CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58 DEMONS TRACE

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"I hope you’re not out for revenge, right? He’s still a child."

Facing the questioning from his senior colleague, Chen Kun, Ren Suo touched his bandaged right hand and shrugged. "No, we have work regulations. How could we do something like that?"

"I’m just really interested in supernatural powers, but... because of confidentiality rules, I don’t know who has them."

"The Deputy Director might have them, but I wouldn’t dare to ask. Now that I have the chance to observe an Awakener up close, naturally I want to seize the opportunity."

"Besides, with the misfortune he’s facing now, I feel compassion. How could I possibly target him?"

Chen Kun thought it made sense and couldn’t help but pat Ren Suo’s shoulder, laughing. "You guys who’ve read a lot of books really are cleverer than us!"

Ren Suo grinned, wincing. That guy from the police academy sure had a strong grip. He must have been single for years, huh?

They got on a National Security Bureau public bus, and Ren Suo obediently took the passenger seat. Chen Kun glanced at him. "Don’t have a driver’s license?"

"I do," Ren Suo replied. "But I want to play on my phone."

"...Alright, suit yourself."

Ever since the day before yesterday, when Ren Suo saw the video of Li Le’s "Stealing Heaven’s Technique Awakening Method," he began consciously searching the net for interesting videos.

Without a doubt, videos like "Stealing Heaven’s Technique Awakening Method" were quickly banned online, but if one really wanted to watch them, it was easy to find such videos, often renamed to something innocuous like ’Record of the XXth People’s XX Congress,’ on cloud storage or QQ groups.

Although news would occasionally break of ’a certain netizen detained for 15 days for spreading rumors,’ Mysterious Country’s law enforcement still couldn’t cover everything thoroughly. For things like cloud storage, one could easily purchase an account registered with someone else’s phone number on Taobao, and there was even an ultimate move—downloading from a foreign cloud service.

During work hours, Ren Suo would watch these videos in his spare time, hoping to find an Awakening Technique that suited him, just like Li Le did.

As for the authenticity of the Stealing Heaven’s Technique Awakening Method, Ren Suo tended to believe it was real, mainly because the way Li Le praised Ren Naiser in the video made him feel very comfortable.

A secondary reason was that Li Le’s reasoning was very convincing. Ren Suo believed it too—the Truth Seeker ascended in broad daylight precisely because he had struggled on the brink of life and death for the past few days.

Regardless of whether Stealing Heaven’s Technique was real or fake, Ren Suo wouldn’t dare to imitate it.

He didn’t think he had a death wish, at least not to that extent.

Even Li Le only took that desperate chance because he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and didn’t have long to live.

Ren Suo wasn’t like Ren Woxing, merely 24 years old. He still had a long life ahead of him; naturally, he wouldn’t be so reckless.

While watching videos, the vehicle quickly reached a hospital in the suburbs of Lianjiang City. The hospital had a sign saying ’South China Medical University Third Affiliated Hospital,’ but Ren Suo remembered that Lianjiang City didn’t have a ’South China Medical University,’ and this place was so remote there were hardly any people around.

All the way here, Ren Suo only saw a few construction sites, and there wasn’t even a single person at those sites.

The director who decided to build a hospital here must have had water on the brain.

While it was called a hospital, it was surrounded by walls, and there were military and police personnel on duty at the gate. Both Ren Suo and Chen Kun had to present their IDs and undergo iris verification before they could enter.

Ren Suo was somewhat astonished. "How did they get my iris data?"

Chen Kun said indifferently, "You had a physical examination when you went for training, right? At that time, they recorded your iris, dental, and fingerprint data. That way, if you die in a horribly unrecognizable state, we will be able to identify you quite easily."

Ren Suo nodded. There was something odd about Chen Kun’s words...

As soon as they entered the hospital, the expressions on Chen Kun and Ren Suo’s faces changed.

Chen Kun looked at Ren Suo and said wryly, "Now you understand why no one from Tactical Team Two or Three wants to snatch up this duty, right? We’d rather be busier with fieldwork than come here even once."

"Why is this place so uncomfortable..." Ren Suo murmured. "It’s not just the unpleasant smell of disinfectant..."

"You know the Cultivation Ground is where Spiritual Energy gathers, so naturally, where there’s an accumulation, there will also be dispersion," Chen Kun explained. "I’m not sure about the specifics, but this place is specifically for ’dealing’ with Cultivators and Awakeners, cutting off their lifelines directly at the source of Spiritual Energy—it’s simpler than anything else."

"The Spiritual Energy here is almost nonexistent, which doesn’t affect ordinary people but has a substantial impact on us Cultivators, similar to a drop in oxygen concentration."

