CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81 WHY NOT BELIEVE (SECOND UPDATE)

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

In the deputy director’s office, Ren Suo received the file. It had no identification on the cover and was simply held together with the kind of folder students use for exam papers. Opening it to the first page, he saw his official graduation photo.

This was Ren Suo’s personal file, detailing everything from his family relationships, place of origin, educational history, and residential history, to all the awards he had received since childhood.

Ren Suo wasn’t surprised. When he was transferred to National Security, he knew he must have been thoroughly investigated.

Two items were especially important:

"Basic Cultivation Aptitude: 1.25, Potential: Low"

"Awakened Spell: First Aid."

Though he had long known his talent wasn’t anything special, the instructors at the training base had always downplayed it. After the training ended and he started working, he gradually stopped dwelling on it.

But seeing himself assessed as having low potential, Ren Suo still felt a bit depressed.

However, there was another page:

"Origin: Fofeng Ren Clan (Branch of Luoyang Ren Clan). Protection Status: City-level Key Protected Individual."

City-level Key Protected Individual...

Ren Suo had heard of ’key’ district primary schools, ’key’ city secondary schools, and ’key’ provincial high schools, but he had never heard of what a ’City-level Key Protected Individual’ was.

Yu Kuangtu looked up, saw Ren Suo reading that page, and knew what he was thinking.

"The Key Protection Plan is a special policy that was recently introduced," Yu Kuangtu said. "Currently, these are generally categorized as city-level, provincial-level, and national-level. Most potential Awakeners willing to join the national system have been included in these Key Protection Plans."

"The precursor to this plan was the protection plan for scientific researchers. Now that Awakeners and cultivators are considered strategic resources, the presence of certain Awakeners can lead to rapid advancements in fundamental research, and cultivators might gradually awaken new abilities as they grow stronger. Therefore, protecting Awakeners with low combat power is very necessary."

"The so-called ’city-level key protection’ is aimed at ordinary people with cultivation aptitude. It may sound exaggerated, but it really only entails an increase in police presence near their residences, stricter surveillance of outsiders, and a close watch on local security. This essentially refers to police deployments the city itself can manage."

Ren Suo asked, "Is that really enough? What if..."

"Isn’t that enough?" Yu Kuangtu smiled. "Although no one can guarantee one hundred percent prevention of infiltration by foreign reactionary forces, at most they can try to harm Key Protected Individuals by bribing local undesirables."

"Do you think the country would let foreigners with combat experience loiter around? Let mercenaries enter the country? Even with the need to develop the tourism industry, the nation’s Public Security system pays very close attention to such individuals."

"However, generally speaking, members of the Tactical Bureau do not become part of the Key Protection Plans," Yu Kuangtu said. "You are an exception."

Ren Suo said, "Is it because of ’Over My Dead Body’?"

"Correct. It seems you’ve done some investigating," Yu Kuangtu said. "The Fofeng Ren Clan is said to be a branch of the Luoyang Ren Clan."

He paused. "Since you’re an insider, there’s no harm in telling you... the state has confirmed that the Luoyang Ren Clan did indeed exist."

Ren Suo rubbed his palm, his fingertips slick with fine sweat.

"They even found traces of the Earth Spirit."

"The Earth Spirit!?" Ren Suo exclaimed. "Is that the same Earth Spirit from the TV show that engages in a Spiritual Exchange with the Ren Family?"

"Yes, but only traces. Some people were saved by the Earth Spirit, but that’s all." Yu Kuangtu leaned back in his chair and continued, "I only know this much and am not responsible for this aspect. Let’s get back to you... Although you’re a Ren, you haven’t awakened that Champion Bloodline."

"Of course," Ren Suo said. "Otherwise, I would probably be an Immortal by now."

"According to domestic research, bloodline awakenings are likely restricted by genetic information. In other words, if the bloodline isn’t ’pure’ enough, Awakening won’t happen. You’d be indistinguishable from an ordinary person. So don’t worry," said Yu Kuangtu.

