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The spatial oscillations that lasted all night reached their peak at dawn. With the combined pressure from both inside and outside, this empty space, which was attached to reality, disintegrated like a punctured soap bubble in a ripple of energy.

As dawn broke, the sunlight became even more glaring. The teachers' dormitory behind them, which should have been reduced to ruins, remained intact, though the teachers inside had already evacuated. Upon closer inspection, one could still smell the acrid stench of the fire.

While they were dealing with the strange teachers, someone was also transferring ordinary teachers in reality to maintain a balance between the two spaces.

Footsteps approached from a distance, and several officials in uniform walked over from a short distance away.

The man in the lead had a square face and gave off an unapproachable impression at first glance. He saw Xia Yu, who had finally realized he should shrink back and tried to hide behind Ji Mo using his height advantage, and called out, "Xia Yu."

Xia Yu stiffened, knowing he couldn't deceive himself any longer. He shuffled out, his voice trembling with obvious guilt: "Teacher."

The square-faced man's gaze lingered on his face for a moment before he said in a flat tone, "We'll settle the matter of your unauthorized actions when we get back."

His gaze then swept past Xia Yu and landed on Ji Mo, who was standing at the very front. His eyes, filled with inquiry, scanned Ji Mo from head to toe, a hint of regret in them: "I am Deng Tianming, the leader of Group 2 of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Bureau. Did you all cause this together?"

He looked around and could almost see the teachers' dormitory building that had been reduced to ruins.

"It wasn't us. We were only responsible for dealing with the strange disturbances. The arsonist was someone else." Ji Mo felt that Deng Tianyu's attitude was a bit subtle. "Xia Yu saw it too."

Xia Yu nodded.

"so……"

"What do you mean, 'this way' and 'that way'? You surnamed Deng, are you trying to cause trouble?"

Her high heels slammed on the concrete as she strode over, Jiu Chonglou cutting in from both sides. "You said you'd cooperate to handle the aftermath, but instead you took advantage of me dealing with my students to bully my people, huh?"

Ji Mo had expected Jiu Chonglou to come, but she was still somewhat surprised when she saw her.

She had completely changed her appearance, dressed in a luxurious and ostentatious manner. Her once loose, purplish-black hair was now all piled up, revealing a section of her fair and slender neck; she wore a dark, floor-length gown, the excessively long hem trailing across the dirty ground. The necklace around her neck had a gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg set in the center, clearly indicating its considerable value.

Jiu Chonglou's attire doesn't suggest he's here to handle a crisis; rather, it looks like he's just emerged from a grand ball attended by celebrities.

"I just want to get the information I need to know." Deng Tianming didn't really want to talk to Jiu Chonglou any longer. This wasn't the first time he had encountered this crazy woman. She was fine when she didn't want to talk to you, but when she did, she could talk you into a corner.

"What a coincidence, I'd also like to get some information from you. For example, my program has only been airing for a few days, and you're already bothering to come and check the water meters? I'm thinking that public legal education is beneficial to society and the people. It's not illegal, and it's not like some people who superficially study the supernatural while secretly capturing them to be slaves. Is it really necessary to target them like this?"

Jiu Chonglou glanced at Ji Mo beside him, speechless, and said, "You too, even if you call him 'old man' every day, you don't have to dote on a child like this. Do you really treat him like your grandson?"

"This was just Xia Yu's personal behavior, and we apologize for it."

"Heh heh, personal behavior? Didn't your official people monitoring our program notice his communications? Don't tell me he deliberately deleted them. This bastard doesn't seem that smart; he's obviously a stupid idiot who just follows orders blindly."

"...We will investigate the people involved in this matter afterward, and we are willing to make some compensation to Ji Mo."

Ji Mo knew that Jiu Chonglou was skilled with words and few could argue with her and gain the upper hand, but even officials were like her, which was still beyond his expectations.

Watching Deng Tianming and Xia Yu flee in disarray, he felt a strange unease.

"Let's go, my car is parked outside. Let's get out of here before this attracts too much attention."

……

She was clearly not the type to drive cautiously. As soon as she left the city, the engine roared to life, and the car sped along the highway like a wild horse, leaving the few other vehicles behind.

Ji Mo didn't ask where they were going. He took a bite of the now-warm meat bun, his gaze fixed straight ahead, and asked, "Is Xiao Jiu angry that I accepted the challenge?"

In his memory, although Jiu Chonglou often did things that were annoying, most of it was just playful banter among friends. Even the most venomous words have their limits, and this was the first time he had ever heard such a clearly targeted attitude.

"Why would I be angry? I just don't like that kid." Jiu Chonglou shook his head, his tone speechless. "He's stupid, and he's always messing around."

"Your hands and feet aren't clean?" Ji Mo checked himself over and didn't feel like anything had been stolen from him. Judging from Jiu Chonglou's attitude, he didn't seem to intend to have a long talk about Xia Yu's problem.

Ji Mo had no choice but to change the subject, "Speaking of which, is our relationship with the authorities really that strained?"

He had only known about the existence of supernatural powers in this world for three years, and spent another two years learning about them. He only truly began to come into contact with supernatural events in the last year. All his missions were assigned by Jiu Chonglou, and he could only meet a handful of people like him. Even when he met some government officials, they were just ordinary supernatural beings, and they only talked about missions, nothing else.

Before today, Ji Mo thought that although the two sides kept to themselves, their relationship was probably quite good in private, since Jiu Chonglou had mentioned that part of the income of Sanchuan Tailor Shop came from the government.

This was his first contact with high-ranking officials, but given the atmosphere, he wouldn't be surprised if the two sides started fighting the next second.

"Any organization, as long as it is large enough, will inevitably have factions. Today it was just bad luck that it ran into the official faction that doesn't like Sanchuan, which is not surprising."

Jiu Chonglou spoke casually, as if he were already used to it.

"Put yourself in their shoes: As the nominal ruler of this world, yet an uncontrollable organization like a nuclear bomb entrenched in your territory, can you really sit still? Which emperor of any dynasty doesn't fear generals who wield heavy troops? Sanchuan isn't even a general under the official establishment, but rather an independent martial arts sect outside the court, one that truly has the ability to tear the emperor's head off."

"No matter how dynasties change in the mortal world, Sanchuan will always be here. Whether the rulers of the secular world want to befriend us or are hostile to us, it is the norm."

Ji Mo listened quietly. He seemed to know more than ordinary extraordinary beings, but when faced with the long history of this land, his knowledge was still so shallow as to be almost ignorant.