CHAPTER 121: THE ONLY ANOMALY

"I know. It's because the way I do things is really flawed," Fang Che said. "But sometimes, I simply have no choice, given the time and circumstantial constraints imposed upon me."

"The way you do things is indeed a little rough around the edges, but it's good that you've at least identified that yourself," Dongfang Sansan said with a smile. "I've come here this time to correct your ways. Otherwise, you're going to get yourself exposed sooner or later.

“There have been far too many incidents taking place in the White Cloud Prefecture of late, and just a cursory glance is enough to tell that most of those incidents are tied to you. This trend cannot continue. In addition, I will smooth out your past to ensure that it paints the ideal picture.

“Once you reach the Church of the Self-Righteous, they will be sure to dig through your past, and given everything you've done up to this point, your facade will crack under any amount of intense scrutiny. This is something that we have to begin working on now to ensure that the Church of the Self-Righteous won't be able to find any holes in your past when they do come digging, and you need to work with us in this process as well."

"Yes, Master Nine."

"You have shown immense courage in infiltrating the One Heart Church, and you have successfully taken the first step, but you still don't have enough experience when it comes to being a double agent, and your actions and decision-making are often too rash. You must understand that not every piece of information needs to be passed up the grapevine. Otherwise, you will only be exposing yourself to more and more risk."

"I understand."

"I've also been keeping an eye on your maidservant, Ye Meng. I have assigned her with the codename of Moon Shadow. You often verbally deride her, but you've never treated her with any true cruelty, and that may arouse suspicions going forward. Also, there are many pieces of intelligence that she's managed to come by far too easily.

“Sometimes, when something's out of her reach, you go out of your way to spell it out for her, and that doesn't make sense. You deride her all the time, yet you're also constantly telling her important things, and that's an oxymoron in itself. Hence, you have to make a decision.

“Either you alter your image and paint yourself as someone who's absolutely smitten with Moon Shadow, perhaps even taking her as your concubine, or you're going to have to be very careful with how you pass information onto her in the future. If you don't exercise enough discretion, you're going to get yourself caught sooner or later."

A vexed look appeared on Fang Che's face as he said, "I've come to realize this myself, but sometimes, there are certain things that she simply can't figure out on her own. The One Heart Church always communicates through their Five Spirit Parasites, making everything really secretive, and there's no way she can access certain pieces of information unless I give them to her.

“On top of that, I have to keep my identity a secret from her for her own safety, so if I take her as my concubine, I'm worried that she'll feel as if she's been soiled, forced to marry someone from a demonic church."

"Those are all valid concerns, but you can make a compromise. For example, you can try to think of a way to set up another passage of information transfer between yourself and Moon Shadow," Dongfang Sansan suggested.

Fang Che was a little stumped.

How am I supposed to do that?

"Also, it's actually better to leave some information to marinate a little instead of sending it out right away," Dongfang Sansan continued. "Thirdly, you're always thinking about making contributions for the Protectionists, yet you've never thought about making contributions for the One Heart Church, and that has to change."

This was a very good point that Fang Che had never considered before.

Indeed, he had to start making contributions to the One Heart Church as well, as opposed to solely sucking up to Yin Shengong.

Up to this point, he had unconsciously been avoiding this as he still regarded the One Heart Church as the enemy, but his mindset had to change.

"But if I make contributions to the One Heart Church, that's inevitably going to hurt us."

"That's unavoidable, but the sacrifice will be worth it," Dongfang Sansan sighed. "Recently, we've captured all of the demonic church members who were exposed for collecting jade, so the One Heart Church barely has any underlings to call upon right now. Hence, it doesn't really matter if you supply useful information to them or not as they have no personnel to use anyway.

“However, this is not going to always remain the case as those captured demonic church members will eventually be replaced. At the moment, it doesn't matter much, given your low cultivation base, but if you continue to display a lack of usefulness even as your cultivation base grows, Yin Shengong is not going to be inclined to hold you in high regard.

“Once you graduate from the academy and go out into the world, you'll be working for both the Protectionists and the One Heart Church. Eventually, you're going to climb up the ranks in the latter, and you'll have to start making contributions for them sooner or later."

This was a harsh truth that Fang Che had to accept.

At some point, if he wanted to remain effective as an undercover agent, he would have to start striking down his own people.

