Fishing Entrapment

"Now—"

"Move!"

The moment Zhong Wei set off, Chu Ling's voice rang out.

Gu Shen, having adjusted his breathing to its optimal state, had a sharp glint flash through his eyes.

He knew... the time had come!

Pulling down the brim of his cap, Gu Shen moved like a ghost. Following the original plan, he bypassed the surveillance cameras and swiftly made his way toward the Old Building. Chu Ling's plan truly was flawless. This disturbance had not only drawn away the most troublesome Transcendent, but had completely captured the security personnel's attention as well!

Gu Shen's infiltration went exceptionally smoothly.

He reached the shadowed side of the Old Building and moved quickly, turning and shifting according to Chu Ling's instructions to avoid surveillance. At last, he arrived at the rooftop stairwell guarded by two layers of cordons.

One more step forward lay the crime scene.

Forty hours had passed.

The scene had been well preserved. Almost nothing had been moved.

"Because of the fire, the rooftop's original surveillance cameras were already damaged," Chu Ling reminded him. "Do you see that pile of wooden boards? I buried the Truth Ruler at the very bottom."

Gu Shen nodded. Stepping over the barrier, he slowly crouched down, put on gloves, and lifted the not-too-thick boards.

A Silver Ruler lay amid the dust.

Thankfully, no one had discovered the ruler...

The instant he touched the Truth Ruler, Gu Shen let out a long breath. He gripped the ruler, and his previously taut nerves relaxed, as though a clear stream were gently flowing through his heart.

"Whew... got it."

Gu Shen did not retreat immediately. Instead, he turned toward the corpse close at hand and silently stared at it... This Transcendent had long since been burned into charcoal by the flames. His clothes had crumbled into ash, leaving behind only a shriveled, blackened skeleton.

"You have the item. You can leave now."

Chu Ling reminded him, but Gu Shen did not move. Instead, he asked softly, "What methods does the Adjudication Court use?"

The girl paused.

"Ordinary methods involve extracting DNA from blood, bones, and bodily fluids, then searching the Deep Sea database for the original owner... But life destroyed by Transcendent power may undergo genetic mutations, so those methods might fail." She spoke slowly. "This time, the Adjudication Court may send a Transcendent with Mental Affinity to conduct Profiling through the well-preserved primary crime scene. There are many methods. Why are you asking?"

"Finger bone."

Gu Shen suddenly said, "This person's finger bone is missing a section."

Chu Ling froze. Because the surveillance footage was missing, she could not access the necessary permissions to observe Gu Shen's current surroundings. She could only communicate with him by voice.

But even if there had been video, what could it have shown?

Who would notice, in such a dark environment... that the little finger bone of a corpse burned into charcoal was missing a section?

The missing finger bone meant that someone had already taken the key evidence from the scene.

"It was Mr. Shu." Gu Shen said softly, "The rooftop protection was only a smokescreen. The information that needed to be extracted was extracted long ago. He had already laid his trap and waited for someone to walk into it."

Since he had prepared in advance... how could the Transcendent guarding the Old Building have left so easily?

A phrase surfaced in Gu Shen's mind.

Cast a long line to catch a big fish.

"Gu Shen, leave there quickly."

Chu Ling's voice abruptly grew tense. "Transcendents have appeared. One... no, two! They're approaching your location!"

"Heh."

Gu Shen was not surprised at all. He quickly rose to his feet and stepped onto the rooftop. With a casual glance, he could see white sheets fluttering everywhere, stained with splattered crimson blood. The sight was horrifying. Even he found it hard to believe that he had done this himself.

No wonder those people from the Adjudication Court had given him an S-class evaluation.

This really was the sort of thing only a devil could do.

If he had guessed correctly, Mr. Shu had extracted a severed finger and collected the blood from the rooftop. Those two pieces of evidence were enough to trace the genetic sequence... The details of his coma and rescue were classified, and Mr. Shu's arrival at the crime scene was classified too.

Those people who wanted to destroy the scene and eliminate the evidence knew none of this. They could only make a desperate gamble.

The butcher's knife had already been raised.

The fish on the chopping block could only await death.

"Whoosh—"

The rooftop wind was biting.

Gripping the ruler, Gu Shen leaped down. This time, he did not use much mental strength to imagine a grand scene. He merely imagined the wind behind him stretching into a pair of wings.

The ruler gave a clear chime.

The fierce wind supported his body and gently pushed him some distance away.

The boy glided through the night wind and landed steadily atop the slightly shorter Old Building.

"Gu Shen... you're even smarter than I imagined."

