Chapter 124
Hangzhou was close to Shanghai — so close, in fact, that the outer suburbs of one practically bled into the other.
Following the directions of the alluring and sophisticated Teacher Tang Yue, Mo Fan made his way to a small Jiangnan town on the northern outskirts of Hangzhou.
The town was called Xishui — a name with a pleasant, poetic ring to it. But when Mo Fan arrived by car, he found cracked earth and abandoned fields stretching in every direction, a world apart from the idyllic waterside villages of Jiangnan he had been picturing.
*Playing in water — right.* Not a river in sight, not even a stream. Soaking your feet would have been a logistical challenge.
The town had apparently been a decent tourist spot at some point — a handful of traditional-style inns still lined the streets. Following the address Tang Yue had given him, Mo Fan found the Youjian Inn and, through the gallery window, immediately spotted her: seated with perfect posture, her figure tracing an outrageously elegant S-curve.
His mood lifted for no particular reason.
*Look at those perfectly rounded curves, those proud and magnificent peaks.* Teacher Tang Yue, are you absolutely certain your surname isn't Cang?
Tang Yue seemed to sense his arrival. Her hair swept aside in an effortless motion, and those bright, luminous eyes lit up with a warm smile as she watched him approach.
"Teacher Tang Yue, you're as breathtaking as ever," Mo Fan said, unable to help himself.
"Not bad yourself — reaching Intermediate Level at your age puts you in the genius category, even by the standards of the great clans and major associations," Tang Yue replied with a smile.
"You're not that old yourself, Teacher Tang Yue. And I still can't get a read on your true strength."
"All right, cut the act. I know what you're really here to ask — where was I during the Bo City disaster?" Tang Yue said bluntly.
"Fair enough. I do want to know. Something tells me you're not just a plain Intermediate-Level Mage... Your position must be something out of the ordinary. I just can't figure out why you'd go teach at Tianlan Magic High School, of all places — unless you were up to something you couldn't tell anyone about. Or maybe," Mo Fan said, "you're actually the mastermind behind the Black Church?"
Tang Yue rolled her eyes.
This kid's imagination was something else.
"Have you heard of the Magic Association's Tribunal?" she asked.
"A bit. From what I know, it's a group of elite enforcement mages tasked with capturing any mage who violates the Covenant."
"That's right — and I'm one of them. We had caught wind of the Black Church's plans in Bo City, but we never anticipated the scale of the conspiracy. On my own, the most I could do was hold Saron in check. The rest had to be left to Zhankong and the others..." She paused, something heavy settling across her face. "I blame myself. If I'd figured out their objective sooner, none of this would have happened."
She made no attempt to hide the truth from him, answering with a directness that left no room for pretense.
"You'd been in Bo City for less than two years, while they'd been planning this for over a decade — planting people, laying out schemes in secret. Clearly your superiors weren't taking Bo City seriously enough, or they'd have sent more than one person undercover," Mo Fan said.
The disaster had clearly been years in the making. The fact that the Tribunal had been suspicious enough to station Tang Yue there at all showed they weren't completely blind — but it hadn't been enough.
"By now, every news outlet is buzzing about Bo City, and the truth about the Black Church has been made fully public. I've submitted everything I know, and the Tribunal's senior leadership has taken over the case. Justice will come to Bo City before long," Tang Yue said.
"Anyway — let's not dwell on sad things. Tell me what you actually brought me out here for. Something's clearly off about this town. It looks completely dried out," Mo Fan said, steering the conversation away.
"You're more observant than I expected. It's exactly as you say — every water source in Xishui Town has dried up, like a drought out in the northwest." Tang Yue's expression turned serious.
"Is something causing this?" Mo Fan asked instinctively.
After his time with the City Demon-Hunting Squad, he had developed a habit of attributing strange phenomena to Demon-Beast activity.
Anyone who thought Demon-Beasts didn't lurk in major cities was hopelessly naive. The bigger the city, the more of them hid in the shadows — and the more ruthlessly they fed.
"I'm not entirely sure. Apparently several other towns have run into the same problem. My leads are limited right now, which is why I needed you out here," Tang Yue said.
"Then you've come to the right person. Before I became a Mage, I always dreamed of being a detective — I've watched at least six or seven hundred episodes of Detective Conan and I'm an expert in all kinds of..." He caught himself and cleared his throat. "What I mean is, whatever you need, just say the word."
"My identity is too recognizable — I'd be spotted in an instant. I need you to tail that man." Tang Yue gestured toward the gallery window, nodding at a man outside who carried himself with the polished ease of someone accustomed to money. "He's on the Tribunal's wanted list. I suspect he has some answers."
"What's he done?"
"Nothing confirmed yet, but experience tells me: when something's off, there's always something rotten at the root — and that something is usually a mage with a warped nature. Plenty of mages like that never formally join the Black Church, but that doesn't mean their hands are clean. Murder and robbery are second nature to them. Don't let his appearance fool you — he looks like some young nobleman straight out of Hangzhou, but the number of people he's killed — mages, specifically — rivals the body count of any Demon-Beast." Tang Yue's voice was flat and dead serious.
She needed Mo Fan to understand that this wasn't a game. He would be dealing with mages of deeply crooked character, the kind who never hesitated to take a life. Once a fight broke out, they would go straight for the kill.
"Teacher Tang Yue, you want me to help bring in someone that dangerous... I'm not sure I'm up to it."
"I originally planned to bring in an Intermediate-Level Lightning Mage, but he's too far away — by the time he arrived, the target would be long gone. I know this is risky for you. But help me bring him in, and I'll help you awaken the Shadow Element." Tang Yue knew it was a lot to ask of someone who was still technically a student, but she had no intention of letting this high-profile fugitive slip through her fingers.
"Teacher Tang Yue, your business is my business — there's no need to be so formal. I'll start tailing him right now. I'll dig up everything on that man, right down to his household registration."
"You little schemer — you won't lift a finger without something in it for you, will you?" Tang Yue shot him a mock-irritated glare, but the pout on her face only made her look more captivating than ever.