"Gu Shen is back!"

In a surveillance room with [Wind Eye] access in the prison, Bai Lu stared at the screen, somewhat excited.

The man in the white Inquisitor's robe sat casually on a nearby table, arms crossed. Bai Chen rarely saw his sister so serious.

"He's a grown man. Are you afraid he'll run away?"

"It's not about running away."

Bai Lu shook her head.

"I heard about your deal with Han Dang," Bai Chen frowned. "You didn't have to go to such lengths for him... The Bai family doesn't need to act based on Zhu Wang's expression."

"Of course, it's not because of Han Dang," Bai Lu scoffed.

She thought for a long time, not knowing how to describe her current thoughts to her brother...

The reason she wanted to see Gu Shen again wasn't because she wanted to represent the Bai family to negotiate anything.

It was because the figure she saw in the "Dream of Thorns" lingered in her mind... She wanted an answer regarding that figure.

"Gu Shen is at the Snow Forbidden City gate. I want to see him."

After saying just that, Bai Lu grabbed her coat and prepared to leave the surveillance room.

Bai Chen, however, reached out and grabbed his sister's arm.

"Gu Shen just had a meal with the Li family..."

Bai Chen had a headache. "The Li family won't allow anything to happen to him at this time. If you go to see him again, what about the Li family? That Gao fellow has the best mental perception ability in the top three in Nagano and can cover most of the Snow Forbidden City."

Bai Lu couldn't help but laugh.

Did her brother think she was going to personally beat this kid up?

Well... she seemed to have that thought.

The fight on Ninghe Bridge wasn't finished, which was a real shame.

If they met again, they might really start fighting!

"That's why I have you..." Bai Lu smiled mischievously. "I just want to chat with Gu Shen. Or could you step in and help me hold off that uncle from the Li family?"

Bai Chen was speechless and finally just sighed softly.

...

...

Snow Forbidden City Gate, the night was deep.

The majestic ancient city, with red bricks and white tiles, was covered with flying snow. Looking from afar, the long night was still brightly lit, but all around was silent, making it seem very desolate.

Uncle Gao drove Li Qingsui away.

Gu Shen walked towards the city... He didn't plan to return to Submerged Dragon Temple, at least not while the challenger hadn't left.

Returning would mean facing a lot of trouble.

He didn't have the energy or the mood to deal with the endless stream of visitors.

The mental link was still disconnected... Chu Ling seemed to be pondering alone.

That was interesting.

It turned out that [Source Code] sometimes wanted to be alone too.

Nagano's long night.

A young man walked through the streets.

The wind blew.

The blazing fire between the boy's eyebrows suddenly burned, becoming the only light in the dark night.

Gu Shen raised his head.

In the distance was the wall of the inner city of the Snow Forbidden City, the stone wall covered with snow... In the reflection of the flames, it was faintly visible that a figure had appeared out of thin air above the city wall.

That person seemed to have merged with the wind and snow.

If the "Blazing Fire" hadn't ignited on its own... even if ordinary people passed by, they wouldn't notice.

He had been waiting here for a long time.

His gray-black suit was spotless, and his gold-rimmed glasses reflected a calm, almost indifferent look... The man was like a child gazing at the scenery, using a slightly playful posture, leaning on the Snow Forbidden City wall that had stood for hundreds of years, his palms pressed against the wall, and a briefcase covered in snow lay beside him.

If he dangled his legs.

Then he would really look like a child.

But he didn't.

So this posture seemed very tense and ready to erupt... like a leopard lurking in the dark, ready to pounce on its prey at any moment!

Han Dang spoke expressionlessly.

"Long time no see, S-rank."

He greeted.

Not a friendly greeting.

Gu Shen's expression didn't change much, he just frowned slightly and asked coldly, "Have we met before?"

Before she left, Senior Sister Luo had hypnotized Han Dang, and all memories of the Dateng City mission had been erased.

Gu Shen didn't think that Han Dang had the ability to undo [Heavenly Eye]'s spell.

Hearing this response... Han Dang smiled.

This sentence was indeed a trap, and Gu Shen didn't fall for it... but whether he fell for it or not didn't matter, because some things didn't need to be remembered to be certain that they had happened.

Han Dang firmly believed that part of his memory had been deleted.

He must have met Gu Shen somewhere.

"Gu Shen... how about we change places and chat again?"

Han Dang leaped lightly from the city wall.

In an instant.

His mental power rippled out—

[Truth] domain, instantly spread!

...

...

The moment Gu Shen saw Han Dang, he realized what was about to happen.

He retreated backward as quickly as possible, but Han Dang's mental power was faster, engulfing him in an instant... This was a huge gap in raw strength, and Gu Shen had no way to refuse Han Dang pulling him into a dream.

However.

He wasn't flustered about entering the [Truth] domain.

Anyway... it wasn't the first time.

Gu Shen took a deep breath.

He stood in the overwhelming darkness, feeling his consciousness being pulled into the "dream" little by little... Unlike the time at the orphanage, he could clearly feel his power.

Although he was being pulled into a dream.

He could see and perceive the process.

He sat down at the interrogation table.

