The Eldritch Files

’Miss Crow gets emotional that easily?’

Noticing Miss Crow’s reaction, Han Su grew even more curious.

In fact, the moment he saw Zhang Chiguo’s stern expression, he knew the situation was under control. If the consequences were truly severe, Old Zhang wouldn’t have the time to chew anyone out. Since he had proactively taken responsibility, there would be no major fallout.

Besides, even if there were consequences, he should have been the one to bear them. Her reaction seemed completely out of proportion.

”Shut up! I haven’t gotten to you yet!”

Hearing Han Su speak, Zhang Chiguo immediately turned and shot him a glare. Han Su instantly lowered his head, feigning the look of someone who had been thoroughly chastised.

But after that brief interruption, Zhang Chiguo didn’t continue. He just glanced at Miss Crow, his brow furrowed, but his tone softened somewhat. ”Take my words to heart. For now, go back and reflect on what you’ve done.”

”I’ll speak to your teacher about the punishment. You can skip the written report. Your mental state is terrible right now, so hurry up and get some rest. I don’t want to get an earful from her.”

”...”

Miss Crow looked up, a bewildered expression on her face. She seemed not to have expected that such a severe reprimand would end with her being told to go rest.

’Is he really going to take the punishment?’

Before she left, she glanced back at Han Su, who simply offered her a grateful smile.

’Miss Crow really helped me out. I’ve cleared this hurdle.’

Zhang Chiguo waved his hand, dismissing everyone else. He then turned to Han Su and said, ”As for you, you’ll stay at the Disaster Management Bureau for observation today. Besides, there are some things I want to talk to you about.”

Han Su nodded and remained behind.

Seeing this, Secretary Cui Qiao packed up the equipment they had just used for the test and left the training room with the other security personnel, leaving the vast space suddenly empty.

”Judging by your performance during the Encrypted Spell test, your Spiritual Penetration shouldn’t have been so easy to achieve.”

As the training room door closed, Zhang Chiguo’s slightly relaxed expression suddenly shifted. He looked at Han Su. ”Xiaohan, are you hiding something from me?”

Han Su froze for a moment, unsure what he meant by that question, but it brought to mind an issue he’d been pondering.

’Should I tell Zhang Chiguo about being kidnapped and taken to the past?’

’The Spell Song Chushi gave me... and all the incredible Mysterious Powers that were activated because of the monster in the Ancient Castle...’

But in that fleeting moment of his distraction, Zhang Chiguo’s pupils constricted. He nodded and said, ”I understand.”

Han Su looked up. ’Understood what?’

”Some questions don’t need an answer.”

Zhang Chiguo waved his hand, smoothly changing the subject. ”What happened today was extremely risky. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for even a natural-born Talented like her to help an ordinary person achieve Spiritual Penetration?”

”I guess I was farsighted to give you an A-Level evaluation for your Encrypted Spell Talent.”

”Otherwise, the mere fact that you achieved Spiritual Penetration so easily could have attracted some unwanted investigations.”

”Understand?”

”...”

Han Su nodded slowly. Looking at Zhang Chiguo, he asked, ”So, Uncle Zhang, now that I’ve completed Spiritual Penetration, what should I do next?”

”Right now, the best thing you can do is calm down, rest well, and try not to think about this new feeling for the time being. We don’t want your Spiritual Power to spiral out of control.”

With a stern expression, Zhang Chiguo continued, ”Wait for the person I’ve invited to return and help you with your Mysterious Power training. You can explore Spiritual Penetration then. At least, it will be much safer.”

”I’ll have someone bring you a glove. Before you begin your formal Spiritual Power training, you are to wear this glove on your right hand at all times.”

As he spoke, he seemed to think of something, sighing and shaking his head. ”This was too sudden. The fact that your right hand is the opening... I’m afraid it will be difficult to hide that from others.”

Han Su grew curious. ”Opening?”

