I Return From Hell

Chapter 73: Chapter 69: Awakening a Superpower, The Second Letter

Guiding Skill.

It, too, was divided into levels.

The one Xia Yu gave to Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan was a Guiding Skill the country had publicly announced in her past life.

At the time, the country’s public release of this Guiding Skill was a well-intentioned effort to raise the overall strength of all survivors.

Although it wasn’t a high-level skill and its overall effect wasn’t massive—only able to raise one’s affinity by a single level—for someone like Little Nannan, whose absorption speed for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power was at the Upper Middle level, practicing this Guiding Skill could elevate her to the Upper Level.

But in this life, to the current Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan, its value was simply immeasurable.

This gift was a heavy one.

”Thank you so much, Yu.”

Xie Shaokun felt his absorption speed of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power quicken significantly. He was ecstatic and endlessly grateful.

The implications of this were self-evident.

”Thank you, Big Sister.”

Little Nannan couldn’t yet fully grasp what this Guiding Skill meant for her, but she knew that a gift from this Big Sister must be incredibly valuable.

”Little Nannan, haven’t you noticed the puncture wound on your thigh has already scabbed over?”

Xie Shaokun couldn’t help but point it out when he saw her muted reaction.

”Huh?”

Little Nannan finally remembered the puncture wound on her thigh. She looked down, and her jaw nearly dropped. ”Wh-what’s going on?”

”It’s because of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power.”

Xie Shaokun explained the ’knowledge’ he had learned from Xia Yu to Little Nannan.

A few minutes later.

”Oh, I see.”

The realization dawned on Little Nannan, and she found it all quite magical.

”So, now you see how valuable this Guiding Skill is, right?”

Xie Shaokun said, ”Once the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power refines your body to a higher degree, your recovery ability will jump to another level.”

Only then did Little Nannan realize just how precious the ”first-meeting gift” from her Big Sister was. She thanked her again, ”Thank you, Big Sister.”

”Focus on improving your strength. Don’t waste time.”

Xia Yu, however, had already sat down cross-legged, unwilling to waste a single moment.

”Yu, don’t we need to burn down the Treasure House?” Xie Shaokun asked.

”We’ll burn this area when we leave.”

Xia Yu shook her head and said, ”The mist will erase any traces we leave behind.”

”Okay.”

Xie Shaokun nodded.

Over ten minutes later.

The Treasure House incident was over.

The three of them set fire to the deepest part of the third floor.

Xia Yu glanced at a few passersby taking pictures outside the main entrance, then led Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan out through a back window.

「Donglin Park.」

Aside from the Mutants, Zhao Guohui, Chen Xiao, Qian Yihao, and the others hadn’t encountered any real danger.

They had searched the mist-shrouded area three full times and still came up with nothing.

”Hmph.”

Qian Yihao couldn’t help but curse, ”Xie Shaokun did this on purpose, just to make us run around for nothing.”

Chen Xiao shook her head. ”We don’t know enough about the Mist Events yet, and our preparations this time were rushed. If we had run into any real danger, our losses would have been heavy.”

”Besides, it’s not like we didn’t gain anything.”

”First, we verified the accuracy of some of the intel the country has compiled. We also made a new discovery: exercising during a Mist Event significantly improves one’s physical condition.”

”Furthermore, all of our physical conditions have improved to varying degrees, and we’ve fought against Mutants, so we now know how formidable they are.”

”Finally, we even captured two live Mutants!”

Hearing this, Qian Yihao glanced at the two securely bound, still-roaring Mutants, his expression complicated.

Besides Zhao Guohui’s apprentice, three other people had turned into Mutants.

Qian Yihao, Chen Xiao, and the others had wanted to test the combat strength of one of the Mutants, so they didn’t use firearms and attacked it together. Even so, every one of them was injured.

The other two were captured in time and would be sent for research once the Mist Event ended.

”The people we specially selected had a one-in-ten chance of becoming a Mutant. It’s hard to imagine what the odds are for ordinary people.”

”And these Mutants are drastically enhanced in every aspect. Their combat power is astonishing. To ordinary people, they’re nothing short of monsters—a catastrophe!”

Chen Xiao sighed. ”If a large-scale outbreak occurs... it would be an apocalyptic disaster.”

Everyone fell silent, their faces grave.

Even Qian Yihao felt a deep sense of powerlessness when he thought about how strong the Mutants were.

Zhao Guohui slowly opened his eyes.

From the very beginning, he had felt a strange power spreading from deep within his body, as if some kind of ability was awakening.

After an hour of testing it, he was shocked to discover he could perceive other people’s thoughts!

The accuracy was astonishingly high!

For a moment, his feelings were mixed; he didn’t know whether to be happy or worried.

He was happy because he now possessed an ability others didn’t.

