UCS Chapter 115.1

As a general rule, when a certain scoundrel began appearing before him with increasing frequency, it meant that particular individual was making a move on his son.

Based on the pattern of previous incidents, something unseen was interfering with the workings of this world, and Gao Gusheng seemed destined each time to go through the process of being taken away.

To protect Gao Gusheng, and to observe just how far this unseen presence could interfere, Gao Shi this time fitted Gao Gusheng with a tracker and a miniature camera.

The tracker was extraordinarily small, no larger than half a little fingernail. To use it, one needed only to press this tiny, semi-transparent chip against the skin. After ten minutes it would become indistinguishable from the skin’s own colour, and would latch on firmly. Its adhesion was exceptional: ordinary washing and scrubbing would not dislodge it. Only a command from the master system could cause it to release from the skin.

This device had originally been developed jointly by the Gao family and the state as a tracker for monitoring spies and criminal suspects. It had not been anticipated that the first test subject would be his own son.

As he was attaching the tracker to Gao Gusheng, Gao Shi suddenly paused, then rapidly reviewed his memories of the dreams, and slowly let out a breath of relief.

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness the scoundrels who appeared in the dreams could mostly be filed under the labels campus, urban, or supernatural, with no connection to high-technology entities. If his poor son’s appeal extended even to machines, this world would be a genuinely terrifying place.

In addition to the high-tech equipment, the Spirit Management Institute also provided a Spirit Police officer for Gao Gusheng’s close personal protection. This was not only due to Gao Gusheng’s own importance, but also because of the weight the higher-ups had placed on the material Gao Shi had provided.

Reincarnation? Transmigration? A parallel world?

Any one of those words alone was enough to captivate the research institute.

For this very matter, the institute had even generously contributed two Gundam-style units, produced by combining the spatial techniques and puppet techniques of the Xuanmen division with the technological capabilities of the armed forces department, resulting in two machines bearing a striking resemblance to Gundams.

Under normal circumstances they were no larger than a wristwatch, but when the owner issued a command, a two-metre tall mechanical figure would materialise out of thin air.

In theory, this level of protection meant not even a mosquito could get through.

And yet Gao Gusheng was taken anyway.

It happened in the second week after the winter holiday ended.

Gao Gusheng had no afternoon classes, and he and a group of friends were discussing which dining hall to eat at.

In the preceding weeks, the state had been conducting close surveillance of both Bai Mingyue and Gui Yan, and combined with the evidence Gao Shi had provided, had confirmed that the two were engaged in illegal activities.

Whether it was heaven’s own objection to seeing these two have their way, no compatible donor had been found throughout this period. Bai Mingyue’s condition grew increasingly fragile, and the two of them were being pushed to the edge of desperation.

Their emotional states were highly unstable.

Gui Yan in particular was like an agitated lion locked in a cage, pacing in a confined space.

He had come to find Gao Gusheng again afterward, attempting to persuade him through appeals to genuine feeling to willingly donate his organs for Bai Mingyue. Each time he was thoroughly beaten back by Gao Gusheng, who struck with precise cruelty that left no visible marks. Only the person on the receiving end knew the pain. Gui Yan had no way to complain to anyone, and felt phantom aches all over his body whenever he laid eyes on Gao Gusheng.

He presumably could not understand why the Gao Gusheng who had willingly given up his organs for him in their past life, the A-Yue who had loved him so completely he had offered his whole heart, could be so merciless in this one.

At times, surveillance observers noted Gui Yan staring again and again at photographs of Gao Gusheng that had surfaced online, sometimes sighing, sometimes clenching his jaw, as though a thousand conflicting emotions were waging war within him.

He would nurse his injuries, recover, and then go looking for Gao Gusheng again.

As Gui Yan’s emotional state grew increasingly volatile, and with the evidence now fully assembled, the Spirit Management Institute planned to move in and make arrests.

However, one hour before they were to act, someone took Gao Gusheng.

Footage from the insect surveillance cameras taken before Gao Gusheng’s disappearance showed that Gao Gusheng had originally been walking with his friends. Then someone greeted him, Gao Gusheng turned to look in that direction, separated from his friends, and walked over alone.

Gao Gusheng got into that person’s car. The car drove away.

There had been no coercion or abduction of any kind throughout the entire process. Gao Gusheng had gone willingly. Yet after that point he could not be reached at all. What was even more unsettling was that the insect surveillance camera, which should have been following Gao Gusheng without deviation, froze in place the instant the mysterious figure appeared, after which the footage began to blur and was ultimately destroyed entirely.

The tracker attached to Gao Gusheng detached automatically as well, and yet the master system detected no anomaly whatsoever.

The Spirit Management Institute was unable to reach the Spirit Police officer assigned to Gao Gusheng’s personal protection. Gao Shi was likewise unable to reach any of the three bodyguards assigned to Gao Gusheng’s side. When they arrived at the scene, they found all four individuals walking in circles on the spot, expressions taut, foreheads damp with sweat, as though they had just come through an intense battle.

Only after Ying Bujie intervened did they return to normal. The three bodyguards had been caught in a spirit wall, trapped in place and unable to leave.

