Chapter 79

"Shh, you know too much."

In the dimness, the mysterious figure raised a finger before the curved smile of his pale mask, "I know you won't survive, but if you keep this up, the Boss will make you wish you were dead…"

Chu Tianyao fell silent for a moment, then said, "You have this kind of power—why didn't you lift a finger when the Yi Hong Society was recently raided and shut down?"

"Why should I intervene?"

The mysterious figure's laugh, distorted by a voice modulator, became unnaturally shrill, "If the No. 2 and No. 3 hadn't both died, I wouldn't bother with this mess. Today, I'm just delivering the Boss's order to you."

Chu Tianyao said without expression, "Don't forget—you've already used two of the three orders. Only one remains."

"You really are mentally ill, preferring death to compromise," the mysterious figure muttered with a tsk-tsk.

"Give the order. What do you want me to do?" Chu Tianyao growled.

The mysterious figure said, "The Boss is interested in the rising inspector, Lin Qing, and his female assistant, Zhao Jiayi. He wants you to seize them when the opportunity arises."

"Capture Lin Qing?"

Chu Tianyao frowned slightly. "He's a division captain. Your informants in the Yi Hong Society aren't high enough rank to track his movements. Besides, there's a firepower grid around his home—any delay, and when Commandant Yuan Anping arrives, I won't be able to escape."

"Don't worry," came a strange low chuckle from beneath the mask. "Yuan Anping will be reassigned out of Lin'an City soon—he'll be on a search mission."

Chu Tianyao frowned. "Even so, Xu Qiu, Lin'an's top inspector, is nearly as strong as I am. Her presence makes this harder."

"The Boss has already accounted for her. I'll handle her."

The mysterious figure said, "As for his route? The Boss has deployed plenty of personnel for this operation. Besides, Acting Captain Xiao Pei is about to be discharged from the hospital—tracking his movements won't be difficult."

…

…

March 11, morning.

【Current Order Level decreased by 1.8 levels】

When Lin Qing woke up, the first thing he saw was this black prompt.

—His circle of life was becoming chaotic again.

"Again… is this never-ending?"

Lin Qing rubbed his scalp. "Has the Yi Hong Society bounced back so quickly? Both their leaders are dead—this can't be that fast."

He felt something was odd.

He'd killed many of their top enforcers, plus arrested numerous members—it was a total wipeout. The Order Level had even surged to 4.1.

Now it's dropped to 2.3.

After such heavy losses, how could the Yi Hong Society recover so fast?

If they could recover so easily, they wouldn't just be the underground rulers of Lin'an City—they'd dominate all of Jiangnan, even the whole country.

"Or is it the Original Research Institute of the Light Society replenishing their strength?"

Lin Qing frowned slightly, then picked up his phone from the bedside table and saw a message from Zhao Jiayi an hour ago.

【I don't feel like making breakfast. I'll come over to your place to eat.】

"Huh?"

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.

This was one of their private coded phrases—meaning something bad was happening.

He immediately replied: 【Then come over.】

Quickly dressing, Lin Qing grabbed milk and a small cake from the fridge and placed them on the dining table, waiting for Zhao Jiayi.

Soon, the doorbell rang.

When he opened the door, it was indeed Zhao Jiayi—no makeup, her blue eyes heavy with sleep, wearing a childish cartoon pajama set. She yawned as she stepped inside.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Qing shut the door casually and sat at the table, handing her a carton of milk. "Didn't sleep last night?"

Zhao Jiayi took the cold milk carton and pressed it against her cheek—she shuddered violently, shut her eyes, clenched her tiny fists, sucked in a sharp breath, and finally woke up a little.

Then she gulped down a large mouthful before muttering, "You slept so soundly last night—I woke up halfway in terror."

"What happened?"

Lin Qing glanced at her. "Aren't you going to warm the milk? I've noticed you drink it ice-cold every day."

"I don't get my period…" Zhao Jiayi muttered under her breath.

She set down the milk and sighed. "I don't know why, but overnight, a lot of strangers moved into your neighborhood—mostly in this complex, or pretending to be employees of nearby shops."

"Strangers?" Lin Qing frowned slightly.

"Probably to monitor your movements," Zhao Jiayi pointed at the floor. "They're installing wall-mounted listening devices on your ceiling downstairs—should be done by afternoon."

Lin Qing frowned. "What's their strength level?"

