CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68 LUOYANG REN CLAN

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"Here’s your coconut jelly milk cap."

Ren Suo stirred the milk cap with a straw and looked around the café: dark brown wooden tables and orange-yellow hanging lamps. They were sitting by the window, which was the best spot.

Although it was afternoon, there were quite a few people in the store. Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er sat opposite him, working their way through a plate of mango shaved ice.

Watching the mango juice mix into the white shaved ice, Ren Suo couldn’t help but swallow. The place seemed decent enough, but the menu wasn’t very considerate of "single dogs"—all the shaved ice servings were for two or more people. Ren Suo felt too embarrassed to share with the two girls, so he settled for the milk cap drink.

As for eating a two-person serving of shaved ice by himself, Ren Suo didn’t have the nerve for that, nor the stomach capacity.

"Don’t run away!"

Suddenly, a stern shout came from outside. Ren Suo looked over and saw a raggedly dressed man with a disheveled beard and messy hair running past the café, followed by several men wearing ’City Enforcement’ vests. They seemed to be playing a game of ’catch me if you can’ as they sprinted by.

Passersby seemed unfazed, even making way for the chase.

Ren Suo was taken aback. "In broad daylight, city management is actually snatching men?"

Li Ke’er chuckled. "What do you mean, snatching men? This is about tidying up the city’s appearance. You’re not a civil servant, so you wouldn’t know?"

Ren Suo scratched his head. "I thought city management’s tidying efforts targeted street vendors. That guy just now..."

"It’s more than that now." Xia Lingyu had lost the shyness she’d shown when they first met and was starting to display her characteristic cool composure. "It seems to have started about a week ago. City management and Public Security began joint enforcement to sort out the homeless and beggars in the Lianjiang City District. Those who should be sent to aid centers are sent there, those who need to go home are given bus tickets, and scammers are detained."

"It’s been big news these past few days. Lianjiang Public Security cracked several criminal gangs in the city district that were abducting children and using them as beggars; they even caught a few murderers disguised as beggars. Didn’t you know about this? It seems other provinces and cities are following Lianjiang’s lead, cracking down on problems related to the homeless and beggars."

Ren Suo shook his head. "These past few days... I’ve been busy with work!"

Li Ke’er seemed surprised. "I thought civil servants were supposed to be constantly up-to-date with current affairs, especially local news. Don’t you need to do research, study, or anything like that?"

"My department’s a bit special; we don’t deal with those superficial tasks." Ren Suo glanced outside and saw the homeless man from before being held by two city enforcers, one on each side, pouting unhappily as he was walked back.

The citizens seemed to approve of city management’s work—the news coverage must have had a positive impact here. After all, if the government was willing to address these societal issues at the lowest levels, what more could they ask for?

The way the two university students spoke about it made it clear that most people strongly approved of the Lianjiang Municipal Government’s actions.

Only Ren Suo would connect this to something else.

Tactical Team Two is investigating strange occurrences at the construction site, so the Demon murder case they were previously handling must have been resolved... They probably used city management and Public Security to root out the ’Starved Ghosts’ disguised as homeless people and beggars.

It looks like they decided to thoroughly eliminate any hidden dangers by rounding up all the beggars and homeless people in Lianjiang City, using administrative power to settle them. That way, if any Starved Ghost disguised as a homeless person appears in the future, it will be very obvious.

This is also the most appropriate method to find Starved Ghosts. After the Lianjiang City Tactical Bureau identifies the Demons, this method should be promoted nationwide...

"By the way, if it’s okay to ask, Senior, what department are you in?" Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er had eaten half of their shaved ice and were now getting to the point.

"I was initially planning to go into the neighborhood office," Ren Suo said, "but due to special circumstances, I now work at the Tactical Bureau, which is affiliated with the National Security Bureau."

"National Security Bureau..." Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er exchanged a glance. Ren Suo sensed a hint of pleasant surprise from them.

"I’m sorry," Li Ke’er apologized, "is it okay that you told us?"

"What I do specifically can’t be shared, but where I work is public information," Ren Suo explained. "I’m just a low-level runner, so naturally, I need to let people know my identity to do my job."

Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er nodded in understanding. The topic shifted back to the civil servant examination. Ren Suo passed the USB drive to them, briefly discussing the key points of the exam, the study timeline, and the differences between municipal, provincial, and national exams.

Li Ke’er suddenly asked, "I remember the National Security Bureau recruits directly and doesn’t publicly announce job openings. They rarely request personnel from other departments..."

Ren Suo looked at them intently. The two girls seemed unaccustomed to such an ardent gaze from a man and shyly averted their eyes.

Under normal circumstances, Ren Suo wouldn’t be so bold—but it was different when he was in a mission state.

In Ren Suo’s eyes, were Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er just girls? No! They were girls with Keys!

"Do you... want to join the National Security Bureau?" Ren Suo suddenly asked.

"We’ve considered it," Li Ke’er said candidly. "Actually, we’re also interested in the Public Security Bureau, but unfortunately, we didn’t attend the Police Academy."

"Why?"

"Hmm?"

"Girls usually prefer regular nine-to-five jobs, right? Wouldn’t it be better to work as a clerk in another department?" Ren Suo asked. "Why do you want to join National Security?"

Li Ke’er pursed her lips, seemingly contemplating a reason. Instead, it was Xia Lingyu who spoke up, "Because it’s cool!"

This reason took Ren Suo by surprise. "Cool?"

