Chapter 363: Fuji

Another boring day was coming to an end.

Ling Ping An leaned back in his chair and hummed a tune while filling in the options on his phone screen.

He was fulfilling his civic duty — filling in the annual tax return.

In the Federal Empire, taxpayers were a very interesting term as most citizenship rights were closely related to taxes.

For example, the right to vote and the right to make proposals were not their natural rights.

The right to vote in an empire was directly related to taxes.

If one did not pay taxes, he would not have the right to vote or to make proposals.

Also, one could not participate in the national examination.

Therefore, in the Federal Empire, the qualification to be a taxpayer was crucial.

Even if many people, especially those low-income people, paid zero tax every year, they had to fill out the tax return every year.

What’s more, it had to be completed and submitted within the statutory time limit.

Only then would the various institutions of the Empire be willing to help you.

Otherwise, all federal institutions would refuse to serve you because you weren’t their object.

Therefore, accountants in the Federal Empire were very popular.

People above the middle class needed an accountant to help them fill out their annual tax returns.

First, they needed to restructure their finances so that they could reduce or waive their taxes as much as possible within the legal framework.

Secondly, they needed to prevent some of their income from being declared illegally in accordance with the law, resulting in a tax stain that would affect their enjoyment of the federal service.

However, people like Ling Ping An didn’t need it.

Because his tax file was directly classified into the third category, which was ‘others’.

He could enjoy the special tax exemption policy for an annual income of no more than 200,000 Yuan.

Filling in this form was just a formality.

Therefore, he filled it in very quickly. If he encountered a problem, he could just tick the third category.

After filling in the form, Ling Ping An put down his phone.

The annual civic duty was accomplished.

He stood up and stretched. Then, he looked at the kitten, Bastet, who had been lying in the corner of the counter. He said, “Let’s go to sleep!”.

Bastet jumped down from the counter and landed at his feet.

Ling Ping An took out its blanket and placed it at the door.

The little guy obediently laid down on it.

Ling Ping An turned off the light and said to it, “Good night!”.

He walked upstairs by the flashlight in his phone.

The little cat laid on the towel. Its amber eyes reflected its master’s shadow.

It slowly closed its eyes.

Behind it was the reflection of the pyramid.

Countless prayers rolled in.

The lines of faith connected all the temples of the cat goddess in the Egyptian kingdom.

Those tall temples built in the center of each city.

The devout believers prayed.

The priests chanted the holy scripture of the Goddess.

They wanted to connect with their God to get the strength and favor from the god.

But…

The cat goddess was not doing anything.

She did not want to interfere anymore.

She was just a pet, and she should behave like one.

She lent her divine power to let Egypt sweep away the civil strife.

It was already the limit. If she interfered again, she might be killed by a fist that fell from the sky!

Moreover…

Right now, it was a great war.

The cat goddess could feel that the density of the recovery of spirit aura continues to be on the rise.

She understood that the ancient gods in this world would soon become active.

So…

What Egypt should do now was to calm down and lick its wounds.

Never get involved in things you shouldn’t get involved in.

And never think about things you aren’t supposed to think about.

A small country with few people should have the awareness of its own.

…

Ling Ping An took a shower, put on his pajamas, and sat on the sofa in the living room, drinking Kvass.

The empty living room was very quiet.

For some reason, he didn’t feel sleepy at all.

On the contrary, he was very excited.

“What’s going on?”

For some reason, he had the urge to go out for a walk.

He didn’t know how long since such an impulse appeared.

It seemed…

When he was still young… He was ignorant and only liked to go out and play.

He climbed the wall of the industrial park and sneaked into the factory building to cause trouble.

Or he and his neighbor ‘s children catching cicadas under the trees and fishing for frogs by the river beside the industrial park.

But when he grew up and became sensible, he was more and more reluctant to go out.

When he was a little bit older, the mobile Internet arrived.

He didn’t want to go out now, as he could solve everything with his mobile phone.

“Well…”he finished a bottle of Kvass and stood up. “Since, I have nothing to do… Let’s go out for a walk…”

“The night market nearby…”

“The shopping mall nearby…”

As he spoke, he began to change his clothes.

