booktalesy Chapter 189 Li Jiuhe's Backup Plan
Chapter 189 Li Jiuhe's Backup Plan
Chapter 189 Li Jiuhe's Backup Plan
"Jiezi?" Li Jiuhe was stunned. "This person is—"
The young man didn't answer immediately, but instead rubbed his chin, seemingly considering how to explain.
After a moment, he spoke: "You could say he's a Sequencer, but he's not entirely one. Let's put it another way, this guy is the most powerful being on certain sequence lines."
"You mean the entire sequence line?" Li Jiuhe asked.
The young man nodded.
"Is it purple-gold thread or black-gold thread?" Li Jiuhe asked, puzzled.
The young man stroked his chin again: "They can be considered Black Gold Line, at least in terms of strength at this stage. However, their identities are very special; they are born with sequence abilities and do not need to go through an awakening stage."
"And who is the ruler of the realm gate?" Li Jiuhe then asked.
The young man quickly shook his head: "Don't discuss him. Although his strength is not enough to affect this place, it's best not to discuss him."
Li Jiuhe was shocked: "In other words, this person has already reached the level of rules. Just as we cannot discuss the secrets of the sequence lines, we cannot discuss him either."
"That's about right." The young man nodded. "If we discuss him, even if it goes unnoticed now, it might leave a karmic consequence that could cause trouble in the future."
"Is it similar to the Withered Lord you mentioned last time?" Li Jiuhe thought for a moment and couldn't help but ask.
The young man said, "Yes, the Withering Lord and the Gatekeeper are equal."
"So all these people want to enter our real world?" Li Jiuhe looked up at the sky.
Because he had already noticed that this eerie situation seemed to be following in the footsteps of the abandoned wooden house, with the sky a deathly gray and few clean and bright areas left.
Moreover, a large amount of fog descended from the sky, slowly rolling in and infiltrating the eerie forest in the distance, making many of the trees there almost invisible.
"No." The young man shook his head. "The Lord of the Realm Gate doesn't seem interested in this, but it can't be ruled out that the Realm Child is acting on his orders. Besides—"
At this point, he clicked his tongue, "You think they can just come and go as they please? Our world is protected by world rules, which are not subject to the infringement of these superiors. So if they want to come, they can only find other ways, or use some compromise methods."
"For example, the Wither Lord has difficulty even entering the abandoned cabin; he can only reveal one black hand, let alone enter our world."
Li Jiuhe pointed to the sky: "But now the 'Abyss' is invading these places where Yin and Yang meet. What is their true nature?"
"How would I know what these people in power are thinking?" The young man shrugged. "Don't think of me as omnipotent. Sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing. I suspect I might be silenced at any time."
He then gave Li Jiuhe a meaningful look: "You should protect yourself first. Hopefully, you're only being targeted by Master Guan and not Jie Zi himself. And thankfully, his true form can't descend either. We're safe now. Once we've severed ties with Jie Zi, let's see what the Guan and Guo families do next."
Li Jiuhe nodded: "There's another important thing. My identity was erased before, and now I think I should be able to investigate why."
Li Jiuhe then had another conversation with the young man who was the form of the Death Pass, and learned that the lower the strength of the creatures in the "Abyss", the easier it was for them to enter the real world.
However, those with great strength are not easy to enter, which is good news for the real world for the time being.
But as time goes on, anything can be said, since the abandoned wooden house has now been completely invaded.
The current eerie forest is experiencing the same thing.
I don't know what the situation is like in other places where Yin and Yang meet, but according to the pass, the situation is not optimistic.
Furthermore, the pass suspects that Li Jiuhe in the future may be a key figure or a crucial link in some event.
Because the world of "Abyss" is extremely strange, it sounds like it is related to the abyss, but in reality, different timelines are operating in parallel within it, so to speak, there are different timelines at the same time.
Space and time may intersect in a chaotic manner, or they may advance in an orderly fashion.
The pass had previously entered the "Abyss," and in its current human form.
When he first went in, he saw his great-grandmother's childhood picture. It was a red hardcover diary kept in a primary school desk drawer. The diary belonged to a third-grade girl.
