Who Stole the Human Aura?

Big Head returned home, lay down in his bedroom, and smoked a cigarette.

Smoke filled the room, obscuring the cell phone and satellite phone lying to the side. Big Head adjusted the buttons on his clothes and contacted He Jiaqing.

"I found the address of Medicine Cultivator Kang Zhenchang. He is in Yuezhou, and I can go to see him now."

He Jiaqing said, "Brother, you can't go. You've already helped me too much. I can't let you take any more risks. Give the address to Zhu Junlong, the general manager of Tea Mountain Hotel. Let him handle the rest. He also has some things to give you. Take those things to the new location in Flower Lake Park and put them in the cave where you usually cultivate. I'll go and get them in a couple of days."

Big Head agreed, went downstairs to the flower shop, bought a bouquet of roses, and then drove to the Tea Mountain Hotel.

His wife, the hotel's lobby manager, saw Big Head and quickly went to greet him, "What brings you here?"

Big Head handed the roses to his wife. "After work, I couldn't sleep at home, and I was thinking that I haven't given you flowers in all these years, and I suddenly felt like I owed you a lot—"

His wife's face was flushed, her eyes were even redder than her face, and her lips trembled slightly, but she couldn't say a word for a long time.

How did this blockhead suddenly learn to be romantic?

General Manager Zhu Junlong entered the lobby, startling his wife who quickly hid the roses behind her back.

Zhu Junlong stepped forward and greeted him, "And this is?"

His wife quickly introduced him, "This is my husband."

Zhu Junlong stepped forward and shook hands. "Nice to meet you. You've come to see your wife?"

Big Head nodded and said, "This is the first time I've come here after she's been working for so long."

The two had met before, but acted as if it were their first meeting.

During the handshake, Kang Zhenchang's address passed from Big Head's palm to Zhu Junlong's.

Zhu Junlong instructed someone to bring two boxes of tea from his office, "Since you're here, we can't let you go back empty-handed. Here's a small token of our appreciation; please don't find it offensive."

After some Big Head hesitation, Da Tou accepted it.

After leaving the hotel, Big Head drove to Flower Lake Park. When he got behind the Western-style building, he saw the woman sobbing with her back to him.

This is neither a living person nor a dead soul; it is a mark, a mark left by He Jiaqing using special methods.

Only Big Head could see this mark. After seeing the woman, Big Head found the entrance to the new land. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Big Head took two steps forward and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Li Banfeng stood beside the Western-style building, quietly watching the scene before him.

Li Banfeng had been following Da Tou ever since Big Head left the Dark Star Bureau, because the gloves smelled a peculiar scent on Big Head.

Now that Big Head has sunk into the ground, he has most likely gone to a new place. Li Banfeng is hesitating whether to go and see.

It's daytime now, so everything else is fine, but the fact that he's lying on the ground plugging in the voltage pen is attracting a bit of attention.

How did Big Head get in there?

Li Banfeng heard crying again just now, a very clear cry, but he couldn't find the source of the crying.

The crying might be nearby, but due to some special means, it's impossible to pinpoint the exact location.

Li Banfeng activated his Golden Eyes Autumn Hairs Technique and, while scanning the area, spotted a blurry figure.

Using his technique even more aggressively, Li Banfeng saw clearly this time that a woman was standing behind the Western-style building. The woman had her back to Li Banfeng, and she was wearing jeans and a white top. Her clothes were soaked and covered in mud.

She was sobbing, Li Banfeng remained calm and walked towards her.

After taking only two steps, Li Banfeng felt his legs go weak and he fell into the lake.

What's going on?

Seeing this woman will lead you to the entrance to the new land.

No wonder Luo ZhengNan said this was a gatekeeper mechanism.

This entrance is slightly different from the route developed by Luo ZhengNan. According to the route developed by Luo ZhengNan,

We'll need to use the electric pen again once we reach the bottom of the lake.

This route eliminates the need to use the test pen again, allowing direct access to the new area.

Big Head got ashore first and went to the cave where he often practiced.

