Light Fortress
Chapter 101 - 93: Friends

Chapter 101: Chapter 93: Friends

Everyone has secrets.

Common folk, important figures, all the same—yet, what’s different is... the former’s secrets are worthless.

...

...

Gu Shen stood quietly within the lady’s dream.

There was nothing here, no pain or joy, no fantasies or memories, only a long, deep corridor and doors of iron.

Gu Shen suddenly understood why Lu Nanzhi could so disarmingly take off her earrings... Because even if he really entered the dream, he would see nothing.

Every door was locked.

Important figures’ secrets are always locked.

The fine thread that deeply penetrated the dream, tried to crash into the iron doors but was mercilessly bounced back, time after time. When it aimed for the lady’s dream, it never anticipated such a dead end.

"The lady’s dream is as solid as a rock."

Gu Shen did not know what method this was... but he was certain, with these "Spiritual Locks" in place, no one could hypnotize Lu Nanzhi to extract information in the dream.

"Let’s stop here."

He moved slowly towards the end of the corridor, the fine thread having no escape and fleeing to its endpoint.

The last iron door within the lady’s dream was different from the others... It seemed unlocked, yet it was blood red, the surrounding walls stained the same hue.

Something bizarre happened.

Fleeing here, the thread suddenly stopped, clearly struggling. The only escape was through that blood-red door, but it furiously resisted moving forward... preferring to be caught by Gu Shen rather than touching the blood-red door.

Thus, Gu Shen... easily grasped it.

Chi Huo flared instantaneously, giving the opponent no chance to maneuver.

"Hiss."

In an instant, the thread was burned to nothing!

Having done this, Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief, considering the mission perfectly accomplished... but he did not immediately dissipate his spiritual power; instead, he furrowed his brows, closely observing Lu Nanzhi’s dream.

He harbored no intention of prying.

In fact, he could not pry into anything.

Only the "blood red door" close at hand, elicited some curiosity in Gu Shen. He did not understand, the desperately fleeing thread had already reached here, what could be scarier than being incinerated by him?

Why such fear?

Standing at a close distance, carefully observing, the iron door’s blood color seemed to seep ancient characters, remnants of some bygone era, indecipherable, yet he felt a vague pull.

"Maybe... touch it."

This thought emerged in Gu Shen’s mind.

Impossible!

Gu Shen was startled by this thought; coming to his senses, a palm was already stretching out mid-air, and he hastily retreated two steps, keeping a distance from the blood-red door covered in ancient script...

What was he thinking?

"This door... seems a bit bewitching."

Gu Shen viewed the red door with some wariness, suppressing the urge to touch it again.

Fortunately, his willpower was strong enough; he was nearly tempted, and what could have happened had he touched it, nobody knew.

He quickly dissipated his spiritual power.

...

...

Song Ci stood quietly in front of the door.

He stared at the wall clock, each second stretching into eternity.

Perhaps it was because they had just met, but Gu Shen’s image in his mind still lingered on their both running headlong like ostriches in the old city district.

However, this impression wasn’t very reliable... Song Ci made significant efforts, but still couldn’t reconcile the "Gu Shen" with the genius boy Mr. Cui Zhongcheng spoke of.

This kid, he better not botch things up.

The lady must not come to any harm!

Anxiously waiting... waiting... waiting...

Finally, with a "creak,"

The door opened.

Song Ci looked at Gu Shen’s composed face, held his breath, and dared not breathe heavily.

"It’s resolved now."

Gu Shen, seeing Crow’s face wanting to say something but hesitating, couldn’t help but smile and said, "What, don’t you believe it?"

"The lady is asleep inside... take a look for yourself."

He had accomplished what the Spirit Extraordinary of the Deep Sea Tenth Layer hadn’t?

Song Ci, full of suspicion, peeked through the door gap, cautiously looking, and after seeing the lady’s peacefully sleeping countenance, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Crow gently closed the door, pulled Gu Shen all the way downstairs, lit a cigarette, and respectfully offered it to him.

Gu Shen chuckled wryly, shaking his head in refusal.

Crow of course was just putting on an act; he took a deep drag, his breath filled with complex emotions, and finally mumbled vaguely, "You lad... not bad at all."

It was unclear whether to admire Gu Shen or admire Cui Zhongcheng.

Either way, this lad indeed had some tricks up his sleeve.

He was a genius.

"It’s not that I’m amazing, it’s just that the source is special," Gu Shen didn’t take credit, saying indifferently, "It’s also the lady’s good luck to have found the right person."

This time, removing the Spiritual Imprint... Gu Shen felt the formidable aspect of his own Chi Huo.

Exceedingly delicate perceptive abilities.

