# 998
Chapter 999: White Impermanence
Boom—!
A deafening roar erupted from the distant streets, as billowing smoke rose into the sky.
Shao Pingge stood alone atop a tall building, gazing toward where Chen Han was battling the "Mystery," and let out a long sigh.
"A complete Great Xia God's Ruins, huh... I wonder when I'll encounter the one who can restore my 【White Impermanence】 to the level of God's Ruins." Shao Pingge shrugged.
Although Shao Pingge was the agent of Yama, King of Hell, from Great Xia, like Fang Mo, he had obtained his divine power through a certain medium before the Great Xia Gods fully awakened—merely at the level of a high-risk Forbidden Ruins.
Now that the Gods of Great Xia had all returned from the cycle of reincarnation, as long as he could find the Yama who had originally granted him his Forbidden Ruins, he could fully obtain the power of God's Ruins. His 【White Impermanence】 would then ascend to the level of God's Ruins.
"After the Great Xia Gods return to Great Xia, some high-risk Forbidden Ruins will evolve into God's Ruins. When more agents of Great Xia Gods appear, more God's Ruins will emerge... It looks like before long, the Night Watch's Forbidden Ruins sequence ranking will need a major revision... The folks in Intelligence will have their work cut out for them."
Shao Pingge felt a bit of schadenfreude.
Compiling and modifying the Forbidden Ruins sequence ranking had always been the Intelligence Department's job. Although one or two new Forbidden Ruins appeared every year, it wasn't a significant change to the overall ranking, so traditionally the Forbidden Ruins sequence was updated once every three years.
Shao Pingge calculated that it had been less than two years since the last Forbidden Ruins sequence update. However, with the war breaking out and the Gods of Great Xia returning, the Forbidden Ruins sequence would likely undergo earth-shaking changes, forcing the Intelligence Department to start collecting data ahead of schedule and reassess the rankings.
Shao Pingge's gaze fell upon the distant horizon. At the edge of the pitch-black night sky, threads of daylight pierced through, illuminating one corner of the heavens.
Dawn was approaching.
This sleeping city would soon awaken. By then, countless ordinary people would take to the streets, preparing for their busy and fulfilling New Year's Eve.
But right now, the chaos caused by the "Mysteries" was just beginning.
If these ordinary people were left to their own devices, the "Mysteries" stirring within the city would cause them massive casualties.
"It's my turn." Shao Pingge's eyes narrowed slightly.
He walked to the edge of the building, sat down beside the snow-covered ground, leaned against the wall, and slowly closed his eyes.
Snowflakes drifted down onto his cloak and cheeks, turning his brow white. He lowered his head as if he had truly fallen asleep, allowing the snow to pile up around his body until he resembled a snowman.
An invisible Forbidden Ruins unfurled, and in that instant, a barely perceptible domain pressure溢散而出!
Half-Step Human Apex.
...
Shangjing City, a certain household.
Just as the first light of dawn appeared, a crisp alarm clock rang by the window.
A middle-aged man fumbled to turn off the alarm, groggily sat up from bed, and after a moment of waiting, was about to get up when an inexplicable drowsiness washed over him again.
The man had no resistance whatsoever. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed back onto the bed, snoring loudly.
He dreamed a dream.
In the dream, a man draped in a dark red cloak, looking drowsy and yawning, was telling him to turn left, go down the stairs, and take shelter in the underground parking lot below the building.
In reality, after lying there briefly, the man abruptly sat up from the bed, quickly put on his slippers, and burst through the door like an arrow, rushing toward the underground parking lot...
And his eyes had been closed the entire time. Even during his wild sprint, soft snores could be heard.
It wasn't just him. An entire building, an entire district, even the entire Shangjing City—all ordinary residents aside from the Night Watch—had been pulled into a mysterious dream. Then, in a state of sleepwalking, they began evacuating in an orderly and extremely rapid manner.
The shelter locations varied: some went to the air-raid shelter beneath their own building, others to a single room in the attic, some to a sturdy wardrobe in their room, and those in remote suburbs simply buried themselves under their blankets, falling into a sweet sleep...
During this evacuation process, the residents perfectly avoided all locations where "Mysteries" were hidden or active. It was as if an invisible hand was guiding their direction.
From falling asleep, to sleepwalking and rising, to the completion of city-wide evacuation—it took less than twenty seconds.
The moment Shao Pingge closed his eyes,
Shangjing City, the entire city fell into a dream.
This was the true power of the half-ceiling-level 【White Impermanence】, and of Shao Pingge, the captain of the Night Watch team stationed in Shangjing City.
【Black Impermanence】 severs lifespans and claims souls,
【White Impermanence】 enters dreams to capture spirits;
...
The faint light of dawn filtered through the wild mountains on the outskirts of Shangjing City, falling upon the remote land.
Ding Chongfeng carried a medicine box and, together with Fang Mo and three others, swiftly passed through the silent village, approaching the foot of the wild mountain.
"Hmm?"
Su Zhe, panting and trailing behind the group, seemed to spot something. He let out a puzzled sound and vigorously rubbed his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Ding Chongfeng asked cautiously. "Did you see a 'Mystery' appear?"
"...No." Su Zhe stared blankly toward the village. "I just thought I saw a villager run out of their house in pajamas, sprinting straight into the pigsty..."
Ding Chongfeng: ...
Su Yuan couldn't help but reach out and pinch the flesh on Su Zhe's waist, twisting it a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Is this really the time for jokes?! Huh?!"
Amidst Su Zhe's wail, Fang Mo raised his head and sniffed the air. "I don't smell any 'Mystery' presence within a kilometer... The distribution of Mysteries around here should be quite sparse."
"Then this is the place."
Ding Chongfeng bent down, opened the medicine box, and took out a series of wound treatment supplies and tools. He looked at Fang Mo solemnly.
"Unwrap it. Let's finish this quickly."
"...Alright."
Fang Mo's other hand gripped the clothing tightly bound around his arm and slowly loosened it. As drops of blood seeped through and fell to the ground, a strange fragrance permeated the air.
Su Yuan and Su Zhe, who had been tussling with each other, simultaneously stopped and turned to look at Fang Mo.
"So fragrant... Really so fragrant." Su Zhe couldn't help but exclaim. "No wonder all the insects were biting you. The smell is so good I'd want to take a bite too."
"? You变态, stay away from Fang Mo!" Su Yuan kicked Su Zhe in the butt.
Ding Chongfeng rarely intervened in the siblings' bickering. He watched intently as Fang Mo unwrapped the clothing piece by piece. Once the wound was fully exposed to the air, he quickly took medicine from the box and began carefully applying it.
Gurgling blood flowed onto the ground, and a rich, exotic fragrance drifted with the sweeping east wind toward the distance.