Canglan Capital.
"Mysterious Blood Array?"
Liu Yunshuang looked at the report sent up from Muyun City with a solemn expression.
Normally, special information reported by Muyun City wouldn't be sent to Canglan Capital.
But who asked this aunt to worry so much about her niece?
Therefore, relying on the old man above her family and using just a tiny bit of their connections, reports and other information from Muyun City would now be sent directly into Liu Yunshuang's hands.
As for whether the old fogey had any objections...
Heh.
Having already sent his own granddaughter out, if Liu Chengfeng dared to refuse, his daughter would probably really pull his oxygen tube in the future.
On this side, Liu Yunshuang finished reading the intelligence carefully, pondered for a moment, and decided to inform her girl first.
Although it might not necessarily be useful, it was at least a clue.
Thinking of this, Liu Yunshuang couldn't help cursing a little.
"Where on earth did these lunatics get this bizarre gadget?! I just don't know if that girl can handle it."
After all, this kind of Blood Array was also known to the Ability Bureau for the first time, so she didn't have any strategies.
If they started researching now...
Liu Yunshuang scratched her head in dissatisfaction. "Not to mention whether there's enough time, just a single photo won't yield any results even if we study it.
"But to send some excellent researchers... That old fogey definitely won't agree."
The situation in Muyun City was complicated now, and aside from Flame Heart, they dared not easily dispatch personnel.
If the prediction was fulfilled normally, this would be no different from sending people to their deaths.
"I hope Silver Wolf and you guys won't let me down!"
Just as Liu Yunshuang was secretly feeling sorrowful, a sudden call disrupted her train of thought.
Liu Yunshuang picked up her phone to take a look, and immediately wore a look of disgust.
[Old Bi Deng (Smelly Dad)]
Ding.
"Hello, something the matter?"
"..."
Liu Yunshuang frowned.
She only heard slightly heavy breathing coming from the other end of the phone, yet he didn't speak.
"Old fogey, if there's nothing else, I'm hanging up! This lady is busy!"
Seeing that Liu Yunshuang seemed ready to actually take action, a heavy and slightly weak voice leisurely came over.
"Ahem, Yunshuang, what have you been doing recently?"
"Hm? Wait, what's wrong with you, old fogey?"
Liu Yunshuang's expression suddenly changed.
As a Grandmaster-realm powerhouse, even through a phone call, she immediately noticed that her dad's condition was somewhat abnormal.
Disordered breathing, weak aura?
She stood up angrily and anxiously asked, "Hey, Dad, what's wrong with you? Could it be that someone finally stopped hiding and directly made a move against you?!"
"Not yet. I just purely have something to ask you."
"Stop messing around. Can't I hear it out?"
Saying this, she immediately hung up the phone and directly dialed a video call.
Looking at the large characters on the screen, she inexplicably felt flustered for a moment.
The other side seemed to remain silent for a few seconds before finally connecting the video call.
The screen opened.
Liu Yunshuang looked over anxiously, only to see her own father on the other side of the screen.
At first glance, her father was wearing his usual gray suit, with a straight spine, seeming no different from usual. Yet Liu Yunshuang cleverly discovered that the old fogey's state was actually not good.
He looked somewhat weak, his complexion slightly pale, and fine cold sweat hung on his temples, obviously trying his best to mobilize his own martial qi to conceal the body's discomfort.
Fortunately, things weren't too serious—at most, it was like being beaten up by seven or eight big men, beaten to a half-dead state, but not yet dying.
Her heart finally dropped. Liu Yunshuang unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, her tensed shoulders instantly slumping as she collapsed directly against the back of the chair.
She raised a hand to press her swollen temples, her fingertips still able to feel the cold sweat that had broken out just now from the tension.
'Fortunately, but what on earth is this...'
In just an instant, many guesses flashed through Liu Yunshuang's mind, and a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
But in the next second, she concealed the thoughts in her heart.
Her tone returned to her previous attitude. "You gave me a scare. I thought I could finally eat at your funeral banquet."
She rolled her eyes, seeming indifferent, but in reality, the stone in her heart had only just landed.
The middle-aged man opposite was visibly stunned, his already pale face instantly sinking as he frowned in dissatisfaction. "Hey? Is there any girl like you who talks this way? Can't you wish your old man something good?"
Liu Yunshuang curled her lips, showing supreme filial piety. "Old fogey, you're joking. Aside from coveting your bit of inheritance, do you really think I want to bother with you?"
Feeling the old fogey's heartbroken gaze, her expression remained unchanged, and she even intentionally raised her head, looking completely justified and confident.
Of course, if one excluded the office desk next to her that she had accidentally shattered earlier because she was too excited.
