"Then we’ll leave Qin Le Yin to you." When Le Yu reached the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower, he saw Cicada Dust fighting against Qin Le Yin. The bulky ’typewriter’ that occupied more than half of the room was stained with a lot of filthy blood. Several members of the Flame Bureau lay in the blood, their faces frozen in shock and fear at the moment of death. Cicada Dust leaped into the air and stomped down, pinning ’Qin Le Yin’ to the ground, unable to move. Beside them, two Flame Bureau agents rushed over to chain ’Qin Le Yin’ with iron, while Raccoon Slave Inspector landed lightly, clapping his hands and saying, "Done." "Thank you for your hard work, Inspector Cicada," the Grand Steward applauded lightly. The Grand Steward, the Faceless Man, and the Curse Hunter stood to the side, seemingly completely uninvolved in the battle. As Le Yu walked up, the Grand Steward, unconcerned that Flame Bureau agents were right in front of him, turned around and smiled, "You’ve come up too, where are the others?" "Most of them were left on the fourth floor," Le Yu said. "When I just passed the fifth floor, our people were dead, your subordinates were cut in half, and the Brotherhood’s bodyguards were left with two big holes." "Oh? Are Teacher Yan and the other person still alive?" the Grand Steward asked with interest. "But they weren’t on tonight’s target list, so even if you took action, there would be no extra reward. However, if you did something good, you’d earn heartfelt gratitude from many." Le Yu removed his hood, revealing his white hair, "I didn’t want to act either, but since I always do good deeds without leaving a name, I had no choice but to silence everyone who saw me." The Grand Steward sighed, "It was too dark just now to see clearly, but you’re quite handsome. Just slightly inferior to how I was back in the day." "If being handsome is a crime, then I must be guilty of unspeakable sins, given all the people I killed tonight," Le Yu said, standing next to the Grand Steward, casually glancing at Cicada Dust across from him. "So, what’s the situation now?" "Ah, I forgot to introduce you," the Grand Steward said politely. "This is Cicada Dust, the Chief Inspector of the Flame Bureau’s four major inspectors, who led the troops to block us at the Platinum Tower. He personally set up most of tonight’s traps that cost us dearly in men and resources. Of course, now we’ve turned hostility into friendship. After all, fighting and killing are inferior strategies; the mainstream of today is win-win cooperation..." Cicada Dust sneered, "Your National Relief Association wants to cooperate with me, so I naturally had to weigh your strength. If you couldn’t even break through my defenses, how could I trust your people to kill Cha Huan?" "Reasonable, very reasonable," the Grand Steward said. "You also proved your capability to us. I didn’t expect there to be such a wise commander like Inspector Cicada in the Flame Bureau. Director Xie has a worthy successor. When Inspector Cicada takes over the Flame Bureau in the future, please take care of our business." The Grand Steward spoke so well, Cicada Dust couldn’t help but smile, joy escaping from his eyes, "Don’t talk nonsense; I’m still just Inspector Cicada!" "It’s only a matter of time. Once the new emperor ascends the throne, Director Xie is sure to be promoted to the court. Among the Flame Bureau agents, characters like vultures, lapdogs, and hungry wolves can’t compare to Inspector Cicada. That position is yours; no one can take it away!" The Grand Steward waved his hand, "We’ll have many opportunities to cooperate in the future!" Cicada Dust smiled, "Provided that Cha Huan is really dead tonight. If Cha Huan is not dead, I don’t think we can continue to cooperate." He paused, "Don’t blame me for taking your money and still trying to undermine your strength. After all, I was invited here by Cha Huan. If he survives and finds out we in the Flame Bureau did nothing, even Director Xie might not be able to protect me. Now, with so many bodies from both our sides below, even if Qin Le Yin is torn to pieces by you, I can still justifiably face Cha Huan’s questioning." "Understood, understood," the Grand Steward smiled. "Only fools put all their eggs in one basket. Smart people know not to. It’s wise of Inspector Cicada to be cautious before cooperation; I wouldn’t blame you." "So, can we take Qin Le Yin now?" Le Yu glanced at the pinned ’Qin Le Yin,’ then looked up to meet eyes with Raccoon Slave from afar. Cicada Dust had a strange smile on his face as he shook his head, "Not yet." "Still the same—until news of Cha Huan’s death comes, I cannot hand him over to you," Raccoon Slave said, stepping on Qin Le Yin’s red hair. "If Cha Huan isn’t dead, keeping a live Qin Le Yin can cover it; if Cha Huan is dead, Qin Le Yin’s disposal is at your will." "You don’t need to worry about any agreement between me and Qin Le Yin," Raccoon Slave kept stepping on Qin Le Yin’s red hair. "We’re mortal enemies. I wish him torn limb from limb. But for safety’s sake, I must wait for the result before deciding his fate." "A sensible choice," the Grand Steward glanced at ’Qin Le Yin,’ seemingly unconcerned. "Shall we proceed to the seventh floor for a search?" "No problem," Cicada Dust looked at his subordinates, "You two stay here with Qin Le Yin. Don’t let him escape." There are no stairs to the seventh floor of the Platinum Tower, meaning if one wishes to go up, they must take the Mechanical Ladder. Someone might find it odd, wondering what if the Mechanical Ladder broke—wouldn’t Cha Huan be unable to access his office? But that’s not the case—Cha Huan can teleport anywhere within the Imperial Academy and usually flies directly into his office, bypassing the Mechanical Ladder altogether. However, riding from the first to the seventh floor is too dangerous. If