You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

weekend.

The sun is warm and the autumn breeze is just right.

The aroma of food wafted from the small tea room in the backyard of the Lin family's old house.

Today is Lin Chen's father, Lin Zhiyuan's, 56th birthday.

There was no grand celebration, no fancy restaurant; just a large round table was set up in the backyard of the small teahouse that had been in operation for over twenty years.

But any one of the people sitting around the table could shake the entire city of Jiangcheng if dragged out.

Su Qingge changed into a plain white cotton-linen shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, and was squatting by the sink washing vegetables.

These hands, which have held guns, handcuffed prisoners, and beaten drug dealers, are now meticulously scrubbing the mud off a large cabbage.

"Qingge, be gentle when you wash them, don't crush the leaves."

Shen Manyun stood beside her, giving instructions with a beaming smile.

"Okay, Auntie."

Su Qingge's voice softened eight octaves, her docile manner completely unlike that of the decisive female team leader in the Major Crimes Unit.

In the kitchen, Ye Qingcheng stood in front of the cutting board, holding a cleaver in her hand.

Her knife skills...

"Mr. Ye, did you cut this potato into chunks or random polyhedrons?"

Lin Chen passed by carrying a bowl of condiments, and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Ye Qingcheng chopped the potatoes on the cutting board into pieces of varying sizes and shapes, some as big as a fist and others as small as a fingernail.

Ye Qingcheng paused in her grip on the knife, her phoenix eyes narrowing dangerously.

Say it again.

"Beautiful, masterful knife work, one of a kind."

Lin Chen remained expressionless, picked up his bowl, and slipped away.

Beside the stove, Jiang Tingxue was simmering a pot of black chicken soup in a clay pot.

Her movements were fluid and graceful, her control over the heat, seasoning, and timing precise to the second.

After all, for a forensic pathologist who can accurately distinguish every bone and tissue in the human body, making chicken soup is just a matter of suboptimal skill.

"Tingxue's soup is so delicious! Your dad drank three bowls of the pot she brought last time!"

Shen Manyun praised loudly.

Jiang Tingxue's lips curled up slightly, a hint of smugness gleaming in her cool eyes.

And under the grape trellis in the backyard.

Su Ke'er, wearing a cute floral apron, was holding a guitar and singing a birthday song to Lin Zhiyuan, who was sitting in a wicker chair.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!

Su Ke'er's voice is sweet and clear, like a string of silver bells in the autumn sunshine.

Lin Zhiyuan's face turned red, and he kept saying "Stop singing, stop singing," but his body didn't move an inch, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were almost squeezed together from laughing.

"Come on, everyone! Sit down and get ready to eat!"

At Shen Manyun's command, everyone sat down around the table.

Lin Chen personally took charge of the cooking, and a Manchu Han Imperial Feast was laid out on the table.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Steamed Grouper, Braised Pork Belly, Dry Pot Bullfrog, Steamed Scallops with Garlic and Vermicelli, Matsutake Chicken Soup...

Every dish was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, steaming hot and filling the entire backyard with its aroma.

"Wow, my son's cooking skills are good enough to open a restaurant!"

Shen Manyun said proudly as she served food to Lin Zhiyuan.

"Mom, say less and eat."

Lin Chen smiled helplessly.

"Come on, Dad, happy birthday and good health!"

Lin Chen raised his glass and stood up.

The four female leads also stood up and raised their glasses.

Happy birthday, Uncle!

in unison.

Looking at the four young and beautiful faces in front of him, Lin Zhiyuan was so excited that his hands were trembling, and he downed a glass of baijiu in one gulp.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He said "good" three times in a row, his eyes getting a little moist.

Shen Manyun nudged him with her elbow from the side and lowered her voice.

"Look, four! Four! Your son is much better than you!"

Lin Zhiyuan glared at her, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the grape trellis, falling on everyone's faces.

Su Ke'er is serving food to Lin Chen.

Su Qingge silently pushed a bowl of chicken soup to Lin Chen's side.

Jiang Tingxue is serving Shen Manyun rice.

