The tomb was silent and soundless.
Only the sound of two flames burning remained.
The Blood Fire in the eybrows of the man draped in the robes of a Late Bell Church priest, as well as the Chi Huo in Gu Shen’s brow.
The long and slender muzzle of a sniper rifle pointed straight at the man’s forehead.
That streak of blood-colored flame was forced to reveal itself in the face of immense oppression... The moment that flame emerged, Xiao’s identity had already been exposed.
He raised his hands, his expression unchanged, and said in a low voice, "How... did you recognize me?"
The Changjiu Foundation in Dadu District was annihilated...
Throughout the process, he had never truly met Gu Shen face to face.
In fact, he didn’t have his own "entity"; he had always hosted his spirit, and with the Blood Fire concealed and his aura retracted, how had Gu Shen seen through his identity?
Xiao couldn’t understand.
"Quite coincidentally. And quite unfortunately."
Gu Shen spoke calmly, "Even though the Changjiu Foundation was wiped out, the Judgement Institute wouldn’t let an S-class fugitive like you slip away. After confirming your death in the Southern Continent... the Judgement Institute retrieved the specific files through the FBI, with a complete chain of evidence and flawless statements. Both the investigation bureau and Deep Sea adjudged your death. I went through that case file very carefully."
Xiao narrowed his eyes.
"There was nothing wrong with that file. At that time, I, too, believed you were dead." Gu Shen pointed to his forehead with his other hand and said softly, "But I have a pretty good memory. The South Continent Church was attacked, the monster prayed beneath the holy image, and the priest witnessed all these deaths. In the end, through blood and genetic comparisons, the investigation bureau confirmed your identity and conducted an interstate review of the case; Deep Sea also confirmed through procedural processes that ’that monster’ was dead beyond doubt."
"Only... they didn’t realize that you could transfer your body through spiritual power. The so-called ’prayer’ was fake, and so was the ’death’... In the last moments, you transmitted your spiritual power into the priest’s mind, escaping from your original body, witnessing your own death, and thus providing the most perfect link in the chain of evidence."
Gu Shen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man’s face before him.
In the South Continent case, the man with this face was named Sandini Singh.
He was that... priest.
"What a wildly imaginative hypothesis," Xiao remarked softly: "Only, did you really come up with all this by yourself?"
If Chu Ling had not pulled out the file on the South Continent Church case, Gu Shen wouldn’t have been so certain. In fact, what he had been talking about was just speculation, and everything happening now just happened to confirm his conjecture.
Having the ability to "borrow Deep Sea’s authority" and being so highly related to an old case in the Southern Continent... Just these two points alone were enough for Gu Shen to take action on this guess.
And the emergence of that wisp of Blood Fire was the thorough proof—
Gu Shen had guessed right!
"We always meet on such occasions... It started with me finding you, and now it’s you finding me. Is this just a coincidence... or the arrangement of fate?"
Xiao said with a light laughter, raising his eyes to gaze at the long and deep muzzle of the sniper rifle, "Gu Shen, it’s been months since we last met, and you’ve grown stronger..."
Gu Shen coldly said, "I can blow you away with a single shot at any moment."
He didn’t believe in any nonsense about fate’s arrangement.
Xiao shrugged helplessly, his hands raised, and he spoke nonchalantly, "You won’t shoot... If the tranquility of this tomb is disturbed, it will draw the attention of those guys from the Late Bell Church outside; they are all madmen. Once you fire this shot, even if you kill me, you won’t be able to escape."
"Indeed, I won’t shoot, but not because of the lunatics outside,"
Gu Shen said calmly, "It’s because you, as you are now, are not worthy of a Bengxue Bullet..."
Xiao silently smiled.
"Whether it’s Zhou Yu or Ye Ningqiu... They all displayed different abilities."
Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.
After the "Hunt the Owl" operation, he had replayed the entire special task force mission and the difficulties they encountered in his mind more than once.
The most important objective was to figure out the ability of the Blood Fire!
Very few things could attract the attention of Chi Huo!
And Xiao’s "Blood Fire" was one of them!
Even after the Southern Continent case concluded, the Federation Government had not summarized the characteristics of the "Blood Fire"... because too few people had gone head-to-head with "Xiao." No one knew the extent of his spiritual power’s spread, how many puppets he had controlled, and whether the abilities of these puppets were affected by the "Blood Fire."
"There should be a limit to how powerful abilities in this world can be..."
Gu Shen slowly said, "Even if you can take over bodies, it cannot be without conditions. If the ’Blood Fire’ itself possessed strong offensive capabilities, then the traits of ’spread’ and ’connection’ would be somewhat unconvincing... I believe your own ability is not strong, in fact, it could be said to be... very weak."
Xiao’s smile on his face became slightly stiff.
"The reason you planned the great explosion in Yinghai was actually to take over Zhou Yu’s ’Dissolving Dream’, the same reason for your approach to Chen Mei... You long for a strong Extraordinary Ability."
"How could a true powerhouse forsake principal pursuits in favor of others’ powers?"
Gu Shen spoke expressionlessly, word by word, "From this, I can be sure that stripped of those masks, those puppets... the soul hidden beneath that wisp of Blood Fire must be a weak clown, only able to depend on the strength of a host. If the host is strong, then you are strong; if the host is weak, then you become weak."