the Flame Bureau set traps in the Mechanical Well, they could kill anyone inside the Mechanical Ladder directly. Hence, the Grand Steward and others had to get to the sixth floor before taking the Mechanical Ladder. "Frost, you stay on the sixth floor too," the Grand Steward suddenly said. "Later, Qin Le Yin’s hands will belong to your Curse Hunters." Cicada Dust’s expression changed slightly, "Why, don’t you trust me?" "How could that be? But business is about reciprocity and mutual assurance," the Grand Steward countered. "Or do you, Inspector Cicada, not trust me?" The two sides stared at each other for a moment, the atmosphere abruptly becoming tense. Frost stroked his bone saw, the second Faceless Man’s waist slightly lowering, while the Grand Steward maintained his sinister smile. Cicada Dust sneered, turning to enter the Mechanical Ladder to wait. The Grand Steward looked at Le Yu, "Do you want to go up and see the Holy Sword’s radiance, or do you want to stay and execute your nemesis, ’Qin Le Yin’?" Le Yu’s eyes flickered, "Qin Le Yin is already doomed. My revenge doesn’t have to be immediate, so I naturally want to see the Holy Sword’s radiance." The Grand Steward and the Iron-faced Man strode forward into the Mechanical Ladder, followed closely by Le Yin, along with Chenchen, as the heavy chains clanked, the four of them took the Mechanical Ladder and left the sixth floor. The Flame Bureau operatives staying on the sixth floor watched the Curse Hunter known as ’Bonepiercer’ nervously, but Bonepiercer seemed to make no special movements, merely standing quietly in place. After a moment, they felt that Bonepiercer likely wouldn’t make a move on his own, so they relaxed a little. One Flame Bureau operative suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose, saying, "Why does it feel like it’s getting colder?" "It’s autumn now, and it’s the middle of the night, so it’s normal for the temperature to drop," another operative said. "No, it’s really cold." The Flame Bureau operative exhaled a breath of cold air, looked down, and his expression changed dramatically: "The blood on the ground has frozen over—" Suddenly, the sound of ice scraping echoed from the sixth floor! Just as two Flame Bureau operatives raised their heads, they saw a massive butcher’s cleaver appear before them! Two half-heads flew into the air, the portion above their noses sliced by the cleaver, yet strangely, no blood spurted out because the cross-section had already frozen! As the two bodies fell to the ground, Bonepiercer halted his slashing steps, transforming the straight-handled cleaver back into a butcher’s cleaver. "Something’s wrong, you’re not Qin Le Yin at all." The red-haired "Qin Le Yin" had somehow already freed himself from the chains, and as Bonepiercer charged over, he smoothly slid forward, dodging the cleaver’s strike! "Did you figure it out, or was it just a happy accident?" Qin Yueyang removed the wig and hairnet, fiddling with his hair, looking at Bonepiercer calmly. "I don’t believe someone betrayed would remain silent and accept their fate." "Then why didn’t you speak up earlier?" "Chenchen and the Grand Steward have an understanding, I’m alone, can’t beat them." Bonepiercer said, "I’ll kill you first, then guard the sixth floor. Whatever they get on the seventh floor, I can intercept it." "Good plan, but I’m still alive." "You are already dead." Bonepiercer glanced around: "This place has already become a frozen wasteland." The source of this content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩•𝗳𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝕟𝕖𝕥 In just a few minutes, every part of the sixth floor had turned to ice, and the bodies on the ground were covered in a thick layer of frost. Qin Yueyang looked down, discovering that his legs were also covered in frost. "This is my curse." Bonepiercer said, "I am the most outstanding Hunter in the Great Forest in the last twenty years, my curse is a once-in-a-century ’Death Frenzy’ class curse, Bonepiercer is the name of my curse." "You might think I have the ability to freeze the world, even seeing here covered in frost, but in reality, it is not so. In the real world, this place remains unchanged, the temperature normal, the ground flat, the blood liquid." "You have merely entered my world, the eternal desolate wasteland." "To me, the noontime sun is a gloomy realm." "Light drizzle, to me, is chaotic hail." "All the beings of heaven and earth, in my eyes, are already covered in ice and snow. Every building, every tower, is just a tombstone built upon the snowy plains." "This is the disaster I cannot escape," Bonepiercer said, "Also the disaster you shall be buried in." Qin Yueyang was silent for a moment, exhaling a breath of cold air: "So cold." "It will get even colder, you have touched only a corner of my world," Bonepiercer said, "I am called Bonepiercer because every moment of cold I endure feels like a needle piercing the bone." "For the past few years, Dongyang has enjoyed smooth weather, fewer people freezing to death in winter." Qin Yueyang suddenly recalled the past: "But when I was a child, one winter was particularly, particularly cold, many people froze to death." "Father deliberately didn’t give us thick clothes, made us wear thin clothes, bare our feet in the snow to work, chase us to sleep in the woodshed. Really, really cold, my hands and feet were covered in bright red frostbite, every day my head felt heavy, my body felt heavy." "When sleeping, my brother would bring a small stack of branches to start a small fire, then wrap us in a tattered quilt. That was the warmest moment of the day, my brother’s body was warm, the fire was warm too..." A flame burst from Qin Yueyang’s fingertips, swiftly transforming into a Liaoyuan blaze, protecting him, melting all the frost that covered him! "I’ve always disliked winter."