Night Walk

"Why would a rich second-generation heir with five hundred thousand in savings buy cheap one-hundred-yuan earphones..."

The girl's voice drifted into his ears.

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The sound quality was somewhat rough, mixed with a faint crackle of static.

Gu Shen had just firmly inserted the in-ear headphones and put on his baseball cap when he heard Chu Ling's complaint.

All this time, he and the girl had communicated through text on a screen.

The first time they met in the train car, the voice he had heard had already become like a dreamlike murmur, impossible to remember clearly.

Chu Ling had a lovely voice, ethereal and pleasing like an elf's. Unlike her frail appearance, however, her voice carried strength and substance. It made him feel grounded and at ease.

This time, Gu Shen did not feel like he was dreaming.

"You connected that quickly?"

He explained earnestly, "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality. And there's also the matter of the Electronic Bill..."

Even if he had known from the start that the card held five hundred thousand, he still would have made the same choice.

"I was waiting for you." The girl smiled, sounding a little helpless. "Did you forget what I do?"

"I can take care of the Electronic Bill for you. It's only a matter of erasing a few records. Buy better equipment next time. That pair of glasses you had at the beginning was actually pretty good."

Gu Shen was a little surprised.

Chu Ling had seen him picking through items at the supermarket...? But it made sense. With such powerful connection privileges, it would not have been strange for her to see anything.

"But for this operation... you actually bought the right equipment." Chu Ling said, "There are too many places that need real-time monitoring. Just be careful not to expose yourself. I'll keep watch for you."

Night fell. Once he was far from the city center, the dazzling neon lights gradually vanished.

The Old City District was like a faded, silent painting. Its colors were distinct. After sunset, streetlights lit up one after another, illuminating only small patches of ground. Black and white seemed to have been sliced apart by ink—

Gu Shen pressed himself into a secluded corner, just outside the range of a streetlamp. Dressed in loose black sportswear, he looked like an upright shadow as he silently stared at the cordon a hundred meters away.

22:45.

Fifteen minutes until the operation.

He had arrived an hour early and chosen an excellent position. It was a blind spot in the surveillance coverage, allowing him a clear view of the entire cordon in front of the Old Building. At that moment, security guards were standing watch beside the cordon as a minibus drove up and stopped nearby.

"The shift replacement arrived early?" Gu Shen was trying hard to regulate his breathing and calm his mind. "Plans never keep up with changes... Are they about to make their move?"

Normally, they would arrive five minutes early.

"Maybe this was part of the plan?" Chu Ling chuckled softly. "Look again, carefully."

Gu Shen had always had good eyesight. Narrowing his eyes, he saw several staff members in bulky protective suits and masks step down from the minibus. One of them walked forward and spoke to the security personnel at the cordon.

"Those are institute personnel responsible for extracting information from the scene," Chu Ling said slowly. "Because the bodies of those two Transcendents who attacked you were severely damaged, their identities can no longer be determined... so some technical means are needed to reconstruct the scene."

Gu Shen asked in a low voice, "So these researchers are all from the Adjudication Court?"

"They should have been." Chu Ling replied, "Something this serious happened to you. Zhou Jiren will definitely investigate this case thoroughly, follow the trail starting with those two Transcendents, and root out the assassination organization behind them."

Gu Shen nodded. It was just as he had expected. Then he suddenly froze. "Wait..."

"They should have been?"

"When men are the knife and you are the fish, you still have to struggle before you die."

"Zhou Jiren is making his move. Those people don't want to sit around and wait to die. As long as they destroy the primary scene and eliminate the evidence, there'll be no proof left." Chu Ling's voice held a trace of mockery. "The real researchers haven't arrived yet. These are impostors."

Cold sweat seeped across Gu Shen's forehead.

Those fake researchers had already taken out their credentials. The security guards on patrol appeared to be complete outsiders, hastily dispatched to stand guard because of the sudden incident... They had not recognized the forged documents, nor had they realized someone would impersonate the replacement personnel.

Someone had already pulled open the cordon, preparing to let them through.

"Don't worry. The real show is only beginning. This group won't succeed so easily."

Chu Ling's voice finally turned solemn. "Do you remember the infiltration route? The operation is about to begin."

Gu Shen nodded.

He stared intently into the distance.

Just as the security personnel were about to let them through, a pitch-black figure slowly emerged from the ruined darkness of the Old Building and reached out to stop the researchers in their cumbersome protective suits.

"Wait."

