Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1364 The Aftermath of Old Talks

Chen Chuan received a message saying he would go over there shortly.

He had already learned from Zhan Jiyue that Ren Xinshan, like him, was a member of the Pure Faction and was considered a senior member of the faction.

He recalled this person's information. This person came from a good family, highly admired the Pure School's ideals, and was extremely talented. He entered the Pure School headquarters for training when he was a teenager, and reached the third limit at just nineteen years old.

With his talent, becoming a fighter wouldn't have been difficult. However, after realizing that the Pure Faction lacked power on the political path, he carefully considered his options and resolutely abandoned the idea of ​​advancing upwards, opting instead for the political route.

His rapid appointment as a member of the State Affairs Department was also due to the efforts of this person behind the scenes. Only after taking this step and making achievements could he naturally become a member of the Departmental Affairs Committee.

Otherwise, he might be promoted based on his merits, but his superiors could easily assign him to a high-ranking but powerless department, making it much harder for him to be transferred to another department later. Even if he could, it would probably take a year or two.

He arranged and organized his personal belongings, then looked around his office space.

From the outside, the office appears to have no windows, only walls resembling a dam. However, when he looks out from inside, he finds that most of the walls are almost completely transparent, offering an unrestricted view.

This must have used some kind of special biological material.

The office was decorated as left by the previous manager, very old-fashioned, with bright and colorful patterns everywhere, and various auspicious animals on the walls. He didn't like this style.

Fortunately, Shenyu has more than ten office layout options for him to choose from. If he is not satisfied with any of them, he can hire a professional to customize one. Within the budget, the administrative department can handle the approval process.

He opened the field screen, selected the simplest solution, and added or removed some features.

The key point was that he needed a sufficiently spacious weapons storage room, as well as a place to house Chaoming. Fortunately, the office area was large enough to accommodate all his requirements.

There is also a private living area here, where he can choose to work and live.

The department has a luxurious residential area where most of its senior officials live. Each member of the department is provided with a house or villa, where they can also live with their families who come from the countryside.

In the administrative region, he can also apply for a private training ground, which is fully equipped and has unlimited access to virtual resources.

However, it's not very useful to him anymore. At his level, the simulated field can no longer simulate a corresponding opponent.

After tidying up his belongings, he changed into the navy blue uniform issued to him by the administrative department, put on a hat, and told Chaoming to stay here. Then he came out and, following Shenyu's guidance, walked along the straight corridor to the office area of ​​the ministerial-level officials not far away.

Secretary Pei had been waiting outside. Upon seeing him arrive, he bowed and said, "Hello, Mr. Chen. I am Pei Hui, the secretary to Vice Minister Ren. Vice Minister Ren is waiting inside. Please come in."

After Chen Chuan went in, Ren Xinshan stood up from his seat, walked around the desk and came up to him, shaking his hand firmly: "Hello, Manager Chen."

Chen Chuan shook hands with him, "Minister Ren, hello."

"Deputy."

Ren Xinshan glanced at him, smiled slightly, and gestured, "Sit wherever you like." He walked behind the desk and sat down after Chen Chuan did.

"We are all comrades in the same faction, and I hope we can cooperate sincerely in the department in the future. I won't say anything more. Comrade Chen, you have seen as much as I have come this far."

All I can say is that Zhongjing is a place full of pitfalls. Avoid it if you can avoid it, otherwise, even if they can't do anything to you, they'll still get you covered in mud.

Chen Chuan nodded slightly.

Ren Xinshan pushed the document on the table over.

"This is an anomaly request for help. Take a look. I remember you've resolved various anomalies before, and you even said you're an expert in this field?"

Chen Chuan took the report, opened it, and read it carefully. He hadn't expected that he would have to deal with his old friend, the supernatural tale, so soon after arriving in Beijing, and he felt a strange sense of unease.

Ren Xinshan didn't disturb him. After waiting for a while, until he looked up from the documents, he asked, "Can you solve this?"

Chen Chuan didn't rush to reply, but asked instead, "Senior, shouldn't the Secret Cult Review Bureau be more adept at dealing with these kinds of anomalies?"

"This was transferred from them."

Ren Xinshan said in a deep voice: "A while ago, a big problem occurred in Haixi Road. The Secret Sect Review Bureau sent a large number of elite personnel to carry out the mission. Although it was barely resolved, a lot of elite personnel were lost, and there are still many aftereffects there. Some more personnel were transferred from various places to go there."

They're currently overwhelmed by the numerous anomalies occurring everywhere, and many matters had already been entrusted to our Pure Faction. This particular anomaly, while troublesome, is quite far from us in Maoshan, and won't spread to Zhongjing anytime soon, so it had to be put on the back burner. Finally, it came back to us, hoping we could assist in resolving it.”

Chen Chuan thought for a moment. Although the General Bureau of Investigation and Censorship of Esoteric Buddhism only gave a few simple words, he felt a lot.

According to Director Lei, the General Bureau for the Censorship of Esoteric Buddhism is very powerful, especially since it inherited a great deal of the legacy of the old state religion. Even so, it has suffered losses, which shows how big the trouble is.

