pass by the entrance of the Five Departments. As he walked past, he noticed that the indicator light at the entrance was on. He had long heard that the Five Departments was the most mysterious department of the association, and he was filled with curiosity. So, when he saw the light on, he quietly pushed the door open and followed the light inside. As he approached a window, he saw an elderly man with white hair standing there in a deep blue robe. At that moment, he felt an overwhelming pressure in the air that made it hard to breathe. Suddenly, the window became foggy, and he realized that the person inside had noticed him, so he quickly turned and left.
Entering another department without permission was a violation of discipline. He thought he would receive some form of punishment, perhaps a reprimand or other disciplinary action, but nothing happened. Eventually, the President personally found him to discuss the matter and instructed him to keep it confidential, explaining that the person he had seen was the head of the Five Departments.
At that moment, He Guannan murmured to himself: after hearing about the Five Departments from others in the association and then hearing from Lao Lin about his firsthand encounter with them, one conclusion stood out: people from the Five Departments were not to be trifled with; they were formidable.
In the following days, since there were no tasks assigned outside, Pei Huaizhi and He Guannan stayed in their department. They either read books to pass the time or practiced their shooting skills in the training hall. Occasionally, they would observe those in higher positions within the association to see if anyone resembled that thief.
There were three levels of positions within the association: Level One was occupied by the President, while heads of the five core departments belonged to Level Two. The deputy heads were at Level Three, and everyone else fell into unranked positions.
While they were sitting in their department chatting, suddenly a short-haired woman pushed open the door, glanced inside, and said coldly, “Pei Huaizhi, He Guannan, the President wants to see you.”
As she spoke, He Guannan's curious gaze swept over her from head to toe. He felt her eyes were sharp and fierce; there was a hint of heroism in her brows. She exuded an air of independence and confidence that made her seem difficult to approach. After she finished speaking, he asked, “What does the President want with us?”
“I don’t know; just follow me.”
The three of them made their way to the President's office. Upon seeing them all arrive, the President said, “Do you all know each other?”
None of them spoke.
“Let me introduce you,” said the President. “This is Xie Wanjun from the Four Departments.” He pointed at her and then at them. “He is He Guannan, and this is Pei Huaizhi; both are from Department One. Now that you’re acquainted, I’ve called you here because I want you to undertake a task: you are to set off immediately for Nanjun Mountain to retrieve the Azure Wind Pearl.”
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