Capítulo 18: The Inspector
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At dawn, when the sun rose, only then did the Lighters, who had been on duty the entire night, return to the black building of the National Order Council. They were like nighthawks that were returning to their nest. Each of them went back to their own room to catch up on sleep. They slept until noon. Then, all of them got out of bed and met at the cafeteria for lunch.
For the past few days, Xia Ping'an only saw the squad at noon when they had lunch together at the cafeteria. The rest of the time, he was either practicing shooting at the range or reading up on various documents in the library. His time was well-spent.
Xia Ping'an also knew what the others did at night. However, he was of no help to them, so he could only remain at the headquarters.
"Be prepared. The provincial inspector will come over this afternoon. After the inspector interviews you, you'll get ready to merge with the divine fire boundary bead." After Mo Yanshao said this, the gazes of everyone in the cafeteria landed on Xia Ping'an.
Xia Ping'an nodded and said, "Even if I fail, that's okay, right?"
"That's alright," Mo Yanshao replied. "Actually, when it comes to merging the boundary beads, it's more common to encounter failure than success. Awakened who can successfully merge with three foundation establishment boundary beads consecutively and become summoners are less than one in 50. However, even if you can only merge with one or two boundary beads, you will still reap great benefits."
"Kid, try your best!" Li Yunzhou patted Xia Ping'an's shoulder casually while putting on airs of an experienced senior. "When you become a summoner, it'll be even more appropriate for you to call me 'senior'!"
"Thank you, Senior, for your encouragement. I'll do my best." Xia Ping'an played along and smiled.
...
At 1 p.m., a black sedan entered the main gate of the National Order Council and stopped at the entrance of the black building.
The driver got out of the car and opened the door of the back seat.
An old lady with silver hair and an exceptional temperament got out of the car. She was wearing a light green skirt suit and a light green floppy hat decorated with feathers. She carried a handbag that was deep blue in color.
The old lady was either in her 70s or 80s. However, she looked energetic, and she stood straight. Her eyes were bright, and her complexion was radiant. There were not many wrinkles on her face.
The provincial inspector was actually such an elegant old lady?
While Xia Ping'an was still in a daze, Mo Yanshao, who was beside him, had walked up to the lady. He revealed a meek smile as he greeted, "Madam Qian, I did not expect you to personally come over this time. Was your trip here smooth?"
"It's fine. I'm old now, so I can only travel within the province. I can't travel far," the old lady responded with a warm smile. "I heard you have been igniting the light with your squad for the past two days?"
"Hmm. Xianghe City has not been really peaceful recently, so we have to work harder." Mo Yanshao then pointed at Xia Ping'an and introduced, "This is Xia Ping'an. He participated in the demonic rat hunt and the fire rescue. His performance has been pretty good."
"Nice to meet you, Madam Qian." Xia Ping'an took a step forward.
The old lady's gaze shifted to Xia Ping'an. She sized him up from head to toe. With a smile, she said, "Such a handsome kid." Then, she told Mo Yanshao directly, "Let's not waste time here. We can begin right away."
"Everything has been prepared. Madam Qian, this way please."
...
The so-called interview room was a tearoom in the building.
Only Xia Ping'an and Madam Qian were in the tearoom.
Madam Qian, representing the Yizhou Province's National Order Council, was here to conduct a final assessment on Xia Ping'an. She was here to verify that Xia Ping'an was qualified to merge with the boundary beads.
The meeting was called an inspection, but actually, they were just having a conversation.
Prior to this, Xia Ping'an assumed that the conversation would be very serious and the topic would be unpleasant. He thought the inspector would be a stern and rigid middle-aged man.
To his surprise, after they entered the tearoom, the old lady did not ask him any bizarre questions. She seemed to be here for a casual chat. She chatted about some light-hearted topics with Xia Ping'an while sipping tea. Her topics of conversation were rather random, ranging from cooking, movies, plants, pets, scenery, and traveling to gossip in the entertainment industry. She also asked Xia Ping'an about Xia Ning and how he used balloons to make animals.