The second time he went in, he saw his great-grandson, a black and gold information card that had been sealed in a filing cabinet for many years.
He originally wanted to go in a third time to see who his wife was, or at least what his wife looked like after she died.
Although he doesn't have a wife right now.
Hearing what the Death Pass said, Li Jiuhe also became extremely curious about the world of "Abyss".
So if I could go in, would I encounter another version of myself in the "Abyss"? Would it be my future self, or my past self?
Lin Fengya is currently in the "Abyss," but what is she doing? Why hasn't she contacted me?
Is it because they can't get out anymore?
If Lin Fengya really has any problems, as long as Li Jiuhe knows, he might be able to help with his current strength.
The thought of this filled Li Jiuhe with a sense of powerlessness.
He guessed that he might have the opportunity to enter the world of "Abyss" in the future.
However, before the "Jiezi" issue is completely resolved, it's best not to deliberately offer yourself up for trouble.
Most of the doubts that Li Jiuhe had in mind have now been resolved, but new questions continue to emerge.
The first question is, what was the purpose of Jiezi or Guan Sanye using himself and Erqi Chenzhong to enter the real world?
The second question is: What was Lin Fengya doing in the "Abyss"?
The third question is: why did the clues to my previous identity disappear?
According to the pass, Li Jiuhe roughly knew why Yu Minmin was able to accurately state that she had not yet awakened her Sequence Ability and what the awakened ability was.
Because Jiezi comes from "Yuan", one can indeed know one's future abilities through his information.
It's even possible that Jiezi saw his future self in the world of "Yuan".
Thinking about all this, Li Jiuhe felt his head was in a mess again, but he was confident that he could figure everything out.
According to real-world time calculations, he spent several days in the eerie forest with the Death Pass.
During this period, Li Jiuhe's living conditions were the same as when Li Yi entered the deserted wooden house. Because of the different space, Li Jiuhe had no sense of hunger or other physiological sensations.
Feeling that the time was almost up, the pass quickly opened a passage back to the real world for him.
However, the pass will not return with Li Jiuhe for the time being, because it has absorbed too much of Guan Yu's energy this time and is preparing to stay here to digest and absorb it properly, turning all of this energy into its own use.
Moreover, this place is becoming increasingly dangerous. He has a good relationship with the Tree Grandpa of the Ghost Forest and wants to see if he can help slow down the progress of the "Abyss" eroding the Ghost Forest as much as possible.
After temporarily separating from the pass, Li Jiuhe stepped into the floating mist and disappeared.
The young man stared blankly at the scene until the undulating mist disappeared, but his gaze remained fixed on it, as if he were still deep in thought.
After a long while, he sighed softly, stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the spot where Li Jiuhe had disappeared, and then shuffled into the depths of the forest in his flip-flops.
"Grandpa Tree, where did you hide? Why aren't you in the same spot anymore?" the young man called out as he walked.
The moment he returned to the real world, the bright light stung Li Jiuhe's eyes.
However, he quickly adapted, looked up at the sky, and found that his body was no longer abnormal.
The curse that was planted by Guan Yu's body last time quickly disappeared as Guan Yu's body was killed.
Not only Li Jiuhe, but also Tong Cheng and the others noticed this change.
Therefore, Tong Cheng and the others were no longer here.
Li Jiuhe walked out of a public toilet and found himself in a familiar square.
This is the square in Yuanmeng City. It was here that he drove his official vehicle and ran over and killed the murderer You Hong. It seems that the Death Pass is quite familiar with this place, so it teleported him here directly.
He took out his phone and checked it, and found that it still had one bar of battery left, meaning that it hadn't used much battery during the few days he was in the Ghost Forest.
However, after reconnecting the phone to the internet, it showed that a week had passed.
He dialed Tong Cheng's number, and the call was answered quickly.
Tong Cheng's surprised voice rang out: "Jiuhe?"
Li Jiuhe quickly asked, "Brother Tong, are you still in Yuanmeng City?"
"We've safely returned to headquarters in the capital," Tong Cheng said. "Everyone's back, including your daughter. Where have you been these past few days? Are you alright?"
Li Jiuhe said, "It's not convenient to talk on the phone, let's talk when we meet. Hmm, now I'm going back to headquarters—is it safe for me?"
