Light Fortress
Chapter 122 - 110 The Sealed Case

Chapter 122: Chapter 110 The Sealed Case

Because of Chi Huo.

At this moment, Zhou Yexin was in a semi-hypnotic state.

Tang Qingquan changed his seated position, listening attentively while glancing at Gu Shen out of the corner of his eye... Hypnosis is the most basic technique of the Spiritual Extraordinary.

There were plenty of Extraordinary people at the Judgement Institute capable of imposing psychological suggestions, but during the initial investigation of the case, such hypnotic methods were utterly useless.

But why... did Gu Shen’s psychological suggestion work?

This young man’s ability was indeed incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

"It was a... very long afternoon."

Zhou Yexin fell into reminiscence, murmuring softly, "I took Dora out, but there was an accident... I lost Dora."

As she spoke, she saw that group photo... Her gaze flickered for a moment.

This instance of Chi Huo was very gentle.

Gu Shen did not apply a strong hypnosis.

He just added a slight push... if Zhou Yexin did not wish to speak, he did not want to force her, because of the pocket watch, and also because he had personally experienced the pain of that dream.

Clearly.

This old photograph laid out on the table had touched upon a painful memory deeply buried in her mind.

"Old Zhou said he would buy me another one," she continued after a pause, caressing the man’s face in the photo with a strained voice, "but I was naive back then, I refused while crying and making a fuss, I had to have Dora back..."

"Posters were plastered all over the streets, and after half a month, there was still no trace of Dora, nor any news... At that time I actually knew Dora was probably never coming back."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

Reality indeed differed from dreams.

In that dream, the time span seemed to be just an afternoon... the man took the girl through several streets, but it was also during that time that the colors of the dream gradually began to change.

The colors of the dream represented the emotions of the person involved.

From hope to despair.

"Then later on, I fell seriously ill... It was a severe illness, and I was groggy, no longer distinguishing when I was asleep or awake, what was real and what was false. It was in such a painful hallucination that I saw Dora had died, lying in a pool of blood, eviscerated."

"My father took my hand and ran a long, long distance to find Dora. I cried bitterly, so my father told me to close my eyes, and Dora would come back safely."

"I closed my eyes in the dream... and when I awoke, the dream had ended. Dora really came back. She lay beside me, as if she had never left."

Zhou Yexin’s voice was choked with emotion: "But father... he left forever."

"I’ve always felt... it was my willfulness... that led to Old Zhou’s death. If I hadn’t gone to find Dora, he wouldn’t have had an accident..."

Her voice grew lower.

"It’s ridiculous... right... This is my dream, as well as the tragedy of reality..."

"A dream come true, who would believe such a story?"

She looked at the two men, who met her with silence, Judge Tang Qingquan sat quietly on the sofa, sipping his tea in small sips, not uttering a word.

Xiao Gu did the same, silent, head bowed.

... No.

It wasn’t like that!

At least... I would believe!

Gu Shen said to himself in his heart, but he could not voice it out loud.

After a long silence.

Gu Shen softly broke the silence, gently consoling, "Sister Xiao Xin, it’s just a dream after all, restrain your grief, don’t blame yourself..."

...

...

"This dream... what do you make of it?"

After leaving Zhou Yexin’s residence, Grand Judge Tang Qingquan got straight to the point.

He had brought Gu Shen to Zhou Yexin’s home because he wanted to see if the Judgement Institute’s S-grade new member could make any discoveries in this sealed old case.

It was also a test to confirm his own assessment of Gu Shen.

Now it seemed his decision was very correct... at least, he would need to change his previous view of Gu Shen again after this visit.

"Zhou Yexin most likely witnessed the explosion incident firsthand," Gu Shen said earnestly. "I suspect her memory has been modified."

"Memory modification?"

Tang Qingquan raised an eyebrow. Modifying memories wasn’t difficult for Spiritual Transcendents, but the difficult part was, after modifying memories, how to avoid being discovered?

Intruding into the Spirit Sea was like ascending a vast snowy mountain; visitors were bound to leave traces behind.

And the ones who came after would see the footprints of those before.

Deceiving high-level Transcendents of the Judgement Institute was not an easy feat.

"Moreover, it is precisely because of her description of the dream... that I’m even more convinced Zhou Yu’s case is not so simple," Gu Shen said in a deep voice. "Remember? Every madman from the Changjiu Foundation had a primer for mental explosion implanted in their minds! The real big shot controlling these Believers must be a master of the Spiritual Extraordinary with a very high rank!"

"Hmm..."

The Grand Judge lit a cigarette and gestured for Gu Shen to continue: "Go on."

"Since it’s a strong force in the Spiritual domain, it’s not impossible to do this. The reason I think Zhou Yexin’s memory has been modified... is because in that dream, she was the only eyewitness. If her memory was erased, then the last clue would also be wiped clean," Gu Shen explained to the Grand Judge.

He didn’t mention... his biggest reason for this conjecture was that, in Zhou Yexin’s dream, his own Extraordinary Blazing Fire had sensed a reaction to the "Blood Fire" of the Compass Director. Blazing Fire signifies the elimination of Transcendent and disorderly spiritual power, and for Blood Fire to exert such a strong attraction... it was highly likely to also be a force of the Spiritual domain.

"A plausible reason," the Grand Judge commented. "More like an intuition."

"But the intuition of Transcendents is often very accurate, isn’t it?" Gu Shen said with a smile.

Tang Qingquan shrugged noncommittally.

"What actually puzzles me the most... is Dora’s return," Gu Shen said.

"According to the description in the dream, Dora was dead, her belly slit open. What kind of deity is Zhou Yu, to be able to resurrect the dead?" Gu Shen asked with a bitter smile. "You were in the same cohort as Zhou Yu; do you know his Extraordinary Ability?"

The Grand Judge shook his head: "Zhou Yu was very strong, and just like you in the beginning... he was a loner who preferred to work alone. A near S-grade Judge, whose records are strictly protected."

Gu Shen’s eyes flickered.

In fact, there were some details he hadn’t shared with Tang Qingquan... such as Sister Xiao Xin’s pocket watch, a keepsake left to her by Zhou Yu, which in the dream had been taken out of Dora’s stomach.

Gu Shen hadn’t told the Grand Judge.

In that dream, inspired by Blazing Fire, Zhou Yexin had revealed much but still hid some "secrets".

Everyone has secrets.

That pocket watch must be the key to Dora’s resurrection... Gu Shen guessed that Zhou Yu’s ability was very likely related to "time".

"I cannot prove that the owner of the Blood Fire has appeared in this case... As you said, the case files are as clean as a fresh snowfall, with no flaws to pick at." Gu Shen said. "But likewise... no one can prove that the mysterious owner of the Compass didn’t interfere, because the files are just too immaculate."

Too perfect is itself a flaw.

Grand Judge Tang Qingquan silently grunted in agreement.

He had long believed in the existence of that mysterious Compass Director mentioned by Gu Shen...

The dream that Zhou Yexin spoke of today was the evidence.

Back then, so many Spiritual Transcendents had failed to uncover this dream, leading to Zhou Yu’s case being quickly closed and subsequently sealed.