Chapter 213: Remnants
Chapter 213: Remnants
As Chen Chuan entered the room, sunlight streamed in from outside, illuminating a portion of the interior and casting his shadow onto the floor.
He glanced around, and aside from a layer of dust, the room's furnishings were much the same as when he had left a year ago, indicating that no one had been here since his departure.
Perhaps it was due to the building materials used, or some other reason, but not even a single insect was in sight.
Anything of significant value had been gradually taken away by his predecessor long ago, leaving behind only some furniture.
As he slowly moved about the room, memories of his predecessor would surface at opportune moments, clear and vivid, like a warm-toned old movie playing out before his eyes.
These were scenes from his childhood, along with fragments of memories of his predecessor's parents. This period was arguably the happiest and most carefree time in his predecessor's life.
However, these memories were from before he turned five. In the subsequent memories, the presence of his parents gradually faded, as if they had gone off to do something, returning less and less frequently. Instead, his aunt, Yu Wan, would occasionally appear in his life, sometimes accompanied by the loud voice of Nian Fuli.
When he turned six, his parents never returned. Subsequently, Nian Fuli and Yu Wan took him into their home. However, as he grew older, they would come back to stay for a few days every once in a while, seemingly nostalgic for the past or perhaps waiting and hoping for something.
At this moment, Chen Chuan deeply understood this sentiment. He took a breath and slowly made his way to his bedroom. He first drew open the curtains, letting in some light, then went to the side of the bed and reached under it, pulling out a small box.
After a moment's thought, he stood up and went to the bedside table, pulling out the entire drawer. From the compartment below, he retrieved a key and used it to open the box.
The box didn't contain anything particularly valuable, just some old books, expense ledgers, and newspapers left behind by his predecessor's parents, with some pages deliberately cut up and categorized together.
His predecessor had no idea why these things were kept, but he figured they might have some use and didn't bother to throw them away.
Now, Chen Chuan wondered if his predecessor's parents had left behind some clues, cutting them up to avoid detection and storing them separately.
He laid out the contents on the table, then brought over the items given to him by Old Lady Ni, and compared them. Indeed, he quickly found corresponding parts that matched.
Patiently, he pieced them together and noticed that some of the combined characters had number markings underneath, so he arranged them in order.
After assembling everything, he discovered it was an address with a string of numbers at the end. The writing was clear, indicating it was an address in Central City, but the purpose of the numbers remained unclear.
He pondered for a moment, then made a connection with the black card. When he had asked Gao Ming to verify it, he learned that the card had been invalid for a decade, roughly the same time when his aunt took him away.
Could the item left behind by his predecessor's parents be related to this black card? Aside from this, he had another question.
The idea of attending Wu Yi only came to him after his arrival; it was a choice he made. He could confirm that while his predecessor was curious about Wu Yi and admired the fighters, he never had the intention to take the exam.
His predecessor's greatest interest was actually in leaving Yangzhi and becoming an explorer, traveling the world to see if places were as wondrous as depicted in novels and movies.
Yet, when Old Lady Ni gave him that item, her words implied that his mother believed he would take the Wu Yi exam. As a fighter herself, his mother would likely not neglect his martial arts training, but his predecessor had never been exposed to such training nor had anyone mentioned it to him.
Was there a problem somewhere? Could his predecessor's death be related to this?
As he pondered, he felt there were too few clues to make any guesses.
Looking at the address before him, he realized he would have to go to Central City to investigate further.
He noted down the address and numbers, then shuffled the pieces, putting some back into the box and locking it before returning it to its original place.
He glanced at the bright sunlight outside and decided to clean up while he was there.
He fetched some tools and tidied up the house, inside and out. In the basement, he unexpectedly found a sealed can of tea leaves, likely left by his predecessor's father, which he hadn't noticed before.
There was also an algae oil generator in the basement to ensure power at night. He checked it and found it still worked, so he started it up, boiled some water, made tea, and carried a chair outside to the veranda, where he sat, gazing at the forest and stream outside.
In the autumn scenery, a touch of golden red was always present, and the warm sunlight shone down, casting the shadows of tree branches onto the eaves, gently swaying there, and occasionally spinning down a few fallen leaves.
