Light Fortress-Chapter 70 - 68 Solemn Stone Carving
70: Chapter 68: Solemn Stone Carving
70 -68: Solemn Stone Carving
Gu Shen lowered his hat, slowly squeezed through the crowd, and came to the bar.
The bartender approached.
Gu Shen saw the bartender smile at him, hand him a drink menu, and begin to speak.
From the movement of his lips, it was clear he said—
“What would you like to have?”
Until this moment, Gu Shen’s profiled world had been completely silent.
It was his first time using such an ability.
Logically, profiling and hypnosis were both basic abilities of the Spiritual Extraordinary, but profiling drained more energy, perhaps because it inherently possessed the characteristic of “tracing,” allowing Transcendents to contend with time to some extent.
However, rather than saying profiling broke the shackles of time, it was more a pursuit of the subtle guidance of fate.
The longer the time traced, the more intense the spiritual power drained.
The stronger the profiled character, the more obscure the guidance.
Attempting to peek into scenes one should not…
would result in a severe backlash.
The shadow in the profiling world thus dissipated, had Jiang Wan been sitting in this spot three days ago, touching the sealed object?
As he continued to profile, the Chi Huo fiercely flickered.
The consumption of spiritual power suddenly increased.
No…
the shadow had not dissipated…
Gu Shen’s vision caught a faint black shadow dragging along…
Someone had brought the sealed object and had briefly stayed in this bar.
Was it at this time that Jiang Wan got infected by the Extraordinary Aura of the sealed object?
The clue ends here.
“I’ll have one…
this one.”
Gu Shen’s thoughts returned to the present, he noticed the bartender’s impatient look, casually pointed at a name on the drink menu, and just then, a voice emerged in the silent profiling world.
“The gin is quite strong…
not suitable for you.”
Gu Shen’s pupils contracted.
Almost instantly, he entered a state of alert, his fingers slid into his sleeves, clenching the Truth Ruler.
Gu Shen cautiously looked to his side—
Just at a distance of two body lengths away.
A burly man in a gray hoodie, leaning against the bar, facing the dance floor, his gaze lingered amidst the neon chaos of the dance floor with evident interest, stirring the ice cubes in his glass without giving Gu Shen more than a glance, he lazily said, “I suggest you pick that Metropolitan…
although it’s a ladies’ drink, both its strength and flavor are pretty good, suitable for a newcomer like you.”
Gu Shen did not relax his guard.
He asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”
Being able to break into his profiling world…
This was also a Transcendent.
“Relax, don’t look at me,” the man in the hoodie continued in his laid-back tone, casually speaking, “The noise from triggering profiling isn’t small.
If you don’t want to be noticed, you should be cautious.
Moreover, if I wanted to attack you…
I would have done so already, wouldn’t I?”
The Chi Huo dispersed.
Gu Shen was still on alert, but he deactivated “profiling”…
it was a capability without any combat enhancement, and it was substantially draining his spiritual power.
“Nice to meet you for the first time, I’m Hu Danian, an informant for Cui Zhongcheng.”
In the noisy world, the uncle’s voice was soft, yet it was incomparably clear to the ear.
Cui Zhongcheng!
Gu Shen’s mood somewhat eased, though he still clenched the ruler without relaxing, but he told the bartender, “Change the drink…
I want this one.”
He pointed at the “Da Du Metropolitan” the man had recommended.
Seeing Gu Shen’s reaction, the hooded uncle smiled, “It doesn’t matter to me whether you believe me or not…
Since you’ve found your way here, you must have noticed that the clues have ended.
I have some information here about the ‘sealed artifact’ you’re looking for.”
At the mention of the sealed artifact, Gu Shen’s wariness in his eyes diminished substantially.
“Solemn Gaze Sculpture, serial number undetermined, preliminarily identified as a Class D risk sealed artifact.”
Hu Danian pulled out a photograph from his chest, moved his seat closer to Gu Shen in a subtle manner, and placed the photograph on the polished surface of the bar.
Gu Shen took it, and the photograph showed a stone sculpture depicting a ferocious evil ghost.
However, compared to an adult man’s fist, this sculpture was not very large, only about half the size of a fist.
It was exactly the same as what he had seen in Jiang Wan’s Dream.
“This sealed artifact was once kept by the council in Dadu District, but it was lost in a theft a few years ago and has been missing ever since,” Hu Danian said leisurely.
“The records state that once the Solemn Gaze Sculpture comes into contact with a person, it will relentlessly steal their sleep until the contactee’s spirit collapses.”
“That’s just the appearance…” Gu Shen muttered softly, “The actual reason it takes away sleep is that it causes a kind of spiritual erosion in the contactee.”
“Exactly.” Hu Danian looked at Gu Shen with surprise and smiled, “You are quite intelligent…
No wonder you caught Mr.
Cui’s attention at such a young age.”
Gu Shen said nothing.
His own profile was currently confidential.
This informant probably didn’t know who he was…
He took the photograph and asked, “The Solemn Gaze Sculpture erodes the dreams of all its contactees until their spirit collapses…
This is a Transcendent event, how many people have been infected?”
His own profile had shown him a corner of the truth.
Someone had stayed here with this sealed artifact…
Jiang Wan had unfortunately come into contact with it, and thus had her sleep stolen.
“So far, twenty-four people have been indirectly in contact with the Solemn Gaze Sculpture, and that number is still rising, all under the surveillance of Deep Sea,” Hu Danian said calmly.
“You don’t need to worry about these people…
Someone will be responsible for treating them.
Even if you can’t cure Jiang Wan, we will intervene.”
Gu Shen furrowed his brow.
This event seemed to be completely under control.
Was this another test thrown at him by Cui Zhongcheng?
Gu Shen noticed a part of a dark tattoo on the wrist of the hooded uncle, and silently noted this detail, “Was Jiang Wan sent to me by you?”
“No… I’m just an informant, I don’t have that much ability.”
Hu Danian shook his head and said regretfully, “All this was arranged by Mr.
Xiao Cui, who had actually hinted at her indirectly to find you, but unfortunately, this woman was somewhat foolish…
and suffered needlessly for a few days.”
Gu Shen did not respond.
Since the fire case, he had seen the so-called big shots, their arrogant way of strategizing.
In fact, he didn’t quite like this behavior.
“Where is the sealed artifact?” Gu Shen asked, “I’ll go and deal with it.”
“Although the situation is still under control…
the owner of the sealed artifact has not yet been found, there is no information about this person in the Deep Sea database, and what happens next is unpredictable.” Hu Danian looked at Gu Shen seriously, “This is why I’ve been waiting here for you, not just to inform you of the existence of the ‘Solemn Gaze Sculpture’—”
“Mr.
Cui asked me to convey a message, this Transcendent event isn’t as simple as you imagine.”
Hu Danian said gravely, “This week…
in the remote corners of Lipu Street and the river bank area, several deceased adult men have appeared, all killed by a clean and precise blade to the throat without any sign of struggle, and the wounds showed signs of Extraordinary Aura…
Combined with the appearance of the ‘Solemn Gaze Sculpture’, we have reason to believe that a maniacal out-of-control is wandering nearby.”
