102: Chapter 102 The Invisible Threads of Cause and Effect

Li Xiuyuan did not go over to chat with Fang Jingxuan; after all, there was nothing to talk about.

Gu Xiao finished his cigarette, stood up from the reef, and walked over.

"You shouldn't have said that just now."

Seeing him approach, Li Xiuyuan suddenly spoke up.

Gu Xiao frowned, puzzled: "What words?"

"Things like telling him not to run around, in case of an accident. In many scenarios, after you say that, either you or him will die. Among humans, this behavior has a name called..."

The words suddenly stuck; Li Xiuyuan couldn't recall what this behavior was called for a moment.

It was Gu Xiao who helped him complete it: "Setting a flag, a popular internet slang from over a decade ago."

"But I don't think mine counts, it was just normal banter."

Li Xiuyuan looked at him silently: "This world has countless threads of causality. Every word you say and every action you take will invisibly pluck one of them, thereby triggering a chain of events."

Hearing this, Gu Xiao fell silent, seemingly taking the words to heart.

In truth, Li Xiuyuan only wanted to tease Gu Xiao, but Gu Xiao connected it with the things he had said recently, many of which had proven prophetic and had all come true.

Suddenly, he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

These colleagues in the Jiantian Bureau were all brothers and sisters as close as limbs, having worked together for many years.

Even if they were in different departments or squads, the affection and friendship between them had long since become as solid as iron.

Moreover, Gu Xiao was a true veteran in the Jiantian Bureau. He had mentored many people currently in the bureau for a period of time; they weren't master and apprentice, but it was better than that.

At first, many people called him Teacher or Master Gu, but Gu Xiao felt he didn't deserve the title and insisted everyone change it, making those younger than him call him "Old Gu."

Fang Jingxuan joined the Jiantian Bureau a few years after Gu Xiao.

Back then, he was still a hothead, always wanting to be the first to charge ahead whenever he encountered danger, throwing himself forward as if he didn't care about his life.

If not for the experienced veteran Gu Xiao holding him back tightly, Fang Jingxuan would have died several times over.

Having saved Fang Jingxuan so many times with his own hands, if he were to cause his death because of his own jinxed mouth, Gu Xiao feared it would leave a shadow in his heart that he would never be able to shake off for the rest of his life.

"Did you really take it to heart?" Li Xiuyuan asked, seeing that Gu Xiao hadn't spoken for a while.

Gu Xiao looked at him silently.

Then, as if comforting himself, he shook his head: "No, although he is the captain of the field squad, he doesn't need to take any risks. As long as nothing happens these days, it will be fine."

He could only comfort himself in his heart; he was definitely overthinking it. How could it be such a coincidence? Besides, Fang Jingxuan wasn't entering the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, and he was sharp, so it was unlikely he would encounter any danger.

Although he said that, in the time that followed, Gu Xiao's words became noticeably fewer. He sat there smoking incessantly, staring blankly at the river in the distance, the ember of his cigarette flickering, much like his state of mind at that moment.

…Time passed slowly. Countless cigarette butts had piled up by Gu Xiao's feet. White mist swirled, making it hard to distinguish whether it was Li Xiuyuan's Mirage Qi or the smoke he exhaled.

Until after midnight.

On the river surface, a strange beam of light suddenly appeared.

That beam of light arrived silently, as if it had torn through the void from another dimension and forcibly squeezed into this world.

The pale cyan beam was as cold as late autumn frost, dyeing the originally ink-black river water into a deathly, ashen gray.

"The Ancient Grotto-Heaven is opening, Old Gu!"

Fang Jingxuan in the distance reacted immediately and shouted into the white mist.

Gu Xiao threw his last cigarette butt at his feet, stood up, and waved his hand: "Got it, got it, I'm watching the time."

Having said that, he turned to look at Li Xiuyuan: "Going in."

Li Xiuyuan glanced at him and didn't say much. Because he had been smoking constantly, Gu Xiao's throat was severely hoarse, and his voice was not loud. Fang Jingxuan in the distance clearly didn't hear him and was still craning his neck, peering into the white mist.

But Li Xiuyuan did not remind Gu Xiao.

Just as he had said earlier, there are thousands of intertwined threads of causality in this world. Every word you say and every action you take, whether intentional or accidental, will invisibly have an effect.

Some warnings are not necessarily a good thing.

When the entrance to the Ancient Grotto-Heaven fully opened, an incredibly abundant spiritual energy poured out from the rift, like a breached flood.

Li Xiuyuan and Gu Xiao leaped, their two figures disappearing into that cyan radiance.

