# 988
Chapter 989: The Warmth of the Mortal World
Night was deepening.
Winter nights were cold and desolate. It was not yet midnight, yet the streets had already grown quiet, with only the brilliant lights connecting with the stars, silently shining beneath the night sky.
Stars lit up the heavens, lanterns adorned the mortal world.
A young man wrapped in a military coat stepped out of the airport in his leather boots, standing on the streets of Shangjing at night. Looking at the brightly lit metropolis, he let out a long sigh.
Chen Han hadn't returned to the big city in many years.
He was a typical urbanite, having grown up in the city since childhood. He had barely even visited his hometown in the countryside—if it weren't for being assigned to Anta County by the training camp, he probably wouldn't have known what the countryside looked like at all.
Precisely because of this, when the spoiled young man first arrived at Anta County and lived with Li Deyang at the Forestry Bureau, he had wanted to escape countless times. That harsh environment was nothing short of endless torment for him.
In these past years, he hadn't seen the city's lights. The most he had encountered was the northern star-filled night sky like a vast sea.
But now, he was no longer the pampered and naive Chen Han of the past.
Standing on the streets of Shangjing City at this moment, Chen Han felt as though an entire lifetime had passed... He felt somewhat out of place.
Just then, a black sedan drove across the smooth road and stopped in front of him.
Killing the engine, opening the door, Shao Pingge in civilian clothes stepped out of the car. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he walked up to Chen Han, perked himself up, and with a smile, said:
"Chen Han?"
"That's me."
"Hello, I'm Shao Pingge, captain of Shangjing City Team 006, and Director of Personnel for the Night Watch."
Shao Pingge extended his hand, and Chen Han shook it.
"Director Shao, nice to meet you." Chen Han said politely.
Shao Pingge was already in his forties, while Chen Han was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Compared to him, Chen Han was a junior.
"Don't call me Director. In a sense, you're actually my superior." Shao Pingge joked.
"Superior?" Chen Han was stunned.
"The person I represent is Yama, the King of Hell of Great Xia." Shao Pingge pointed at Chen Han, half-jokingly, "But the one you represent is Emperor Fengdu, the supreme god who governs the underworld of Great Xia."
"Please don't tease me." Chen Han shook his head.
"The strength of an individual's power and the depth of their experience aren't determined by the status of the god they represent... I haven't been with the Night Watch for long, and I've only been a representative for two years. From any angle, I couldn't possibly be your superior."
"Just joking around, don't be so tense." Shao Pingge patted his shoulder. "I've read your file. In two years, you've risen from the 'Pool' realm to 'Klein'. It seems you're extremely compatible with that one's God's Ruins. Your potential is limitless."
"You're too kind."
"Do you know why I called you to Shangjing?"
" Yes, Commander Zuo already called me personally."
"Are you ready?"
"Mm." Chen Han nodded calmly. "When do we start?"
Shao Pingge turned around, glanced at the neon-lit metropolis, and fell silent for a moment.
"We're running out of time... Let's begin now."
...
The bus pulled over on an empty street.
New recruits dragged their luggage, carrying black boxes, and rushed off the bus one after another. Looking at this quiet and beautiful city before them, excitement sparkled in their eyes.
"Haha! Shopping malls! Good food! Massage parlors with pretty sisters! Here I come!!"
"Lao Qian, let's go together? I know a really good barbecue place. Let me treat you!"
"Let's go, tonight I'm gonna eat you broke."
"Lao Zhao, did you book a hotel? Can I crash with you?"
"Tch, we're on vacation, who stays in a hotel? Come on, bro will take you to a nightclub for some Ace of Spades, let's party all night!"
"..."
Fang Mo, Lu Baoyou, and Li Zhenzhen were the last three to step off the bus.
"Fang Mo, let's go? Want to play some mahjong together?" Ding Chongfeng walked over from the side, slung his arm around Fang Mo's neck, and pointed at Su Yuan and Su Zhe in the distance. "This brother-sister pair says they're the Gamblers' Kings of Jiangnan, and the useless brother of the Gamblers' King. Let's go see what they've got."
Fang Mo hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He really had nowhere to go in Shangjing, and following these three should be quite interesting.
"Zhenzhen, where are you planning to go?" Fang Mo turned to ask.
"I need to return to Team 006's garrison. Want to come with me?" Li Zhenzhen blinked.
The Team 006 courtyard was Li Zhenzhen's home. Since they'd already finished training camp and were on break, naturally she should go home for the New Year.
"... No, no, if I went home with you for New Year, I'm afraid I'd get beaten to death by Team 006's seniors." Fang Mo shrugged.
With that, he hesitated for a moment, then shouted toward Lu Baoyou, who was standing alone off to the side:
"Hey, do you have somewhere to go? Want to come with us?"
Lu Baoyou hadn't brought a suitcase, only a black box on his back. He glanced at Fang Mo coldly and said:
"Not interested."
With that, without waiting for anyone else to react, he turned and walked away alone, his figure disappearing into the night.
"... What a weird guy." Su Zhe muttered.
"Don't worry about him, let's go."
After Ding Chongfeng, Fang Mo, Su Yuan, and Su Zhe said goodbye to Li Zhenzhen, they departed from another direction.
Li Zhenzhen briefly oriented herself, then dragged her suitcase toward Team 006's garrison.
...
About twenty minutes later, she arrived at the courtyard's gate.
The moment she pushed the door open, a rich aroma of cooked food rushed toward her, making the already famished Li Zhenzhen— who'd been eating "miserable fish cakes" for four months straight—her stomach growl loudly.
She had just walked through the door when she froze in place.
The courtyard was bustling with activity.
"Baili old brother, go to the kitchen and grab that fish head soup for me?"
"On it!"
"Tch, this roast duck is a bit tough. Zhang Zhengting, how did you cook this?"
"? Don't blame me, that roast duck was made by Lu Hu."
"Jiang Er sister, the TV in our room is broken. Can you help us fix it?"
"Where are the Spring Festival couplets? I just bought couplets yesterday, where did you put them?"
"Qingyu, can you make fireworks? The kind that fly up into the sky and then go bang-bang-bang连续 several times..."
"..."
The Team 006 members had completely merged with the [Nightfall] squad. Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan were helping Zhang Zhengting in the kitchen, Jiang Er had taken on appliance repair as a side job, while An Qingyu and two other young Team 006 members were secretly researching black powder.
No war, no missions, no foreign gods or "mysteries"—at this moment, they no longer seemed like the Night Watch standing guard before all living beings, but rather a group of ordinary people savoring the warm烟火气 of mundane life.
Shen Qingzhu and another Team 006 member were leaning to one side, smoking. When they saw Li Zhenzhen standing frozen at the doorway, Shen Qingzhu raised an eyebrow.
"Back? Go put your stuff down, then get ready to eat."
Li Zhenzhen: ...