Blazing Sun Sect's Analysis

Harry walked through the hallways until he reached the Resting Hall.

This was where the memorial urns were stored, free of charge for the first three years.

Previously, Harry thought that the urns were stored here by families who couldn't afford a burial plot, but after some research, he realized the truth.

Many of the urns belonged to elderly people who had passed away, with their spouses storing the urns here temporarily, waiting until their own passing so they could be buried together.

According to local customs, it was considered unlucky to open a grave after burial, so it was rare to bury one person first, then reopen the grave later for a shared burial.

However, there were some urns here for other reasons.

For example, young people who died unexpectedly and were unmarried often had their urns stored here temporarily before being moved back to their hometowns after three years for burial.

As Harry arrived at the hall, he originally planned to ask a colleague to check the registry for him.

But upon entering the hall, a quick glance revealed two elderly people with graying hair, standing before a particular row of memorial urns. On the grid right in front of them, Harry saw the name of the young nurse with cavities.

He stepped inside, and as he approached, he overheard the elderly woman softly speaking.

"Jenny, I made your favorite green bean cakes. It took me half a day to make them. Your father and I are both doing well. You've been gone for a year now..."

The old lady's voice choked with emotion as she spoke.

The elderly man beside her, his hair just as white, gently wrapped an arm around her, his lips trembling as if trying to comfort her. But in the end, no words of consolation escaped his mouth.

"Jenny, we're leaving now. We'll come visit you again in a few days."

The old man helped the sobbing woman walk toward the exit.

Harry noticed the woman looked pale, so he hurriedly stepped forward to help steady her.

"Let's sit and rest for a bit."

After helping the old woman sit down, Harry fetched two cups of warm water for them and sat with them for a while, chatting to ease the sadness.

About ten minutes later, Harry saw the two off, calling them a taxi, and then he returned to the Resting Hall.

Despite their gray hair, the couple were only in their fifties. Losing their only daughter in the prime of her life had clearly taken a toll on them.

Now, as Harry looked at the offerings before the urn—green bean cakes, individually packaged buns, and a few tangerines—he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bun identical to the one on the altar. It was leftover from last night.

The offerings here were exactly the same.

Even Harry, as slow as he could sometimes be, finally understood. Last night, the young nurse with cavities had told him not to go outside and that no one could come in from outside, urging him to rest. She had been trying to protect him from danger.

Her claim that she didn't like sweets was just an excuse to get him to eat something quickly and return to his ward, away from the looming danger.

Even the fact that his phone wasn't charging properly, and later took hours to charge fully—those were clues he'd missed. It had been because he was within a domain, something he hadn't noticed at the time.

At that moment, he hadn't known anything about domains. After all, the surroundings hadn't changed visibly, and he had been numbed by the hallucinations caused by the poisonous mushrooms he had eaten.

Now, he realized that the young nurse, having died in an accident, was trapped in that domain.

And today, he had almost been crushed by a leaf weighing dozens of pounds. He doubted that being hit would have only injured him; most likely, he'd have been killed on the spot.

Harry sat in the Resting Hall for a while longer, deep in thought, before getting up to leave.

He pulled out his phone and called the director, Keith.

"Director, I want to understand what this domain business is all about. Do we have any information on it?"

"You want to get involved?" Keith's voice was calm, as if he had already expected this.

"I'll look at the situation first. If I can't help, I won't push it. But if I can, then I'd rather do something than sit like a chicken."

"Thinking it was all an accident is bullshit. Something is clearly trying to kill me."

"Plus, that nurse gave me the best food she had and helped me avoid danger. If I knew all this and still pretended like nothing happened, it wouldn't sit right with me."

"And most importantly, even if I wanted to avoid it, I'm not sure I can."

"That's true. Not knowing the specific rules but still being affected... hiding won't help much."

"I understand."

