Chapter 143 Trouble

“Miss Jiang, I think you need to explain this…”

Half an hour later, only the two of them were left alone in the cubicle.

Gu Shen said seriously, “What exactly is going on?”

The hypnosis treatment had been completed. He had removed the mental imprints from everyone and sent these residents of the old city back to the minibus… Obviously, this was not a coincidence. No one could accidentally gather a busload of patients whose consciousness was affected by sealed items.

Introducing customers was a lie; bringing trouble was the truth.

But the reason Gu Shen chose to sit down and have a serious talk with Jiang Wan… was simple. He remembered that during the Sukhavati Stone Sculpture incident, Hu Danian had mentioned that Cui Zhongcheng had indirectly inquired about Jiang Wan. Could this woman be connected to the Huazhi Corporation?

He hoped to hear from this woman something like, “I am a specialist sent by Cui Zhongcheng.”

But unfortunately.

Things weren’t as he thought.

“I’m sorry…”

Jiang Wan looked complicated and sincerely apologized, “Doctor Gu, because you healed me last time, I… I sent them here. Did I cause you trouble?”

With the blessing of Chihuo, Gu Shen could sense a person’s emotional fluctuations.

She was an ordinary person without awakened abilities.

Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness couldn’t escape his eyes.

“Where did these people come from?”

“The old city.” Jiang Wan’s expression gradually became serious. She said solemnly, “I don’t know why, but some residents in the old city have started showing these symptoms. Their consciousness is chaotic, muddled, like wooden puppets… The first time I saw them like this, I thought of you.”

If he remembered correctly.

Jiang Wan was a rich heiress living in the Nanwan wealthy district… How could she have noticed people in the old city?

“Miss Jiang…” Gu Shen hesitated and asked, “What do you do for work?”

“I’m a reporter. For the Dadu Evening News.”

Jiang Wan took out her credentials. She was very perceptive, understood the meaning of Gu Shen’s hesitation, and explained in a low voice, “The house in Nanwan was bought by my family. I found the reporter job myself…”

She earnestly pleaded, “There are still some patients in the old city. This is the address information we collected… Doctor Gu, why don’t you go take a look? Just consider it helping them out.”

“…”

Gu Shen was silent for a moment, then asked softly, “Miss Jiang, does your family have any connection with Huazhi?”

Hearing this, Jiang Wan was stunned.

She thought for a long time and said seriously, “My parents are shareholders on the Huazhi board of directors…”

As expected, a daughter of a wealthy family.

“I’ll go… provided you don’t get involved in this matter anymore.” Gu Shen had a headache and said softly, “After you go back, just do what you’re supposed to do.”

Of course, he also used the hypnotic power of Chihuo in this sentence.

After she left.

Gu Shen immediately dialed Cui Zhongcheng’s number… After drinking with Crow last time, he took advantage of the other party’s drunken stupor and quickly got Little Cui’s contact information.

Sure enough, it came in handy after only two days.

After the call connected.

“I’m Gu Shen.”

Gu Shen cut straight to the point, “Is the mental contamination from the sealed item in the old city part of the assessment?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, obviously surprised, both at Gu Shen getting his contact information and at the “sealed item contamination” mentioned by the latter.

But soon, Cui Zhongcheng replied.

“…No.”

His voice was solemn, “There’s sealed item contamination in the old city? I’ll send someone to check it out… How did you find out?”

Ha!

So Little Cui wasn’t omniscient either, Gu Shen couldn’t help but think.

He recounted Jiang Wan’s story.

“Jiang Wan is not an Awakened. She is indeed a reporter for the Dadu Evening News, but she’s very headstrong.”

“And… her parents are indeed shareholders on the Huazhi board of directors, and they have considerable influence.” After listening, Cui Zhongcheng calmly explained, “So during the Sukhavati Stone Sculpture incident last time, I had someone give her a hint… I didn’t expect her to find you. This time, I will tell her parents to keep a close eye on their daughter.”

“Jiang Wan won’t be involved anymore. I hypnotized her.”

Gu Shen said, “Since you’re going to handle this matter, then I won’t participate.”

“…Wait a minute.”

Just as the phone was about to hang up, Cui Zhongcheng suddenly asked.

“Have you been to the old city recently?”

Gu Shen was silent.

As far as he knew, there were no clues left about the beating of Zhao Qi.

But the person asking was Cui Zhongcheng, so he was a little uncertain.

So he remained silent, pretending the signal was bad. In front of a shrewd person like Cui Zhongcheng, any answer, even a slight slip-up, could reveal a flaw.

“Hu Danian has been tracking Shi Li.” Cui Zhongcheng said calmly, “During this time, Shi Li has been near the old city… The Chengxin Association’s Southern Hall hasn’t arranged any missions, the only explanation is that he has his own arrangements. I suspect that the big fish behind the Evergreen Foundation is real and is about to surface.”