This cave is usually closed, with the entrance fitting perfectly into the mountainside, making it impossible for most people to see the location of the entrance.

Big Head took out a key, found the keyhole behind a clump of vines, inserted the key and turned it. A rock slowly rotated, revealing an entrance large enough for one person to pass through.

The cave was Big Head's training ground; his so-called training actually involved taking elixirs.

The cave contained some daily necessities and medicine to treat Pill Poison.

Big Head always takes pills in this cave. After taking them, he uses these medicines to neutralize the Pill Poison, so that the Dark Star Bureau will not notice anything unusual.

There was an area in the cave specifically for storing drinking water, with more than a dozen buckets inside. Big Head placed the tea box that Zhu Junlong had given him on top of the buckets, and to make sure He Jiaqing wouldn't find it, he covered the tea box with a blanket.

Once everything was settled, Big Head left the cave, closed the stone gate, and returned to Flower Lake Park via the same route.

Li Banfeng didn't return; he used the technique of Cut Path Opening Road to enter the cave.

The water dispenser was covered with a blanket, a very obvious marking, and Li Banfeng quickly found the tea box.

After removing the packaging and opening the tea box, I found it contained all sorts of things.

There are magnets, antennas, headphones, nails, circuit boards of different sizes, and fox tails of various styles.

What are all these things? Why would you hide them in a cave?

Li Banfeng frowned, looking at the two boxes of miscellaneous items with disdain, as he analyzed Big Head's peculiar hobby.

During the analysis, he suddenly smelled a scent, a very peculiar scent.

Popularity?

Li Banfeng picked up a magnet and activated the Hundred Flavors Exquisite Technique. He could indeed smell the scent of human presence within the magnet.

Big Head gathering popularity?

What is he doing collecting popularity data?

Could it be that his cultivation has reached the Cloud Realm?

Within the Public Security Team, there's a widely accepted saying that among all the members, Big Head is the strongest fighter.

Is he the strongest player because he's from the cloud?

This doesn't make sense. Why would Cloud Above Cultivator be a member of the Public Security Team? Doesn't he have a better place to go?

Is this really popularity?

We can't judge by smell alone; we need to use cloud-based methods to try it carefully.

Li Banfeng placed the magnet on his head.

After a shudder, Li Banfeng took the magnet off his head.

This is real popularity! A huge amount of very pure popularity!

You really can't underestimate Big Head!

The key question is, how does this magnet store human energy? Can Luo ZhengNan figure out this principle?

Other things look even stranger than magnets. Of course, just because magnets contain human energy doesn't mean these things also contain human energy.

Take this circuit board for example, is there really any life inside it?

We still can't judge solely by smell; we have to try that too.

"And over there, we have to try that too!" Xiao Zhengong pointed to a rock in the bushes and told Dabo Ensi to dig it up.

Dabo Ensi frowned. "Do you find this amusing?"

Xiao Zhengong laughed and said, "What's wrong? Tired? I'm not tired at all! I usually only hide things in a few places, and now that I've told you, shouldn't you put in some effort?"

This is an unnamed mountain in Medicine King Gully New Land, where Dabo Ensi dug stones for two whole days.

Dabo Ensi used a corpse to resurrect Xiao Zhengong, but the resurrected Xiao Zhengong lost two months of crucial memories.

The memories of the past two months are irretrievable, but Xiao Zhengong has a habit of hiding things, and he has several fixed hiding places. This nameless mountain is one of them, and it may hold very crucial clues.

Xiao Zhengong currently has almost no cultivation, and his physique is only slightly better than that of an average person. If he fails to find anything of value today, Dabo Ensi will be very angry. If Dabo Ensi wants to do something, Xiao Zhengong will have no ability to resist.

But they were lucky today; Dabo Ensi dug up a sealed bag, the kind of bag rarely seen in Pro State, which was obviously brought back from Outer State by Xiao Zhengong.

He opened the bag and found more than a dozen notebooks inside, each filled with a large number of numbers. Dabo Ensi looked at them for a long time but still couldn't figure out the meaning of the numbers.

