194: Chapter 194 Four Seconds of Suppressing the Domain

Zhao Ye had always detested it when others repeatedly urged him, "You can't smash it."

What was even more annoying was that every time he wanted to take action to break the deadlock, a crowd would always gather behind him to stop him.

The temporary shelter in Jiangbei was packed with over two hundred people: the elderly and children, families of the deceased clutching return tickets, residents panicked by the city-wide silent alarm, and several relatives who had cried until their vocal cords were hoarse.

Zheng Xiang was so busy he couldn't stop moving; he carried an insulated food bucket in one hand and slammed the other heavily against the registration table.

"Line up! Don't you understand what 'line up' means? If you want to find someone, register your names here first. Stop clutching your tickets and charging at the door!"

His throat was dry and burning from shouting, but as soon as his words left his mouth, they were swallowed up by the silent rule.

The crowd only saw his lips moving incessantly, and their panic grew even more intense as they shoved and squeezed toward the entrance.

Lin Zhao hung the boundary guarding lamp plaque on the lintel of the hall, and a thin wall of fire stretched across the doorway, as fragile as a piece of manuscript paper that would shatter at a touch.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, as he held the boundary fire steady with all his might.

Chen Jue crouched by the door, using all his strength to pin down a man attempting to rush outside.

The man clutched an old mobile phone in his palm; the screen had no incoming call notifications, yet it continued to glow with a faint light.

"My mom is waiting for me outside!"

He roared until his face was flushed red, but only a faint, airy sound remained in his throat, unable to travel any distance.

Chen Jue gripped his shoulders tightly: "There is no one outside at all!"

The man whipped his head around to glare at him, his eyes filled with bloodshot red.

"What right do you have to conclude there's no one there? Have you ever experienced the feeling of losing a loved one?"

Chen Jue's body stiffened, and his restraining force nearly slipped.

In that split second of hesitation, countless fine, black threads slithered in through the cracks in the floor from outside the door.

The boundary guarding lamp plaque on the lintel suddenly dimmed, and the fire light shrank by more than half.

Lin Zhao groaned, his knees nearly slamming heavily onto the ground.

When Zhao Ye arrived, this was the scene of chaos he encountered.

He kicked open the outer door of the shelter, the starlight on his shoulders not yet dissipated, his whole body wrapped in a heavy, oppressive aura, as if he had just stepped out of a high-temperature furnace.

The entire street outside was dead silent, with no car horns or human voices. Countless pitch-black threads extended from the bases of streetlights, sewage pipes, and the gaps in billboards, like invisible fishhooks, all piercing toward the shelter's entrance.

"Everyone, move aside."

Chen Jue looked up and saw him, his tense nerves relaxing slightly: "Brother Zhao!"

Zhao Ye had no time to respond and strode straight toward the door.

Lin Zhao gritted his teeth and warned him: "Don't step outside the fire wall, these black threads will flank and ambush you—"

"I know."

Zhao Ye stepped out past the thin boundary guarding fire wall, his heel landing in the cold, accumulated water.

As soon as the pitch-black threads touched the tips of his shoes, they immediately coiled and climbed up like venomous insects that had caught the scent of blood.

The Evil Suppressor path within him roared into motion, a heavy force suppressing his entire body from above.

Unlike Bai Ya's starlight or Lin Zhao's boundary fire, his authority had no flashy light; it possessed only pure, heavy suppression.

Zhao Ye had often mocked himself, comparing his simple methods to the unique abilities of others; whenever something happened, he could only meet it head-on, smash it, or suppress it.

But at this moment, he could not smash.

There were over two hundred lives in the shelter behind him; if he violently shattered the black threads, it would easily trigger the deep old law and implicate everyone.

What he needed to do was not to destroy the anomaly, but to firmly block these threads of sound that seduced the heart, yielding not an inch.

Zhao Ye slowly closed his eyes, the Fire Seal on his wrist burning hot.

The rain falling around him suddenly froze in mid-air.

It wasn't that the rain had stopped, but that the water droplets falling within a three-step radius of him were all suspended, suppressed by the heavy power of the Suppression Domain, their falling trajectories even briefly stalled.

The embryonic form of the Suppression Domain fully unfolded.

Its coverage was extremely small, just enough to protect the entire entrance of the shelter.

The encroaching black threads were forcibly pinned to the water-logged ground, twisting and trembling violently like a group of venomous snakes nailed in place, unable to move forward another inch.

First second.

Lin Zhao seized the gap to fully reinforce the boundary guarding fire wall on the lintel.

Second second.

Chen Jue took the opportunity to use his strength, dragging the emotionally out-of-control man back into the interior of the hall, his arms tense to the point of trembling.

Third second.

Zheng Xiang suddenly overturned a solid wood table, using the tabletop to tightly seal the door crack, cursing silently without a single sound escaping.

Fourth second.

A sudden, dull pain struck Zhao Ye's chest, and a strong scent of blood rushed up his throat.

The black threads on the ground suddenly gathered strength and rebounded, their force violently doubling.

He did not retreat a single step.

A black thread grazed his shoulder fiercely; his clothing tore silently, and his flesh was sliced open by a long, deep wound, a searing pain sweeping through his entire body.

He lowered his eyes to glance at the wound, the curses on the tip of his tongue blocked in his throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood was vomited directly into the rainwater at his feet.

Lin Zhao saw that splash of blood, and his eyes instantly turned red.