He also felt that there might be something else involved behind this.

After these thoughts flashed through his mind, he looked at Ren Xinshan and said, "I can handle it."

"Officer Chen, are you sure?" Chen Chuan replied affirmatively, "I'm sure."

He was indeed capable of solving it, rather than being blindly confident. Ghost stories generally have distinctive characteristics, usually limited to a specific similar event or a particular area.

This one is clearly confined to a certain mountainous area in Maoshan, otherwise it would have escaped long ago. So if he really can't handle it in the end, he just needs to bomb that uninhabited mountainous area flat, and the problem will naturally be solved.

As for why we didn't do this before, perhaps things weren't serious enough, or perhaps we hadn't allocated the necessary personnel, or more likely we weren't confident in doing it. Even if we leveled the mountain area, we still needed to determine the approximate extent, which required certain knowledge of esoteric rituals.

Of course, it's also possible that he can't make the decision or shoulder the responsibility. But he doesn't care; if others dare not do it, he does.

"it is good!"

Ren Xinshan listened to him say this, but did not ask him how he planned to do it. Since Chen Chuan said he could do it, he would have absolute trust in Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan's past achievements and accomplishments demonstrate that he is a reliable person. Moreover, at Chen Chuan's level, he has long passed the stage of proving himself through achievements.

"Steward Chen, you didn't bring your own men with you this time to the capital, did you? I'll send you a team of Resonators and security personnel later; they're all trustworthy people. Also, I'll have Old Zhan contact you later. He's been in Zhongjing for several years and is quite familiar with all aspects of the situation."

If you're confident in handling this matter, please do so as soon as possible. I have other official business to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer.

Chen Chuan said, "Okay, thank you, Minister Ren."

"Deputy."

Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Then I'll take my leave."

Ren Xinshan got up and escorted him to the door before returning to his office to continue his previous work.

After Chen Chuan came out, he went back to his office.

At this moment, he discovered that although the decorations in the office had not changed, Shen Yu had used the simulated field to transform the place into the style he had just chosen.

He nodded; at least that made him feel a little more at ease.

After sitting down on the sofa, he picked up the file and studied it again.

The strange tales of Maoshan have existed for six or seven hundred years, spanning three dynasties. Although their manifestations have varied, they have never ceased to appear from time to time.

The earliest record says that during the Qi Dynasty, a scholar who was on his way to the capital to take the imperial examination went to Maoshan for a spring outing. When he reached the middle of the mountain, he saw an old man wearing a straw hat and a raincoat sitting there motionless, seemingly fishing.

He was seized by a playful impulse and patted the old man on the shoulder. When the old man turned around, he was shocked to find that the old man had a fox-like face. He was terrified and fled without looking back. After returning home, he fell seriously ill and lay in bed in a deep sleep. One day, someone woke him up and touched him, only to find that he had shriveled up and was just a human skin.

The human skin then mysteriously disappeared. After some time, some people traveling in Maoshan saw a scholar-like man sitting there fishing.

The second is during the Changchao period, when a donkey could be seen from time to time in Maoshan. It always hid behind the trees and stared at people with a strange and eerie look in its eyes.

Moreover, wherever people go, they are always seen from time to time. Some people angrily drive them away and try to kill them, but they never succeed. On the contrary, those who participate in the killing never return.

Strangely, Maoshan has never produced donkeys, yet during those decades, Maoshan Market became a famous donkey hide market.

After the end of the dynasty, people often saw ceremonial guards dressed in theatrical costumes playing gongs and drums, passing by like a gust of wind. Those who encountered them were frightened and went down the mountain. It would take several days before they remembered that their companions seemed to be missing and went to look for them. Some families had disappeared without a trace.

After the old era passed, the legends of Maoshan have completely disappeared, and only young people who follow the legends still seek thrills.

Just a year ago, tourists visiting Maoshan would occasionally encounter women with long hair covering their faces. They would silently hand over their cameras, indicating that they wanted to take pictures of them.

If the person refused to do it at the time, then every time someone wanted to take a photo or have their portrait drawn, that woman would inexplicably appear behind that person.

If someone agrees on the spot, then a few days later, they'll bring their friends and family to the mountains to take photos, sometimes even inviting strangers, who in turn will invite even more people into the mountains.

Once the number of people reaches a certain level, those who enter the mountain will never come out again. The last recorded instance was when more than 300 people entered the mountain together. Although the local authorities noticed this and tried to dissuade them, even though they were persuaded to go back at the time, they turned around and came back, bringing even more people into the mountain.

The local police have been able to block off key road intersections, but even so, many people have gone missing from time to time, including many guards and even a fighter who went to investigate.

This situation is very serious, so we simply blocked the road leading there completely, prohibiting all traffic.

After reading these, Chen Chuan felt that although these strange tales differed from one another, he could sense that there was a subtle connection between them.

There must be a source to this, and if we can find it, we might be able to find a way to break it.

……

……

(End of this chapter)