Gu Shen lowered his cap and slowly squeezed through the crowd to the bar.

The bartender came over.

Gu Shen saw the bartender give him a friendly smile, pass him a drink menu, and mouth something.

Judging from his lip movements, what he said was: “What would you like?”

Up until this moment, Gu Shen’s Profile world was still silent. It was the first time he was using this ability. In theory, Profile and hypnosis were basic abilities of mental-type transcendents, but the consumption of Profile was greater. Perhaps it was because it had the characteristic of ‘retracing’, which allowed transcendents to contend with time to a certain extent.

However, rather than Profile breaking the shackles of time, it was more accurate to say that it was seeking guidance from the mysterious threads of fate.

The further back the time retraced, the more the mental power consumption.

The stronger the Profile target, the vaguer the guidance.

Attempting to peer into scenes that one shouldn’t peer into… would result in severe backlash.

The shadow in the Profile world dissipated. Three days ago, did Jiang Wan sit in this spot and come into contact with a sealed object?

As the Profile continued, the Blazing Fire began to sway intensely.

The consumption of mental power suddenly surged.

No, the shadow didn’t dissipate. In Gu Shen’s vision, a faint black shadow drifted past.

Someone with a sealed object had briefly stayed at this bar.

Was Jiang Wan infected by the transcendental aura of the sealed object at this time?

The clue ended here.

Gu Shen’s thoughts returned to reality. He saw the bartender’s impatient eyes and casually pointed at a name on the drink menu. “I’ll have… this.”

Suddenly, a voice sounded in the silent Profile world. “Gin is very strong. It doesn’t suit you.”

Gu Shen’s pupils contracted.

Almost instantly, he entered a state of vigilance. His fingers slid into his sleeve and held the Ruler of Truth.

Gu Shen looked vigilantly beside him.

Just two seats away from him…

A burly man in a gray hoodie was leaning against the bar counter, facing the dance floor. His eyes lingered on the chaotic neon  lights on the dance floor as he stirred the ice in his glass with interest. He didn’t even glance at Gu shen and said lazily, “I suggest a metropolitan. It has a good kick and flavor. It’s suitable for a beginner like you.”

Gu Shen didn’t lower his guard.

He asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

To be able to break into his Profile world… this person was also a transcendent.

“Relax. Don’t glare at me.” The middle-aged man in the hoodie still had his lazy demeanor and said calmly, “The activation of Profile isn’t exactly subtle. If you don’t want to be discovered, you should be more cautious. Besides, if I wanted to make a move against you, I would have already done it, right?”

The Blazing Fire dissipated.

Gu Shen remained on guard, but he deactivated Profile. After all, it wasn’t a combat-enhancing ability and consumed a lot of mental power.

“Nice to meet you. I am Cui Zhongcheng’s informant, Hu Danian.”

In the noisy world, the man’s voice was very soft, but it was extremely clear.

Cui Zhongcheng! Gu Shen’s tension eased slightly, although he still gripped the ruler and didn’t relax. He said to the bartender, “Please change the drink… I’ll have this.”

He pointed at the metropolitan recommended by the man.

Seeing Gu Shen’s reaction, the middle-aged man smiled. “Actually, it doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. Since you’ve found your way here, you should have found that the trail has gone cold. I have some information here about the sealed object you’re looking for.”

When Gu Shen heard the term sealed object, the vigilance in his eyes lessened.

“The Solemn Stone Sculpture, serial number yet to be determined, preliminary classified as a Class D hazard sealed object.”

Hu Danian took out a photo from his pocket and changed seats, moving closer to Gu Shen. He pressed the photo on the smooth countertop, and Gu Shen took it. The photo depicted a stone statue of a ferocious evil ghost, but it wasn’t big, only about half the size of an adult male’s fist.

It was exactly the same as what he had seen in Jiang Wan’s dream.

“This sealed object was once in the custody of the Parliament in the Dadu District, but a theft happened a few years ago, and it has been missing,” Hu Danian said leisurely. “It’s recorded in the file that once the Solemn Stone Statue comes into contact with someone, it will relentlessly deprive them of sleep until their mental state collapses.”

“That’s only on the surface,” Gu Shen said quietly. “The real reason why it deprives sleep is that it has a kind of mental corrosion on those it comes into contact with.”

“Not bad.” Hu Danian looked at Gu Shen in surprise and smiled. “You’re quite sharp. No wonder you received Mr. Cui’s attention at such a young age.”

Gu Shen didn’t say anything.

His files were currently classified.

This informant probably didn’t know who he was. He took the photo and asked, “The statue will corrode the dreams of all those who come into contact with it until the mind collapses… This is a transcendental incident. How many people have been infected?”

In his Profile, he had glimpsed a corner of the truth.

Someone had lingered here with this sealed object, and Jiang Wan had unfortunately come into contact with it, thus being deprived of her sleep.

“So far, there have been twenty-four people who have come into indirect contact with the statue, and this number is still rising. They’re all under the supervision of Deep Sea,” Hu Danian said calmly. “You don’t have to worry about those people. Someone else will take care of their treatment. Even if you didn’t cure Jiang Wan, we would have taken action.”

Gu Shen frowned.

This incident seemed to be completely under control.

Is this another test thrown to me by Cui Zhongcheng?

Gu Shen noticed part of a dark tattoo on the man’s wrist and silently noted down this detail. “Did you send Jiang Wan to me?”

“No. I’m just an informant. How can I be so capable?” Hu Danian shook his head and said regretfully, “All of this was arranged by Mr. Cui. In fact, he had subtly hinted to her to go find you. Unfortunately, this woman is a bit foolish. She suffered needlessly for a few days.”

Gu Shen didn’t say anything.

Since the fire incident, he had witnessed the high-level arrangements of the so-called big shots.

In fact, he didn’t like this behavior.

“Where is the sealed object?” Gu Shen asked. “I’ll go deal with it.”

“Although the situation is still under control, we haven’t found the owner of the sealed object, and there’s no information about this person in the Deep Sea database. It’s impossible to predict what will happen next.” Hu Danian looked at Gu Shen seriously. “That’s why I’m waiting for you here. It’s not only to inform you about the existence of the Solemn Stone Sculpture.

“Mr. Cui asked me to convey a message. This transcendental incident isn’t as simple as you think.”

Hu Danian’s tone grew grave. “This week, in remote corners of Lipu Street and River Shoal, several dead people appeared. They were all adult males, and they all died from a clean slash to their throats with sharp objects. There were no traces of resistance at all, and the wounds showed traces of transcendental aura… Combined with the appearance of the Solemn Stone Statue, we have reason to believe that there’s a deranged and out-of-control individual nearby.”