"What's the use of this?"

Xiao Zhengong took the notebook and flipped through it roughly. "This thing is very useful, but I still need to think about how to use it."

Dabo Ensi threw down his shovel and grabbed Xiao Zhengong by the collar. "Do you need me to help you think of something?"

Despite being out of combat, Xiao Zhengong remained unfazed. "What, you want to kill me? Go ahead!"

Dabo Ensi flicked a spider web from his sleeve, which hung between two trees, and threw Xiao Zhengong onto it. "I didn't say I was going to kill you, but I can make you wish you were dead."

Xiao Zhengong laughed and said, "What use would it be to you to make me wish I were dead?"

Dabo Ensi bared his fangs. "Let's see if it works!"

Xiao Zhengong remained fearless. "I can admit defeat and back down in front of you, and then we can continue scheming. In the end, neither of us will benefit, so what's the point?"

Dabo Ensi shook his head and said, "I have no intention of scheming against you. I have always been sincere in cooperating with you."

What does sincerity mean?

"I brought you back to life! I gave you a second chance! That's true sincerity!"

"Is this what you call sincerity?" Xiao Zhengong gave a bitter laugh. "I used to have cultivation levels close to the Cloud Realm, but now I'm practically a White Lamb. I have to speak to you in a humble tone. Do you really think you're sincere with me?"

"I've told you about cultivation. There are still traces of cultivation in your blood, but it won't be a matter of a day or two to fully recover."

Xiao Zhengong said, "I didn't say I wanted to directly restore you to the Cloud Realm, but I hope you can restore me to one or two levels, and that I can still pick up a weapon and use it. Don't wait until you've used me and then discarded me, leaving me with no way to fight back. Do you think that makes sense?"

After a moment's thought, Dabo Ensi took Xiao Zhengong down from the spider web. "Tomorrow I will contact the Inner State to get you some medicine. Also, I don't have much money left, and I need some working capital."

"That's easy. I have plenty of money, right here on this mountain. You give me the money first, and I'll contribute my cultivation points. Once my cultivation is sufficient, we can talk about serious matters. What do you say?"

Dabo Ensi took Xiao Zhengong down from the spider web, let him rest for a while, and then continued digging.

Li Banfeng returned to the Dark Star Bureau and Chuunibyou reported the results of the first phase of the investigation.

The main task of the first phase is to review the battle situation.

The Chuunibyou brought a map of the textile factory, which was covered with many markings.

According to the person involved, a total of four groups of people entered Ruirong Textile Factory that night. They were: unidentified people wearing gas masks (we will call them the masked people for now), and unidentified people wearing straw hats.

We call them the "hat-wearing men," along with Director Li and others whose identities are known, and members of the Public Security Team whose identities are known.

The masked men were the first to arrive at the textile factory. This group entered Workshop Six. Although Director Li did not go to Workshop Six, he also did not see the masked men.

According to the surveillance footage, the masked man never appeared on any surveillance cameras again after entering Workshop Six. The subsequent search by the Public Security Team also failed to find any trace of him, suggesting that the masked man likely entered Stealth Space.

As he spoke, Chuunibyou drew a circle in Workshop Six and marked it with the words "Hidden".

Li Banfeng said, "The place where I fought with the man in the straw hat was not in Workshop Six."

Chuunibyou also made markings on the wall. "This is where Director Li and Tangyuan entered the wall, this is where Tangyuan left the factory area, this is where Director Li fought with the man in the straw hat, and there should also be a Stealth Space here."

This Stealth Space is very special. Based on Tangyuan's description of the scene, it's possible to find the original form of an object within this Stealth Space.

What does "physical prototype" mean?

Chuunibyou brought over a photograph. "This is a photo taken at the beginning of the last century. Ruirong Textile Factory had just been completed at that time, and there was only one workshop. Director Li, take a look at the layout of the Guangqu area. Doesn't it look somewhat similar to your combat location?"

Li Banfeng looked at the photos, and the scene of his confrontation with "Centipede Workshop" came to mind.