He had always been like this. He would do whatever he wanted and not be shy about it.

Changing into his clothes and shoes, he walked downstairs.

Meow!

As if hearing his footsteps, the kitten at the door stood up and ran over quickly.

Ling Ping An picked up the little guy without turning on the lights. He walked to the door and pulled the shutter door open.

Then, he pushed the door open and looked at the quiet street outside.

Tonight, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The moonlight was as white as frost, shining on the city.

The street lights in the street were lit one by one.

The climbing tiger on the wall of the industrial park opposite could be clearly seen.

The night wind blew in the street, and it was a little cold.

Ling Ping An carried his cat and walked out of the door, then locked it.

“Darling…” Ling Ping An said to his pet, “Let’s go on an adventure tonight!”

Meow!

The kitten meowed softly in agreement.

The Amber Cat’s eyes reflected the image of its owner at this moment.

The head shrouded in the fog slowly appeared.

Two HP Flames entered the eyes like starlight.

Then, an ordinary young man wearing a pair of cheap glasses, appeared in the cat’s eyes.

Ling Ping An was already looking to the left, at the end of the street.

He remembered that there was a park, after passing through this street and turning left.

Therefore, he walked over with the cat in his arms.

It had been a long, long time since he went to the back of the mountain at the park to play at night.

…

“General…” Song Shi Hui was called urgently, and woke up from his cultivation. “He’s Out!”

Song Shi Hui immediately opened his eyes, interrupting his cultivation.

Then, he connected the big screen in his room to the surveillance Centre.

Thus, he saw a video that was sent to him.

The closed door of the ancient god was pulled open.

In the darkness, two sparks slowly appeared under the camera.

An indescribable head was shrouded in fog.

The thin young man appeared under the camera.

He held his pet and appeared under the surveillance.

Then…

The head that was filled with fog revealed its HP bit by bit. The two HP Flames turned into starlight and condensed into a pair of bright eyes.

He smiled.

As if, to the surveillance camera.

The smile was meaningful but indescribable.

Then, he closed the door, turned around, and walked toward the end of the street.

The street lamp shined on him. His shadow was plain and unremarkable.

Song Shi Hui was stunned.

He repeatedly watched this video.

Because this was the first time that the video showed the evidence of the owner of the bookstore’s transformation to the Blackguard.

Don’t look down on it. In that instant, a transformation from nothing to something.

Because…

This could very well be some sort of trust or acceptance.

Which was easily understood!

For example, many circles in imperial capital do not allow entry just because one had money.

If one was not qualified, nor received any form of recognition , regardless how rich one was, they would still be rejected.

Similarly, this ancient God had shown his transformation in front of the camera without any concealment.

This was a kind of trust.

It meant acceptance and approval in a certain sense.

Otherwise…

The existence of such a personality would not allow outsiders to see any of his secrets.

Even if this secret was actually useless.

But…

“He’s going out?” Song Shi Hui thought, “What was he planning to do?”

Especially that meaningful smile of his.

Song Shi Hui kept recalling that smile in his mind. He understood that this person deliberately went out at this time.

There must be a purpose.

But what did he intend to do?

Song Shi Hui did not know.

He could only instruct Xia Ping on the other side of the communicator, “Activate all surveillance methods immediately…”

“I want to know… his whereabouts…”

After thinking for a while, he added, “If he doesn’t want to, don’t force it!”

The criteria for not willing had long been set.

For example, the camera couldn’t work normally…

Or the surveillance couldn’t be taken care of…

This meant, it was not allowed.

Even if it was a malfunction, it had to be deemed as not allowed.

Because… the Blackguard couldn’t take any risks.

Any risky option had to be eliminated!

This was wisdom!

The results of the analysis of countless staff members of the think tank.

…

Ling Ping An carried his pet and walked through a quiet street before turning into a road.

This road used to be bustling with traffic, but now, there were few cars.

Occasionally, there would be a passing taxi.

Ling Ping An was used to it.

Ever since the factories in the industrial park closed down or relocated.

A large number of workers and their families, as well as their machines, were packed onto cargo ships and driven towards the northern Zhou, southern Zhou, and western Song.

