The Holy Spirit Cult's Lookouts

As dawn broke, Ye Xinglan woke up by the window.

She didn't know when she fell asleep.

All I remember is that after the rain stopped, she leaned against the window frame, her eyelids heavy.

Half-Sweet Coffee remained silent.

The room was very quiet; even Yun Jingheng's breathing was so light it was almost inaudible.

She finally closed her eyes.

When I woke up, it was already daylight, and the morning light was seeping in through the cracks in the window and falling on the floor.

She rubbed her numb calves and slowly stood up.

My stomach was so empty it ached a little, but I felt better than the previous few nights.

She walked to the table, picked up the half-bowl of porridge that hadn't been touched last night, and it was now completely cold.

She poured in some more hot water, stirred it, and then drank a few sips.

The porridge had a very mild flavor, but after drinking it, I gradually felt a little warm.

Just then, the voice of Half-Sweet Coffee suddenly came through the earphones, extremely soft, like a tiny pebble thrown into a calm pond. "Miss Ye, something's wrong."

Ye Xinglan put down the bowl and walked to the backup screen.

A blue light illuminated, and the screen switched to the street south of the association.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and there were not many pedestrians on the street. Two vendors with carts had just stopped at the street corner and were unloading steamers from their carts.

A young man in a light gray short-sleeved shirt walked past them from behind, his pace unhurried, as if he were just passing by.

"This person has appeared near the association three times since last night."

Half-Sweet Coffee said the camera followed the man's movements, "Once last night, at the alleyway north of the association; twice this morning, once on South Street, and once opposite the main entrance."

"He didn't walk fast, but every time he stopped, he was perfectly positioned to see a window of this building."

Ye Xinglan's gaze was fixed on the screen.

The man looked to be in his early twenties, rather thin, with very fair skin, and half of his face was covered by the brim of his hat.

He stopped at a tea stall on South Street, ordered a bowl of tea, and slowly sipped it.

The tea stall is located directly opposite the association's main tower; you can see the window of their room just by looking up.

As he put down his teacup, he did indeed look up.

It was that one moment.

Ye Xinglan saw a very thin red string slip out from his wrist.

"Did you see that?" she asked softly.

"I saw it."

Half-Sweet Coffee answered very quickly, "The red string on the wrist is a dark color and shows obvious signs of wear and tear. This style doesn't seem like that of people from the Federation, nor does it seem like that of the Spirit Pagoda."

"Comparing with the information database left by the Star Pavilion... Match successful, highly similar to the person who attacked Shrek Academy."

Ye Xinglan's fingers tightened on the sword hilt for a moment, her knuckles turning white.

She stared at the man's back on the screen until he turned into the alley and disappeared completely from the frame.

"Like the people who attacked Shrek?" Her voice was deeper than before.

"No, they are not the same type."

"The behavioral characteristics, disguise methods, and wrist markings all point to the common tactics used by the Holy Spirit Cult's undercover agents," said Half-Sweet Coffee.

"I cross-referenced several sets of characteristics from the database provided by my master, and three of them completely matched the peripheral personnel during the attack on Shrek City."

Ye Xinglan stood still.

She remembered the Sea God Lake that day, the salty, bloody smell in the shelter, and the way Tang Wulin's chest heaved when he returned from the ruins.

"They've come to Heaven Dou City," she said, not as a question.

"To be precise, they were already in Heaven Dou City."

Half-Sweet Coffee's voice was calm, "We've only just gotten close to the association."

"Perhaps it's related to the Skynet malfunction, or perhaps they're looking for traces of signals emanating from here. But one thing is certain—they haven't gotten close yet; they're only observing from the outside."

"Did they see me?" Ye Xinglan asked.

"Uncertain."

"When you passed by the window just now," said Half-Sweet Coffee. "The curtains were only slightly ajar."

"From the outside, only a sliver of your clothing can be seen. But when you were standing by the window earlier, the other person glanced up once, so I can't tell if he saw your silhouette clearly."

