Chapter 20: Candle Dragon Scale

At exactly seven in the evening, the sun had dipped below the horizon, though its lingering afterglow still painted the sky. Darkness was gradually settling in.

Ye Jingqiu and the other two had returned to the Beijing Branch that afternoon. After making full preparations, they set out to pick up Xie Pingzhi’s boss.

Tonight’s sudden extra trade fair felt off no matter how you sliced it. Ye Jingqiu couldn’t shake the sense that it smacked of a Hongmen Banquet.

She and the captain had only arrived in Beijing that morning, and within three hours, word had come of this additional event. The timing was suspiciously perfect.

“Or maybe those people got a taste for Captain Shi’s blood and want to strike while the iron’s hot—line up a few more sacrifices,” Xie Pingzhi said. She steered the car into the underground garage of a high-end neighborhood, explaining as she went.

The base suspected the trade fair was meant to screen for “fated individuals” with unusual affinities for elements. After all, four years ago, the Candle Dragon had clashed with the captain, fled, and sunk back into slumber. If the masterminds wanted to rouse it quickly, sacrificing Awakeners might be their path.

That raised the question: who exactly wanted to wake the slumbering exotic beast?

“The Candle Dragon’s lackeys,” Xie Pingzhi replied, turning the wheel. “S-rank beasts like that one always have hordes of followers. For exotic beasts who can’t show their faces in human society, waking the boss is basically their ticket to the good life.”

Ye Jingqiu scooted to the right, making room for the boss. Over the past two weeks, under the captain’s watchful eye, she’d crammed a ton of knowledge—including that some high-level exotic beasts could take human form.

So the auctioneer at tonight’s trade fair, the one who would hold up the dragon scale, might not be human at all.

Her thoughts darkened as she considered it, but before she could dwell on the worst possibilities, Xie Pingzhi cut in.

“Oh, right—one heads-up for you two. My boss supposedly glimpsed something freaky as a kid and is obsessed with cinnabar holy water spells. Super nice personality, total enthusiast. Just flash a little instinct for her later, and the base will handle the psych eval afterward.”

Shi Zui gave a slight nod to show she’d heard. Ye Jingqiu, though, froze.

Wait—her instinct only kicked in around exotic beasts!

In other words, she had nothing to show.

But before Ye Jingqiu could voice a strong objection, the car door slid open with a whoosh. A wave of hot air rushed in, followed by a woman in head-to-toe black.

Chen Yuan paused at the sight of the car’s occupants, then lit up with realization. She dove into the vehicle at the same breakneck speed as Xie Pingzhi, gushing praise.

“This must be the two masters A-Xie mentioned! Real deal doesn’t show on the surface—I had no idea masters could be this young!”

Ye Jingqiu glanced at her Will Ring, still reading zero rampage value, then turned with composed enthusiasm, deploying her bullshit artistry to full effect. “Boss Chen overpraises me. This poor Daoist has merely scraped by on a stroke of luck; ‘master’ is far too grand a title!”

Chen Yuan was only twenty-four herself—young, and a total believer in the supernatural. Her eyes sparkled at once. “Then I—this humble one—begs to ask boldly: what divine ability does the master cultivate? Same sect as Master Xie?”

With no exotic beasts in sight, Ye Jingqiu was all show and no substance, but she didn’t flinch. Calmly, she declared, “This poor Daoist follows the flame path of the legendary Aba Aba Divine Dragon, tracing its lineage back to Zhurong…”

For the next half hour, the backseat “fake master” spun an epic yarn of pure invention. Even Ye Jingqiu ran dry, her mental reserves tapped out, the facade cracking.

So when Chen Yuan asked once more to witness this legendary divine ability, Shi Zui—who’d stayed silent up front—suddenly turned.

She extended her right hand.

A searing black flame bloomed from thin air.

“Flame Divine Ability,” Shi Zui said, tilting her head by way of explanation. Her tone was even. “Master Ye taught me.”

Chen Yuan: !!!

Ye Jingqiu: Tears welling with gratitude.

