Chapter 487: Antagonist

Late at night, Chen Ling and Yang Xiao walked out of the airport side by side.

"Why are we out here? Didn't the airline arrange a special bus to take us to Gusu?" Yang Xiao asked, looking at the quiet road around them.

The airline had compensated every passenger because their flight destination was forcibly changed. However, Chen Ling didn't take the bus they arranged; instead, he left directly with Yang Xiao. At that moment, there were few vehicles or pedestrians outside the airport, only a few taxis or ride-sharing cars waiting. Beyond them lay the dark night.

"The bus is too slow," Chen Ling said calmly. "Although we've temporarily held back Sirius, escaping is easy for someone of his strength... He'll catch up to us sooner or later, so every second right now is precious and cannot be wasted."

"There are no planes or high-speed trains at this hour. If we don't take the bus, how else can we get to Gusu?"

"I'll drive."

Yang Xiao paused, "Where would we get a car?"

Chen Ling smiled faintly. He walked straight to the nearest taxi and tapped on the driver's window.

The dozing driver saw someone, immediately rolled down the window, and asked sleepily, "Where to?"

"I'll transfer 300,000 to you. Let me borrow the car for two days."

"...What?!"

Three minutes later.

Chen Ling buckled his seatbelt, floored the accelerator, and the yellow taxi roared away.

At the desolate airport entrance, only the taxi driver remained, sitting blankly by the roadside, trembling as he stared at the extra 300,000 balance on his card.

After a long while, he shakily made a call, muttering as if in a dream:

"Mom, I'm rich!"

Vroom—!

The yellow taxi sped down the road like lightning.

The roaring wind swirled wildly inside the car. Yang Xiao struggled to roll up the window for a long time before it slowly closed completely, his hair already messy like a bird's nest.

"300,000, just to borrow it for a few days?" Yang Xiao couldn't help but ask. "Even if this car were brand new, it wouldn't be worth 300,000, would it?"

"It doesn't matter. Money in this era is just a number to you and me. Think of it as robbing the rich to help the poor."

Chen Ling said nonchalantly.

Chen Ling pressed the accelerator lower and lower, the engine's hum like a roaring beast. As the needle on the dashboard steadily climbed, Yang Xiao instinctively gripped the door handle tighter.

"Are you speeding?"

"Yes, but the speed cameras won't catch us."

"...Hacking accounts, robbing money, evading fares, hijacking a plane, seizing a car, speeding... I'm starting to feel like we're the villains here."

"To be precise, it's combating illegal transactions, earning reasonable commissions, ensuring passenger safety, expanding the used car market, and... well... speeding is just speeding. What are a few tickets compared to the lives of the Nine Monarchs?"

Yang Xiao was speechless.

With Chen Ling's current observational and reaction speed, driving at high speeds posed no safety risk. One hand rested by the window, the other controlled the steering wheel as he sped along the highway in the dark. At this rate, they would definitely reach Gusu within an hour and a half.

"By the way, what was the deal with that person on the plane?" Yang Xiao asked curiously. "I thought the Fourteen Divine Paths you mentioned only existed in the future."

"Not at all. The Divine Paths are the embodiment of 'professions' in human civilization; they have existed since the moment human civilization began," Chen Ling replied unhurriedly. "For example, Ying Fu and Bai Qi, they found their Divine Paths in ancient times, and after their deaths, they became part of the ancient repositories of Divine Paths... So, theoretically, this era also has Divine Path holders, though their number is extremely small."

Chen Ling pulled a flip phone from his pocket and handed it to Yang Xiao in the passenger seat. "Look at the video in the album."

Although puzzled, Yang Xiao opened the flip phone.

The first thing he saw was a selfie wallpaper of Chen Ling making a peace sign. Yang Xiao's expression instantly became a little odd.

"You usually like to use selfies as your wallpaper?"

"...No, that was just an accident."

Yang Xiao opened the album. There was only one video, showing a foreign casino. A figure in a floral shirt won a gamble against another man, and the next moment, the man visibly began to age, as if something was siphoning away his life.

Previously, Yang Xiao would have certainly thought the video was manipulated, but after experiencing some things firsthand, his perception had changed.

"The person in the video, is he also a Divine Path holder?"

"Yes," Chen Ling said thoughtfully. "As I mentioned, Divine Paths are the embodiment of 'professions.' The characteristics of 'professions' differ across different eras, so perhaps in our era, there are also Divine Path routes unique to this time...

But with the rapid development of material civilization, the spiritual civilization brought by 'professions' is constantly flattening. People are losing the spirit, or rather, the professional faith, associated with their work, gradually becoming mechanized tools... Such a spiritual civilization cannot gain the recognition of the Divine Paths, which is why there are so few Divine Path holders in this era.

Conversely, after the Red Star passed and human material civilization began to decline, spiritual civilization gradually rebuilt amidst the disaster. That's why, in the era of the Nine Domains, Divine Path holders were far more numerous than they are now."

Yang Xiao thought seriously for a long time, roughly understanding Chen Ling's idea.

"So, according to you, Sirius on the plane must be extremely rare?"

"Exactly... He must have gone through experiences that ordinary people couldn't, combined with his extraordinary talent, which allowed him to embark on this Divine Path." Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. "In this era, with few Divine Path holders, the Emperor's power is greatly limited... which is good for us."

"It's a shame we can't access any information about Sirius," Yang Xiao sighed. "If we could learn more, perhaps we could find his weakness, and we wouldn't be so passive."

This remark served as a reminder to Chen Ling, and his eyes lit up slightly.

That's right, this era was different from the era of the Nine Domains. In a society brimming with information networks, everyone left traces to some extent... And there was one place that might store what they wanted to see.

"Who said we can't access his information?" Chen Ling smiled faintly. "Don't forget, that guy... should still be interrogated at the police station right now."

"You're going to hack into the poli—" Yang Xiao stopped mid-sentence.

"No, just casually copy a file."

Chen Ling tapped the flip phone, and an electronic file automatically began downloading. Within a few seconds, it showed as complete.

Yang Xiao looked at the secret file on the phone, which should have been locked within a local network, and gave a bitter smile.

"Great... Now we've truly become villains."