18: Chapter 18: The Enforcement Hall's First Warning

Life on Hengchuan Peak had slightly improved. This improvement was like a wisp of smoke rising from ashes; although faint, it appeared exceptionally glaring against the pitch-black background surrounding it.

Especially for the neighboring peaks that were just as dirt-poor but still forced to swallow high war debts, this wisp of smoke was practically rubbing salt into their wounds.

"Have you heard? Hengchuan Peak changed their lights again last night."

On the way to deliver supplies to Zhijian Peak, several Outer Sect Disciples huddled together, their tones full of sour jealousy.

"Those Spirit Stone night-lights—even our Main Peak's Senior Brother only dares to use two in his study. They, on the other hand, hang them all over the mountain like they're free."

"It's more than just the lights."

Another person lowered their voice and said mysteriously, "I heard their cafeteria's porridge has had minced meat in it these past few days! Minced meat! I've almost forgotten what meat tastes like."

"Aren't they bankrupt? Where did they get the money?"

"Hmph, where else could it come from?"

A mean-looking Disciple sneered, "It must be that thing we talked about a few days ago. They're running that 'performance' thing, and they sent that brother surnamed Gu to be sacrificed early. They must have split the resources they saved."

"Really? That's too dark, isn't it?"

"How could it be fake? Haven't you seen the Law Enforcement Hall investigating lately? This kind of 'killing the goose that lays the golden eggs' scheme is exactly what that newcomer 'Assessment Shen' would do."

The rumors grew wings and, carried by the mountain breeze, drifted back to Hengchuan Peak somehow.

Shen Xingzhou stood at the entrance of the Scrapyard, listening to the fragments of conversation carried on the wind, his expression so gloomy it could drip water.

He knew that benefits were a double-edged sword.

They could unite people, but they could also invite jealousy. In this zero-sum game of a Sect, if you drink one more mouthful of porridge, it means someone else eats one mouthful less.

If others can't eat, they will think about smashing your bowl.

Just then, a wave of Spiritual Pressure carrying Evil Qi suddenly descended from the sky, slamming heavily in front of the Hengchuan Peak mountain gate.

Hum— The mountain protection Formation let out an overwhelmed groan.

Shen Xingzhou looked up to see three pitch-black Law Enforcement flying boats hovering in mid-air, with several Law Enforcement Hall Disciples wearing black iron armor standing on the bows.

The leader held a black command flag in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the area below like a hawk.

"By order of the Law Enforcement Hall, a routine Audit!"

The man's voice, laced with Spiritual Qi, echoed through the valley.

"Everyone on Hengchuan Peak, stop what you are doing and gather at the mountain gate plaza immediately!"

Peak Master Luo Qingyi was lying on a coffin lid at the entrance of her Immortal Cave, sunbathing. Hearing this voice, she didn't even lift an eyelid; she simply turned over and wrapped her tattered cloak tighter around herself.

"Again?"

She yawned, her voice lazy, "Didn't a group of debt collectors just come yesterday?"

"This time is different."

The leading Law Enforcement Disciple looked at her coldly, his eyes filled with a sense of superiority, "This is a 'comprehensive routine Audit' personally issued by the Sect's Grand Elder. It targets the recent abnormal war damage and Karma flow of each peak."

"Especially your Hengchuan Peak."

The man shifted his gaze, staring straight at Shen Xingzhou, who had just arrived from the Scrapyard.

"War damage plummeted, benefits skyrocketed. If there's nothing fishy here, not even a ghost would believe it."

Half an hour later, in the simple main hall of Hengchuan Peak, the atmosphere was suffocating.

More than a dozen Law Enforcement Disciples lined both sides, and sitting in the middle was an old man with a sinister face—not Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai himself, but his Personal Disciple, Zhao Su.

And floating directly above the hall was a massive magical light screen, which was a remote projection of Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai.

Shen Xingzhou stood in the center of the hall, holding a stack of reports he had just organized. He did not kneel, his back straight.

"Shen Xingzhou."

Zhao Su flipped through the records in his hand, his brows furrowing tighter, "Explain this. Over the past half-month, the war damage rate for Hengchuan Peak's field missions has been zero. This hasn't happened once in the last ten years."

"Are you Cultivating, or are you playing house?"

"Replying to the Law Enforcement Hall Senior Brother,"

Shen Xingzhou answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, "We have formulated a new 'Standard Operating Procedure for Field Missions', or SOP. We only accept tasks with controllable risks, strictly execute tactical coordination, and reject individual heroism."