Watching the White Flood Dragon and Gu Xiao disappear at the entrance, Fang Jingxuan muttered to himself: "What's with not acknowledging people? Do people get hard of hearing when they get old? Why am I perfectly fine?"

Now was not the time to investigate whether Gu Xiao was hard of hearing. Fang Jingxuan turned around and began to instruct the Jiantian Bureau colleagues behind him on the subsequent matters.

After a while, everything was on track. Although there weren't many people left on the shore, everyone was busy with their own tasks.

Fang Jingxuan was also sitting in front of some instruments, staring at the various data displayed on them, including the fluctuation frequency of spiritual energy values, changes in the aquatic ecosystem, and so on.

At this moment, a figure arrived behind Fang Jingxuan.

"Didn't I say? When there are no instructions, just busy yourself with your own work. If there is a situation, just report it directly."

Fang Jingxuan didn't look back, still assuming it was a colleague from the Jiantian Bureau.

However, the next instant, the monitoring instruments in front of him suddenly emitted a piercing alarm sound simultaneously!

Fang Jingxuan's gaze sharpened. He discovered that the one triggering the alarm was the spiritual energy detection instrument; the numbers on it were jumping frantically, as if it had sensed something extremely terrifying.

A chill exploded from the base of his spine.

Fang Jingxuan instantly channeled the Qi within his body, clenched his fists, turned abruptly, and threw a punch!

However, this punch was easily caught by a palm.

That hand, with fingers like hooks, firmly clamped onto his fist. His entire strength felt like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly neutralized into nothingness.

The one who caught Fang Jingxuan's punch was a young man with a buzz cut.

He was wearing a green tracksuit, with the two characters for "Xia Country" written on both sides of his chest. A faint smile hung on his face, as if he were an acquaintance coming to visit.

Behind him were a few people in plain clothes, looking extremely ordinary.

As for the originally busy Jiantian Bureau colleagues, they were now lying on the ground in a sprawl, unconscious.

Fang Jingxuan's pupils constricted, and he said in a deep voice: "Who are you people? You dare to lay a hand on people from the Jiantian Bureau?"

The young man with the buzz cut smiled, his tone as casual as if chatting about daily life: "Let me introduce myself, Lin Shu from the Guiliu Society."

"Guiliu Society?" Fang Jingxuan frowned. He had some impression of this organization but forgot exactly what they did.

"Oh, you might not know, but there's no need to know."

As he spoke, the young man with the buzz cut raised his hand and pointed lightly. The mobile phone in Fang Jingxuan's pocket actually floated out on its own, suspended in mid-air, and automatically opened the recording function.

Lin Shu smiled and greeted the camera: "Hello everyone at the Jiantian Bureau, my name is Lin Shu, from the Guiliu Society. Let me first introduce the Guiliu Society. The name Guiliu Society is taken from the meaning of 'all rivers flowing into the sea'; it is an organization dedicated to welcoming the return of the Dragon Lord."

He took out a jade tablet from his pants pocket, on which a water flow pattern was carved, with clear and ancient lines: "This is the emblem of the Guiliu Society. Look closely, don't catch the wrong people."

"The Guiliu Society has been looking for a vessel that can help the Dragon Lord be reborn, so we are also eyeing that White Flood Dragon." Lin Shu thought for a moment and felt there was nothing left to say, "Hmm... that's all."

The mobile phone automatically stopped recording, and the video was sent out silently.

"You..." Fang Jingxuan had just opened his mouth, and before he could finish his words, a dark red bloodstain quietly appeared on his neck.

His entire body felt as if its strength had been drained; his body went limp, and he collapsed straight to the ground. Blood gushed out from the wound on his neck, staining the ground beneath him red, a shocking sight.

"That's it." Lin Shu withdrew his gaze, his tone flat, "This should be enough to attract all the attention."

He turned and looked at a beautiful figure at the very back of the crowd.

That woman had short hair, a cold and aloof face, and an indifferent expression, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her.

"Miss Lu, please."

The woman did not respond.

She raised her right hand, her five fingers quickly forming several hand seals, with faint light flickering at her fingertips.

The next moment, faint, deep blue light welled up in the woman's eyes.

A complex formation spread out with her at the center, enveloping the feet of the few people from the Guiliu Society.

A steady stream of spiritual energy surged out from the formation, like a spring or a waterfall, pouring into everyone's body.

Lin Shu stretched comfortably and began to do some simple warm-up exercises, loosening his wrists and neck: "Warming up, we're going in too."

The woman called Miss Lu said nothing, tapped her foot lightly, and her whole body swept up like a breeze, leaping silently into the entrance of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven.