# 524
Chapter 524: Farewell, Director Lin
Hearing those words, Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You know me?”
“Of course I do.” Red-Eye Zhao Kun pulled the brim of his hat down to cover that crimson eye, lowered his head, and smiled. “I’ve wandered the world for twelve years… all for this day.”
Lin Qiye stared into Zhao Kun’s eyes, but the crimson one was already hidden beneath the hat; all he could see were two tightly shut lids.
He couldn’t understand what Red-Eye Zhao Kun meant.
“Why? What’s your goal?” Lin Qiye asked.
“To follow the guidance of that great being and fulfill His long-cherished wish.” Red-Eye Zhao Kun spread his arms, gazed up at the sky, then placed his right hand over his heart and bowed deeply in devotion toward some distant direction.
Lin Qiye frowned, studied him for a moment, then shook his head and shot forward like lightning.
Whatever this “Mystery” was scheming, today it would not leave this immortal wooden cage alive.
While Team 007 was still surrounding the building, trying to take down the Secret Gazer by force, Lin Qiye and the others had already arrived here to set up an ambush.
Based on the intel he had, Lin Qiye knew that simply chasing, as Team 007 was doing, could never catch a future-predicting Mystery. The creature could constantly forecast the trajectory of objects, determining whether it would fall into danger.
Once it foresaw a future unfavorable to itself, it would abandon that future without hesitation and move on to the next location—this was why it kept shifting positions and circling the city.
The moment it stopped running, there could be only one explanation: it was confident it could kill its pursuers and escape unscathed.
So when Lin Qiye learned it had given up fleeing and entered a construction site, he realized Team 007 had no chance. He immediately hurried to another site not far away.
He had chosen this second site carefully: close enough—within one kilometer—to stay inside Jiang Er’s range, yet far enough that the Secret Gazer inside the building couldn’t spy on it and learn of their preparations in advance.
From there, things were simple.
Lin Qiye summoned an ancient tree-demon and began crafting the wooden cage ahead of time, while Jiang Er drifted unseen into the target building, waiting for her moment.
The Secret Gazer peers into the future by predicting changes in its surroundings, but Jiang Er, a ghost, affects no physical objects; therefore, no future it perceived could include her.
When the Secret Gazer finally possessed Zhao Kun and let his guard down, Jiang Er seized control of his body in an instant and dragged him from his home turf into theirs.
In truth, Red-Eye Zhao Kun had turned the tables on Team 007 only through that home advantage—using his foresight of the building’s future to dictate the battle’s rhythm.
Here, Lin Qiye had sealed that predictive power completely; the creature could no longer read the future effectively.
He entered the cage unarmed because he feared it might foresee a weapon’s attack path and counter his movements. He forbade the others to interfere, partly to avoid the chaos Team 007 had suffered—being used against one another—and partly because he worried the Mystery might invade someone else’s mind and seize another body.
Lin Qiye had the Asylum of the Gods protecting him; his teammates might not be so lucky.
The biggest problem now was how to kill the Secret Gazer without harming Zhao Kun’s body.
With every step Lin Qiye took atop the wooden cage, lush green grass spread outward like a tide, covering the wood. Reinforced by Jialan’s [Immortality], he had no fear the cage would collapse under his strength.
Blossoms opened beneath Red-Eye Zhao Kun’s feet.
He glanced at the flowers and grass, expression darkening. Though conjured by a Forbidden Ruin, they were still alive—useless for predicting the future.
He sighed, raised his cane, and charged the empty-handed Lin Qiye.
The heavy cane split the air with a low hum. Lin Qiye twisted aside, used the momentum to whip his right leg upward, and kicked straight for the crimson eye in Zhao Kun’s forehead.
According to An Qingyu’s analysis, that eye was likely the Secret Gazer’s true body.
Red-Eye Zhao Kun clutched at the air; water vapor condensed into a high-frequency vibrating water-blade that slashed toward Lin Qiye’s chest.
At the same instant, the crimson eye in his brow had already foreseen this blade’s future:
It would tear Lin Qiye’s shirt but draw no blood; six seconds later, the heat would evaporate it completely.
In a single instant, the red eye had read the blade’s fate.
Sure enough, Lin Qiye retreated the moment he saw the water-blade. It ripped his shirt but never touched his skin.
“Red flames scorch the invader’s clouds, searing heat fills the sky.” Lin Qiye recited calmly.
Crimson fire erupted from the void, vaporizing half the water-blade in an instant. The cage’s temperature soared; the air turned dry.
Now Zhao Kun could draw no more moisture from the air.
Lin Qiye closed the distance in one stride. Brilliant golden light burst from his eyes as the Seraph’s mighty divine pressure poured straight into the crimson eye.
The Secret Gazer possessing Zhao Kun was only in the ‘Boundless’ realm; though the divine pressure was fierce, it posed no real threat. It shook off the stun in half a second.
But in that half-second, Lin Qiye’s tightly clenched right hand opened, revealing a black ring glinting with dim light—
[Soul-Severing Blade]!
The crimson eye contracted violently.
Lin Qiye had kept the ring concealed in his fist from the start; Red-Eye Zhao Kun had never foreseen it, nor could he predict its future. Once again, Lin Qiye had tricked his foresight.
Now the eye foresaw the blade’s fate—but there was no time to react.
A jet-black blade flash burst from the ring and pierced straight into the crimson eye, shredding the Secret Gazer’s soul.
The shadow clinging to Zhao Kun’s body flowed to the floor like black water; the impaled eye lost its luster.
“At last… this moment has come…”
From the fading shadow came a soft, calm voice:
“Farewell, Director Lin…”