Cheng Han Is Stirring Up Trouble Again (Newbie Seeks Follow-up Reading)

"Meow~"

The black cat tapped its master with a paw, urging him to continue.

Cheng Han gently stroked its head and explained, "I suddenly realized something. I may have fallen into a mental blind spot. I need to think this through carefully first."

The black cat flicked its tail and waited quietly.

Cheng Han sank into thought. "My earlier line of thinking was too narrow. This is a world with supernatural powers, so nothing can be judged by ordinary logic.

"Something capable of secretly controlling humans may not necessarily be a Heretical God Believer. Certain powerful Supernatural Items could do the same."

He became increasingly certain. "That's right! If it's just a small item, hiding itself would be far easier.

"The authorities may be searching for it, and it's hiding so thoroughly because it doesn't want to fall into their hands.

"Right, I can verify this!"

As for the method of verification, it was naturally the Eye of Omniscience.

The power contained within this item had to be extraordinarily strong, enough to resist Deduction. That was why it was currently difficult to deduce Chen Zhengyang's circumstances.

But that did not stump Cheng Han.

From another angle, he could use the skill to trace back Chen Zhengyang's experiences from the past few days. If Deduction produced a result on a particular day, wouldn't that indirectly prove that Chen Zhengyang had obtained the item that day?

The logic was sound! The black cat did not disturb its master. It merely lay on the ground, observing his every movement.

Recalling Chen Zhengyang's appearance, Cheng Han silently recited, "Trace back Chen Zhengyang's general experiences from two days ago."

A trace of chill spread across the top of his skull.

His Spirit Value dropped by 0.5 points.

Yet the feedback was completely blank.

It had failed.

This undoubtedly showed that the item had already found Chen Zhengyang two days ago.

Cheng Han was not discouraged in the slightest and immediately conducted a second Deduction. "Trace back one more day earlier."

It failed again.

Not until the fourth Deduction did some fleeting images finally appear. They were scattered and fragmented, containing little useful information.

That was not strange.

The span of a day was too long, and the Eye of Omniscience was currently only level 3, with rather limited capabilities. It could only "capture" a few fragments.

Cheng Han suddenly recalled something. "Right, wasn't this around the time when Qin Zi Cheng, the mastermind behind the Grass Hound incident, was being hunted down?"

He rubbed his chin. "That's too much of a coincidence!"

Cheng Han immediately began a new round of Deduction.

That was, tracing Chen Zhengyang's movements across different periods of time.

The result came quickly.

At around three in the afternoon that day, Chen Zhengyang had delivered goods to a major client and happened to pass through Jinglin Neighborhood. From that point onward, Deduction could no longer be performed.

And Jinglin Neighborhood was precisely where Qin Zi Cheng lived.

It was confirmed! Cheng Han was greatly shocked. "So Chen Zhengyang obtained this item in Jinglin Neighborhood... or rather, this item found Chen Zhengyang.

"The overlap in time might be a coincidence.

"But could the overlap in location also be a coincidence? Of course not!"

Cheng Han's expression turned grave. "No wonder I couldn't directly deduce Qin Zi Cheng's situation back then. After that bastard was captured by the Black Armor Army, the Eye of Omniscience could make deductions again.

"That thing must have sensed the approaching danger and fled Qin Zi Cheng's side in advance, only to find the unlucky Chen Zhengyang by chance."

Cheng Han sighed. "Qin Zi Cheng encountered this item and became completely inhuman. Chen Zhengyang is probably as good as dead too. Just what is this thing?"

The black cat stood up at just the right moment and gently swayed its tail.

It had a feeling that its master was about to assign This Cat a task.

Sure enough!

Cheng Han looked at the black cat and said, "Sheriff, I need you to help me with something important."

"Meow~"

The black cat responded eagerly.

It had wanted to go out for a stroll for a long time.

Cheng Han explained at length, "There's a powerful nasty thing hiding around Chen Zhengyang, but it has tucked itself away like a turtle, making it hard for me to find any trace of it.

