Hades, the Urban Legend

Chapter 556: Chapter 557: Dialogue

Yanzi suddenly felt a chill down her spine. The Yang Chen in front of her had just been looking earnest, but now he seemed like a devious peddler trying to con her.

"If Young Master Chen has any questions, I will tell you everything I know," Yanzi said calmly. At her age, there were few things she couldn't see through.

Yang Chen pondered for a moment before asking, "Granny Yan, your cultivation must have surpassed the peak of the consummate innate stage and reached another level. What I want to ask is, how does one cross that threshold?"

Yanzi was about to speak when Yang Chen quickly gestured for her to stop, indicating that he hadn't finished speaking.

"I know because I've been through it. I know Granny Yan will say that reaching our level of cultivation and crossing that threshold can't be achieved through any fixed method, right?"

Yanzi nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Indeed, that is what I was going to say. If you have an epiphany, you have it. If not, no explanation will help."

Damn! Not this again! Back in the day, that drunkard Song Tianxing said the same thing, nearly getting me killed before I grasped the ninth level of 'Rebirth'. And now Yanzi is saying the same thing! Do all you experts only have one line in your script?!

While Yang Chen secretly grumbled, he said with a grin, "I don't expect Granny Yan to give me a method, but since I have this rare opportunity to ask, why not share a bit of your cultivation insights? Even if everyone's understanding is different, it might still help me."

Yanzi was taken aback. She hadn't expected Yang Chen to want to hear such things. Although she knew that insights into cultivation were elusive and difficult to convey in words, seeing Yang Chen's hopeful expression, she reconsidered.

She knew that Yang Chen was asking to enhance his strength so he wouldn't fear Hongmeng. She also hoped Yang Chen could have the ability to protect himself. Especially after learning that the Lu family boy had been assassinated, she felt that even if Yang Chen didn't get involved in this mess, someone would still cause him trouble. If Yang Chen could indeed cross that threshold, even if Hongmeng intervened, they wouldn't be able to do much to him.

But how could she help him?

Seeing Yanzi deep in thought, Yang Chen remained silent, standing quietly, waiting for her response.

The two stood in the vast grassy field, the breeze rustling the grass and bringing a slight chill, while the distant roar of the airport could be heard.

After a long while, Yanzi suddenly raised her head. After a brief hesitation, she lifted her right hand and pointed her index finger towards Yang Chen, drawing a semicircle.

Yang Chen was stunned to see Yanzi using a subtle technique, employing some form of power, to draw a circle around him, flattening the grass in the process. Yang Chen stood in the circle of flattened grass, looking around.

But Yanzi wasn't finished. She pointed and drew again.

Not far from Yang Chen, an identical circle of flattened grass appeared.

Yanzi, having finished, frowned slightly and said, "Young Master Chen, this is all I can do for you."

"Ah?"

Yang Chen's mouth twitched, and he thought, "Granny Yanzi, are you kidding me?!"

Are you acting like that old man with the last name Deng? Just drawing two circles, one around me and one not, and then telling me it's done? Though I must say, your technique is extraordinary—I didn't feel any true energy or spatial fluctuations, and it was done so stealthily!

Yanzi seemed to know Yang Chen didn't understand, and sighed, "Honestly, these two circles are the clearest way I could think of to convey my insight. But to explain it in words, I just can't. I don't know how to describe it.

Young Master Chen, I can't guarantee these circles will be useful to you. If you don't see anything special, just consider it a moment of confusion on my part, alas..."

Yang Chen almost cried. Please don't sigh, Granny! Your sigh makes me feel even more hopeless!

Seeing Yang Chen's dejected expression, Yanzi felt quite embarrassed. Thinking it was best not to stay any longer, she said, "Young Master Chen, if you have time, go back to Yan City and see the master. He often thinks of you. No matter the barriers and conflicts, they can't stand against the strong bond of blood. I hope you will soon acknowledge your roots. I bid you farewell."

Without waiting for Yang Chen to say anything more, Yanzi's figure disappeared into thin air.

Yang Chen's face was full of bitterness. Having experienced the massive leap from the eighth to the ninth level of the "Rebirth Sutra," Yang Chen knew that at this stage, the improvement in realm would be a qualitative leap. Each realization would be worlds apart.

