Resting

Longevity Demon, whom Yue Shi had left behind, was undergoing a terrifying transformation.

Her body began to melt, stretching and expanding.

Her skin lost all color, becoming a pale, translucent substance that looked like a mixture of congealed fat and rotting leather.

Her facial features flowed across her melting face, and her limbs disappeared, leaving behind only an ever-expanding, pale pillar.

In an instant, she lost her human form.

She had turned into a massive candle.

A pale, twisted Longevity Candle, built from countless materialized lifespans!

The surface of the candle was covered in fine, cracked lines that resembled incomprehensible, blasphemous symbols.

Faintly, countless twisted faces of agony could be seen, screaming silently.

At the position of the wick, a speck of eerie green flame ignited.

The flame was not hot; instead, it emitted a bone-chilling cold.

The eerie green candlelight shone in all directions.

Everywhere the light touched, things aged rapidly.

The brand-new shells of armored vehicles became mottled with rust.

Bulletproof glass looked as if it had been weathered for thousands of years, becoming fragile and brittle.

Buildings aged at an accelerated rate, the ground cracked, and vegetation withered.

And this was only the beginning.

The attacks from the massive black shadow and the group of investigators now began to land on the giant Longevity Candle.

But no matter the form of the attack, it failed to cause even a ripple upon touching the Longevity Candle.

All the attacks were transformed into fuel for the candle's burn!

The candlelight grew visibly brighter.

A cold brightness that made the soul tremble.

An investigator standing slightly closer to the Longevity Candle was originally maintaining an attacking stance.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and his body began to sway. Age spots appeared on his face, and his hair turned gray.

"What’s wrong with you?" A companion nearby saw this and hurriedly reached out to support him.

But the moment his fingers touched the man’s arm, he recoiled in shock.

The skin exposed on the man's arm was shriveled and loose, covered in deep wrinkles.

He looked up in horror, only to see that his teammate, who had been fighting alongside him just moments ago, had turned into a dying old man in a matter of seconds.

...

Yue Shi returned to the site of the Su family ancestral graves.

"Do you have any other ultimate moves? If you do, use them now!"

"Don't worry, I have other preparations."

"Hey, where's my painting?"

The Resonant Daoist and Boss Pi were still trapped here, caught in the loop.

Yue Shi directly took both of them into his extra-dimensional space.

After waiting on the spot for a while, Ghost emerged from the ground.

"All surveillance equipment around the battlefield has been formatted and destroyed."

"Sorry, I wasn't much help to you this time."

"It’s fine, you’ve already been very useful," Yue Shi said.

"Did you figure out the location of the headquarters?"

Ghost shook his head. "Those investigators all appeared in this city out of thin air. There’s no way to track where they came from."

Yue Shi stroked his chin, falling into thought.

He had observed those investigators earlier using 【Trace Seeking: Temporal Afterimage】, but he could only vaguely see the scenes of them appearing in the city.

Anything earlier, any images regarding the headquarters, was invisible.

The Bureau headquarters was truly mysterious.

Among the people he could contact, who would know the location of the headquarters and be willing to tell him?

Director Tang?

"Alright, stop acting all brooding and get out of here."

"You’ve caused such a huge mess; are you waiting here for someone to come and catch you?"

Ghost urged him.

In the distance, toward the center of Yujing, that candle was growing larger and larger, dyeing the sky eerie green.

Although Ghost didn't know the candle's purpose, he instinctively wanted to be far away from it.

Yue Shi left a mark on the spot, pulled out his phone to check the time, and let Ghost possess the phone.

Then, his figure vanished instantly.

...

Amber City Investigation Bureau.

Special Operations Section office.

Bai Wanyang didn't come to work today; he had broken his leg and was receiving treatment at the hospital.

His bad luck had recently become common knowledge, to the point where he couldn't even work normally.

Fortunately, a new investigator had joined the Bureau: Zhang Songyun.

This newcomer was previously a member of the Bureau as well, belonging to the Detection Section.

After awakening his supernatural power recently, he had been transferred to the Special Operations Section.

At this moment, he sat at Yue Shi’s original workstation, his expression gentle.

His phone screen was stayed on a video page of the Supernatural Forum, showing a long-haired man in red digging up someone’s ancestral graves.

Zhang Songyun’s mouth twitched. This guy was seriously toxic.

It was a good thing he hadn't offended him back then.

Ling Xun hurried toward the director’s office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Ling Xun pushed the door open and placed a report directly on the desk, sliding it toward the director.

Tang Zhuhe picked up the report, scanned it quickly, and her expression gradually turned strange.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Yujing really is full of disasters."

"Young people, it’s hard for them not to be hot-tempered."

"It’s just that his methods are a bit too soft-hearted."

Ling Xun froze, completely unexpected that Director Tang’s evaluation of Yue Shi would be 'soft-hearted'!

"The headquarters is asking about your relationship with Yue Shi."

"Former supervisor and subordinate, nothing more. My student wouldn't be as magnanimous as him," Tang Zhuhe said, waving her hand and rolling her eyes.

"Director, your facial expression management."

"Oh."

Tang Zhuhe returned to being dignified and elegant.

...

Fluorite Valley.

Yue Shi stood amidst a field of ruins.

This location was originally a hotel. The headquarters had previously sent people to gang up on him here, only to be counter-killed.

It could be considered the culprit revisiting the crime scene to admire his masterpiece.

"What are we doing here?" Ghost was somewhat puzzled.

Yue Shi didn't explain. He simply summoned two ravens from his shadow and left them outside.

Then, he dragged Ghost into his extra-dimensional space.

Inside the extra-dimensional space used for daily rest, Ghost sat on the sofa, feeling extremely bored.

Wanting to pass the time, he began flipping through the books Yue Shi had placed in the space.

《The Elegant Villain》, 《No Reason to Go Straight》, 《How to Be Indifferent Like a Chrysanthemum》, 《The Bitter-Fated Pair》...

What kind of junk was this?

Ghost flipped through a few pages at random, his expression gradually becoming hard to describe.

He felt like his soul was being defiled.

"No wonder Yue Shi is getting crazier. Anyone would go crazy reading this nonsense..."

The Yue Shi being complained about by Ghost was currently washing up.

That crimson battle robe was tossed casually on the floor.

He would wear it again the next time someone held a funeral.

The scent of blood clinging to him gradually vanished, replaced by a faint citrus fragrance.

He had killed many people from the headquarters today, but he hadn't overexposed his time-related abilities.

However, most of those who died were unimportant, low-end combatants.

Above the captains, there were still the High-level Elders of the headquarters.

That massive black shadow that forever stood at the edge of his vision was very strong.

Judging by the elder who acted today, the high-level leadership of the headquarters might not be appointed based on seniority or prestige alone.

Strength was also a standard.

Yue Shi was a bit puzzled. Why did only one High-level Elder act today?

And he was so late to arrive.

What were the other elders doing?