'
Tong Cheng was taken aback, guessing that he must have done something earth-shattering to ask such a question.
But in reality, everything is peaceful here, and they haven't heard any news. The matter ended after the old man in the hospital died after being cursed.
Later, for some reason, the divination spell was suddenly broken.
Tong Cheng had suspected that this matter might be related to the disappearance of Li Jiuhe, but he refrained from asking about it on the phone.
However, headquarters has not received any news, nor has anyone from the Guan family contacted the General Administration, so there is nothing wrong with Li Jiuhe going back now.
After all, the plans involving the Guan family might be secrets that couldn't be brought to light. Even if something happened to someone from the Guan family, they wouldn't dare to search for them so openly.
Moreover, even if an investigation were to be conducted, it might not be possible to find out in a short period of time that this matter is related to Li Jiuhe.
Li Jiuhe immediately bought a plane ticket back to the capital.
Seeing that there were still four hours before his departure, he didn't head to the airport immediately. Instead, he thought about it and went to White Stone Park alone.
At the park entrance, he showed his investigator's badge and told one of the gatekeepers not to notify Song Zhixing, the director of the Yuanmeng City Bureau. He then entered the park and arrived at the Rubik's Cube haunted house.
Standing about twenty meters away from the haunted house, he quietly observed the building.
If the abilities of the Rubik's Cube Haunted House overlap with those of the Tongue of the Dead, it means that leaving this sequence item here is actually very dangerous.
If you're not careful, you'll be targeted by other pieces in the game and become someone else's tool.
Regardless of the circumstances, Li Jiuhe plans to inform the haunted house in advance so that it can be on guard.
If possible, it would be best to find an opportunity to leave White Stone Park rather than staying there and increasing the risk of exposure.
Before long, Li Jiuhe stepped into the entrance of the haunted house.
Looking up, he was suddenly startled, feeling a strange sensation.
Upon closer inspection, the layout at the entrance was the same as before, but both the tables and the props on them were covered with a thick layer of dust.
They had moved these tables and props when they left last time, and even if there was some dust, it's impossible for them to have so much dust in such a short time.
Li Jiuhe immediately strode inside, and at the same time, the petrification ability of the Morning Palace Stone Man was activated, covering his body with a layer of hard stone armor.
With the power of the stone man, he can now see in this pitch-black haunted house without even turning on his phone's flashlight.
All around was quiet and lifeless, as if the place had been abandoned for too long.
They quickly finished exploring the haunted house, and Li Jiuhe's suspicions were confirmed: the core of the haunted house sequence was no longer there, or rather, it was dead.
The entire haunted house has been transformed into an ordinary building.
Once outside, Li Jiuhe walked around the perimeter of the haunted house again before finally leaving.
He guessed that the core of the haunted house's sequence must have left, and wouldn't have died like that, but he couldn't figure out why.
At least the police officers and a few investigators guarding the outside didn't notice anything. If the ghost house's departure was due to an external force, then that force was something these guards couldn't resist.
The disappearance of the haunted house was at least a warning to Li Jiuhe, reminding him that the threat was still there and that he had to be careful.
He informed Song Zhixing of the matter by phone, telling him not to waste manpower and resources to continue guarding Baishi Park.
After waiting at the airport for a while, they quickly boarded a plane and returned to the capital.
As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I saw Ma Li and Li Yi who had come to pick me up.
Upon seeing Li Jiuhe, Li Yi immediately pounced on him and hugged his leg.
Li Jiuhe picked up Li Yi with a big smile, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and asked, "Are you alright?"
Li Yi shook her head, then whispered, "Uncle Tong and the others are waiting for you."
Ma Li also lowered her voice and said, "Let's not go back to the Investigation Bureau first, let's go to the safe house. Boss Tong, Mu Nian and Luo Shuo are waiting for us there."
Li Jiuhe didn't say much.
The three quickly got into an official car and entered the city center. After turning around and around, they arrived at a building that looked old.
The group entered a side path, got out of the car, went into an alley, and then walked through a small door, quickly arriving at a safe house set up by the Bureau of Investigation.
