Shen Heng's body tensed slightly, but he did not dodge.
The girl's body nestled in his arms, warm and trembling.
"Has he... come over...?" Her voice was barely audible, almost swallowed up by the eerie background music in the haunted house.
Shen Heng glanced up at the mad doctor, who had stopped a meter away, grinning and waving goodbye before leaving. Then he looked down at the girl in his arms.
He subconsciously raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed it on her head, patting it lightly.
"It's here, but it's fake," he said in a low voice.
"I... I know!" the girl whispered, trembling in his arms.
"... Let's go outside."
The girl buried her face in his chest and gave a muffled "hmm," but didn't let go.
Two hours later, the sun began to set.
Shen Heng carried a large bag of food back to the car.
Le Gu Nan was sitting quietly on the curb, his face still somewhat pale.
After leaving the haunted house, Le Gu Nan had no interest in playing anything else.
Therefore, they didn't participate in any other activities and went straight back to the car.
Shen Heng sat down on the side of Le Gu Nan with the food in his hands, then took out a portion and handed it over.
"Dinner."
"Thank you!" Le Gu Nan reached out and took the food.
Shen Heng glanced at himself, then looked at Le Gu Nan who was also unpacking food, and asked:
Would you still dare to go to a haunted house in the future?
Le Gu Nan paused in his movements, then nodded after a long while and said, "I dare."
Shen Heng was slightly taken aback, then chuckled and said, "It's good that you dare, but remember, if you go anywhere else later, don't go with ordinary people, or you might accidentally break their bones."
Shen Heng paused after speaking, then added,
Even if you can cure the other person.
Le Gu Nan looked up at Shen Heng, her mind suddenly returning to the haunted house she had just been in.
It felt like being in a warm, cozy bed in winter...
Her eyelashes trembled, and she didn't dare look at him again.
The two of them sat on the curb and began to eat.
"You said," Le Gu Nan suddenly thought of something and looked at Shen Heng, "Do ghosts really exist in this world?"
Shen Heng swallowed the food in his mouth. "A real ghost, like the one you understand, is most likely nonexistent, but there might be similar ones."
"Similar?" Le Gu Nan tilted his head.
"Hmm." Shen Heng nodded. "When I was in the training camp, I met someone whose ability was to God Invocation. He could God Invocation to possess him and borrow their powers."
"Gods?" Le Gu Nan asked curiously, "If gods exist, then ghosts must also exist, right?"
"No, he only invoked an image formed from human beliefs, not a real god." As he spoke, Shen Heng looked at Le Gu Nan and explained further.
Simply put, he invoked a god that people imagined, not a real god with its own will.
"This god exists because of people's imagination, and also possesses power because of people's imagination."
"So, if ghosts exist, then it's probably similar."
"Is that so?" Le Gu Nan nodded slightly, then looked at Shen Heng again. "However, God Invocation, this ability seems quite powerful."
"It is indeed a skill with great potential for development, but your ability is equally impressive." Shen Heng said, turning his gaze to Le Gu Nan.
"To be honest, I still don't know how you awakened your abilities?"
In the Linhai Supervision Bureau, only Shen Heng, Le Gu Nan, and Old Li are not from the military or police backgrounds.
Shen Heng's own awakening goes without saying. Shen Heng had heard Wei Leyang talk about Old Li's awakening when he first joined, but he still didn't know how Shen Heng Le Gu Nan had awakened.
Le Gu Nan spoke softly:
"Back when I was a sophomore in high school, one night a Calamity Beast suddenly attacked my house. It caused quite a commotion. Later, our family's security personnel arrived and used..."
Le Gu Nan paused here, glanced at Shen Heng, and continued:
"Shoot that Calamity Beast to death."
"Later, because someone was killed by the Calamity Beast, the matter could no longer be concealed, and the police had to be called."
"Then, to make things easier, my father had someone split open the Calamity Beast's head, remove the bullets, and then he went to make a phone call."
"When I went over there later, the Origin Crystal of the Calamity Beast was just condensing, so I went over and touched it out of curiosity."
"So the captain contacted you later, and then you joined?" Shen Heng asked Le Gu Nan.
"Well, back then, it was mostly my father's opinion," Le Gu Nan said.
Shen Heng nodded.
Le Gu Nan was strictly controlled by her family in the past, which meant that her father was fully aware of the existence of the Supervision Bureau and the Calamity Beast.
After all, if he didn't know, Le Gu Nan wouldn't be able to join the Supervision Bureau.
"After that, because of my limited abilities, I wasn't very combat-ready, so I studied while diligently cultivating at night," Le Gu Nan continued from the side.
"Have you ever thought about why you joined the Supervision Bureau?" Shen Heng asked.
"For what purpose?"
Le Gu Nan looked up at the night sky, and it took her a while before she lowered her head.
"I don't know. I don't seem to have any specific goals. I just cultivate all day, then carry out missions, cultivate, carry out missions, but..."
"If possible, it would be best to reduce the number of people who die because of the Calamity Beast."
Fewer people would have to sacrifice themselves... Shen Heng glanced at the girl beside him, then looked away without saying anything more.
"And what about you?" Le Gu Nan looked at Shen Heng, "Why did you join the Supervision Bureau?"
Shen Heng was slightly taken aback; the question he had asked had stumped him instead.
"I initially joined the Supervision Bureau Supervision Bureau because of my mother's illness; without that, I probably wouldn't have joined."
"After all, at that time, my abilities were hardly suited for combat."
"Now..."
Shen Heng fell silent at this point, pondering the purpose or significance of his current actions.
He seems to have no purpose or meaning in his actions right now.
Resisting the invasion of the Ruins Realm is too big a topic and too uncertain.
In his view, this wasn't an end in itself, but rather more like a job.
So... become stronger, and then stand at the peak?
Shen Heng thought for a moment, then slowly rejected the idea.
He doesn't reject becoming stronger, and he will work hard to become stronger, but he doesn't actually have a strong desire to become stronger.
In his view, becoming stronger and having power are just tools.
Tools should not be the purpose or meaning of his actions.
Of course, he will still practice his spiritual cultivation diligently.
But what should be the purpose or meaning of one's actions?