271: Chapter 272 A Walking God Among Mortals, This World Is Actually a Cage

The secret basement of Huichun Hall was exactly the same as last night.

Four stone walls and a single incandescent lamp.

Zhang Wei had managed to get a folding table, on which were set three sets of bowls and chopsticks, an insulated lunch box, and six takeout bags.

"Brother Qi, I didn't have time to order anything fancy, so let's just make do with this for now."

He efficiently opened the takeout boxes one by one. "Grilled fish, sauerkraut fish, boiled beef, and dry-pot bullfrog—four hearty dishes, plus six portions of rice. I prepared extra since you eat a lot."

"That's enough."

Lin Qi sat on a folding chair, scanned the meager spread, and had no objections.

At a critical juncture where he could be targeted by an unknown entity at any moment, keeping a low profile was more important than anything else.

The underground structure of Huichun Hall had a natural energy-shielding effect; as long as he stayed here, it was difficult for people outside to perceive his Law fluctuations.

Five minutes to eight.

The hidden door was pushed open from the outside, and a series of light footsteps approached.

Instructor Su Qing had changed into casual clothes—a black turtleneck sweater paired with dark gray trousers, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail.

Seeing her enter, Zhang Wei stood up out of reflex. "Instructor Su Qing—"

She glanced at him, ignored him, and walked straight to the other end of the folding table to sit down.

Her gaze fell on Lin Qi's face and lingered for two seconds.

"Your complexion is better than last night."

"I caught up on some sleep."

Lin Qi picked up his chopsticks.

The three of them sat down to eat just like that.

Although it was called a celebration feast, the atmosphere had nothing to do with being festive.

The folding table was a bit low, making it hard for Lin Qi to stretch his legs, and given Zhang Wei's size, he was squeezed quite uncomfortably.

As for Instructor Su Qing, a retired Level 60 Third-Turn Shadow Dancer crouching in a basement eating takeout grilled fish, the scene was somewhat absurd.

But no one complained.

For the first few minutes, they ate in silence, with no one speaking.

Zhang Wei didn't dare to speak. With these two big shots together, the pressure was too heavy, and he, being in charge of logistics, couldn't get a word in.

It was Instructor Su Qing who broke the silence first.

"Regarding Teacher Ye, the Academy has officially classified it as 'an attack by an unknown intruder'."

She held a piece of fish with her chopsticks but didn't put it in her mouth.

"The Vice Dean personally inspected the secret chamber and found two types of Law residues—one was Teacher Ye's 'Return to Ruins', and the other was something he said he had never seen before."

"What did he say?"

"His exact words were: 'The intruder might not be human; it is a god walking among men.'"

Zhang Wei's chopsticks froze in mid-air, and he tried hard to restrain himself from looking toward Lin Qi.

Instructor Su Qing continued, "They can't find out who did it, and they can't analyze the source of the True Qi sealing Teacher Ye's vitality. The Vice Dean said this energy's purity exceeds the known System and suggested reporting it to the Federation's Highest Research Institute."

"How did you respond?"

"I said that before Teacher Ye collapsed, he only left one sentence: 'Do not investigate further; I requested this myself.'"

"The Vice Dean was skeptical, but he didn't refute it."

"Good."

"This isn't a question of whether it's good or not."

Instructor Su Qing set down her chopsticks and stared at him.

"How long can that breath of life you gave Teacher Ye actually last?"

"I'm not sure."

Lin Qi finished chewing the beef in his mouth. "It depends on his own willpower. That was just using True Qi to lock the channels where his vitality was leaking; it doesn't count as treatment. His life Origin has already burned out. By normal means, there is no way in this world to save him."

Instructor Su Qing's hands clenched tightly under the table.

"What about abnormal means?"

Lin Qi looked up.

The two locked eyes, and Instructor Su Qing did not back down.

"You did many 'abnormal' things in that secret chamber."

"The Taiji that neutralized the Space Law, the Tendon-Severing and Bone-Displacing Hand that snapped a legendary weapon, the punch that withstood the Void Law, and that sealing technique that dragged my teacher back from the brink of death."

Her voice was very low, and she enunciated every word heavily.

"None of these things belong to the knowledge System of this world."

"Where your martial arts experience comes from, I won't ask; that is your secret."

"But my teacher's life concerns me, so I want to know if there is any way to truly save him."

The basement was silent for a few seconds.

Zhang Wei secretly glanced at Instructor Su Qing, then at Lin Qi, feeling incredibly uncomfortable caught in the middle.

"There is."

Lin Qi spoke up.

Instructor Su Qing's breathing hitched for a moment.

"How?"

"Two prerequisites."

Lin Qi held up two fingers.

"First, I must break through to the next martial arts Realm, the Tongshen Realm. Once I reach that level, my understanding of the Life Law will rise to a higher level, and it may be possible to find a way to reignite his life Origin."

"And the second?"

"Second, the Abyss Law curse on you must be lifted first."

Instructor Su Qing was stunned.

"What does saving my teacher have to do with the curse on me?"

"Your teacher burned everything; his body is now burned out. To relight the fire, there must be a primer."

"What kind of primer?"

"Law fragments."

Lin Qi tapped the tabletop.

"He spent his whole life cultivating the Space Law. The Space Law itself has nothing to do with life and cannot be used to extend life."

"The Abyss Law curse on you is a different Law System. Although it is a curse, it is essentially a 'living' Law. The fact that it can continuously suppress your Rank shows that it is constantly interacting with your vitality."

