At this moment, inside one of the shops on Cold Frost Street.
Dozens of shop owners huddled together, each with a furrowed brow, as if the world was about to end.
"Did he... really ask for an exact replica of the 'peach'?" one of the shop owners tentatively asked.
"Yes."
"He said the same to me."
"When he handed over that heart, it was still dripping blood... I was almost scared to the point of fainting, you know??"
"But... where are we supposed to get him a human heart?!"
"He doesn't want us to perform some kind of human sacrifice, does he?"
"...This is really strange. The previous law enforcer was tyrannical and arrogant, but at least money could solve the problem. But, but this Chen Yifei... why does he need a human heart?"
"Today, my neighbor told me they saw Chen Yifei walking on the street, eating a heart in just a few bites..."
"!!!"
Hearing this, everyone's eyes widened, and the image of Chen Yifei grinning and tearing apart a heart popped into their minds... The temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
Gulp.
It was unclear who swallowed their saliva.
The more timid shop owners even started shaking.
"Does he... like eating human hearts? Isn't that something demons in storybooks do??"
"He doesn't like eating them. Why would he carry a big bag of human hearts on the road?"
"So... where did he get all those human hearts from?"
"...Wait, you're making it sound even weirder."
Uncle Zhao, who had been silently sitting in the corner, couldn't help but speak up, "I know Yifei well. I've watched him grow up since he was a child. He's a good kid... How could he be as sinister as you all say? Did you all see wrong?"
"Impossible! So many of us saw it!"
"What do you think... should we report it to the law enforcers?"
"Are you crazy? Report it to the law enforcers? Chen Yifei is a law enforcer himself! Do you also want him to dig out your heart and eat it on the street?"
The shop owner who made the suggestion shivered and immediately fell silent.
"What should we do next... We can't really get him a human heart, can we?"
"..."
Everyone spoke in turns, and the atmosphere of panic and confusion grew thicker. In the end, no one spoke anymore, but instead lowered their heads and didn't say anything, seemingly considering whether they should move away...
But even if they moved, where could they go? Could they afford houses in other streets?
"Alright," the oldest shop owner spoke slowly, "offering human hearts is definitely not possible... Mr. Xiao, you're in the slaughtering business, right? Let's get him a few pig and chicken hearts first and see how he reacts..."
"Pig and chicken hearts? Will that work?"
"What else can we do? We can't get him the kind of 'peach' he wants..."
"Let's see how it goes first. Everyone, whatever happens, don't provoke him. I have a预感 that he's more ferocious than any law enforcer we've seen before..."
"Understood."
...
Chen Yifei waited until nightfall, but the peach never arrived.
"What could be the problem... Why does it take so long to buy a few peaches?" Chen Yifei couldn't figure it out.
Just as he was about to rise and close the door to go back to his room and rest, a figure walked to his doorstep.
Seeing the person's appearance, Chen Yifei's eyes slightly narrowed...
"Officer Han Meng? Why are you here again?"
Han Meng wasn't wearing his black coat with four stripes today but was in casual clothes. Maybe because of this, Chen Yifei didn't feel oppressed by him this time, as if the person standing before him was just an ordinary young man.
"I'm here to deliver a document... Your quota to go to the Ancient Relic of the Path of Warfare has been approved," Han Meng said calmly, holding a piece of paper between his fingertips. "What? Won't you invite me in for a seat?"
Chen Yifei hesitated for a moment but then stood up and made way.
If it were before, Chen Yifei wouldn't have let Han Meng into his house, but after hearing those things at the headquarters today, his impression of Han Meng had changed.
Han Meng naturally sat down by the table, glanced at the neatly stacked law enforcer uniforms beside him, and casually asked,
"How does it feel to be a law enforcer on the first day?"
"The power of a law enforcer is greater than I imagined," Chen Yifei said faintly. "I'm not used to it."
"It's normal. Many people, when they first become law enforcers, get carried away by the sudden power and benefits and become corrupt... You haven't, and I didn't misjudge you."
"How do you know I haven't?"
Han Meng looked at the still leaky house and didn't speak.
"Of course, being too weak is also not a good thing. It will make the public think you're easy to bully. You must establish authority appropriately..."
Han Meng was halfway through his sentence when a figure riding a bike happened to pass by Chen Yifei's doorstep. Maybe because the entrance was too slippery, he fell down with a thud.
He cursed and was about to ride away, but when he saw the house and Chen Yifei inside, his face changed instantly!
"Sorry! Officer Chen Yifei!! I disturbed your rest... Really sorry!!"
Without saying another word, he knelt down and kowtowed three times with a loud bang.
Then he scrambled up from the snow, ran away from the alley as if escaping for his life, leaving a bicycle spinning empty at Chen Yifei's doorstep...
Han Meng: ...?
"..." Han Meng was silent for a long time. "Your authority... is quite impressive."
Chen Yifei recognized that the man who had fled in a hurry just now was the shop owner he met in the afternoon. He had even given him a peach... But he couldn't understand why the other person saw him as if he had seen a ghost.
"Let's talk about the matter first."
Han Meng handed the document to Chen Yifei. "Tomorrow at noon, meet with the other law enforcers at the headquarters of District Three and prepare to set off for the Ancient Relic of the Path of Warfare."
"So fast?"
It had only been a couple of days since the martial exam ended. He had just put on the law enforcer's uniform, and he was already arranged to go to the Ancient Relic of the Path of Warfare?
"Originally, the time for the Ancient Relic of the Path of Warfare to open every year is three months later, but this year is somewhat exceptional," Han Meng paused. "Yesterday, Districts Five and Six encountered a large-scale Gray Boundary intersection, and a fifth-order calamity emerged. Almost all the law enforcers in those two districts were killed..."
"There's another Gray Boundary intersection?" Chen Yifei exclaimed in surprise. "Isn't it rare for Gray Boundary intersections to occur within the human realm?"
"It was in the past, but recently... the Aurora Realm is somewhat abnormal."
Chen Yifei recalled that Chu Muyun had also said something like this before. The once-in-a-decade heavy rainstorm not long ago had caused a Gray Boundary intersection at the mass grave, and the continuous heavy snow in recent days had triggered a large-scale intersection in Districts Five and Six... It seemed that every chaotic astronomical phenomenon would trigger an intersection.
"Is it related to astronomical phenomena?" Chen Yifei asked tentatively.
"Maybe," Han Meng's eyes slightly narrowed as if he thought of something. "And... the Twilight Society has also appeared."
Upon hearing the three words "Twilight Society," Chen Yifei's heart stirred, and he asked casually,
"Twilight Society? What is that?"