The layout of the yard and the location of the workshop are indeed somewhat similar, but one cannot confirm that they are the same place based on just one photo.

Chuunibyou didn't rule out any possibility. "I've only made a rough inference. There's only one photo of the factory compound, but there are a few more photos of the workshops. Please take a look and see if they're of any use."

After seeing the photos of the workshop, Li Banfeng was basically certain that this was the Snail Workshop.

The location and layout of the Main Steam Pipeline, cylinders, pistons, and machine tools were exactly the same as those that Li Banfeng had seen.

Li Banfeng nodded slightly. "This is the place."

Chuunibyou presented a lot of information. "After Ruirong Textile Factory went into production, it quickly became a flagship enterprise in Yuezhou, with its business situation continuously improving and the factory area constantly expanding. This workshop was not demolished after its decommissioning; instead, an exhibition hall was built on its site."

This demonstrates its significant place in the industrial history of Yuezhou. Later, the exhibition hall was demolished, and the equipment was sent to smelt iron. From then on, Ruirong Textile Factory encountered many problems.

Early accounts were not detailed, with much information glossed over. However, by the 1980s, newspapers and magazines began to report extensively on similar events.

Chuunibyou cut and pasted the relevant reports into a booklet, and Li Banfeng skimmed through it. The headlines of the reports were all very eye-catching.

The sound of weeping echoed through the textile factory late at night, and resentment lingered in the abandoned old workshop.

Two employees got lost in the factory area. What happened to them?

A ghostly figure appeared in the factory area, leaving the security guard terrified all night.

Looking at these news articles and thinking back to the days of scrolling through his phone, Li Banfeng felt quite emotional. It seems that the skill of creating headlines has never been lost.

"Are these reports reliable?"

"Most of these reports are unreliable, but some can be based on some evidence. For example, this one claims that a textile factory worker saw a giant monster, hundreds of meters long, in the factory late at night."

From the data alone, the length of 100 meters is clearly exaggerated. However, considering other news reports, there have been six reports of encounters with monsters at night at the Ruirong Textile Factory. Some witnesses claimed to have seen snakes, while others claimed to have seen giant insects. The descriptions differed slightly, but overall, they all involved unusually long-bodied creatures.

Li Banfeng glanced at the date on the news report. If the monster they described was indeed the "Centipede Workshop," then it proved that people from Inner State had been coming to Outer State for quite some time.

Chuunibyou produced another document. "Twenty-two years ago, Ruirong Textile Factory officially closed down, and two years later, the first case with detailed records appeared."

Li Banfeng read the information and learned that a giant spider had appeared in the textile factory twenty years ago, resulting in a tragedy that killed three people and injured eleven.

"From then on, cases involving Ruirong Textile Factory never stopped. News of some of these cases spread like wildfire, even making the textile factory the focus of local legends."

"That's hard to understand," Li Banfeng shook his head slightly as he looked at the documents. "Why wasn't this textile factory demolished?"

The Chuunibyou couldn't find an answer, "This matter has troubled me for a long time. The only reasonable explanations I can come up with are twofold: first, the Ruirong Textile Factory has high research value; second, the Ruirong Textile Factory may be hiding a powerful source of Dark Energy, and once it is dismantled, current technology cannot effectively control the Dark Energy."

Since the establishment of the Dark Star Bureau, within the scope of the files I can investigate, a total of thirty-five cases have occurred at Ruirong Textile Market, including twenty-three missing persons cases, all of which remain unsolved. The remaining twelve cases involve extraterrestrial beings.

In cases involving extraterrestrial beings, the area around Workshop Six and the area where Director Li entered the factory grounds with walls are high-risk areas. In numerous missing persons cases, the personal belongings of missing persons have been found in these two areas.

Based on currently available information, it is speculated that Workshop Six and the walled area have entrances to Stealth Space. Whether these two spaces are the same remains to be verified.