The moment that voice rang out.

It was not only the researchers who froze.

Even the security personnel on patrol froze.

Most of the security guards here had arrived the instant the Fire Disaster Case broke out, evacuating the crowd and protecting the victims... Because of the emergency, they had been deployed from nearby. After completing those tasks, they had followed their superiors' orders and set up this cordon.

For twenty-four hours, they had strictly prevented outsiders from entering, all to preserve the primary scene and await the personnel who would take over afterward.

They were certain that no one had entered the scene.

Yet that voice had clearly come from inside the cordon... What the hell!

A lean young man emerged from the dark gloom of the Old Building. His features were handsome, and his skin was as pale as a vampire's. He looked so frail that a gust of wind seemed capable of knocking him over.

"Mr. Zhong... Zhong Wei!"

The captain in charge of guarding the scene recognized the young man and immediately stood at attention, saluting him.

This sudden Fire Disaster Case seemed to involve something enormous.

The first security personnel to arrive had received only four words of instruction: protect the scene. They knew nothing else. They only knew that after the shift change tonight, the case would be taken over by a powerful special task force.

The captain knew slightly more than the others. He had merely seen one additional photograph.

It was a photograph of Zhong Wei.

The rumored leader of the special task force that would soon take over... was the seemingly frail young man standing before him.

"Mhm."

Zhong Wei gave the captain a polite nod in acknowledgment, then took out his credentials and briefly introduced himself to the other security personnel. "Special task force. Zhong Wei."

"You... arrived earlier?"

The captain gave a bitter smile. That voice had nearly scared him to death just now. He had thought something had gone wrong.

Fortunately, he was one of them.

"Just arrived." Zhong Wei did not explain. He merely said calmly, "The colleagues taking over haven't arrived yet, so I took a look around the scene first."

In truth, he had been guarding this place all along.

It was simply that these security personnel had not noticed him.

This case involved Transcendents. Zhong Wei had come to the Old Building the moment he received the notification, intending to prevent any accidents before the Adjudication Court agents arrived.

After Zhong Wei appeared.

With the cordon between them, the people on both sides became unusually silent.

The accompanying researchers in heavy protective suits and masks visibly stiffened for a moment.

Only the leader showed no abnormality. He remained composed as he slowly withdrew his hand and put away his credentials.

"Mr. Zhong Wei... We just checked their documents... There's nothing wrong with the official seals..." The captain sensed something was off and signaled his team to pull the cordon back into place.

"Oh? Official seals can't be forged..." Zhong Wei walked up to the lead researcher. "Since they're genuine, I'll inspect them again."

He held out his hand, signaling for the credentials.

The other man slowly handed them over.

The instant their hands met—

A muffled laugh sounded from behind the soundproof mask.

With a hiss, the credentials burst into flames, blooming like a magician's fireworks.

Flames exploded out of thin air!

The scene came without warning. The surrounding security personnel did not even see what had happened. They only saw a sudden burst of brilliant fire scatter in all directions, like a starting pistol firing—

The researchers in their bulky protective suits charged forward. Beneath those thick suits, their bodies were as strong as bulls. They knocked over the security guards in front of them, tore through the cordon, and fiercely broke toward the Old Building.

Bang!

Zhong Wei's expression darkened. Prepared for this, he kicked apart the fiery burst in front of him.

He was astonishingly fast. His seemingly frail body contained immense ferocity. Spinning around, he whipped out a kick that sent one of the burly researchers trying to break inward flying sideways.

The lead "magician" who had created the chaos turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Zhong Wei turned and shouted angrily, "Stop them!"

More than a dozen security guards rushed forward, tackling the several burly men desperately trying to break into the Old Building.

These men were merely physically strong. They were not Transcendents!

He had to catch the leader... Zhong Wei's gaze turned icy as he instantly locked onto the fleeing man. The other man was cunning, slipping into the minibus and preparing to drive away.

Zhong Wei took a deep breath and began running. He was so fast that he no longer seemed human, more like a cheetah!

The moment the minibus started, Zhong Wei leaped up and grabbed onto its roof with both hands. The medium-sized bus roared as it accelerated, kicking up clouds of dust. Its body swayed like a snake and drifted wildly, but Zhong Wei clung to it like a nail driven into wood.

After a violent sharp turn.

Zhong Wei maintained his balance, rolled sideways with the momentum, kicked through the window, and landed inside the minibus.

He spoke coldly.

"Since you dared to come, don't leave."