Yan Qing might have been in the middle of a class; the call request page kept ringing without being answered. After hanging up, Li Xiao sent him a text message inquiring about the plum blossom wine.

“Did the garrison base that was bombed seventy-six years ago relocate, or was it rebuilt on its original site?” Song Jin flipped through a map, asking offhandedly.

Li Xiao opened the military management system to search for relevant information.

“Rebuilt on its original site.”

Judging by the funding allocation and construction timeline back then, the extent of the damage wasn’t as severe as they had imagined.

Li Xiao remarked, “If heavy weapons of mass destruction were also blocked on both sides back then, they wouldn’t have been able to inflict much damage.”

Song Jin countered, “So they hacked at each other with kitchen knives, yet managed to wipe out the Golden Oriole Legion—the military’s number one force at the time—in a complete team wipe?”

Li Xiao looked toward those photos and videos floating in the air.

Although the captured information was extremely limited, judging from Golden Oriole’s scale and operational deployment, even if they couldn’t win, they shouldn’t have lost so thoroughly on a one-sided basis.

Li Xiao guessed, “They might have been ambushed by the Meng family.”

Song Jin asked, “You mean the Meng family might have been prepared all along?”

If the Meng family had been prepared all along, why would they bomb a residential area knowing Golden Oriole was coming?

Li Xiao knit his brows, feeling a slight headache coming on.

The leads in hand were still far too few.

Song Jin was currently browsing through a message sent by his dad when his waist was suddenly wrapped in an arm, and a large head rested on his shoulder.

The warm breath brushing past his neck felt a bit ticklish. Song Jin tilted his head to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

Li Xiao said, “Inhaling cat scent to decompress.”

Alpha pheromones naturally repelled one another, and with his unusually sharp sense of smell, he had disliked being too close to others since childhood—especially those Alphas with poor self-control. While it wasn’t enough to make him irritable enough to want to hit someone, it was still uncomfortable.

Only Song Jin’s pheromones were an exception.

He could still feel the mutual repulsion—and because of Song Jin’s extremely high pheromone rank, that sense of repulsion was even stronger—yet he liked it immensely.

Perhaps it was precisely this repulsive force that would never obediently submit to him that made him sink in so deeply.

“I’ll help you decompress.”

The next moment after hearing Song Jin say this, Li Xiao was pushed back, a paw probing toward his waistband.

Li Xiao grabbed his hand. “Why are you pulling my pants off to decompress?”

Song Jin’s beautiful eyes looked at him, a slight smile spreading across his lips. “What do you think?”

Li Xiao: “…”

This kid flirting unintentionally is really fatal.

Li Xiao retorted using the phrase Song Jin often used: “You might as well give me a kiss instead.”

“No way,” Song Jin rejected flatly. “Facing this face of yours right now, I can’t bring myself to kiss it.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Should he be happy or sad about that?

Song Jin added, “But I’m familiar with what’s below—I can handle that.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Before the cat cub could continue uttering more shocking words, Li Xiao pulled him up by the hand. “Let’s go for a walk outside.”

Song Jin deliberately asked, “Then what about your stress?”

Li Xiao said with a straight face, “Lied to you. Zero stress.”

Song Jin: “…”

His mouth is so stubborn.

Outside, the sky gradually darkened. Li Xiao drove the car, aimlessly circling above District 68 with Song Jin, wanting to see if they could chance upon a few more leads.

The terminal vibrated; Li Xiao had 09 project the message.

Yan Qing: [The plum blossom wine was taught by my grandfather’s teacher. I heard from my grandfather that both my grandfather and Vice Admiral Wei Feng loved to drink it.]

Li Xiao: [What was that teacher’s name?]

A few minutes later, Yan Qing’s video call request came through.

Li Xiao signaled 09 to accept. The popped-up window displayed Yan Qing’s astonished face.

“Teacher Yan?”

Yan Qing said, “I just asked my grandfather. That teacher was Major General Zhan Qiming.”

“So it really was him.” Song Jin rested his chin on his hand. “Did the elderly gentleman say anything else?”

Yan Qing answered, “I haven’t had the chance to ask further yet. Once classes end this afternoon, I’ll find some time to have a proper chat with my grandfather.”

Li Xiao rested one hand on the steering wheel, looking through the front windshield toward the distant garrison base. “Ask him how their relationship was back then, whether any unexpected turns occurred before Zhan Qiming died, and if anything happened between Wei Feng and Zhan Qiming—no matter how small, note down everything he knows.”

Yan Qing agreed, glanced at his office door, and lowered his voice: “You two stay safe. I’ll hang up now.”

Li Xiao replied, “Mm.”

After driving around for two hours, Li Xiao parked the car in the residential district and went out to walk the streets with Song Jin to try their luck.

It wasn’t even nine o’clock at night yet, and the streets were bustling with life. Various snack stalls lined the alleys, with many people coming and going, creating a thick atmosphere of daily life.

Song Jin sniffed the aromas and looked around, picking out a suitable dessert stall to hit up.

“It looks unclean—you won’t be used to eating it.” Li Xiao pulled him back to his side.