Ye Qingcheng sat gracefully next to Lin Chen, sipping her red wine and occasionally reaching out to wipe a grain of rice from the corner of his mouth.

family.

It's fun.

Lin Chen felt a warm current surge in his heart as he watched this scene.

All the killing, the desperate struggle, the life-and-death battles...

It's all about holding onto this moment.

He picked up his glass, about to fill it to the brim.

The hand stopped.

In an instant.

Deep within the spine, an extremely faint yet sharp chill, like a needle piercing the bone marrow, exploded without warning!

[God-level Danger Perception] - Passively triggered!

The intensity and texture of this chill were completely different from when I faced Black Shark and Monet before.

Black Shark is a violent threat tinged with bloodshed.

Monet was imbued with a morbid, twisted malice.

And this time—

It was a pure, vast, oppressive darkness that made it hard to breathe.

Like the deep sea.

Like a tomb.

It's like standing alone in the middle of a dark wilderness, knowing that something is watching you, but you can't see where it is.

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

His hands didn't tremble, and his expression didn't change.

His [god-level micro-expression control] worked perfectly, and no one present noticed anything unusual about him.

But his senses had already fully developed.

[Radar Scan] - Silent Activation!

The sensing range covers the entire area with a radius of 500 meters centered on the small tea room.

found it.

Northwest direction, 120 meters away.

On the main street of the old town.

A black, unlicensed, bulletproof Mercedes S600 was driving past the small teahouse at an extremely slow speed.

The speed should not exceed 20 kilometers per hour.

It's abnormally slow.

The rear windows of that car were made of military-grade one-way bulletproof glass, so from the outside, all you could see was darkness.

But Lin Chen's [God-level Insight] and [Radar Scan] worked together to penetrate that layer of glass.

In the back row, a person sat upright.

male.

He has a tall and slender figure.

He was wearing a well-tailored dark gray custom-made suit and black leather gloves.

He wore a Prajna mask on his face.

The mask was red with gold patterns and was extremely well-made.

Hannya is a demon mask used in traditional Japanese Noh theater.

Behind the mask, a pair of eyes can be vaguely seen.

Those eyes were peering through the gap in the car window, looking with extreme precision towards the direction of the backyard of the small teahouse.

He looked at Lin Chen.

Two gazes met in the air.

Lin Chen's blood temperature dropped two degrees in that instant.

Because he saw the sin value above the man's head.

It's not gold.

It's not red.

It's not dark red.

It's a dark purple.

A color he had never seen before.

The dark purple halo was extremely dense, like a black hole compressed to its limit, ready to devour everything at any moment.

at the same time--

A system notification suddenly sounded in my mind.

But this time, the usually cold and calm electronic synthesized voice took on an unprecedented urgency!

[Ding! Warning! An extremely dangerous target has been detected approaching!]

[Target Sin Level: ??? (Outside the current system's recognition range!)]

Threat Assessment: --Unable to assess--

[Host, please be extremely vigilant! The danger level of this target far exceeds that of any opponent you have encountered before!]

Unable to assess.

Four words.

These four words appeared for the first time in the system's database.

A chilling light flashed deep within Lin Chen's pupils.

A black Mercedes-Benz S600 slowly drove past the entrance of the small teahouse without stopping.

The eyes behind the car window, which were fixed on Lin Chen, curved slightly at the last moment their gazes met.

That's a smile.

Through masks, through car windows, and a distance of 120 meters.

That smile carried a condescending scrutiny, the kind of interest a hunter feels when seeing interesting prey for the first time.

The car drove away.

Disappearing at the end of the winding streets of the old town.

Lin Chen withdrew his gaze and looked down at the slightly swirling liquid in his glass.

The eyes reflected in the mirror had turned completely cold.

"Lin Chen, why aren't you drinking?"

Su Ke'er tilted her head and looked at him innocently.

Lin Chen raised his head, and his gentle and composed smile returned to his face.

"I was spacing out. Here, have a drink!"

He raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

The liquor was spicy and burning as it went down my throat.

But it couldn't compare to the chill that was surging in his heart at that moment.