Madam Qian was talkative and humorous. She was also very calm. Both of them chatted for more than half an hour, unaware of the time passing.
After they finished a pot of tea, Madam Qian ended their conversation.
The old lady said, "Alright, Kid. Let's stop here. I'm leaving now. It has been a pleasure to chat with you. Let's have another chat in the future. Be prepared to merge with the divine fire boundary bead. I've a feeling you will succeed."
The conversation ended just like that? It seemed like child's play.
Such an inspection seemed to be totally unnecessary.
Xia Ping'an was doubtful. However, he still nodded politely and replied, "Thank you. I'll do my best."
Madam Qian picked up her handbag, stood up and walked to the entrance. When she was about to open the door, she suddenly turned around. She looked Xia Ping'an in the eyes and asked, "You killed all those people. The man in the bathtub even begged very hard for you to spare his life. Do you regret what you did?"
Her words caused the light-hearted ambiance in the room to vanish instantaneously. Time seemed to have frozen.
At this moment, it was hard to avert the bright eyes of the old lady. Her gaze seemed to pierce through his soul.
Cold sweat trickled down Xia Ping'an's spine. He suddenly felt that, currently, he was as transparent as a piece of glass in front of this old lady.
The silence only lasted for a few seconds. Xia Ping'an smiled and calmly met her gaze. He replied, "There are consequences and prices to pay for everything we do. They were in cahoots to fool and trample on the law. However, they couldn't fool and trample on justice and judgment. I was their law, and I'm willing to accept any consequence. My only regret is not being capable enough in the past. Because of that, those people lived many more days and wasted the food available for the rest of the world. In the future, I'll not repeat this same mistake again. Madam Qian, you can call the authorities to take me away now. I'll be waiting here."
"Let the past be buried in the past," the old lady replied. "The law is the justification of the world. However, many things in this world cannot be justified. The simpler way is to talk with your fists. The more complicated way is to deal with the hearts of men. You merely used the more complicated method to show them a simple justification. I am but an old granny. I can't be concerned with such things. Those are the concerns of the police. My only concern is picking suitable Lighters."
The sharp gaze of the old lady mellowed down instantly. With a gentle gaze and a smile, she said, "Kid, are you going to let an old granny like me walk downstairs by myself?"
Xia Ping'an took a deep breath and said, "I will see you out."
Xia Ping'an sent Madam Qian downstairs together with Mo Yanshao who was waiting at the door. They saw Madam Qian get in her car. Her driver drove off, leaving the National Order Council.
"Each time Madam Qian inspects a new recruit, she will not take more than five minutes. Today, she actually spent more than half an hour drinking tea with you?" Mo Yanshao commented as he stroked his chin. He shot Xia Ping'an a strange look.
"Is Madam Qian also a summoner?" Xia Ping'an asked.
"No, Madam Qian is an Awakened. She is the only Awakened in the entire Yizhou Province who has mastered Level B mind reading."
Xia Ping'an, who had sat through an assessment for awakened abilities, was suddenly stunned.
Level B?
No wonder she was outrageously powerful!
"The divine fire boundary bead has already been placed in Training Room 999. You can go merge with it."
...
Two minutes later, Xia Ping'an came to the ninth floor of the building. He stood before the door with the number 999 on it. He pushed open the door, entered, and closed the door behind him.
This room had no windows. From the ceiling of the room, there was natural light guided into the room by the complex light transmission systems of the building.
The room was spotless and seemed to be a yoga room. A table was placed in the center of the room. On the table was a purple wooden box. Next to the table, there was a futon placed for meditating.
Xia Ping'an walked up to the table and sat down cross-legged. He knew that the divine fire boundary bead was inside the wooden box. However, he did not rush to open it. Instead, he recalled all the information that he had learned the last few days regarding boundary beads.
The powers of all summoners in this world originated from the boundary beads.
There were all sorts of boundary beads. Different boundary beads would give summoners different powers. These beads came from the creatures that came from other worlds through the dimensional invasions.
Legend had it that the boundary beads had divine runes on them that no one could understand. The divine runes were mysterious symbols that were the key to differentiating the various boundary beads.
