Chapter 24: The Lurker in the Shadows

"Ah..."

"Achoo!"

With a sneeze, Gu Shen suddenly woke up.

The last of his memories were of a dense darkness, a boundless mess of code, and a vague black shadow... The Jingzhe Dream hadn't completely collapsed yet, and Chu Ling had severed their Spiritual Link, followed by his own plunge into deep sleep.

And upon waking up.

The first thing he saw was a face that, despite being obscured by sunglasses covering most of its features, remained breathtakingly attractive.

Yet, the owner of that handsome face was now full of disdain, holding a knife, grasping the corner of a trench coat, swiftly retreating as if eager to get as far away from him as possible.

Was that necessary, just for a sneeze... Gu Shen silently flipped the finger at the mean woman in his heart.

"Gu Shen, you're awake."

Hearing Senior Sister Luo's voice, Gu Shen fully came to his senses.

There was no concept of time in the Dream World.

How long had he spent, from entering the dream to comprehend the "Jingzhe" until waking up now?

Had he really broken the fastest record of the Judgement Institute...

"Senior Sister." Gu Shen scratched his head, "How long... have I slept?"

"Not long, just four hours," Senior Sister Luo mentioned casually.

Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

That's alright then.

It wasn't just fifteen minutes, after all.

"Xiao Gu." Brother Zhong Wei approached, asking with concern, "What did you see in that dream just now?"

Xiao Gu... It had been a long time since anyone had called him that.

Gu Shen didn't mind and thought for a moment before honestly replying, "I dreamed of... a vast, vast wilderness. The scenery was beautiful, with endless grass, and then... a rain fell."

He still needed to play the fool a little.

This was something Gu Shen excelled at.

He vividly related the scene of the Jingzhe Dream and then ambiguously glossed over the details of his comprehension, pretending to be naive and stumbling into enlightenment by accident.

After finishing his account, Gu Shen showed his results: "Senior Sister... In that dream, I seem to have grasped something extraordinary—"

The breathing method of Jingzhe was deeply etched in his heart.

With that said, Gu Shen breathed according to the rhythm in his mind, and instantly, his whole presence became subdued, his eyes sparkling. He could distinctly feel his spiritual power solidifying.

And he could faintly sense a warm, clear current slowly flowing at the back of his head.

"Hmm... Not bad."

Senior Sister Luo nodded, "That is the 'thing' I wanted to give you, this breathing method is called Jingzhe. Remember, in the upcoming special training period, you need to make this breathing method your instinct. No matter what you're doing, eating, sleeping, always maintain the Jingzhe breath."

So that was it.

Gu Shen nodded inwardly, if he replaced his regular breathing with the Jingzhe breathing, not only would his meager spiritual power become more stable, but it would also grow stronger day by day.

He couldn't help being impressed by Gu Changzhi's genius for creating this breathing method all by himself!

A gentle pat came down on his shoulder.

Senior Sister Luo rarely showed such tenderness, saying, "Since you have understood Jingzhe, it means you do have talent. Don't be too hard on yourself... The time it takes to comprehend a mere breathing method doesn't represent anything."

Gu Shen was taken aback.

Was Senior Sister Luo... comforting him?

She was worried about the upcoming evaluation and the great pressure he might face.

Or did it mean... the time he took to comprehend was a bit long?

He heard from Brother Zhong Wei that it was the impact of the Transcendent event in the early years that caused Senior Sister Luo's temperament to become capricious.

Only then did he discover that Senior Sister Luo's smile was actually quite cute.

"Alright."

The smile faded from Luo Er's face as she spoke seriously, "The tasks ahead are still heavy. We don't have time to waste."

...

...

"Rumble rumble rumble—"

Above the unfinished tube building strictly protected by the warning lines, the low roar of helicopter blades resounded.

The guards all looked up and saw an incredible scene.

At a distance of about ten meters from the ground,

a man dressed in a gray-black suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a refined appearance, was holding a briefcase in one hand while violently opening the cabin door with the other. He looked down at the ground below, where numerous black dots scattered about with an expression both cold and merciful, as if he were observing a swarm of ants.

Then he spread his arms and plummeted straight down like a bird—

With a "boom"!

The ground erupted with billowing dust!

The spot where the suit-clad man landed was just beyond the police cordon. In that instant, dust and gravel flew up, the wind picked up, and the security personnel coughed violently as they retreated. The Guard Captain was about to sound the alarm when his arm, raised halfway, was firmly restrained.

A deep voice rang out.

"We're all on the same side."

Amidst the dust, the man in the suit stood erect; his voice was as magnetic as a demon's, bewitching those who heard it.

The Guard Captain, as if possessed, lowered the hand that was about to activate the alarm.

"Lower your weapons, don't move."

The whispered voice slowly spread through the dust.

The security staff from the Judgement Institute, responsible for guarding the derelict building, dropped their weapons in unison upon hearing the command. One by one, their eyes glazed over, standing motionless at their posts.

The refined man nodded in satisfaction.

He casually adjusted his glasses and gestured above, signaling that the helicopter could leave now.

The roar of the rotor blades faded into the distance.

The entire derelict building fell silent, as if time had come to a standstill, only disturbed by dust chaotically swirling in the air. The man, briefcase in hand, walked deliberately towards the interior.

To him, all the security tapes seemed as if they did not exist and held no meaning.

He made his way toward the scene of the fire.

Even after 48 hours, the site was still well protected... Crouching down at the stairwell, the man picked up some bone ash and studied it thoughtfully, then narrowed his eyes, focusing on a missing phalanx in the pile of ashes.

Soon after, he arrived at the rooftop.

The splattered bloodstains had dried up; he touched a digit into it—hard as weathered asphalt with a hint of a foul odor. Someone had trampled over these stains before they had completely dried.

Was it last night?

The refined man glanced around, once again straightening his gold-rimmed glasses.

[Profile, activate.]

In his eyes, the pupils reversed in color, reflecting another world atop the rooftop—

Someone had come to this place last night and got captured.

Two indistinct black shadows walked backward on the rooftop; in the man's profiled world, time flowed in reverse, unveiling the "true scene" that had occurred.

The truth was, more than two people had trodden on the bloodstains.

There was a third shadow.

The man stepped back, moving towards the stairwell, returning to the previous spot, his gaze searching point by point.

Now, something inexplicable presented itself.

[...Why would the third lurker squat here?]

Eventually, the man's gaze rested on a stack of wood planks in the corner.

He crouched down slowly, reaching out, patiently lifting one plank after another until, at last, the truth was revealed underneath the final layer.

Beneath the wood planks, covered by a thin layer of dust, a clean rectangular strip was exposed.

[He dropped something here last night, which he came back for.]

The length and width of the object were approximately...

Got it.

The man left the building and returned to the vicinity of the security cordon, assisting the staff in restoring the tape. In the process, his eyes met with the puzzled, numb gaze of the Guard Captain.

Because of the command "Don't move," everyone was like a wooden figure bound by air, struggling in vain to move even an inch.

"Sorry... just routine inspection. It's much more convenient for me if you all stay like this."

The man in the suit spoke alone amidst the silence and dust, restoring the scene.

After finishing, he pulled out a business card from his briefcase and, with a smile, made a brief introduction to the Guard Captain: "Judgement Institute, Special Investigation Unit, Han Dang."

"Thanks for your cooperation, my work is done now."

Han Dang put away the business card, bowed, and started to withdraw.

As his figure departed, his last words echoed at the old building's security line.

"Everyone... forget about what just happened, as if you've never seen me."