Wang Wei had a serious expression and immediately explained, “We don't belong to any of the factions you mentioned. We represent the Inspectorate of humanity, and everything we do is for humanity.”
“And what about the gods?”
Fang Yuan's gaze shifted through the rearview mirror to land on the driver's profile. She leaned back, reclining casually against the rear seat.
“Do you think humanity needs gods?”
Wang Wei frowned and answered without second thought, “Humanity and the gods uplift each other. The gods offer protection, increasing human health rates, reducing mortality rates, and guiding humanity in great endeavors, while humans also—”
“I don't want to hear the official template. I want to hear your real thoughts.”
As Fang Yuan's voice fell, the inside of the car plunged into silence.
Wang Wei seemed to be weighing her words, considering how to express her meaning in official, professional language.
But Fang Yuan was a step faster.
“Then let me ask a different question.”
“Regarding my grandma's death, do you have nothing to say?”
Wang Wei had looked into this matter, so she spoke calmly, “The investigation states that three days ago at ten at night, your grandma was out for a walk when she was hit by a car. The drunk driver has already been brought to justice.”
Fang Yuan tilted her head, finally shifting her gaze from the rearview mirror to Wang Wei's face.
Fidgeting slightly under her stare, Wang Wei reached up to touch her own face and asked in confusion, “What is it? I'm not wrong. I looked over the file myself.”
A hand patted her on the shoulder. Fang Yuan withdrew her hand and spoke in earnest, “I think you should quit.”
Wang Wei: “?”
While she was still confused, Fang Yuan had already shifted her gaze back to the rearview mirror.
“What about you? You must know, right? It's not like everyone in this car is a rookie kept in the dark, is it?”
The car arrived at a traffic light and slowly pulled to a stop.
“The hit-and-run driver who killed my grandma—whether they were drinking isn't clear yet, but that person belongs to your Inspectorate.”
Outside the window, light poured in like a tide, scattering into flecks of glowing foam across the glass and falling onto her face.
Wang Wei couldn't see her expression clearly, but her words fell like a heavy bomb, slamming hard against her heart.
After a brief slowing of her breath and heartbeat, they accelerated beyond control.
“Where did you hear such a rumor? The Inspectorate would never do—”
Her voice broke off abruptly.
Fang Yuan rested her hand on the back of the driver's seat as if curious how long the red light had left, but the pen she held tightly in her grip was aimed straight at the driver's neck.
The driver looked up, glaring through the rearview mirror. “Nonsense! Don't think that just because spreading rumors is easy and you're a Candidate, you can sling mud at the Inspectorate!”
“So what if you're a Candidate! That doesn't give you the right to casually ruin the Inspectorate's reputation!”
Wang Wei stared intently at Fang Yuan's fingertips, her expression tense; the moment Fang Yuan made any move, she wouldn't hesitate to intervene immediately.
Yet Fang Yuan suddenly pulled back the pen and leaned back into the rear seat.
The light turned green.
The car smoothly started moving, heading straight along the road.
“Don't lie in front of me. I don't just have two 【Blessing】s.”
The car slammed on its brakes, startling the vehicle behind into honking wildly. As it passed, the driver rolled down their window and cursed furiously at the driver's seat.
Fang Yuan steadily propped her head on one hand and flashed a playful smile at the driver.
“So don't lie to me. If I get unhappy, it might get tricky for both of your lives.”
The driver's face turned ghastly pale. She steered the car into a roadside parking space and silently closed all the windows.
Her fingertips dug into a corner of the steering wheel, seemingly toggling off something.
Fang Yuan was in no hurry. She tilted her head to look at the shops outside the window, already deciding she would go eat jianbing guozi later.
“I am Lin Xu, Senior Inspector.”
She took off her hat and turned halfway around from the driver's seat.
“Regarding your grandma's death, I am very sorry.”
“It wasn't my intention to hide it either. The inspector who killed your grandma holds no small position in the Inspectorate and belongs to the God Supremacists...”
“However, that inspector was indeed sentenced to death for intentional homicide. A non-public execution took place just yesterday, and I was present.”
“Higher-ups issued an order to wrap up the matter as a drunk-driving accident and forbidden anyone from speaking the truth to the outside.”
“Your grandma...”
Fang Yuan leaned back further, having already decided to add two eggs, sausage, and tenderloin, with all the scallions and cilantro.
She retracted her gaze.
“My grandma published an article four days ago, and that very article brought about her death.”
“I know all about the madness of the God Supremacists. They place the gods above all else and are extremely radical. Under the banner of clearing away those who disrespect the gods, they usually like to commit suicide right after killing someone.”
“Supposedly, by dying like that, they will win divine favor and enter the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】 to become permanent residents.”
As Fang Yuan spoke, a slight smile touched her words.
“I just didn't expect that even your Inspectorate would harbor such extremists.”
Lin Xu tugged at the corner of her mouth, forcing out an expression that could barely count as a smile.
She felt quite troubled.
This Fang Yuan didn't seem like someone easy to fool or talk over. Had she known earlier, she wouldn't have volunteered for this task.
In that situation just now, if she hadn't immediately toggled off the wiretap and confessed on her own initiative, there might have been a report tonight about her dying heroically in the line of duty.
“As for your wiretap suddenly being switched off, you can just say I activated a 【Blessing】 and broke it.”
Lin Xu: “?!”
She no longer knew whether to break into a cold sweat from being seen through or to be moved to tears by Fang Yuan's sensible initiative to take the blame.
“I won't let you see my mark, so give up on that idea.”
“Nor will I submit to the Inspectorate's observation or provide any intelligence regarding my 【Blessing】s.”
“My position remains the same: the number of 【Blessing】s your Inspectorate holds must be pitifully small. What you know about the 【God Selection】 is hardly any different from what everyone else knows.”
“Across these ten 【God Selection】s, no Candidate has ever emerged from within your Inspectorate, has there? Add your internal divisions into the mix, and it becomes even harder for you to understand these 【Blessing】s and the 【God Selection】.”
Fang Yuan opened the car door and stepped one foot onto the ground.
“Don't you still not know the criteria by which the gods choose people? I can tell you that much.”
“The gods will only favor those who hold zero awe or reverence toward them, yet dare to look up at them.”
“Not just your Inspectorate—even among other factions, no Candidate has ever appeared.”
“There's no need to investigate this; anyone could guess it.”
“After all, after bowing your backs to the gods for five hundred years, how could you possibly straighten them so suddenly?”
Fang Yuan closed the car door, then remembered something. She knocked on the window and, as it rolled down, added:
“Oh, by the way, that article my grandma published was titled—”
“‘Humanity Does Not Need Gods.’”
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