"Excuses."

Zhao Su snorted coldly and threw the record onto the table, "Then what about this? The resentment monitoring shows that your peak's resentment value has always been very high, even exceeding some peaks that are about to be sacrificed. But strangely, there hasn't been a single riot, not even any large-scale fights."

"What does this mean? It means you are using some method to suppress the people's hearts! This is raising Gu!"

Shen Xingzhou's heart skipped a beat. High resentment but no riots? Of course there were no riots; it was all used to trade for light bulbs and meat. But could he say that? Saying it would be courting death.

"This is just... discipline."

Shen Xingzhou remained calm, "We use strict performance assessments to consume everyone's energy in Cultivating and working, so they have no extra strength to riot."

"Excuses, all excuses."

In the light screen overhead, Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai's projection suddenly spoke. That aged voice carried a heart-palpitating chill that pierced through the light screen and stabbed directly at Shen Xingzhou's Soul.

"Shen Xingzhou, you, a third-class servant in the Spirit Gathering Realm, know how to do these things? SOP? Performance assessment?"

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai's murky eyes stared fixedly at him, as if trying to see through his Soul, "Is there some Great Master guiding you from behind? Or... did you take benefits from some faction and deliberately run these messy pilot programs on Hengchuan Peak?"

Cold sweat seeped from Shen Xingzhou's palms, but his face maintained that calm, unflappable expression.

"Elder, you flatter me. These are just things this Disciple fumbled around with just to survive. After living for so long, one naturally wants to live a few more days."

"Hmph."

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai sneered, "The reduction in war damage counts as you having some ability, so I won't pursue it. But—"

His tone suddenly shifted, and he tapped his finger in the Void Realm. A massive chart unfolded before Shen Xingzhou. It was the [Karma Flow Chart].

"Explain this."

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai pointed at several abnormal curves on it, "This entry, 'Scrapyard Formation Repair Contribution', why is it recorded under Hengchuan Peak? Clearly, it was the Zhijian Peak Disciples who killed the Yao Beasts in that area; logically, the Karma for cleaning up the battlefield should belong to Zhijian Peak."

"And this one, 'Implicit Karma for Maintaining Sect Order', what kind of nonsense is this? I have never seen such a Karma category."

Shen Xingzhou looked at those red lines, his heart tightening sharply. This was indeed the System's fault. The System automatically converted "resource saving" and "maintaining stability" into Karma, which simply did not exist in the Sect's old account books. Once he couldn't explain it, it would be "private Karma" or "fake Karma", which was a grave crime.

"What? Can't explain it?"

Zhao Su pressed him from the side, "Shen Xingzhou, this is a grave crime of deceiving the Sect and betraying one's ancestors. Have you thought about how you want to die?"

Shen Xingzhou's mind raced. To stand firm now would be a dead end.

Just at this critical moment, the System interface suddenly popped up a light green text box. There was no alert sound, only lines of clear text floating before his eyes like a lifebuoy.

[Logical gap detected, initiating "Crisis PR" plan.]

[Karma Flow Explanation Draft (Generated)]

Regarding "Scrapyard Formation Repair": Core Explanation: Indirect contribution. Script: "The Zhijian Peak Disciples killing the Yao Beasts is the 'Cause', and us repairing the Formation to prevent the spread of Demonic Qi is the 'Effect'. Without our subsequent repairs, the Demonic Qi would backlash, causing Zhijian Peak's battle results to be greatly diminished. This is the necessary Karma for the 'downstream of the industrial chain', in accordance with the Heavenly Dao's 'Law of Karma'."

Regarding "Implicit Karma for Maintaining Sect Order": Core Explanation: System stability maintenance. Script: "The Sect is a large Formation, and every peak is a corner of the Formation. Although we are poor, we are not chaotic; although the resentment is high, we worked. This is 'Stability'. Stability is the greatest Karma for the Sect. Other peaks may be strong, but they are all rioting; we are the stabilizer."

Looking at these two paragraphs, Shen Xingzhou almost laughed out loud in front of the Law Enforcement Hall. This System was not only an accountant but also a master of sophistry. Calling "picking up trash" "industrial chain maintenance", and calling "being scolded but not daring to resist" a "Sect stabilizer". This logic was simply impeccable.

