Chapter 325: Recording

"The wallpaper doesn't match, and the recent call history isn't for some Brother Hu, but someone named Han Meng." The officer closed the flip phone and handed it to Chen Ling. "Sorry about that, thanks for your cooperation."

The man in black stared blankly at the scene, his mind completely shut down.

Chen Ling smiled as he took the phone, then turned and walked back towards the subway. He stopped just as the subway doors were closing...

Then he looked back through the glass at the dazed man in black and waved the flip phone in his hand.

He silently mouthed two words:

"Poor fool."

His figure, along with the subway, sped away with a whoosh.

After passing a few popular stations, Chen Ling finally found a seat. He opened his flip phone, tapping the keys, and began searching for the nearest flight to Shennongjia.

The good news was that a flight was available in forty minutes. However, even with a high-speed rail transfer, his final arrival time would likely still be later than the research team's.

Would he have to find a way to sneak in midway...?

Chen Ling had no choice but to hope the research team would be slow. With three more stops until the airport, he idly began to browse his phone's photo album.

There wasn't much in the album, but a recent video caught Chen Ling's attention.

It was a thirty-second video, shot from an extremely awkward angle, as if secretly recorded while stuffed into a bag. Only the bottom-left third of the screen showed anything; the rest was pitch black.

Chen Ling casually tapped to play it.

As the footage moved, Chen Ling saw a card table in the corner. Two figures sat on opposite sides. One was the man in black from earlier; he wore a floral shirt and had a stack of chips in front of him. At that moment, he was cautiously examining his cards, his fingers trembling with nervousness.

The moment he saw him, Chen Ling's brows furrowed involuntarily.

It wasn't surprising to see the man in black on this phone. What puzzled Chen Ling was that the man in the video appeared noticeably younger than the one he had just encountered, with thicker hair, looking to be in his early thirties at first glance. Yet, the phone indicated the video had been recorded just three months prior.

Opposite him sat a man in a white suit. Due to the angle, Chen Ling couldn't make out his face, only his slender fingers casually tapping the card table, showing no interest in his cards at all.

In the next few seconds, Chen Ling saw the man in black overjoyed. He covered his cards again and began excitedly saying something.

At his request, a waiter nearby presented a contract. The man in black signed it with a flourish. Due to the distance, Chen Ling couldn't make out what was written on the contract, only that the man was extremely excited. He then dramatically revealed all his cards!

The next moment, he froze.

He repeatedly checked the cards in front of him, as if they looked different from what he'd seen before. Meanwhile, the figure in white across from him unhurriedly flipped over the man in black's cards.

The man in black's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the luxurious chair, his face filled with disbelief.

He remained stunned for a full seven or eight seconds before snapping back to reality. He abruptly stood up from his seat, pointing at the white-suited man's face and cursing, his face and neck flushed crimson.

The man in white remained quietly seated. He slowly raised his right hand and gently waved it.

With a thud, the man in black collapsed to the ground, his entire body aging at a visible rate. Strands of hair floated down in front of him, as if his essence had been drained, and his eyes became much more hollow... He had transformed into the appearance Chen Ling had seen earlier.

Immediately after, a group of waiters emerged from all directions and dragged away the disoriented man in black, who now resembled a corpse. The video ended there.

Staring at the now-dark screen, Chen Ling's expression became extremely grim.

"This is..."

If anyone else had seen this video, their first thought would undoubtedly have been that the special effects were well done. Coupled with the grainy, old-phone quality, it would have made perfect horror short video material.

But Chen Ling was different. He had seen things most people of this era hadn't. The scene of the man in black rapidly aging was definitely not something simple sleight of hand could achieve... It was as if an invisible hand had directly siphoned off a portion of his lifespan.

"Is that some kind of divine path?" Chen Ling muttered to himself. "In this era... are there also divine path wielders?"

Chen Ling had always thought that divine paths only emerged after the Great Cataclysm, but it now seemed that wasn't the case. Thinking about it, even historical figures like Bai Qi could appear in ancient military paths, indicating that the existence of divine paths themselves was far older.

"Shangjing International Airport Terminal 1. We have arrived. Please exit from the right-hand side."

As the clear female voice announced, the subway doors automatically opened.

Chen Ling collected his thoughts, closed his phone, and put it back in his pocket, walking straight out. Whatever the background of the man in the casino, it wasn't Chen Ling's immediate concern. What was about to happen in Shennongjia was the crucial point that would influence the world's trajectory.

His brown trench coat swept through the airport. Chen Ling opened his phone's flip cover, and as a faint glow flashed in his eyes, the ticket machines throughout the airport simultaneously flickered!

A ticket machine ten steps away from Chen Ling suddenly began to operate automatically, slowly dispensing a plane ticket printed with the name "Lin Yan." As soon as it was fully printed, Chen Ling, passing by, casually plucked it, walking towards security without looking back.

As he did so, Chen Ling also freed a hand to pluck a leaf from a potted plant by a counter and put it in his pocket.

"May I see your identification, please?" the flight attendant behind the counter asked.

Chen Ling took out the leaf, held it between two fingers, gave it a slight shake, and it transformed into an ID card bearing the name "Lin Yan." He then smiled and handed it to the flight attendant.

The flight attendant glanced at the ID card, placed it under a machine for scanning, and after a slight flicker on the computer screen, the relevant information automatically appeared. She then handed the ticket and ID card back to Chen Ling:

"Have a pleasant journey."

"Thank you."

Chen Ling nodded politely, put them away, and walked directly towards the corresponding boarding gate.

Low, dark clouds gathered in the sky. In the reflection of the polished airport floor, the brown figure walked alone between light and shadow. He moved through countless hurried people, finally stopping before the massive glass exterior wall.

Chen Ling looked at the plane quietly parked at the jet bridge. In the clouds above it, there seemed to be a soft murmur of thunder.

"Crimson Star..." Chen Ling murmured to himself.

"I'm here."