Light Barrier - Chapter 24: Spy in the Shadows

“Ah! Achoo!”

With a sudden sneeze, Gu Shen jolted awake.

At the end of his memories was a vast, dark expanse, endless garbled code, and a blurry black shadow… Before the Jingzhe Dream completely collapsed, Chu Ling had severed her mind connection with him, and he had soon fallen into a deep sleep.

And upon waking up, the first thing he saw was a pair of sunglasses covering most of a face, but it was still pleasing to the eye.

However, the owner of this attractive face had a look of disgust on her face. She was holding her saber, clutching the corner of her trench coat, and moving away from him, eager to get as far away from him as possible.

Is that necessary? It’s just a sneeze. Gu Shen gave the wicked woman the middle finger in his mind.

“Gu Shen, welcome back.”

Hearing Senior Sister Luo’s voice, Gu Shen fully regained consciousness.

There was no concept of time in the dream world.

How much time had passed from him entering the dream to comprehending Jingzhe to waking up now?

Did I really break the fastest record of the Adjudication Bureau…

“Senior Sister.” Gu Shen scratched his head. “How long… did I sleep?”

“Not long, only four hours,” Senior Sister Luo said lightly.

Gu Shen blinked. Chu Ling had told him that he had broken the fastest record of the Adjudication Bureau.

But he woke up four hours later.

Did she help me control the awakening time?

He recalled what Chu Ling said to him at the end.

[“The road ahead is still very long.”]

“Little Gu.” Zhong Wei approached and asked with concern, “What did you see in that dream?”

Little Gu… It had been a long time since anyone called him that.

Gu Shen didn’t dislike it. After some thought, he replied honestly, “I dreamed… I went to a vast wilderness. The scenery there was beautiful, with fields of grass stretching endlessly, and then… it rained.”

Sometimes, he still needed to play dumb.

Gu Shen was very good at this.

He vividly described the scenes of the Jingzhe Dream and then ambiguously glossed over the details of his comprehension, pretending to be clueless and accidentally stumbling upon it.

After finishing his narration, Gu Shen displayed his achievements. “Senior Sister, in that dream, I seemed to have comprehended something incredible.”

The Jingzhe Breathing Technique was already deeply engraved in his mind.

Gu Shen breathed according to the rhythm in his mind. His aura instantly became more subdued, and his eyes gleamed. He could clearly feel his mental power condensing.

Moreover, there was a faint warm stream flowing slowly in the back of his head.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Is this the first time a newcomer has comprehended the breathing technique? Senior Sister Luo was surprised.

Gu Shen’s breathing was extremely rhythmic and efficient, not inferior to her back then at all.

This meant that he was very compatible with Jingzhe.

Hmm… Most likely, he sensed the secret treasure left by Mr. Gu Changzhi in the mental world. Teacher’s discernment is indeed remarkable.

Luo Er nodded approvingly. “This is what I wanted to give you. This breathing technique is called Jingzhe. Remember, during the following special training, you have to make this breathing technique your instinct. For the next few days, no matter what you do, you have to maintain Jingzhe breathing at all times.”

I see. Gu Shen nodded inwardly. If he replaced his original breathing with Jingzhe breathing, then not only would his meager mental power become more stable, but it would also steadily increase.

He couldn’t help sighing with wonder. Gu Changzhi, who had created this breathing technique by himself, was really a rare genius!

A light pat came from his shoulder.

Senior Sister Luo said in a rare gentle tone, “Since you’ve already comprehended Jingzhe, it means you’re talented. But don’t be too competitive. The amount of time it takes to comprehend a mere breathing technique doesn’t mean anything.”

Gu Shen was startled. Is Senior Sister Luo… comforting me? Is she worried that I’m under a lot of pressure because of the impending assessment? Or… did I take too long to comprehend it?

According to Senior Brother Zhong Wei, because of a transcendental incident in Senior Sister Luo’s youth, she became temperamental.

Only then did he realize that Senior Sister Luo looked quite cute when she smiled.