The manufacturing industry slowly disappeared from the metropolitan territory.

The service industry rose.

A new economic cycle began.

The depression in the eastern district was already destined!

Moving forward, after crossing two intersections, the shadow of a park built on a mountain appeared in front of them.

When they arrived, the market became lively.

This was because this place had already ventured into the traditional construction night market.

This night market had a history of a hundred years!

During the peak of the industrial park, it was the most prosperous!

When he was young, Ling Ping An often came here to play.

As this place not only had all kinds of delicious food.

There were also all kinds of fun performances to watch.

All kinds of performances and acrobatics from all over the world used to gather here.

It’s a pity…

Ling Ping An walked in the night market for a while and then shook his head.

The traditional performances had all disappeared.

This reminded him of the poor circus he met last time.

Those people who were physically and mentally challenged but still wanted to rely on themselves instead of being fed by the country.

He sighed.

“Technological progress is not all good!”, he said.

Under the wave of the mobile Internet, his bookstore was a victim.

Acrobatics, circus, puppet shows, monkey shows…

were also victims.

But…

This was the general trend of history!

It was unstoppable, unbreakable!

Those who went with the flow would prosper, while those who went against the flow would perish!

Ordinary people like him had no choice but to welcome them with open arms.

Walking out of the night market, he raised his head and looked at the park at the top of the mountain.

Thus, he followed the steps on the mountain road and walked forward.

This park had a hundred years of history. It was also built for this heavy industrial base in the past. It was one of the basic facilities that provided leisure and entertainment for the workers.

Similar facilities had once spread throughout the entire eastern district of the city.

Unfortunately…

Now…

Ling Ping An looked at the mottled steps and the broken fences around him.

This place had been in disrepair for a long time.

Fortunately, this park has a rich history.

Therefore, even though it was very late, there were still many people in the park on the mountain.

Most of them were old people and children.

Under the street lamps, people were either walking or playing in the park’s shade and Fountain Square.

Ling Ping An looked at them with a childlike heart.

He carried his cat and walked in.

Suddenly, he noticed a crowd seemed to gathered at the bottom of a staircase to the left.

Many old people were incessantly chattering around a stall.

Ling Ping An went over in curiosity, and saw a shirtless man with a red cloth wrapped around his head sitting at the stall.

A little girl was standing behind him with a gong in her hand.

She cupped her hands like an adult in front of the crowd and said, “Dear elders, dear brothers and sisters…”

“We came from Chu, and we passed by your place…”

“According to our ancestors’ teachings, we invite the spirit stick to help solve any of your problems!”

“If it works, please pay for it with one day’s lodging and food!”

As Ling Ping An listened, he also saw something placed in front of the muscular man.

It was a dustpan, and there seemed to be a thin layer of sand in the dustpan.

The man held a pen in his hand, and his eyes were tightly shut without a word. Only the little girl spoke behind him.

As Ling Ping An watched, he became curious immediately.

As a liberal arts student, he knew about the spirit tool.

It was probably an ancient feudal superstition.

It was somewhat similar to a god’s beating.

However…

Ling Ping An caught a glimpse of a small bronze statue in front of the man’s dustpan.

Written on the bronze statue, with ancient traditional characters: Goddess of the Moon, Lord of the Clouds, Goddess of Matchmaking.

Something stirred the heart of Ling Ping An.

An article that he had studied in school involuntarily appeared.

“Bathing in the fragrance of the orchid grass, adding colors to the garments like a flower…”

There was no liberal arts student who would not read Qu Zi’s masterpiece.

So…

“The god that supports their spirit is the Lord of the Clouds?”

This is turning interesting!

That was because most of the people supports the spirit with Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, emperors, and the like.

Shouldn’t an ancient belief like the Lord of the Clouds have disappeared without a trace by now?

“No wonder they were so miserable…” Ling Ping An thought.

Shouldn’t the feudal superstitions now be based on the gods that the general public was more familiar with?

Lord of the Clouds? Wasn’t that too unfamiliar?

No wonder the onlookers only looked at the man and no questions was asked.