Chapter 1 Long Night

A long wind blew through the alley.

Two young people walked in the dim night of the old district. The wind blew through the woman's long skirt and the man's suit wrinkles. Neither of them walked quickly.

Slightly tipsy.

Because she drank "Lion's Wake," a faint blush touched Lu Nan Jin's cheeks. The pure spiritual element extracted and soaked in alcohol was somewhat acceptable, but the after-effects were potent.

Her eyes were a little dazed as she leaned against the wall, walking slowly through the alley, as if returning to a night many years ago.

Song Ci, with his hands behind his head, muttered with a complex expression, "They say men who get girls drunk late at night are no good... So at first, I just wanted to have a little drink myself."

Looking at the slender figure swaying as she walked ahead, Song Ci said cautiously, "You snatched the wine yourself. When we get back, please don't tell Madam."

"Mmm."

Lu Nan Jin uttered a soft syllable from her nose, her expression hazy.

She really was drunk.

Song Ci was very distressed.

Not everyone in this world is Gu Shen, able to drink a whole bottle of Lion's Wake as if nothing happened. Normal transcendents will get "slightly tipsy" after a couple of sips, and pass out completely if they are greedy.

But Lu Nan Jin really didn't drink much... she only drank a small cup.

"This was left by Old Lu." Nan Jin suddenly stopped. She murmured softly, "I was just a kid back then, and I wasn't allowed to drink... This is still the first time I've had 'Lion's Wake.'"

Song Ci was silent. He stopped talking and listened quietly.

Sometimes... whether you get drunk or not depends on the person.

Whether you want to get drunk or not.

Lu Nan Jin, lifting her long skirt, walked along the long night wind, through the alley, stroking the rough stone wall all the way. She had walked this road many times, and every time before, it was with Old Lu...

The alley was still there, and the night wind was still there.

But Old Lu was gone.

"I miss him..."

Lu Nan Jin, who had drunk a cup of wine, lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly. She leaned against the stone wall and slowly sat down with her back to it, looking up at the narrow alley sky, the dim night and starlight, word by word, murmuring and repeating, uttering tired thoughts: "I miss him..."

Song Ci also sat down.

Crow didn't drink much... this little Lion's Wake was far from enough to get him drunk, but tonight it made him feel dazed.

"I miss Old Lu too..."

He had a bellyful of things he wanted to say, originally wanting to use the strength of the Lion's Wake to say it all in one breath, but after drinking, all those words drifted away with the wind, not knowing where they went.

His mind was blank.

Just like the sky tonight, with remnant stars and swirling wind.

"Mmm..."

Another very light murmur, hummed from the nasal cavity, sounded very nice.

Song Ci felt his nose tickle and wanted to sneeze. He came back to his senses, gently reached out to scratch, his arm suddenly stiffened in mid-air... It was a strand of hair that had blown in the wind, and a warm head leaned against his shoulder.

So he stiffly maintained this posture, forcibly holding back the sneeze.

Nan Jin's breathing became very light, very even.

Song Ci leaned against the cool stone wall of the alley. He sat silently for a while, gently lifting Nan Jin's head at an angle, took out his arm, took off his suit, and draped it over her.

Let it be like this...

No need to say anything more...

This... is also very good...

...

...

Sunlight streamed in through the wooden window, falling on his face.

Resting for a night in the guest room of the old house, Gu Shen opened his eyes. The Jingzhe breathing technique, which he had practiced all night, left him exceptionally refreshed. After getting up, he felt light all over.

He went to the courtyard.

Zhou Ji Ren had entered the mansion at some point. He was standing under the banyan tree, with his hands behind his back, seemingly... admiring the tree.

"Teacher..."

Gu Shen came to the side of Tree.

"Have you seen anything?" Zhou Ji Ren asked.

Gu Shen stared intently for a moment, then shook his head.

He followed the other person's gaze and looked together. In late autumn and early winter, the banyan tree was not withered. The branches and trunks were still green. Other than that, he couldn't see any other differences.

Transcendents who complete the twelfth floor trial in the deep sea will be granted a title by the Federal Government, and Zhou Ji Ren's title is "Soaring Tree." Each title has its own exclusive meaning.

Obviously, \[Sacred Wood] belongs to the top-level natural transcendent ability.

To divide it more finely, it would be related to wood, forest, leaves, and the like.

Zhou Ji Ren said softly, "A few days ago, I saw an old book of strange tales. There was a very interesting sentence written on it... Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the leaves can be evergreen. Birth, old age, sickness, and death, people cannot live forever."

Gu Shen listened carefully.

"Even if transcendents can defy the natural order... they must also obey some iron laws. If you want to walk the path of evergreen, you are destined to walk very slowly." Zhou Ji Ren said meaningfully, "To be a soaring tree, you can live leisurely for a hundred years. To be a brilliant epiphyllum, you only have one night."

"Alright, you can comprehend it yourself." The teacher changed the topic and said, "The Deep Sea has sent a file... You can take a look at it."

The file wasn't long.

The general content was that a humanoid monster broke into a church in the Southern Continent... This monster knelt in front of the statue, confessed, and was eventually sanctioned and died.

The priest and nun passed this matter on to the church... so the Deep Sea received this information.

The accompanying picture was the scene of the humanoid monster's death. There were no obstructions, so it looked a little bloody. The humanoid "monster," with disheveled hair, knelt in front of the statue, like a burning wax statue, melting all over.

"This is...?"

Gu Shen frowned as he looked at it.

"Xiao."

Zhou Ji Ren was concise, "The Deep Sea sensed the spiritual element of blood fire at the scene and extracted and compared it... This is precisely the source of the long-term turmoil in the Dadu District, that wisp of blood fire. Furthermore, in the remains of this monster, the Southern Continent priests also discovered a blood-colored compass."

Gu Shen quickly took out the compass.

The compass now seemed to have been reduced to a mere object, appearing to have lost its spirituality.

Indeed, no matter how he activated it... there was no reaction.

"The Southern Continent church publicized this matter as the 'statue' influencing the evil spirit, but in reality... this 'evil spirit' did not willingly kneel down to confess. That was his last struggle. He experienced great pain in his life, and eventually stumbled into the church, and here... burned out the last of his life."

"This..."

Gu Shen was a little confused.

In the Free Auditorium, he shot Xue with one bullet, taking down Zhou Yu, but the man behind the strings was still alive.

And... should be living very well.

But only one night passed, and the news of Xiao's death came!

This news was too sudden, and he hadn't quite reacted yet. If Xiao was dead, then the special investigation team's mission... would be over?

"How did Xiao die?" Gu Shen looked at the file again, still finding it unbelievable.

"Him ah..."

A mocking smile appeared on Zhou Ji Ren's face, "He provoked an existence that he shouldn't have."