The Unruly Immortals

"Is this person from the Astrological Bureau? Has Hong Da found him?"

Li Huowang looked at the individual before him with a solemn expression, a doll with the disproportionately large head of a little girl, the red dot on her forehead both bright and luminous, as if emitting a faint glow in the dim stable.

Since this person was with the Astrological Bureau, Li Huowang could not afford to be careless; the forthcoming proceedings might determine whether he could join or not. However, first, he had to ensure this person was not from the Oblivion Path.

Just as Li Huowang was pondering how to differentiate, the doll seemed to know what he was thinking, "Don't panic; the big Sanyuan of the Oblivion Path has just suffered a heavy loss, they'll be quiet for a while."

After careful consideration, Li Huowang slowly began to speak. "Regarding the matter of Hong Da, I also lent quite a bit of help, and I was thinking, I can do this sort of thing too, why should the reward be given to others for nothing."

Upon hearing what Li Huowang had to say, the doll swayed slightly where it stood and leaned towards Li Huowang, as a muffled voice emerged from within it.

"Joining the Astrological Bureau is simple yet difficult at the same time. There are some things, if you consider them on behalf of others, the path you walk will become much easier, do you understand what I mean?"

"Hm?" Li Huowang froze for a moment; he did not understand at first. But after a short pause, he realized this was a request for a favor.

This was good news for Li Huowang, at least they were desirous living beings.

Having been through many things, Li Huowang's expectations of others had already become very low.

A weighty Jeweled Gold Box was placed before the other party, inside which were several nuggets of gold.

"Gold?" The doll took the box in a wrinkled hand, weighed it slightly, and with a move, the gold box dropped to the ground, scattering the gold onto the floor.

Watching the doll stand motionless, Li Huowang then took his gourd from his waist and poured out five Yangshou Pills wrapped in yellow Talisman Paper.

Upon seeing the Yangshou Pills, the voice of the doll softened significantly, "Ah, Touzi, not bad, not bad."

After handing over the five Yangshou Pills, Li Huowang received in exchange an iron token about half a palm size.

On the back of the iron token was inscribed the three large characters for "Astrological Bureau," while on the front was engraved the name "Gui Zu Er Jiu."

These characters were surrounded by constellations linked together in lines, looking very intricate.

"It appears this was already prepared in advance? But isn't this going a bit too smoothly?" After examining it for a moment, Li Huowang looked back at the doll in front of him.

"May I ask, what does Gui Zu signify..."

"There's no need to discuss 'Zu.' Don't you even know what 'Gui' means? The ten heavenly stems: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui. The further down, the smaller the position. Alright, it doesn't really matter whether you know these things or not; you'll find out later. The work has come."

"Go take a look, this time it seems to be about the Oblivion Path again, and if it's true, then handle it just like you did last time for Hong Da."

The doll held an envelope sealed with a red paper strip in its hand, handing it to Li Huowang.

"The Oblivion Path? Now?" Li Huowang couldn't help but be surprised; this was much too quick.

"What, now's not good? If you don't want to take it, forget it; I'll look for another Gui Zu."

As the doll started to take back the envelope, Li Huowang caught it with his hand.

"Fine, I'll take it. May I inquire how much the reward is this time? Also, how does one get promoted within the Bureau and about exchanging some... enemy intelligence?"

As he spoke the last part, Li Huowang's heartbeat noticeably quickened; this was the reason he had joined the Astrological Bureau.

Perhaps within the Bureau, there were records of everything related to Xinsu.

"First do the work. We'll see how well you do it; capable people will get rewards. As for the details of the enemy, it's in the envelope."

Having said that, the large-headed doll turned and left towards the outside of the stables. Even though the person's body had turned away, the large doll head he was wearing remained unchanged, its ink-brushed black eyes still staring at Li Huowang.

After the large-headed doll disappeared into the back courtyard, Li Huowang gazed thoughtfully at the envelope and waist token he held in his hands.

He knew that joining the Astrological Bureau wasn't so simple, the task at hand was a test.

Only after passing the test would he officially join the Astrological Bureau, otherwise, the waist token in his hand would be nothing more than a piece of scrap iron.

"Again with Oblivion Path, is it a coincidence? Or is it deliberate? Could they also suspect that I'm from Oblivion Path and so use this to test me?"

"Does this mean that when I'm carrying out my task, the Astrological Bureau will have someone watching over me?" Li Huowang pondered, then opened the envelope to examine its contents carefully.

The content was not extensive, merely stating that according to the reports of scouts, there were signs of Oblivion Path activity in a village and that the Astrological Bureau should send someone to investigate.

The contents were standard and natural; however, on a separate sheet of paper, there was a detailed description of Oblivion Path.

Li Huowang found the classical Chinese text strenuous to read, but after struggling with it, he understood the general content.

According to the description, the origins of Oblivion Path were unknown; even the Astrological Bureau didn't know how they came to be.

All they knew was that these people did everything primarily for their amusement. To please themselves.

As long as the pleasure was great enough, they would not hesitate to gamble with their own lives.

Moreover, these people from Oblivion Path had some special method that allowed them to trick other Fate Commanders out of their power.

Li Huowang was aware of these things, but one term in particular caught his attention.

"Fate Commander? So within the Astrological Bureau, that's what they call those things behind the White Jade Capital? Why does every group have a different name?"

After going over the term in his mind, Li Huowang continued reading.

The entirety of Oblivion Path was denoted by Mahjong tile suits—dots, bamboo, characters; they were the lowest ranks within Oblivion Path.

Commanding them were the Four Winds of Oblivion Path: East Wind, West Wind, South Wind, North Wind.

Above the Four Winds were the Three Dragons: Red Dragon, White Dragon, and Green Dragon.

Even higher than the Three Dragons, it was rumored there was a Touzi controlling the entire Oblivion Path.

The reason it remained a rumor was that at least no one within the Astrological Bureau had ever seen the Touzi even once.

Oblivion Path was not just strange in name and in Divine Skills but also in the way they recruited members.

Unlike other sects, the way to join Oblivion Path was actually through deception.

They would deceive Fate Commanders, deceive others, and they even deceived themselves.

Any new members of Oblivion Path were tricked into joining by existing members. All within Oblivion Path were not only deceivers but also the deceived.

"Heh, I should have guessed. It's no surprise whatever those madmen do."

Li Huowang wanted to continue reading, but there was no more after that; the abrupt stop gave him an uncomfortable feeling of discontinuation.

A loud crowing of a rooster caused Li Huowang to look up. He discovered that it was already daylight, and he had unknowingly stood there the entire night.