Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

Su Wanxi rested her chin on one hand, stretched out one leg, and bent the other leg, resting it on a crossbar. She looked at the crowd outside the window, as if she were looking at herself in the window.

Her delicate eyelashes, snow-white skin, and dark eyes almost identical to Su Changqing's reflected the lamplight and candlelight. She felt inexplicably tired, tired of occasional insomnia at night, and tired of some unrealistic fantasies.

Sitting there doing nothing, Su Wanxi leaned down, gently resting her cheek on her arm, her thoughts drifting away with the soothing jazz music.

She thought of her mother, Su Wanshan, and Gu Cheng...

As the little princess of the Su family, Su Wanxi has enjoyed advantages that most people can only dream of since birth—her father is a political veteran, her uncle Su Keyou is a prominent figure in the business world, and her grandfather fought in wars and served as a military commander in his youth. Before retiring, he was a ministerial-level cadre and was highly respected in the military.

Before Su Yuanjun appeared, Su Wanshan was undoubtedly the future head of the Su family. He inherited Su Changqing's keen political acumen, acted decisively and without hesitation, and treated his family with gentleness and courtesy, leaving no room for criticism. In contrast, Su Changqing did not have high expectations for Su Wanxi. He only hoped that his daughter would not be influenced by the bad habits of comparison and ostentation in the elite circles, and would become a pure and clean person like her mother.

Su Wanxi did indeed achieve this. To the outside world, she was the ideal lady from a prominent family; to the inside, she was a dutiful daughter and a good younger sister. If it weren't for Su Yuanjun, she might have truly followed the path laid out by Su Changqing for the rest of her life.

Everyone in her family said that Su Wanxi inherited most of Su Changqing's talents. She was able to learn French, piano, and flower arranging with ease. However, Su Wanxi knew in her heart that she was not a feminine version of her father, and she would never inherit his passionate yet fickle personality.

The moment Su Yuanjun stepped into the house, the almost perfect image of her father in the girl's mind collapsed. She couldn't accept that the man who was always full of love had betrayed her mother, betrayed her marriage, and even had an illegitimate child.

Love, responsibility... these things Su Changqing had taught him were thrown on the ground and trampled on, crushed into dust. Su Wanxi felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart.

Since she can't do it, why bother pretending to be a good husband... Her mother's death made Su Wanxi increasingly rebellious in her father's eyes. She no longer obeyed his arrangements and went against him at every turn. She even secretly changed her original college application to Lanjiang University of Economics and Business. Even joining the Hermit Bureau was Su Wanxi's own decision.

When Su Changqing found out, he simply said, "Are you trying to spite me?"

Su Wanxi smiled but didn't answer. She turned her back, picked up her luggage, and left. Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

"Your full-sugar caramel macchiato." The waiter looked enviously at the pair of slender, shapely legs next to the bar stool, secretly wondering if consuming so many calories wouldn't make her gain weight.

Su Wanxi politely accepted the coffee, her pink lips parting slightly: "Thank you."

She brought the teacup to her lips, but the sweetness wasn't as strong as she had expected. Su Wanxi was a little disappointed, but she still sipped it slowly.

......

"I'm home." Sending a voice message was enough to let her know she was safe. Su Wanxi then put on her high heels and headed towards the villa.

The manor was unusually quiet, with orange lights flickering in the distance and a few strands of silver light piercing through the clouds, blurred by the hazy mist.

The wind was strong tonight, there were no stars, only a waning moon hanging in the night sky. Su Wanxi thought that there might be a heavy rain tomorrow, raining from dawn to dusk, and even the air she breathed in was damp.

"Da da..."

As she approached her door, the woman suddenly stopped turning her key. She felt an indescribable chill creep up her back. Turning around, she saw a golden expanse; the emerald green lawn, like a harvested wheat field, rippled in the evening breeze.

Thick, sticky black mist swirled around her calves, and inspiration kept flashing through her mind. Su Wanxi touched her lips and sighed softly.

The strong neutral cracks, judging from the density of the black fog, are at least a dozen kilometers apart, and the incident site should be located in the city center.

This is not the only strong neutral crack in Beidu this year; since New Year's Day, there have been more than fifty cracks of varying sizes.

Unlike Lanjiang, the period of frequent cracks in Beidu usually begins at the end of June and ends at the end of July. The fact that so many cracks have appeared at the beginning of the year is quite unusual.

Su Wanxi listened to some paranormal research experts explain that this was a sign of a shift in the frequency period. They cited the "Christian" extremely powerful rift that occurred in the Soviet Union ten years ago as an example. It was a rift that killed hundreds of awakened individuals and even extended the frequency period in Novosibirsk by fifteen days.