Pale light shone down from above, and this time, Gu Shen fell into extreme calm.

He calmly stared at the shackles on his hands and feet, then looked up at the man in the suit at the end of the interrogation table.

"Snap."

A familiar action.

Han Dang habitually snapped his fingers.

A bucket of cold water poured down, directly onto Gu Shen's soul... However, something unexpected happened.

The interrogated was soaked, but didn't show any signs of pain.

He just stared at himself calmly.

From beginning to end, Gu Shen's expression didn't change at all.

Han Dang frowned.

After this bucket of cold water, Gu Shen should have felt a mental sting and then instantly wake up.

No reaction?

In the [Truth] domain... this had never happened before.

"Thank you, I'm very awake."

Gu Shen's voice contained a hint of coldness.

He did feel the soul-piercing cold, but it was instantly offset by the Blazing Fire... The Blazing Fire, which had eaten its fill at the Shrine Mountain, had stored too much transcendent source matter to consume. Because he had suffered a mental attack, from the moment he entered the [Truth] domain, this transcendent source matter began to be consumed.

"You should know where you are now, right?" Han Dang snapped his fingers again, and the light above the interrogation room suddenly gathered, turning into a condensed and blazing beam of light that enveloped Gu Shen.

The soul was burning fiercely.

However, Gu Shen's expression changed slightly as he sat in front of the interrogation table.

He wanted to remain silent.

But a force descended in the dark, forcing him to speak.

"This is... the Truth Domain."

Gu Shen spoke word by word, following the rules of the [Truth] domain, answering Han Dang's question. He felt the burning on his soul lessen a lot.

He silently digested the source matter in the Blazing Fire while observing the not-so-large [Interrogation Room].

Is this the mental domain of the eleventh layer of the deep sea?

"Obviously, we have met." Han Dang spoke again, softly saying, "What exactly happened in Dateng City?"

This time.

Gu Shen was silent.

The power of the [Truth] domain's rules descended again, trying to force him to speak.

However, everything in this world is an equal exchange... Enduring pain, and choosing to remain silent, are both choices that violate the rules. In theory, making this choice only requires burning enough transcendent source matter.

Han Dang waited a few seconds and didn't get a response.

He was a little surprised, and the next moment he realized what Gu Shen was doing... Was he trying to burn transcendent source matter to defy the rules within the [Truth] domain?

Han Dang changed to a lazy sitting position and tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.

He didn't even increase the mental pressure, but just waited like a "boiling frog in warm water," waiting for Gu Shen to be unable to resist and then give up struggling... This was really interesting.

"Mortals always have limits. A wise man submits to circumstances." Han Dang asked with a smile, "In the face of someone far stronger than yourself... you always have to bow your head, right? Gu Shen?"

Unexpectedly.

As soon as these words were spoken, they were immediately answered.

"I agree with that principle..."

Gu Shen spoke with difficulty, and he also squeezed out a smile. "Do you agree?"

Han Dang was stunned.

Under the washing of the [Truth] rules, Gu Shen skipped the previous question and instead asked his own question, word by word, with great difficulty.

"If you've been watching in front of the [Wind Eye], you should know... that when I left Snow Forbidden City, those eyes were all ineffective..."

An ominous premonition flashed through Han Dang's heart.

Since Gu Shen returned to Nagano, he had been using the [Wind Eye] to observe Gu Shen's every move... However, there was a brief period of disconnection tonight. Han Dang's [Wind Eye] authority was also limited, and he could only freely move within a portion of the area.

Through data investigation in the Deepwater Zone, he learned that Gu Shen had left the Snow Forbidden City.

So he waited here, waiting for Gu Shen to return.

"Little Senior Brother Han, some things still need... to be thought about with your brain."

Gu Shen's shackles rattled. He raised his hands, which felt like they were filled with lead, pointed to his forehead with his fingertips, and smiled, "Guess who I went for a ride with?"

The Five Great Families?

Gong Zi, Mu Nan, and Bai Lu appeared tonight...

Wait!

A petite and weak girl suddenly appeared in Han Dang's mind... To be precise, he thought of the tall man who would definitely be closely following that girl.

It was said that that man's mental power, when spread out, could cover half of the Snow Forbidden City.

Then everything that happened here...

The next moment!

With a "boom."

The sound of glass breaking!

The [Interrogation Room] was directly shattered by external force, turning into thousands of fragments that exploded in all directions.

Returning to reality.

Gu Shen's handcuffs and shackles were all broken.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, having endured some pain in the [Truth] domain... but it was still within the range of tolerance.

"You're a little slow, were you doing it on purpose?" Gu Shen muttered softly.

He looked across at Han Dang, who was much more miserable than himself, his face as pale as paper, without a trace of blood, and the hand holding the briefcase trembled violently.

The dream shattered.

Han Dang's mind fell into chaos.

He felt bursts of piercing pain in his brain, and at the same time, an extremely clear and cold voice rang in his ears.

From a certain uncle who had already driven away from the Snow Forbidden City.

"Han Dang... don't get any ideas about Gu Shen."

"This time, it's just a warning."

...

...

(There's more tonight!)