The word ’dealing’ made Ren Suo slightly uncomfortable, but he quickly became comfortable again. After all, he wasn’t the one being ’dealt with’; he was part of the establishment!

Chen Kun spoke to a nurse at the front desk, and after a moment, they saw a young female doctor leading a school-uniformed boy towards them.

The boy looked haggard, with red, swollen eyes as if he had been crying for a long time. He instinctively stepped back when he saw Ren Suo, but then he approached them as if it didn’t matter.

"National Security Bureau." Chen Kun and Ren Suo showed their IDs to the female doctor, and Ren Suo glanced at the woman’s chest... her ID badge, that is—Chief Physician: Yao Meilü.

Yao Meilü patted the boy’s head and said to Ren Suo and the others, "This child has had a hard life, please... be kind to him."

It seemed that Yao Meilü had already talked to the boy beforehand, as, despite some fear, he showed no resistance. Seeing how close the boy was to the doctor, it was clear that the hospital hadn’t done anything invasive like biopsies besides drawing his blood for tests.

"Don’t worry," Chen Kun reassured her, standing protectively in front of Ren Suo, "We will keep the boy safe. Doctor, if you’re still worried, would you like to leave a contact number?"

Ren Suo rolled his eyes and left the hospital lobby, partly to give Chen Kun—who was clearly experiencing the first blush of romance—some space, and partly to hurriedly escape the place that made him so uncomfortable due to the dispersing Spiritual Energy.

After a while, Chen Kun and the boy came out. The boy cast furtive glances at Ren Suo but soon mustered his courage and said, "Are you here for revenge? Come on then!"

This boy was none other than his benefactor... no, his nemesis, Wu Jianming, the junior high student from No. 36 Middle School who had inadvertently granted Ren Suo a three-day gaming vacation.

The task for Ren Suo and his team was to escort Wu Jianming back to his home and to ensure his return to the hospital by 8 p.m.

As for why two members of the Tactical Bureau had to do it... Although Wu Jianming was just a junior high student, he was an Awakener; if he became enraged, handcuffs would be useless against him, and only members of the Tactical Bureau could suppress him.

Ren Suo smiled and pointed at the car, saying, "Get in; we’re here to escort you home."

Upon hearing the word ’home,’ Wu Jianming’s mouth quivered, his eyes reddened again, his nose twitched sharply, and he bit his lower lip hard as he desperately wiped his eyes.

Ren Suo pulled Wu Jianming to the rear seat of the car, and seeing him continue to cry, handed him a few tissues. However, the confined space of the car seemed to give him a sense of security, and with Ren Suo and Chen Kun being strangers, he sobbed quietly, "BOO HOO HOO."

Ren Suo glanced at Chen Kun, who was driving, then placed his left hand on Wu Jianming’s shoulder and said, "Look at my hand."

With swollen, red eyes, Wu Jianming saw Ren Suo’s right hand making one smooth, continuous, strange gesture after another before his face...

"Wow, brother, you really have a way with kids!" Chen Kun marveled as he saw that Wu Jianming, who had been crying just moments ago, had now fallen into a deep sleep.

Ren Suo chuckled and said, "I know a bit about hypnotism; it’s quite effective for treating insomnia. Brother Kun, if you ever have trouble sleeping, you can look for me."

"Forget it, I don’t want to wake up with a sore butt."

This kind of banter between men was already their daily norm, so Ren Suo didn’t mind. He grabbed Wu Jianming’s shoulder as if to prevent him from slipping off the back seat.

But after steadying Wu Jianming, Ren Suo’s hand remained in place.

"Searching..."

"Searching..."

"Key identified."

"The Key is in sleep status, beginning acquisition."

"Detected that the Key is not yet fully formed, will require 606 seconds for acquisition, must maintain contact throughout the process. 605, 604, 603..."

"Acquisition successful."

Ren Suo let out a deep breath—it was done!

The reason he had specifically taken on the task of escorting Wu Jianming was precisely for Wu Jianming’s Key!

This was one of the great benefits of being a public servant in the state’s Cultivation department—being able to approach Supernatural Beings openly and easily acquire their Keys!

Even just thinking about it, Ren Suo was aware that departments filled with Cultivators like the Tactical Bureau were bound to rise in status in the future, making it easier to gather information on Awakeners.

Eventually, he wouldn’t need to ’fight’—such an inefficient method—to simply obtain the Keys from the Awakeners.

At this point, Ren Suo truly regretted why he hadn’t majored in medicine and then become a civil servant; maybe then he could have been transferred to that ’Spiritual Energy Dispersal Hospital’ he just saw. Even if it was unbearable, every Awakener in Lianjiang City was reportedly required to visit there. By that time, Ren Suo would truly have an endless supply of Keys.

