CH 131

The mountains to the east of Haigu were majestic, with sharp and steep peaks resembling knives. Especially close to dawn, the morning glow could cast long shadows of the mountains on the clouds.

The darkness around the Fu residence was gradually dispelled by the morning light, and even the ancestral hall, which was shrouded in fog, was bathed in a little bit of it.

The personnel from Shian had taken full control of the area where the Fu residence was located. Although no one knew whether conventional defense measures were still effective after such an attack, the wounded needed help, and everything in the world continued to move forward.

Yin Ren was still sitting in his chair, motionless.

He was still wearing the sports jacket that Zhong Chengshuo lent him. The lightweight fabric was stained with blood and flesh, and everywhere carried the scent of Zhong Chengshuo. Yin Ren didn’t want to take it off. The sweet bird songs in the distance announced the arrival of a new day, but Yin Ren couldn’t muster any interest in them. His world seemed to have been sealed again; sealed in the previous dusk.

He thought he had already become accustomed to farewells.

The lonely Ghost King clenched his lover’s notebook. At this time, he was no longer surrounded by the cold and slippery slate of the ancestral hall but a clean wooden floor.

Not long ago, Shian came with a supervisory department that he had never heard of. One of the spirit smiths was well versed in folding techniques. What he brought was not the legendary “portable landscape” used for practice, but a “portable conference room” full of modern equipment.

Yin Ren was sitting in the seat with a “witness” name tag. Ge Tingting was stimulated, and Huang Jing was unable to appear as a regular witness due to his criminal record.

So he was there all alone.

This was the first time Yin Ren saw Fu Xingchuan after the incident.

It was the first time he saw such a weak Fu Xingchuan.

Fu Xingchuan’s left leg was seriously injured, wrapped in countless vines and spiritual tools to barely maintain its original shape. Fu Xingchuan stiffened his injured leg and sat alone in front of the arched single square table.

Like he was on trial.

Yin Ren didn’t pay much attention to what those humans were muttering about. The only familiar name that caught his attention was spoken.

“…There was a major safety accident in the competition. Tao Lan, the science post from the Yandu branch, and Zhong Chengshuo, the science post from the Haigu branch, were said to have died.”

“Besides Fu Xingchuan, participants Fu Tianyi, Lu Xiaohe, Luo Wanxiang, and Sang Jie were also injured. The injured are not in danger of their lives and have been sent to the Municipal Hospital in Haigu for treatment…”

A woman in her fifties on the stage read in a monotonous tone, adjusting her glasses from time to time.

There were murmurs in the audience.

“It’s basically targeted at science posts. It’s so vicious since they can’t be treated with magic…”

“It’s most likely targeted at the science posts. Fu Tianyi was just injured by splash damage, and Sang Jie supported Luo Wanxiang, who only got hit on the side. The rest of the science posts, two died and two were seriously injured… The cat was also targeted, but it survived.”

“What about those two auxiliary cultivators from Haigu, Xiao Ge and Xiao Huang? They walked away separately and weren’t even hit by the splash damage. That group leader, Yin Ren, was also leading by half a step and was completely unharmed…”

There was anger and indignation in the people’s voices.

Fu Xingchuan’s voice was steady. “I take full responsibility.”

The woman glanced at him but didn’t answer. “Based on the current inspection results, the attacker may possess unconventional spatial shuttle capabilities. The security facilities at the Fu residence cannot guarantee the safety of the contestants…”

“I have something to say!” Zhou Gong’s voice suddenly sounded.

Yin Ren raised his eyes and noticed Zhou Gong and Qiao Shang sitting further away from the arched table. Both of their faces were very bad, and a “relevant party” sign was placed in front of them.

The woman sitting in the center of the arched table stopped speaking and looked up at Zhou Gong.

Fu Xingchuan’s voice was steady. “I take full responsibility.”

“We were all at the scene, and it was impossible to defend against such a bizarre attack. I didn’t even notice any spatial fluctuations, and Qiao Shang didn’t sense any killing intent. The attacker was extremely abnormal, and this attack cannot be simply attributed to a security accident.”

Zhou Gong stood up, bent his chubby body, and bowed to the woman.

“Even if the attack occurred in the Shian office area, I can assure you that Shian couldn’t defend against it at all. Everyone, our top priority is to find out the identity of the attacker, not to deal with our own people.”

The people on the stage were silent, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes looked at Zhou Gong together. The members of the supervisory department didn’t have high metaphysical abilities, but their momentum was extremely strong, and even Zhou Gong, who was the “#1 Evil Smith”, couldn’t help but lower his head.

Qiao Shang sighed and stood up as well.

“If it weren’t for Fu Xingchuan, who rushed out first to protect those employees, he wouldn’t have been injured like this. The selection of the competition site and the content of the competition were unanimously approved by the three of us. No ordinary people were injured this time, so can’t we…”

“I take full responsibility.” Fu Xingchuan interrupted Qiao Shang. “The incident in Gengsheng Town also involved my responsibility. We’ll handle it according to regulations.”

Zhou Gong hated that iron couldn’t be made into steel. “Lao Fu, you—!”

