Chapter 729 - 21: Assessing the Situation
"Didn’t you just say that?"
Chen Lusi looked at Lin Ying’s blushing, enchanting face and replied, "I’m the silly boyfriend who likes snow-white thighs."
"..."
Lin Ying’s red lips parted slightly, just about to speak.
"Mmm..."
Today... Chen Lusi indeed had a day off.
...
On the other side...
Compared to Chen Lusi, Ji Xin was not so lucky.
Not only could she not rest... but she was even busier than before.
The Emperor Shi’s tour.
Roman Catholic Church.
Mujin New Church.
Plus, a seemingly unimportant yet equally unstable factor, the Goddess of Longevity.
Everything piled up together once more.
Chen Lusi could rest, and indeed needed the rest.
But as the highest officer of the Celestial Strategy Mansion, Ji Xin couldn’t even think of resting.
On this day...
Ji Xin spent the entire morning either listening to reports or reviewing documents, or on her way to do these two things.
"So, the Emperor Shi is still in Handan, and we can’t determine his purpose, whereas Mount Tai reported that after last night, they can no longer establish a communication channel with the Goddess of Longevity, right?"
Celestial Strategy Mansion Headquarters.
A certain lounge.
Ji Xin rubbed her temples, looked at Shanli, and asked a question.
"Yes."
Shanli nodded: "Additionally, it seems the Emperor Shi has noticed the surveillance. Although he did nothing, the surveillance personnel noticed that on his way back to the noodle shop, he looked up at the cameras several times."
"Since he didn’t do anything, just ignore it."
Ji Xin paused for a moment, then shook her head: "As for the Goddess of Longevity... let Mount Tai try again to establish contact. If it really doesn’t work, have Mount Tai convey to the Goddess of Longevity that if she continues to be willful, we’ll confine her again.
Since it’s Xia Yue who imparted humanity to her... she’s probably similar to Tang Language, so let’s scare her a bit."
"..."
Shanli heard this and fell silent.
After a long while...
She looked at her childhood friend speechlessly and finally said: "No matter how human-like she acts, she is still a legendary creature—a God born out of the faith, incense, and souls of countless ordinary people.
... You’re having Mount Tai threaten her?"
"Tang Language himself is a Nine-tailed Fox, an ancient species, the same as many other legendary creatures in the Book of Mountains and Seas."
Ji Xin replied expressionlessly: "Would you be scrupulous about her? Besides, weren’t you with me when we checked the data? Can’t you see that the girl-like Goddess of Longevity has nothing to do with the original Execution Goddess or the later Queen Mother."
"Alright."
Shanli sighed after hearing this: "I’ll inform Mount Tai, but whether he’ll do it, or dare to do it, I can’t guarantee."
"Okay."
Ji Xin rubbed her temples again, then opened the folder on her lap: "The current focus isn’t on the Goddess of Longevity, not even the Emperor Shi. After all, if he’s just wandering around, he won’t cause much trouble... considering he even uses gold transformed into currency to pay for noodles."
Though the exchange between Chen Lusi and Ji Xin was riddled with points of contention that day,
the Security Army obviously couldn’t ignore it.
After all, who knows if this emperor, who died over two thousand years ago, might burst out over a trivial matter.
So on that day, the Security Army sent two soldiers with strong psychological resilience, dressed in plainclothes, to Handan.
But the result was quite surprising.
The Emperor Shi behaved just like an ordinary modern person, finishing his meal and paying the bill.
And subsequently, through some means, the Security Army acquired the currency he used.
They then discovered it was counterfeit money made of gold...
Fake gold currency...
Ji Xin still remembers the feeling she had when she saw that counterfeit money.
"..."
Shanli also had a peculiar expression upon hearing this.
However, he quickly put away his extraneous thoughts, glanced at the materials on Ji Xin’s legs: "So now the focus should be more on the Roman Catholic Church and... Mujin New Church, right?"
"Yes."
Ji Xin replied, then opened the data, looked at the photo on the first page, frowned, and asked: "The Sect Leader of Mujin New Church, Park Haoyu... Is he evaluated by intelligence personnel as someone who adapts to the wind?"