Song Jin didn’t care in the slightest. “I have a built-in detoxification chip; even taking a gulp of poison would be fine.”

Li Xiao countered, “Drinking poison might be fine, but eating bad food will definitely give you diarrhea.”

Song Jin: “…”

As they walked, a flyer was suddenly thrust before them. Before Li Xiao could speak to refuse, he caught sight of a pair of grayish-green eyes on the flyer by chance and accepted it offhandedly.

The man on the flyer was wearing exaggerated priest-like attire, with red and green stripes painted on his face, hands pressed together before his chest in a posture of prayer.

“Gaofeng race sacrificial performance?” Song Jin took a glance. “There’s this kind of show too?”

“Mm,” Li Xiao explained while looking, “Various races have different sacrificial customs, but those were from a long time ago. Most sacrificial events nowadays are commercial performances aimed at profit.”

“What do Gaofeng race sacrifices do?” Song Jin asked.

“Generally the three-piece set: praying to gods, dancing, and chanting scriptures—all much the same.” Li Xiao looked it over; the performance time was tomorrow evening. “Want to go take a look?”

Song Jin had little interest in things involving ghosts and gods, but since it pertained to the Gaofeng race, he still nodded in agreement.

There would likely be many people from the Gaofeng race attending to watch, so perhaps they could gather some information.

Tickets for the sacrificial performance needed to be purchased online. Li Xiao used a secondary terminal to buy tickets and soon received a confirmation prompt:

[Respected Customer, please head to No. 45 Changming Street before 6:00 PM tomorrow to board Train L954 to the performance venue—Luminous Island.]

“So grand?” Song Jin opened a map to check the location. “I thought it was something watched standing by the roadside.”

Li Xiao was also somewhat surprised. In his years of traveling and studying abroad, he had rarely encountered such a large-scale sacrificial performance.

“Flying over there takes two whole hours,” Song Jin circled the location of Luminous Island on the map, and many annotations automatically popped up underneath.

This was a privately owned small island that had been developed into a tourist resort, fully equipped with food, drinks, and entertainment; judging from the photos, the scenery looked quite nice.

The following afternoon, Li Xiao’s secondary terminal received a message from Jiang Chi—the other party had already arrived in Z152.

They set off an hour early to meet up with Jiang Chi near Changming Street.

“Where is he at?” Song Jin sat in the passenger seat, taking a bottle of water, twisting it open, and taking a sip.

Li Xiao looked at the message. “He says he’s already nearby.”

Song Jin looked left and right, noticing an Alpha walking over from across the street. Pulling down his sunglasses to take a close look, he confirmed it was Jiang Chi.

“How come this old guy looks like a completely different person?”

Li Xiao looked in the direction Song Jin was pointing.

Jiang Chi sported a hedgehog haircut, wearing a jacket, long pants, and a pair of worn-out short boots that looked like they had been picked out of a trash heap—his usual style, except his complexion was overly pale, making this six-foot-two burly man appear strangely weak and frail.

Song Jin rested his arm casually on the car window and hooked a finger toward Jiang Chi.

Both of them had disguised themselves, so Jiang Chi didn’t recognize them at a single glance. However, seeing that they were both looking at him, he understood in his heart and sat in the backseat without hesitation.

“Are you sick?” Li Xiao looked through the rearview mirror at Jiang Chi in the backseat. “Your face looks so terrible?”

Jiang Chi wiped the sweat off his face. “Don’t even mention it. I have crowd anxiety—coming to a proper place like this makes my whole body feel miserable!”

“Need to be this nervous?” Song Jin pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it over. “Since we dare to have you come, we have the capability to protect you.”

Jiang Chi took the water and chugged down half the bottle in one go.

“Why did you call me over here anyway? Where’s Haohao?”

Li Xiao started the car and drove out. “He went back to school first. I have other matters for him to handle.”

Jiang Chi clicked his tongue. “Looks like both of us brothers have fallen into your hands.”

Li Xiao countered, “Wasn’t it you who wanted him to get citizenship status?”

Jiang Chi choked.

Unable to refute.

Song Jin gave a slight laugh. “You went through so much trouble to get Jiang Hao citizenship status, but you don’t have it yourself. Are you planning never to see each other for the rest of your lives?”

Jiang Chi leaned against the backrest of the rear seat, his voice sounding somewhat faint and lacking strength: “I can’t go see him, but he can come see me.”

“The Snow Leopards are doing pretty well at the border—why did Jiang Hao have to leave?” Song Jin asked offhandedly.

“What’s good about that ghost of a place?” Jiang Chi tilted his neck up and rubbed his throbbing temples. “I can’t leave, but Haohao can. He’s different from me.”

Song Jin raised an eyebrow. “How is he different?”

Jiang Chi was just about to speak, but the words reached the tip of his tongue and he suddenly couldn’t recall them at all. He could only bite the bullet and finish, “It’s hard to find a partner in the regiment.”

Song Jin: “…”

Li Xiao: “…”

Did you not know that kid Jiang Hao already has a whole bunch of wives?

The car stopped at No. 45 Changming Street, where a floating train station was located nearby.