"There's no need for you to be overly concerned," Dongfang Sansan consoled. "When the time comes, we will throw out the people considered to be highly suspicious or already confirmed to be traitors for you to use as fodder."

Fang Che nodded in response, but it was still with a heavy heart.

He knew that Dongfang Sansan was only saying that to console him.

How many people could they possibly have that they could conveniently hand over to him to be thrown to the wolves?

If there were so many traitors constantly running rampant among the Protectionists, then Fang Che's lack of contributions to the One Heart Church would be the least of Dongfang Sansan's concerns.

"There are also several things that I have to tell you," Dongfang Sansan continued. "Your file and Ye Meng's have both been archived by me, and all those in the know have been transferred away from their original posts to work in secret underground departments, where they'll remain for at least the next few decades. At the moment, there are only a handful of people aware of Ye Meng's identity, and all of them report directly to me."

"Thank you, Master Nine."

This came as a huge relief to Fang Che.

If Ye Meng were to be somehow compromised, then the consequences would be catastrophic, yet Dongfang Sansan had already largely eliminated that risk.

"There are also only a few people who are aware of your ties with the One Heart Church, and I've ordered them to keep this matter strictly confidential. Hence, only one person in White Cloud Warrior Academy knows, and that's Huang Yifan."

"That's not the case, Master Nine. There's a One Heart Church undercover agent among the White Cloud Warrior Academy top brass, and they're aware of my identity as well."

"I set up this big song and dance to see you precisely for that undercover agent," Dongfang Sansan said. "They'll be sure to report this matter to Yin Shengong, and not only will that put him in a state of worry and anxiety, it'll also further erase any possible suspicions or reservations that he could've still been harboring toward you."

"I see. Your foresight is truly unmatched, Master Nine."

"Yin Shengong is sure to be very concerned for your safety, and that's very beneficial to you. According to my knowledge, Yin Shengong needs you to do something for him, right?"

"He didn't tell me exactly what he needs me to do, but my guess is that he needs me to take part in the Myriad General Trials. I can't think of anything else aside from that."

"I thought as much. The Church of the Self-Righteous calls it the Parasite Ascension Project. Apparently, the project has always had a very high mortality rate, and it's often the case that less than 10% of the participants emerge alive."

"That's great news for me!" Fang Che said as his eyes lit up. "I can kill demonic church members while simultaneously claiming to be acting in the best interests of the One Heart Church!"

Dongfang Sansan was very amused to hear this, but this was indeed his original intention.

"Right now, your cultivation base is still rather lacking, and the Parasite Ascension Project is fraught with peril, so you have to grow stronger as fast as possible! Otherwise, it would be a tragedy if you were to meet your demise there."

"I understand. I'm doing my best. Yin Shengong seems to be even more desperate to see me make progress than I am!" Fang Che chuckled.

"That's because all of the One Heart Church Generals taking part in the Parasite Ascension Project are Ren Zhongyuan's people, and Ren Zhongyuan is planning to usurp Yin Shengong's position as pope," Dongfang Sansan explained. "According to my knowledge, Ren Zhongyuan has already made the necessary connections in the main church, and he's planning to use the Parasite Ascension Project as a catalyst to remove Yin Shengong. However, Yin Shengong is most likely still oblivious to this."

"I see."

"I came here today primarily to give you some advice and to inform you of the situation on our end. From this day forth, none of what I've told you today is going to change."

"I understand."

"We've been fighting the Church of the Self-Righteous for tens of thousands of years, yet ever since they began worshiping the Heavenly Centipede Deity, we've never been able to successfully plant an undercover agent among their ranks," Dongfang Sansan said in a grim voice. "Ever since the advent of the Five Spirit Parasite, it's like they've become an impregnable fortress.

“Countless noble men have tried to infiltrate the Church of the Self-Righteous at the risk of their own lives, but all of them were exposed without fail. In fact, I daresay that they were exposed from the very beginning, but the Church of the Self-Righteous only chose to kill them after they had outlived their usefulness.

“We were completely in the dark for a very long time, and things only changed after I selected a few of my closest subordinates to infiltrate the Church of the Self-Righteous on a suicide mission. They sacrificed their lives to send a final message to me right before they died, and only then was I made aware of the existence of the Five Spirit Parasite."

A grief-stricken look appeared on Dongfang Sansan's face as he spoke.

"You are the only anomaly to have emerged in tens of thousands of years, so you are more important than you could possibly imagine!"