That shattered tabletop and scattered wooden blocks were silently accusing her of her "crimes."
Liu Yunshuang's heart skipped a beat, and she kicked the broken wooden table farther away without a trace.
Bang!
"Hm? What was that sound just now?"
"What sound? Old fogey, have you finally gotten senile dementia?"
"..."
Liu Chengfeng closed his eyes and took a heavy, deep breath, attempting to calm the surging qi and blood within his body.
He knew clearly in his heart that if he continued chatting with this rebellious daughter, he would really breathe his last on the spot.
Strongly suppressing a mouthful of stagnant blood that had just risen to his throat, his dignified expression became a bit more serious, and his eyes were full of solemnity.
"Did you do anything special recently?"
Hearing the other party's serious tone, Liu Yunshuang also put away her playful thoughts.
"Hm? No, old fogey. Besides, what does this have to do with you looking like this?"
Liu Chengfeng, on the other side of the screen, furrowed his brow slightly, his deep gaze fixed closely on his daughter, examining her carefully as if trying to see some flaw in her face.
Just when Liu Yunshuang couldn't take it anymore, the other party slowly withdrew his gaze and let out a light sigh.
"Just a few days ago, I felt a sense of inner restlessness in my heart."
"What? Could it be that some major event happened again?"
Liu Yunshuang was very clear that, as an Ability User possessing predictive abilities, what her old fogey called unease was definitely not some ethereal trivial matter.
This kind of unease, eight or nine times out of ten, symbolized something.
However, Liu Chengfeng, on the other side of the screen, gave a vague statement this time.
"I'm not too sure either whether this is a good thing or a bad thing."
"What, you don't know? Could you really have senile dementia? Can't you give a definite answer?"
Without paying attention to his daughter's rebellious behavior, he shook his head slightly.
"This time's feeling... is very vague. I cannot assert whether it is good or bad."
Hearing this, Liu Yunshuang's heart inevitably sank.
This was the first time they had encountered such a situation.
Summing up the old fogey's predictive ability until now, even if not hundreds or thousands of times, there was still the experience of twenty or thirty times.
"Of all times, right at this juncture..."
She shook her head and looked at the screen again.
"Old fogey, give me a definite word. What on earth did you predict?"
Since the last time, at least a few months had passed, and the cooldown time logically should have passed long ago.
And after hearing this, Liu Chengfeng was silent for a moment, then spoke helplessly.
"I only saw a vague figure, but it was only for a short instant."
"What? Just a person? And you couldn't even see them clearly?"
By now, even Liu Yunshuang had completely lost her composure.
The old fogey's Special Ability's judgment on "major" events had, up to now, been unable to be asserted.
Predicting a certain person's situation wasn't unheard of.
For example, some future demon lord, some dangerous person hidden in the dark and unknown to people, could all be predicted.
Including the Special Ability belonging to girl Meng Xingyao was among them. Meng Xingyao was directly promoted to Special Grade due to this exact reason, even though her current strength is only about that of a Level 3 Ability User.
"But every time, the old fogey could at least deduce certain clues, or some kind of future..."
"Old fogey, are you sure it's just a person, and that's all there is to it?"
Liu Chengfeng nodded slightly, his brow slightly furrowed, and his tone carried a trace of bewilderment. "Mhm. Besides that, there is nothing else. Even this person's figure I couldn't see clearly, and the prediction abruptly stopped."
Speaking of this, he himself was also extremely bewildered, his brow tightly furrowed.
Just a short while ago, his Special Ability's passive trigger activated again.
A vague image suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Amidst an unknown scenery, mountains and plains of seas of flowers extended to the horizon, so dazzling that people couldn't open their eyes.
He stood in the center of the sea of flowers, suddenly catching a glimpse in the flower shadows not far away of a vaguely standing, hazy figure.
He tried hard to see the other party's appearance clearly, but only captured a slender outline and skirt hems swaying lightly in the wind—faintly able to judge that it should be a female.
Yet this time's Special Ability activation lasted less than a second before the image was interrupted.
That image disappeared too fast, so fast that he even thought he had produced an illusion.
This was a phenomenon he had never experienced since his Special Ability awakened—in the past, even vague predictions could be maintained for several seconds, enough for him to capture key information.
Yet this time, aside from that female figure looming in the sea of flowers, he didn't have time to see anything clearly.
However, this was still not the most important thing.
Liu Chengfeng slowly spat out a breath of stale air, the solemnity between his brows growing even heavier, and he said in a deep voice.
"This unknown situation has made me vaguely uneasy in my heart."
"So just a moment ago... I tried to actively activate my Special Ability."
