# 1154
Chapter 1155: Return to the Capital
"Are those Great Xia fighter jets?"
The moment Jinian saw the planes, she breathed a sigh of relief, returning all the pixels to their original positions, and shouted to the Oath Society members on the ship:
"Allies! No one move recklessly, don't activate weapon modules."
All Oath Society members immediately stopped what they were doing and turned off all the alarms on the ship, leaving only a massive pixel cruise liner floating on the sea.
Lin Qiye gazed at the planes sweeping across the sky, surveying his surroundings thoughtfully. "They arrived so quickly? So this is a war pass in its complete state..."
"From a geographical perspective, these planes should have come from [Shanhaiguan]." An Qingyu nodded.
"[Shanhaiguan]? What's that?"
Jinian asked in confusion.
"One of the twelve war passes that Great Xia prepared for the full-scale divine war."
Lin Qiye gave a brief explanation. Curiosity flickered in Jinian's eyes. "Great Xia actually built something like this? Interesting..."
"Do you need me to hack their system and identify ourselves?" Jiang Er, hovering in midair, spoke softly.
"No... If you do that, they'll mistake us for enemies." An Qingyu shook her head.
"Then what do we do? An Oath Society ship is a completely unknown entity emerging from the mist to them. They won't let us leave easily."
"Leave it to me."
Lin Qiye said calmly. He pushed out the [White Slash] blade with his thumb, the blade tinted with a hint of night, and slashed toward the sky in an instant.
Snap—!
[White Slash] returned to its sheath.
"What are you doing?" Jinian raised an eyebrow.
Lin Qiye didn't answer, but in the next moment, beneath the sapphire-blue clouds, a massive, pitch-black arc took shape. Two blade marks crisscrossed and carved open the arc, sketching the emblem of the [Nightwatch] Squad, like a brand seared into the sky above the circling planes.
"What's that..."
Inside one of the circling fighter jets, the pilot saw the black mark overhead, confusion filling his eyes.
"That's the [Nightwatch] Squad's emblem. They've returned from overseas." A voice came through the radio channel. "Commander Zuo already sent word—they're allies. Pull back to the pass."
"You, number four, stay behind and guide them into the pass."
"Copy that."
The planes circling in the sky turned in unison and vanished over the horizon with a roar, leaving only a single aircraft flying in the air.
"Follow that plane." Lin Qiye seemed to understand something, pointing at the aircraft.
The massive cruise liner got moving again, cutting through the blue waves as it raced at full speed in the direction the plane had departed.
Before long, a shadow like a continuous mountain range gradually appeared at the end of the sea's horizon.
Jinian stood at the bow of the ship, her silver hair dancing in the wind. She raised the pixel telescope in her hand. "Is that [Shanhaiguan]?"
"Mm."
"Looks quite magnificent, a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie." Jinian sighed.
She reached out and gently ran her hand through her dazzling silver hair. Instantly, the hair turned jet black at a visible speed, falling like a waterfall to her thighs.
"You can change your hair color?" Lin Qiye asked in surprise. "I thought your silver hair this time was newly dyed..."
"No, silver is my natural hair color. It's genetic in my family." Jinian shrugged. "But sometimes having hair that's too eye-catching isn't a good thing, so when I'm on missions or facing a lot of people, I usually turn my hair black."
"Your family's genes really are something."
Lin Qiye commented.
As the pixel cruise liner approached, the central section of Shanhaiguan's towering steel walls slowly opened, revealing a wide waterway before them.
After sailing inside Shanhaiguan's outer wall, the cruise liner came to a halt at the guidance of indicator lights, at the largest vessel docking point between the inner and outer walls. A figure rode an electric cart, wobbling over from the direction of the inner wall.
"Elder Lu?"
Lin Qiye recognized that familiar figure and spoke in surprise.
Everyone disembarked. Lu Wuwei parked the cart and removed his helmet, a slight smile on his face. "Good to see you again."
"This pass is your territory?"
"What do you mean territory? It's not like I'm running a mafia operation." Lu Wuwei shrugged. "I'm just temporarily holding this position."
His gaze landed on Jinian and the others as they stepped off the ship one by one. He waved lightly. "Long time no see, beauty."
When the Nine Pillars invaded two years ago, he still remembered the vivid image of Jinian driving her McLaren back from the mist to save Great Xia... Of course, what was most memorable was when she and Ye Fan rode off in a flying car, leaving him behind at the checkpoint without a second glance.
"Long time no see." Jinian nodded politely.
"This ship is too conspicuous. It's not convenient to sail it to the city's docks, so we'll leave it anchored here for now." As Lu Wuwei led the way, he continued,
"Zuo Qing called me. The plane to pick you up back to the capital is already ready. Once you finish your business, just come back here to retrieve the ship."
"No problem."
The plane Zuo Qing arranged for Jinian and the others was a transport aircraft. No matter how many Oath Society members there were, it could carry them all in one trip. Lin Qiye and his two companions simply caught a free ride, traveling all the way from Shanhaiguan back to Shangjing.
They had barely stepped out of the airport when two figures rose from the stone pillars by the road.
"Qiye!!"
Lin Qiye froze. Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan were walking toward him quickly.
"Weren't you at the Heavenly Court?"
"Lao Cao recovered enough, so we came down. Commander Zuo said you'd be on a flight back, so we waited here for you." Baili Pangpang glanced behind Lin Qiye, something urgent in his gaze. "Where's Zhuai-ge?"
Lin Qiye was stunned, falling silent.
"Qiye, where's Zhuai-ge?" Baili Pangpang asked again.
"Zhu... Zhuai-ge..."
Lin Qiye briefly recounted the whole story to the two of them. Baili Pangpang's brow furrowed tightly.
"Abyss origin..." Baili Pangpang murmured. "My premonition was right..."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Baili Pangpang snapped back to the present. He glanced down at his own hands, confusion flickering in his eyes.
He clearly hadn't broken free from the cycle of reincarnation. His cultivation and dao fruit hadn't returned... So why could he have premonitions about Zhuai-ge's accident?
Fortunately, though, the [Origin Dao Jade] he had given seemed to have worked. Shen Qingzhu should be temporarily out of danger.
"Where are you heading next?" Jinian asked.
"First to headquarters to report on the mission, then wait for orders." Lin Qiye answered. "What about you all?"
Jinian fell silent for a moment, then raised her head and gazed into the distance.
"I... need to go somewhere first."