“Alright.” The smile on Luo Er’s face disappeared, and she said solemnly, “The next tasks are very demanding. We don’t have time to waste.”

…

Boom! Boom!

In the sky above the unfinished building, tightly guarded by a cordon, the rotating blades of a helicopter rumbled.

The guards looked up and witnessed an incredible sight.

When the helicopter was still about ten meters above the ground, a refined-looking man in a gray and black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, holding a briefcase in one hand, opened the cabin door with the other. He silently looked down at the black dots on the ground, his eyes cold yet compassionate, as though he were looking at a group of ants.

Then he spread his arms and descended straight down like a bird.

Boom!

Billowing dust erupted from the ground!

The refined man in the suit landed just outside the cordon, causing a sudden upheaval of sand and stones. As the dust swept through, the guards coughed violently and retreated. The captain of the guards was about to sound the alarm, but halfway through raising his arm, he was firmly restrained.

A deep voice sounded. “We’re on the same side.”

In the dust, the man in the suit stood tall. His voice was as magnetic as a demon’s and mesmerized those who heard it.

The captain subconsciously put down his hand that was about to sound the alarm.

“Put down your weapons. Don’t move.” The whispering voice slowly spread through the dust.

Upon hearing this, the guards responsible for protecting the old building put down their guns in unison. One by one, their eyes lost focus as they stood in place in a daze.

The refined man nodded in satisfaction.

He casually adjusted his glasses and gestured toward the sky, indicating that the helicopter could leave.

The roar of the helicopter’s blades faded into the distance.

The entire old building fell silent. Everything here seemed to have been frozen in time, with only the chaotic swirling of dust. The refined man carried his briefcase and leisurely walked inside.

To him, the cordon here was equivalent to nonexistent and had no meaning whatsoever.

He walked toward the scene of the fire.

After forty-eight hours, this place is still well-protected. The man squatted down in front of the staircase, picked up some skeleton ashes, and examined them thoughtfully. Then he narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on the missing finger bone fragment.

Soon, he arrived on the roof.

The blood splattered on the ground had already dried up. His fingers dipped into it. It was hard like weathered asphalt with a lingering metallic smell. These blood stains were trampled on before they completely dried.

Was it last night? The refined man looked around and once again adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. Profile, activate.

The pupils in his eyes turned black and reflected another world on the roof.

Someone had come to the scene last night and had been captured.

Two unknown dark figures were walking backward on the roof. In the world depicted by the refined man’s Profile, time flowed backward, and he saw the ‘true scene’ that had happened here.

The truth was that more than two people had trampled on the blood stains.

There was a third dark figure.

Step by step, the man retreated to the staircase. He returned to the spot he was before and searched bit by bit.

Now, there was something incomprehensible.

Why did the third infiltrator crouch here? The man’s gaze stopped at the pile of wooden boards in the corner.

He squatted down, stretched out his hand, and patiently lifted the wooden boards one by one. Finally, the truth was revealed under the last board.

Under the wooden boards, a thin layer of dust covered the floor, but a slightly cleaner rectangular strip was exposed.

He left something here and came to get it last night. The size of this object is roughly… He noted it down.

The man left the old building and returned to the vicinity of the cordon. He helped the staff put the police tape back in place, and in the process, he met the confused and numb eyes of the captain.

Due to the command ‘don’t move’, everyone was like wooden puppets bound by air, unable to move an inch no matter how they struggled.

“Sorry. It was a routine check. It was much more convenient for me this way.” The man in the suit spoke alone in the silent dust, restoring the scene.

After completing this, he took out a business card from his briefcase and introduced himself with a smile to the captain. “Adjudication Bureau, Special Investigation Unit, Han Dang. Thank you for your cooperation. I’ve finished my business.”

Han Dang put away the business card, bowed, and retreated.

As his figure faded away, his final words echoed at the cordon of the old building. “Everyone, forget everything that just happened and pretend you never saw me.”