With experts involved, rumors inevitably arose as well. Many insiders linked these phenomena to prophecies made by "Beacons of Destiny": this was the beginning of the world's disintegration, and the gods would no longer protect all living beings.

Su Wanxi was skeptical of this. The recent events were indeed strange. She compared the cracks in Lanjiang and Beidu. Historically, the number of cracks in Beidu was consistently lower than in Lanjiang. However, this pattern was broken last year, with Beidu surpassing Lanjiang by three weak cracks. Furthermore, from a global perspective, the number of cracks in these two cities has been increasing year by year.

With the Hermit Bureau disbanded, Su Wanxi had very little data to obtain, and she didn't know if the remaining cities were in the same situation.

Turning the key, the door clicked open, and Su Wanxi placed her briefcase on the coffee table.

The cracks in Beidu are handled by a special team, so there's no need for a retired person like her to worry about them for the time being. Su Wanxi washed an apple and dried her hands at the same time.

Having not handled a gun in a long time, the woman wondered if she had become rusty. Her eyes flickered as she gazed at her fair, calloused hands beneath the machine.

"I vaguely heard a crackling sound... a bit like sizzling steak, or maybe... a jumble of electrical noise."

If Liu Zilou wasn't lying to me... Su Wanxi sat down on the sofa and reached into the inner compartment of her briefcase to take out a small black gift box.

She didn't open it, but simply placed it quietly in her palm, letting the moonlight permeate every inch of its texture. After a moment, Su Wanxi composed herself and tiptoed towards the bathroom.

......

As the clock struck twelve, the deep chimes echoed through the capital. In the cold morgue of Beidu Huimin Hospital, a discordant sound emanated.

An elderly man in his eighties was crawling on the paving stones. He was pale and naked, with lividity around his mouth and eyelids. His dry skin was wrinkled like the shroud next to him.

Trembling, the old man climbed to the corner of the wall. He glanced at his swollen right leg, his eyes calm and still. He looked around to get his bearings, his bones making a soft, creaking sound.

After about half a minute, he straightened up, his strong muscles stretching his skin, as if an old, dilapidated machine had been suddenly reworked and oiled.

He casually tore the white shroud into several pieces. The old man—no, now he should be a young man—pressed his forehead against the window, his breath turning the glass a hazy white.

This is Morgue Building C of Beidu Huimin Hospital. He is still alive, and he vaguely remembers who he is.

Closing his eyes and steadying his breathing, the man smashed open the window. Sharp shards of glass grazed his arm, and bright red, scalding liquid slid down his abdomen to his ankles, finally landing on the floor tiles. But he didn't care. He simply threw the "clothes" he had just torn off the window and then jumped.

The height of a four-story building was enough to cause serious injury. The man landed on the back of his head, and his fragile skull shattered into several pieces, just as expected.

The next second, he sat up and touched the exposed brain matter. Without changing his expression, he reattached his eyeballs. In a few breaths, layers of granulation tissue piled up, and muscles, bones, and nerves regenerated at a speed that defied modern medicine.

The man rolled up the sheet to cover his naked body, then thoughtfully climbed over the security net.

"Hello, could you give me a ride to No. 32 Langya Street?"

The taxi driver glanced at the man, and the dim light made him mistakenly think that the latter was wearing a white shirt.

"Okay, get in the car." He smelled a fishy smell on the other person, which quickly disappeared. He thought it was strange. The driver asked the man if he was a local commuter.

The man answered no and closed his eyes to rest. The driver chatted casually for a few minutes without responding, realizing that the man wasn't the talkative type, so he focused on the road conditions.

Upon arriving at their destination, the man pushed open the car door and drove off, but the driver called him back, saying he hadn't paid yet.

"Twenty-three in total, WeChat or Alipay?"

The man shook his head and said he didn't have any. The driver was taken aback and asked him if he had brought cash.

"I have no money." The man shrugged. In the moonlight, the driver saw that the white cloth strip on his body was stained with blackish-red liquid, and he was barefoot without even shoes.

Midnight... Huimin Hospital... The driver belatedly realized what was happening and broke out in a cold sweat. Before the man could speak, he hurriedly rolled up the car window and headed towards the downtown area.

Chapter 231, Section 236: The Moon Shines Brightest in My Hometown

The man watched the brown taxi drive away, its body gradually blending into the night. After two or three minutes, he turned and walked toward his destination.

No. 32 Langya Street was originally a two-story earthen building. After several renovations, it has been transformed into a modern skyscraper. The neatly arranged floor-to-ceiling windows are cold and desolate under the silvery light, and the howling evening wind blows through the building.