Hearing this explanation, Gu Shen was relieved.

Zhao Qi wouldn’t dare to expose this trouble. It seemed that Cui Zhongcheng was currently unaware.

“Hello… are you still there?”

“Sorry… the signal was bad just now.” Gu Shen reopened the conversation, frowning, “Shi Li is also in the old city?”

“That’s right.”

Cui Zhongcheng said, “Every night, around ten o’clock, he goes to the old city. The old city has complex terrain that blocks surveillance, so we can’t track him in detail. All Hu Danian can do is record the time nodes.”

After listening, Gu Shen was thoughtful.

If Shi Li had been going to the old city every night during this time…

Then on the day he beat Zhao Qi, was he also in the old city?

The old city was a dilapidated, out-of-the-way place that had long been abandoned. Not many Awakened would venture there.

This didn’t seem like a coincidence.

Cui Zhongcheng said calmly, “Regardless of whether Shi Li and the sealed item contamination are coincidences, I think you need to make a trip to the old city.”

“I…”

Gu Shen had just opened his mouth.

“Thanks for your hard work. It’s settled then.” Cui Zhongcheng hung up the phone, “I’ll send someone to pick you up later.”

…

…

In the evening.

The person Cui Zhongcheng arranged was waiting at the entrance of Slumber.

Hu Danian was wearing a tight-fitting suit that accentuated his rugged, bulging muscles. He was riding a motorcycle, wearing a heavy helmet, and patted the back seat, signaling Gu Shen to get on.

Seeing Hu Danian’s outfit, Gu Shen was stunned and subconsciously thought of that “wonderful night” not long ago.

He silently said to himself again.

Cui Zhongcheng shouldn’t know about the Zhao Qi beating… right?

“Long time no see?” Hu Danian laughed loudly, “Come on, get in the car!”

On the way to the old city—

The wind howled.

The motorcycle sped along.

The helmet had a built-in voice link system.

“I went to the old city during the day and visited the families with mental abnormalities.” Hu Danian’s voice came from the helmet, “These people are like idiots, sitting blankly at home, not knowing anything when asked. I didn’t get any useful information, but I did hear an interesting story from the neighbors. Two nights ago, there was a fight in the old city, and they said there were gunshots. It was a fierce fight, with two walls collapsing and a street lamp being knocked down… I don’t know what happened in the end, whether anyone died.”

Hearing this, Gu Shen felt guilty and quickly changed the subject.

“What’s the progress on Shi Li’s case?”

“No progress at all… That guy is like an eel, disappearing every time he gets into the alleys of the old city.” Hu Danian was very troubled and said helplessly, “You also know that the Chengxin Association has a North and South division, and the relationship between the two sides is very tense now. I don’t dare to follow too closely… That guy is very strong, a well-known powerhouse of the offensive type. He’s also a lunatic from the Evergreen Foundation in secret. Who knows what he’ll do if he finds out he’s being followed?”

“That’s true.”

Gu Shen nodded inwardly.

In fact, that was also his original plan.

Slowly approach, investigate gradually.

“Mr. Cui asked me to investigate the sealed item in the old city with you.” Hu Danian laughed, “But I didn’t see any fog… Could you be mistaken?”

Gu Shen shook his head.

He was certain about this.

Even a spiritual Awakened at the tenth layer of the deep sea wasn’t as sensitive as he was in terms of characteristics.

“To be clear, my abilities are limited. I can only help with one thing in this case of the sealed item in the old city…”

Gu Shen said, “That is to find the location of the sealed item and mark it.”

He solemnly reminded again, “According to my guess, this should be a C-grade extraordinary sealed item, with a radiation range of about one block. After marking the location, I won’t participate in the subsequent missions.”

“Okay. No problem, leave it to me.” Hu Danian laughed heartily, “I’m very cautious when I do things. I always observe first and then act, and resolutely implement the strategy of running away if I can’t beat them… I’ve contained more than a dozen C-grade sealed items, so relax!”

…

…

After arriving at the old city.

Gu Shen visited the residents one by one according to Jiang Wan’s address information list… In their minds, Gu Shen pieced together almost the entire puzzle of the misty dream.

The life trajectories of these people were like tiny ink dots, spreading out on the map to form circles. The overlapping parts intersected, extended, and finally surrounded a blank area… slowly.

This was the location of the mist in the dream.

Yuandan Street.

The old city was located on the edge of Dadu. Not every street had residents. Yuandan Street was one of those abandoned streets, where no one usually passed, and most of the buildings on the street were abandoned factories.

Gu Shen found this area on the map of the old city, slowly circled it, and sent the entire map to Hu Danian.

“Roger that!”

Hu Danian revved the throttle, waved goodbye to Gu Shen, and the roar of the motorcycle disappeared into the alleys of the old city.

Gu Shen then came to the waiting point that Hu Danian had told him about and silently waited for nightfall.

He was waiting for Shi Li to appear.