# 1111
# Chapter 1111: The Missing Zhou Ping
A streak of golden light swept down from the sky and landed in the mountains of Letan, transforming into five figures.
"We're back..." An Qingyu gazed around with the black coffin on her back and sighed, her expression carrying a hint of regret.
"What, not enough time at Heavenly Court?" Lin Qiye smiled.
"Give me a bit more time and I probably could have built the spiritual energy model faster. Now that we're back in the mortal realm without reference objects, manual calculation of the model will take quite a while."
"..."
Lin Qiye ignored An Qingyu's complaint and oriented himself. As he was about to leave, a crisp telephone ringtone suddenly sounded.
Lin Qiye下意识地摸了摸身上，这才想起来自己的手机还在瑶池留着，他看向声音传来的方向，An Qingyu掏出了手机，接通电话：
"Hello?"
"..."
"Yes, this is An Qingyu."
"..."
"Okay, I understand."
An Qingyu hung up.
"Who was it?"
"It's headquarters." An Qingyu answered truthfully. "They said before we left, we should go to headquarters. Commander Zuo has something to say to us."
"He knew where we were going?"
Lin Qiye was stunned for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. Strictly speaking, the [Night Watch] squad belonged to the mortal realm's Night Watch forces. Even Heavenly Court had no right to directly mobilize them. Since the Heavenly Lord had them follow Michael to retrieve something, He must have already coordinated with Commander Zuo.
"Alright, let's go make a trip then."
In the city, Lin Qiye and the others couldn't use their abilities freely, and Michael's spatial flicker seemed somewhat too conspicuous. After deliberation, Shen Qingzhu extended his hand, pointing to a taxi parked on the roadside not far away.
"We can take that." Shen Qingzhu said. "That car now belongs to Baili."
After hearing An Qingyu and the others' explanation, Lin Qiye was caught between laughter and frustration. He quickly got into the car and sat in the driver's seat. An Qingyu and Shen Qingzhu sat in the back seat together, loading the coffin into the trunk, leaving only the passenger seat for Michael.
At this moment, Michael stood alone beside the taxi, staring at the car door before him, motionless, as if contemplating how to operate this thing.
"Get in." Seeing Michael standing outside the door with no movement, Lin Qiye reminded him again.
After a moment of deliberation, Michael imitated the movements of Lin Qiye and the others, grabbed the door handle, and pulled gently.
*Screech—!*
The entire car door was torn off, clutched in his hand.
Seemingly noticing that his procedure differed from Lin Qiye and the others, Michael furrowed his brow. Expressionless, he sat in the passenger seat. Golden light flashed in his right hand holding the door, and the door was restored to its original perfect state.
"Let's go." Michael said calmly.
The mountain breeze brushed past the open window. The three people in the car sat stunned, mouths agape...
...
An hour later, the vehicle pulled up at the entrance of Night Watch headquarters.
Lin Qiye got out of the car and led the group to Commander Zuo Qing's office. He knocked on the door.
"Enter."
Zuo Qing's voice came from behind the door. Lin Qiye pushed it open.
Upon seeing Lin Qiye and the others enter, Zuo Qing, who had been reviewing documents, raised an eyebrow. When his gaze fell upon the golden-haired figure at the end, and he met those furnace-like eyes, his heart trembled. He quickly averted his gaze.
He deliberated for a moment, looked at Michael's brow, and nodded slightly:
"Welcome."
Lin Qiye and the others knew in their hearts that these two words were certainly not directed at them, so they remained silent. After a while, Michael behind them floated a light "Mm."
Zuo Qing relaxed inwardly and turned his gaze to Lin Qiye. "How's your recovery?"
"No major issues." Lin Qiye smiled.
Zuo Qing nodded. "The situation with the National Suppression Stele, thanks to you. Fortunately, you weren't harmed. Otherwise, our Night Watch would have lost another great general... Given your performance this time, a personal Star Sea Medal is definitely coming your way. The relevant procedures are still being processed and should be completed soon, but time is tight now, so let's get to the main business first."
Zuo Qing took a file from his desk and placed it on the table, his expression turning serious:
"Regarding your mission this time, Heavenly Court has already coordinated with headquarters. I will personally issue the assignment to you now. However, some details of the mission involve mythological secrets that even I and the Gods of Great Xia are not privy to. For the specifics, you may need to ask that one."
Lin Qiye and the others followed Zuo Qing's gaze and simultaneously looked at Michael, who stood silently at the back.
"Let me give you a brief summary first. The mission this time is to follow this person to retrieve an item." Zuo Qing said slowly. "This object is called the [Ark of the Covenant]."
"[Ark of the Covenant]?" Hearing this name, Lin Qiye asked in surprise. "It's a cabinet?"
"Maybe. We don't know what its true form looks like either." Zuo Qing glanced at Michael again and continued, "However, this object carries the secrets left behind by Yahweh, the creator god of the Western Holy Church. Legend has it it's hidden in the holy land of the Western Holy Church. Your goal is to bring it back intact."
Yahweh?
Upon hearing these three characters, Lin Qiye's pupils contracted, instantly recalling the sixth patient he had just released.
This mission was actually to search for the treasures He left behind?
"I understand." Lin Qiye nodded.
Although he didn't know what this so-called [Ark of the Covenant] actually looked like or where it was located, since it was something from the Western Holy Church, Michael should know best. With him leading the way, finding it shouldn't be too difficult.
"There's one more thing." Zuo Qing spoke again. "This matter has nothing to do with the Gods of Great Xia, but it has a close connection to Great Xia itself..."
Zuo Qing paused, then continued: "I hope that during your journey into the Mist, you can also look for Zhou Ping."
"Sword Saint Senior?!"
Everyone present except Michael widened their eyes.
"What happened to him?"
"After you all disappeared into the Mist, Zhou Ping left Great Xia to search for your traces." Zuo Qing sat back in his office chair, speaking helplessly.
"At first, he would return once a year. In the first year, he went to Asgard but didn't find you. In the second year, he went to the Sun City of Egypt but also didn't find you... Calculating the time, it's been almost half a year past the date he was supposed to return this year. You've already come back yourselves, but we still haven't seen him.
I suspect he must have encountered some trouble in the Mist.
Now that the Total Divine War has erupted, the Mist is filled with dangers and chaos. If he remains overseas, something bad might happen... Currently, only your [Night Watch] squad possesses the ability to move freely within the Mist, and only you can find him and bring him back."