"Tonight, I plan to carry out a little 'startle the snake by beating the grass' operation and give it a small surprise. We might get some unexpected gains..."

The core purpose of the plan was simple—wasn't that thing hiding away as steady as Old Dog? Then he would force it to move. And as long as it moved, it might reveal a weakness.

That was what it meant to startle the snake by beating the grass.

The black cat meowed. "Meow~"

It meant that it understood.

Cheng Han waved a hand. "Go on. Be careful!"

The black cat rubbed against its master's trouser leg a few times, then quickly slipped away.

Late at night.

"Caw! Caw!"

Several low bird calls sounded especially clear in the dark night.

Several pitch-black Night Owls circled in the night sky for a while. Seemingly a little tired from flying, they landed in a large tree.

After a while.

One Night Owl accidentally spotted a grass seed and immediately swooped toward the ground. Another Night Owl noticed its companion's target and flapped its wings as it gave chase.

The two Night Owls began fighting.

"Caw~ Caw~"

Their shrill cries sounded just like the howls of terrifying monsters, chilling to hear.

This scene was merely an everyday occurrence among a flock of birds. No one would find anything unusual about it.

The latter Night Owl, relying on its stronger body, ultimately snatched away the food and drove off its companion.

The other Night Owl fled in defeat, flying toward an old house ahead.

A crude wooden shed had been built beside the right side of the house. It was the sort of storage shed ordinary families used for firewood, with stacks upon stacks of logs piled inside.

The Night Owl folded its wings and landed atop the shed, beginning to groom its slightly disheveled feathers with its beak.

A few breaths later.

A sudden change occurred.

The Night Owl's pair of eyes strangely turned red, looking extremely eerie.

It abruptly flapped its wings. An obscure fluctuation surged from within its body, and then a red gleam emerged from its wings, slipping into the wooden shed like a wisp of glowing mist and striking a stack of firewood.

Whoosh!

As though oil had been poured onto a fire, the pile of wood ignited instantly and began burning with fierce intensity.

Farther away.

A black cat crouched motionlessly in a concealed corner, as though it had merged with the night.

Its eyes carried a trace of humanlike excitement. It looked exactly like a spectator enjoying the show.

Shanyi Neighborhood.

As if sensing something, Cheng Han stopped practicing the Embracing Furnace Stance and smiled. "I specially prepared a grand performance for you. Are you ready?"

Before he mastered the Embracing Furnace Stance, the Extraordinary Flame ignited by the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame had been difficult to maintain stably.

After learning the stance, he used it for analysis and completed much of the fragmented imprint, gaining the ability of "Stable Flame."

As the name implied, it allowed him to condense Extraordinary Flame clusters similar to "time bombs." Even when separated from him by some distance, they could remain stable.

The role played by the Night Owl was that of a "terrorist bird" carrying a "fire bomb."

In short, his ability to stir up trouble had become even stronger.

Cheng Han gazed at the night sky beyond the window and chuckled. "You're only an item, so your movements are severely limited. Otherwise, you would have fled far away long ago. Why bother hiding beside Chen Zhengyang?

"I really want to know how you'll react when I set a fire in Chen Zhengyang's home from several kilometers away."

Anticipation showed in his expression. "I sent Sheriff over there. Its night vision is excellent. Perhaps it can help me observe exactly what you are."

At the fire scene.

A horrifying sight appeared around the house.

Within the dense canopies of the surrounding trees, tiny crimson Red Dots suddenly lit up.

There were an astonishing number of them. At a rough glance, there were at least three or four hundred.

They belonged to a huge flock of Night Owls.

At some point, they had surrounded the house.

The next instant.

An obscure Transcendental Fluctuation flashed within every single bird, identical to the Night Owl that had just committed arson.

It gave one the feeling that the flock was about to launch an attack!

And—

It would certainly be an overwhelmingly massive assault!