CH 134

The Fu Residence, Ancestral Hall.

Fu Wuya swayed the willow branches listlessly. He didn’t even feel like watching TV. According to the usual practice, he had sheltered a bunch of people before and needed to rest to recover his strength. But now, even the Fu family’s ancestor dared not rest and completely ignored the rule of “ignoring outside affairs”.

At Fu Wuya’s strong request, The Fu family equipped him with a complete set of instant communication devices.

Professional personnel came and went, covering Fu Wuya with all kinds of obstructions for a week to ensure both his psychological and physical health. The strong human presence made him uncomfortable, and even the willow branches were withered.

There was no choice. Zhong Yi had run outside. If he did not clarify the whole story of the event, Fu Wuya would not be able to sleep.

For the Fu Family, which was full of loyal believers of the “Great Celestial Master”, Fu Wuya kept this secret that no one knew how to describe. Fortunately, there was still Fu Xingchuan outside, so the old ancestor didn’t have to bear the outrageous reality alone.

At this moment, the broadcast screen stopped at the Haigu Municipal Hospital.

The screen showed the emergency ward of Unit Nine, with exactly five hospital beds. Two of the beds were empty, and the sheets were tucked into the mattress, flat and smooth without any wrinkles.

Ge Tingting and Lu Xiaohe were arranged on the side close to the window, with nameplates on the head of the bed. The two girls had lost their usual vitality and looked like two stiff mannequins. Huang Jin’s bed was on the other side of the ward—he sat cross-legged at the head of the bed with a gloomy face, playing with a carving knife non-stop.

On the screen, Yin Ren was wearing a high-necked white line shirt with a suitcase by his side.

He sat quietly next to one of the empty beds, looking like he was about to move in.

“I received the post-mortem email from Zhong Chengshuo, and I saw the addresses he copied. You all received it too,” Yin Ren said.

His tone was so calm that it was a bit scary. However, his face was almost integrated with the white shirt, and there was a hint of redness in the corners of his eyes, indicating that he was not as indifferent as he sounded.

Yin Ren rarely wore such bright colors as white. At the moment, he was wearing the same shirt as Zhong Chengshuo. His hair was loosely tied, and there was a strange sense of oppression.

Fu Xingchuan, the carrier of Fu Wuya’s vision, nodded and looked straight into the camera. “We have all received it, and I have asked Li Nian. The situation is special now, and we will cooperate with Zhong Chengshuo’s wishes and not notify his parents for the time being. However…”

“There is no ‘however’,” Yin Ren said. “If you are worried about not being able to hide the problem…”

He waved his left hand, and the air distorted for a moment.

“Zhong Chengshuo” appeared in the ward out of nowhere. He was wearing the same high-necked white shirt as Yin Ren, with dark eyes like two deep wells. His slightly long bangs hung over his glasses, and every detail, from the brand carved on the frame to the sneakers he was wearing, was extremely vivid.

These days, the memories of the past few months have chewed repeatedly on Yin Ren. And they were like a carving knife, sharpening those subtle details.

A lifelike illusion.

“’We’ will always be together, going back to accompany the elders until the end. As for all those messy procedures of yours, do as you please. Zhong Chengshuo has written everything in the email. He understands this better than me.”

Yin Ren didn’t look at the phantom of Zhong Chengshuo. He slowly withdrew his hand, allowing that familiar shadow to instantly dissipate.

“You’re still staying in Shian?” Huang Jin muttered.

“Mhm. He’s not here, and I have no concept of dealing with electronic data and such. I need assistance. Whether it’s a targeted attack or a random one, I will bring him back.”

Yin Ren raised his gaze, which appeared slightly dimmer than it had been in the past.

“As for the person who made the move, they must disappear completely.”

Faced with these outrageous statements, Fu Xingchuan coughed twice and didn’t say anything. He was now just an innocent and injured lower-level combat advisor, and it made no sense to pay attention to the “outrageous remarks” of a senior employee.

Moreover, the real reason why Yin Ren stayed in Shian was tacitly understood between the former Great Celestial Master and the Fu family.

[Fu Xingchuan, do you know about “The Other Side”?]

Yin Ren asked this after his “processing meeting”.

Phenomenon A-A1, “The Other Side”. Shian’s high-level executives tended to call it “The Other Side.” Currently, it had been confirmed that Phenomenon C-B4 “Gap”, Phenomenon A-D512 “Archive”, Phenomenon A-A2 “Divine Descent”, as well as hundreds of anomalies large and small, were all related to “The Other Side”.

Both in the metaphysical and scientific world, the understanding of “The Other Side” was even less than that of black holes. Only those with the ability of a Charon could truly come into contact with “The Other Side”, so the research they could do was extremely limited.

Why did “The Other Side” exist, whether there was real life within it, and what kind of impact it had on this world were all unknown mysteries. For some reason, research in this direction always seemed to be difficult to make progress.

These should have been Shian’s top secrets.

…But Zhong Chengshuo was able to learn about the existence of “The Other Side” through his own efforts.