Subsequent examination showed that a relatively powerful supernatural entity had appeared in the surrounding area. This entity lacked self-awareness and could only emit illusions indiscriminately, which had ensnared all four. The automatic destruction of the insect surveillance device and the automatic detachment of the tracker, meanwhile, were attributed to a system malfunction.

All coincidences.

Yet when many coincidences stack upon one another, they cease to be merely coincidences.

Had the one who moved this time been the plot, or some scoundrel who had yet to make his appearance?

“Captain Gao, the traffic police division has found Gui Yan’s car!”

Gao Shi was just about to give the order to follow when a thought struck him. “Daoist Ying, try the blood-kin tracing technique.”

In this world, no one’s techniques were stronger than Ying Bujie’s. If the blood-kin tracing technique encountered interference, then the one who had moved could only be the plot itself.

Ying Bujie wordlessly took Gao Shi’s hand, quickly pricked it and drew a drop of blood, then used spiritual energy to heal the wound.

Though anxious at heart, Gao Shi could not help feeling somewhat exasperated when he saw Ying Bujie use spiritual energy for this. “Daoist Ying, that is not necessary.”

“It is.”

He lowered his eyes, watching the drop of blood in his palm gradually lengthen into a thread of red.

The gaze he turned toward the sky carried a faint chill.

Gao Shi’s eyes followed the red thread, and watched it waver for a moment, on the verge of dissolving entirely.

The light of spiritual energy at Ying Bujie’s fingertips suddenly blazed with fierce intensity, pouring entirely into the red thread. Just as the thread was about to take shape, Gao Shi felt a sudden dizziness. He stumbled several steps and had the sensation of being watched.

It was as though two forces were locked in struggle within his mind. Gao Shi’s head swam, a sharp pain cutting through it, which then gave way to wave after wave of vertigo. The familiar sensation told him he was about to be pulled into a dream.

Through the haze, he saw Ying Bujie turn sharply to shelter him, gathering him gently into his arms.

“The blood…”

“Sleep. You will wake soon.”

…

The dreamscape that opened before Gao Shi was one of pure white.

Unlike anything he had experienced before, this time he was not seeing through Gao Gusheng’s eyes. He was standing in Bai Mingyue’s perspective.

It had to be said that after all the time Gui Yan had spent fixated on Bai Mingyue, the man himself did indeed possess qualities that set him apart.

The reflection in the mirror was clean and cool, carrying a trace of weariness, like moonlight veiled behind cloud and mist.

This was abroad. The moment he made up his mind to return home.

The situation at home had grown extremely dire, and his own body was deteriorating rapidly. He could not hold on any longer.

It was at this point that the thought of going home came to him.

He knew exactly how compelling he was, how many people had followed in his wake, chasing after him step by step.

In the past, he had always disdained putting his energy into romantic entanglements. But now, for the first time, he found himself recognising it as an advantage.

If he wanted to save his family, he would naturally use every advantage available to him.

Bai Mingyue was exceptionally intelligent. After returning home he found himself surrounded by many people, all of whom could offer him significant assistance. But it was not enough. He was ambitious and clear in his objectives, and never let small gains compromise the cool and ethereal image he had cultivated. He waited, patiently, for Gui Yan to arrive.

In truth the Bai family did not rank among the highest within his usual social circles, but the moment he appeared among peers, he was the moon around which all the stars revolved. These people sought him out for who he was as a person.

Some of those he moved among came from families of a higher standing than the Bai family, and showed veiled appreciation and fondness for him, though he never took the bait.

The people who gathered around him were drawn entirely by his presence, and found themselves unable to voice the desires they harboured. This allowed him to move freely among them, men and women alike, and those upon whom his gaze fell regarded him the way believers regard a deity.

Gui Yan was one among them.

What was different was that the Gui family occupied a higher standing, second only to the four great families, and Gui Yan was personally the most exceptional of that entire circle.

The Gui family was the greatest asset he could lay his hands on.

In his eyes, Gui Yan was like a child: every emotion written plainly on his face. And so Gui Yan fell quickly. Or rather, Gui Yan had already fallen long before. He had simply made it harder for him to escape.

That flame poised between youth and manhood burned wildly for him.

They raced cars together to the mountain summit and stood side by side watching the fierce sun rise. They jumped together from aircraft, parachutes blooming behind them.

In truth Bai Mingyue’s body had long since been unsuited for extreme sports. But if something was worth doing, it was worth doing to the fullest. For Gui Yan, he was willing to risk it.

In Gui Yan’s heart, Bai Mingyue was the moon in the heavens, something to be held aloft, untouched by the mundane world.

And so when Bai Mingyue made his gamble and quietly let Gui Yan learn of the Bai family’s situation abroad, Gui Yan acted without hesitation.

He quietly channelled funds into the Bai family. And the Bai family survived.

The stirring of the heart was real. A love that burned as fiercely as flame, who would not be drawn to that?

Besides, the person before him was so perfectly suited to him. When their eyes met they would smile in wordless understanding, a rapport he had never shared with anyone else.

Even if he had harboured the intention of using Gui Yan from the very beginning, slowly, gradually, he had begun to mean it.