# 1674
Chapter 1674
A short while later, three figures walked out of the imperial study.
The meeting had gone about as Lin Qiye had imagined. Emperor Wu of Han commended Huo Qubing, granting him a large amount of gold and personnel to establish the Bureau of Evil Suppression. He then tried to curry favor with Lin Qiye by offering him some territory and official titles, but Huo Qubing blocked it again. After some persuasion, only five hundred taels of gold were bestowed as a reward.
After leaving the imperial study, neither Lin Qiye nor Huo Qubing showed any change in expression. Chloe, on the other hand, walked along with her head hung low, her face full of resentment.
"You should give up the idea of establishing a religion in Great Han. Your ideology doesn't fit here." Seeing Chloe's expression, Lin Qiye couldn't help but find it amusing and comforted her gently.
"Sigh..." Chloe sighed helplessly. "Great Han has such a large population and vast territory. If I leave here, I don't know how long and far I'll have to travel to find a suitable place."
Chloe suddenly paused in her steps, as if thinking of something, and grabbed Lin Qiye's sleeve.
"Hey, aren't you from the future? In your era, did I succeed?"
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "You were very successful."
Upon hearing this answer, Chloe's eyes lit up immediately. "Then can you tell me where I succeeded? Where should I go?"
Lin Qiye opened his mouth, about to say something, but after hesitation, he said, "Wait a moment."
Lin Qiye gently raised his fingertip. In his field of vision, a thread of karmic connection drifted from his fingertip, extending into the void. His brow furrowed tightly, as if calculating something.
After a moment, he withdrew the karmic thread and shook his head, saying:
"Sorry, this is something I shouldn't tell you. Otherwise, not only would I become entangled in a massive karmic web, but I would also alter the course of history... You'll have to explore that on your own."
Outside Chang'an City, Lin Qiye had already realized that his actions might be part of destined history, but that didn't mean all his actions fell within this scope.
To give an analogy, if he had slashed Emperor Wu of Han with a sword in the imperial study just now, the history of Great Han would have undergone earth-shaking changes, and possibly everything in the future would be thrown into chaos. Of course, a sane Lin Qiye would never do such a thing, so this possibility never occurred in history.
Lin Qiye had been wondering: why was it only himself who could be sent back to this era?
Now he had a guess. Because if Chloe sent anyone else from the future back to this era, it would carry enormous risk. The time gap between this era and the future was simply too vast. Every action here could potentially cause dramatic changes in the future—even if he casually burned a book, it might cause the extinction of an entire philosophical school of thought in later generations.
And once he realized this, he would inevitably be bound hand and foot in his actions, afraid to kill even a single person, because he wouldn't know whether his actions were part of history or would impact the future.
But Lin Qiye was different. He possessed [Causeless Cause] and [Fixed Outcome], and could judge through the karmic consequences of his own actions whether they would impact the future. He was the only one who could act freely in this era while avoiding karmic fluctuations.
"Alright..."
Seeing that Lin Qiye was unwilling to reveal anything, although Chloe was somewhat dejected, knowing that she was destined to succeed gave her hope for the future.
"His Majesty has already approved the establishment of the Bureau of Evil Suppression. Over the next few days, this Marquis should be kept busy with this matter." Huo Qubing turned to look at Lin Qiye. "Lin Qiye, is what you need to prepare urgent? If it's pressing, this Marquis can first help you with your affairs, then return to Chang'an to attend to business."
"It's not urgent." Lin Qiye waved his hand. "Establishing the Bureau of Evil Suppression is the most important thing. If there's anything you need help with, just say so."
There were still over two thousand years until Lin Qiye's era, so naturally he wasn't in a hurry for these two days. Moreover, Lin Qiye still had to first figure out how to deal with the problem that his spiritual power couldn't withstand [Causeless Cause] and [Fixed Outcome]. He didn't want to kill or drive himself insane before accomplishing anything.
After last night's battle, Lin Qiye did feel somewhat mentally exhausted. Those two abilities placed too much strain on his brain. It seemed the two-month deadline the little boy had mentioned was already the most optimistic estimate.
Huo Qubing thought carefully for a moment. "There really is something I need your help with."
"What is it?"
"There's a lot of work involved in establishing the Bureau of Evil Suppression, but with all our current members combined, we only have about ten people... We're somewhat short-handed." Huo Qubing paused. "This Marquis has already issued a call for extraordinary individuals to the entire realm. Over the next few days, a large number of gifted individuals will come to Chang'an, but among them there will inevitably be people trying to take advantage of the situation, and some whose character makes them unsuitable for the Bureau of Evil Suppression. This Marquis hopes you can screen suitable candidates for the Bureau of Evil Suppression to serve as our first batch of members."
"Screening extraordinary individuals... No problem."
Lin Qiye barely hesitated before nodding in agreement. Identifying extraordinary individuals, assessing their abilities, and examining their character—these would be a huge headache for people of this era, but for Lin Qiye, there was no difficulty at all.
After all, he was a training camp instructor by background, and now he also had [Causeless Cause] to assist him. In all aspects, he far surpassed the extraordinary individuals of this era.
"By the way, will this affect your karmic situation?" Huo Qubing asked with concern.
"No problem." Lin Qiye smiled. "I'm just meeting and screening them after all. At most, I'll see them once. For such a small karmic connection, I have a way to handle it."
Huo Qubing nodded. "This Marquis will give you an address. The place for screening extraordinary individuals is there... This Marquis estimates that it will take no more than four days to finish processing everything."
...
One hour later.
Creak—!
The heavy mansion gate was slowly pushed open. Dry, cracked leaves carpeted the ground, stirred by the wind. Withered branches grew askew throughout the courtyard. Spider webs and mouse holes dotted the corners and rooms. Nothing in sight showed any sign of life.
"Brother Seven Nights, are you sure... this is the Bureau of Evil Suppression?"
Wu Quan looked at the ancient mansion that had apparently been abandoned for God knows how long, his expression odd.
"The Bureau of Evil Suppression operates independently from the court and is composed of extraordinary individuals. Of course it needs to be kept secret. Why would it be located in Chang'an?" Lin Qiye shook his head. "The Marquis has already taken people to scout locations among the valleys to establish the official bureau. This place is merely the venue for selecting extraordinary individuals."
The real location of the Bureau of Evil Suppression absolutely could not be easily revealed to the world. Unless an extraordinary individual truly passed the assessment and became a member of the Bureau of Evil Suppression, they would never see the real Bureau of Evil Suppression. Therefore, the assessment site had to be set up separately. This mansion had been granted to Huo Qubing by Emperor Wu of Han many years ago, but the Huo Qubing of back then hadn't accepted it. Now for the sake of the Bureau of Evil Suppression, he had gone back to Emperor Wu to ask for it again.
Lin Qiye wore a winter-green Hanfu garment, with a white jade token tied at his waist. He slowly walked into the mansion, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.
"Let's clean this place up a bit. The extraordinary individuals coming for the assessment should be arriving soon."