Chapter 501: Hunter Arrival

"I just wanted to try."

Su Zhiwei smiled helplessly. "They're like a never-ending symphony orchestra, constantly buzzing in my ears... I just wanted to see if I had the power to conduct them..."

"And then?"

"It seems I do have the power... but I haven't mastered the method yet."

Chen Ling looked at Su Zhiwei as if she were a monster.

How long had it been since she emerged from Shennongjia? And she was already beginning to grasp the power of her own 'Theory'? Judging by the energy she had just condensed, its intensity could be considered second-tier. Although she failed in the end, success was not far off; it would just take a few more attempts.

For the Nine Monarchs, the concept of tiers seemed to hold little meaning. As long as they deepened their control over their 'Theory,' their power could rapidly increase. It was remarkable that Su Zhiwei had gone from an ordinary person to this level in just one night.

"You're mentally overdrawn; you need to rest properly," Chen Ling advised, noticing her pale face.

Su Zhiwei leaned against the stone bridge railing, her sideburns gently ruffled by the breeze. She hummed in acknowledgment.

"By the way, how much do you know about Teacher Xiao?"

"Teacher Xiao?" Su Zhiwei asked, surprised by Chen Ling's sudden question. "She was our neighbor at the Su residence for a long time. She even attended my parent-teacher conferences when I was a child, so I know her quite well... Why do you ask?"

"When you spent time with her before, did you ever notice... anything strange about her?"

"Strange?"

"For example, occasionally doing things beyond normal comprehension, or behaving differently from others?"

Su Zhiwei understood Chen Ling's implication, and surprise flickered in her eyes. "Are you suspecting... that Teacher Xiao, like you, is someone who has stepped onto the divine path?"

"I'm just guessing."

Chen Ling knew that there were divine path practitioners in this era, though their numbers were extremely rare. Thinking about it carefully, Xiao Chunping was an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage for Su embroidery, having devoted decades to studying the art. It wasn't impossible for her to have stepped onto the divine path.

Furthermore, the act of moving the museum from the bustling city center to a remote suburb was inherently a bit strange. Coupled with the vague sense of being spied on earlier, Chen Ling now felt 60% sure.

"Didn't you say there are fourteen divine paths in the world? Which one do you think she belongs to?"

"The Azure Divine Path," Chen Ling stated with certainty. "Embroidery, painting, tattooing... anything that carries power through imagery generally belongs to the Azure Divine Path. I'm just not sure which specific branch."

Chen Ling had been to the Mortal Realm and had received a lot of information from Red Heart 9. If Xiao Chunping possessed a divine path, it could only be the Azure Divine Path.

Su Zhiwei pondered for a long time, then shook her head. "...No, I haven't noticed anything strange about her. If I had to say, perhaps her strict demands for embroidery designs? I recall Yao Qing getting several severe beatings for damaging an embroidery or not embroidering well enough himself."

Chen Ling frowned, deep in thought.

Seeing this, Su Zhiwei hesitated before saying, "However, I don't think you need to worry... Even if Teacher Xiao possesses a divine path, she wouldn't harbor ill will towards us."

"That's why I haven't done anything... Otherwise, I would have taken you all to a different place long ago," Chen Ling said, looking at the darkened museum, quiet and mysterious. "If she truly can be trusted, then this is the safest place."

"She can be trusted. Everyone in the Xiao family can be trusted."

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow and asked with interest, "Including Yao Qing?"

"Yao Qing is just a bit stubborn. At his age, he's full of youthful vigor and has the courage to question everything... Fundamentally, he's not bad; he can absolutely be trusted."

Su Zhiwei's expression was incredibly serious.

Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled slightly. "If he heard you say that, he'd probably be too happy to sleep all night."

"...What?"

"You're so smart, you can't possibly not see that he likes you, can you?"

Su Zhiwei froze for a moment, apparently not expecting Chen Ling to bring up that topic. She instinctively brushed her long hair away from her temples and shook her head:

"He... no, we're like siblings... and can only be like siblings."

"Why? The way he looks at you isn't how a younger brother looks at his older sister."

"I'm eight years older than him... he's just a sophomore, and I'm already... How could we possibly be together?" Su Zhiwei shook her head repeatedly. Usually so rational and intellectual, she was flustered now, her lips pressed together.

"Let's not talk about this anymore..."

Chen Ling looked at her deeply, said nothing more, and simply stood there silently, gazing at the moonlight above.

After a long silence between them, Su Zhiwei finally spoke:

"I'm a bit tired... I'll go back and rest first. You should go to bed early too."

"Okay."

With Su Zhiwei gone, Chen Ling was left alone in the quiet museum.

He stood above the gurgling stream, like a phantom in the dark, his gaze fixed on the room where Xiao Chunping and Yao Qing were, lost in thought...

Gusu.

In a narrow, dimly lit underground bar, acrid cigarette smoke swirled gently.

Behind the old bar counter, the vivid glow of neon lights illuminated the place, making it seem dreamlike. Figures sat on sofas or chairs in front of the bar, as ice clinked against glass.

"I heard... the one who put out this bounty is 'The Hunter'?"

"'The Hunter'? Which 'Hunter'?"

"You don't know? The one rumored to have single-handedly slaughtered a hundred-man mercenary team with one gun in the Golden Triangle and purged the largest human trafficking organization there... They say the enemy even deployed armed tanks and rocket launcher teams, but he still managed to counter-kill them all."

"It's him?! 'The Hunter' from the Golden Triangle? Is that true?"

"'The Hunter's' strength must rank among the top ten assassins globally, right? No... maybe even top five."

"He personally issued the bounty?"

"Who exactly does he want killed? Why isn't he doing it himself, and instead issuing a bounty to us?"

"He seems to be held up by the police in Jingnan City now. He's afraid the target will escape, so he's asking us for help... If we calculate the time, he should be arriving soon, shouldn't he?"

Inside the hidden underground bar, a dozen figures were conversing. A slender bartender stood quietly behind the counter, gently wiping a glass, occasionally glancing at the pendulum clock in the corner.

*Clank*—

A dull thud came from the side; it was the sound of a heavy metal door grinding open on rusted hinges. The bar instantly fell into a dead silence.

Everyone's gaze turned towards the entrance, and the bartender slowly narrowed his eyes, pausing his movements.

Footsteps squeaked gratingly on the old wooden floor. In the dim neon glow, a figure with a hunting rifle strapped to their back, covered in blood and blood clots, slowly walked out of the darkness.

Sirius, Nie Yu.

He stopped in front of everyone, his sharp gaze locking onto the bartender behind the counter. He spoke in a low voice:

"Where is Su Zhiwei?"