The violent breeze that Wáng Jùnjié felt was not unpleasant to him. It reminded him of the village where he had been born.
He felt good.
It was the first time he had been sent on a mission this close to home. It had to be said that S-rank missions were not particularly numerous, so he had to travel wherever they called him.
The probability of one of them being located so close to his home village was so small that Wáng Jùnjié thought that this time he might take a little more time, or at least enjoy the scenery a little.
The once-deserted landscape had, since the catastrophe, been covered by one of the densest forests, to the point that the landscape was unrecognizable. However, the wind had remained the same.
This breeze that had always been present reminded Wáng Jùnjié of good memories.
Behind him, a voice echoed, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"So you were sent here too?"
He turned around and came across a man in a suit exactly like his own. He had not sensed him approaching.
"That's strange. This is the first time the VEIL hasn't trusted me."
The man, who was already quite old, did not seem to react to Wáng Jùnjié's jab and replied without much interest.
"I have to say, the higher-ups don't even want to hear about this place anymore."
The man stood beside Wáng Jùnjié and began gazing at the horizon.
"Yinchuan?"
The old man looked at Wáng Jùnjié with a surprised expression before looking back at the horizon.
"It had been a long time since I'd heard someone mention that name."
The man's melancholic tone surprised Wáng Jùnjié, who in turn turned toward his interlocutor with a surprised expression.
"Grandpa, you know this place?"
The man chuckled softly.
"Haha, easy with the grandpa. I'm only in my fifties. I'm still more than fit enough to give you a spanking."
Wáng Jùnjié knew that this man was unaware of his strength and therefore couldn't know that it would be impossible for him to give him a spanking, but he remained silent.
The man continued.
"Let's just say that I lived here a long time ago... But all of this is nothing more than a memory. It's been a long time since this place was what it used to be. Most people don't even know that this place was called Yinchuan."
Wáng Jùnjié turned his gaze toward the city in the distance as the man continued.
"Nowadays everyone calls this place 'Utopia'." He chuckled. "At least those who know of its existence."
The old man, realizing that he had gotten carried away in his memories, returned to reality.
"But tell me, kid, did you live around here to know about this place?"
Wáng Jùnjié gave a faint smile.
"Just someone I know."
"I see."
The man began to stretch.
"In any case, this mission won't be easy. Did you read the mission report?" He stretched his arms into the air. "They're talking about shadows hiding in the forest that have been ravaging the surrounding villages."
"I'm used to this kind of thing."
At Wáng Jùnjié's answer, the man looked at him strangely. Noticing his doubt, Wáng Jùnjié handed him his VEIL identification card.
The man took it in his hands and his eyes widened.
"But you're an S-rank Absurd!"
Wáng Jùnjié was used to this kind of reaction, so he said nothing.
The man handed his card back to him.
"I don't think we've introduced ourselves. My name is Lǐ Guódòng."
Wáng Jùnjié took his card and shook the man's hand.
"Wáng Jùnjié."
Then he began making small jumps to warm up.
"Don't worry, you won't have to do much. I should be finished quickly. Anyway, they've already spotted us for a while now."
"What do you mean by that?"
At the same moment, a shadow appeared beside Lǐ Guódòng without him having time to notice it. Lǐ Guódòng saw his opponent's fist flying toward his face without being able to do anything.
He blinked in fear, and the next moment, the attacker had disappeared. He turned to his right to see if Wáng Jùnjié had seen the same thing as him, but Wáng Jùnjié had also disappeared.
A cloud of dust was gently settling where he had been standing moments earlier.
Several hundred meters above Lǐ Guódòng, Wáng Jùnjié had just appeared, holding the attacker's collar in his hands as the latter stared in terror at Wáng Jùnjié's smiling face.
"So you're the ones vandalizing the villages?"