The Corpse's Whereabouts and Invalid Cognition

"This trash, clean it up."

Ling Ye's flat, emotionless tone, as if he were ordering a servant to discard kitchen scraps, pierced through Su Wanqing's numb nerves like an ice pick. She stiffly lowered her head, her gaze falling on the black corpse on the carpet at her feet. Its neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, its eyes wide with the horror of its final moments.

Her stomach churned, a violent urge to vomit surging up her throat! She clamped her hand over her mouth, barely managing to keep from losing control.

Trash?

A living, breathing person, who just hours ago was attempting to steal from her family's vault dozens of kilometers away, equipped with sophisticated gear, was now snatched through the air, his neck snapped like an insect's, and then casually referred to as... trash?!

Fear, disgust, a sense of absurdity... and a chilling hint of pity for a fellow creature facing death, washed over her like a cold tide. She felt her body go rigid and cold, unable to move even a finger.

Clean it up? How? Drag it out and bury it? Throw it in the trash? Call the police? Any of those options sent a shiver down her spine!

Ling Ye, lounging on the sofa, seemed to have lost patience with her immobility and helplessness. Without even opening his eyes, he impatiently added, his tone laced with utter disdain, "Hurry up, it stinks."

It stinks?!

The smell of a fresh corpse was indeed unpleasant. But wasn't this something you just created with your own hands, sir?!

Su Wanqing suppressed the urge to vomit and the trembling of her soul, her mind racing to figure out how to deal with this hot potato. Calling the police was out of the question; she wouldn't be able to explain it. Burying it herself? Too risky, and she had no idea how to handle a corpse!

Just as she was on the verge of tears from desperation, her gaze accidentally swept across the corner of the living room... where it had been quietly placed all along, the Chaos Green Lotus basin, its edges shimmering with a faint chaotic light!

An utterly absurd, yet strangely plausible, idea flashed through her mind like lightning!

This basin... could turn "foot-washing water" into something that allowed the Ancient Orchid to metamorphose, could suppress Earth Veins, could... could it... "dispose" of this?

The thought was so outrageous it startled her. But looking at Ling Ye's impatient expression – "Get rid of it quickly, it's an eyesore" – and recalling the basin's incredible efficacy before, a sense of reckless abandon surged within her.

Might as well give it a shot!

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth and scrambled, almost crawling, to the corner. She heaved with all her might to lift the incredibly heavy Chaos Green Lotus basin. The basin's surface was cool and had a strange texture.

She dragged the basin next to the corpse, looking at the contorted body, then at the basin that was neither gold nor jade, her heart pounding.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and, with all her strength, tried to lift the corpse and stuff it into the basin.

However, the corpse was wearing a night suit and was heavily equipped, making it incredibly heavy. After struggling for a long time, she was exhausted and only managed to move it slightly.

"Tsk."

A clear, utterly disgusted clicking sound came from the sofa.

Ling Ye seemed completely annoyed by her clumsiness. He didn't even bother to open his eyes, merely waved his hand casually in the direction of the corpse.

As if shooing away a fly.

An invisible, gentle yet irresistible force instantly lifted the corpse, then... like flowing water, smoothly and silently... it "stuffed" the entire body into the not-particularly-large Chaos Green Lotus basin!

The moment the corpse entered the basin, the swirling chaotic mist within seemed to come alive, rippling slightly and engulfing the body.

There was no blood, no sound, not even any visual incongruity in terms of volume. The corpse vanished instantly, like a drop of water merging into the ocean. Inside the basin, only the small bead of residual golden "essence" remained, as if nothing had happened.

Along with all the equipment, clothes, and even potential trackers or poisons on the corpse... every trace was completely consumed and decomposed by the chaotic mist, reduced to the most primal void.

Su Wanqing stared, dumbfounded, at the empty carpet and the basin that looked as if nothing had occurred, once again rendered speechless by this incomprehensible method.

This basin... was it a universal trash disposal unit?!

Ling Ye seemed somewhat satisfied with the result, his frown easing slightly. He rolled over, turning his back to her, and mumbled, "Quiet now."

Then, his breathing became long and steady again, as if... he had fallen asleep once more?

Su Wanqing looked at the basin, then at the "big shot" seemingly asleep on the sofa, feeling as though her life had become utterly surreal. She carefully pushed the basin back to the corner, looking at the pristine carpet as if the heart-stopping scene had never happened.

She slumped to the floor, leaning against the cold wall, her mind and body utterly exhausted. Everything that had happened today had continuously washed over, crushed, and reshaped her worldview. She needed time to process, she needed... peace.