Ye Xinglan remained silent.

She glanced down at her clothes; it was still that same bluish-gray cloth dress.

What I wore yesterday when I disguised myself to go out.

She turned and walked to the corner, picked up the rough linen jacket and put it on, then wrapped her hair back up with the headscarf.

The movements were quick, but each step was executed with great steadiness.

"From today onwards, I will no longer spend long periods by the window. You will be in charge of all observation tasks."

She walked to the table and drew the curtains completely. "Keep the curtains drawn all day, leaving only a crack. Don't turn on the lights during the day, and don't turn them on at night either."

"OK."

"The shading plan has been adjusted," said the Half-Sweet Coffee. "But there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Explain."

"Those two met up with a third person before they left. Right in front of the rice shop at the end of South Street."

"The man alighted from a carriage; he was wearing a grey robe and a mask. The three men spoke for less than half a minute. Then the two young men walked east, and the man in the grey robe went into the rice shop."

Ye Xinglan placed the kettle back on the table, pausing for a moment. "The gray-robed man. Can you identify him?"

"No. But he had a very shallow, curved scratch on his foot, like he'd been dragged by a sharp object. It was covered in red clay. The only place around Heaven Dou City with that kind of red clay is the North Suburb Quarry."

"North Suburb Quarry"

Ye Xinglan repeated, memorizing the information, "Keep an eye on him. Tell me when the gray-robed man comes out again."

"Also, review all the previous footage recordings of the area around my family to see if there are any people with red ropes or similar markings."

"We've already compared them. The surveillance personnel near the Ye Family don't match. Those people are from the Federation Trade Route System, not the Holy Spirit Cult."

Ye Xinglan nodded.

She turned to look at Yun Jingheng.

He still kept his eyes closed. The moonlight had been completely replaced by the morning light. His complexion was a little better than last night, no longer frighteningly pale.

She walked over, pushed the bowl of porridge on the floor closer to him, and then turned and walked back to the window.

She no longer stood by the window.

She sat on a low stool by the window against the wall, her body hidden in the shadows.

The light filtering through the cracks in the window didn't reach her. From the outside, the room looked as if it were empty.

"Half-Sweet Coffee."

She lowered her voice, as if afraid of disturbing the thin layer of silence, "For the next few days, we won't fight or make a fuss. We'll just wait."

"Clear."

The voice of the Half-Sweet Coffee softened, "I'll keep watching."

"Did Jing Heng anticipate when he would wake up?"

After Ye Xinglan finished asking her question, there was a moment of silence in the earphones.

The Half-Sweet Coffee didn't answer immediately.

It appears to be calling some data.

Ye Xinglan heard a very faint "beep" sound, which was the sound of the system checking logs and records in the background.

A few seconds later, Half-Sweet Coffee spoke, his voice slower and more cautious than usual.

"Before entering the God Trial, the master made a rough estimate of the time it would take to awaken."

"He gave a reference range of five to eight weeks at the time," said Half-Sweet Coffee. "But this was an estimate based on three variables: Soul Power concentration, Divine Power stability, and the speed of physical injury recovery, under the most ideal conditions."

Ye Xinglan did not respond.

"Yesterday marked the fifth week since the start of the God Trial."

Half-Sweet Coffee continued, "If we go by the owner's own prediction, it could take at least another week, or as long as ten weeks. But this is just a estimate."

"Why do you say it's just for reference?" Ye Xinglan asked.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear.

"Because the God Trial is not a program, it cannot be fully quantified."

Half-Sweet Coffee said, "The God Trial process is related to the master's mental will and also to the progress of his body's ability to withstand the Yin Force."

"The system can only advance the progress by observing changes in his vital signs, the speed of his Soul Power absorption, his body temperature, and fluctuations in his consciousness."

"But the real key lies in the Sea of Spirit. It produces no data and cannot be measured."

Ye Xinglan remained silent.

She turned her head to look at Yun Jingheng.

The morning light had already shifted through the cracks in the window and landed on his knees.