He took a deep breath, lifted his head, and his eyes became incomparably firm.

"Replying to the Elder, this is not embezzling Karma, but a 'new growth point' we discovered."

Shen Xingzhou pointed at the chart and spoke eloquently: "Elder, think about it: the Zhijian Peak killing the Yao Beasts is only the first step. If the Yao Beast remains are not handled, the Demonic Qi scattered by the wind will pollute the mountain spirits, causing the Sect's Spiritual Pressure to drop. Our Hengchuan Peak voluntarily took on the dirtiest and most tiring 'follow-up processing' work, repaired the Formation, and purified the Spiritual Qi."

"Is this not Karma? This is the Karma of 'maintenance', the Karma of 'Karma'."

He paused and continued: "As for 'maintaining order', that is even more obvious. Now the Sect is in turmoil; how many peaks are panicked because of war debt issues, even having incidents of master-killing and desertion? And our Hengchuan Peak, although poor and bitter, the Disciples follow their routines every day, and not a single one has escaped."

"We have transformed this resentment into the driving force for building up the peak."

"This is 'Stability'. A stable Hengchuan Peak is more beneficial to the Sect than a turbulent but wealthy Hengchuan Peak."

The hall was dead silent. The Law Enforcement Disciples looked at each other, seemingly stunned by this set of crooked logic. Even Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai's projection was silent for a moment.

"Stability..."

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai chewed on this word in a low voice, his eyes flickering. He was an extreme pragmatist, but he feared chaos even more. If Shen Xingzhou could really appease this flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, making them work obediently and die obediently, that would indeed be much better than a mutiny.

"Empty words."

After a long time, Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai snorted coldly, but did not expose him on the spot, "The logic is self-consistent."

He put away the chart, and his gaze landed on Shen Xingzhou for the last time. That look was deeper than before, carrying a trace of unfathomable vigilance.

"Shen Xingzhou, you are a clever person. But I warn you, examples of 'cleverness becoming a burden' are everywhere in the Law Enforcement Hall's dungeon."

"These 'new categories' of yours, I can count as 'reasonably explained' this time. But if there are similar anomalies again, or if I find you using these rules to play tricks..."

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai's voice suddenly turned cold, like an ice awl piercing the bone.

"I will directly propose to revoke all your pilot qualifications."

"At that time, your entire Hengchuan Peak, people and accounts alike, will be swallowed by me."

The light screen flickered twice and disappeared. Zhao Su and the group of Law Enforcement Disciples also packed up their posture. Before leaving, Zhao Su took a deep look at Shen Xingzhou, his eyes no longer filled with contempt, but with a complexity akin to looking at a "peer".

"Don't let me catch you with a handle next time."

The hall door closed. Shen Xingzhou only felt the cold sweat on his back dare to flow out now, soaking his clothes. He slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

Just a moment ago, if Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai had pressed for one more sentence, or if he hadn't accepted this logic, then Hengchuan Peak might have been finished today.

"That was close..."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Is this the 'way to live' you wanted?" Peak Master Luo Qingyi walked over at some point, holding that empty wine jar, looking at him, "Reasoning with King Yama, this is a job only you would dare to do."

"If I don't reason, I'll die."

Shen Xingzhou smiled bitterly and stood up, "At least for today, I managed to get by."

Before he could even catch his breath, the System interface popped up that red warning that made his heart jump.

[Crisis not resolved]

[Heavenly Dao monitoring level: 10% → 15%]

[Trigger cause:] Host's logic forcibly interfered with the Law of Karma (explaining Karma flow). Caused deep suspicion from a high-level entity (Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai).

[Internal Sect Audit risk: Medium]

[System note:] The more you try to make this account book perfect, the more obvious your "abnormal values" are in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao. The sense of danger has just stacked another layer.

Shen Xingzhou looked at that rising percentage, feeling as if the surrounding air had become viscous. He knew that Law Enforcement Elder Lu Guhuai's warning was just the beginning. That old guy had already set his sights on him. The so-called "routine Audit" would henceforth become a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment.

"15%, huh..." Shen Xingzhou watched the sky outside the window gradually darken, clenching his fists. "Then let it rise. As long as it doesn't reach 100%, I still have a chance to make this game work."

"Senior Sister Su!" He suddenly turned and shouted. "Hang up that 'anonymous complaint box' for me! As soon as possible!"

"Since they want to investigate, let's make the scene even livelier!"