The Keeper of Myths - Chapter 11

At the weekly morning meeting of the Special Investigation Bureau, Pei Xueting listened to Lu Wu angrily denounce the Information Department for invading others’ privacy. The Information Department scoffed and retorted, “Come hit me if you dare! Come hit me!” Hot-blooded Section Chief Pei could not tolerate this; she leapt over Lu Wu on the spot and lunged at them.

The result of her fury was that now the two departments stood on opposite sides, obediently enduring Lu Wu’s scolding.

Pei Xueting rubbed her wrist, her face full of defiance. Si Nan, acting like a sycophant, massaged her shoulders-not to mediate, but to cheer her on.

Across from them, the Information Department Head was trembling with rage. His already round face was now swollen like a bun, tears and snot streaming down.

“Di Ting was eavesdropping for you, so why are you hitting me?” the Information Department Head cried out in grief and indignation. “Why hit me?”

“When Si Nan hadn’t taken human form yet and snuck into your department to steal marinated eggs, didn’t you blame me for it?” Pei Xueting glared back. “So what if I hit you?”

Even someone as naive as Song Xiaoming wouldn’t believe that Di Ting would dare to cross the Action Department behind his own supervisor’s back. After all, the Action Department was the most unruly in the Special Investigation Bureau, and Pei Xueting was the most unruly among them. Even Lu Wu would get his hands pricked with blood just by touching her.

Si Nan let out a miserable cry, “Boss, don’t air my dirty laundry!”

Seeing that the two were about to fight again, Lu Wu, standing between the two departments, finally lost his patience. He couldn’t read another word of the red-lettered document, so he simply picked up the brick-thick file and gave each of them a good whack.

“Are you done yet?” Lu Wu slammed the table and roared, finally unleashing his trump card. “Are you the leaders or am I the leader here? Do you still want your quarterly allowance? Do you still want your year-end bonus?”

The two wage slaves, both with car and mortgage payments, were hit where it hurt and promptly shut their mouths.

Lu Wu thus quelled the one-sided dispute where Pei Xueting beat up the other side, and could finally proceed with his morning meeting in peace. He also approved the Action Department’s proposal for soundproof wall renovations during the meeting.

—

In Lu Wu’s office.

“Let me tell you, don’t act all innocent after taking advantage.” Lu Wu sat behind his spacious desk, took a large gulp of tea-swallowing the leaves whole-and pointed at Pei Xueting. “Look at what you did to him, and I still approved your funding. If the Information Department weren’t so dumb, they’d be making a scene with me by now.”

Pei Xueting snorted, unmoved by threats or persuasion, and looked out the window to cover her guilt.

Sitting beside her, Tan Zhen took a slow, refined sip of tea and spoke gently, “That’s not quite fair. Xueting suffered a loss in this matter too.”

Lu Wu stared at him in disbelief. “How did she suffer a loss?”

The Information Department Head was a pure bureaucrat-even as a beast, he was powerless. Even if Pei Xueting gave him a hand, he’d still end up crawling on the floor.

Tan Zhen’s gaze lingered on Pei Xueting’s face for a while before finally spotting a mark. “Look at that white scratch above her left cheekbone-she almost got disfigured.”

Even someone as thick-skinned as Pei Xueting couldn’t stand it anymore. These days, she and Tan Zhen had been together day and night. She was forced to drive to work every day and cater to his picky lifestyle, like a panda keeper. But the way Tan Zhen looked at her always left her puzzled.

“Wait, you called me up here to discuss business, so why is Tan Zhen here?” Pei Xueting looked at Lu Wu, her eyes saying, “Make him leave.”

Lu Wu coughed, pushed a transfer order in front of Pei Xueting, and averted his gaze. “According to the higher-ups, Tan Zhen will now be an auxiliary member of the Action Department.”

Tan Zhen raised his cup to Pei Xueting with a smile in his eyes. “Please take care of me from now on, Department Head.”

Pei Xueting suddenly understood, flicked the transfer order, and looked at him probing. “No wonder you approved the funding so quickly just now. So this is what you were waiting for? Fine, I get it. Anything else?”

Lu Wu’s expression was unchanged. “Tan Zhen, you can leave now. The rest I need to discuss with Department Head Pei alone.”

Tan Zhen had no objections and got up to leave.

Outside the Special Investigation Bureau stood a century-old banyan tree, its branches lush and sprawling thanks to the overflowing spiritual energy, almost blotting out the sky. Outside the office window was a bright expanse of green, the leaves singing softly in the wind. The distant sound of sirens drifted in; it was so quiet here, it felt like another world.

“How has Tan Zhen been these days?” Lu Wu pondered for a long time before asking.

“Pretty good. Eats and sleeps well, getting his vaccines gradually. He caught a cold once at night but recovered quickly.” Pei Xueting recalled absentmindedly, frowning. “He’s just a bit clingy-if he can’t find me for three minutes, he starts asking around. Even more annoying than Si Nan.”

