Chapter 7: Heavenly Authority

"Who are you?"

Yu Lin's pupils suddenly contracted, and his whole body tensed in an instant.

His right hand instinctively reached for the knife under his pillow.

It was the weapon he had brought back from Jerusalem, always hidden close to him.

"Don't be nervous."

The man at the window let out a light laugh, then leisurely raised both hands, indicating he meant no harm.

His trench coat fluttered slightly in the night breeze, revealing an embossed dark‑gold badge on the lining—amid intricate patterns, the three tiny characters "Civil Affairs Bureau" could be seen.

"Introduce yourself," the man said, leaping lightly from the windowsill and landing silently.

"I am the leader of the second unit of the National Civil Bureau's Special Operations Division—Su Qu."

He was roughly in his early thirties, not particularly handsome, but his features were orderly, his long hair was fluffy and disheveled, and his tall, slender build gave him an air of carefree unrestrainedness.

He stopped four steps away from Yu Lin.

Yu Lin's eyes remained vigilant:

"This is the fourth floor; are you staking out in advance?"

"No, no, no," Su Qu shook his head.

"I just arrived."

The next moment.

His figure suddenly blurred, like ink dropping into the night, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Another blink.

He reappeared within Yu Lin's sight.

Facing his smile.

Yu Lin fell silent for a moment.

This world is far more complex than he imagined.

"Is this... a supernatural ability?"

"Pretty much, we prefer to call it a Heavenly Grant."

"Heavenly Grant?" Yu Lin frowned.

"Heavenly Authority," Su Qu snapped his fingers.

Shadows beneath his feet spread out, forming a picture reminiscent of an ancient rain‑praying wizard diagram.

"In 1947, we discovered the first record of a 'Heavenly Bestower' in the oracle bones of Yin Ruins."

"King Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty once conferred a title upon a shaman who could 'Summon Rain'; the oracle script called him 'Rain Master', thereby granting the Heavenly Authority of 'Summon Rain'."

The scene shifted, turning into an elder walking upon the wind.

"During King Mu of Zhou's reign, there was a philosopher named Liezi who could ride the wind; today our bureau also has such a person, the leader of the third unit, wielding the Heavenly Authority of 'Wind Riding'."

Then,

He pointed at himself, and dozens of shadowy figures of varying sizes coalesced behind him: "I, Su Qu, hold the Heavenly Authority of 'Shadow'! You've seen Cheng Long's Adventure, right? The Holy Lord draws his people from me!"

"........."

"Why aren't you laughing? Isn't it funny?"

".......... Ha ha, very funny."

Seeing Yu Lin unable to laugh, Su Qu did not continue the topic, but stared back at him:

"Do you know how we discovered you?"

"Self‑cured stomach cancer?"

"A bit, but more so... you won tonight's Double Color Ball, and also tonight, everyone involved in this matter has been suspended and placed under investigation."

"So that's it; I thought my secrecy was well done."

"Your secrecy was indeed good, but... we have a senior figure who has awakened the Derivation Authority; honestly, he's hard to calculate. He exhausted all ten chances today, and only approached it from a side angle, such as where your neighbor lives."

"He said it's impossible to select you!"

Yu Lin fell silent again.

6.

He thought it was the power of technology, but it turned out to be Gua Ge showing his strength.

Seeing him silent, Su Qu pulled out a small booklet by himself, opened it, and said:

"We have scoured the records, from ancient to modern, from China to abroad."

"We think your Heavenly Grant may be one of three—first, Luck; that needs no explanation..."

"Second, Destiny; Destiny differs from Luck—Luck is a random blessing, Destiny is..."

"It is the heavens standing behind you, giving you the support!"

"Representative figure—Emperor Liu Xiu of the Han, on the brink of defeat, a meteor fell from the sky, followed by strong winds and thunderous rain, directly crushing Wang Mang's army."

"Third, Miracle; you surely know the first holder of this Heavenly Authority—Jesus."

"Before it, nothing is impossible; only the question is when it will happen, when it will be realized!"

Yu Lin pretended not to know, and asked curiously, "Which one do you think I am?"

"Well..." Su Qu shook his head:

"We still can't be certain now, but we currently lean toward Destiny."

"We'll discuss it later."

"Now, I have the most important question for you."

Su Qu looked at him:

"Do you want to join us?"

"I still have to go to university."

"What are you going to university for?"

"To find a good job."

"Then, if there's a job right now with unlimited salary, available anywhere, and as long as you show your credentials you are treated as the primary, also enjoying civil‑servant benefits, placed before you, and our bureau will also provide you with cultivation techniques, a fixed monthly allotment of cultivation resources, and instruction from various masters, would you take it?"

"I can."

"So that works, right?"

Su Qu clapped his hands, clearly very satisfied with his answer:

"Then do you want to join us?"

"Even if you don't join, you still have to be registered, and besides us, other domestic and foreign forces will come after you."

"Every person who awakens the Heavenly Authority is a Xiang Bo Bo."

"I almost fell victim to the Beauty Scheme back then."

Seeing his expression, as if he was about to ask how it was done.

Yu Lin simply went along and asked, "How did you do it?"

Su Qu slightly lifted his chin, with a hint of self‑satisfaction:

"I lured their beauties over, and now our children are all in kindergarten."

"Impressive, right?"

Yu Lin nodded, "Indeed impressive."

"Let me think it over; I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"Will that work?"

"Sure." Su Qu extended his hand:

"Give me your phone."

"Hm? Are you going to give me a loan?"

"...... Stop looking at those jokes; it's just a phone number."

"Okay."

After Su Qu left his phone number on Yu Lin's phone, he tossed the phone back to him.

"Bye."

Yu Lin watched him turn and walk toward the window:

"Then I'll ask you a question, too."

"What?"

"Why are you still dressed so tightly in the middle of summer? To avoid exposure?"

"No, it's because the outfit is stylish; don't you think so?"

"...... I don't think so; I'm afraid it'll cause heat rash."

"Bro, you don't get my fashion."

"Alright, that's enough, see you tomorrow."

Su Qu waved his hand and stepped into the shadows.

As if he had never been there.

Yu Lin stood in place for a long time before slowly uttering a few words:

"Heavenly Authority."

"National Civil Bureau."

"Indeed, this world has extraordinary power."

"Then… the Jesus hallucination I saw… wasn't a hallucination?"

He couldn't figure it out, shook his head, and stopped thinking about it.

"I'm tired, going to sleep."