What One Seeks but Cannot Have

Early the next morning, Sunday.

Before five o'clock, Wenren Sheng had yet to get out of bed when he received a call from Inspector Liu.

"I've sent you that copy of the 'Weapon Affinity Appraisal Method,' along with some related references, through the app. Also, I checked the archives all night yesterday and found something suspicious." His voice over the phone sounded weary. He had probably pulled another all-nighter.

"Thank you," Wenren Sheng paused before asking, "What suspicious thing?"

"Five Colors Group is a major steel and nonferrous metals conglomerate. Starting two years ago, the number of production accidents at its subsidiaries and some of its partner companies did not rise noticeably compared with previous years. It even dropped somewhat," Inspector Liu replied.

"Isn't that normal?" Wenren Sheng asked without giving anything away.

"The numbers are normal, but the nature of the accidents isn't. For almost every employee killed in those production accidents, no body could be found. Only small amounts of human tissue and clothing scraps remained for identification. And the age distribution of those employees is also strange—they were all either between sixteen and twenty, or between forty and sixty," Inspector Liu said gravely.

"As expected, it doesn't hold up under investigation," Wenren Sheng said thoughtfully.

"Yes, there must be something wrong, but we don't have direct evidence yet. Xu Qingshu is quite an influential local figure, so we can't question him casually. Besides, he is related to an Otherworldly User," Inspector Liu continued.

"You mean Xu Yunshuang? Is she connected to this as well?" Wenren Sheng immediately thought of the mysterious components on her information panel, still shrouded in mist.

"Yes. I looked into it briefly, and her connection seems rather significant," Inspector Liu said with certainty.

Wenren Sheng frowned. "What exactly happened?"

"Two years ago, she was involved in a serious traffic accident. As I recall, you went with Manager Wei to handle it at the time," Inspector Liu explained.

"That's right. That was the first time I took part in handling a mysterious incident." Wenren Sheng immediately recalled it.

"After that, the nature of Five Colors Group's production accidents began to change, becoming what they are now."

"What do you suspect?"

"Five Colors Group may be secretly conducting illegal Otherworldly User transplant experiments. That's also one of the major categories of incidents we frequently handle."

"That's what I was thinking too," Wenren Sheng said flatly.

"We'll send people to investigate thoroughly and discreetly. This may involve your student, so we wanted to inform you in advance." Inspector Liu finally stated his purpose.

"Thank you for your trust. What are you planning to do with that Otherworldly User of Senior He's that Wang Chenggui obtained yesterday?"

"Bait."

After discussing a few more matters, Wenren Sheng finally hung up.

He opened his phone and saw a red exclamation mark on the "Key of Secrets" app.

When he tapped it, he found that Inspector Liu had indeed sent several documents—the books he wanted to read.

After thinking for a moment, he made another call.

"Zhao Han, come to my bedroom for a moment."

"Huh?" A startled female voice came from the other end.

"Uh, I misspoke. Wait for me in the study."

"Okay."

Wenren Sheng quickly got up, freshened himself up, and went to the study.

There, he found a bleary-eyed Zhao Han. She must have been exhausted from yesterday, and having rushed over now, she probably had not even washed her face.

"You worked hard yesterday," he said politely.

"It was nothing. I should be thanking you for protecting me these past few days." Zhao Han hurriedly bowed.

"Have a seat. There's something I'd like your help with." Wenren Sheng sat down on one of the sofas first.

Zhao Han sat opposite him and asked seriously, "What does Teacher want me to help with?"

"Xu Yunshuang may be involved in a mysterious incident. I hope you can divine what sort of situation she is in," Wenren Sheng said directly.

Zhao Han looked somewhat dejected. "It seems you had already guessed my Otherworldly User ability long ago."

Still, she felt somewhat fortunate that she had not been completely exposed.

"Of course. Let me tell you a way to conceal yourself." Wenren Sheng stared at her.

"Please instruct me, Teacher," she said respectfully.

"Use related mysterious-system skills to cover up the unique abilities possessed by your own Otherworldly User," Wenren Sheng said calmly.

"I see. Thank you, Teacher." Zhao Han suddenly understood.

