Chapter 561: Stability Is Everything

Enough! You’re already in this state, and you still dare to make a fuss here?

I’m ashamed just to be seen with you!

Seeing someone still whining, Xu San glared and silenced them.

Sorry, Third Brother.

Remembering what had happened last night, the men hung their heads in shame.

So many of you guarding just two people—both restrained—and still they escaped.

Even with all the reasons, you can’t escape the label of incompetence.

Tell me, how did Xia He and Lu Liang escape?

Xu San’s face remained cold as he asked for details.

Though he’d already heard the general account from other guards,

clearly, the ones who actually did the work would give the fullest account.

Hao Wei, you speak.

All eyes turned to a plain-looking young man among them.

I…

Hao Wei stammered, reluctant to speak.

Hm?

Xu San shot him a sidelong glance.

I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything…

Faced with Xu San’s deep authority, Hao Wei had no choice but to confess.

Zhang Jie and Zhang Chulan, as bystanders, heard the whole story clearly.

In short, this was still caused by lust.

For detained yiren, the North China Region naturally had special shackles, like those for ordinary people,

crafted by alchemists employed by the company; once worn,

only masters of the top-tier sects could resist being held captive.

But among the two detained, one person truly resisted this artifact—Xia He.

Unlike Lu Liang, who needed to actively activate Ming Hun Art, Xia He’s ability worked passively,

even without her effort, she could steal souls and radiate astonishing charm.

This had been evident at the Luotian Da Jiao: at the time, Quan Xing planned something big—

attacking Long Hu Mountain, their demons all displayed their arts to sneak onto the mountain.

As Quan Xing’s public face and one of the Four Madmen, Xia He naturally couldn’t miss it.

After disguise, she became a fat, greasy, bearded middle-aged man.

Yet even then, she stood out like fireflies in the night sky.

This wasn’t a big deal: since her ability couldn’t be fully blocked,

just keep your distance—no yiren’s power has ever had no range limit.

So Xu San specifically ordered: no guard may approach Xia He within ten meters,

even meal delivery must be through the cell door, with other yiren using telekinesis to push food through the window.

But Hao Wei, overcome by lust, let his lower brain rule his higher one,

wanting to see just how beautiful the famed razorblade really was,

broke Xu San’s order and got too close to Xia He during dinner delivery.

Then, naturally, his own lust made him easy prey—he was swiftly enslaved, becoming her puppet.

From him, Xia He learned the guard roster, and through him, she controlled Tu Houzi.

In the dead of night, they escaped with Lu Liang.

It wasn’t until this morning, when the cafeteria aunt came to find Hao Wei to use his ability to deliver breakfast to Xia He, that they noticed something was wrong.

Yes, Hao Wei and the others were still bound,

but with their own stinking socks stuffed in their mouths, left hanging midair like wriggling worms.

Xu San was heartbroken: “Shameful! Utterly shameful!

If this gets out, our North China Region will become a laughingstock!”

After berating them, he glared at Hao Wei: “You know company discipline—go report yourself for punishment.”

Understood.

Hao Wei nodded, dejected.

He knew his career at the company was over.

“Third Brother, don’t get so angry. You know Xia He’s ability is impossible to guard against.”

Zhang Jie softly comforted Xu San.

In truth, he was glad Xia He had escaped.

Not because he was lustful, base, or lusting after her body.

But because Xia He’s relationship with his junior uncle Zhang Lingyu was murky,

handing her over directly might damage his friendship with Zhang Lingyu.

Earlier, Xia He had been right before his eyes—not arresting her would’ve been neglecting his duty,

but now that she escaped on her own, it has nothing to do with him.

“Sigh. Since it’s come to this, let it be.”

Xu San sighed and had no intention of pursuing it further.

After this, if Xia He and Lu Liang aren’t fools, they won’t stay in the North China Region.

Once outside the North China Region, they lose the right to arrest criminal yiren.

Zhang Jie wasn’t surprised by Xu San’s tacit leniency.

To say something that didn’t quite fit his company employee role, Zhang Jie believed:

Quan Xing’s growth over the years wasn’t without the company’s help—at least, not without covert leniency.

There’s a term called the catfish effect: it’s said that in Norway, people loved fresh herring,

but herring were delicate, dying easily from lack of oxygen and stillness during transport.

Later, fishermen discovered that if they put a predatory catfish into the herring tank,

the catfish would swim around, creating tension, forcing the herring to swim faster to survive,

and thus they arrived at port alive and lively.

For the company, Quan Xing was that catfish stirring up the yiren world.

Of course, the company didn’t want the yiren world to become more vibrant,

for yiren running wild and scattering everywhere—what they wanted was to drain the energy of major yiren sects and families

on Quan Xing, keeping their attention off ordinary people.

Let me reiterate: the company’s purpose has never been the prosperity or peace of the yiren world—it has one and only one mission:

maintain stability, keeping the yiren world hidden beneath ordinary society, absolutely no ripples.

Otherwise, with the company’s actual backing from above, how could a few mere yiren possibly stir up trouble?

They’d have been swatted dead long ago.

As that 20th-century Shanxi warlord, famed for dancing on three eggs, once said:

“Stability is everything. Everything for stability.”

This tacit leniency ended only when Quan Xing’s demons planned to attack Long Hu Mountain:

If they dared attack Long Hu Mountain, these weren’t ordinary Quan Xing demons—they had to be crushed!

Xu San didn’t know Zhang Jie was silently criticizing the company.

After dealing with the negligent Hao Wei, he was now gently comforting Tu Houzi and the others.

Xia He’s ability was devastating to men; Tu Houzi and the others falling for it was no fault of their own.