Those who survived were heroes.

The ones who died were the brave.

Gu Shen was in no mood to delve into the strange notions of saving the world and destroying the world of the man on the other side of the compass. He only wanted to remember the eyes soaked in the blood fire. These eyes had rather unique mental characteristics—no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see enough of them, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fully remember them.

“Have you remembered it?” the man suddenly asked.

Gu Shen was surprised.

“I can’t remember it,” he said calmly and frankly. “Why don’t you show your entire face so I can have a good look? Actually, I don’t mind becoming a savior, nor do I mind sending you to the eighteenth level of Hell.”

The man laughed. “It’s really… better to come at the right time than be early. Cui Zhongcheng isn’t as interesting as you.”

He complained softly, and then, as though he were comforting a friend, he smiled and said, “Gu Shen, we will meet. It shouldn’t be long, right?”

“I hope you can still laugh at that time.” Gu Shen laughed as well, but it was a cold laugh.

“Of course,” the man replied warmly. “Meeting you will be a very happy event. Why so… serious?”

The next moment, the blood fire disappeared.

The compass lost its connection and reverted to the Class C sealed object that Gu Shen knew.

“I remember… but I don’t seem to remember…” Gu Shen frowned. For someone with an excellent memory like him, it was a first. If he were to sketch that pair of eyes entwined with the blood fire on paper now, he might be able to draw more than ten different pairs of eyes according to his memory.

Did that guy give me the compass?

It was a hot potato.

But Gu Shen had no choice but to accept it. This man knew all of his information. Clearly, he was a complete lunatic. From the fire case to the Solemn Stone Sculpture to the thick fog on Iris Pellet Street, every case was related to him, and more and more innocent people were implicated.

But what Gu Shen couldn’t understand was that, solely from the perspective of seeking a worthy opponent, no matter how he looked at it, Cui Zhongcheng was far more suitable than him. He was just a trainee arbiter of the Adjudication Bureau still in the inspection phase.

On the other hand, Mr. Cui wielded the power of life and death over half of Dadu.

Was it because… Cui Zhongcheng was uninteresting?

Gu Shen gritted his teeth and picked up the compass. At least that man was right about one thing. He had to use the compass to remove the fog on Iris Pellet Street.

The mental scouring of Shi Li was finished.

Gu Shen picked up the compass and wiped it carefully. According to Shi Li’s memories, this compass didn’t require using any special breathing technique. As long as he carried it with him and infused mental power into it, he could dispel the fog.

He infused mental power into it.

This fog still obscured his vision, but the eroding effect on his mental power gradually disappeared. It was now just an ordinary fog. Following the compass’s guidance, this all-encompassing fog could no longer prevent him from leaving Iris Pellet Street.

Great. I’ll try entering the factory. Gu Shen remained cautious as he stretched out a hand into the factory.

The Six Blessings Bracelet was silent, showing nothing unusual.

There was no scene of a bead breaking.

Seeing this, Gu Shen felt reassured. He slowly entered the factory and then frowned when he saw the red blood light glowing in the thick white fog.

A small box sat in the center of the factory.

On the ground, scarlet transcendental essence was flowing like lava.

Is this the source of the fog? Gu Shen crouched down and summoned the Blazing Fire.

After carefully observing for a while, he finally confirmed it was the patterns on the factory floor, together with the box, that formed the incredible ‘transcendental pattern’ that caused the phenomenon of the fog on Iris Pellet Street. Therefore, by removing the box, everything would come to an end.

The Blazing Fire swirled around him.

Relying on the Six Blessings Bracelet, Gu Shen bolding stretched out a hand.

Hiss!

The box showed resistance, and intense heat rose from the box’s surface, burning away the surrounding fog in an instant.

“Get up!” Gu Shen shouted.

The Blazing Fire showed no fear of the box’s burning. The second bead of the Six Blessings Bracelet remained stable, without any movement. He slowly pulled the small box out from the floor. The bottom of the box was intricately connected to the patterns on the floor, and the higher he lifted it, the greater the resistance.

Veins bulged on Gu Shen’s forehead.

Without waiting for him to exert more strength, the Blazing Fire in his palm suddenly moved on its own and turned into a thin net wrappuing around the box. This was like when it wanted to devour the hour hand of the pocket watch. It spread and wrapped around the box before abruptly tightening.

This net severed the connection between the box and the formation patterns on the floor.

Removing it was no longer strenuous.

Due to using too much force, Gu Shen even fell to the floor and grimaced in pain. He quickly checked the small box in his palm. The Blazing Fire was very obedient and spat out the swallowed box in the end, seemingly eager for praise.

“You’re quite clever.” Gu Shen rubbed his sore butt, smiled, and praised, “Well done!”

The floating Blazing Fire jumped with joy in the air, even appearing a bit complacent.

Gu Shen chuckled.

The Blazing Fire was extremely similar to a human infant. It only needed a few words of praise to be happy for an entire day.