"Alright then, someone will contact you shortly." Keith hung up, a smile spreading across his face. His instincts about people weren't wrong after all, not that he had bragged in front of Kai Qiyan for nothing.

———

About an hour later, Harry's phone rang.

"Hello, Harry? I'm outside the Serenity Funeral Home."

Harry looked toward the gate and saw a black SUV parked there. A broad-shouldered man with a square face was holding a phone, waving at him.

"Blazing Sun Sect, Victor Kane." Victor extended his hand. He looked serious, and with his imposing face, he was probably destined for leadership.

"Harry."

"I've read your file. Let's talk in the car."

Once they were inside, with the doors closed, Victor took out a thick laptop, opened a document, and turned it toward Harry.

"The information you want is all here. No copying, no printing, no photos. You can only read it here."

"Thanks."

Harry focused on reading the document. The information was detailed.

[ Last year, while the Blazing Sun Sect personnel in Riverside District were on routine patrol using a special artifact, they unexpectedly detected an anomaly. It was determined that there were signs of a domain appearing in Serene City, a city under Riverside District's jurisdiction.

Upon further verification by the field team, it was confirmed that a Type III domain—one that blends with the real world—had appeared.

The location was the inpatient building of Serene City's First Hospital. When the domain appeared, the inpatient building remained visible from the outside, but no one could enter from outside, and those inside couldn't leave.

At sunrise, the domain would disappear, and the inpatient building would return to normal. The next night, at exactly 10:30, the domain would reappear.

The domain lasted for three days, but among the hundreds of patients, doctors, nurses, and visitors within the building during those days, only one terminal cancer patient was suspected of having their soul dissipate.

According to experts, the patient had been suffering from severe pain for months, was already near death, and had been unconscious for days, unable to eat. In this weakened state, his soul was already fragile and likely dissipated upon death.

Other patients who passed away during those three days were also thoroughly recorded, and every death in the hospital for the following three months was carefully investigated by the Blazing Sun Sect. None showed signs of abnormality.

Based on the classification system, the domain in the inpatient building was categorized as a Level Two—mainly because it could potentially affect hundreds of people at once.

If they were to shut down the inpatient building entirely without a reasonable explanation that would cause public panic, other hospitals in Serene City would struggle to accommodate the patient load. ]

Harry nodded thoughtfully as he read on, 'No wonder I read rumors that Serene City's First Hospital was relocating.'

The official reason was that Serene City's population had grown, and the old hospital, which had been around for decades, could no longer meet the demand.

But privately, Harry had heard that the real reason was the domain in the inpatient building.

As Harry continued reading, he found the name Jenny. She was the only hospital staff member to have died during those three days.

The investigation concluded that a malfunctioning piece of equipment had caused an accident, leading to her death. The equipment had caught fire, but the flames were quickly extinguished before they could spread. Unfortunately, Jenny had perished in the incident.

The equipment was thoroughly inspected and confirmed to have malfunctioned due to wear and tear, with no signs of sabotage. It was ruled an accident.

However, this record was now flagged as questionable.

Looking further, Harry reviewed the Blazing Sun Sect's assessment of the domain.

Despite encompassing so many people, almost no one noticed anything amiss, and no one was harmed. It was deduced that the domain's rules overlapped with the hospital's daily routines. Even if not perfectly aligned, they were close enough.

The domain manifested at 10:30 p.m., right at lights-out. As long as everyone followed the usual routine of sleeping through the night, they would experience nothing unusual.

The body taken away this morning had also been examined by Blazing Sun Sect experts. The soul was gone.

The deceased had snuck out the night before for a massage and only returned as dawn approached.

Surveillance footage showed the person re-entering the hospital, entering the inpatient building that should have been inaccessible.

According to the Blazing Sun Sect's analysis, this person's actions deviated from the usual routine, violating the domain's rules.

Harry recalled the term "inspector" from his earlier experience. The inspector was likely the one enforcing the domain's rules and had taken away the rule-breaker.