# 837
Chapter 838: The Vanished Heavenly Court
Lin Qiye nodded and continued asking, "What about the others?"
"Their ages were even younger, so the masters kept them in that mysterious space to continue cultivating. That space has its own restrictions—they can only leave on their own when we turn seventeen."
Fang Mo's birth date was only one day apart from when the 【Mortal Divine Realm】 opened fifteen years ago, so he should have been the oldest among all the children. It made sense that he was the first to emerge from that space.
"What about the Great Xia Gods? Where are they now?" Lin Qiye asked the question he most wanted to know.
Fang Mo hesitated for a moment and shook his head.
"I don't know either... After bringing us into that mysterious space, the masters left. After I turned seventeen and walked out of that space recently, I didn't see any of them. Even the golden shadow among the mountains has disappeared. That mountain range is now empty except for our cave dwellings."
"Disappeared?"
Lin Qiye was stunned.
Based on the timeline, Fang Mo and the others had cultivated in that mysterious space for three years, while only one year had passed in the outside world. This meant that as early as one year ago, after the Great Xia Gods had sent the children into the mysterious space, they had vanished along with the Heavenly Court?
At this moment, Lin Qiye recalled what Shao Pingge had told him at the Shangjing squad station:
"The Great Xia God is no longer in Great Xia."
In this one year, where had they taken the Heavenly Court?
"After becoming the master's disciple, he also told us the truth about Cangnan. He often said to us that the reason we exist is all because of Lord Lin Qiye." Fang Mo said sincerely, "Our souls, our lives, our childhoods—everything was given to us by Lord Qiye. He hoped that we would follow in Lord Qiye's footsteps, stay by your side, and serve as your sword and blade in the future. All of us deeply admire Lord Qiye!"
Looking at the admiration shining in Fang Mo's eyes, Lin Qiye felt somewhat embarrassed but still managed to control his expression and spoke seriously:
"Regardless, your current identity is Night Watch. Following the spirit and duties of the Night Watch must be your first priority, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Good, go get some sleep. This should be the last peaceful night you'll have for quite some time. Starting tomorrow, your days... will be very tough."
...
A train sped along the tracks, crying mournfully through the night.
Night had deepened, and the lights in the carriages gradually went out, leaving only the faint glow of indicator lights.
At the end of the hard sleeper section, at the connection between two carriages, several plain-clothed migrant workers sat on urea gunny sacks, their heads resting against the train walls, their bodies swaying gently with the train's motion. Amid the low, noisy creaking of the carriage, they hung their heads and had already fallen into deep sleep.
In the corner of this group, a teenager sat leaning against the door at the end of the carriage. Through the round glass in the door, he gazed up at the moonlight, lost in thought.
Lu Baoyou had been away from home for so long, and the money he'd earned along the way was nearly spent. He had thought that once he reached Shangjing, he wouldn't need money anymore. But who knew, he had been kicked out of the training camp and had no choice but to embark on his journey home.
The money he had left couldn't afford a hard sleeper or even a hard seat ticket. He could barely afford a standing ticket and a small cup of instant noodles.
The train moved forward, and the moon outside the window gradually receded, disappearing from Lu Baoyou's view. He sighed helplessly, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted into sleep...
Just as he was about to fall asleep, from the carriage behind him, a sharp and annoying child's cry rang out, startling everyone's drowsiness.
Lu Baoyou instinctively furrowed his brow, the violence in his heart barely restrained from rising. He turned to look at the carriage behind him, where a child was pointing at the instant noodles in the hand of a man in the adjacent seat, wailing loudly.
In the depths of his eyes, a trace of crimson faintly emerged.
But in the end, he didn't get up. Instead, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the restlessness and anger within him.
Amid the child's unreasonable commotion, Lu Baoyou's heart returned to calm once more.
"Are you satisfied with this?"
A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
Lu Baoyou's eyes snapped open!
He looked around. In the dim carriage, no one was talking to him...
Lu Baoyou turned his head, his gaze falling on the window beside him. In the glass's reflection, his left eye had somehow turned pitch black, and a human face was faintly visible within it.
It was the face of the member from the Church of the Ancient Gods who had self-destructed at the training camp.
"Who are you?" Lu Baoyou's eyes turned crimson, and he growled.
"You can call me 【Demon Child】. I come from the Church of the Ancient Gods." The voice unhurriedly rang in Lu Baoyou's ear, "Don't be nervous. I've merely attached my soul temporarily to your eye. I can't control your body, and I won't harm you. I'm just here for a casual chat."
"I don't need to chat. Get lost!" Lu Baoyou's voice rose, directly waking the sleeping people around him. They looked at Lu Baoyou with puzzled expressions.
Lu Baoyou gritted his teeth, stood up from the ground, and ran into the toilet, locking the door behind him.
He stared at his pitch-black left eye in the mirror, the crimson in his gaze burning more intensely. A violent and fierce fallen angel aura emanated from him.
"Don't waste your effort. You're just a novice at the 'Pool' realm. Even with fallen angel divine power, you can't drive me out of your eye." Demon Child sneered.
"Just what do you want?!"
Lu Baoyou slammed his fist into the mirror surface, shattering his reflected self. Broken glass cut into his flesh, and blood dripped from his palm into the sink, drop by drop.
"Would you be interested in joining the Church of the Ancient Gods?" Demon Child's voice was filled with seduction, "Your potential shouldn't be buried. The Night Watch is just a bunch of rigid, stubborn, petty-minded people. Someone like you could never融入 them. You are a demon with the power of a fallen angel—you should stay where you belong... Come to the Church of the Ancient Gods. Here, everyone is your kin. No one will criticize your personality, no one will constrain your behavior because of ridiculous righteousness and morality. Here, you can do as you please. We can even use the Church's power to help you kill Lin Qiye!"
"Heh." Hearing these words, Lu Baoyou coldly laughed, "So, you want to recruit me?"
"That's right."
"The Church of the Ancient Gods—those are the trash whose organization got one-shotted by Lin Qiye?" A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Lu Baoyou's mouth.
Hearing this sentence, Demon Child's voice paused. Then, he spoke with a grim tone: "Kid, you'd better show some respect."
"Did I say something wrong?" Lu Baoyou stood up straight, "You put up such a huge commotion to cause trouble at the training camp, yet you ended up in such a miserable state. If you're not trash, who is?"