“The Chenxin Society…is a subterranean extraordinary organization tacitly approved by the official Dadu authorities.”

After calming down slightly, Gu Shen felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

Dadu was like a mirror, with dazzling white on the front and dark black on the back. If an uninformed person wanted to turn the mirror upside down to investigate the truth, they would discover that black and white were two intertwined symbiotic forms… No wonder Hu Danian warned him not to provoke the Chenxin Society, because the investigation would ultimately lead back to the authorities.

And the truth of the matter was probably far more complicated than he imagined.

Gu Shen noticed that Cui Zhongcheng had mentioned the name “Chen San” twice just now.

If the Chenxin Society was a subterranean organization established under the will of important figures, then “Chen San,” who was able to seize half of the control from Old Master Zhao, must also be a dangerous person.

“I only leaked the news of your landing in Dadu to a very small number of suspects. Shi Li took the bait as expected.”

Cui Zhongcheng said indifferently, “He still doesn’t know he’s been exposed, but he should have received the news of the assassination failure. As expected, he will think that your escape this time was not due to luck, but that you really have considerable potential and may become a rather threatening existence in the future. If given some more time, he will definitely plan another assassination attempt against you.”

Gu Shen silently stared at Shi Li’s photo in the file, “What are you going to do?”

“Actually, considering Shi Li’s status and position, he can only be regarded as a small fish. He is definitely not the big fish I am looking for. Over the years, I have suspected that the Changjiu Foundation has planted a high-level official mole in Dadu…”

“Perhaps this is just my illusion, but if I guessed correctly, this person is like a bomb that could explode at any time, far more threatening than Shi Li.” Cui Zhongcheng leisurely took a sip of tea, moistening his dry lips, “If we close the net now, it might be a bit of a pity.”

“…You want to keep him to find the big fish behind the scenes.” Gu Shen said softly, “And as a price, I have to deal with the second assassination attempt arranged by Shi Li.”

Cui Zhongcheng was silent for a moment.

He saw Gu Shen’s dissatisfaction and asked softly, “Then…what are you going to do?”

“Before you speak, I think I need to remind you…The extraordinary believers of the Changjiu Foundation will not hesitate to end their own lives once they learn that they have been exposed. They all have a ‘high-voltage line’ set in their minds before carrying out their missions. Once someone tries to hypnotize them, their extraordinary consciousness will explode…For them, turning themselves into an out-of-control person is also a means of fighting back.” Cui Zhongcheng said slowly, “So…don’t try to use mental hypnosis, even if you invite a titled extraordinary of the ‘Tian Tong’ level, it is impossible to get even a shred of information from a suicide soldier.”

Was he guessing that he would ask his senior sister for assistance?

“Since it’s a problem about myself…it won’t involve other people.” Gu Shen shook his head and said, “Like you, I also want to lure out the big fish hiding in the dark. But even a fool wouldn’t let an existing target continue to plan an assassination attempt against himself.”

“So, you want to kill Shi Li? You should know that the fire case…and the self-explosion of the Su Mu stone sculpture, the source of these two assassinations is not him.” Cui Zhongcheng held his teacup, watching Gu Shen with interest, waiting for what he would say next.

“Yes…killing him is useless.”

“I just looked at Shi Li’s file…a strength-based extraordinary, with the strength of the third level of the Abyss trial.” Gu Shen said, “If he had personally come to kill me at the Meiyuzhe Clinic yesterday, the outcome might have been different…Since he decided to kill me, why did he only choose to arrange for an ordinary person to use a sealed item? This doesn’t fit the Changjiu Foundation’s style at all.”

The Changjiu Foundation is full of lunatics who can casually abandon their own lives!

Cui Zhongcheng blew on the hot air at the edge of his cup, “Continue.”

“The only explanation I can think of is…Shi Li has a higher mission while lurking in the Chenxin Society.” Gu Shen said calmly, “The assassination attempt against me was a message temporarily passed on by the big fish, but its priority is not higher than the previous mission…so he chose this method to complete the task, even if it failed, it didn’t matter. All that died was an ordinary person who couldn’t be traced. He only needed to plan the next assassination. But he didn’t expect that this mission would expose his identity.”

“So…” Cui Zhongcheng opened his mouth with a smile.

“So even if he dies, we can still look for the next clue from the higher-level mission.”

“Well said, but the problem goes back to the original starting point.” Cui Zhongcheng slowly adjusted his posture, looked at Gu Shen, and asked word by word, “What are you going to do?”

“Give me some time, I want to enter the Chenxin Society to investigate.” Gu Shen exhaled a long breath and said, “If I can find out what task Shi Li is currently carrying out, then we can naturally close the net in advance.”

Unexpectedly.

Cui Zhongcheng did not object.

He just nodded, hummed softly, and then made no further comment.

“You don’t object?” Gu Shen raised his eyebrows.

“Why should I object?” Cui Zhongcheng looked up and said softly, “I am not the target of the assassination…You are willing to take your own time to try, what can I object to?”

Gu Shen suddenly had a feeling of being deceived.

From the moment Shi Li’s file was taken out to the moment he established his line of thinking, Cui Zhongcheng seemed to have done nothing, but he was actually guiding him all along.

His purpose was just to catch the big fish.

And the method of catching the big fish was not important, as long as the final goal was achieved.

However…the current situation was also the best situation that Gu Shen could choose.

If possible, who would want to be bait?

But having become bait, one must eradicate evil to the fullest extent!

…

…

Gu Shen sat in his chair, deep in thought.

“Since you’ve said everything you wanted to say, why haven’t you left yet?” Cui Zhongcheng casually issued an eviction order.

Gu Shen frowned and asked a question.

“After the Su Mu stone sculpture incident, has my mission in Dadu…been completed?”

“Your mission in Dadu has only just begun.” Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen and said indifferently, “Are you trying to make conditions? When the mission is over, I will apply to the council for whatever you want.”

“As expected of Little Mr. Cui, you truly know what’s on my mind. It’s just that after our meeting by the lake last time, I always felt like I lost out on something.” Gu Shen’s brows slowly relaxed, and he smiled, “What’s past is past. I can only blame myself for being too young and not understanding the ways of you old foxes, but fortunately, I learn from my mistakes. This time, I’ve learned.”

“You…learned…” Cui Zhongcheng couldn’t help but smile, “Learned what?”

“The recovery of the Su Mu stone sculpture and the treatment of the mass insomnia can both be considered missions of the Tribunal. But due to your intelligence failure…I almost got chopped into pieces on the Jiangtan last night.” Gu Shen said leisurely, “Let’s just talk about this debt now…How do you think this debt should be settled?”

“…”

This time, it was Cui Zhongcheng’s turn to be silent.

He had a bit of a headache.

This kid was much more shrewd than he had imagined.

When Hu Danian sent Gu Shen over last night, he had already begun to worry about the aftermath…On the surface, his attitude towards Gu Shen was that he didn’t care about his life or death at all.

But in reality, Gu Shen had passed the “S-level” rating by the assessment team!

The Su Mu stone sculpture incident and the mission to draw out Shi Li were all aimed at guiding Gu Shen to face the Changjiu Foundation. Everything that had happened so far in this landing mission in Dadu was firmly within his control.

But the Jiangtan incident last night…was an uncontrollable event that he hadn’t expected.

Gu Shen keenly captured Cui Zhongcheng’s fleeting expression of helplessness.

Indeed.

He was just tentatively throwing out such a question.

If Cui Zhongcheng still had the same cold and indifferent attitude as before, Gu Shen wouldn’t have been able to do anything, but now he was certain that the other party felt guilty.

“Did you learn this from Zhou Jiren…you’re actually trying to extort me.” Cui Zhongcheng looked at the young man, sighed, and said, “I do have some responsibility for what happened last night. What kind of compensation do you want? You can tell me.”

Really…he got something!

Gu Shen’s face remained unchanged, “I want the highest authority to investigate any file once…”

Seeing Cui Zhongcheng’s calm face.

“Plus a top-tier breathing technique.”

Looking again, there was still no change.

“Plus an extraordinary sealed item…”

Still no change, but if you looked closely, Mr. Cui’s lips were twitching.

But Gu Shen wanted to continue adding to the demands, but unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any more. He was feeling extremely regretful at the moment for not having consulted Senior Brother Zhong Wei more.

One regrets one's inadequacy when the need arises.

Such a great opportunity to extort someone, and he was at a loss for words.

“You’re asking for too much!”

Cui Zhongcheng interrupted Gu Shen and said unhappily, “First of all, about the highest authority to investigate any file once, make it clear, my surname is Cui, not Zhao…and even Old Master Zhao himself can’t arbitrarily mobilize any file. Abyss’s authority to certain files is extremely strict. Even members of the council have all kinds of restrictions.”

So that was it. He was indeed being a bit excessive…

Gu Shen blinked his eyes and immediately asked, “Then what is the highest level of authority you can approve?”

“If it’s as compensation for you this time…the highest I can open is the authority to investigate files on the ninth level of Abyss once.” Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen’s expression and said, “You can investigate any incident where you’ve passed the ninth level of the Abyss trial or the confidentiality level of the file is determined to be lower than the ninth level of Abyss.”

Ninth level of Abyss?

Gu Shen silently calculated…If his senior sister was a twelfth-level titled, then Han Dang should be a person who closely followed behind.

Han Dang’s level of confidentiality should be on the eleventh level of Abyss.

“Eleventh level.” Gu Shen bargained.

“Ninth level, or get lost.” Cui Zhongcheng had already seen through the negotiation style of the kid sitting across from him. He was the type to brazenly push forward. As long as you took a small step back, he would stride forward, not letting up until he bit off a piece of your flesh.

“Ninth level is fine too…but I need a good breathing technique and a handy sealed item!” Gu Shen stubbornly clung to the piece of flesh he had set his sights on and refused to budge, “Think about it, what would Teacher’s reaction be if he knew that I almost died on the Jiangtan last night?”

Cui Zhongcheng, who was usually expressionless, now had an urge to grind his teeth.

As soon as Gu Shen mentioned “Teacher,” he immediately thought of the scene of a certain old man ascending to the Huazhi Building—

Zhou Jiren would probably be overjoyed to hear this news and put on a solemn outfit. Then, taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he would march to the Huazhi Building with his head held high, righteously “demanding” justice for his student.

The old guy would be even more difficult to deal with than the young one.

Cui Zhongcheng stared at Gu Shen, “I can give you a sealed item. As for the breathing technique…you shouldn’t be lacking, right?”

Seeing Mr. Cui’s reaction…Gu Shen was filled with emotion. He had personally witnessed the scene where Zhao’s only son had asked someone to get money and was cruelly rejected.

As soon as Teacher was mentioned, Cui Zhongcheng gave in. It seemed that Teacher’s “reputation” outside was quite infamous.

So Gu Shen said with a serious face, “I’m lacking, I’m lacking in everything.”

“Don’t think I don’t know…Your senior sister is the only one in the Tribunal who has replicated *Jingzhe*. She taught you this breathing technique before the assessment even started, right?”

Cui Zhongcheng supported himself on the table with both hands, almost standing up. He lowered his voice and roared, “Gu Shen, you’ve only just awakened your extraordinary ability. Isn’t one *Jingzhe* enough for you to practice? Do you think you’re Gu Changzhi, able to practice several breathing techniques at the same time?”

“Little Mr. Cui…you’re losing your composure.”

“I’ve also worked for the Zhao family. Isn’t a breathing technique a reasonable reward?” Gu Shen reminded him softly, then said seriously, “Moreover, it’s always good to have more skills. Everyone has the same surname Gu. What if I can do what Gu Changzhi can do?”

Cui Zhongcheng met Gu Shen’s gaze.

He calmed down and chuckled softly, “Okay…I promise you.”

The conversation at the Huazhi Building was the second conversation after the one by the lake. The two people each revealed their “true colors” and each knew…that neither of them was easy to deal with.

…

…

The Huazhi Building had a private elevator that went directly to the tenth floor underground.

Cui Zhongcheng pressed the button for the seventh floor underground.

When the elevator opened, Gu Shen saw a scene that shocked and amazed him—

The seventh floor underground of Huazhi was illuminated by intertwined dark-white lights, which rendered it serene and solemn, dignified and sacred. It was like a museum with a rich collection. At intervals of about five meters, there were bronze offering tables displaying objects. The transparent cover above the offering tables was plated with a very shallow coating, which refracted a secret red diamond-like streamer under the illumination of the dark-white streamers.

“These are…sealed items?”

When Hu Danian was storing the Su Mu stone sculpture, Gu Shen had already seen this kind of strong logical material. Red-silver could greatly resist the erosion of extraordinary power and was specially used to store sealed items. And these offering tables were all coated with red-silver…

“Yes.”

Cui Zhongcheng calmly uttered two words.

Gu Shen rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, then his expression became strange.

Looking around, this flat and spacious “collection hall” was dotted with one bronze offering table after another…How many were there? One hundred? Two hundred?

“Red-silver is the most common and widely used secret coating.” Cui Zhongcheng said, “These sealed items are all of the same level as the Su Mu stone sculpture…Their strength is rated from C to E. Choose one from them.”

Gu Shen slowly recovered from his shock…These sealed items were only at most C-level.

But that was right.

The number of these sealed items was truly shocking. It was already incredible that they could have the strength of the Su Mu stone sculpture…He once again marveled at the wealth of the Zhao family.

This was only the seventh floor underground of Huazhi. There were still the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors.

“Thank you for your generosity, Little Mr. Cui…I won’t be polite!”

Gu Shen’s expression was calm. He stepped forward directly, came between the offering tables, and wandered back and forth.

Each of the bronze offering tables here had an electronic label. Touching it from a distance would bring up the detailed information of the sealed item.

He began to choose his “sealed item.”