That fine thread might deceive a Spirit Extraordinary from the Deep Sea Tenth Layer, but it couldn’t deceive him!

He now had great confidence that if he went to Deep Sea for the Extraordinary Trial again, he could definitely pass the first layer.

...

...

"About this afternoon, I’m sorry,"

Crow leaned against the alley wall, one hand in his pocket, his chiseled cheeks enveloped in wisps of smoke, and he said in a low tone, "I owe you a meal... and a favor. I mean it this time."

"Curing the lady has nothing to do with you. You don’t owe me a favor for this," Gu Shen shrugged and said, "’Sleep Talkers’ opened here to solve people’s ailments... even if it weren’t the lady who came today, I would have treated them all the same. Besides, she paid."

Crow squinted his eyes, somewhat surprised.

"But you do owe me a meal,"

Gu Shen laughed, "Running off halfway through the meal, that’s too unethical, right? I later heard that Crow’s name is notorious in the old city district."

Song Ci felt a bit embarrassed.

"Next time for sure!" he patted his chest dramatically and promised, "Now you know the Crow from the Sincere Heart Association. My reputation is well-known in the underworld, my word is my bond! A meal I owe you, I’ll repay tenfold, a hundredfold!"

"Alright, alright..."

Gu Shen waved his hand, laughing, "Making it sound like you owe me your life."

Song Ci’s face showed no joking as he earnestly said, "The lady is very important to me... saving her is grander than saving my life."

"..."

Gu Shen sighed, shaking his head, "There’s another important thing I think I’d better tell you."

Song Ci squinted his eyes.

"A thread of Spiritual Imprint was planted in the lady’s forehead,"

Gu Shen stated bluntly, "In the future, you might want to be more vigilant about who usually approaches the lady... This thread of Spiritual Imprint, it only had a chance to root when she took off her earrings."

"Only when she took off her earrings, could the Spiritual Imprint be planted..." Crow frowned and said coldly, "Who else could do such a thing?"

Almost instantly, a person came to mind.

Zhao Qi.

This nominal successor of the massive Zhao Family, in reality, was nothing but a talentless wastrel who knew nothing better than indulging in pleasures and squandering family assets, but he was this laughingstock of Da Du who, by some struck luck, married a woman seen by all as near perfect, Lu Nanzhi... While some in Da Du joked it was a match of wealth and beauty, Crow knew, the lady possessed more than just looks.

A certain Councilman Zhao, whose days were dwindling, could barely cling to life even with the most precious salvation relics... and the Zhao Family, like a sunset, everyone could foresee their decline from the peak, but they still managed to hold on; half due to Mr. Xiao Cui, who styled himself as the Guardian of Golden Mountain.

The other half relied on Lu Nanzhi, whom outsiders considered ’clinging to the Zhao Family.’

This woman had a perfect appearance, a calm mind, ruthless tactics, and a courage greater than most men... In Crow’s heart, this benefactor who pulled him out of the mire of fate was sacrosanct.

If he hadn’t known that the marriage was only nominal and for show, he probably couldn’t have restrained himself from shooting Zhao Qi at the wedding.

The married life of Lu Nanzhi and Zhao Qi, apart from appearing together in public, they almost never met, living completely separate lives... one drowning in hedonism day and night, the other navigating a labyrinth of danger surrounded by enemies, trekking through thorny and muddy paths.

But if there was one person who could have had the chance to plant a Spiritual Imprint when the lady took off her earrings.

It would definitely have been Zhao Qi.

Knowing the lady was suffering from sleeplessness, thanks to "someone close"... Crow’s forehead veins were already bulging, but recalling the lady’s instructions on the rooftop, the veins swelled and subsided.

He clenched his fists in silence, asking in a low voice, "Who is that guy, do you know?"

"I don’t know."

Gu Shen shook his head, calmly adding, "From that Spiritual Imprint... I couldn’t get any other information. It’s only as a friend that I’m advising you, this time was just a probe, next time it may not go so well."

"Understood... I’ll be careful,"

Song Ci sighed softly.

It was still just a suspicion, no evidence.

Acting impulsively would only bring trouble to the lady.

However... with the lady’s intelligence, she probably already had suspects in mind; suddenly he paused, Gu Shen’s earlier words echoing in his mind.

There were two words in that last sentence that struck him.

Friend.

Perhaps it was just an inadvertent replacement by Gu Shen, but this unfamiliar term... gave Crow a sense of being worlds apart.

"Hey..."

The man’s cheeks enveloped in smoke, Song Ci, Song Yingji, Crow, slowly discarded the pipe, stamped it out, softly added, "If we’re friends, just ask for help whenever you need it in the future."

The young man heard these words, his departing figure in the alley waved his hand.

His thumb and index finger hooked, forming a circle.