Chapter 68: Retaliation

"Even if we're going to report people, we need someone to report to," Zheng Yunqi said with tightly furrowed brows.

"Isn't Administrator Fang on decent terms with our agency?" Zhou Mei'er suggested. "By reporting other church members to him, we'll be able to further deepen the bond between him and our agency."

Zhou Mei'er had some selfish considerations behind this suggestion.

Fang Che was so incredibly handsome that she was dying to have him visit their escort agency on a more frequent basis.

"We can't just openly report people to him! In fact, we can't be linked to the reports at all," Zheng Yunqi opposed. "If it's revealed that we're the ones making the reports, Administrator Fang will be sure to become suspicious. How do we know those people are demonic church members?

“We have no way of explaining that without incriminating ourselves! Hence, we have to make the reports discreetly, but we also have to make sure that everyone we report ends up dead instead of managing to slip away like us!"

That night, they turned to Starlight for ideas, but Starlight refused to get involved.

"This is your own mess, so take care of it yourselves! I don't care how you retaliate against them as long as your actions don't implicate our branch helm and everyone else! Otherwise, you'll have to answer to my broadsword!"

With that, Starlight promptly departed, declaring that he had more errands to run.

"Helmsmaster Starlight hasn't given us any ideas, but he's at least approved of our plan."

"He's basically telling us to do whatever we want, as long as we don't screw over the branch helm!"

"Alright, in that case, let's execute our original plan."

***

The next morning, Fang Che was out on patrol.

He was moving very swiftly, having made an executive decision to expand his patrol area.

In doing so, he began encroaching upon the patrol areas of some of his colleagues, but those colleagues were more than happy to see this.

Fang Che had quickly earned himself a reputation as the most capable and powerful administrator, so they were ecstatic to have his help.

The only one who had any complaints was Tang Zheng.

He was being run ragged behind Fang Che, and he was rapidly losing weight, even though he was eating far more than normal.

"Hurry up! Don't fall behind!" Fang Che yelled. "The safety of countless people rests on our shoulders! I don't want to see you dragging your feet for even a split second!"

Tang Zheng was trudging along behind Fang Che, and it was taking so much out of him just to keep up that it was a form of cultivation in itself, leading to an advancement in his cultivation base!

A pair of young men quickly came into view up ahead, and judging from their attire, they were clearly very well-off.

Fang Che stopped the two young men in their tracks, then asked, "Are you two not from around these parts? I don't think I've ever seen you before. Show me your travel permits."

One of the young men raised an eyebrow in a hostile manner as he countered, "Why should I? No one else has asked us to display our travel permits, what's your problem?"

"Other people have their reasons for not checking your travel permits, but I'm not like them!" Fang Che harrumphed in an authoritative manner. "Show me your travel permits right now or I'm taking you back to the Hall of Protectionists for questioning!"

A furious look appeared in the young man's eyes, but Fang Che didn't back down in the slightest.

"Do you wanna fight?" Fang Che provoked.

The other young man hurriedly held back his companion, then pulled out their travel permits with a fawning smile.

However, before he had a chance to say anything, someone yelled from the crowd, "Administrator Fang, those two are Han Yun and Han Zheng of the Church of the Self-Righteous!"

Hang Che immediately lashed out, grabbing onto acupoints in their shoulders to cut off their spirit qi circulation before asking, "Is that true?"

"No! We're being framed!"

Fang Che tore open Han Yun's robe to reveal inner garments of a special, unidentifiable material, and that was all that he needed to see. "You two will have to come with me."

The two men immediately panicked, and they struggled frantically out of Fang Che's grasp before fleeing in two different directions.

However, they weren't able to get very far before they were sliced into two by Fang Che's saber, and two faint plumes of black smoke rose up from their bodies before quickly dissipating, confirming the presence of Five Spirit Parasites within them.

"Tang Zheng! Tang Zheng!"

"Ah, here!"

Tang Zheng had been completely rooted to the spot in shock, and it took a second call from Fang Che for him to finally snap back to his senses.

He killed them just like that? He's lucky that he had the right people this time, but what if they weren't demonic church members?!

"Hurry up and go fetch people from the merits department! You only have fifteen minutes!"

Tang Zheng immediately set off back to the Hall of Protectionists, while Fang Che began reassuring all of the terrified bystanders.

"It's alright, everyone. Please continue to go about your day as normal. Those two were demonic church members, and they have been rightfully slain. My name is Fang Che. I am an administrator from the Hall of Protectionists, and it is my duty to protect you all!"

"Long live, Administrator Fang!"

"Thank heavens you caught them, Administrator Fang! It's terrifying to think that these scoundrels walk among us in broad daylight!"

"That was truly courageous of you, Administrator Fang! You confronted those two without any hesitation for our sake!"

"Have a mandarin, Administrator Fang!"

***

Shortly thereafter, Tang Zheng returned in record time, but Fang Che was already gone, and the people from the merits department began to examine the two bodies.

I was quickly confirmed that they were both Lords from the main church, and the people from the merits department congratulated Tang Zheng before preparing to return to the Hall of Protectionists.

"Hold on a second," Tang Zheng said in a hesitant manner. "I suggest you wait a little before you go back. I have a feeling that Administrator Fang is going to catch some more!"

"Surely not! You make it sound like these people are everywhere!"

The people from the merits department brushed him off with a chuckle, yet right as they were about to leave, a loud roar rang out up ahead, followed by a blood-curdling howl that was abruptly cut short.

Tang Zheng and the two Protectionists from the merits department hurriedly rushed onto the scene to discover Fang Che standing with the headless body of a young man at his feet.

"You came at just the right time! This man was reported by a good samaritan, and he immediately tried to escape after he was exposed, so I killed him on the spot!"

After a brief examination, it was confirmed that he was also a Lord from the main church.

The two men from the merits department were left to clean up the scene, while Fang Che departed on his own, and shortly thereafter, they heard the familiar sound of Fang Che's voice once again.

"You're not getting away!"

The two men exchanged a bewildered glance with each other.

"Tang Zheng, go and find those two from the merits department! I just received another tip from the crowd and caught another one!"

"......"

The two men from the merits department were completely flabbergasted.

Since when were there so many good samaritans with such keen eyes for demonic church members in the White Cloud Prefecture? Why haven't I met even a single one?!

In what seemed like no more than the blink of an eye, Fang Che had already killed five Lords from the main church, all of whom had been reported by "good samaritans" in the crowd.

How are these reports so accurate?!

They hurried onto the scene to discover two more deceased Lords from the main church.

"Administrator Fang... I don't even know what to say anymore!"

"I'm only doing what's to be expected of me," Fang Che said in a modest fashion.

"......"

"If you'll excuse me, I have to continue my morning patrol."

"Thank you, Administrator Fang!" a bystander yelled.

"Long live, Administrator Fang!"

That morning alone, Fang Che was able to kill nine demonic church members thanks to tips from the crowd.

By the time noon came around, Tang Zheng was already on the verge of passing out from exhaustion.

Fang Che took a glance at him, then said, "Let's go find somewhere to eat!"

Tang Zheng was extremely relieved. Even if Fang Che made him pay for the meal again, he would be satisfied as long as he had someplace to rest.

He felt like death wouldn't be far away if he kept running himself ragged like this!

To his surprise, Fang Che declared, "It'll be my treat!"

Tears immediately began to well up in Tang Zheng's eyes, and he was suddenly feeling reinvigorated.

Fang Che naturally wasn't just going to settle for any mediocre restaurant. Instead, he took Tang Zheng to the highest-end restaurant in the area, and once inside, he spotted two familiar faces, namely Zhao Wushang and Zheng Yunqi.