Chapter 1 "I..."

When Zhou woke up, she saw a blurry throne.

Her memory was fragmented.

After a long while, she slowly recalled what had happened.

She had been hypnotized.

And the person who had hypnotized her was the young man sitting on the throne.

The moment she looked up, her mind received a powerful shock. The man sitting on the throne was no longer wearing the white robe of the Crescent Moon Church, but was enveloped in countless rays of light.

It was an unprecedented feeling... as if a billion strands of light were surrounding her.

Her skin, her blood, her soul, all seemed to be warming up.

As a believer of the Crescent Moon, she suddenly felt a sense of wavering in her heart at this moment.

If one could be close to the 'Scorching Sun,' who would believe in the 'Crescent Moon'?

She slowly looked around. This vast wilderness, under the gentle breeze, although empty, did not feel desolate.

Wild grass grew from the flat wilderness.

This world seemed newly born, and everything here was so... intoxicating.

Gu Shen sat on the Iron Throne, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Scenes appeared before him, memories of 'Zhou'.

These scenes were like a movie, quickly scrolling through according to Gu Shen's will, pausing at any time.

His gaze fixed on a certain scene.

After he left the Holy Idol.

Zhou stood on top of a building, watching him leave... Judging from her reaction at this time, she didn't have the motivation to come and find him, but soon she looked down at her communicator.

It seemed someone had sent her a message.

This memory trembled, and the picture began to blur... Gu Shen felt it, this woman's mental strength was not stable, and forcing a reading could lead to 'collapse'.

Was this some kind of secret technique of the Crescent Moon Church?

Gu Shen waved his hand to disperse these mental images, stopping the means of plundering memories.

He wasn't flustered, and softly asked, "Who sent you the message?"

The voice sounded very gentle.

But in reality... it carried an irresistible pressure, like a divine decree.

Zhou's mental strength slowly recovered its calm. She couldn't control herself to remain silent, and hoarsely whispered, "I... don't know."

To prove her innocence.

"I can't find the sender's name, nor can I find the address... That person is like a ghost, as if they only sent a reminder email." Zhou said again in a low voice, "That ghost said you are not called Amir, nor are you a member of the Crescent Moon Church."

Gu Shen silently looked at the woman.

It was obvious that it wasn't a lie.

Zhou really didn't know.

It was just that the situation suddenly became strange. An email exposed his file?

And then... there was this on-site investigation.

Gu Shen was glad that this woman acted quickly, starting her actions at the first moment she received the news, and then took the initiative to come to his door. The Crescent Moon Church shouldn't know about this matter yet.

But the bad thing was.

Since there was a first email, there could be a second.

Gu Shen didn't say much, directly erasing Zhou's memory... This hypnosis process was very smooth, much simpler than he had imagined.

Looking at the entire battle, the Storm God's Throne badge could be said to have only erupted with a wisp of 'shock'. It seemed that this so-called divine object wasn't as powerful as he had expected, or was it just a perfunctory gesture from the god to his people?

Perhaps... there were too many of his people.

Or perhaps... he simply didn't care.

But no matter which one it was, it gave Gu Shen more confidence in his 'away game'.

He erased Zhou's memory, and at the same time, using the methods he used to treat his boss, he instilled some guidance into her mental content, and finally bestowed Zhou with a clear memory: return to her residence, have a good sleep, and nothing had happened.

After sending Zhou away.

Gu Shen suddenly understood... the feeling of Xiao establishing the 'Everlasting Foundation' in the Capital District.

If an extraordinary being's spiritual power was strong enough.

Strong enough that... he could constantly expand the spiritual link, and accept 'believers', then these hypnotized people would become the most loyal 'followers'. They would completely revolve around you and offer their lives at any time.

It was just that there were too few extraordinary beings who met such conditions.

Even if a mental-type extraordinary being reached the twelfth level, they couldn't establish a stable and lasting link with people.

Xiao's 'Bloodfire' and Gu Shen's 'Blazing Fire' were both one-in-a-billion exceptions.