Captain! I knew I could count on you!

~~~

East Suburb, Jingtang Building, 66th floor.

Shi Zui stood on the rooftop terrace, gazing out over Beijing’s sea of lights.

Toy-car-sized vehicles inched along the clogged elevated highways below. Streetlights flickered on one by one along the ring roads, layer upon layer, casting shadows deep and shallow across the urban sprawl.

The rooftop’s safety barriers were flimsy at best; the stairwell door’s iron lock had rusted halfway to dust. Captain Shi hadn’t even needed her instinct to open it—just gripped the lock in her right hand, gave a slight twist, and the door swung free.

No wonder the guardrails hung in tatters like an old fishing net.

A restless summer breeze swept in, charged with eager delight and impatience. Shi Zui tilted her head, pressing her earpiece as a few unbound strands of long hair danced in the wind.

Shi Zui: “Aether?”

“Aether’s here~” Ning Wan purred in a kittenish voice. “He Ju Beasts added to the KFC deluxe late-night feast. Monitoring ’em nonstop.”

Shi Zui paused, holding back a “get lost” out of deference to Ning Wan’s ongoing efforts.

Her gaze swept the squat buildings surrounding the tower, confirming the Beijing Branch team was in place.

The trade fair was set for the top-floor conference hall, 21:00 sharp.

As the East Suburb’s lone skyscraper, it offered unparalleled privacy up high. Even Awakeners with superhuman physiques would be sitting ducks in an ambush without wind instinct.

Tonight, they were splitting up. Shi Zui would keep watch outside, tracking the He Ju Beasts—ideally slapping trackers on the bloodthirsty monsters to lead Aether straight to their lair.

Meanwhile, Ye Jingqiu and Xie Pingzhi would infiltrate the hall under Chen Yuan’s cover, probing the trade fair’s secrets while securing the Candle Dragon Scale.

The base’s intel held that the dragon scale was a passkey of sorts—only by holding it could one enter the Dragon Lair.

But if the scale was here, where was the lair itself?

Lurking in some forgotten corner of this modern metropolis?

Lost in such speculation, Ye Jingqiu zoned out—until Xie Pingzhi clapped her on the shoulder, startling her back to reality.

“Spacing out already, Classmate Xiao Qiu?” Xie Pingzhi teased in a low chuckle. “Come on—trade fair kicks off in two minutes.”

They’d already slipped into the hall under Boss Chen’s wing and taken their seats. Chen Yuan lounged on a nearby chaise, barely containing her excitement, fists clenched in anticipation of claiming the Candle Dragon Scale.

The meeting hall was spacious and brightly lit, large enough to seat a thousand people. Unique and elegant chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, scattering a vast glow of golden light across the floor, which had just been polished to a mirror shine.

There were about three or four hundred people inside, and with the hall filled with square tables and chairs, the space didn’t feel sparse or scattered. Every attendee wore an odd, fanatical expression, their eyes glued to the stage at the front of the hall.

The atmosphere was deathly quiet, devoid of any chatter. The Base had run background checks on most of the participants—these were people who had crossed paths at various merchant banquets in the Imperial Capital—yet now they had reined in their usual smooth-talking charm, watching each “rival” like hawks.

“It’s like they’ve all been hexed,” Xie Pingzhi said with a tsk of amazement. She glanced at her still-composed boss, then turned to Ye Jingqiu. “Xiao Qiu, if you can’t tap into Instinct later, just stick by Chen Yuan’s side and don’t wander off.”

After all, the activation rate for Word Manifestation’s Instinct was still pretty low, and Ye Jingqiu hadn’t had any strange dreams in ages. Who knew if Xiao Qiu’s Rampage Value would climb back up to the level it’d hit when resisting the Copy Potion?

Ye Jingqiu knew tonight was make-or-break for the mission—no room for slip-ups. She started to nod, but then the Wrist Ring on her left hand gave a faint buzz.

She froze for a split second, her gaze dropping immediately:

“Rampage Value detected at C-rank. Fluctuations remain within low-risk parameters.”

At that exact moment, every light in the hall snuffed out. In the pitch blackness, the host of this Trade Fair finally strolled in, fashionably late.

The lights converged once more, spotlighting a tall, imposing figure.

He cleared his throat twice and flashed a rigid smile at the feverish crowd.

Ye Jingqiu arched a brow. Well, well.

Xie Pingzhi shook her head. Tsk tsk.

The two of them stared at the Rampage Value spiking wildly on the Will Ring, a mix of emotions washing over them.

Dear Exotic Beast friend, you’ve really shown your hand this time.