"If I can break your curse and strip that mass of Abyss Law from you..."

Instructor Su Qing had already understood.

"You want to convert the curse Law on me into a primer to reignite my teacher's life."

"Exactly, killing two birds with one stone."

Zhang Wei sat to the side with half a mouthful of rice, forgetting to chew.

Turning a curse into life-saving medicine—this kind of operation was something he wouldn't even dare to imagine.

Instructor Su Qing was silent for a long while.

"How sure are you?"

"Right now? Less than ten percent."

The corner of her eye twitched.

"But once I reach the Tongshen Realm, at least fifty percent."

"Tongshen Realm... You are currently in the Organ Refining Realm, right? How many stages are in between?"

"One."

"How long will it take?"

"It depends on Opportunity; it could be three months, or it could be three years."

Instructor Su Qing lowered her eyes. Three months and three years—the span was too wide.

"How long can my teacher hold on?"

"With his willpower, half a year is no problem. Any longer, and it's hard to say."

Instructor Su Qing didn't speak again; she picked up her chopsticks and ate mouthful by mouthful.

Her expression showed no change, but the fingers holding her chopsticks were trembling slightly.

Lin Qi didn't offer any extra comforting words; he wasn't that kind of person.

Zhang Wei, however, felt the atmosphere was too heavy and carefully spoke up to smooth things over: "Instructor Su Qing, don't worry. If Brother Qi says it's possible, then it definitely is! Look at the Li family with their huge formation—weren't they taken out by Brother Qi alone? Breaking a curse or something—"

Instructor Su Qing looked up at him.

The second half of his sentence automatically vanished.

"There is one more thing."

Lin Qi changed the subject. "Regarding Chen Shu, he can be used now."

This sentence pulled Instructor Su Qing out of her low mood.

"Chen Shu? That shadow of the Li family? You really controlled him?"

"Yes."

Instructor Su Qing looked at him, thinking about how to phrase her next words.

"What method?"

"A Law rewrite on a mental level."

After a pause, she asked again, "Can your 'My Body is the World' achieve this?"

"In my world, the rules I set are the Laws of heaven."

Lin Qi's tone was very flat, as if he were reciting a menu.

If anyone outside heard this, they would likely kneel down immediately.

But Instructor Su Qing only twitched her eyebrows; she was already used to it.

From the moment she saw Lin Qi punch through the Void Law with the most basic straight punch in that secret chamber, her threshold of perception had been completely raised.

"How much does Chen Shu know about that mysterious person?"

"This is the main event of the night."

Lin Qi took out his phone and dialed a number.

It rang twice, and the other end picked up. There were no greetings, no pleasantries.

A voice without any fluctuation came directly from the other end: "Master."

Zhang Wei got goosebumps all over.

Instructor Su Qing's brows also twitched. Hearing this word coming from Chen Shu's mouth felt incredibly incongruous.

"Come to Huichun Hall, the basement. You know the way."

"Yes, I will arrive in fifteen minutes."

The call ended.

Zhang Wei set out another pair of bowls and chopsticks.

"Brother Qi, you're letting Chen Shu come directly? He is currently a remnant of the Li family wanted by the entire Federation—"

"The one wanted is Li Qingcang. Shadow roles like Chen Shu are not on the official list. All traces of his existence were wiped clean by the Li family."

"That is to say..."

"He is a person who does not exist."

Zhang Wei blinked, suddenly feeling that this setup was a bit eerie.

A person who does not exist, serving as the hidden line for three generations of the Li family, handling so many unspeakable matters.

Now this person belonged to Brother Qi.

He silently stuffed a big mouthful of rice into his mouth, deciding not to think about it anymore.

Twelve minutes later.

The hidden door opened silently, and a black figure walked in.

Chen Shu.

In a crisp black suit, expressionless, with silent footsteps, he stood two meters in front of the folding table.

His gaze swept over Zhang Wei and Instructor Su Qing without any extra reaction, looking only at Lin Qi.

"Master, what are your orders?"

Zhang Wei swallowed. This person's aura was truly eerie. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there, but you always felt he could pull something lethal out of the shadows at any moment.

Lin Qi got straight to the point.

"How much do you know about that mysterious person?"

Chen Shu's posture remained unchanged as he spoke.

"Not much."

"My communication with him was entirely through encrypted chips. I have never seen his true face, nor have I ever heard his real voice."

"There are three points of information I can confirm."

"First, he has an extremely deep understanding of the underlying Laws of this world, far exceeding that of ordinary people. The chip he gave me contained a detailed report on 'System Rejection', precise down to every Law node and trigger condition when the rejection activates. The content of this report does not exist even in the highest database of Longya Academy."

"Second, he wants your body."

The chopsticks in Zhang Wei's hand clattered onto the table.

Instructor Su Qing's eyes narrowed.

"To be precise, he wants something inside your body."

Chen Shu's tone remained without fluctuation.

"He used a term: 'Conceptual Remains'."

"He said that if the System Rejection successfully erases you, what you leave behind will be a special kind of 'Conceptual Remains'. This thing is his true target."

"Why does he want it?" Lin Qi asked.

"He did not explain."

"But he once said one sentence to Li Qingcang."

When Chen Shu recited that sentence, his tone changed ever so slightly for the first time.

"He said—'This cage has trapped me for too long.'"