What do you mean, I'm like you? I screamed internally, though I dared not let it show on my face. Wait a minute—me and Wu Rendi are the same kind of person? That line... I feel like I've heard it before. That's right, it was Yang Xiao! I remember now—it was beneath the riverbed of the Daqing River. Yang Xiao had disguised himself as Sun Fatty, and when I saw through his ruse, that's exactly what he said. I don't remember the exact words, but that was the gist of it.
"I don't quite understand what you mean," I finally met Wu Rendi's gaze. "You and I... don't seem to have much in common."
To my surprise, Wu Rendi dropped the subject. "Enough talking for today. Let's keep moving."
Just as I was about to probe a little further, a voice suddenly rang out not far ahead: "Where am I? How did I get here? Is anyone there?" The voice wasn't far, but I couldn't tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
My first instinct was to tighten my grip on the baton in my hand while my other hand reached for the pistol at my waist. At that moment, someone emerged from the darkness.
The person looked terrified, and when they saw Wu Rendi and me, they jumped in fright—but quickly recognized us. "Is that you, Professor Wu? You're Shen La! I'm Lin Sihan! Lin Sihan from Class Three. I'm a friend of Shao Yiyi from your class!"
Short, cropped hair—it was hard to tell if it was a guy or a girl. Who else could it be but Lin Sihan? The father-in-law and the "son-in-law" finally met. There was no way Wu Rendi didn't know about Lin Sihan. I sneaked a glance at Director Wu—and sure enough, his face had turned a bit pale. Maybe it was the pressure he'd been suppressing for so long, but a mischievous curiosity suddenly rose in me. How would Wu Rendi treat his future son-in-law? I was eager to find out.
Lin Sihan staggered toward us. Her foot seemed injured, and she leaned against the wall, moving forward slowly, step by step. I was about to go help her when Wu Rendi suddenly grabbed my arm. He said nothing, just kept his eyes fixed on his future "son-in-law."
I was taken aback. I looked at Director Wu's emotionless face, then back at Lin Sihan—and that's when I noticed something was off.
There was another Lin Sihan behind her.
Two Lin Sihans were approaching, one in front and one in back. But the one in the rear wasn't focused on us—her eyes were locked on the one in front, her own duplicate. She wanted to approach but clearly felt wary, hesitating and circling behind her double.
Two Lin Sihans! And neither of them was human!
That feeling—it was all too familiar. In that instant, it clicked. My Heavenly Eye had opened again. When did it activate? I hadn't even noticed.
Wu Rendi, meanwhile, was still staring coldly at the slowly approaching Lin Sihan, without so much as glancing at me.
Still, I noticed something—his hand was gripping my arm, but the other had already withdrawn into his sleeve.
"Shen La, can you come help me? I think my foot's broken," the front Lin Sihan said again. Her performance was decent—if Wu Rendi hadn't yanked me back, and if my Heavenly Eye hadn't returned just in time, I would've probably fallen for it.
"Is your leg okay?" Wu Rendi unexpectedly walked toward her. "If it's hurt, don't move. I'll carry you." As he spoke, he reached out to support Lin Sihan.
But the moment he extended his hand, a compact crossbow shot out from his sleeve and fired a bolt straight into Lin Sihan's forehead. At such close range, and with her completely unguarded, the bolt sank directly into her skull.
All I heard was a sharp, ghostly shriek from Lin Sihan. A puff of black smoke billowed out from the wound. The smoke dispersed with the wind, vanishing into nothingness.
The other Lin Sihan, the one in back, seemed completely unprepared for what she had just witnessed. She froze in terror, and only after a full second did she react. By the time I drew my pistol, it was already too late—she vanished in a blink.
"Hmm?" Wu Rendi frowned, looking toward the direction my gun was aimed. "There was something else?"
He didn't see it? I was stunned. Then why did he take out Lin Sihan?
"What did you see?" Wu Rendi asked me.
"And what about you, Director Wu? You didn't see anything?" I shot back.
"No kidding. Didn't I already tell you? My Heavenly Eye has shut," Wu Rendi said impatiently. I began to suspect he'd deliberately taken out Lin Sihan—which would be very in character for Director Wu. For the sake of his daughter, there was nothing he wouldn't do.
But I had something else on my mind. "Director Wu, how did you know I could see? And that thing you made me sniff earlier—what exactly was it?"