In this case, neither Director Li nor Tangyuan encountered the masked man in the Stealth Space. A relatively reasonable deduction is that there are two Stealth Space in Workshop Six, with the entrances to these spaces located in Workshop Six and along the wall, respectively.

Li Banfeng stared at the stacks of documents, remaining silent for a long time.

He only asked Chuunibyou to review the day's battle, but he didn't expect Chuunibyou to have organized the entire history of the textile factory so clearly.

Chuunibyou is an excellent Public Security Team, the best among all the guards Li Banfeng has ever met.

However, this also exposes a problem: this information was collected bit by bit by Chuunibyou).

"Given the special nature of Ruirong Textile Factory, doesn't the Dark Star Bureau have its own dedicated files on it?"

Chuunibyou shook his head. "I had investigated the textile factory before, and the bureau did not have a dedicated file for it. It's possible that I don't have enough access."

The Public Security Team is the frontline organization of the Dark Star Bureau. If such an important case file is not shown to the frontline members, who else would it be shown to?

Is there really none?

The Dark Star Bureau's actions puzzled Li Banfeng more and more.

In a private residence near Soda Kiln, Xiao Zhengong is studying notes he dug out of the mountains.

These are his own notebooks, a total of seventeen, but only one is useful. Xiao Zhengong knows which one is useful; he knows his own habits.

But this must not be revealed to Dabo Ensi.

Dabo Ensi resurrected him and allowed him to live to this day because he still had some value to be exploited.

His value lies in these notes, which record the secrets he uncovered at the Dark Star Bureau, secrets about the boundaries.

As dusk fell, Dabo Ensi returned to the house and sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily.

Xiao Zhengong down his notebook and asked with concern, "How is the situation?"

Dabo Ensi glanced at the cover of the notebook, shook his head, and said, "Not very good."

"You didn't find any Inner State people?"

"I found him, but his condition doesn't seem quite right."

"Has anything changed?"

"I can't explain it. I know there's an entrance to the Inner State here. I've been there once, but I've never seen an Inner State guard before. I saw him today, and his condition is very different from what I imagined."

Xiao Zhengong said, "I've seen quite a few people from Inner State. Tell me, what does he look like?"

"A skeleton, a fish skeleton."

"I've never seen Inner State who's just a skeleton, but Inner State come in all shapes and sizes. If you trust me, you might take me to meet him. I have a lot of contact with Inner State, so maybe I can talk to them."

Dabo Ensi shook his head and said, "I advise you not to go see him."

Xiao Zhengong sneered, "Even today, we still distrust each other. If we keep distrusting each other like this, we won't be able to get anything done in the future!"

"If the people of Inner State don't give you the medicine, you can't help me regain my cultivation. And if I can't regain my cultivation, don't expect me to remember those things."

"This has nothing to do with suspicion. I'm not letting you go for your own good." Dabo Ensi's took off his clothes, revealing more than a dozen wounds on his body. Some wounds exposed bone, and others exposed internal organs.

Dabo Ensi took out some medicine and applied it while saying, "This was all from that fish skeleton. Luckily, I left a spider silk thread on the shore beforehand, otherwise I would have survived."

Xiao Zhengong asked in surprise, "Why did he bite you?"

Dabo Ensi shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Maybe there's some misunderstanding between us and the Inner State."

Late at night, Li Banfeng stayed in the office and did not leave.

The glove remembered something. "Master, I know where I smelled that scent before. Actually, it wasn't me who smelled it; it must have been the Black Glove. He went to that place; it's on the twelfth floor."

The twelfth floor is the archives room; Big Head must have found the important information there.

What good stuff did he find?

Li Banfeng had intended to go to the twelfth floor to take a look, but the glove stopped him. "Honey, that little building that can go up and down by itself, is it called an elevator?"

"Yes.""

"Sitting on that thing won't work; you have to walk up the stairs to find that place."

Taking the stairs is different from taking the elevator.

There is an unnameable space.

Li Banfeng prepared to go up the stairs. He took out a projector and first let him get acquainted with the cameras near the stairwell.

A few minutes later, the projector responded, "Seventh Director, go back to your office first."

