The Shaonian blinked twice, as if to say, “How should I know?”
Xu Chuyao had only mentioned it in passing. Anyway, that was how they had spent the past few days. She had even taken advantage of the fact that her wife could not move to farm a massive amount of Counter Villain Value, which felt excellent.
She even suspected at one point that the Butterfly Effect had caused Shen Ning to be bedridden specifically so she could farm Counter Villain Value, allowing her to push for the Fifth Rank in one go and then directly kill Wen Shengqing.
However, after she finished the draws, she was still stuck at the Fourth Tier Peak, and her hopes were dashed on the spot.
Over the past few days, Shen Ning had been extremely bored lying in bed, so Xu Chuyao played movies for her. They were watching a classic horror film from the Spirit Age called *Final Destination*.
“Look, isn’t your Fifth Rank ability a bit like Death?”
“It is a little bit.”
“When you activate your ability, does it give the target all sorts of premonitions?”
“I don’t know.”
Shen Ning kept a stiff face and rubbed her small stomach.
“I’m a little hungry.”
“Of course you’re hungry. You’ve only eaten some fruit these past few days.”
Xu Chuyao muttered, “How can a person survive without carbs?” while pulling her out of bed.
“Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll take you to the cafeteria and introduce you to the Council Headquarters while we’re at it. You were supposed to go on the day you returned, but you’ve been lying down for so long.”
—
Wen Shengqing woke up at 8:00 AM.
In the summer, when the sky turned bright at 5:00 AM, this was already considered late. The sunlight outside was somewhat piercing.
He straightened his clothes and walked to the door, only to find that the strange feeling still lingered. It was as if something was slightly off everywhere around him, and from time to time, a gentle Wind would brush past.
But the windows were closed, and the air conditioning wasn’t on — so where was the Wind coming from?
People were coming and going in the corridor. He heard someone humming a song as they passed:
“To love even in death~ It’s not satisfying unless it’s thorough~”
It seemed to be an old song from the Spirit Age.
Wen Shengqing had no interest in these romantic lyrics, but the word “death” stung him for some reason. At the same time, a faint, seemingly non-existent Wind brushed past his ear, making him increasingly irritable.
He didn’t want to go to the restaurant anymore; he would go straight to the tea room.
“The melancholy of that day, becoming melancholy~”
It was another song.
Peter Mo was the only one in the tea room. He thought no one would come this early, so he was playing music on speaker and even humming along.
That was until he looked up and saw Wen Shengqing’s grim face.
“Marshal! I… I didn’t think you would arrive so early.”
Peter Mo almost fell off the sofa as he hurriedly turned off the music.
Wen Shengqing didn’t say a word. He originally wanted to lash out, but he couldn’t explain why he was so frustrated.
There seemed to be another gust of Wind by his ear.
“Marshal, do you have new instructions since you’ve arrived so early? Should I call everyone over?”
“Is the window open?”
Peter Mo was stunned for a moment and took a look. “It’s open a tiny bit.”
“Close it.”
“And the air conditioning?”
“Turn that off, too.”
Peter Mo got busy, closing all the windows and the air conditioning. The tea room immediately became airtight. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be a single trace of airflow.
But Wen Shengqing still felt an itch on his face, as if Wind were still brushing past his ear, sounding like cold, faint laughter.
There was no Wind and no Spirit Power fluctuations.
‘Is it a psychological effect?’
“Call the others over.”
A few minutes later, the people arrived one after another.
“Marshal, please give us your instructions!”
Someone immediately reported, “Following your instructions, we have stationed people at the airport and along the roads. We can take control of the people coming from Center City at the first possible moment.”
Wen Shengqing’s expression softened slightly.
“Control them, but don’t be too aggressive. Gather information first and try to stall them as much as possible until further instructions from me.”
“Understood!”
After the person left, the atmosphere remained oppressive. At that moment, a Councilor said in a low voice:
“Marshal, I ran into one of General Chu’s people outside today, a man named Judas. He wants to see you and said he will be waiting for you on the third-floor balcony.”
“Judas?”
“Yes, he was the one who spoke up during the last highway conflict.”
Everyone understood that this person was likely going to live up to his namesake.
Wen Shengqing frowned. ‘Does this man… not know about Chu Cang’s ability?’
After thinking for a moment, he decided to meet him.
“All of you, get out. But don’t go far; stay on standby.”
The group left as ordered.
—
Wen Shengqing left the tea room and took a loop around the first floor before heading up to the third floor. As he passed a corner, he heard a familiar voice:
“Look, that was Cafeteria Number One. The hallway comes out right here, and those are the emergency exits on both sides. Well, they’re called emergency exits, but whether they’re actually safe depends on the person.”
“That over there is Elevator Number One, which goes straight to the top floor. Let me tell you, the view from the rooftop is amazing. I’ll take you there in a bit.”
Xu Chuyao was pulling Shen Ning along, giving her a tour of the Council Spire as if she were showing her around a new home.
‘Introducing a new home… Do they think they’ll be living here in the future?’
The thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and Wen Shengqing’s mood became inexplicably more irritated.