The memories of his childhood made this place feel so familiar. During his childhood, he often played with Meng Shu at the creek in front, and later, when they attended school, they were classmates. Perhaps it was because of this that Meng Shu looked at him differently, after all, the most beautiful time of childhood was spent together.
Speaking of which, this trip to Central City might even lead to a chance encounter with her.
After finishing a pot of tea, he stood up, went back to the room to tidy up his things, then locked the door and descended the wooden steps. He remounted his bike, glanced back, and surveyed the scenery around him before finally pedaling away from that place.
The return trip was uneventful, and an hour later, he arrived back on campus. After returning to the dorm, he put aside these old memories, no matter what they were. What he needed to face now was the broader and more distant future ahead of him.
In the following days, he began to use the medicinal herbs obtained from the Action Team to assist his martial arts cultivation.
These medicines were far superior to what he had encountered before; with just a tiny amount, they were effective, and surprisingly, the degree of harm from the second self's virtualization wasn't significantly increased. This was quite remarkable, and it lived up to Agent Feng's words about it being exclusive to the government.
He calculated the quantity; if there were no additional increases, it would be enough for him to use for about a hundred days. That might even allow him to sustain himself until his trip to Central City.
Every evening after the daytime training, he would take the opportunity during his routine foundational breathing technique exercises to review the materials. Recently, he had been focusing on a book about secret rituals.
The content was incredibly dry, but he found it fascinating. He could decipher the intricate patterns that would make others shy away, seemingly finding some sort of enjoyment in it.
He paid particular attention to the secret rituals that were the subject of urban legends. If he were to take on an urban legend commission, he would likely encounter these, and he even thought that sometimes, when resolving urban legends, he might be able to try using secret techniques to assist in the solution.
After each day passed in such a fulfilling manner, in mid-October, Director Lei called him.
"Chen Chuan, we've confirmed the identity of that person."
Chen Chuan's heart stirred at these words, immediately knowing they were referring to the individual who used secret rituals to absorb life energy. Director Lei's voice continued over the phone:
"This person's name is Han Zhang, an elder of the Bloodstain Gang. The gang members like to call him 'Uncle Han.' Through our investigations these past few days, we've also located this person's whereabouts. After the Bloodstain Gang's momentum faltered, he took a group of people and hid in a village outside the city, where they're still holed up.
He's likely accompanied by members of the Life Sect, and the Secret Sect Review Bureau now requires someone to deal with this and handle those heretical followers. Chen Chuan, you have experience in dealing with heretical and armed groups outside the city,
So, on behalf of the Secret Sect Review Bureau, I'm asking you if you're willing to accept the Review Bureau's commission to clean up these heretical followers and those related to the heretical group?"
Chen Chuan immediately responded, "No problem, Director Lei. I'm willing to take on this commission."
He was now a second-year student and could accept commissions in his own name. As for the procedure, he could also entrust it to Gao Ming, but he didn't think it was necessary yet.
Ren Su's company had provided him with a lot of convenience, and he should give back in some way. This commission from a government agency could also help improve the company's reputation and evaluation.
So, he subsequently asked Director Lei to place this commission with the company, and he would accept it on the company's behalf.
Director Lei didn't mind; as long as Chen Chuan accepted the commission, the name it was under didn't matter. He said, "I'll have someone send the materials later; you can handle them at your convenience."
Chen Chuan replied, "Okay."
As expected of official materials, less than half an hour after hanging up the phone, someone delivered them to the school. After signing for them, he returned to his room and carefully reviewed them.
This "Uncle Han" had a keen sense of smell and strong execution. When the upper echelons of the Bloodstain Gang were initially targeted, he sensed something amiss and immediately led a group of people out of the city, preparing to wait and see how the situation developed.
However, the subsequent situation was naturally not worth mentioning. Although, in the days since the collapse of the Mo Lan Corporation, the remaining Bloodstain Gang in the city was thoroughly eliminated, this group of people had hidden outside the city early on and were not the primary focus of various forces, so no one had bothered with them yet.
But now, things were different. Since Uncle Han was clearly connected to heretical followers, the Secret Sect Bureau, having already traced them to this point, would naturally not let them off.
Chen Chuan looked at the hideout of this person, and his heart stirred slightly. He found this place somewhat familiar, as not far from here was Cai Family Village, the place he had been to when chasing after Fang Dawei's group.
...
(End of Chapter)
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