"Retreat back quickly!"

Zhao Ye clearly captured this reminder—not by relying on hearing, but through the subtle vibrations transmitted between their Fire Seals.

He did not turn back, only raising his right hand to make a direct gesture toward those behind him.

Chen Jue's eyes were already rimmed with red; seeing this action, he was caught between tears and laughter, his overwhelming worry stuck firmly in his chest.

The Grey Net simultaneously popped up a text notification from Shen Qinghe:

[The black threads at the door are merely a diversionary branch. The Clock Collector's true gathering point is the abandoned old clock shop on the west side of the shelter.]

Immediately following that, the crow shadow released by Bai Ya precisely marked the coordinates of the clock shop.

Zhao Ye looked up toward the street corner.

Inside the display window of the clock shop that had been closed for years, dozens of bronze bells hung densely. All the bell bodies were missing their hands, and the centers of the bell faces were nothing but pitch-black voids, like mouths devouring sound.

The Clock Collector did not appear, but had simply collected the human voices, calls, and exhortations snatched from all over the city, storing them bit by bit into this shop.

Zhao Ye took a deep breath; the tearing pain in his chest almost forced a bitter smile from him.

"Fine."

"Finally, a place where I can smash to my heart's content."

He took a step forward and unfolded the embryonic Suppression Domain once again.

This time, the suppression only lasted two seconds, but it was enough for him to break through the barrier of black threads and dash straight to the front of the clock shop.

His fist slammed down heavily, and the entire display window glass shattered silently.

There was no piercing sound of breaking glass, but inside the shelter, the man who had just lost control suddenly stiffened all over.

The screen of the old mobile phone in his palm went completely black.

After a moment of silence, the man slowly lowered his head and covered his cheeks; a soft, faint sob finally broke free from the shackles of silence.

"I know."

His voice was as weak as a wisp of breath, yet it carried clearly throughout the hall.

"I understand, she can never come back."

Zhao Ye stood amidst the shattered glass, the fresh blood gushing from the wound on his shoulder dripping continuously down his arm.

He looked up at the wall deep inside the shop; a small bronze bell without a clapper hung quietly on it, with two cold, heavy characters engraved on the bell face:

[Received]

The interior of the clock shop was empty; there was no sign of anyone.

A moldy, old maintenance logbook sat on the counter, its pages filled with tiny scraps of paper, each one inscribed with a daily phrase from an ordinary person.

[Mom, the medicine is in the left drawer.]

[Don't go through the East Gate, the wall has collapsed.]

[Watch out for vehicles on the road.]

[I've arrived home safely.]

These exhortations and reports of safety that should have been hidden in phone calls, hospital wards, and on the streets had all been intercepted by the Clock Collector and sealed within these thin pages.

As soon as Zhao Ye's fingertips touched the pages, a sharp, stinging pain shot through him. He jerked his hand back, his face turning extremely grim.

"Even these ordinary attachments, it wants to plunder?"

Lin Zhao arrived shortly after, staring at the maintenance logbook in silence for a long time.

A moment later, he pressed the boundary guarding lamp plaque onto the door frame of the shop, and a thin layer of fire slowly spread, temporarily isolating the entire anomalous area.

"Forbid ordinary people from approaching this place."

Chen Jue acknowledged the order and led people to put up a blockade cordon.

The man who had been stopped by Chen Jue earlier had not gone far; he stood alone at the entrance of the shelter, still clutching the old mobile phone with the black screen in his hand.

Seeing Chen Jue pass by, he spoke in a low voice: "Just now, thank you."

Chen Jue was slightly taken aback.

The man raised his hand to wipe away the damp traces from the corners of his eyes, his tone full of exhaustion: "Just now, I almost rushed out, following that voice."

Chen Jue didn't know how to console him for a moment, only blurting out stiffly: "Next time, don't be beguiled by illusory sounds."

The man shook his head with a bitter smile: "If there really is a next time, I might not be able to hold on."

Chen Jue did not rebuke him.

At this moment, he suddenly understood that most people aren't unable to distinguish danger; they just yearn too deeply in their hearts for that long-missed response.

Afterward, Xu Minglan pressed Zhao Ye into a chair to treat his wounds. He resisted with his whole body, twisting and dodging incessantly, complaining that the bandages were bound too tightly and uncomfortably.

Xu Minglan's face went cold: "If you move around again, I'll call Tang Zhiwei over to hold you down for the dressing."

Zhao Ye instantly settled down, remaining motionless.

Chen Jue, standing to the side, held back his laughter, not daring to make a sound. Zhao Ye shot him a sidelong glance: "Are you very free?"

"No."

"Then go add another layer of blockade around the clock shop. No one is allowed to touch that maintenance logbook."

Chen Jue nodded, acknowledging the order, but turned back after reaching the door.

"Brother Zhao."

"Something else?"

"Those four seconds of Suppression Domain just now were impressive."

Zhao Ye was stunned at the words, then immediately frowned: "Cut the crap and go."

Chen Jue ran off with a smile.

Xu Minglan lowered her head to trim the gauze, a faint arc quietly curling at the corners of her mouth. Zhao Ye pretended not to notice, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on his knee.

A mere four seconds, fleeting in an instant.

But this was the first time he truly realized that he was never just someone who only knew how to fight head-on.

A heavy Suppression Domain could also protect the countless ordinary people behind him.