However, fate (or perhaps a certain unscrupulous author) seemed determined not to give her any respite.

The moment her mind relaxed slightly--

Her phone, which she had casually tossed onto the coffee table, rang sharply again! No longer an alarm, but a continuous ringtone! A name flashed on the screen – her personal assistant, Xiao Lin.

Su Wanqing's heart leaped! Calling at this time?! Had something happened at the old mansion again?! Or was there trouble at the company?!

She subconsciously glanced at Ling Ye, afraid the ringing would wake the "ancestor" again.

Fortunately, Ling Ye merely frowned slightly, mumbling something, but didn't wake up.

Su Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief, quickly fumbled for her phone, and with trembling fingers, pressed the answer button, lowering her voice, "Hello? Xiao Lin, what is it? Speak quickly!"

From the other end of the line came Xiao Lin's extremely anxious, almost tearful voice: "President Su! It's bad! Something terrible has happened! The company's network has been hacked! All core server data is being frantically copied and erased! The firewall is useless! The tech department can't stop it at all! The attacker also... also left a warning message!"

Su Wanqing's head buzzed! The company network hacked?! Core data stolen?! This was just adding insult to injury!

"Warning message? What message?!" Su Wanqing pressed urgently, her heart sinking to the bottom.

"It's... it's an image..." Xiao Lin's voice was filled with fear and disbelief, "The image shows... an... ice cream spoon stuck in a door?!"

Su Wanqing was struck by lightning, freezing in place, her phone almost slipping from her grasp!

An ice cream spoon?!

Stuck in a door?!

That spoon... that Ling Ye had casually nailed to the door to scare off the security guards?! Its image... how could it appear in the warning message for the company hack?!

Could it be... could the attackers on the company network... and the one who broke into the vault and was crushed to death just now... be the same group?! This "Shadow" organization, not only attacking in the real world but also launching an assault on the cyber world?! Are they retaliating?! Because they lost one of their people?!

A huge wave of panic and anger instantly overwhelmed Su Wanqing! She could tolerate being in danger herself, but the company was her father's life's work, the livelihoods of thousands of employees!

"Immediately initiate the highest level emergency response! No matter the cost..." Su Wanqing roared into the phone, her voice trembling with agitation.

However, before she could finish speaking--

On the sofa, Ling Ye, who had seemed to be asleep, suddenly sat up without any warning!

His eyes were still closed, but his brow was tightly furrowed, and his face wore an expression of extreme impatience and irritability, completely annoyed by the continuous "noise"!

"So... noisy... can't... stand it!"

The three words, like ice shards squeezed from between his teeth, carried a soul-chilling coldness!

He hadn't listened to the content of the call at all, nor did he care about Su Wanqing's talk of a company crisis. All he knew was that this buzzing "little box" (his phone) had been making noisy sounds, incessantly disturbing his sleep!

Under Su Wanqing's terrified gaze, Ling Ye, with his eyes closed, extremely agitatedly... flicked his finger towards the phone in her hand... in mid-air!

"Pfft."

An extremely faint sound, like a bubble popping.

The latest high-end smartphone in Su Wanqing's hand instantly went dark, all indicator lights extinguished, and the casing became cold and lifeless, like a complete... brick.

It wasn't out of battery, nor was it a malfunction. It was something more fundamental, a "failure" at the rules level.

On the other end of the line, Xiao Lin's anxious shouts of "CEO Su? CEO Su?! Are you still there?" abruptly stopped.

The world, finally... became completely quiet.

The irritable expression on Ling Ye's face slowly subsided. He nodded with satisfaction (still with his eyes closed), sank back into the sofa, shifted to a more comfortable position, and his breathing once again became long and steady.

As if he had just casually turned off an alarm clock.

All that remained was Su Wanqing, foolishly holding a cold, completely useless "brick" of a phone, looking at the great figure who had instantly fallen back asleep on the sofa. She felt as if all her strength had been drained, leaving her completely lost and helpless.

Company crisis... warning message... ice cream scoop...

All the clues and crises swirled wildly in her mind, but they were completely interrupted because the most important communication tool had been destroyed! What should she do?!

And just then, her peripheral vision seemed to catch sight of the Chaos Green Lotus pot in the corner. The chaotic mist that had previously engulfed the corpse seemed to churn ever so slightly... and then... a faint, strange flowing light, like electronic signal interference... flickered at the bottom of the pot?

But the light flashed and disappeared, as quick as an illusion.

Su Wanqing blinked hard. When she looked again, there was only the misty vapor and calmness within the pot.

Was it her imagination?

Or... could that pot... devour and digest even the electronic signal residue from intruders... and even some kind of network-level connection?!