The little flame began eagerly sucking up the white fog in the factory. Acting like a vacuum cleaner, it swiftly darted around the factory. Previously, because of Shi Li, Gu Shen didn’t dare to use the Blazing Fire fully, but it was different now.

After removing the box, the thick fog in the factory was transcendental essence about to dissipate into the air, rich and precious.

In less than a minute, the factory, where people hadn’t even been able to see their hands in front of their faces, became extremely clear.

The little flame was unsatisfied and jumped a few times on the floor, clearly asking Gu Shen: Could it eat the patterns engraved on the floor?

The box and the floor patterns combined were what had continuously produced the fog.

Now that the box had been removed, there were still many traces of transcendental essence in the engraved patterns on the floor.

After pondering for a moment, Gu Shen nodded. “Eat.”

He had resolved the Iris Pellet Street case. The fog in the factory and the engraved patterns on the floor were all ownerless transcendental essence. If he didn’t let the Blazing Fire eat it, others would have to deal with it, which would be a waste.

Cui Zhongcheng wouldn’t investigate the whereabouts of this transcendental essence.

Ten minutes later.

The little flame descended in satisfaction, settled between Gu Shen’s eyebrows, and burped.

This feast was even more sumptuous than the time it devoured Qu Shui’s transcendental essence!

“You’re eating in the bowl and thinking about what’s in the pot.” Gu Shen rubbed the space between his eyebrows. “You haven’t fully digested Qu Shui’s essence… Aren’t you afraid of overeating?”

He was actually somewhat worried. This little guy could eat so much.

What should he do in the future?

Looking at the dissipating fog, Gu Shen slowly exhaled. “Fortunately, this Iris Pellet Street case is finally over.”

He took out his phone.

With the fog dissipating, the signals blocked by the transcendental essence were restored.

…

“Zhou Yexin’s father, Zhou Yu, was a member of the Adjudication Bureau’s Special Operations Team. He had a quasi-S-grade rating and was a famous genius adjudicator in the Ying Sea District. Unfortunately, he died in an explosion before he could fully shine his own light.”

“A quasi-S-grade transcendent died in an explosion?”

“Yes. It’s indeed inexplicable, but it’s the truth. There was no trace of any transcendental aura at the scene. As for the ‘Blood Fire’ you said you saw in Zhou Yexin’s dream, it’s even more impossible to investigate. The Adjudication Bureau sent the top investigators at the time, but they didn’t find anything.”

The top floor of the Blossom Flag Building.

Standing solemnly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, Grand Magistrate Tang Qingquan looked somewhat melancholy. “Zhou Yu was my fellow junior brother. He could have become the most dazzling star in the East Continent. After the incident, I personally went to the scene. Gu Shen, I can assure you responsibly that no transcendental aura was detected in that explosion.”

Cui Zhongcheng’s voice added, “Or perhaps… it’s a transcendental ability beyond our understanding, just like the fog on Iris Pellet Street.”

The compass was in front of Mr. Cui. He was wearing gloves while examining it meticulously. “If not for Gu Shen, even if we resolved the fog, we would have only attributed everything to Shi Li. No one would have known that the man who truly planned all of this was hiding in the compass and spying on our every move.”

“Blood Fire…” Tang Qingquan muttered softly and shook his head. “There’s too little information. You’ve spoken with and seen him, but you can’t remember his features?”

“He should have a mental-type ability.” Gu Shen sighed softly. “I tried to capture them, but I failed.”

Cui Zhongcheng and Tang Qingquan were disappointed.

But they also understood. If all of this were true, then the compass owner, the murderer who killed Zhou Yu, was much stronger than Gu Shen. It was understandable that Gu Shen couldn’t remember his features.

“There are some ancient characters engraved on this compass,” Cui Zhongcheng said calmly. “I don’t know what they represent, but since he asked you to keep the compass, he will contact you again.”

“Should I keep this compass?” Gu Shen had a headache. “Why don’t you keep it and fight him slowly?”

Cui Zhongcheng said calmly, “Since he didn’t hand the compass to me, it means he doesn’t want to communicate with me. Changing the ownership will likely cut off contact. At present, we don’t have much choice.”

“In fact, accepting the compass isn’t impossible. But I know too well what I’m capable of…” Gu Shen sighed helplessly. He said seriously, “The Third Level of Deep Sea, saving Dadu? Mr. Cui, are you serious?”

“To be able to advance to the Third Level of Deep Sea in such a short time after awakening your ability shows you’re truly a one-in-a-million genius. Don’t underestimate yourself.” Cui Zhongcheng’s expression was calm as he spoke. “We just want you to hold the compass. We’re not asking you to do anything else. If the sky collapses, the tall ones will hold it up. It’s not your turn yet.”

Gu Shen sighed softly.

He suddenly asked, “Mr. Tang, there’s one more thing. Did you find a  rabbit  doll at the crime scene?”