If she learned prophecy-system skills, then even if others noticed something unusual, they would not be able to easily determine whether it was an ability innate to her Otherworldly User or one granted by a skill. That way, she could use it openly and aboveboard.

As one learned more and more mysterious skills, making one's abilities richer and more varied, opponents would find it increasingly difficult to judge. That was the confidence Expert Level figures had—they did not need to worry about others seeing through the nature of their Otherworldly Users.

"It's nothing." Wenren Sheng continued staring at her.

"Oh." Only then did Zhao Han realize what he meant. Looking troubled, she said, "Is Shuang-jie's situation rather serious?"

She did not want to pry into the other woman's affairs. After all, Xu Yunshuang was someone she admired and wanted to grow close to, as well as her first friend in the Mysterious Realm.

Peeking into a friend's privacy was absolutely not a friendly thing to do.

"It can't be determined yet," Wenren Sheng said seriously. "You must trust me. I'm doing this precisely to help her."

Zhao Han hesitated for a while before finally agreeing. Still, she secretly decided that if she really saw any extraordinary information, she would think it over carefully before revealing it.

Just as she was about to use her ability, Wenren Sheng spoke again. "Forget it this time. Next time you use your Seed ability in front of other Otherworldly Users, you'd better do so after learning basic concealment techniques."

"Oh, Uncle seemed to have reminded me before, but I forgot again." She smiled sheepishly.

"That's understandable. A newcomer's mindset takes time to change." Wenren Sheng nodded.

Zhao Han smiled, feeling somewhat grateful to him.

He was right. Having lived in a peaceful environment for so long, she still had the mindset of an Ordinary Person and would not deliberately guard against others. Like the victims described in those files, when suddenly harmed by someone they knew, they were often utterly stunned and completely unprepared.

Then she sat on the sofa and began activating her Seed of Narration.

Meanwhile, Wenren Sheng recalled what had happened to Xu Yunshuang two years ago.

It had been an ordinary traffic accident, but the consequences had been severe. The car had overturned into a deep ditch. The driver died on the spot, while Xu Yunshuang, seated in the back, had nearly died as well. Her neck had been injured, and her spine had almost been severed.

If not for the innate basic Extraordinary Physique of an Otherworldly User, she would surely have suffered the same fate as the driver.

At the time, Wei Yiqing had gone to great lengths to save her. He had merely played a supporting role—probably rushing to the scene immediately, prying open the car door, and dragging her out from the back seat...

Yet in her report afterward, Wei Yiqing had credited most of the rescue to him, saying that it was because he had gotten the woman out of the car in time that there had been time to treat her.

This was also an important reason he had so quickly received an Expert Level Evaluation. Promptly rescuing a newly awakened Otherworldly User was a very impressive accomplishment.

The bigwigs were happy to see juniors with such credentials. They did not want to bring in heirs who were gloomy and sinister.

As for why Wei Yiqing had done that, he had not quite understood before. Now he did. It was probably because, in the Club, he was the only one capable of talking with her a little more...

As Wenren Sheng sank into his memories, Zhao Han had already activated her Otherworldly User and seen a passage of narration that made her heart suddenly tighten.

"Xu Yunshuang wanted with all her heart for everyone around her to live a happy life. Yet the thing that beast called fate loved most was making people seek what they could never obtain."

Wenren Sheng broke free from his recollections and immediately noticed the sudden change in Zhao Han's expression. Her face was far too easy to read.

It was confusion mixed with distress.

He asked, "What is it?"

"My divination is very vague. It says that Shuang-jie wants the people around her to find happiness, but also that her wish is destined to fail," Zhao Han said with her head lowered.

No wonder she had been so eager to help her. She was such a kind person.

"I see. Then I'm relieved." Wenren Sheng suddenly smiled.

"Relieved?" Zhao Han was astonished. This was clearly a prophecy containing an ominous sign!

How could he possibly be relieved?

She could not understand it at all, but before she could ask, Wenren Sheng had already waved his hand.

"All right, go back and catch up on sleep. I'm going to start reading. Don't disturb me unless it's important."

Zhao Han could only rise dejectedly and walk out. Just as she was about to leave the study, she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have forgotten to ask something.

But Wenren Sheng was looking down at his phone, and she suddenly lost the courage to speak. She left the study just like that.