As the saying goes, one could endure darkness if one had never seen light!
If Lu Ding hadn't been coming, An Wuyang would have just gritted his teeth and borne it!
But now that Lu Ding was coming, he absolutely had to lodge a complaint!!
It was just like a child who falls down or gets bullied outside; he can hold it in.
But you can't ask about it. The mont you ask, he'll cry, and the more you ask, the louder he sobs, the more he thinks about it, the more aggrieved he feels.
All his usual daily routine activities were completely abandoned by An Wuyang.
All that remained was: "Paper and pen, quick, get paper and pen!!"
Eunuch Liu hurriedly brought paper and pen.
An Wuyang began to make a list.
Who had targeted him.
Who had threatened him.
Who had killed the maids or servants in his mansion. There was no evidence, but they had privately admitted it.
Then, considering Lu Ding's temperant.
An Wuyang wrote down even more.
The whole person beca utterly imrsed in the world of lodging complaints, unable to extricate himself.
On the other side.
The border of Great Han.
Liangcheng, the area where Yukang Autonomous Region borders Great Jing.
This was Lu Ding's first ti in an Autonomous Region.
Although there was technological developnt here too, the overall atmosphere was distinctly more feudal.
On the main roads, vehicles, fine steeds, and mounts advanced side by side.
The explicitly mandated city airspace prohibition laws were utterly disregarded here.
Although it looked strange, and he was sowhat unaccustod to it, finding it a bit unpleasant to the eye.
Lu Ding was not the type to ddle in others' affairs.
Autonomous Regions had their own special managent.
These were habits ford over many years.
If the locals didn't even bother with these minor matters, then he, despite being a Special Envoy, would co across as pretentious and fake if he opened his mouth to ask about such things.
Exiting the station.
The eight hundred-strong team, openly and unabashedly wearing the 749 Bureau shoulder insignias, was particularly conspicuous, attracting many gazes.
Looking at the comings and goings of diverse pedestrians.
Long gowns, ancient attire, mixed with t-shirts and jeans; skyscrapers alongside pavilions and towers; the shouts of waiters calling out orders, loud like supermarket promotional announcents.
Lu Ding, with a mind open to novelty, found his eyes overwheld.
Until Fu Xinghe's voice sounded: "Brother Lu, the Director of the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch can't co for now."
Lu Ding's voice carried a hint of laughter as he said: "Such a big air, huh?"
Fu Xinghe adjusted his glasses: "They've been blocked, not allowed to leave."
After saying this, he tapped open a video on his phone and handed it over.
Lu Ding watched.
In the footage.
A group dressed in a mix of short sleeves and long robes blocked the entrance of the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch. A leader among them was shouting loudly.
"The Liangcheng 749 Bureau must give us an explanation!!!"
"Why aren't the spirit fields discovered on our turf shared with us!!"
"We have a stake in this too!!"
"If there's no explanation today, no one leaves today."
"Even if we......."
Below the video was a voice ssage from the Director of the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch.
[My apologies, Secretary Fu. Please inform Special Envoy Lu that I will co over as soon as I resolve the issue here. Sorry, sorry...]
The voice ssage beeped to a stop.
Lu Ding's voice sounded: "These people's courage is truly sothing else."
Fu Xinghe replied: "Brother Lu, the situations in Autonomous Regions are all quite special."
"But the current predicant of the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch is probably an extre minority even among minorities."
"After all, the developnt history of this place is rather... fantastical."
As an assistant investigator and secretary, Fu Xinghe always made sure that intelligence, the situation, and information were morized before he even arrived anywhere.
Seeing he wanted to continue.
Lu Ding started walking forward: "Since Director Huang can't co, then we can go over ourselves. We can talk while walking on the way."
No point wasting ti waiting here for an explanation before setting off.
That would be stupid!!
Knowing full well the situation was off, that things were not good, yet still leisurely waiting for an explanation, chatting it out before going—by then, the opportunity would be long gone.
Fu Xinghe caught up.
The eight hundred accompanying investigators followed them out the main gate, then uniformly took to the air.
On the way to the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch, Fu Xinghe continued: "Within the Yukang Autonomous Region, Liangcheng's position is closest to Great Jing. You only need to cross one street to reach Laicheng in Great Jing."
"So the situation is inherently complex."
"Originally, Liangcheng wasn't like this. Liangcheng started as just a small town, so it only had a 749 Bureau branch, not a full bureau. Great Jing's Laicheng also wasn't this close to Liangcheng."
"It was later, due to technological developnt and policy pushes, that the difference between our Great Han's Liangcheng and the outside Great Jing beca increasingly stark."
"People from Great Jing all wanted to sneak in. Many villages close to Liangcheng even openly moved towards Liangcheng, claiming to be Great Han citizens."
"Although they were pushed back later, these people still refused to give up, all wanting to get a piece of Liangcheng's policy and technological benefits."
"These people, or rather these forces, these families, began frantically expanding and encroaching towards Liangcheng."
"Until now, the most prosperous area of Laicheng is separated from Liangcheng by just a single street."
These things weren't Lu Ding's forte, so he had his own doubts and questions.
"Then they should have reinforced Liangcheng with more troops."
"They already have."
Fu Xinghe said: "The current Director of the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch is a Fifth Restriction Qi Refiner. Placed within Great Han's borders, that level of cultivation is absolutely not sothing that would only qualify soone to be a re branch director."
"Take our White Ridge, for example. Whether it's Deputy Director Hou or Bureau Chief Qian, they are both Fifth Restriction cultivators."
"Although the new city's situation is special, this shows that the higher-ups do place considerable importance on Liangcheng."
"And initially, no one could have predicted Liangcheng would develop this fast. Also, Brother Lu, Autonomous Regions are vast with sparse populations, managing themselves. So their judgnt of the situation can sotis be... imprecise."
Lu Ding understood his aning.
After all, Autonomous Regions existed not just in this lifeti, but in his previous one too.
They really weren't that easy to manage; the situations were too complex.
If ordinary people were like this, let alone Qi Refiners.
"Although conflicts between local forces and the 749 Bureau are common occurrences within Autonomous Regions, they're usually minor skirmishes. Once any bottom-line issues are involved, the local forces only have the option to cover their heads and crouch down."
"But this ti, I feel it's different."
"It's too coincidental. The mont we arrive, the Liangcheng 749 Bureau branch gets its door blocked. Also, my contacts on the Great Jing side haven't sent any ssages. I've even sent them ssages, and they've all been left on 'read' with no reply."
"Logically speaking, our departure ssage was sent over. They should be moving roughly in sync with us. We arrive at Liangcheng, they arrive at Laicheng, both sides et to complete the handover, then proceed together to the Great Jing Wangcheng."
"Although we ca by vehicle and they are traveling by other ans, looking at the overall territory of Great Jing, even taking the farthest distance from east to west, it's less than half the distance from our Hanjing to Liangcheng."
"Not to ntion they are setting out from the Great Jing royal capital."
"So, Brother Lu, I think this is probably a power play—a show of force—from those people in Great Jing who don't know what's good for them, who have no sense of their own limits."
Hearing Fu Xinghe say this, Lu Ding was suddenly wide awake!
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