"Besides, not everyone with the surname Ren is necessarily from the bloodline of that Immortal Ren Family, right?"

Ren Suo blinked. "What do you mean?"

Yu Kuangtu said, "In ancient times, many people, to integrate more quickly or simply because they were too poor to have a surname, would adopt the dominant local surname. That’s why you see entire villages where everyone is surnamed Li or Chen.

"In episode 21 of ’Over My Dead Body,’ a man living in a village under the Ren Family’s shelter changed his surname to ’Ren.’

"And this practice was very common."

Ren Suo said, "So, people surnamed Ren today might just be descendants of ancestors who followed the trend and clung to the powerful?"

"Followed the trend and clung to the powerful... well, you’re not wrong there," Yu Kuangtu said. "Anyway, with your talents being so... ordinary, you definitely won’t experience a bloodline Awakening."

Ren Suo felt like he’d taken four times the critical hit.

"Even so, you’re still somewhat at risk. Of course, your file was encrypted after you joined the Tactical Bureau, so no one can access your background through the household registration system," Yu Kuangtu said.

"But just to be cautious, try not to go on field assignments for the next few days... Hmm, I’ve read your analysis of Demons, and it was quite good."

"Coincidentally, the higher-ups have requested that the Tactical Bureaus in each city analyze Ren Naiser’s videos. The analysis should be from the perspective of Tactical Bureau team members. I was just wondering who would be lucky enough to get this overtime... How about this: for the next few days, you stay home and write an analysis report on ’Ren Naiser’s’ videos. The preliminary draft is due in five days. It must thoroughly analyze all three videos he posted, and the word count needs to be over twenty thousand."

Five days. Twenty thousand words. That’s four thousand words a day! It’s almost more than the updates for some books!

Ren Suo’s mouth fell open. He forced a smile and asked, "Does this mean I’ll be working from home from now on?"

"Dream on. Once these few days pass and foreign powers shift their attention, you’ll be back in the office," Yu Kuangtu glanced at him. "Alright, you can go now."

But Ren Suo didn’t move. "May I ask a question?"

Yu Kuangtu replied, "You may, but you just did."

Ren Suo was stunned. He hadn’t expected Yu Kuangtu to use that line. He decided to ask directly, "Do the higher-ups really believe that the videos ’Ren Naiser’ released depict true history? It’s a TV series with 4K-quality footage, complete with opening and ending theme songs...

"Anyone would think it’s just a TV series. To believe it’s real would be... isn’t that absurd?"

This question reflected Ren Suo’s genuine thoughts. Ren Naiser’s first two videos had countless witnesses and were certainly genuine. But "Over My Dead Body" tells a story from two thousand years ago. Two thousand years ago, there were cameras filming Immortals and historical figures interacting, stories of Immortals slaying monsters and Demons... The premise itself sounds absurd, let alone believing it.

Yu Kuangtu looked at him for a good while, then suddenly smiled. "How would I know? I’m just an employee too. You think I make the decisions?"

"...Fair point. I’ll be going then." Ren Suo conceded the point and prepared to leave.

At that moment, Yu Kuangtu suddenly said,

"But why not believe it?"

Ren Suo turned to look at Yu Kuangtu. He was still smiling, but his eyes were deadly serious.

"In this era of Spiritual Energy resurgence, our country has an ancient cultivation family, and they possess a Magic System passed down for millennia...

"As long as the videos are flawless and verifiable, what reason do we have not to believe them? If such a thing exists, wouldn’t that be even better?

"Besides, we have evidence."

Evidence?

Ren Suo wanted to ask more, but Yu Kuangtu didn’t seem inclined to continue. With a slight push of his left hand, he actually sent Ren Suo out the door through the air.

Returning to the Team Three office, as Ren Suo walked past Qiao Muyi’s desk, she whispered to him, "Remember, dinner after work!"

Ren Suo replied, "I’m already off work. Goodbye!"