”It’s the opening that allows Spiritual Power to seep into reality. It is also the most important secret every wielder of Mysterious Power must keep.”

Zhang Chiguo said, ”In a confrontation involving Mysterious Power, during a sudden encounter, whether or not you can immediately identify your opponent’s opening is the key to seizing the initiative.”

”That’s why a lot of Spiritual Penetration training is conducted in secret. For certain special individuals, the relevant data isn’t even logged. But in your case, it doesn’t matter anymore. Too many people have already seen it.”

”Of course, this is mainly a concern in the beginning. Once you become a seasoned Investigator, you’ll naturally be able to create other openings. But then again, isn’t it precisely because the initial stage is the most dangerous that secrets need to be kept the most?”

”...”

Zhang Chiguo’s words made Han Su think of something, but he didn’t speak immediately, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhang Chiguo also realized it was pointless to tell Han Su too much right now and shook his head lightly. ”After your training is complete, we can transfer you out from under the Investigator of Strange Birds.”

Han Su was taken aback. ”How long will that take?”

”I don’t know yet.”

Zhang Chiguo said, ”The teacher I found for you is currently away, busy with something very important. My original plan was that she might be back within a week.”

”In fact, even though the Investigator of Strange Birds submitted an application, I was planning to wait until she returned to approve it.”

”But now, I have to approve it ahead of schedule.”

”Otherwise, according to the bureau’s regulations, just for helping you achieve Spiritual Penetration, that young lady’s evaluation would be lowered significantly.”

”...”

’A week isn’t long, but it isn’t short, either. It seems like enough time for a lot of things to change.’

’If my next Flashing arrives when I predict, then I’ll have enough time to learn that Spell before I go back.’

’From Spiritual Penetration to the Transformation of power... that should have been a leap of three steps. But why did it feel like I had already completed them all, as if it were the most natural thing in the world?’

He was still a bit unsure about it all, but he asked subconsciously, ”So, what exactly is she busy with right now?”

Zhang Chiguo paused for a second. ”She’s working on something that’s also related to you. Do you remember Song Chushi?”

Hearing the name unexpectedly, Han Su quickly looked up. Zhang Chiguo said, ”She’s hunting Song Chushi.”

”That dangerous individual appeared in Qinggang City and met with you. Ever since then, the Disaster Management Bureau has been searching for him. The person specifically in charge of this matter is the one I’ve asked to be your Mysterious Power trainer.”

Han Su listened, somewhat surprised. ”Song Chushi... he’s still in Qinggang?”

...

...

”Is she in love with you?”

At that very moment, outside Qinggang City, on a large, diversified farm, Song Chushi sat at a small table inside a simple room in a row of workers’ housing, quietly eating his only meal of the day.

Beside him, an irritated voice grumbled from within an upright silver suitcase, ”She’s chasing us so relentlessly, we can’t even eat a meal in peace.”

Song Chushi just kept eating quietly, ignoring it.

But the voice from the suitcase wouldn’t stop for a moment. It complained, ”Tell me, what the hell was the point of you coming back here?”

”Was it just to get that kid into the Disaster Management Bureau? If he’s really got something special, he would have been recruited by them sooner or later. Why did you need to take such a risk to set this up for him?”

”...”

”It wasn’t just to get him into the Disaster Management Bureau.”

Only then did Song Chushi pause, take a sip of coffee, and say, ”I had originally intended to give him a gift. That was my purpose for venturing into the deepest part of those ruins.”

”I’ve always felt that if you’re going to push someone into the heart of the vortex, you ought to give them a suitable gift to see them through.”

”But, who could have expected...”

His eyes seemed to take on a mysterious glint. ”It was a ruin that had clearly never been breached. It was an S-Class Forbidden Curse, sealed long ago and only recorded in classical texts. And I was certain that this seal had never been broken.”

”And I, as the first person in a thousand years to enter those ruins, the first to undo the seal, saw that this Forbidden Curse...”

”...had become empty?”

”Who could have possibly been there before me?”