Back in the office, Projector said, "The cameras in the stairwell are a bit unusual. They're a bit suspicious, and they don't want to be my friends yet."

Li Banfeng found it hard to understand the process of the projector making friends. "How do you communicate with them? Are they considered Spiritual Object?"

"Seventh Director, it's not just Spiritual Object that have life. In my understanding, everything in the world has life. They need recognition, respect, sincere care, and practical help."

This time, Li Banfeng understood the meaning of the projector. "It means exchanging sincerity for sincerity!"

"That's right, that's why I've followed the Seventh Director with all my heart and soul."

The glove beside him smacked his lips. "Seize the opportunity to sell well!"

The projector continued, "Those security cameras in your apartment are quite naive. Talk to them, chat with them, wipe the dust off their lenses—it's easy to win them over."

But the security camera in the stairwell was worn and shrewd; their demands were more practical—they asked me for skincare products.

"What skincare products?"

"Grease, a special grease used for lens maintenance. I gave some grease to the camera at the bottom of the stairs, and he liked it very much. Now he's become my friend."

But he told me there were many more cameras in the stairwell, and they also really liked this kind of grease. I did the math, and our stockpile is a drop in the ocean; it's nowhere near enough to meet their demands.

Li Banfeng knew about the grease the projector was talking about. He bought this grease from Ling Miaosheng's record store. Could he buy something similar in Outer State?

It's difficult; Ling Miaosheng's valuable items all come from very special sources.

Should I have Ma Wu send some over from the record store?

It's possible to send things from Pro State to Outer State, but the process is very slow. Ma Wu sent the items out, and it's estimated that Li Banfeng won't receive them for another month.

Moreover, it will have to go through numerous checks, and by then the Dark Star Bureau will definitely know that Li Banfeng received grease from Pro State, and may even guess Li Banfeng's intentions.

Should Luo ZhengNan make the trip?

Luo ZhengNan had enough to do, Li Banfeng decided to make the trip himself.

That evening, he went to Flower Lake Park, walked behind the Western-style building, and began using his "Golden Eyes Autumn Hairs" technique.

Upon seeing the sobbing woman, Li Banfeng fell into the lake. After swimming out of the lake, Li Banfeng did not rush to Iron Gate Fort; instead, he looked into the distance.

He wanted to visit Big Head's secret cave. He had gained a lot of popularity there last time, and maybe there would be something good there this time.

Hehehe~ The cave door has opened.

He Jiaqing entered the cave, turned the mechanism, and the cave door closed.

He walked deeper into the cave and soon found the tea box that Big Head had placed on the bucket.

The packaging on the box was torn, and He Jiaqing had a bad feeling.

Upon opening the box and taking inventory, I discovered that two magnets, two circuit boards, the earphones, antenna, and nails were all missing, except for the fox tail.

Who touched anything here?

He Jiaqing placed the magnet on his head, but it was empty; there was no sign of life inside.

I tried one piece, then another, but it was still empty.

I tried the antenna, then I tried the nail, but it was empty!

Ever since He Jiaqing went to Pro State, these things have been helping him steal popularity in Outer State, and the popularity he has collected is quite considerable!

Who stole it?

Who?

This is my popularity! It's all mine!

Who stole it?!

He Jiaqing clenched his fists and gritted his teeth when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the cave.

He quietly stood up and looked silently at the cave entrance.

At the entrance of the cave, Li Banfeng stopped in his tracks.

There was some dust on the ground, which must have fallen off when the stone gate was in operation.

The dust was clearly visible; the stone door had just been opened.

A chill swept over him, Li Banfeng sensed a malice.

He Jiaqing rushed to the cave entrance and was about to open the stone door when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his foot.

His right foot, all the way down to his knee, had a layer of skin peeled off, exposing the flesh.

There was something under my feet, a halo of light.

What is the origin of this halo?

Boundary?

How can there be a boundary here?

Did the other party use the tactic of Close Doors and Windows?

Who is outside the cave?

Could it be Local Earth God?