He was worried because the ability seemed a bit useless. He would have much preferred a Special Ability that enhanced his combat strength.

”I’m being a little too greedy,” Zhao Guohui said aloud.

”What?” Qian Yihao frowned and asked.

Zhao Guohui said, ”I might have a Superpower.”

Everyone: ”???”

Qian Yihao said, ”Zhao Group, you’ve got a real sense of humor. Are you trying to lighten the mood?”

Zhao Guohui stared at Qian Yihao and said, ”No. You think I’m spouting nonsense.”

Qian Yihao: ”...”

Chen Xiao was just about to say something.

Zhao Guohui looked at Chen Xiao and spoke first, ”You think it’s inappropriate and reckless of me to be saying such things at a time like this.”

Chen Xiao’s pupils contracted.

But she still couldn’t believe that people could have Superpowers.

”I...”

She hesitated, still wanting to say something.

”You want to say that none of this is important, and what’s important is what we do after this Mist Event is over. You still don’t believe me,” Zhao Guohui said, cutting her off again.

Chen Xiao froze.

Once could be a coincidence, but twice?

Qian Yihao and the others also felt something was off. Most importantly, a steady person like Zhao Guohui was unlikely to be spouting nonsense.

”Zhao Group, are you serious?” Chen Xiao couldn’t help but ask.

”I’m not certain.”

”But there’s an eighty percent chance that’s the case.”

Zhao Guohui narrowed his eyes and said, ”I’ve been thinking about something: how has Xie Shaokun, a seventeen-year-old, managed to participate in multiple Mist Events and survive every time?”

”Is it possible that he also has a Superpower? A combat-enhancing Superpower, like something out of the movies... like Instant Teleportation? Or self-healing?”

Everyone was stunned, but after thinking it over, they felt it made some sense.

”The mist is dissipating!”

Just then, Zhao Guohui shot to his feet and exclaimed.

The mist was dissipating quickly. ℯℯ𝑙.

Before the group could even leave Donglin Park, Zhao Guohui’s phone rang.

”Zhao Group.”

”You were right. A Mist Event occurred at an antique shop called the Treasure House.”

”The start time is unclear, but the time the surrounding surveillance was destroyed is very close to when the Mist Event started in Donglin Park.”

”The end time is clearer, though. Around 1:30 in the morning.”

”By the time our people arrived, a huge fire was already raging on the third floor of the Treasure House, and most of the things inside were burned. We’ve cordoned off the area now, but our manpower is limited, so we couldn’t secure it completely. We only found a few eyewitnesses.”

Little Song relayed all the key information in one breath. ”They didn’t see anyone leave.”

Mist enveloping only the Treasure House was so bizarre that passersby would naturally stop to watch.

Unfortunately, these people didn’t call the police in time.

”Just as I thought!”

At the side, Qian Yihao slammed his fist into his palm. ”So that was their goal. They got away with it again.”

”Let’s go. We’ll check out the scene.”

With that, he strode away.

”Qian Yihao, you need to come with me to escort these Mutants,” Chen Xiao said, stopping him. ”Let Zhao Group go to the scene.”

Zhao Guohui didn’t waste any words and left.

「An hour later.」

Standing on the third floor of the Treasure House and looking at the severely damaged area, his brows furrowed deeply. He had to admire Xie Shaokun’s methods.

Again, not a single trace was left behind.

And this time, of all the people in the Treasure House, not a single person or body could be found!

This made even him, a man who had solved countless cases, feel that the situation was tricky, even hopeless.

’Perhaps...’

The thought occurred to him: ’We could cooperate.’

Just then, his phone rang.

”Hello, Zhao Group. I’m downstairs. Come down for a minute, I need to talk to you about something.”

After saying that, Chen Xiao hung up.

’What could be so important that she couldn’t come up to talk?’

Zhao Guohui frowned but still turned and went downstairs, getting into Chen Xiao’s car.

Then, he saw two fully armed special forces soldiers in the car, and the vehicle itself was surrounded by a large number of troops.

”Zhao Group.”

”I reported your situation to the higher-ups. They want you to make a trip to Beijing.”

Chen Xiao explained, ”After all, this matter is of great importance. Please cooperate fully.”

Zhao Guohui didn’t object. He had been prepared for this outcome the moment he chose to reveal his Special Ability.

’But what about the case here?’

”We’re leaving immediately?”

”Immediately!”

「On the road.」

Chen Xiao received a call from Qian Yihao, and her expression changed drastically. ”What did you say?!”

She hesitated for a moment, then said, ”Hold on, let me ask for Zhao Group’s opinion.”

Zhao Guohui asked, ”What happened?”

Chen Xiao replied, ”We received a second letter from Xie Shaokun.”

Zhao Guohui’s expression hardened. He pressed, ”What does the letter say?”

Chen Xiao began to speak...