Chapter 194: Cao Ye

「Imperial Capital. Beimang Mountain. Anomaly Administration Bureau, Director’s Office.」

“Prince Bright Lamp, the Mother-Child Black Coffin, the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse, and… you.”

Cao Ye poured Li Mingyue a cup of tea, lit a cigarette for himself, and continued.

“You four are the Anomaly Administration Bureau’s only Taboos, and also our greatest source of strength. With your standing in the Anomaly Administration Bureau, why are you so dispirited? Has the Black God broken your nerve?”

Li Mingyue stared at the steaming cup of tea before her. After a moment of silence, she suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“I just don’t understand… what is the point of the Anomaly Administration Bureau?”

Cao Ye exhaled a puff of smoke and said quietly,

“To handle anomalous incidents and protect the Xia Kingdom. That is the purpose of the Anomaly Administration Bureau.”

Li Mingyue looked at Cao Ye.

“But ever since I joined the Anomaly Administration Bureau, every single anomalous incident has been handled by Dusk. The Bureau can only stand by and watch.”

Cao Ye’s eyes narrowed.

“Go check the case files. The Five Emperors Poison Coin incident, the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse incident, the Human Skin Drum incident… do you have any idea how many colleagues we lost? The Yin Yang Master incident… we lost…”

A shadow of grief flickered in Cao Ye’s eyes.

“We lost one colleague. He was one of my men, and your former supervisor. And you say the Anomaly Administration Bureau just stands by and watches?”

Li Mingyue’s eyes widened abruptly, her voice rising.

“That’s exactly why I’m questioning the Anomaly Administration Bureau’s purpose! We sacrificed so many of our colleagues trying to handle these anomalous incidents! And after Dusk showed up? We’ve barely lost anyone. I’ve been thinking this whole time, what is the point of the Anomaly Administration Bureau? Is it to keep throwing away lives to handle these incidents? With Dusk around, why can’t we… take it a little easier?”

Li Mingyue’s voice trailed off, her confidence faltering as she saw the cold glint in Cao Ye’s eyes.

She forced herself to continue.

“I’m not saying we should disband the Anomaly Administration Bureau. I’m saying, why can’t we cooperate more closely with Dusk? The Anomaly Administration Bureau represents the machinery of the state. The authority we wield in the Xia Kingdom is immense. If that authority were granted to Dusk, they would be unstoppable.”

The more Li Mingyue spoke, the more she convinced herself of her own logic. Her confidence returned, and she said earnestly,

“The Xia Kingdom would no longer have to worry about any anomalous incidents! And our colleagues would no longer have to sacrifice themselves for these incidents!”

She had brought up this idea of serving Dusk at a general meeting before.

But before anyone could even vote on it, Cao Ye had shot the idea down unilaterally.

The reason was that the Anomaly Administration Bureau could not be subservient to Dusk.

Li Mingyue figured Cao Ye just couldn’t bear to part with his title as Director of the Anomaly Administration Bureau. ‘He just can’t swallow his pride and bow his head a little to Dusk. But is his pride really worth the lives of more Investigators?’

She truly didn’t want to see another colleague die.

Even if it was a colleague she had never met.

The bonds of camaraderie were a strange and powerful thing.

The moment you called out your unit’s designation, you became brothers, with a bond thicker than blood.

If Dusk hadn’t been there yesterday, who knows how many of her brothers-in-arms would have died.

Li Mingyue raised her head and saw the deep disappointment in Cao Ye’s eyes.

She had been full of confidence.

But that look of disappointment was like a knife, making her eyes sting.

Cao Ye took a deep drag from his cigarette.

“What are you questioning? Your own mother?”

Li Mingyue looked at Cao Ye in disbelief.

‘He… How could he be so crude?’

Cao Ye sneered and said,

“I’m not being crude. I’m just asking you. Are you questioning your mother?”

Li Mingyue was stunned.

“My mother?”

Her mother was a Sheriff.

Her mother had died in the line of duty when Mingyue was in high school.

When Mingyue herself first became a Sheriff, she had inherited her mother’s badge number.

Cao Ye’s voice was low.

“Sun Xiaona. Five years ago, due to outstanding performance, she was transferred from the South Sea Public Security Bureau to the Anomaly Administration Bureau. Three years ago, during the Five Emperors Poison Coin incident, Sun Xiaona was the first to secure the coin. She was infected by its toxic plague and died during the Five Emperors Poison Coin incident.”

Li Mingyue’s expression froze, her eyes wide with horror. Her mouth hung open unconsciously.

‘Didn’t Mom die in the line of duty five years ago, when I was in high school?’

Li Mingyue suddenly thought of something.

The identity of an Investigator must be kept strictly confidential.

Even family members would not know an Investigator’s identity.

Take Bai Juzhi, for example.

His daughter Natasha had always thought he was dead, not knowing he had joined the Anomaly Administration Bureau.

‘Could it be that my mother…?’

The rims of Li Mingyue’s eyes reddened.

A nostalgic look appeared in Cao Ye’s eyes.

“We joined the Anomaly Administration Bureau in the same cohort, five years ago. Sister Nana and I were very close. She took great care of me. She said I was ‘Level 10 disabled’ when it came to daily life. Sister Nana was my best comrade-in-arms, my most trustworthy partner. Three years ago, if Sister Nana hadn’t pushed me aside, the one who grabbed the Five Emperors Poison Coin and got infected would have been me.”

Li Mingyue wiped away her tears.

“So, did you take me as your apprentice because you felt the Anomaly Administration Bureau owed my mom?”

“A debt? You’re talking about a debt?!”

Cao Ye’s voice suddenly rose.

With the cigarette dangling from his mouth, he stood up, grabbed the back of Li Mingyue’s neck, strode to the window, and yanked open the blinds.

Cao Ye gripped her roughly, forcing her to look at the busy Investigators, researchers, and clerks outside.

“A debt? You’re talking to me about a debt?! The Anomaly Administration Bureau has never been indebted to a single soul! Everyone here gives their all for this country! Look at those people out there! Which one of them doesn’t have a fucking family? You think you and your mom are the only fucking special ones here?!”