To become a summoner, one had to merge with three boundary beads.
These three boundary beads were the divine fire boundary bead, divine altar boundary bead, and divine being boundary bead respectively. Only by completely merging with these three boundary beads could one become a true summoner. If they failed to merge with any one of these three beads, the person would forever lose their qualification to be a summoner.
However, even if they did not become a summoner, even merging with just one or two boundary beads had various benefits. If they succeeded in merging with the beads, they would have the chance to be baptized with divine power.
Today, he would be merging with the first boundary bead, the divine fire boundary bead.
For each type of bead, each person only had one chance of merging with it. They would not get a second chance.
When one merged with a boundary bead, they would experience the mystery of the boundaries. This mystery of the boundaries was similar to the legendary mystery of reincarnation. When one was reincarnated into their mother's womb, they would forget all about their previous life. It was the same with merging with the boundary beads. After one had successfully merged with a boundary bead and woke up, they would completely forget about what had happened during the process of merging. No matter what method they employed, they wouldn't remember the process.
Those who successfully merged with a boundary bead would master various secret techniques and summoning techniques provided by the bead. When they failed, they would potentially face two outcomes. One was staying alive, while the other was dying right away with their heads exploding. Their heads exploding was mortifying; hence, this was also the origin of summoners having tattoos. It was because their corpses would be headless. Therefore, when summoners failed to merge with the boundary bead and died with their heads exploding, others could identify their corpses based on their tattoos.
Due to the mystery of the boundaries, nobody knew what had happened while merging with the boundary beads. There was no guidance or assistance that could be offered to others who would go through it. Every man was on his own.
From the documents stored in the National Order Council, Xia Ping'an found some records about merging with the boundary beads. In the past, some powerful summoners were able to recall bits and pieces of what had happened during the process of merging with the boundary beads when they were on their deathbeds. Their words were recorded. It seemed like when they were trying to merge with a boundary bead, they would enter into a mysterious world and experience a realistic dream. In the dream, they would go through a special event. Each boundary bead seemed to contain a mysterious mission.
After revising in his head what he had learned about merging with the boundary beads, Xia Ping'an calmed down. He took a deep breath. With an overwhelming curiosity welling up in him, he opened the box in front of him.
A bead, slightly larger than a table tennis ball and emanating a mysterious glow, was lying in the box covered with dark green velvet.
The boundary bead was translucent, seemingly made up of azure stone. Fog and clouds churned in the bead as it flashed with a dark red glow. It was as though fire was faintly burning within it.
A few light golden divine runes, which were believed to be only encountered by summoners and undecipherable by anyone, could be vaguely seen glowing in the boundary bead.
When Xia Ping'an saw the divine runes, he was bewildered. He was shocked. He couldn't help but gulp down a mouthful of saliva.
The history of this world was very different from the history of the world Xia Ping'an once knew. In this world, the writings of Huaxia were another form of pictograms. Based on what Xia Ping'an remembered, the Huaxia characters used in this world were similar to a variation of the Nisi script inherited by the Sani people of the Yi clan.
In his previous life, when Xia Ping'an was researching the history and culture of minorities in the country, he noticed that the Nisi script inherited by the Yunnan Sani people was very interesting. There were roughly 6,000 characters in the Nisi script. Across thousands of years, it still retained the original style of the most ancient script. Compared with the symbols carved into the earthenware from Xi'an Banpo, they were almost 75% similar. They were completely identical to the four characters carved into the handle-shaped stone in the ruins of Wuyang County of Henan Province. Some of the characters were also similar to that of Khitan script.
The script of Huaxia of this world was also similar to the Nisi script.
Because of that, no one could decipher the mysterious divine runes in the boundary beads. Even if they could recognize it, they would probably not be able to understand what the divine rune symbolized. It was because the history of this world and its legends were completely different from Earth, which believed Goddess Nuwa created man.
However, in Xia Ping'an's eyes, the divine runes in the boundary bead that no one could decipher were actually three characters written in Small Seal Script with their strokes joined together: Sui, Ren, God.
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