Yin Ren looked at the dispute expressionlessly, and he could probably guess the twists and turns in Zhou Gong’s heart.

When such a thing happened, someone had to take responsibility.

However, the attack occurred after the end of the competition, which was very strange, and there was no “eavesdropping feeling” reminder. Even Yin Ren himself couldn’t guard against it. There was still room for maneuver if Shian wanted to show mercy.

The premise was that Fu Xingchuan himself cooperated and actively protected himself.

However, Fu Xingchuan just stood there, wearing a red robe covered in dust and emitting a strong smell of blood.

“I misjudged. I am fully responsible,” Minister Fu repeated for the third time.

He didn’t find any objective reasons for himself, nor did he look at anyone. Looking only at Fu Xingchuan’s expression, he could even be called calm—but if he looked down, his blood-stained hands were tightly clenched into fists, and his knuckles were white.

Yin Ren looked at it blankly, without any waves in his heart.

He didn’t care who was responsible. Even if the so-called responsibility was defined accurately, Zhong Chengshuo wouldn’t come back on his own. Yin Ren was still sitting there calmly only because Zhong Chengshuo designated “contact Shian” in his last will.

If they really wanted to talk about responsibility…

The former Great Celestial Master lowered his head and looked at his own hands.

Why did he maintain that unnecessary “isolation” state just half an hour ago?

It was just a new ability, and he could still practice it in the future. If he had been lazy and rested after the competition like before, would Zhong Chengshuo still be by his side now?

That person would definitely be very excited to discover such a bizarre way of attack…

Why couldn’t he turn back time?

Twenty-four hours ago, they were still lying on the same bed. Yin Ren’s hair was lazily stretched out, and that person’s gentle breath sprayed down continuously, swaying his strand of hair gently.

Did Zhong Chengshuo notice his small movements?

Yin Ren was somewhat surprised to find that he might never know the answer.

……

The result of handling this “major safety accident” came out very quickly.

There was a huge shakeup in the Haigu branch.

Fu Xingchuan was almost on the verge of being fired but was arranged by Shian as an action consultant, theoretically at the same level as Huang Jin. Upon Fu Xingchuan’s recommendation, Xiang Jiang temporarily took over some of Fu Xingchuan’s duties to provide combat support for Li Nian.

The injured participants in this competition would be treated as work-related injuries, and they would receive compensation and resettlement. As for the attack, Zhou Gong and Qiao Shang would lead their two branches to conduct a joint investigation.

It wasn’t until Fu Xingchuan struggled to get up that Yin Ren’s face showed some signs of life.

The two of them had a strange tacit understanding, and they unconsciously stayed until the end, before they withdrew from this “portable conference room”.

“You have something to say to me,” Fu Xingchuan said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know the specific location of Sunken Society’s headquarters. If you want to find it by destroying the city, I will still find ways to stop you.”

“I’m not in the mood right now.”

Yin Ren dropped his words and pressed down on the blood-stained notebook.

He was grateful for his ex-lover’s departure. This blood-stained record came in very handy. Since entering society, for the first time, Yin Ren hoped to keep himself busy, preferably without any idle thoughts.

“About Zhong Chengshuo… About his disappearance, I have something to say.”

Fu Xingchuan turned around with his crutch. The tassel earring on his ear was stained with blood, making it even darker.

“I think I know what you want to say,” Fu Xingchuan said, looking at Yin Ren with complicated eyes.

No matter how they thought about it, with the power handed down from generation to generation and as an evil, this person would not continue to stay in Shian honestly and play an ordinary C-level investigator.

Yin Ren confessed his identity to Fu Wuya, as well as the attack on the statue and murals… Compared to venting his emotions, those actions were more like displaying his power. The current “Ghost King” couldn’t organize an army of evil beings and could only look for powerful and controllable collaborators.

Like the Fu family.

The former Ghost King needed manpower, and he happened to have something he wanted to do.

“You need manpower, and now you have it.” Fu Xingchuan pointed to himself. “Now I can provide round-the-clock support for Unit Nine until you get the answers you want.”

“You’re not the kind of person who would do this for an apology. Fu Xingchuan, what’s your goal?”

Minister Fu reached out a hand and raked through his messy hair.

“My goal has always been the same, to ‘solve problems’.”

He let out a long sigh.

“The problem at hand is difficult to solve with just the surface level of Shian… Oh, well, I know you’re not interested.”

Yin Ren lightly glanced at Fu Xingchuan and nodded casually. “Indeed, you have your own ambitions, and I have my own people to find.”

He rubbed the bloodstains on his tough leather jacket.

“Fu Xingchuan, do you know about the ‘Other Side’?”

“I do.”

Fu Xingchuan’s answer was particularly concise.

“Phenomenon Type-A1, the Other Side. Usually, we’re more accustomed to calling it ‘That Side’…”

……

At the same time, deep underground.

There was no sound or smell; not even darkness existed anymore.

Everything had been reduced to nothingness.

Sense of touch… sense of touch… Oh, there’s still a little bit… It’s cold here, and the feeling is icy, like a metallic material.

“……”

Death should be the end of everything. After the cessation of vital functions, it was impossible to still have senses like touch.

Hm…

So at this level, he couldn’t die?