After leaving the cramped stairwell, Chu Ling's "field of vision" broadened as well. She saw the boy riding the wind.

It was only Gu Shen's second time using the Truth Ruler, yet he had already grasped the trick.

What astonishing learning ability.

After landing, Gu Shen crouched on the spot and concealed himself in the darkness.

He grinned, though his face was noticeably several shades paler than before.

The sounds outside were somewhat piercing at that moment, with waves of pain stabbing straight into his mind.

Gu Shen realized that for a period after using the ruler, he could not concentrate. His mind felt scattered. This was probably a side effect of using the ruler, perhaps because he was unskilled with it and because his mental strength was not powerful enough.

Only after taking several deep breaths with effort did he regain control of his mind.

For him, trying to visualize an image was not difficult. With the ruler in hand, activating it was not a problem.

But the expenditure required to use the Truth Ruler was no small hidden danger.

Using the Truth Ruler was like flipping a circuit breaker. Even using it for a single second... consumed a considerable amount of mental strength.

It had only been a few seconds just now, and he was already struggling to endure it?

That would not do!

I wonder if Mr. Shu has some special training method for tempering mental strength... Gu Shen silently resolved. The Truth Ruler was now his greatest support, his trump card for staying alive!

After returning, he absolutely had to increase his mental strength in order to wield it better.

"You just said... you sensed Transcendents approaching?"

Gu Shen sat in the dark corner, only recovering after several minutes.

"Yes." Chu Ling sounded somewhat puzzled. "But these two Transcendents... didn't appear together."

"Of course not..."

Gu Shen chuckled softly. "Looks like you aren't omniscient after all."

Chu Ling became even more confused.

"The Transcendent stationed by the Adjudication Court fell for a diversionary tactic, but this... was actually inviting someone into the trap." Gu Shen explained concisely. "Once that guard left, the real big fish would appear. And then it would be time to reel in the net."

Only then did Chu Ling understand. "You mean... one of the two Transcendents I detected is from the Adjudication Court?"

"That's right."

"The one who infiltrated the Old Building first probably wanted to destroy the rooftop scene, not knowing he had already been watched." Gu Shen found it rather amusing. "We call this kind of thing 'fishing entrapment.'"

The moment he finished speaking.

"Boom—"

An explosive rush of air erupted from the rooftop accessway of the Old Building above.

Two figures, one ahead of the other, burst from the narrow rooftop exit.

Hidden in the darkness, Gu Shen looked up... He saw a familiar figure in a trench coat, valiant and dashing, wielding twin blades in both hands. Her slashes and chops pressed her opponent so hard that he had no chance to fight back.

"I have important business tonight, so I won't keep you company."

So this was what Nan Jin had meant by important business...

Gu Shen quietly let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, he had chosen the right timing and escaped in time.

This battle was completely one-sided.

The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Countless flashes of blade light blossomed in the darkness.

Accompanied by an angry, miserable shriek, the pitiful mantis had his shoulder pierced by the oriole's blade and was suspended high above the rooftop.

The trench coat snapped in the wind.

Nan Jin possessed astonishing arm strength. With her arm held level at a ninety-degree angle, she lifted the struggling man on the tip of her blade and said softly, "Move again, and I'll kill you."

"Hiss..."

The other man clenched his teeth and lowered his head to look at where he was hanging.

This was eleven stories above the ground... With his current injuries, if he broke free from the blade and fell from here, he would certainly die.

And this crazy woman's combat strength was far too terrifying.

After considering it, he chose to submit obediently and stopped struggling.

Nan Jin expressionlessly flicked her blade. A flash of silver returned to its sheath, and she hurled the already crippled Transcendent violently to the ground like a sack of sand.

"...Hm?"

She suddenly frowned, her gaze locking onto the neighboring Old Building, onto a certain point within the shadows.

Why did she feel as though someone was watching her?

Nan Jin raised her blade again, aiming its tip toward the direction she sensed. An overwhelming blade aura surged forth.

Gu Shen immediately pulled back his head and hid behind a huge rooftop clay jar. His breathing suddenly froze... This wicked woman's senses were far too sharp, weren't they?

From so far away, was she going to send her blade flying at him?

Cold sweat soaked Gu Shen's back.

His instincts told him that if Nan Jin truly sent her blade over, he might be shredded to pieces.

Thankfully... after hovering for more than ten seconds, the vast blade aura slowly dissipated.

"I don't sense a Transcendent's aura... Was I overthinking it?"

Nan Jin relaxed her brow. Her top priority was to take the man before her back.

She put away her silver blade, leaped back onto the rooftop, lifted the half-dead sack, and said faintly, "Come with me."