Late Night Visitor

The group followed the spiral stone steps back to the surface, returning to the abandoned freezer.

The night wind outside poured in through the broken iron door, blowing away the stench of decay that clung to their clothes.

Long Ao casually dropped the figure on his shoulder onto the icy floor.

There was a dull thud as the body hit the ground. The man on the floor was Yue Teng.

The once-arrogant descendant of a vessel.

An Changqing inhaled a breath of cold air and took out his phone, preparing to call the local branch of the Superpower Association.

A pale hand pressed down on his wrist.

An Changqing turned his head.

Su Yuehe looked at him, her expression intensely serious.

"Don't contact the Superpower Association just yet."

An Changqing frowned. He looked at his companion. "Why? This is the underground of North City."

"With this level of temple and cultists appearing, the Association should take over."

An Changqing asked, but Su Yuehe shook her head. Her hand remained pressed against his wrist.

"Don't contact the Association. Contact the Council. Don't you trust me?"

An Changqing's expression shifted slightly, but he insisted, "These kinds of incidents are always handed over to the Association."

She held his gaze, persisting, "Changqing, trust me on this. The Council has an independent investigation unit specifically for special situations like this."

Su Yuehe's stubbornness surpassed what An Changqing had imagined. He was silent for a moment, then finally put away his communicator, choosing to compromise. He dialed the Council's number instead.

The group waited in the cold wind.

In less than twenty minutes, a low engine roar echoed through the night sky.

Three unmarked black aircraft landed on the wasteland.

More than a dozen agents in black filed out.

Their movements were uniform, clearly well-trained.

The lead agent walked up to Su Yuehe, bowed his head in a brief greeting, and confirmed the situation at the scene with her.

"Inside is an ancient sacrificial site. Many civilians are in deep comas. They'll need a large number of medical pods," Su Yuehe explained the situation clearly.

"Understood, Miss Su. We'll immediately allocate resources to provide aid and seal off the scene."

The agent pulled out an electronic tablet and quickly took notes.

Su Yuehe pointed at Yue Teng on the ground.

"This man is the mastermind, extremely dangerous. He must be contained using the highest-level measures and sent directly to the sixth underground prison."

Two agents stepped forward at her words and fitted Yue Teng with special restraints that suppressed his spiritual power.

They dragged Yue Teng up and threw him into the bottom hold of an aircraft.

The other agents quickly spread out.

They began arranging barriers around the freezer, completely sealing off the entrance to the underground temple.

"From now on, the Council will take full charge of the situation. You students have had a scare tonight. Do we need to send a car to take you back to Huaqing College?" the lead agent asked in a formulaic tone.

"No need. We'll get back on our own," An Changqing answered for the group.

The agent nodded, turned, and boarded the aircraft. With the roar of engines, three black aircraft lifted off and soon disappeared into the night sky of North City.

Confirming the area was safe, the four left the abandoned factory complex. The scene pulled back into the night.

A few kilometers away, on top of an abandoned tower.

The night wind tousled Santai's clothes. She sat on the railing at the edge of the tower, her legs dangling over the void as she looked down at the entire city, her feet swaying casually.

She held a phone. The dial tone rang clearly in the night air.

The call connected.

She shed her usual casual, carefree attitude.

"Yes, boss. Everything is going according to plan."

Santai spoke with unusual seriousness, a posture she rarely showed. There was only a faint static on the other end of the line, and no orders came through.

"That kid, Black Tortoise, he's very cautious. But no surprise, he successfully found the underground ruins."

"The process went smoother than predicted. All the things Southern Dipper thought up are wasted again."

Santai continued reporting. She looked down at her palm, where a small scroll model appeared. Then she stored it in her spatial ring.

"But there's one thing to note. The little ones all evacuated safely. For some reason, that temple has now been taken over by the Human Council, not the Superpower Association as expected."

After the person on the other end said something unknown, Santai finished explaining the followup on her end and looked up at the night sky.

The moon was covered by dark clouds. She hummed a nameless southern folk tune.

A strong gust of wind blew past. The top of the tower was already empty.

...

Chen Guan pushed open the door to his dorm, took off the black coffin, and sat down on the edge of his bed.

The room was quiet, save for the occasional chirping of insects from somewhere outside the window.

He opened his system panel. The string of numbers hung in the center of his vision.

[Popularity Value: 1,523,000]

Still nearly half short of the intermediate goal of three million. But compared to when he had first traveled here a few months ago, this progress had far exceeded expectations.

The discussion forum was still lively.

[That battle today had my blood pressure spiking. Brother Guan was so awesome.]

[Speaking of which, with Santai suddenly appearing and disappearing, when the hell is that storyline going to unfold? I'm dying here.]

[Dude above, don't rush. At this pace, the next big arc is coming soon.]

Chen Guan scrolled through the forum for a bit. It had been pretty calm the last couple of days, so he casually posted a couple of photos to stir up a bit of a shock.

This method of posting photos without saying a word was the deadliest.

Then, without checking the reactions, he closed the panel, opened his eyes again, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Too much had happened tonight. The scenes of the black qi bowing down to him in the underground temple replayed over and over in his mind.

The connection between the Lord of Nothingness and himself was still a fog.

The system had run away, the clues were cut off, and Santai was tight-lipped.

A knock came at the door. Chen Guan sat up from the bed, puzzled. Who would come to visit at this hour... White Tiger?

With questions on his mind, he walked to the door.

The moment the door opened, he was surprised. An Changqing stood in the hallway, his hair still damp with un-dried water, probably fresh out of a shower.

An Changqing didn't speak first. He quickly raised his right index finger to his lips, gesturing for Chen Guan to stay quiet.

Chen Guan stepped aside to let him in. An Changqing slipped into the room, and the door closed behind them, the lock clicking sharply.

"Where's Long Ao?"

"Asleep."

An Changqing lowered his voice, tilting his head toward the wall of the adjacent room.

Long Ao had started yawning on the way back. After showering, he had crashed onto his bed and was snoring in less than three minutes.

He had fought all night long. It was no surprise that his energy was the most drained.

An Changqing nodded, but didn't follow up on that topic. Instead, he reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a palm-sized wooden box.

The wood grain of the box was very fine, the edges and corners smoothly polished. The surface had a matte finish. The craftsmanship looked rather refined.

He handed the wooden box to Chen Guan.

"This is for you."

Chen Guan took the box. It had some weight to it. He didn't open it immediately. Instead, he turned it over and looked at the bottom, which was completely clean, without any marking. He couldn't tell what was inside at all.