Wait, why did he use "also"?
Chen Yan was just Chen Yan, not someone else in his skin—Chen Ling was certain of that.
Since the same Gray World descended, and since the "Observer" could merge with himself... why couldn't another descending calamity merge with a human?
But all this was just Chen Ling's speculation... The truth might only be known by asking him directly.
Just as Chen Ling hesitated to knock, the door opened from the inside.
"Brother." Chen Yan rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"...I have something to ask you."
Before Chen Yan could speak, she glanced at Chu Muyun's room across the hall, pulled Chen Ling into her room, and closed the door.
"Ayan, I'll just come out and ask." Chen Ling looked into her eyes seriously. "Did you... massacre Bingquan Street?"
Chen Yan's body trembled. Seeing the fragments of the safety amulet in Chen Ling's hand, she silently lowered her head.
"...Yes."
Chen Ling, who had been preparing to persuade her further, froze at her straightforward admission.
"Really you?" Chen Ling asked again. "So you've also merged with a calamity?"
"...I don't know. When I woke up, I was already there."
"You also lost a period of memory?"
"Mn."
Chen Ling's brows furrowed slightly.
He believed Chen Yan wouldn't lie to him, and even he himself was in this situation... A bizarre time travel, a bizarre "Observer" in his mind, and when he woke up, he was already home.
"But the Gray World convergence point was in the back mountain, wasn't it? You should have been in surgery at the time... Why were you also affected?"
"I don't know." Chen Yan shook her head again. "I just remember the doctor giving me anesthesia. When I woke up, I was on Bingquan Street... I was scared and hid in the back mountain. When I came out, I saw brother crawling out of that monster's body..."
Hearing this, Chen Ling pieced together the cause and effect.
But why Chen Yan was affected by the Gray World convergence remained a mystery... Had the calamity that broke into Zone 2 happened to encounter Chen Yan on the operating table? And then merged?
Chen Ling didn't understand this "merging" process, and no amount of thinking would clarify it.
"Understood."
Chen Ling nodded. "Stay home these few days and don't go anywhere, got it? I'll handle the rest."
Chen Yan hesitated to speak.
"What is it?"
"I... I originally wanted to see Mom and Dad..."
Chen Ling froze. After a long silence, he said softly, "Let me clear your name first. Once things calm down, I'll take you to see them, okay?"
"Okay." Chen Yan nodded obediently.
"Stay away from that Chu Muyun these days. Don't let him touch you, and talk to him as little as possible."
"Okay."
"If Han Meng comes to ask you questions, just answer like this..."
"Okay."
After giving his instructions, Chen Ling turned and left.
Chen Yan gently locked the door and lay down on the hard wooden bed...
He turned his head to look out the window, and in his chestnut-colored pupils was the reflection of the sky full of blue auroras.
Suddenly, at the end of the aurora-filled sky, a tiny red light flickered on, like a cinnabar star.
"Here we go again." Chen Yan murmured.
As the cinnabar-like star grew brighter, a dreamlike path stretched from nowhere, extending all the way to Chen Yan's bedside... The path swayed between the star and him, like a gentle ribbon.
Lying on the bed, Chen Yan calmly gazed at this path to godhood—a divine olive branch extended to him.
After a moment, he slowly raised his hand and grasped the fluttering ribbon...
Then,
He crushed it!
Bang—
A faint sound rang in Chen Yan's ears.
The path to godhood was crushed by his single hand, turning into dust that dissipated into nothingness. At the same time, the cinnabar star in the distance dimmed rapidly.
He rejected divine favor.
Chen Yan opened his palm, where a thumb-sized fragment of the godly path lay quietly, like cinnabar-colored jasper.
He casually opened the bedside drawer, tossed the fragment in, and shut it tight.
In the dark drawer,
Over thirty identical cinnabar jaspers shimmered faintly.
Morning.
Chen Ling got up early to wash up.
There was no "good Samaritan" to reimburse his taxi fare today, so he had to walk to Bingquan Street—a round trip would take over four hours. Thus, he had to rise earlier and return later than other probationary enforcers.
To his surprise, Chu Muyun seemed to have woken even earlier.
As soon as Chen Ling entered the living room, he saw Chu Muyun sitting sideways at the table in a casual shirt and knitted vest, holding an ancient medical book and reading intently, pushing his glasses from time to time.
It was as if he weren't sitting in a drafty, shabby living room but in an elegant café in Aurora City.
Seeing Chen Ling get up, he smiled and put down the book.
"Good morning."
"Morning."
Chen Ling replied casually and hurried out, heading to the opposite Zhao's Breakfast Shop for a meal.
Ever since he'd "tipped off" Uncle Zhao last time, he felt slightly guilty, so he visited their shop every morning to boost their business... As for Zhao Yi, he'd been grounded by Uncle Zhao for a week and hadn't gone out yet.
After Chen Ling left, Chu Muyun slowly put down the book.
He stood up and walked straight to Chen Ling's room. His feet stepped on the old floorboards, making no sound... like a ghost.
Chu Muyun approached Chen Ling's bed, his eyes narrowing behind the glasses.
He put on white gloves, took out a pair of tweezers from his pocket, and collected every hair and tiny skin flake from the pillow, placing them into a brown vial.
When finished, he silently exited the room. With a wave of his hand, a breeze swept the floor, erasing all traces of his footprints.
Instead of returning to his own room, he walked straight out of the house, crossed several streets, and stopped at the entrance of a dilapidated convenience store.
Ding-ling—
A clear bell rang as he pushed open the shop door.
"What do you want to buy?" A woman sitting behind the counter yawned lazily and asked casually.
"To buy a ray of hope."
At this answer, the woman's gaze froze instantly.
The original laziness vanished completely, replaced by a pair of cold and sharp eyes. She stared at Chu Muyun before her and slowly said:
"Show your identification."
Chu Muyun lifted his fingertips, and a white playing card appeared in his palm like magic, placed face down on the table.
The woman flipped over the card—
[7 of Spades]
"Password." She spoke again.
Chu Muyun said indifferently,
"Human civilization..."
"Shall never be extinguished."