I discovered a world bug.

"I don't know what that is."

Lin Shu persisted in her insistence.

In his view, the extraordinary world belonging to "ritual" and the world dominated by "secular power" represented by He Cheng are two different worlds.

As long as he doesn't speak up, they have no reason or means to force him.

Without sufficient benefits and adequate security, there is no reason for them to choose to cooperate.

Just carry it.

At worst, you can detain me. How long can you hold me there?

Seeing the nonchalant expression on his face, He Cheng's expression became somewhat complicated.

He looked at Lin Shu, wanting to speak, but didn't know where to begin.

What's going on...?

Based on my experience, after witnessing such a horrific scene and experiencing such a profound shock, even the most hardened person would have to back down.

Aren't you afraid?

Those were real pieces of corpse!

And the owner of those body parts was standing alive in front of you just twenty hours ago!

Aren't you worried that if you don't cooperate with the police and seek their protection, you might end up like this dismembered body in a few days?

He Cheng really wanted to use some forceful methods—like some kind of memory restoration technique.

But now, the overall environment has changed.

When I first became a policeman, things like incidents or even deaths in the station weren't considered big problems. There were always people who could use their immense power to suppress the issues.

But now?

With the crackdown on organized crime on one hand and the vigorous fight against corruption on the other, many options have been exhausted.

Of course, this doesn't mean that such things don't exist anymore.

But at least, I don't dare take that risk right now...

He Cheng sighed heavily and stood up.

He walked up to Lin Shu and stared at him intently with a stern look.

This is the last attempt—if further intimidation fails to subdue the young man, I will truly have to find another way.

"Lin Shu, I'm telling you this seriously."

He Cheng began by saying:

"This matter..."

"Bang bang bang----"

Before He Cheng could finish speaking, there was a sudden knock on the interrogation room door.

Everyone instinctively turned to look at the doorway, and then with a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside.

"I'll take over."

The person who arrived was wearing a plain white casual T-shirt and a baseball cap.

His expression wasn't the stereotypical, serious one often seen on police officers; in fact, his eyebrows even carried a hint of flippancy.

When He Cheng saw him, his first reaction was even to kick this "irrelevant person" out.

But when He Cheng saw the document the other person was holding, his expression immediately changed.

It was a stamped document.

A letter of assistance from the provincial department.

"Let's go, let's get out."

The man waved his hand.

"You all get out; you can't understand this by talking to each other."

"The organization has decided to have the higher-level departments directly investigate—alas, it's also our problem; we didn't expect the situation to escalate so drastically at first."

"Um... He Cheng, right?"

"Please stop all your work and seal all files. Other colleagues will take over from you later."

"Um... Chen Zhu, right? Chen Zhu, go wait in the next office. A colleague from the Organization Department wants to talk to you about something."

"......good."

".....clear."

He Cheng and Chen Zhu nodded in response, but as they turned to leave, their eyes were filled with unfathomable doubt.

Who exactly is this man?

Every word he spoke was full of confidence and carried an undeniable air of authority.

This imposing presence definitely didn't just come from the document in his hand...

This is a proper superior!

The fact that he was able to enter this interrogation room proves that the entire police station is actually under their control...

The interrogation room door slammed shut. In a fleeting glance, Lin Shu, still sitting in the interrogation chair, saw many people standing outside who resembled the man in front of her.

His heart skipped a beat.

Holy crap, the main character is here!

Next, should I tell you or not?!

While he was still hesitating, the man had already dragged over the two chairs opposite him.

"Damn it, these people at the grassroots level are starting to disregard the rules again. I think we haven't done enough to rectify the four undesirable work styles... Come, sit down."

Lin Shu was stunned, unsure whether to move or not.

Good grief, how can you say something like that to my face?

Will it be open?

The man walked over, yanked open the latch on the interrogation chair, pointed to the chair that had been moved over, and said:

"Sit here."

He sat down first with an air of authority, and without waiting for Lin Shu to settle in, he spoke directly:

"The matter is urgent, so I won't waste my breath on you."

"My name is Qin Lang. I won't tell you my specific position or job title yet."

"I'm here today mainly to talk to you about Li Yu's situation—actually, you know in your heart that Li Yu's situation isn't that simple."

"I overheard your conversation with He Cheng while we were handling the handover outside, and I understand your concerns."

"But... now that I'm here, you don't need to worry too much."

"You're just worried that talking about things you can't explain will cause you trouble, but I have a question..."

The man paused.

Then, he softened his tone, looked at Lin Shu, and asked a question.

"Lin Shu, what do you think science is?"

This question caught Lin Shu off guard.

When he first came into contact with the world of "rituals", he had thought about this question countless times.

What is science?

Science is simply a summary based on objective laws, enabling people to achieve better results by leveraging these laws.

What if...?

If rituals are also a kind of objective law, then who can say that rituals are not a kind of science?

He looked at the man named Qin Lang and tentatively asked:

"You know?"

"Of course I know—well, since you're asking me that, I actually know the answer to that question from your perspective."

"Then let's not waste any more time."

"Let's move on to the second question—what if you were an amateur scientist, but one day you suddenly discovered controlled nuclear fusion?"

"Do you think we'd rather capture you, dissect you, and study you, or treat you well and see if you can come up with anything else?"

"This doesn't need an answer, right? You should know what I mean."

"......Understood."

Lin Shu nodded again.

From the moment the two met to the moment they sat down to talk, Qin Lang had completely turned the atmosphere of the interrogation room around in just a few minutes.

"So... what exactly do you want?"

"I need your help."

Qin Lang answered without hesitation:

"We really need your help right now."

"You see, the current situation may be a little different from what you expected."

"You might think that we know more about what you know, have more knowledge of it, and have a vast amount of inherited information, so we shouldn't need your help."

"But that's not actually the case."

"The things you are experiencing and learning have actually been the subject of dozens of serious disruptions in the history of our country."

"Not to mention anything far back, there have been three serious cases of the lineage being severed from the last century to the present."

"In this process, a lot of the real stuff has been lost, and what remains are the formalistic and dogmatic things."

"In addition, since the 80s, our work focus has shifted, and with the drastic changes in the objective environment and the silence of certain unknown factors, many lineages have not only been severed, but have been completely annihilated."

"It was only in the last year, due to the resurgence of those 'unknown factors,' that the organization began to gradually restart related work, and this restart can almost be described as a cold start."

"The cold start is the most difficult. Even the working group I'm in has only been established for two months."

"But unfortunately, the situation we face is extremely complex, and the crisis is extremely urgent—you've already seen what's happening now."

"In reality, what you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg."

"Therefore, we need to utilize all possible resources."

"Now, let's get straight to the point."

"We have already conducted a round of investigation into Li Yu's case based on the information we have, but there are still many questions in the process."

"So, Lin Shu, would you like to come with me and take a look at these suspicious points?"