# 384
Chapter 384 – The Third King Ruin
Clack-clack-clack-clack…
Beneath the dark sky, a green-skinned train sped along the rails; drifting snowflakes landed on the black steel and melted away.
“Eh? Where are all of you going?”
At the rear door of the last carriage, a guard leaning against the jamb saw five people rushing forward and asked warily.
Lin Qiye gripped the door-handle, glanced sideways at him; a faint gold flickered in his eyes. The guard’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the spot.
Cao Yuan caught the body smoothly, laid it down without a sound, and nodded to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye opened the door; icy wind and snow poured in. He swayed, tapped the railing lightly with his toes, and leapt off, drifting down onto the tracks.
One after another, Jialan, Cao Yuan, An Qingyu, and Baili Pangpang followed. Thanks to their skills and the train’s moderate speed, they all landed steadily.
In the darkness Lin Qiye turned, watching the green train thunder away until it vanished, and sighed with regret.
“What’s wrong?” Cao Yuan asked, stepping beside him.
“The fare—wasted,” Lin Qiye muttered.
Baili Pangpang hugged his coat against the cold, exhaled white mist, and grumbled, “It’s freezing… What happened in Gusu that we had to jump off?”
“You’ll know once we’re on the plane.”
Lin Qiye looked up. In the black night a helicopter swept overhead, its dark blades leaving after-images; fierce wind battered the ground.
The five stood quietly, clothes flapping, as the craft settled on an open patch beside the rails. They ducked beneath the rotor-wash, climbed aboard, and rose into the night.
Ten minutes later a black transport lifted off from Tianhe military airfield, heading due south.
Inside, the five sat facing one another on bench seats, seat-belts fastened, worry etched on their faces.
“Sir, Commander Ye asked me to give you these mission files.”
An officer saluted Lin Qiye and handed over two folders; two men behind him set several black cases at their feet.
Lin Qiye nodded and opened the first file, stamped TOP SECRET: the after-action report from Anta County.
The first page offered routine commendation and promised every team member the “Star-Radiance” medal. He skipped it.
On the second page his pupils contracted.
A dossier on the “Third King Ruin.”
“Forbidden Ruins Serial No. 015 – Third King Ruin: [Immortality].
Throughout Great Xia’s history, [Immortality] has appeared only once, arguably the first Forbidden Ruins ever manifested in a human. The possessor was a girl of about eighteen during the Han dynasty, two millennia ago.
[Immortality] can confer absolute constancy upon an object or living being. Theoretically, no external influence—including divine attacks—can affect it. Endless lifespan and absolute defense; researchers judge it capable of threatening gods, hence its rank as Third King Ruin.
Fragmentary imperial records state the bearer was sealed in a coffin and sent to an unknown place. Given [Immortality]’s nature, she is highly likely still alive…”
Below the report Ye Fan had scribbled: Don’t turn her in yet; evaluate her. If she passes, assign her to the fledgling Fifth Special Squad. A talent this potent fits nowhere else, and with no vacancies in other squads, the new team is the obvious place.
Lin Qiye grasped the hint and looked at Jialan beside him.
She tilted her head, long lashes brushing, eyes questioning.
He hesitated. “Do you… have anywhere you want to go?”
Jialan blinked, thought, shook her head.
“Then stay with me—how about it?” He met her gaze earnestly.
A flush raced across her cheeks; she turned away, lips pressed, giving him a look that said, I didn’t know you were that kind of person.
“…I meant, stay with the squad,” Lin Qiye corrected hastily.
Jialan’s lips curved. “Not… hand me over? Why?”
“You want to know why I changed my mind?”
She nodded, expectant.
He answered honestly, “Because you’re too good in a fight.”
“…”
Jialan froze, glared, spun away, and refused to speak further.
Lin Qiye scratched his head, bewildered, then set the matter aside and opened the second file: the Gusu emergency.
He broke the TOP SECRET seal and drew out a thick sheaf. Across the first page, in scarlet ink:
—Gusu: sudden large-scale mental-contamination zone. Suspected source: foreign mystery that fled Cangnan City one year ago, [Bell Cranel].