Lu Wu listened intently, only to receive a bunch of trivial complaints. So he got straight to the point: “What I mean is, has he shown any abnormal behavior?”
Pei Xueting was puzzled. “Isn’t he already abnormal enough?”

What could be more abnormal than a living person dug up from a thousand-year-old tomb? If this didn’t count as abnormal, then the Special Investigation Bureau might as well disband and let everyone go home to live happily ever after with ordinary humans.

“Did he get involved in the Mirror Demon case? Has he ever expressed any… particularly extreme ideas?” Lu Wu asked tentatively.

Pei Xueting finally caught on and slowly sat up straight, leaning forward, narrowing her eyes at Lu Wu. “What do you mean? From the way you’re asking, it sounds like what I brought home isn’t some Princess and the Pea, but a ticking time bomb, right?”

Lu Wu pressed his temples and did not deny her words. “Tan Zhen is a very tricky problem. We’ve never really known how to handle him. Having you look after him is partly for his protection, but also for surveillance. If he ever expresses any dangerous thoughts, you have the authority to deal with him however you see fit.”

As someone used to being a leader, Lu Wu chose his words with great care, weighing every syllable. When he wasn’t being driven up the wall by Pei Xueting, he actually had the air of a proper leader.

Pei Xueting savored the word “any” with interest, raising her eyes to look at Lu Wu.

Lu Wu naturally understood what she meant. “Including execution.”

Pei Xueting nodded and asked a bit coldly, “Would ordinary methods work on him?”

“I don’t know either. We’ve never tried them on him.” Lu Wu waved his hand. “If you have nothing else to ask, you can go back for now. From now on, take Tan Zhen with you on any missions. It’ll make it easier to observe him. With his abilities, he won’t cause you any trouble.”

—

Pei Xueting didn’t have any extra thoughts about being given the authority to deal with Tan Zhen. But the higher-ups’ contradictory attitude-half wary, half protective-toward Tan Zhen only fueled her curiosity.

When she returned to the Action Department, workers were moving new desks into the office. Tan Zhen stood quietly to the side, holding a cup of tea, not nitpicking the workers’ efforts, looking as easygoing as could be.

He really didn’t look like the ruthless Nation-Destroying Celestial Master.

Pei Xueting went straight to her desk and posted a thread on the Heavenly Dao Forum.

The Heavenly Dao Forum was an encrypted forum, frequented by members of the Special Investigation Bureau, idle demons, Celestial Masters, and even some from hidden Celestial Master families. The entry and registration requirements were extremely strict, but the forum often yielded unexpected surprises.

“Regarding the ‘Nation-Destroying Celestial Master of the late Da Zheng,’ does anyone have any information? Best answer will be paid.”

Pei Xueting’s account was high-level, so her post was quickly pinned to the top. The usually quiet forum began to stir, with sporadic replies popping up.

First reply: Da Zheng was basically the first anti-feudal-superstition dynasty in ancient times. The royal family hated talk of spirits and gods, and did a lot to suppress the Dao. As far as I know, Celestial Masters during Da Zheng kept a low profile. I’ve never heard of such an arrogant title, forgive my ignorance.

Second reply: The person above really is ignorant, never even heard of the Nation-Destroying Celestial Master. Legend has it this Celestial Master single-handedly severed Da Zheng’s national fate, plunging the land into a century of chaos and bloodshed. In short, a ruthless figure.

Third reply: It’s all just rumors. It’s hard to say if such a person even existed. How could the fall of a dynasty rest on the shoulders of a single Celestial Master? Stop fantasizing and go to bed. This post is obviously bait.

Fourth reply: I have a friend whose family owns a book about this Nation-Destroying Celestial Master. It says he used the blood of children to refine lamp oil, secretly swapped out Da Zheng’s national fate, then snuffed out the lamps one by one, gradually ending the dynasty’s rule.

Fifth reply: You should publish that book.

…

Forty-seventh reply: The Nation-Destroying Celestial Master of the late Da Zheng was also known as the Lantern-Holding Celestial Master. But the fall of Da Zheng had nothing to do with him.

Pei Xueting’s eyes narrowed, focusing on the ID of this reply. The ID was “Amber,” a very ordinary and common name, but something about it felt off. Before Pei Xueting could figure out what was wrong, the post was deleted by a moderator.

A chill ran down Pei Xueting’s spine. She immediately logged out and closed the page, afraid Lu Wu would catch her red-handed. When she looked up, she saw Tan Zhen sitting calmly behind his new desk, smiling at her.

With such a gentle and harmless look, what could he possibly have to do with the Nation-Destroying Celestial Master? Pei Xueting warned herself not to judge by appearances, but it was hard to pin such a notorious title on him.

