At this moment, inside a certain shop on Frost Street.
Dozens of bosses had gathered together, all of them with tightly furrowed brows, as if the world were about to end.
"He... he really said he wanted exactly the same 'peaches'?" one boss asked tentatively.
"That's right."
"He told me the same thing."
"When he shoved that heart over, it was still dripping blood... Do you know I almost fainted from fright right then and there??"
"But... but where on earth are we supposed to get human hearts for him?!"
"He wouldn't expect us to perform live sacrifices or something, would he?"
"...This is truly bizarre. Even though the previous Law Enforcer was domineering and tyrannical, at least we could settle things by stuffing him with money. But, but this Chen Ling... what does he want human hearts for?"
"!!!"
Hearing this sentence, everyone's eyes widened. The image of Chen Ling grinning maliciously while tearing into a heart surfaced in their minds... The temperature in the room plummeted.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed hard.
The more timid bosses even began to tremble all over.
"He... likes to eat human hearts? Isn't that something only demons in storybooks do??"
"If he didn't like eating them, why would he carry such a big bag of human hearts walking on the road?"
"So... where did all his human hearts come from?"
"...Wait, you guys are making it sound weirder and weirder."
Uncle Zhao, who had been sitting silently in the corner, couldn't help but speak up. "I know Ah Ling well. I watched him grow up; he's a good kid... How could he be as evil as you say? Did you guys see wrong?"
"Impossible, so many of us saw it!"
"What do you guys say... should we report him to the Law Enforcers?"
"Are you crazy? Report to the Law Enforcers? Chen Ling himself is a Law Enforcer! Do you want your heart dug out and eaten on the street too?"
The boss who made the suggestion shivered and immediately fell silent.
"Then what should we do next... We can't actually go get human hearts for him, can we?"
"..."
Everyone chattered all at once. The atmosphere of panic and confusion grew thicker until finally, no one spoke anymore. Instead, they all lowered their heads in silence, seemingly considering whether they should move away...
But even if they moved, where could they go? Could they afford houses on other streets?
"Let's do this." The oldest boss slowly spoke up. "Offering human hearts is definitely impossible... Boss Xiao, aren't you a butcher? Get a few pig and chicken hearts and send them over first to see his reaction..."
"Pig hearts and chicken hearts, will that work?"
"If it doesn't work, what else can we do? We can't possibly get the kind of 'peaches' he wants either..."
"Let's observe the situation first. Anyway, everyone absolutely must not provoke him. I have a feeling he is more ruthless than any Law Enforcer we have ever seen before..."
"Understood."
...
Chen Ling waited until it was dark, but he still hadn't received any peaches.
'Just which step went wrong... Does buying a few peaches take this long?' Chen Ling was entirely puzzled.
Just as he was about to get up, close the door, and return inside to rest, a figure walked up to his doorway.
Seeing the person's appearance, Chen Ling narrowed his eyes slightly...
"Officer Han Meng? Why are you here again?"
Today, Han Meng was not wearing that black trench coat with the Four-Stripe pattern, but rather casual clothes. Perhaps for this reason, Chen Ling didn't feel a sense of oppression from him this time, as if standing before him was just an ordinary young man.
"I came to deliver a document to you... Your quota to go to the Ancient Vault of the Military Path has been approved." Han Meng, holding a piece of paper between his fingertips, spoke calmly. "What? Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment but still got up to make way.
If it were before, Chen Ling wouldn't have let Han Meng inside. But ever since hearing those things at headquarters today, his impression of Han Meng had somewhat changed.
Han Meng naturally sat down at the table, glanced at the neatly folded Law Enforcer uniform off to the side, and asked casually:
"How does it feel on your first day as a Law Enforcer?"
"The authority of a Law Enforcer is even greater than I imagined," Chen Ling said indifferently. "I'm not used to it."
"That's very normal. After many people first become Law Enforcers, they are blinded by the sudden power and benefits and willingly succumb to depravity... But you haven't. I wasn't wrong about you on this point."
"How do you know I haven't?"
Han Meng glanced at the house that was still leaking wind everywhere and didn't say a word.
"Of course, being too soft isn't a good thing either. It makes the public think you are easy to bully. You must properly establish your prestige..."
Just halfway through Han Meng's sentence, a figure riding a bicycle happened to pass by Chen Ling's door. Perhaps because the entrance was too slippery, he fell to the ground with a thud.
He cursed and was just about to get back on his bike and leave, but when he saw the house before him and Chen Ling inside, his expression instantly changed!
"I'm sorry! Officer Chen Ling!! I disturbed your rest... I am truly sorry!!"
Without another word, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times with a loud bang, bang, bang.
Then he scrambled up from the snow and fled out of the alley without looking back, as if running for his life, leaving a bicycle spinning its wheels freely at Chen Ling's door...
Han Meng: ...?
"..." Han Meng remained silent for a long time. "Your prestige... is quite well established."
Chen Ling recognized him. That man who had just fled in panic was the shop boss he had a brief encounter with in the afternoon; he had even given him a peach... But he couldn't understand why the other party looked at him as if seeing a ghost.
"Let's talk business first."
Han Meng handed the document to Chen Ling. "Tomorrow at noon, gather at the District Three headquarters with several other Law Enforcers and prepare to depart for the Ancient Vault of the Military Path."
"So soon?"
It had only been two or three days since the end of the martial exam, and he had barely just put on the Law Enforcer uniform, yet arrangements were already made to go to the Ancient Vault of the Military Path?
"Originally, the opening time for the Ancient Vault of the Military Path every year is three months from now, but this year is somewhat of an exception." Han Meng paused for a moment. "Yesterday, District Five and District Six suffered a massive Gray Realm Convergence, and a Fifth-Tier Calamity crawled out. The Law Enforcers of the two districts were almost completely wiped out..."
"There was another Gray Realm Convergence?" Chen Ling asked in astonishment. "Didn't they say Gray Realm Convergences are very rare within the Human Domains?"
"They used to be, but recently... the Aurora Domain is a bit abnormal."
Chen Ling recalled that Chu Muyun had said something similar before. The rare rainstorm not seen in ten years caused a Gray Realm Convergence at the mass grave mound, and the continuous heavy snow over these past few days triggered massive convergences in District Five and District Six... It seemed that every chaotic weather phenomenon would trigger a convergence.
"Is it related to the celestial phenomena?" Chen Ling asked tentatively.
"Perhaps." Han Meng seemed to have thought of something, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Moreover... the Dusk Society has also appeared."
Hearing the words 'Dusk Society', Chen Ling's mind stirred, and he asked as if unintentionally:
"Dusk Society? What is that?"