Chapter 57: Gene Stage Two—Awakening?

He had seen this painting before.

When he first saw it, there was neither a title nor the ten characters now inscribed upon it.

That morning in the library, the woman he had encountered had drawn this very picture for him. She intended to give it to him, but there had been an interruption—he left, and the painting remained behind.

Now, the woman had added a title, inscribed a dedication, and had delivered it to the detective agency.

“Who is the person in this painting?” Miao Ruolan asked, blinking her eyes.

“Handsome or not?” Lin Xiaosu countered.

“Kinda… a little handsome!”

“If he’s a little handsome, it can only be me,” Lin Xiaosu replied.

Miao Ruolan’s bright eyes sparkled. “Then… what about the one who painted you? Who is she?”

“Funny you ask. I was just wondering the same thing.”

“You don’t know her?” Miao Ruolan asked.

“To say I don’t know her at all would be untrue. I’ve seen her a few times in the library, but we’re hardly acquaintances. Until this morning, when she suddenly greeted me and told me she wanted to give me a painting.”

“I think there’s something mysterious about her!” Miao Ruolan said. “When she was waiting for a car outside the window, she turned and looked back—a glance that struck me as rather complicated.”

Miao Ruolan lifted her hand and pointed at a tree outside the window.

A southern phoenix tree.

Her gaze was complicated?

What exactly did that mean?

Lin Xiaosu stared out the window, his expression suddenly growing detached.

The scene outside seemed to rewind like a film in his eyes. He saw the woman standing under the phoenix tree, her gaze…

How to describe it?

To call it complicated wasn’t quite right. In fact, it didn’t seem complicated at all.

But it was certainly strange.

She appeared to be looking at something before her, but the true focus of her gaze seemed to rest on some far-distant horizon. What was that look? Transcendence.

It was like a person of great stature looking down upon all living beings.

You felt she was nearby, approachable even, and yet her eyes never truly settled on you.

A mosquito, drawn by the fair and delicate nape of her neck, landed, ready to feast.

Just as it was about to succeed, a strand of her hair floated up and struck the mosquito, which vanished into an almost invisible mist.

Lin Xiaosu’s heart gave a sudden jolt, and his eyes blinked involuntarily…

That blink brought him naturally out of his backward journey through time…

“What’s wrong?” Miao Ruolan looked up, a trace of surprise in her expression.

She’d known Lin Xiaosu long enough to notice the subtlest changes in his demeanor. Just now, he’d clearly seen something that had startled him.

Lin Xiaosu exhaled softly. “It’s late May—the mosquitoes are getting bad! Ruolan, do we, as ancient martial artists, have any extraordinary methods for repelling mosquitoes?”

Miao Ruolan laughed. She suddenly stretched out her hand toward her feet, then slowly opened her palm—a mosquito fluttered in her hand, its legs caught between her fingers.

“Like this?” she grinned.

To catch a mosquito out of the air with one hand—that was the prowess of an ancient martial artist.

Lin Xiaosu eyed her hair. “Could you, without using your hands, kill a mosquito with a single strand of your hair?”

Miao Ruolan shot him a sidelong glance. “Do you think I’m a goddess? Even if my inner energy deepened to the point where I could pluck flowers or leaves to harm others, I doubt I could control a single hair with such precision.”

“So in your understanding, if someone could kill a mosquito with their hair, that would be supernatural?”

“In terms of ancient martial arts, that would indeed be a godlike feat. But that’s just in our system. In today’s world, ancient martial arts have declined; genetics are all the rage. Whether the genetic system has such wonders, I truly don’t know… Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no particular reason… just that summer is here, and the mosquitoes are out…”

Miao Ruolan laughed. “You’re not thinking of cultivating ‘Restorative Vitality’ along your scalp just to swat mosquitoes, are you? Don’t get carried away. I already bought mosquito coils—olive and chrysanthemum scented, very nice. Try it…”

She produced a box of coils for him to sniff.

Lin Xiaosu closed his eyes, inhaling the scent, but his thoughts drifted once again to the astonishing scene from earlier.

That woman had been able to kill a mosquito with her hair, and all the while, the mosquito had been outside her field of vision. What an extraordinary ability!

If it belonged to ancient martial arts, as Miao Ruolan said, it would be divine.

But ancient martial arts were fading. Lin Xiaosu was more inclined to imagine her as a genetic master.

Could genetics really produce such miracles?

Perhaps. Genes are truly all-encompassing—some creatures’ “hair” is not hair at all, but rather tentacles!

If such a gene were implanted in a human, would a head full of hair become a mass of tentacles?

Whether possible or not, such abilities would be earth-shattering.

Their strangeness and wonder far surpassed even Chang Ye or 88.

Chang Ye, Crescent, 88—they were all still human.

But this woman had already gone beyond that.

Could this be the second realm of genetics: Awakening?

