"Shasha, shasha."

The train traveled smoothly through the void. Outside the window, the cold arcs of electricity were reflected. Chu Ling sat in the carriage, waiting for a long time. The world of mental connection suddenly became silent. A certain shameless chatterbox had inexplicably quieted down.

In a dark alley, in a secluded corner not illuminated by the lights.

Gu Shen's face was hidden in the darkness... Fortunately, no one could see the expression on his face at this moment.

Just a moment ago, he was the attacking party, boldly striking out.

Now he was stammering, unable to speak. "Cough, cough..."

Gu Shen reacted for a moment, clenched his fist and coughed lightly in front of his lips, pretending to be calm and said, "I like you too."

Could this be considered a love confession?

He even felt a little shy saying it himself. "Mm," Chu Ling responded calmly, and said, "Someone's coming."

That reaction was too calm... Gu Shen muttered in his heart. He quickly tidied his clothes and walked out of the alley, where he was met by two young men, one fat and one thin, whose figures were in stark contrast. The alley was not wide, and the two figures almost completely blocked the alley entrance.

A wisp of blazing fire swirled between his eyebrows.

Gu Shen could clearly see that the two young men exuded an aloof and ethereal extraordinary aura...

"More trouble has come knocking?"

He sighed inwardly. As expected.

The two figures had no intention of leaving.

"Gentlemen?"

Gu Shen slowly stopped, smiled, and looked up with a gentle expression. While greeting them, he asked in his mind, "What's the identity of these two guys... can you find any information?"

"Investigating..."

Tianyan swiftly collected the two not-so-clear faces for facial recognition, and then uploaded them to the Deep Sea database for identity comparison.

Before Chu Ling could complete the identity check.

Of the two "ill-intentioned" blockers, the skinny one with his arms crossed introduced himself.

"My surname is Gong, you can call me Gong Zi."

Gu Shen was slightly stunned, somewhat surprised by the sudden opening. "I'm sorry for following you for a while."

Gong Zi got straight to the point and said calmly, "Gu Shen, I'd like to invite you to dinner."

Gu Shen's expression was a little strange.

Being directly called by name wasn't something that surprised him. Within the three schools of Nagano now, those who didn't recognize him should be in the minority.

But who speaks so directly?

In addition... after leaving Changling, he had avoided crowds. Apart from those with access to the [Wind Eyes] authority, no one should be able to quickly locate him.

"Gu, Bai, Gong, Mu, and Li are traditionally known as the Five Great Families of Nagano, and they control most of the resources upstream of Jiangbei," Chu Ling slowly said after searching the database. "The identity of this Gong Zi is very unusual. He is the eldest direct son of the Gong family."

"So this is another future family head?"

Gu Shen subconsciously slandered, then felt strange, why did he use "another" hmm...

First Gu Nanfeng, then Bai Chen, plus the rumored monstrous Bai Xiu. He hadn't been in Nagano for long, but he had already seen quite a few heirs and mainstays of the Five Great Families.

"Old Gong, don't be like that."

A steady voice sounded.

He wasn't hearing things, was he? Was he just called "Old Gong?"

Gu Shen's face became even stranger... What was the relationship between these two?

He looked up.

The wide figure that almost filled the entire alley was a fat man with goggles strapped to his forehead. This figure was even thicker than Luo Yu, like a great Buddha standing at the entrance of the alley, blocking almost all the light with his own strength.

This mountain of flesh looked extremely oppressive from afar.

But now he smiled and stretched out his hand, "I'm Mu Nan, Little Gu can call me Pumpkin."

Gu Shen didn't go forward, but narrowed his eyes from a distance, carefully examining the two faces that were gradually becoming clearer and more relaxed in the dim light. He sensed the extraordinary aura emanating from the other party... and there was no hostility.

The guy opposite gave him a very warm feeling.

Hmm, not enemies. One of these two was the eldest direct son of the Gong family, and the other, judging by the name, was also a scion of the Mu family. They both had quite the background.

Since there was no hostility.

Gu Shen didn't want to cause trouble for himself. Out of caution, he didn't shake Mu Nan's hand, but slowly nodded, which was already a show of goodwill. Mu Nan didn't force it. After a glance, he patted the skinny man beside him on the shoulder and grinned, "Old Gong, I told you before... Little Gu is different from Bai Xiu. He's a good guy."

With this terrible nickname, Gong Zi's face was full of black lines. He gritted his teeth and said, "How many times have I told you, don't call me Old Gong!"

"Sorry, sorry, next time for sure..." The fat man scratched his head and smiled apologetically.

Gong Zi took a light breath, calmed down, and looked at Gu Shen.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled, "How about it, give me some face? You're new here. You need friends in Nagano, after all."

Gu Shen also smiled, "You can become friends just by having a meal?"

"How would you know if you don't eat?" Gong Zi said indifferently, "Don't worry, there are no other outsiders at this meal... just three people, you, me, and him."

Mu Nan gestured apologetically from behind, signaling Gu Shen not to be angry, that this was just his speaking style.

"How did you track me down?" Gu Shen didn't respond, but asked a question instead.

Gong Zi glanced back and winked.

Mu Nan understood.

He slowly raised his hand. The snowflakes scattering in the light of the old alley, drifting randomly, were now being summoned by a mental force... slowly gathering, and then projecting a blurred image: snowy Ning River, frozen over.

On the bridge over the river, a woman wearing a black feather cloak looked annoyed and was making a phone call with her back against the railing. This was probably the application of mental power to create a pictorial image, but it was a rather high-level tracking technique.

What surprised Gu Shen was who they were tracking.

Not him, but... Bai Lu. "Someone is watching you with [Wind Eyes] 24 hours a day..."

Gong Zi said slowly, "To find you, you just need to follow her."

Gu Shen looked meaningfully at this unremarkable guy.

None of the eldest direct sons of the Great Families were simple characters. It wasn't anything for the mantis to stalk the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. But daring to regard the White family's witch as the "mantis" were few and far between.

"I was fortunate enough to witness the fight just now." Gong Zi clapped his hands symbolically and said, "Although I couldn't see the specific process in the real world, the result was wonderful enough. I still can't figure out how you broke through that witch's sealed object with the strength of the fourth level of the Deep Sea." Gong Zi stared at Gu Shen and said seriously, "What I also can't figure out is that match you won against Shen Li at the dojo during the day."

"Those aren't reasons to invite someone to dinner," Gu Shen said.

"There's one thing you said that's very true, Bai Lu is a crazy woman... she will continue to look for your location."

Gong Zi smiled, "Continuing to look for your location means continuing to look for trouble for you. From Ning River to Chun Yu Guan, from Snow Forbidden City to the outskirts of Nagano, if you're alone, it's no use running anywhere."

"..."

Gu Shen remained noncommittal.

He sighed softly, "So?"

"Have dinner with me." Gong Zi, with a very serious and proud tone, like he was pursuing his dream girl, revealed his cards word by word, "I am the eldest direct son of the Gong family..."

(There's more tonight, friends who can't wait can go to sleep first~)