223: The mutation begins with the black line in the sky

Lu Chuan stood up, looked at the blood-stained alley outside the shop, and said in a deep voice:

“The peaceful and stable life I fantasized about never truly existed. Learning to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich and constantly escaping is simply not viable.”

“Moreover, I always have a premonition that Modu is just the beginning; we will encounter more and more of these things in the future. Escape, escape, escape—where will we run when that time comes? So, we can’t continue like this.”

What he didn’t say was that with the system, that troublemaker, it was unrealistic to want to live in peace in a corner.

He Jingrui was a bit confused and subconsciously asked,

“Then what do we do next?”

Lu Chuan frowned, but then quickly relaxed.

He waved his hand forward and said frankly,

“Take it one step at a time and see how things go. When faced with a situation, we can’t just retreat. If there’s an opportunity, we should take the initiative to attack. There will always be…”

Ding Xinyang chimed in from the side,

“The wind will break through the waves someday, and we’ll set sail to cross the vast sea!”

Lu Chuan snapped his fingers when he heard that.

“Yes, exactly! We must believe that there will be a day when we break through our difficulties!”

Hearing Lu Chuan’s words, He Jingrui scratched his head, a bit troubled.

“Then when the Fox Hunt Squad comes knocking, should I go back or continue to stay with you?”

Lu Chuan’s expression froze, but then he quickly smiled and said,

“Just follow your own wishes.”

He Jingrui became even more conflicted and could only sigh deeply.

Ding Xinyang suddenly said at this moment,

“A Chuan, after we leave Modu, can I continue to follow you? Even if it’s just to help you with odd jobs.”

Lu Chuan looked at him in confusion.

“After what happened tonight, you still dare to follow me?”

Ding Xinyang smiled a bit awkwardly, but his words were very firm.

“After experiencing the extraordinary scenery, I am unwilling to go back to living a life of drudgery.”

Lu Chuan looked at him, then thought about the system’s weekly stall tasks. Having an extra helper wouldn’t be bad, so he patted his shoulder, nodded, and said,

“Alright, just make sure you’ve thought it through.”

Upon hearing this, Ding Xinyang’s face immediately lit up with joy.

At this moment, Lu Chuan’s face suddenly showed a strange expression. He looked left and right, then reacted, said something to He Jingrui and Ding Xinyang, and quickly walked out of the shop towards the alley entrance.

Turning the corner, Hu Xuan and Shadow were waiting there.

Lu Chuan quickly walked a few steps to stand in front of them and asked,

“Old Dean, why did you specifically call me out? What’s the matter?”

Hu Xuan stroked his beard, his gaze at Lu Chuan extremely complex, with a hint of inquiry.

“Kid, what you just used…”

His voice sounded a bit dry.

“Was it the ‘Gourmet Cell Diagnosis’ ability?”

Lu Chuan’s heart skipped a beat, and his expression towards Hu Xuan changed.

“Old Dean, how did you…”

The “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability was a system reward he received after completing a task.

Logically, outsiders shouldn’t know about it or recognize it.

But Hu Xuan, whose origins were very mysterious, could recognize it. Combining this with the system’s previous accidental slip of the tongue when introducing the “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability, it could only mean one thing—

This “Gourmet Cell Diagnosis” ability was not exclusive to the system; instead, it was related to another world.

Lu Chuan’s questioning tone further confirmed something for Hu Xuan.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at Lu Chuan for a full five seconds, his gaze seemingly wanting to see through Lu Chuan inside and out.

Lu Chuan felt completely uncomfortable under his gaze.

After five seconds, Hu Xuan’s lips curved slightly, and he was about to say something—

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Thunder suddenly boomed in the sky.

Thousands of terrifying lightning bolts appeared and vanished in the sky.

Then, the sky suddenly changed from extremely dark to abnormally bright, as if a great sun had risen.

In the silent night, this doomsday-like scene appeared particularly abrupt and… unsettling.

Lu Chuan’s scalp tingled, and he instantly became alert.

Hu Xuan, however, narrowed his eyes, then shook his head, patted Lu Chuan’s shoulder, and said,

“Regardless of whether you came from that side or acquired this ability by accident, cherish it well. It will benefit you for life. The time has come, take care of yourself; this old man must also leave.”

With that, he and Shadow merged into the dark shadows and disappeared in an instant.

Lu Chuan still had many questions he wanted to ask. He was about to speak, but seeing that the person had already disappeared, he couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

“He ran away too fast!”

It was the same last time, and it was the same this time. The Old Dean’s style of doing things was truly unfathomable.

Lu Chuan shook his head helplessly and turned to walk back towards the restaurant.

As soon as he turned the corner, he saw He Jingrui and Ding Xinyang standing outside the shop door, heads tilted back, mouths agape, looking at the astonishing phenomenon in the sky.

Lu Chuan also looked up and then also opened his mouth wide.

At some unknown point, the sky, which had been as bright as day, had strangely developed a pitch-black line stretching across the entire sky.

And from the cross-section of the line, faint black tendrils were spreading outwards.

From Lu Chuan’s perspective, the speed of these black tendrils was not fast, even very slow, moving only a tiny bit after a long time.

But he knew that this was caused by the huge difference between visual distance and actual distance.

If one could observe those black tendrils up close, they would find their movement speed astonishingly fast.

A bad premonition gradually rose in Lu Chuan’s heart.

At this moment, He Jingrui saw Lu Chuan walking over and quickly pointed at the black line in the sky, saying with an amazed expression,

“A Chuan, look at that black line. It really looks like the crack leading to another world that I described to you, the one that appeared out of thin air in mid-air! It seems it was called… ‘wind of heaven and earth’?”

Hearing this, Lu Chuan couldn’t help but pat his forehead.

Sure enough, bad omens are more accurate than good ones.

He had just had an ominous premonition, and He Jingrui roughly helped him press the confirmation button.

He shook his head helplessly and gave a bitter smile.

“It’s not ‘like’; that is a crack leading to another world, it just hasn’t fully formed yet.”

“It’s really true?”

He Jingrui scratched his head and said sheepishly,

“So, that means the exotic beasts invaded through this… ‘wind of heaven and earth’! The ‘wind of heaven and earth’ that appeared in the previous mission wasn’t this big, but the exotic beasts that poured out from it already made everyone overwhelmed, and I almost died in that mission…”

He paused, then continued,

“This time, such a large… ‘wind of heaven and earth’ is very troublesome. How many lives will it take to fill it… to close it?”

Lu Chuan shook his head, looking at the black line in the sky, speechless for a moment.

He had always been a very practical person, only wanting to honestly set up a stall, earn a little money, and live a good life.

Why did he encounter such a thing… Truly, good people don’t live long, while scourges last for a thousand years.

That’s right, the scourge I’m talking about is you, system!

Are you not content unless you screw over your host? You’re really something!

Lu Chuan, while grumbling indignantly in his heart and constantly slandering the system, began to ponder how to proceed next.