If she truly belonged to the second realm, that raised another question. Awakening-level individuals were recognized as overlords across the world. What had a small place like Feng City done to attract such a figure?

Why had she gone out of her way to befriend him?

“It’s noon. Let’s go out for lunch,” Lin Xiaosu said.

“Great! Let’s have the best meal today!” Miao Ruolan exclaimed.

After a day of emotional upheaval, the crisis had passed, and the sky was clear again—she felt they deserved to celebrate their survival.

They walked down the street and stopped at a newly opened diner. Lin Xiaosu lingered outside, looking to the far end of the road.

The mysterious woman was gone, having taken a car out of Feng City and onto the highway ten miles away.

After lunch, Miao Ruolan rode off on her little electric scooter to handle a case.

It was an ordinary property investigation she’d taken the day before. She’d told Lin Xiaosu she could handle such routine matters alone, and he was happy to let her.

She’d studied investigative theory and detective work, and had worked cases with him; it was time for her to handle some small cases independently.

People have to grow up, after all.

Lin Xiaosu, meanwhile, sat back in the reception area of the detective agency—well, more like the reception nook—lounging with his left foot propped on his right knee, utterly relaxed.

Until the sound of a car horn came from outside.

Lin Xiaosu looked up and saw Zhou Mei’s car. He stepped out, pulling down the rolling door behind him.

He slid into the passenger seat, and was struck by a pleasant surprise.

Today, Zhou Mei wasn’t in her police uniform but wore a sky-blue autumn dress with a pink jacket. Her hair was let down, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d applied a touch of powder. There was even a faint scent of fragrance.

He had to admit, she looked more beautiful than ever.

Zhou Mei had always had good features, but her job often meant being out in the elements, so her skin was tanned and her hair usually pinned up, making her seem all sharpness and competence. Today, she’d overcome all that, and presented a different, strikingly lovely image.

Zhou Mei’s gaze swept over the detective agency. “Where’s Ruolan?”

“She’s off on a case.”

“You let her handle a case alone and ran off to have fun yourself?”

Lin Xiaosu laughed. “Do you really think today is just about having fun?”

Zhou Mei’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“There’s something you forgot to ask me this morning: why did Liu Dong try to kill me?” Lin Xiaosu said.

Zhou Mei’s heart skipped a beat. “He had someone behind him!”

“Exactly. Last night, someone gave him fifty thousand yuan and instructed him to drive me out of Feng City. That’s what led to today’s farce.”

Zhou Mei exhaled. “That completes the logic! I kept thinking, there’s no reason for Liu Dong to target you—why would he suddenly show up with a fine so high you couldn’t pay it even if you sold your ancestral home? So there was more to the story. Who’s the person behind this?”

“A driver—Du Lifeng’s personal driver, who also doubles as a bodyguard.”

Zhou Mei was stunned…

Dale Corporation—the largest pharmaceutical company in the county, no, in the whole city.

Eight years ago, the county had attracted them with investment incentives—the single biggest business to settle here.

One of the top three taxpayers.

An enterprise named “Excellent” by the county government year after year.

Mentioned in full paragraphs in official reports.

Its boss was the foremost entrepreneur in the county, always seated at the front or on the dais at business forums. His “base + farmer + enterprise” model was known as the “Dale Model.”

So many titles, such fame, all the honor one could expect of a modern “boss.”

And it was him?

He wanted to drive the Feng City Detective Agency out of town?

“Why him? What grudge do you have with him?” Zhou Mei was genuinely puzzled.

“I’ve never met him. As far as I know, there’s no connection between our families either. Why would there be a grudge?” Lin Xiaosu narrowed his eyes. “That’s what we need to figure out when we visit him today.”

“He’s a big boss—even the head of the investment bureau would have to schedule an appointment to meet him.”

Lin Xiaosu blinked. “That’s why I invited you along.”

Zhou Mei’s eyes widened. “So this is your real reason for asking me out—you wanted to use my uniform! And I didn’t even catch your drift; I took off the only clothes you care about. We really don’t have any tacit understanding…”

A big boss, a county leader held in high esteem—even ordinary officials would struggle to get an audience with him.

But the police were different!

Under the pretext of an investigation, what place could bar you?

Who could refuse to meet you?

Lin Xiaosu, you scoundrel—one phrase, “Let’s go out for fun,” had her speculating all afternoon, her heart in turmoil. She’d bathed, changed, even put on makeup.

And for what?

Nothing at all like what she’d imagined.

He just wanted to use her official status to open the big boss’s door. Zhou Mei was honestly at a loss for words.

“It’s nothing,” Lin Xiaosu said. “You don’t need to wear your uniform, or even show your badge—just state your real identity, and Mr. Du will receive us politely.”

“That’s true. The dirtier someone’s hands are, the more they’ll project openness and warmth. He’ll certainly receive us. Then what?” Zhou Mei asked. “Will you lay out your findings?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he’ll admit it?”

“He’d have to be out of his mind to do so!”