And now, the culprit was precisely using methods related to the “Gap” to move and attack, which was inseparable to “The Other Side”. Regardless of whether Shian cared about Zhong Chengshuo personally, they must investigate his “missing person case” thoroughly.

After understanding all of this, Yin Ren only left behind a few words.

[Shian has always given us interesting tasks, but this time I want to propose a task myself. His case is mine… Whether the attacker is on this side or the other, I will kill him.]

“Since everyone is here, I’ll be straightforward.”

Yin Ren stood still, with a surging and majestic evil qi constantly flowing around him. It was like a semi-transparent giant snake that kept circling around his body. This was Shian’s territory, and countless aura monitors surrounded Yin Ren, but none of them sounded any alarms.

“This is a missing person case, and Special Investigation Unit 9 has always been good at tracking missing people, right?”

……

At the same time, the missing person struggled to turn over underground.

The good news was that Zhong Chengshuo had learned how to turn over without a head. The bad news was that there was no sign of his head growing back. The ruptured wound was still open, without even a hint of new flesh growing.

That strange and unfamiliar emotion constantly enveloped Zhong Chengshuo.

His thoughts seemed to be out of his control, constantly sliding in a negative direction. Zhong Chengshuo tried to concentrate on his thoughts, but the annoying emotion kept disturbing him and hitting the pause button on his thinking.

Is this “fear”?

If he was provoked like this, would that person lose control? If the Evil Spirit Yin Ren were to appear, would Haigu already have disappeared in a mushroom-shaped cloud?

It was too scary.

But when he turned over, he thought again that maybe he wasn’t that important.

Yin Ren had lived for fourteen hundred years…three hundred and sixty years…no, a hundred and eighty years. He and that person had only spent a few months together, and he was at most like a stone that fell into a surging river, causing only a small splash. Perhaps that person could soon emerge from the shadows, move to the Fu residence, and continue to live comfortably.

This possibility was better, but Zhong Chengshuo tasted another kind of vague fear.

He didn’t want to be forgotten by that person.

Fear was like the surrounding low temperature, making his thinking slow and his joints stiff. Zhong Chengshuo could only slowly adapt to this new feeling. Although it was only a new emotion, it made him feel itchy and uncomfortable all over, like being pricked by needles.

His body didn’t respond well, but unfortunately, he couldn’t determine if it was the side effect of “fear”, or the natural reaction brought by “death”.

Unable to think smoothly, Zhong Chengshuo could only turn his body over and try to keep it flexible.

Keeping active was always a good thing, but unfortunately, the space here was too small to do push-ups.

Crack.

Just as Zhong Chengshuo was trying to develop a new way of exercising, a slight vibration came from the metal door.

Zhong Chengshuo’s hand slipped, almost causing him to fall onto the metal wall, but he managed to barely hold on. He had to admit that it was difficult to maintain his balance without a head.

He straightened his legs, positioned his arms, and resumed the appearance of a corpse.

There was a faint tremble… Footsteps were getting closer. The metal door above his neck suddenly shook, and the metal compartment was pulled out entirely. A gust of air brushed past his chest, but fortunately, the compartment was cold enough that it didn’t give him goosebumps.

The air was trembling, and the person approaching seemed to be saying something. Something cold and damp kept wiping his body, and he tried his best not to tense his muscles. He wasn’t sure if continuing to play dead was a good idea—if these people decided to dissect and store him, there would truly be no hope for him.

He needed to know what the person was saying, but he had no ears.

If only he could grow organs on his body like Yin Ren, it would be great. Zhong Chengshuo suddenly had an idea. He used all his strength to imagine what he would look like with ears growing on the back of his head.

The only result was that he almost choked, and his skin twitched, but his body didn’t change at all.

What should he do?

If this had happened earlier, he might have chosen to accept his fate calmly. But now, the fear seized him again, regardless of the situation.

Will the bone saw or dissecting knife be the next thing coming at him?

… If he couldn’t grow organs, he could only rely on identifying the vibrations in the air. He had no head, so he wasn’t sure if bone conduction would still work, but this was his last hope.

In the face of the unknown fear, Zhong Chengshuo forced himself to keep calculating.

Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate.

Surprisingly, the fear turned into an adrenaline rush. He had no heart to beat faster; only skin that was extremely sensitive. Every wisp of air, every touch, became a sharp blow.

“Woo… woo…” The vague tremor stirred his nerves.

The vibration in the air seeped through his skin, penetrated his cold flesh, covered his bones, and echoed constantly inside his body.

“Hey… the material condition is good. No signs of decay or mutation… no need for dissection… for now…”

It was a recording of the examination.

“Wound cross-section recorded… no special growth observed… Hmm… It seems that a nerve is emerging from the cross-section…”

Zhong Chengshuo quickly dispersed his focus, and the person’s voice instantly became blurred. A sharp metal was placed on the cross-section of his neck, and Zhong Chengshuo’s attention was completely scattered.

“Did I read it wrong?”

The inspector carefully examined the frozen wound for a while.

It wasn’t until he was pushed back into the morgue drawer that Zhong Chengshuo felt a little relieved… No, he let go of his fear a little.

Regarding his escape plan, he suddenly had a ridiculous idea.