Although he didn't want to be put together with Xiao, Gu Shen had to admit that their abilities seemed to be born to 'make people submit'.

Now, he had clearly felt the terrifying nature of 'Blazing Fire'... His Seasons Wilderness seemed to be able to accommodate many 'souls'. If Gu Shen was willing, he could even absorb enough believers in this land of faith in the Southern Continent to practice the doctrines he created.

"Wait a minute... Xiao..."

Thinking of this, Gu Shen suddenly realized something was wrong!

He immediately said, "Can you find out about Zhou's email?"

"Before you spoke, I was already checking." Chu Ling's speed was faster than Gu Shen's. Her tone was calm, and she displayed the results calmly, "The sender of that email cannot be queried, the reason is that the [Deep Sea] authority was borrowed, and a bug appeared. From the results, this is indeed a 'ghost email'... But knowing this information seems to be enough."

Borrowing the [Deep Sea] authority to send a ghost email.

As far as Gu Shen knew, the only person who could do all this... seemed to be one person.

"Knock, knock."

The sound of knocking on the door rang out again.

It was the hotel manager who had previously chased away the waiter. No matter how you looked at it, he was just an ordinary person, not an extraordinary being... It was just that his eyes were incredibly calm at the moment, and if you looked closely, you could still see a hint of red deep in his pupils.

The hotel manager opened his mouth with a smile, still in the same respectful tone as before, "Mr. Xiao Gu, are you satisfied with the handling result just now...?"

Gu Shen smiled.

This matter... was more interesting than he had imagined.

The manager closed the door.

He didn't make any other unnecessary moves, just leaned against the door and said softly, "Don't worry, I only sent one email. If you are willing to cooperate, the Crescent Moon Church... won't know what happened."

"Your dog nose is really sensitive."

Gu Shen said lightly, "I landed in Xiyin City and haven't even been here for twenty-four hours, and you already smelled me."

"That's not surprising."

Xiao smiled, not feeling offended, but accepting the compliment frankly.

"After all... this is my 'home'."

That's right.

His main base wasn't in the Capital District, but in the Southern Continent... After the last church case, Xiao transferred his main body. The year Gu Shen spent in meditation was also the year Xiao secretly developed his forces.

He had probably cultivated countless 'shells' this year.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows... This guy's main body was already hidden somewhere unknown.

"You have too many homes."

Gu Shen said leisurely, "I'm not sure about the others... But this one probably isn't your real home, right? Otherwise, the one who came to see me now wouldn't be such a mortal shell."

"Don't say that, I'll be sad... If there was a choice, who would want to live in this kind of place?"

Xiao's face didn't show the slightest sadness. He looked up at the sky, narrowed his eyes and said, "The old guy in the Southern Continent's mental strength is much more terrifying than the [Sky Eye] in the Capital District. If I'm not careful and get caught... that would be a fate worse than death."

Recalling the last time his mental strength was caught by [Reverse Flow], and countless ports were destroyed together.

Xiao didn't want to experience that kind of pain a second time.

And if he was discovered by the "Storm God's Throne", then he would only suffer greater torture.

Gu Shen knew Xiao very well.

This guy noticed his 'movements' immediately, and only sent an email, obviously not wanting the 'situation' to become serious... And he and himself were already in an irreconcilable situation.

Blazing Fire wanted to devour Bloodfire.

Similarly, Bloodfire also wanted to eat Blazing Fire.

Xiao wanted him to die, but didn't want him to die at the hands of the Crescent Moon Church... The reason why he held the advantage but didn't act himself was very simple, the powerful shell connected by 'Bloodfire' didn't live in Xiyin City.

If he acted.

He wasn't confident that he could kill him.

"Using such a shell to negotiate with me... is a bit too disrespectful to me." A wisp of Blazing Fire flickered from Gu Shen's fingertips, "I have nothing to talk to you about. I'll accept this wisp of your fire..."

"Oh dear, oh dear..."