"Yes! When I go out, telling people I work for National Security—isn’t that very cool?" Xia Lingyu said this with utmost seriousness.

This time, it was Ren Suo’s turn to be silent. However, after a moment’s thought, he said, "National Security is really short-staffed right now... If someone has ’special abilities,’ perhaps they would make an exception and recruit them."

"Special abilities?" The two of them were startled. "Aren’t relevant professional skills required..."

Ren Suo smiled. "I’m just speculating; I’m not a manager... By the way, what’s your major?"

"History."

"It’s quite rare for girls to choose that major."

"We’re having some regrets, actually, thinking about switching majors..."

After he mentioned ’special abilities,’ Ren Suo noticed the two girls stopped pressing about the National Security Bureau, which made him even more certain.

They both must be Awakeners!

Ren Suo had always pondered the characteristics of Key holders: Yu Kuangtu, Li Dan, Mo Zhaolong, Yao Fei, Wu Jianming, Qiao Muyi... Some were Cultivators, some were Awakeners. Cultivators could be recognized at a glance, but Awakeners could not!

Awakeners look no different from ordinary people unless they use their Awakening Spiritual Energy Technique!

Neither Wu Jianming nor Mo Zhaolong had previously been Cultivators. Both owned Keys and were Awakeners! Based solely on this, Ren Suo was fairly certain that Keys were linked to Awakeners.

Though Qiao Muyi had yet to show any signs of being an Awakener, this didn’t mean she wasn’t one.

As for Yu Kuangtu and Yao Fei, being powerful individuals within the Tactical Bureau, it was highly likely they were Awakeners as well.

With this reasoning, Ren Suo could almost confirm that the two female university students before him were likely Awakeners.

They hadn’t given Ren Suo that heart-fluttering sensation until he interacted with them and discovered clues through the Key Search System, probably because the Keys they possessed were not yet fully formed.

Keys not yet fully formed... Could it mean their Awakening Abilities weren’t fully developed yet?

And in cases like Qiao Muyi, Yu Kuangtu, Li Dan, and Yao Fei, could it be that their Awakening Abilities were fully developed, reaching the ’One-Star’ level, which was why they exuded such a strong temptation for Ren Suo?

However, Ren Suo found that they genuinely wanted to join National Security, or more precisely, the public service system.

Thinking about Mo Zhaolong, Ren Suo quickly understood their reasoning—as Awakeners, they wanted to hide deep within the state machinery, awaiting the government’s arrangements and dispositions for Awakeners.

It’s a normal human sentiment. Aside from a few Awakeners who call the police as soon as they Awaken, most, after calming down, either act as if nothing has happened, use their Awakening Abilities to commit crimes or start businesses, or wait to see how things develop.

Most people fell into the third category. They were unwilling to give up their abilities and didn’t want to commit crimes. However, finding no entrepreneurial avenues for their abilities, they would wait to see if the country would enact relevant policies or if they might one day encounter some kind of organization for those with supernatural powers.

And becoming a civil servant was naturally the best way to get insight into national policy.

They wouldn’t voluntarily expose themselves unless they were sure the country would treat Awakeners well. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust the country; they just lacked a channel to pledge their allegiance that could guarantee their rights.

What if they rashly revealed themselves and encountered bad people?

But as far as Ren Suo knew, the country’s plans for Awakeners and Cultivators were advancing swiftly—the non-stop activity in their Tactical Bureau every day was proof enough.

Entering the era of Spiritual Energy Technology was the inevitable trend. The country would sooner or later announce information about Cultivators and Awakeners, building a complete cultivation system for all Cultivators and Awakeners to join, subject to national management and integration.

With this in mind, Ren Suo didn’t reveal any more information. He vaguely told them to ’wait a bit longer, as the civil service recruitment situation might change.’ Then, acting as a senior, he chatted with them about university life, aiming to get closer and prepare to extract Key information later...

"By the way, your surname is Ren? That’s a really powerful surname," Li Ke’er said with a smile.

Between Xia Lingyu and Li Ke’er, although Xia Lingyu looked rather tomboyish, it was actually Li Ke’er who was more outgoing and enjoyed chatting.

Ren Suo shrugged. "It’s also a rather uncommon surname. Growing up, only my relatives shared it with me."

"Oh—by the way, Senior, where are you from originally?" Li Ke’er suddenly asked, as if she had remembered something.

Ren Suo replied, "Fufeng, in Lian Province. Why?"

"Ha!" Li Ke’er suddenly became excited, pulling Xia Lingyu’s arm and laughing. "Xiaoyu, our Senior is from that Ren Family Teacher Cheng mentioned!"

"What Ren Family?" Ren Suo was confused.

"Oh, in one of the history electives we took at university, there was a class about the Late Eastern Han Dynasty. The lecturer, Teacher Cheng, once mentioned a mysterious family that only appeared in unofficial historical notes but had connections with many warlords and famous figures."

Li Ke’er explained, "That was the Luoyang Ren Family. Although the Luoyang Ren Family no longer exists as such, the descendants of the original family spread to various places and their lineage has continued to this day, including the Fofeng Ren Clan, the Changlong Ren Clan, and the Tai An Ren Clan."

Ren Suo was stunned. He now recalled that a year ago when he visited his hometown, the village was indeed named Ren Family Village, and the ancestral hall was quite large...

"Senior, your ancestors might belong to an ancient and illustrious large clan!"