“Boss.” Bai Yin’s light, cold breath brushed past Pei Xueting’s ear.

Pei Xueting, feeling guilty, nearly jumped in fright, clutching her chest. “What is it?”
Bai Yin glanced at her strangely, dumping all the documents in her hands onto her desk. “These are newly assigned S-level cases. The red ones need urgent attention, the blue ones can be postponed, and the green ones are cases with questionable nature.”

Pei Xueting felt her head spinning, trying to shift the pressure. “Where’s Si Nan? Where’s Xuanwu? And has that Bifang Bird on a business trip come back from the dead yet?”

Bai Yin felt that if this went on any longer, Pei Xueting would even drag the Merpeople out of the aquarium to work, so she quickly dug out half the files and pushed them over to Tan Zhen.

“Pretend you can read,” Bai Yin patted Tan Zhen’s shoulder.

—

The sun had been blazing these past few days, so Pei Xueting switched Bai Yin to the night shift.

In the dead of night, even the Special Investigation Bureau was silent. Bai Yin, bored out of her mind, followed a vlogger’s video doing flexibility exercises, the cheerful music echoing emptily in the office.

Suddenly, the landline shrieked like a ghost. If Bai Yin hadn’t been stiff and slow to react, she’d have been scared onto the ceiling. It was the phone on Pei Xueting’s desk ringing; Bai Yin walked over and picked up.

Before she could speak, a burst of chaotic noise came through the receiver, accompanied by a violent heartbeat.

Bai Yin immediately understood, frowning as she asked, “Bi Fang?”

“Boss… something’s happened…”

The person on the other end shouted a long string of words, all drowned out by the chaotic static, only those few words came through. Before Bai Yin could ask anything, the call was abruptly cut off, leaving only a lingering, empty tone.

—

Pei Xueting woke up hungry in the middle of the night, crawled from the sofa to the fridge, and dug out half a bag of toast. She was biting into the cold toast when she turned around and bumped into a pair of deep, dark eyes.

Tan Zhen was leaning against the dining table with his arms crossed, forming a pincer movement with the fridge against Pei Xueting. If she took one step back, she could bury herself in the fridge.

If Tan Zhen weren’t so bad at using his phone to make calls, Pei Xueting would almost suspect he’d installed surveillance on her-any little movement and he’d immediately appear. Pei Xueting stared at him for a while, blinked, and asked, “Are you hungry too?”

Tan Zhen’s gaze swept casually over the toast, then boldly stuffed it back into the fridge. “I’ll cook you noodles.”

Pei Xueting was amazed. “You can cook noodles?”

“Xuanwu taught me,” Tan Zhen said. “Go wait.”

Pei Xueting was the type who never lifted a finger and couldn’t tell grains apart; before starting work, she only survived thanks to her brother. After moving out, she relied on the office canteen and the heroic delivery guys to scrape by. So the fully equipped kitchen in her apartment had never been used.

The noodles were delicate, the broth clear.

What Tan Zhen brought out wasn’t instant noodles. Pei Xueting resolved that even if these noodles tasted like canned herring, she’d swallow them. But the flavor was surprisingly good, and she ate in silence.

Across the desk lamp, Tan Zhen sat opposite her, quietly sketching her features in his mind. Pei Xueting, carefree as ever, let him look as he pleased.

“These noodles really aren’t Xuanwu’s style,” Pei Xueting said after finishing most of it, sipping the soup.

Xuanwu was a health fanatic, always soaking goji berries or drinking herbal teas, and at group dinners, he only had plain broth. If you knew him, you’d say he cherished his life; if you didn’t, you’d think he was a monk.

“He didn’t teach me this way at first,” Tan Zhen said.

“How did he teach you originally?” Pei Xueting asked curiously.

“Plain water broth, greens, white noodles, little oil and salt,” Tan Zhen counted off. “I tried it once. It wasn’t good.”

Pei Xueting gave a numb laugh. “Even a dog wouldn’t eat it.”

Judging by Xuanwu’s teaching and Tan Zhen’s results, Tan Zhen probably only learned how to recognize seasonings and turn on the stove from him.

Then she remembered the task Lu Wu had assigned, wiped her face, and asked like a caring big sister, “Why did you suddenly want to learn to cook?”

Tan Zhen looked at her seriously and said, “Si Nan told me that modern times are different from ancient ones. A man who can’t cook won’t find a wife.”

When he said this, his eyes reflected the lamp’s light, like a gentle crescent moon.

Pei Xueting got goosebumps from his gaze, thinking, “Are you going to climb into the Bronze Coffin yourself? Besides, isn’t that coffin automatic? Is this just playing victim?”

She took a deep breath, and with the air of an elder brother and someone who’s been through it all, patted Tan Zhen’s shoulder. “Si Nan lied to you. Cooking won’t help. Does he look like someone with a wife? His advice is worthless.”