However, seeing that Yanzi could come and go as she pleased without him noticing, it was undeniably a blow to him.

Not dwelling on it, Yang Chen looked down at the circle around him with a diameter of more than a meter and then at another almost identical circle a few meters away, frowning.

Two circles? What could they mean?

In the Lin family's villa, in Guo Xuehua's room on the second floor, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Guo Xuehua, who had woken up, sat on the bed, looking a bit dazed, with red eyes and a face full of exhaustion.

Anxin, who was full of worry and anxiety, stood silently by Guo Xuehua's bedside, like a statue.

At this moment, Aunt Wang came in from the door with a cup of water, walked to Guo Xuehua's bedside, and handed the water over with concern, "Xuehua, drink some warm water to calm down. I believe the young master will be fine."

Although Aunt Wang was older than Guo Xuehua, they had grown close over the past few days, addressing each other by name in private.

When Anxin, with the help of Wang Jie and Zhao Teng, had brought Guo Xuehua home, Aunt Wang had been terrified. After hearing Anxin's brief account of the events, she realized something major had happened but, having experienced many scary events before, she wasn't too frightened.

Guo Xuehua forced a smile, "Yulan, you know how important Yang Chen is to me. I don't even want to think about what would happen if something really went wrong."

Aunt Wang didn't understand much about high-level power struggles, so she could only console Guo Xuehua, saying not to think too much, that everything would be fine. Just then, Guo Xuehua's phone rang, startling her. She immediately grabbed it—it was Yang Jieyu calling!

"Hello, Jieyu, how is Yang Chen?!" Guo Xuehua asked anxiously, her usual gentle and elegant demeanor completely gone.

Yang Jieyu didn't waste any time and said directly, "Sister-in-law, things are more complicated than we thought. The good news is that Yang Chen didn't make it to the airport and didn't kill Lu Min, but the bad news is that Lu Min is still dead!"

"What?!" Guo Xuehua was stunned, not understanding what was going on.

Yang Jieyu explained, "I just learned from our Yuan family informants that Lu Min was poisoned to death at the airport. The poison is likely a special toxin used by foreign espionage organizations. Ah Wei and I speculate that the other party might be targeting Yang Chen. Although Yang Chen didn't make it to the airport, many forces know that Yang Chen is the most likely person to have his men use such a toxin to kill Lu Min."

"How could this be?" Guo Xuehua was shocked. Although she was overjoyed to hear her son was safe, she also realized that Yang Chen had been framed, which weighed heavily on her heart.

Seeing Guo Xuehua's despondent look, An Xin, who had been standing by silently, gritted her teeth and gently took Guo Xuehua's hand, squeezing it tightly. With her bright eyes, she said earnestly, "Auntie, you must stay strong. Yang Chen is so powerful, he will definitely be fine."

Although her words were somewhat empty and weak, it was exactly the kind of encouragement that the now disheartened Guo Xuehua needed.

Guo Xuehua looked up at An Xin, who was full of unwavering belief, and finally extended her other hand to gently pat the back of An Xin's hand, smiling warmly, "Thank you, An Xin."

Seeing this, Aunt Wang didn't say anything, but a trace of worry flashed in her eyes. Another outstanding girl—when would her own young lady be able to win the affection of her mother-in-law like these girls?

Suddenly, there was a rumble of thunder from the overcast sky!

The sky, which had been gray since the morning, finally released a torrential downpour after a thunderclap.

In the distant grasslands near the airport, the pouring rain, interspersed with flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder, made the land look desolate.

A bluish-purple bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, slicing through the rain clouds.

The light illuminated the grassland and the figure sitting there lazily.

Yang Chen was sitting casually on the grass, letting the rain drench him, soaking his hair and clothes, with raindrops trickling down his face and onto the ground.

He could have used his power to keep the rain from touching him, but he didn't—because he forgot.

Ever since Yanzi left, Yang Chen had been sitting on the grass. With Lu Min already dead, he had no other pressing matters, so he sat down to ponder the meaning of the two circles.

It had been a long time since he had thought about cultivation issues, but many things, rather than becoming obsolete with time, became more intuitive for Yang Chen to understand when he focused on them.