Wu Rendi gave me a glance and said blandly, "Doesn't stink anymore, does it?" Then he ignored me and strode deeper inside.
I picked up the pace and caught up to him. "What about Sun Fatty and the others? Why didn't you let them smell that... fragrant thing too?"
Maybe I annoyed him, because Wu Rendi suddenly stopped and turned to look me over. "Do you think all Heavenly Eyes are the same? Yours is innate. There are only three people like you in the entire Bureau. Even if it's temporarily sealed, it can be reopened with the right stimulus."
The right stimulus? I thought back to that water ghost when I was a kid, and the dried corpse in the Water Curtain Cave. Both times, my Heavenly Eye reopened suddenly—both times, I nearly died. That counts as appropriate stimulus?
Wu Rendi looked at my confused expression and sighed. "Go on, ask what you want. I'll tell you what I can."
This kind of chance didn't come often. I hadn't even figured out what to ask yet when Director Wu added, "You've got five minutes."
Five minutes? Whatever. My first question was already out of my mouth: "Director Wu, did your ability really disappear, or is it just a smoke-and-mirrors trick?" To be honest, this had been bothering me. Wu Rendi had pulled stunts like that before—more than once.
"That counts as a question? You think five minutes is too long?" Wu Rendi raised an eyebrow. "Second question."
That's your answer? I let out a heavy breath and asked, "Then what exactly was that stuff you made me smell? You can tell me that much, right?"
"Mm." Wu Rendi nodded, then pulled out the same small porcelain vial and tossed it to me. "Take a look yourself."
I held my breath and opened the vial. Inside was a thick, sticky black liquid. Even though I wasn't breathing, the stench still snuck into my nose. Once I got a clear look, I immediately sealed the vial shut. Only after I was sure the smell had dissipated did I dare take a deep breath and ask, "What on earth is this stuff?"
Wu Rendi finally gave the answer—just two words: "Corpse oil."
"Corpse oil? What kind of corpse oil?" I thought I'd misheard.
Wu Rendi said, "The same stuff that was poured all over your head and face, just without the pungent stench. The evil energy in corpse oil is potent enough to force your Heavenly Eye open."
I felt a wave of nausea again. "Why is it always corpse oil? You used corpse oil to shut my Heavenly Eye, and now you're using it to open it again. Is this stuff corpse oil or a damn cure-all? Director Wu, do you seriously have no other method?"
"We could skip the corpse oil. Keep walking a bit farther, and the concentrated Yin energy ahead will naturally trigger your Heavenly Eye," Wu Rendi said casually.
If the person in front of me wasn't Wu Rendi (and I wasn't worried about losing the fight), I'd have punched him square in the nose already. Looking at him now, acting like nothing's out of the ordinary, I was grinding my teeth in frustration.
I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. "Director Wu, carrying this thing around doesn't make you feel sick?"
"It's not mine. And it's not yours either—so why are you so worried about it?" Wu Rendi replied.
"Not yours?" Something clicked in my mind.
Wu Rendi glanced at his watch. "It's Yang Xiao's. I'm just borrowing it."
"Yang Xiao's?" That got my attention. "He's part of the Ghost Path Sect too, isn't he? His statues are still up at that shrine."
"Don't overthink it. This has nothing to do with Yang Xiao," Wu Rendi said. "No one wants to catch the one pulling the strings more than he does. Unfortunately, he and the Ghost Path Sect are naturally incompatible." As he spoke, Director Wu even let out a sigh.
Watching him shake his head and sigh, I couldn't help but ask, "So what exactly is the deal between Yang Xiao and the Ghost Path Sect? His statue's on the altar, yet he's at odds with the sect? That doesn't add up, Director Wu."
"You really want to know?" Wu Rendi gave me a half-smile. "I can tell you, no problem—but it'll take at least ten to twenty minutes to explain properly. Don't say I didn't warn you—you've got one minute and thirty seconds left. Wait, make that one minute… twenty-eight seconds."
Time was passing that quickly? I started regretting not asking about the girls' school right away. But knowing him, Wu Rendi probably would've just said, "I don't know. Next question."
Two seconds later, I asked the next question: "Director Wu, this business of forcing open my Heavenly Eye—this isn't just for your own amusement, right?"
