The villagers were cordoned off behind the police line, some standing, some sitting, and others slumped on the ground, all of them deathly pale.
Several excavators roared as their tracks ground over the muddy earth, producing a heavy, rumbling din.
The first excavator stopped in front of the temple gate, its massive bucket slowly rising and hovering in midair like a beast of prey preparing to strike.
“You can't tear it down!”
An old man threw himself against the police cordon, his hands gripping the thin ribbon so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“You can't tear it down! That's our temple! It was left to us by our ancestors—”
His voice was drowned out by the roar of the excavators.
The bucket swung down.
The grey brick walls shattered beneath the steel teeth. Debris flew in all directions as dust billowed into the sky.
Grey tiles cascaded from the roof, smashing onto the ground into countless fragments.
The quaint little temple collapsed layer by layer amidst the mechanical roar.
The dust spread, enveloping the entire area like a grey cloud.
The massive statue held out for a good while under the excavator's bucket.
But in the end, it was pushed over by the combined force of several excavators, shoved to the side along with the broken bricks and rubble.
At the exact moment the statue fell and was moved, Su Wan detected a trace of abnormality.
There seemed to be something else in this temple...
Su Wan didn't use her mental power; this feeling was purely a wondrous intuition.
Her eyes flickered.
Watching their temple turn to ruins under the steel teeth of the excavators, the villagers outside the cordon lost all control of their emotions.
They tried to charge the police cordon, but the dozens of bodyguards stationed there formed a defensive line they could not breach.
“Our temple—”
An old woman slumped on the ground, slapping her thighs as she wailed heartrendingly.
“Our ancestors' legacy... You goddamned bastards, you'll die a horrible death—”
The surrounding villagers began to weep along with her.
The sobs of men, the wails of women, and the cries of children mingled, echoing across the empty wasteland.
With bloodshot eyes, several young, sturdy villagers broke through the police line and rushed toward the excavators.
The black-clad bodyguards met them, and the two sides descended into a brawl.
Dull thuds of fists hitting flesh, angry curses, and groans of pain...
The scene was in complete chaos.
Su Wan quietly backed away amidst the chaos.
She slipped through the gaps in the crowd, gradually distancing herself from the clamor.
At this moment, everyone's attention was fixed on the collapsing temple, the angry villagers, and the roaring excavators.
No one noticed her.
Su Wan stepped out of the narrow gate of the hoarding.
She stood at the end of the walkway, watching from a distance.
The figures of Zhou Yuanqi, Yin Ji, and their entourage had already disappeared beyond the hoarding.
Gu Huaian stood by the convoy, gave Liu Peng a few instructions, and then opened the car door and slid inside.
Several cars drove away one after another, their taillights trailing a blurry red glow in the dust.
Su Wan didn't know if she had been forgotten or if Gu Huaian had left her behind on purpose.
In any case, no one came looking for her, and that bodyguard didn't show up either.
Su Wan withdrew her gaze and sat down in a shady spot by the roadside.
She had to wait until the place quieted down completely before going over to take a closer look.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yuanqi sat in the back seat of his car, his eyes closed, his face expressionless.
The car had already driven out of the northern city and was traveling along the suburban highway toward the Gu family’s ancestral home.
Yin Ji sat in the front passenger seat, glanced at Zhou Yuanqi through the rearview mirror, and tactfully remained silent.
The interior of the car was so quiet that only the low hum of the engine and the rustling of the tires on the road could be heard.
Zhou Yuanqi looked as if he was resting his eyes, but his mind was frantically replaying everything that had happened this afternoon.
From the moment he stepped onto that wasteland, to sensing the energy fluctuations, to locking onto the temple's location, to obtaining that source crystal...
And finally, to the complete disappearance of that crystal...
Zhou Yuanqi's brow furrowed slightly.
Earlier at the scene, he had been furious, out of control, and nearly attacked the villagers.
Now that he had calmed down, many details he hadn't noticed before began to surface one by one.
First, there were the villagers.
When he released his pressure at the temple entrance, the pressure of a Level 4 Ability User should have felt like the sky was collapsing to those ordinary people.
Let alone resisting, normal people wouldn't even be able to stand in front of that level of pressure; their minds should have been left completely blank.
But what about those villagers?
They had indeed been knocked down, and they had indeed shown terror.
Yet after only a few seconds, they scrambled back up, anger reigniting in their eyes as they grabbed their carrying poles and hoes to charge at him.
This wasn't normal.
Highly abnormal.
Without special training, it was absolutely impossible for ordinary people to break free from that level of pressure in such a short time.
Unless—
Some force had interfered with their consciousness.
Zhou Yuanqi's brow furrowed even deeper.
He tried to recall if there had been any movement around him at that time.
But he couldn't remember. His mind had been entirely captivated by the crystal in his hand back then; heaven knew how thrilled and excited he had been.
In that state, he hadn't been able to detect any abnormalities.
Zhou Yuanqi felt a wave of annoyance at himself; he had indeed let his success get to his head.
Then, there was the crystal.
From the moment he removed the crystal to its disappearance, only a few seconds had passed at most.
His fingers had maintained their grip, and his palm had continuously felt the texture of the crystal.
Yet at the exact moment he walked to the temple entrance, his consciousness had been attacked by something!
It was an extremely precise, highly concealed mental shock!
It came without warning and vanished without a trace.
If he hadn't calmed down to reflect on it repeatedly now, he wouldn't even have realized it was an attack.
He would have merely thought he had spaced out for a moment, experiencing a temporary lapse due to his excitement.
But he was a Level 4 Ability User.
Level 4!
Even if he was only at the early stage, his mental power was far stronger than that of ordinary people.
How could he lose focus simply due to 'excitement'?
How could he loosen his grip on what he was holding just because of a 'lapse'?
Someone must have attacked him!
At his most relaxed moment, in the way he was least prepared for!
Zhou Yuanqi opened his eyes, his gaze landing on a corner of the car ceiling as his pupils contracted slightly.
That person was mixed in among those villagers.
When he released his pressure, that person had also fallen with the rest.
When the villagers charged, that person was also in the crowd.
They might have even been standing in the very front row, right within arm's reach.
Then, at the moment he walked to the temple entrance, his attention entirely drawn by the villagers, his hand holding the crystal hanging defencelessly at his side—
That person made their move.
A mental shock caused him to lose focus.
And then they snatched the crystal from his hand!
The entire process probably took less than a second.
Rate on N.U.
