Chapter 166: Behind the Scenes

"Trains can even drive on main roads now... What the hell?" A massive steam locomotive, pulling its lead car, slowly advanced along the roads at the edge of Aurora City. The driver, operating the machine, couldn't help but grumble.

"Stop complaining," his companion beside him interjected. "If those enforcers hear you, they'll dock half your transport fee. Just deliver the goods and get home."

In front of White Dove Plaza, the train from outside the city was dismantled into several sections, with carriages completely separated from each other, and transported by several steam locomotives to a large warehouse. The transporters worked busily from noon until dusk.

As the sun gradually set in the west, the sections of the train finally reached their destination. Looking at the charred train sections sealed inside the warehouse, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Wait a moment, we'll do one last check," the accompanying enforcer suddenly said.

The transporters' faces fell, but they couldn't say much and could only stand obediently by the warehouse door, waiting.

Several enforcers, carrying kerosene lamps, searched through the carriages one by one. After confirming there was no one else, they nodded to the group. "All clear," they said.

As the cordon was set up around the warehouse, the enforcers finally left. Several lines of birds swept across the dim sky, and the entire warehouse district fell into a dead silence.

A few minutes later, a figure slowly descended the steps, stepping out of the dim carriage.

He brushed the dust from his clothes, like a passenger who had just disembarked. After casually pulling aside the cordon, he casually walked away.

He wore a brown overcoat, and a pair of half-rimmed glasses rested on his nose, a black glasses chain hanging from the temple, making him look like a scholar from afar. His young, unfamiliar face scanned his surroundings, and he walked directly towards the setting sun.

However, after just a few steps, he stopped.

The orange-red setting sun, like a blazing fire, floated at the edge of the horizon. On the straight and long road, two figures were looking towards him in the afterglow of the sunset.

One wore a white baseball cap, with a silver snake pendant hanging from his earlobe, and a slightly curved smile that was mysterious and flirtatious. The other wore a gray overcoat, a scarf wrapped around his neck, and piercing blue eyes that seemed to captivate souls.

The moment he saw the two, the passenger who had just disembarked had a subtle expression. He let out a long sigh. "How did you find me?" he asked.

"I guessed," Chu Muyun shrugged. "Ever since the train entered Aurora City, you've been standing on top of the lead car, never moving. At first, I thought you just wanted to stand higher, but then I thought about it carefully and realized it wasn't that simple...

"Your position was directly above the train's chimney, where it spews steam. After you incinerated your body, your ashes or embers would fall into the boiler through the chimney. At the same time, if you then created an illusion of playing cards flying into the sky, drawing everyone's attention upwards... you could use that moment to hide in the lead car via the chimney, completing a perfect escape trick."

Chu Muyun paused for a moment before continuing, "Honestly, you did it too perfectly. If I didn't know your background, I would have definitely thought you were burned to nothing but ash... But I still can't figure out how you survived that fire?"

Chen Ling smiled, but didn't elaborate.

Chu Muyun's speculation was mostly correct. The only flaw was that Chen Ling hadn't survived at all. He had truly been burned to ashes, and then resurrected in the abandoned boiler. After his rebirth, he immediately used 'Formless' to conceal his presence, so even if the enforcers searched again, they wouldn't find any clues.

The inspiration for this performance came from the escape acts he occasionally saw in theaters in his previous life. Although Chen Ling wasn't a professional magician, having watched from backstage for a long time, he understood the gist of how it worked.

It proved that his escape performance was flawless; even the five-mark enforcers, who were right there, didn't notice anything unusual, with the exception of Chu Muyun, who first assumed he wasn't dead and then reverse-engineered the process.

After all, who could have imagined that he could be reborn even if he turned to ash?

"Honestly, I really liked your final playing card performance," Bai Ye couldn't help but exclaim. "Playing cards falling from the sky really suits our Twilight Society. We definitely have to try it next time we make a grand appearance..."

As Chen Ling followed the two towards the city's streets, he asked,

"What happened after I made my exit?"

"The survivors you brought into Aurora City tried to stand up for you, but they were taken away by the enforcers. They should be receiving treatment now. The other citizens were probably shocked by you and haven't fully recovered, but it's hard to say how things will develop once public opinion ferments..."

"What about Han Meng?"

"Him? He was taken away for disobeying headquarters' orders, fighting with other enforcers, and publicly questioning Aurora City... With those charges, appearing before the Tribunal Court is a certainty."

"Tribunal Court? What's that?"

"It's a special court for enforcers. All enforcers who commit treason or crimes are tried there. Minor offenses result in being stripped of all rights and perpetual imprisonment, while serious ones lead to public execution. It's definitely not a good place."

Chen Ling's brow furrowed slightly. He walked forward silently, lost in thought.

As the sun dipped lower, the dim twilight glowed upon the streets of Aurora City. Children holding paper kites ran past with smiles on their faces. A crisp bell rang, and a postman reluctantly stopped his bicycle to let them pass. The scent of life, accompanied by the rich aroma of cooking, permeated every corner of the city.

This was Chen Ling's first time walking on the streets of Aurora City. In a trance, he felt as if he had returned to a small town from his previous life. Though the technology was far less advanced than back then, the vibrancy and liveliness were something the Seven Districts simply didn't possess.

Just then, Chen Ling's peripheral vision caught something on the other side of the street, and he paused slightly.

A tattered figure was sitting against a wall in a forgotten corner. He still bore traces of wind and snow, and seemed out of place with everything around him.

Chen Ling stopped.

"What's wrong?" Chu Muyun asked, confused, seeing this. "Do you know him?"

A complex emotion flickered in Chen Ling's eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he still walked towards the figure.

Chen Ling's shadow fell over the lingering sunset glow, and the figure sitting in the corner slowly raised his head. His disheveled face was filled with emptiness and bewilderment. Chen Ling would never forget that face, because not long ago, he had fought against this person in the wind and snow.

He was Xi Renjie, an enforcer from District Three.