Zhao Jiayi thought for a moment. "At least a few are at the level of the Seventh-Grade Training Method. The rest feel unusually strong too, and many are carrying high-power composite bows—they're clearly ready to strike at any moment."

"How do they compare to the Yi Hong Society's armed forces?" Lin Qing asked, frowning.

"These people are far stronger," Zhao Jiayi said helplessly. "Unless you use your full power, hiding your strength won't be enough." Lin Qing paused, then asked, "Just surveillance?"

Zhao Jiayi nodded. "So far, yes. I overheard two higher-ups talking—they're waiting for the Chief Inspector to leave."

"Waiting for the Chief Inspector to leave?" Lin Qing narrowed his eyes. "Only afraid of Yuan Anping… so they're planning to let Chu Tianyao act?"

"Should I tell the Chief Inspector?" Zhao Jiayi asked.

"I'll confirm first."

Lin Qing picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message to Yuan Anping.

【I want to learn archery. Chief Inspector, can you teach me this month? Just two hours a day. I'll pay you a thousand yuan per day—fourteen thousand in two weeks! How about it?】

Soon, Yuan Anping replied: 【Sure, but I'll be out of Lin'an for two days next weekend. Can we postpone?】

Lin Qing replied with a 【Sure】 and looked at Zhao Jiayi, nodding slightly. "Next weekend, the Chief Inspector really will leave Lin'an."

Zhao Jiayi bit her lower lip and said, "Today is Wednesday, so that means ten days from now?"

She couldn't help but say, "How about you tell the Chief Captain, have him pretend to go out, and lie in ambush to help you from the shadows?"

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and said, "These people even know the Chief Captain is going out soon — the patrol system is like a sieve in front of the Luminous Society?"

"After all, it's an organization from the metropolitan circle." Zhao Jiayi said, "That's pretty normal, right."

"Normal, but also not normal." Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiayi asked, puzzled.

"It just feels a little strange."

Lin Qing frowned and said, "If they were confident they could kill me, the Kite Red Society would just have Chu Tianyao make a move directly. Even if the Chief Captain were in Lin'an, he wouldn't be in time to save me. Why would they insist on waiting for the right moment?"

Besides, the Kite Red Society didn't care about Chu Tianyao's life either — they'd be more than happy to have this last order take Chu Tianyao down with them.

Zhao Jiayi was slightly taken aback: "That is pretty strange."

"So I suspect it's not about 'killing,' but about 'capturing' — there are probably other objectives."

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly glanced at Zhao Jiayi. "Our recent operations have been going too smoothly. If the enemy knows enough about psychic awakeners, it would be perfectly normal for them to suspect the existence of a psychic awakener."

Zhao Jiayi grew a little nervous: "I've already been really careful! When I eat and can't reach a dish, I stand up to pick it up. When I need to turn on the light in the middle of the night, I walk over and turn it on myself."

"... So it should just be a suspicion."

Lin Qing said, "But if I rely on your psychic power again to find these people near my home, the enemy will probably be able to confirm the existence of a psychic awakener."

"Then what do we do?" Zhao Jiayi said, stunned.

Lin Qing pondered in silence.

Judging by the current situation, the Luminous Society's original research institute seemed to have already set its sights on him and Zhao Jiayi — otherwise they wouldn't have sent so many people to monitor him.

How could he deal with these people without exposing the psychic awakener?

"Got it!"

Lin Qing's eyes suddenly lit up, and he smiled: "I've thought of a perfect method."

"What?" Zhao Jiayi's beautiful eyes lit up.

"You'll know in a few days."

The corner of Lin Qing's mouth curved up slightly. "Still, we have to wait these ten days."

If he could complete Super-Sense and get the original Chaoyang Practice to the entry level before the enemy made their move, then he'd have absolute confidence.

For now, he could only wait.

……

Just three days later.

On the evening of March 14th, it was destined to be a special day.

"Finally…"

Inside the room, Lin Qing slowly closed his eyes, feeling the surrounding void like an endless darkness. Without realizing it, he actually began to sense wisps of strange, mysterious power drifting from the dark void around him.

Those wisps of power drifting unsteadily through the void were like starlight scattered across the deep sea — precious and rare.

"Is this Super-Sense?"

Lin Qing took a deep breath, and a happy smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his lips.

Because…

At this moment, on the Entropy Reverser panel, the original Chaoyang Practice had quietly been recorded after reaching entry level.

He didn't hesitate either.

"Order!"

"Advance — 'Original Chaoyang Practice'!"

(End of this chapter)