Shanli recalled, then nodded slowly: "Or to put it more nicely, this is a person who is very adept at assessing the current situation. Mujin New Church wasn’t initially the strongest force in Goryeo. In fact, it was just a cult with no foundation.
But Park Haoyu is very good at opportunism, being the first Goryeo native Advanced Empowerer to defect to the Roman Catholic Church, and he defected thoroughly. While the native faction in Goryeo was still hesitant, he had already run over to be a dog.
And a step ahead leads to a step further; eventually, with the Roman Catholic Church’s support, Mujin New Church directly leaped from being a cult to the largest force in Goryeo, even vaguely becoming a national church.
Although recently, this Sect Leader Park Haoyu seems to want to regain his dignity, especially after two failed actions against us by the Roman Catholic Church.
But both the intelligence personnel and I feel that there’s little hope to place on such a person.
Japan’s Ise Jingu at least has some foundation, but Mujin New Church’s rise depends entirely on the Roman Catholic Church.
So a visit from a Cardinal is enough for that Sect Leader Park Haoyu to put down the dignity he picked up again."
"Assessing the current situation..."
Ji Xin softly repeated the words and turned to the next page of the file.
The photograph of Cardinal Lamar Aihai appeared under the light.
Ji Xin looked at Lamar Aihai’s photo, stayed silent for a moment, and then slowly closed the file: "Hopefully... he truly understands how to assess the current situation."
Having said that,
She closed her eyes, thought for a moment, then opened her eyes again, directly saying: "Shanli, inform the intelligence personnel over in Goryeo, tell them to meet privately with this Sect Leader of Mujin New Church in the name of the Celestial Strategy Mansion.
As for what to say, once the personnel over there is determined, let me know, and I will personally brief them."
"...?"
Shanli was stunned for a moment and asked in a bit of a daze, "Why meet with the Sect Leader of Mujin New Church? And... what to say?"
"A warning."
Ji Xin curled her lips: "Isn’t he very good at assessing the current situation? Then I’m quite curious, with pressure from both the Roman Catholic Church and the Celestial Strategy Mansion, how he’d choose, whether or not there’s pressure, we always being so passive isn’t right, isn’t it?"
Shanli: "..."
...
Goryeo.
The Sect Leader of Mujin New Church, Park Haoyu, had calmed down by this point.
If the impact of those two heads had made him realize that Mujin New Church was just an entity dependent on the Roman Catholic Church, recalling his days of being a dog, the time when being a good dog brought rewards.
Then now,
As Lamar Aihai left, and he was alone... he recalled the heavy toll Mujin New Church paid for the two previous failed actions by the Roman Catholic Church against Celestial Strategy Mansion.
He somewhat regretted it.
Or more precisely, felt a bit uneasy.
However, it seemed like he couldn’t stop now.
Thinking about this,
Park Haoyu couldn’t help but sigh, lightly rubbing the gold bracelet on his wrist.
But before he could come up with a solution—
Bam—
The door was suddenly pushed open forcefully.
A believer stood panting at the door, looking at Park Haoyu in panic.
"What do you want!"
Park Haoyu’s face instantly darkened.
Even though he had no dignity in front of the Roman Catholic Church’s Cardinal, it didn’t mean he had no dignity in front of ordinary believers.
But clearly,
The panting believer couldn’t care less about Park Haoyu’s expression and said hastily, "Sect Leader! It’s not good! People from Celestial Strategy Mansion said they want to meet you."
"..."
Park Haoyu was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
...
At the same time,
Handan.
In front of a familiar noodle shop.
A little boy saw the long-haired man once again.
After several meetings, he was no longer afraid of this man, whose gaze was intimidating.
After all... besides having a frightening gaze, being unsociable, and eating with meticulousness, he came and left on time like a robot, really not much different from ordinary people.
So this time,
The little boy, having been deeply impressed by this uncle, gathered the courage to greet him.
However,
Before he could say anything,
The man, who always arrived on time at the noodle shop, suddenly halted his steps.
The little boy was taken aback.
On the other side,
Emperor Shi looked back towards Goryeo, seeming thoughtful.