Hearing this, Liu Yunshuang first froze, then her eyes lit up, immediately pressing for answers.
"You actively used your Special Ability? How was it? What did you deduce?"
In her mind, since the old fogey specially brought up this matter, it meant he should have successfully captured some key clues.
But on Liu Chengfeng's face, there was not the slightest sign of "good news." Instead, his complexion was pale, and his eyes faintly carried a trace of lingering fear.
"The result of the prediction... exceeded my expectations, and actually caused me to almost lose my life."
"What?!!"
Liu Yunshuang suddenly bounced up from the chair, the shock on her face almost spilling out, her eyes staring wide and her voice changing pitch.
If the previous situation might be an initial exception, then this time's situation could be called an absolute bombshell.
Because this was still the first time she had seen her dad suffer a backlash due to a prediction.
When they first learned that their father possessed a predictive Special Ability, they had also privately guessed whether using this ability would have side effects.
After all, things like "predicting the future, defying the heavens and changing destiny" sounded full of dangers that went against common sense. How could there truly be no cost at all?
Until, as time went on, the fact was also confirmed that the use of this ability had no drawbacks for the Ability User themselves.
Yet now, this conclusion had actually been broken.
At this moment, inside the office, it was so quiet that heartbeats could be heard, and the bright lights shone on Liu Yunshuang's stiff face, illuminating the panic at the bottom of her eyes clearly.
"Hey, Dad, what on earth did you see?!!"
"..."
Liu Chengfeng pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"It's likewise a person, a woman whose face cannot be seen... Aside from that, there is nothing else."
"And right at this time, a strong backlash swept through my whole body, and then I became like this."
...
Silence. A death-like silence.
The air in the office seemed to have frozen, and even the lights appeared several shades dimmer.
Liu Yunshuang's eyes widened, her mouth slightly parted, speechless for a long time.
She had guessed what kind of outrageous prediction her father had deduced, but she never expected...
'It's actually just a person... Merely seeing the existence of a certain person made her father turn into his current state.'
Liu Yunshuang momentarily felt her breathing become somewhat hurried, her mind blank, the air in the office seemingly frozen, so oppressive that it made people unable to breathe.
Not knowing how long had passed, the cold wind outside the window, carrying the chill of night, blew into the room, brushing across her cheek before finally waking her from her shock.
She blinked her tear-glistened beautiful eyes, her throat moving slightly as she took a deep breath of cold air, even her fingertips trembling slightly from shock.
It was truly hard to imagine what kind of terrifying existence Dad had seen with his own eyes—to be able to almost cause him, who possessed the predictive Special Ability, to lose his life. That existence's power probably had long since exceeded the cognitive scope of humanity.
Liu Chengfeng, on the other side of the screen, looked at his daughter's terrified appearance and sighed helplessly.
But quickly, he immediately corrected his attitude.
"Regarding the situation in Muyun City, I will no longer interfere. Whatever you want to do, I will not stop you."
"Ah?"
"And regarding the situation with the Church, you must continue to keep a close eye on it as much as possible. Do not let any abnormal movements go unnoticed."
"Understood."
Liu Chengfeng gave a few more instructions, then ended the call.
Until the call ended, Liu Yunshuang was still somewhat in a trance.
Her father's attitude wasn't quite right...
Was it because of an unknown sense of crisis? Or something else?
But things having reached this point, she could only take care of the matters right in front of her first.
Regarding the identities of the two people, they would discuss it after Xiaoyue's matter was settled.
...
...
On the other end, Liu Chengfeng, who had ended the call, held his phone and remained silent for a long time.
The moment the screen went dark, he slowly stood up and walked with heavy steps to the office window.
He raised his hand to push open half the window. The afternoon wind carrying warmth brushed past his cheek, yet it couldn't blow away the solemnity between his brows.
Gazing at the cloudless blue sky outside the window, his gaze was as deep as a pool, and his heart was filled with countless thoughts.
In fact, everything Liu Chengfeng said just now was still too conservative.
The true number of times he activated his Special Ability was actually not once, but twice.
Different from passively triggered predictions, the information obtained from actively using the Special Ability had extremely strong randomness.
When luck was good, it might directly capture key clues concerning the overall situation; when luck was bad, it might only predict trivial matters of no consequence, like "whether it rains when going out tomorrow" or "whether the next lottery draw hits the pity system."
And his luck could be said to be good, but to a certain extent, it was also not good.
The first time, he failed to obtain information about the woman, but...
The moon, clear as a suet jade plate, unceremoniously faded its plain white and transformed into a horrifying scarlet blood moon.
This scene was unexpectedly so similar to Flame Heart's prediction back then.
But this time...