Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Qin Lan stood before the rift in silence for a long time.
The whisper was right. A deep well of anger remained trapped inside him with nowhere to go.
The being on the other side of the Abyss had to be the owner of that voice–the true culprit that had created this instance.
Qin Lan had thought killing those anomalies would solve everything.
Now that belief seemed naive.
If the voice was telling the truth and another instance could be built with only a little time, then what meaning did anything he had done hold?
“Qin Lan.”
A deep voice came from behind him.
Qin Lan jolted awake and turned to find Lu Xingshan standing there with an unusually grave expression.
Lu Xingshan stared at the rift and its ghostly green glow. His face was more solemn than Qin Lan had ever seen it.
“You need to leave.”
“This is not something you should come into contact with–at least not yet.”
“Don’t be an idiot.”
The instant Lu Xingshan sensed the change inside the instance, he had forced his way in.
Qin Lan might not know what lay beyond the Abyss, but Lu Xingshan knew something about it.
He had not entered for Qin Lan. He was worried that whatever existed on the other side might endanger Luo Yue.
Whatever was there, it was unimaginably terrifying.
Since Lu Xingshan had personally intervened, Qin Lan had nothing more to say. He nodded.
“I understand.”
He stopped looking at the dreadful rift and turned away decisively.
“I’ll leave soon.”
“There is something I need to do first.”
Qin Lan spoke softly as he passed Lu Xingshan, then hurried toward the edge of town.
Lu Xingshan said nothing. He watched Qin Lan disappear into the distance, then patted Luo Yue on the shoulder.
“We should leave first.”
“But he–” Luo Yue did not understand, but Lu Xingshan’s stern gaze made her swallow the rest of her words.
Their figures faded as they withdrew from the instance.
Several minutes later, Qin Lan returned to the cave in the mountains and found the little girl and Ah Hui beside the bonfire.
More branches had been added to the fire, and the flames were burning brighter.
Firelight filled the cave. Amid the soft crackling, the place seemed almost peaceful.
Ah Hui had fallen asleep again from exhaustion. Only the little girl remained awake.
“Big brother, you’re back.”
She seemed to have noticed Qin Lan long ago and greeted him without turning around.
Qin Lan approached, uncertain how to begin.
“I… killed the prince and dealt with the other monsters,” he said hesitantly.
The little girl sat on the ground, staring absently into the bonfire.
“I know.”
Qin Lan froze, then forced himself to continue.
“But I couldn’t deal with the one behind everything. I’m sorry…”
He truly felt unwilling to accept it.
Qin Lan wanted to avenge those who had once lived in the town and destroy this instance completely, but he had no choice except to give up.
Never before had he felt so powerless.
“It’s all right. I know you did everything you could.”
The little girl turned and gave Qin Lan a sweet smile. “I also know you’ll come back. When you do, you’ll put an end to it forever.”
Qin Lan stared at her.
He did not understand why this mysterious little girl would say such a thing.
“Why do you believe that?”
Her eyes shone brightly. “Because I can see it.”
“I can see what you’re thinking in your eyes.”
“I believe you’ll return and uproot every trace of evil here.”
“Your eyes already told me.”
Qin Lan had no answer for a long time.
“Fuck… Why did you have to make this so emotional…?”
He failed to restrain himself and swore in front of a child.
“After you say something like that, how could I possibly have the nerve not to come back? Damn it…”
Qin Lan irritably raked a hand through his hair and continued cursing under his breath.
“Just wait. It shouldn’t take too long…”
“I’ll let it go this time.”
“But the next time I come here, I’ll fill that shitty Abyss with sewage.”
…
The surroundings distorted, and Qin Lan returned to the Fallen Zone.
He had barely adjusted to the change in light when Lu Xingshan clamped a hand onto his shoulder.
“Qin Lan, why don’t you come back with me for a chat?”
“You must have quite a lot to discuss with me about this instance.”
Lu Xingshan smiled, but his gaze brooked no refusal. Qin Lan felt nothing but pressure.
“Ha ha… Can I say no?” Qin Lan asked weakly.
Lu Xingshan’s smile widened as his fingers tightened.
“What do you think?”
Terrifying force bore down on Qin Lan, and the ground beneath his feet groaned under the strain.
Qin Lan swallowed.
“I understand.”
This was a man who could plant Qin Lan in the ground like human-shaped ginseng, then apply to the United Government for an agricultural subsidy.
Even at his current level of strength, Qin Lan felt completely powerless with Lu Xingshan’s hand on his shoulder.
“All right, Luo Yue. The job is done, so head back to the Safe Zone and get some rest.” Lu Xingshan gave her a gentle smile, looking every bit the kindly elder.
Then he turned to Qin Lan, and for some reason, that kindness became sinister.
“As for the two of us…”
…
In the familiar director’s office, Qin Lan sat uneasily on the sofa and waited for Lu Xingshan to speak.
Lu Xingshan sat behind his desk, leisurely sipped his tea, and released a satisfied sigh before finally speaking.
“Do you know how much trouble you nearly caused?”
Qin Lan drew in his neck. “How… how much?”
“A 4-Star anomaly?”
Lu Xingshan put down his cup and sneered.
“A 4-Star anomaly?”
“If that were all, it would have been easy.”
“You nearly destroyed all of Safe Zone 088!”
Lu Xingshan’s low shout left Qin Lan dumbfounded.