Soon, Yang Chen entered a state where he forgot everything around him. He didn't notice the thunder and lightning, the wind and rain, nor did he feel his body becoming soaked.

In his eyes and mind, there was nothing but the two circles.

"Inside the circle, outside the circle, inside the circle, outside the circle..."

Yang Chen muttered continuously as if he were sleep-talking, seemingly intentionally reminding himself of something.

Time passed by the second, and Yang Chen's facial expression remained dazed, without even blinking.

Yang Chen was immersed in his own world, while Guo Xuehua and the others at home were extremely anxious.

From noon to afternoon, and then to evening.

The rain had stopped, and occasionally, raindrops could be heard dripping from the eaves, making the house feel even colder and quieter.

Aunt Wang had prepared some simple dishes and brought them to the living room, but Guo Xuehua and An Xin, sitting on the sofa, kept looking at the clock on the wall, completely losing their appetite.

Aunt Wang watched the two in a trance, frowned, and shook her head in silence.

After discovering that Yang Chen didn't go to the airport, Yang Jieyu and her husband helped Guo Xuehua search all over Zhonghai for any trace of Yang Chen. They tried to contact him, but his phone was off or out of battery. The last report of Yang Chen's jeep was near the airport highway, but despite a secret search, they couldn't find where the vehicle was parked!

It seemed that Yang Chen had vanished into thin air!

Who would have guessed that Yang Chen was actually sitting in the middle of the grassy area outside the airport, not hiding from anyone, but had simply gotten lost in his thoughts and forgotten about returning home?

Late into the night, Guo Xuehua snapped out of her daze and saw An Xin, who had been waiting with her, dozing off. Despite knowing the irregular nature of An Xin's relationship with her son, and that the house was supposed to be her daughter-in-law's, Guo Xuehua couldn't bring herself to send An Xin home to sleep so late at night.

"An Xin, it's early morning now. You've had a long day; you should get some rest," Guo Xuehua advised with a bitter smile.

An Xin shook her head resolutely, "I can't stop worrying!"

"Silly girl, you told me to have faith in Yang Chen. Were you lying to me?" Guo Xuehua sighed, took An Xin's soft hand in hers, and said, "Come on, let's go upstairs. Yang Chen's room is empty; you can sleep there. I'll go to bed too. We all believe in Yang Chen, okay?"

An Xin found it hard to refuse this time. If she rejected Guo Xuehua's offer to sleep in Yang Chen's room, it would be a betrayal of the care and affection shown to her. Although she doubted she could actually fall asleep, she nodded obediently.

That night, Yuan family members and some scouts from the Huinan defense area searched Zhonghai for Yang Chen. The heavy rain obscured visibility, and focusing on the jeep meant they never thought to look in the wild, missing Yang Chen who was nearby.

As dawn broke, Yang Chen, sitting in the grassy field, finally emerged from his deep meditation. Like a statue coming to life, he stiffly turned his head, looked around, and noticed his cold, wet body. He realized it had rained and that he had spent the whole night there.

With a bitter smile, Yang Chen scratched his wet, dew-covered hair. He must look like a homeless person now.

He had hoped that a night of meditation would help his feet, poised at the threshold of the consummate innate stage, cross over. The fact that he got deeply engrossed in the two circles meant there was some potential there.

However, Yang Chen realized that having an insight and truly understanding it are vastly different. He couldn't break through that layer, like seeing a glimmer of gold through a crack in the door but not having the strength to push it open. This realization frustrated him immensely.

Resigned to the fact that his opportunity hadn't arrived, Yang Chen decided to go home for a hot shower and a change of clothes.

Just then, he noticed a slight mound of loose soil in the grass out of the corner of his eye.

It was an ant nest, a seemingly ordinary mound with numerous tiny holes where ants came and went, carrying food. The nest had always been there, but he hadn't paid attention to it before.

After the heavy rain, a large part of the ant nest had been washed away, and it was partially flooded. The ants, now homeless, were running around aimlessly, uncertain whether to rebuild their nest or wait for the ground to dry.

What was usually a mundane scene struck Yang Chen like a thunderbolt in his mind!

"Inside the circle, outside the circle, the ant nest," Yang Chen murmured, and a glimmer of understanding began to shine in his eyes.