However, through multiple Key acquisitions, Ren Suo realized that Wu Jianming’s ’Key’ was not yet fully formed, so even though he was asleep, the acquisition time was twice as long as for Qiao Muyi and Li Dan.

Ren Suo didn’t know the difference between a fully formed Key and an unformed one, but under normal conditions, Wu Jianming had no appeal to Ren Suo at all. In contrast, Qiao Muyi and Li Dan could always captivate Ren Suo no matter what their status was.

Does a fully formed Key always maintain its appeal? Does an unformed Key only reveal itself when the Awakener uses their Skill?

Too bad the Mini-World Game Console doesn’t come with a manual, or Ren Suo wouldn’t need to make wild guesses.

Over an hour later, they finally returned to the city and soon arrived at an old residential building in the old district—the kind without a property management company, not even an elevator, and the buildings were over twenty years old.

By now, Wu Jianming was gradually waking up. He looked at the increasingly familiar scene outside, his expression incomprehensibly complex.

Once Chen Kun parked the car, Wu Jianming immediately opened the door and ran out before Ren Suo could react.

Fortunately, the two policemen standing guard at the residential building quickly stopped him. "Who are you? Do you live here?"

Lest Wu Jianming do something irrational, Ren Suo quickly stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders. While in the car earlier, he had removed his equipped ’Good Dream Technique’ and switched it for ’Lock’.

With just a thought, Spiritual Energy could immediately bind Wu Jianming’s movements.

"Tactical Bureau." Ren Suo and the others showed their IDs, and the policemen immediately understood, saying, "Your colleagues have been waiting upstairs for a long time..."

"Perfect timing."

At the stairwell, three individuals in Black Body Armor emerged—two men and one woman. The woman was stunningly beautiful; the tight Black Body Armor accentuated her figure, and her black hair draped over her shoulders contrasted with her face, as radiant as morning clouds on snow. An aura of confidence exuded from her, immediately capturing Ren Suo and Chen Kun’s gaze.

"Tactical Team Two, Captain Yao Fei," the beautiful girl introduced blandly, "This is Li Shuanghe, and this is Fang Jun."

They were all from the same department, all Cultivators, and greetings were quickly exchanged before everyone’s attention returned to the only person who seemed to have lost his soul.

Seeing the new member of Team Three staring incessantly at the captain, Li Shuanghe and Fang Jun weren’t surprised—they’d seen this kind of thing many times.

But seeing someone embarrass themselves to this extent was a first for them.

Chen Kun slapped Ren Suo on the back. Young people these days really have no shame. Haven’t they seen a beautiful woman before?

Finally snapping out of it, Ren Suo stammered, "I, my name is Ren Suo..."

"Alright, bring him over here." Yao Fei’s expression remained calm as she turned to head upstairs; Wu Jianming immediately followed. Chen Kun patted Ren Suo on the shoulder, whispering lowly, "Brother, when I get back, I’ll share a few URLs with you; see more, and don’t embarrass yourself like this next time..."

Ren Suo rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain—especially since he knew any explanation would be pointless.

He hadn’t expected that the captain of Team Two, Yao Fei, would have such a terrifying pull on him, comparable to that of Deputy Director Yu Kuangtu!

And to be so close at first sight!

If Ren Suo didn’t have self-control, he feared he might just pounce on her!

In the face of Yu Kuangtu, at least Ren Suo had a few days to adapt and prepare himself psychologically, but Yao Fei was this close upon first meeting!

In the stairwell, unable to help himself, Wu Jianming moved closer and asked through clenched teeth, "My, my parents, are they really..."

"Yes, they are dead." Fang Jun spoke without pity, shattering the hopes of the middle school boy. "They died at home. Everything we said at the hospital when we went to find you was true."

"Fang Jun." Li Shuanghe tried to stop his colleague from continuing. Seeing Wu Jianming’s trembling shoulders, he couldn’t help but want to put a comforting arm around them. However, Wu Jianming shook him off abruptly. "Tell me! Tell me who it was, who did it..."

Yao Fei stood in front of the security door of apartment 402. The police guarding the door saw her and immediately opened it. Ren Suo and the others followed Yao Fei inside and found that there were many people in gloves holding various tools, searching and inspecting the area.

Wu Jianming, seeing the broken sofa in the living room, the toppled Z9D television set, and the congealed black bloodstains, immediately lost control of his emotions. He approached Yao Fei and demanded loudly, "Who was it! Who was it! Tell me, who did this! I want them to pay!"

Yao Fei handed them gloves and, while putting one on, looked at Wu Jianming and said calmly, "It was a Demon."

Just as Ren Suo was thinking whether or not to replay dozens of saves tonight to achieve a ’Perfect Start,’ he suddenly snapped back to reality.

Demons?