Poker

Wait, why had he used the word "too"?

Chen Yan was Chen Yan, not something else wearing his skin. Chen Ling was certain of that.

Since they had both descended during the same Ash Realm arrival, and since the "Audience" could merge with him... why couldn't the other Calamity that had descended merge with a human as well?

But all of this was merely Chen Ling's speculation... As for the truth, perhaps he would only know by asking him in person.

Just as Chen Ling hesitated over whether to knock, the door opened from within.

"Brother." Chen Yan rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"...There's something I want to ask you."

Chen Yan was about to say something, but after glancing at Chu Muyun's room across the hall, he pulled Chen Ling inside and shut the door.

"A-Yan, I'll ask you directly." Chen Ling looked seriously into his eyes. "The one who massacred Ice Spring Street... was that you?"

Chen Yan's body trembled. Seeing the fragment of the safety charm in Chen Ling's hand, he silently lowered his head.

"...Yes."

Chen Yan admitted it so readily that Chen Ling, who had been preparing to keep persuading him, froze for a moment.

"It really was you?" Chen Ling asked again. "So you merged with a Calamity too?"

"...I don't know. When I woke up, I was already standing there."

"You lost a portion of your memory too?"

"Mm."

Chen Ling's brows furrowed slightly.

He believed Chen Yan would not lie to him. Besides, he himself had experienced the same thing... inexplicably crossing over, inexplicably gaining the "Audience" in his mind, and finding himself already back home when he woke up.

"But wasn't the Gray Realm Convergence at the back mountain? You should have still been in surgery then... why were you affected too?"

"I don't know." Chen Yan shook his head again. "I only remember the doctor giving me anesthetic. When I woke up, I was on Ice Spring Street... I was scared, so I hid in the back mountain. When I came back out, I saw Brother crawling out of that monster's body..."

Hearing this, Chen Ling finally pieced together the sequence of events.

But why Chen Yan had been affected by the Gray Realm Convergence was still a question... Could it be that after that Calamity entered the Second District, it happened to encounter Chen Yan on the operating table? Then merged with him?

Chen Ling did not understand the process of this "merging," and no matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure anything out.

"I understand."

Chen Ling nodded. "Stay home these next few days. Don't go anywhere, understand? I'll handle everything else."

Chen Yan seemed to want to say something, but held back.

"What is it?"

"I... I wanted to go see Mom and Dad..."

Chen Ling froze. After a long silence, he spoke softly. "Let Brother clear your name first. Once things settle down, I'll take you to see them, okay?"

"Okay." Chen Yan nodded obediently.

"Stay away from Chu Muyun these next few days. Don't let him touch you, and talk to him less."

"Okay."

"If Han Meng comes looking for you again and asks you some questions, answer him like this..."

"Okay."

After giving his instructions, Chen Ling turned and left.

Chen Yan gently locked the door and returned to lie down on the hard plank bed...

He turned his head toward the window. Reflected in his chestnut eyes was an expanse of blue aurora.

Suddenly, at the edge of the aurora-filled sky, a point of red light faintly lit up, like a cinnabar star.

"It's here again," Chen Yan murmured.

As the cinnabar-like star grew ever brighter, a dreamlike road extended from the void, connecting directly to Chen Yan's bedside... It drifted and swayed between the star and him like a soft ribbon.

Lying on the bed, Chen Yan calmly watched the Path to Godhood. It was an olive branch extended to him by a god.

After a moment, he slowly raised his hand and grabbed that elusive ribbon...

Then—

He crushed it with force!

Bang—

A nearly imperceptible sound echoed beside Chen Yan's ear.

The Path to Godhood was crushed in his hand, turning into dust that scattered through the air and vanished into the void. At the same time, the cinnabar-like star in the distance rapidly dimmed.

He rejected God's Blessing.

Chen Yan opened his palm. A Divine Path Fragment the size of a thumbnail lay quietly in it, like a piece of Cinnabar Glass.

He casually opened the bedside drawer, tossed the piece of Cinnabar Glass inside, then shut and locked it.

Inside the dark drawer,

More than thirty identical pieces of Cinnabar Glass glimmered faintly.

Early morning.

Chen Ling got up early and washed up.

Today, no "kindhearted person" was reimbursing his fare. He could only walk to Ice Spring Street, and the round trip alone took over four hours. So he had no choice but to leave earlier and return later than the other Provisional Enforcers.

To his surprise, Chu Muyun seemed to have risen even earlier than him.

The moment Chen Ling entered the living room, he saw Chu Muyun sitting sideways by the table in a casual shirt and knitted vest. He held an ancient medical text in his hands, seemingly studying it intently, occasionally pushing up his glasses.

It was as if he were not sitting in a shabby, drafty living room, but in some elegant café in Aurora City.

Seeing Chen Ling awake, he smiled and set down the book.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Chen Ling answered casually, then hurried out to have breakfast at the Zhao family's breakfast shop across the street.

Ever since he had tipped off Uncle Zhao last time, he had felt somewhat guilty. So he visited their shop every morning, giving Uncle Zhao a little more business... As for Zhao Yi, Uncle Zhao had grounded him for a week, and he still had not been outside.

After Chen Ling disappeared into the distance, Chu Muyun slowly put down his book.

He stood and walked straight toward Chen Ling's room. His feet stepped across the aged floorboards without making the slightest sound... like a ghost.

Chu Muyun stopped beside Chen Ling's bed, his eyes narrowing faintly behind his lenses.

He put on white gloves, took a pair of tweezers from his pocket, and collected every strand of hair scattered across the pillow along with tiny flakes of skin, placing them into a brown empty bottle.

After finishing all this, he quietly withdrew from the room. With a light wave of his hand, a wisp of breeze swept across the floor, completely erasing the footprints he had left behind.

He did not return to his own room. Instead, he walked straight out of the house, crossed several streets in succession, and arrived before a rundown convenience store.

Ding-ling—

As he pushed open the shop door, a crisp bell rang out.

"What do you want to buy?" A woman seated behind the counter lazily yawned and asked offhandedly.

"I want to buy a thread of hope."

The instant she heard that answer, the woman's gaze froze.

All her previous laziness vanished, replaced by cold, sharp eyes. She stared at Chu Muyun before slowly speaking.

"Show your identification."

Chu Muyun lifted his fingertips, and a white playing card appeared in his palm as if by magic. He placed it face down on the counter.

The woman flipped over the card—

[Seven of Spades]

"The passphrase," she said again.

Chu Muyun replied calmly,

"Human civilization..."

"Will never be extinguished."