Xiao quickly raised his hands, signaling surrender. He sighed and said with a smile, "You are too cautious? You have to make a killing move even if you meet with such a useless shell? Aren't you afraid of killing me and ushering in the pursuit of the Crescent Moon Church?"

Gu Shen said calmly, "I can leave the Southern Continent, can you?"

Xiao spent a long time, countless efforts, to cultivate a mature force in the Capital District, but his main body was hiding in the Southern Continent thousands of miles away... At the beginning, it might be considered a kind of 'caution', but in hindsight, he clearly had a better choice.

There was only one reason for not leaving the Southern Continent.

He couldn't leave the Southern Continent.

"If you choose to send an email to the Crescent Moon Church... I can leave Xiyin City immediately and return to the Eastern Continent, and you prepare to face the wrath of the 'Storm God's Throne'. I have a hundred ways to let him know what you have done, and become interested in your identity." Gu Shen said slowly, "You seem to be a very remarkable earthworm, you can split into hundreds of bodies, and have hundreds of lives, but for the storm... killing your hundreds of cheap lives is just a thought."

The smile on Xiao's face gradually disappeared.

His expression became gloomy little by little.

"Alright..."

The man who raised his hands slowly revealed a string of compounds on his waist.

Trinitrotoluene... A familiar explosive.

He said lightly, "Nobility is the epitaph of the noble, and baseness is the pass of the base. I have tried to communicate with you peacefully and nobly, but it seems to have little effect. Now I can only use the means I am best at... My heart is connected to a pacemaker, if you kill me, the explosive will explode instantly."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

"I know you don't care about my life..."

Xiao smiled, "In the past year, your mental strength has really improved by leaps and bounds, amazing. I'm afraid that if these explosives detonate, you can suppress them instantly and will not cause casualties on the scene."

Xiao was right.

Gu Shen's other hand had already silently pressed on the Ruler of Truth, ready to suppress the explosion at any time.

"It's just... who stipulates that the explosives connected to the pacemaker can only be carried on the body?" Xiao said calmly, "You killed me, this hotel will explode instantly. I just don't know how many people you can save in an instant with your current abilities... Do you want to try?"

"Are you threatening me?"

Gu Shen pressed the ruler and asked coldly.

There were many innocent people here... If Xiao really buried enough explosives in advance, then in this explosion, Gu Shen could only achieve "self-protection". He knew very well that he couldn't save everyone.

What he knew even more clearly was.

For Xiao, such threats could be used countless times.

If he gave in once.

Then... there would be countless times next.

"If this explosion happens... you can't escape the investigation of the Crescent Moon Church. Once it attracts the attention of the Storm God's Throne, do you really think you can escape?" Gu Shen did not accept this threat.

"I can't escape, and you don't want to escape." Xiao said quietly, "I can assure you that once this explosion happens... you will not be able to leave the Southern Continent. In the eyes of the storm, there is no difference between the two of us."

It was just a stalemate for a few seconds.

"Please..."

Xiao stared at Gu Shen's eyes, and the gloomy look on his face disappeared without a trace in an instant.

As if all the unpleasantness had never happened.

He suddenly smiled and said, "You gave me a shot in the Capital District, and you tricked me out of my life in the snowy field. The person who is really angry should be me. In this situation, why do you have to be... so nervous?"

"Obviously... this is a lose-lose situation." Gu Shen said calmly, "If you threaten me, this situation will appear."

"Lose-lose?"

Xiao smiled again.

He slowly put down his raised hands, quickly straightened his sleeves, and said lightly: "No... this is not a lose-lose."

"What I just did was just to tell you... for a gambler like me, I have already prepared to sacrifice everything. Every second of my life may be the last second. I don't care about my life or death at all. I can do anything. I don't even care about life or death, so how can I care about winning or losing?"

"You want to say to a gambler who doesn't care about winning or losing, this is a lose-lose?"

Xiao was no longer in a posture leaning against the door, but slowly and casually found a chair to sit down, as if he was not worried that Gu Shen would attack at all.

He took an orange from the fruit plate, did not peel it, and just stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it slowly.

Gulu.

He swallowed a whole orange.