Before getting off, Song Jin threw some disguise items to Jiang Chi, telling him to spruce himself up.

“Where are we heading anyway?” Jiang Chi rummaged through the box, pulling out fake facial hair to stick onto his face.

Li Xiao said, “Going to see a performance first.”

Jiang Chi looked at the flyer handed to him, a thoroughly complex expression on his face.

“Having me travel thousands of miles just to watch this? A ticket costs three thousand?! He could have just robbed people directly, yet he insists on making you watch a sacrificial show.”

Song Jin said lazily, “Your ticket won’t be reimbursed.”

Jiang Chi: “…”

Is it still in time for him to go home now?

When they arrived at the station, there were already quite a few people waiting.

Li Xiao paid special attention to their eyes and didn’t spot a single member of the Gaofeng race; judging by their attire, most were tourists.

After boarding the train, the three found their corresponding carriage seats and sat down.

At precisely six o’clock, a departure announcement sounded inside the train.

The entire trip took two hours, mostly passing by scenic spots. Song Jin sat by the window enjoying the beautiful sunset scenery while accepting Li Xiao’s feeding.

Li Xiao fed him while admiring his beauty.

The gentle light of the setting sun spilled over Song Jin, coating his entire person in a soft layer of golden light. Even with a disguise on, he was still so handsome that one couldn’t take their eyes off him.

Born into the royal family and having served as king in his past life, Li Xiao had seen many beauties, but had never felt his heart flutter.

He considered himself not someone who could be tempted by beauty, but looking at it now, it might have just been that his standards were too high and he hadn’t met someone he liked yet.

Noticing Li Xiao’s gaze, Song Jin turned his head to look at him. “So good-looking that you’re staring blankly?”

Li Xiao lied without batting an eye, “Thinking about something.”

Song Jin asked, “What thing?”

Just as Li Xiao was planning to make something up, conversations from nearby seats reached his ears.

“I wondered why it was moved up this time—last time Raven attacked His Majesty, it must have enraged the priest, right?”

“Definitely! The Bique race killed so many people of the Gaofeng race, how could they endure that?”

“So pitiable; they can only express their dissatisfaction through performances.”

“The Bique race is far too evil—I really hope the military can catch those people this time! Don’t let them out to cause chaos again!”

“Rest assured, the High Priest possesses formidable divine power; he will definitely bring that bunch from the Bique race to justice!”

As they spoke, these people pressed their palms together and began silently chanting something. Even with hearing as keen as Li Xiao’s, he couldn’t decipher what they were saying—it sounded like a strange scriptural text.

“They are all wearing accessories with the same pattern,” Song Jin said in a lowered voice.

Jiang Chi had been dragged into this completely out of the loop. Hearing this, he scanned the surroundings—and indeed, it was true.

The earrings, rings, bracelets, or necklaces of those people all bore a small round plate printed with a flying bird crossed out with an “X”.

Looking at this scene, Li Xiao suddenly remembered the cult resurfacing mentioned by Gao Cheng.

Could it be that they had accidentally stumbled into a thieves’ den again?

As they approached Luminous Island, singing could be heard from afar, with various lights enhancing the entire small island’s atmospheric vibe.

The entrance to the sacrificial performance was at the foot of the mountain, with a passage leading all the way inside the mountain body.

Song Jin was thoroughly devoid of interest. “Spoilsport. I thought it would be on the beach.”

If it really proved terrible to watch, one could at least look at the natural scenery.

Li Xiao said, “After it ends, I’ll accompany you outside to take a look.”

Song Jin agreed, “Then it’s a deal.”

Li Xiao chuckled, “Could I possibly leave you behind and run off alone?”

Jiang Chi: “…”

Was he absolutely required to play the third wheel here?

The interior of the mountain body was basically hollowed out, with intricate and complex passages. Following the prompts, the three took a lifting elevator up to the seventeenth floor.

Outside was a very long metal corridor, with room doors lined up in sequence along the right side.

Li Xiao looked it over; each door was spaced roughly ten meters apart.

They found the room door number corresponding to their ticket and pushed it open. Ten seats were placed inside the room across two rows—by the looks of it, this was where they would watch the performance.

The side directly facing the room door was a floor-to-ceiling glass window, though at the moment, outside the glass window was pitch black, devoid of anything to see.

They sat down in the back row. People entered the room one after another, and the seats were quickly filled.

When eight-thirty in the evening arrived, a gentle female voice sounded through the voice-activated sound system—

[The sacrifice is about to begin. Please everyone return to your seats as soon as possible.]

With a snap, the space outside the floor-to-ceiling glass suddenly lit up as bright as day, revealing a massive space, where countless stone sculptures of birds surfaced on the domed ceiling.

The movements of them flapping their feathers were fierce and gruesome, assuming a posture of diving downward, their wide-open beaks looking as if they were about to swallow everything below.

Li Xiao and Song Jin knit their brows at the same time.

These statues—from posture to movement to species and arrangement—were identical to the hall in that abandoned base they had visited previously!

A subtle movement came from nearby. Li Xiao noticed that Jiang Chi had suddenly stood up, staring blankly outside the floor-to-ceiling window, his expression extremely complex—