All signals are blocked here, and all forms of perception and mental probing are also prohibited.
Tong Cheng and his two companions had been waiting there for some time and were talking quietly.
After Li Jiuhe arrived, he stated that he had greatly increased his strength by merging with the Erqi Morning Bell, which allowed him to track down the mastermind's true form.
When he revealed that the mastermind was Guan Yu, Tong Cheng and Mu Nian were both quite frightened.
They had heard of Guan Yu's fame, but they never imagined that he would be the mastermind behind it all, since Guan Yu was notoriously obese and could not possibly leave Xiongfeng Ridge.
No one knew that he had been using the divination method to do things all along.
However, what surprised everyone the most was that Li Jiuhe, whose strength had improved by leaps and bounds, had actually killed the mastermind and escaped unscathed, even managing to leave the Guo family's quinoa blade at the scene.
This series of changes happened far too quickly.
After analyzing the situation, Shan Tongcheng and Mu Nianyi felt that the Guan family was unlikely to fall for the trick, but they also wouldn't be able to find Li Jiuhe immediately.
After all, Li Jiuhe appeared directly in Guan Sanye's house and then disappeared immediately. There were no surveillance cameras inside the house, and everyone who saw Li Jiuhe was already dead.
For them, there is still plenty of time to prepare and respond.
"So your current strength—" Tong Cheng looked Li Jiuhe up and down with a suspicious expression.
"I should be about the same as you guys," Li Jiuhe said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Nian raised his hand at close range, and a small, invisible white ball popped out. As it touched Li Jiuhe's body, the ball exploded and formed a transparent spider web that enveloped him.
Li Jiuhe's body surface seemed to be instantly coated with a layer of armor, with a faint gray color. It was impossible to tell that he was petrified, but it felt extraordinary.
Mu Nian felt a dullness in her spider web, as if she couldn't exert her strength.
Li Jiuhe raised his hand and flicked it, instantly tearing the entire spider web apart.
These invisible spider webs were connected to Mu Nian's mind. Her heart skipped a beat, her face showed horror, and she was so sad that she almost vomited blood. She immediately and quickly disconnected her senses from the spider webs.
Mu Nian felt her blood rush to her head, her face flushed slightly, and then returned to normal.
She shook her head: "No, not just about the same, your strength has surpassed mine. If I don't use special methods, I have absolutely no chance of winning against you."
Everyone else looked at Li Jiuhe in surprise when they heard her say that.
Tong Cheng tentatively asked, "So you're also—the Purple-Gold Thread?"
Li Jiuhe didn't hide anything and nodded.
Tong Cheng immediately understood. He had been lucky enough to become a Purple Gold Line cultivator, but he could only be considered a beginner Purple Gold Line cultivator at present.
After all, this sequence line is extremely terrifying, and Li Jiuhe might already be at the intermediate level.
Even Mu Nian faced this situation against Li Jiuhe, so if it were me, the situation would only be slightly better.
After a pause, Tong Cheng said, "You left your bag with Li Yi when you left, and we've been taking care of that black box for you these past few days."
"How did you handle it?" Li Jiuhe asked.
"Please have Minister Shao secretly pass it on to Professor Gu at the Equipment R&D Center," Tong Cheng said. "It's safest to keep it with him, and it will also allow Professor Gu to study the secrets behind the black box."
Li Jiuhe didn't mention earlier that there was an even more powerful mastermind behind Guan Sanye, Jiezi, because the mastermind's intentions were unknown, so he didn't want to reveal it for the time being.
He nodded and instructed, "It's best to store the black box away and not touch it for now. This matter may involve 'The Abyss' —"
At this point, Li Jiuhe produced an identical quinoa-patterned knife as if by magic and handed it to Tong Cheng.
"Please ask Professor Gu to analyze the sequence pattern on this knife as soon as possible, and then destroy it. As for the complete sequence pattern, the Investigation Bureau can open it and take it for research."
Everyone in the safe house was stunned, except for Li Yi, who stared curiously at the quinoa-patterned knife.
Suddenly, Li Yi remembered what Li Jiuhe had said earlier: "Hey, Dad, didn't you leave this knife at the Guan family's house?"