His expression was very comfortable, he narrowed his eyes, looked at Gu Shen, and said sincerely: "If you are willing to negotiate with me, maybe we will usher in another situation... We can have a win-win situation."

"..."

Gu Shen only thought that every word Xiao was saying now was nonsense.

Win-win?

Cooperating with anyone may be a win-win situation, but it is impossible to cooperate with Xiao.

"From your eyes, I saw a strong distrust." Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, "I know where your hostility comes from... Next, I will share some things that you are interested in. Maybe after listening, you will change your mind."

"If I guessed correctly."

"You should be looking for... this thing."

Xiao slowly stretched out his hand and took out a photo from his inner pocket.

An ancient bronze figure lamp.

Gu Shen controlled his emotional fluctuations. When he saw the lamp, his expression did not change much.

But after fighting many times.

Now Gu Shen and Xiao know each other too well, and no one can deceive anyone in the face of each other.

"Stop pretending."

"Although I am not in the Eastern Continent, I am probably more concerned about the information of the Eastern Continent than a few people. The Li family in Snow Forbidden City has been looking for antique lamps for a long time this year. This is indeed a strange behavior that cannot be understood. Most people don't understand why, so they don't pursue it."

He did not take back the photo, but put it on the table and said with a soft smile: "But I am different from those people. Before the storm comes, rain clouds always gather first. Everything has a reason. The Li family's lamp searching action must have a reason. Fortunately, I remember the things in the Tundra very clearly... Many inconspicuous funerary objects fell out of the coffin, one of which was a bronze figure lamp."

Gu Shen said lightly, "The lamp is in your hands?"

"..."

Of course, Xiao did not answer this question. He smiled and said: "I came here just to tell you that I know where the lamp you are looking for is."

"Why should I believe you?"

Gu Shen shook his head.

He couldn't believe Xiao's words... These few words alone were not enough to make him trust.

"Of course you can not believe."

"It's just... what if your search has no results?"

Xiao adjusted his sitting posture unhurriedly.

He leaned lazily on the chair, stretched out his fingers, lowered his head and slowly broke them, while saying: "One, two, three, four... You seem to have found a lot of helpers. Those guys in the slums are working very hard. The Xiyin River will be turned over in a short time. If the lamp you are looking for is really in that kind of place, it seems to be pretty good, but... what if it is not there?"

"Or, let's take a step back."

"No matter how small the sound is, it is a sound. Are you sure that the actions of these guys will not attract the attention of interested people?"

Xiao shrugged and said: "For example... me."

Gu Shen silently stared at the unscrupulous man in front of him.

How many "eyes" did this guy plant in Xiyin City?

"I want to know... what is that lamp?"

Xiao slowly leaned forward and said seriously: "As far as I know, it is just an ordinary object without extraordinary aura. It is not worth the Li family spending so much energy to search for it, let alone you personally coming to the Southern Continent."

Gu Shen no longer tense his body.

He sat opposite Xiao and said softly, "You seem to want to know the news about the 'lamp' very much... Okay, I can tell you."

Xiao was stunned.

"One question for one question." Gu Shen stretched out a finger and made a request.

Xiao pondered for a moment, smiled slightly, and leaned back again: "... Okay, but my requirement is to ask questions in turn."

"Okay, but I want to ask first." Gu Shen said: "In order to ensure the truth of the answer, you and I will divide a wisp of fire at the same time to observe each other's mental fluctuations."

Bloodfire and Blazing Fire have the characteristics of attracting each other.

Once the two wisps of fire are close, they will very clearly feel each other's mental fluctuations.

Xiao snorted coldly.

This shell of his was inherently weak, and the amount of "Bloodfire" it carried was very small.

If he divided a wisp, there would not be much left.

However... he did not refuse. As Gu Shen said, he squeezed out a very small wisp from his eyebrows.

The two wisps of fire merged with each other.

Seeing this scene, Gu Shen was a little relieved.

He came straight to the point and asked the first question.

"What is written on the ancient stone slab that the Evening Bell Church took away?"