“Holy shit!” Qin Lan’s eyes widened. “Director, that’s not how you pin blame on someone! I can’t carry a burden that big!”
Destroyed an entire Safe Zone?
Why not accuse him of trying to overthrow the United Government while they were at it?
“You don’t believe me?” Lu Xingshan sneered. He pulled out a thick stack of documents and tossed it into Qin Lan’s hands. “Read them yourself.”
Qin Lan remained unconvinced as he accepted the files and began reading suspiciously.
The farther he read, the more shocked he became. Cold sweat soon covered him.
[…An Abyssal spawn appeared inside an instance, resulting in the death of the Anomaly Hunter Bureau director of Safe Zone 074…]
[…An Abyssal spawn appeared outside Safe Zone 095. More than ten 3-Star instances and five 4-Star instances lost control…]
[…Safe Zone 032 was rebuilt after its destruction. The Abyssal spawn has been transferred to *** for containment and management…]
[…Two 4-Star Anomaly Hunters killed. Investigation confirmed the presence of an Abyssal spawn within the instance…]
File after file recorded, at minimum, the death of a 4-Star Anomaly Hunter.
The most severe incidents involved multiple instances running out of control or even the total destruction of a Safe Zone.
“All these years, people have believed the Safe Zones were peaceful and stable.”
“In reality, the authorities simply suppressed news of certain horrifying incidents before it could reach ordinary citizens.”
Lu Xingshan spoke calmly. “Every trace of the Abyss represents a potential high-risk threat.”
“Do you know what would have happened if you entered that rift?”
A chill shot up Qin Lan’s back. “What?”
Lu Xingshan snorted.
“The best possible outcome is that you defeat the thing on the other side, drag yourself back with one breath left, and then die here. Of course, the chance of that happening is effectively zero. You would never survive.”
“There is a greater than 99.9 percent chance that you would die over there. Then the thing on the other side would obtain the coordinates to our world and emerge in the Fallen Zone.”
Lu Xingshan’s voice grew colder.
“No matter what form an Abyssal spawn takes, multiple veteran 4-Star Anomaly Hunters must work together to confront it.”
“Sometimes, a 5-Star Anomaly Hunter is required…”
Qin Lan had nothing to say.
No wonder the rift had felt so terrifying. An enemy of that level had been hiding within it.
“Your teachers probably never explained how instances are created, did they?” Lu Xingshan abruptly changed the subject.
Qin Lan stared at him. “Instances? Aren’t they created by evil spirits from another world–in other words, anomalies–”
“Wrong,” Lu Xingshan interrupted calmly.
“Wrong?”
Qin Lan was genuinely confused now.
That was not what his teachers had taught him.
“Anomalies actually originate in our world,” Lu Xingshan explained in a deep voice.
“Ordinarily, the obsession of one or more living beings forms a curse. That curse then condenses into an anomaly, and an instance naturally forms around the anomaly.”
“The Abyss is different. It is another world–one capable of deliberately creating instances.”
“The Cataclysm began when the aura of the Abyss first seeped into our world.”
The revelation emptied Qin Lan’s mind.
The Abyss was another world?
Anomalies were native to this one?
Lu Xingshan glanced at Qin Lan’s stunned face.
“You didn’t expect that, did you?”
“The leaking aura of the Abyss changed our world and allowed anomalies and instances to be born here. But at their core, the sources of our anomalies remain native to our world.”
“The beings in the Abyss, however, can deliberately manufacture both instances and anomalies. They are far more powerful than you imagine.”
“Curses are also the means by which Abyssal spawn survive. Their mastery of curses far exceeds ours.”
Lu Xingshan took the files from Qin Lan and returned them to the drawer.
“In the future, if you encounter another instance connected to the Abyss, do not hesitate. Run if you can, then report it to the nearest Anomaly Hunter Bureau director as quickly as possible. Understood?”
Qin Lan nodded obediently. “Understood.”
Lu Xingshan grunted in acknowledgment, then seemed to remember something.
“By the way, when do you plan to collect your 3-Star Anomaly Hunter badge?”
“There will be an official promotion ceremony. Every important figure in Safe Zone 088 will attend the banquet.”
“That process cannot be skipped.”
Qin Lan jolted. “What?”
“Director, I… I don’t think I’m strong enough yet…”
Lu Xingshan scoffed. “Don’t pretend in front of me. Are you going to claim Luo Yue cleared the instance for you?”
“One glance is enough for me to judge your strength.”
Qin Lan scratched his head awkwardly. “When you put it like that… Ha ha…”
“Still, becoming a 3-Star Anomaly Hunter this quickly might cause unnecessary trouble. I don’t want headquarters to–”
Before he could finish, Lu Xingshan laughed.
“Quickly?”
“Haven’t you already been an Anomaly Hunter for four years? It’s written quite clearly in your file.”
Qin Lan froze.
“Four years? Didn’t I only become one a little over a month–”
He stopped. One look at Lu Xingshan’s meaningful smile made him understand.
“My file…”
“Oh!”
Qin Lan smiled knowingly.
Lu Xingshan chuckled. “I have the final say over what goes into those files.”
“If you need to meet the requirements, then we can find a way to make you meet them. Consider it one small indulgence of authority…”
“Isn’t that right, 3-Star Anomaly Hunter Qin?”
Qin Lan immediately regarded him with solemn respect.
“Now this is what a good director who serves the people looks like.”