Wu Rendi actually smiled at that—rare for him. "You should've asked that one sooner."
After a pause, he added, "Once your Heavenly Eye is reopened, no one will know except for you and me. The Ghost Path Sect is infamous for spirit control and ghost manipulation. Whoever's behind this wouldn't dream that your Heavenly Eye would reopen so soon. As long as you hold out until they make a move—whether it's ghost control or illusion spells—they'll all leave traces. After that, all it'll take is one bullet from you."
I hadn't realized Wu Rendi could be this scheming. Seizing the few seconds left, I fired off another question: "What about Lin Sihan? Did you notice something wrong with her, or did you take her down just because she was Lin Sihan?"
Director Wu looked at me, then gave a crooked grin (which I guess counted as a smile). "Time's up. Five minutes are over."
"There's still thirty seconds!" I said, watching him closely. I'd underestimated his ability to shamelessly deny things.
Wu Rendi showed me his watch. "See for yourself."
I cursed silently. What kind of timer are you using? But of course, I couldn't say that out loud. This was classic Wu Rendi behavior—he wouldn't be himself if he didn't pull something like this.
"You've asked what needed asking," Wu Rendi said. "From here on out, no more chatter." Then, out of nowhere, he asked, "Shen La, has your Heavenly Eye opened yet?"
"No, still closed," I muttered. Like I'd fall for a trick meant for kids.
As we moved forward, the air grew damper with every step. Moisture oozed from both the floor and the walls. Rotting animal carcasses—too decayed to identify—lay strewn about, and the stench of decay thickened by the second. Fortunately, after getting doused in corpse oil earlier, this kind of smell didn't faze me much anymore.
Wu Rendi led the way at a brisk pace, almost jogging. Though he'd temporarily lost his supernatural abilities, he still had stamina well beyond a normal man's. His movements were odd too—he moved through the ankle-deep water without making a splash. He was fast, but nothing I couldn't keep up with—former special ops, after all.
Aside from Lin Sihan, we didn't encounter anything else unusual on this so-called path of misfortune. We went on for another five or six hundred meters when a light appeared ahead—an exit, finally.
But for some reason, seeing the exit didn't lift my spirits. It was like a heavy stone pressing on my chest, suffocating me. My eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and that light in the distance seemed to warp and twist before my eyes.
Something was wrong. That wasn't the exit. I coughed, hoping to alert Wu Rendi.
Unexpectedly, Wu Rendi lowered his voice and said, "Don't say anything. I know. Just follow me—run."
With that, Wu Rendi sped up, dashing toward the light. I didn't know what he was planning, but I gritted my teeth and followed, keeping a slight distance behind him.
The light grew bigger and the "exit" clearer—but through my Heavenly Eye, the entire thing was grotesquely distorted. Black mist was seeping inward from the other side.
When we were just fifty or sixty meters from the "exit," Wu Rendi came to a sudden halt, turned around, grabbed my arm, and yanked me toward the wall on the right.
His grip was vice-like. I didn't have time to resist. As we slammed into the wall, I realized it wasn't a wall at all—it was a dark curtain painted to blend in. Beyond that curtain was the real exit.
Even with my Heavenly Eye, I hadn't seen through the illusion. But Wu Rendi—he seemed to have known about the secret door all along, dragging me straight through it.
On the other side was a narrow corridor. Only then did Wu Rendi finally slow down, and I had the chance to ask, "Director Wu, don't tell me you didn't see that illusion."
Worried he might play dumb, I added, "You did say so yourself, just a moment ago."
Wu Rendi replied, "I said I knew, not that I saw."
I stared at him. "If you didn't see it, how could you have known?"
He looked me in the eye, and I couldn't take the pressure—I instinctively looked away.
Wu Rendi said, "I already gave you the chance to ask. Got more questions? Save them for next time." And with that, he turned and walked deeper into the passage. I had no choice but to follow.
This time we only walked a short distance—maybe a few dozen meters—before another light appeared ahead.
My nerves tensed again, but this time, there was no unsettling feeling. Wu Rendi showed no signs of concern either, though his pace did pick up slightly.
The closer we got, the clearer the light became—it really was an exit. And from the other side, I heard Sun Fatty's voice:
"Not gonna lie, they've been in there a long time. Lao Wu, Lazi—something probably happened to them. Lao Yang, maybe you should go take a look?"