Walking on the marble steps, the soles of his feet were icy cold. Memories, old and faded, tangled together. The man held his forehead, his eyelids twitching incessantly.

A middle-aged man in a security guard uniform stopped him and asked in a low voice, "What brings you here?"

The man's reply was exceptionally brief: "Ying Qiuhuai, come and get the key. He's an old friend of Mr. Xie."

The security guard paused for a moment when he heard the name Ying Qiuhuai, then took out his phone and found a number. The man was very patient, standing at the door looking around, and waited until the call was finished without urging him to hurry up.

"Mr. Ying, Ms. Xie asked you to rest for a while. She will be here shortly."

Upon hearing this, the man casually found a patch of grass to sit on. He noticed a cricket hopping around at his feet, its antennae tickling his skin. He reached out to grab it but didn't use his full strength, and the sticky sap burst open in his palm, killing it instantly.

Ying Qiuhuai narrowed his eyes slightly, and the emerald green light vanished in an instant. The little cricket, which everyone else looked at and said was beyond saving, miraculously survived.

After holding it for a while, the man waved it away and released it. He then rested his eyes on the tiled floor, resting his ankles. When the car came to a stop, a young woman in an office lady uniform and high heels clattered up to him.

She noticed that Ying Qiuhuai was only covered by a white cloth, with her feet and legs exposed.

"Since you say Mr. Xie is an old friend, could you tell me his full name?" Xie Xiaorou's eyes held surprise, but her tone remained calm.

"Xie Lisheng, are you his daughter?" Ying Qiuhuai answered calmly. He remembered that when he closed his eyes, the Xie family had just given birth to a daughter, who had not yet been named.

Before he could finish speaking, he muttered to himself, "No... the time doesn't match up..." Eighty years have passed; the baby from back then should be over eighty years old now.

Xie Xiaorou quickly explained, "My name is Xie Xiaorou, and I am the great-granddaughter of Mr. Xie you mentioned."

The instructions left by her great-grandfather... this is too surreal... Xie Xiaorou frowned and asked Ying Qiuhuai a few more questions that only the direct heirs of the Xie family would know. The latter answered them one by one, which were also the contents of the agreement he made with Xie Lisheng more than eighty years ago.

Where are the keys?

"Come with me." Xie Xiaorou looked at Ying Qiuhuai with a complicated expression, then took a few steps back to signal him to get in the car.

"Change your clothes first, I'll send someone to get the 'keys' right away." Ying Qiuhuai stopped talking and bent down to sit in the passenger seat.

......

At 12:23 a.m., Gu Cheng stood alone on the rooftop, half of her arm supporting her on the railing, leaning forward, her clear brown eyes looking down at the earth.

More than two months have passed since An Zhishui returned to China. A week ago, she boarded the high-speed train to Beijing. Just as Su Wanxi described, this ancient capital is often foggy and hazy, with extreme temperature differences between day and night.

A puff of warm breath escaped her nostrils, mingling with the damp evening breeze. Gu Cheng felt a chill on her legs; her thin, skin-colored stockings couldn't keep out the night fog.

Chester Brooke was out of danger after being rescued. An Zhishui and the Federal National Security Agency reached a tacit agreement to temporarily ignore the unpleasantness between them. The assassination attempt at the symposium was also learned by the representatives of various countries, and rumors spread for a time. But this had nothing to do with Gu Cheng. In her eyes, everything in the Soviet Union came to an end after she boarded the plane.

"The crack seems to be disappearing," Gu Chengyan whispered a reminder.

Gu Cheng quickly composed herself and focused intently on the mosaic-like spatial ripples beneath her feet.

The Beidu military maintained strict control over the crack, with spies everywhere around it. It was thanks to her climbing so high that she was able to have a panoramic view of the situation.

"One...four...only seven people came out." Gu Cheng remembered that a total of nine Awakened Ones entered the rift, and the remaining two might be trapped inside forever.

Dozens of meters away, the woman could vaguely see some members of the handling team covering their faces and crying, and some even kneeling on the ground, only able to stand up with the help of other members... This was not the first rift she had been monitoring. As long as there was time, Gu Cheng would always rush to the location of the rift as soon as possible. Jiang Xuewei repeatedly reminded her that the Hermit Bureau had long been disbanded and that she was not an Awakened under the jurisdiction of the military. Gu Cheng shook her head and said that she had other plans.

"Gu Chengyan, I think my judgment was correct."

The reason why this body's rejection reaction is so strong is largely due to the flesh and blood that modified Gu Cheng. Although it has long since died, its essence is still a creation of the crack, which is not easily accepted by reality. In addition, Professor Brooke mentioned the "soul theory". Gu Cheng and Gu Chengyan are both awakened, and their symbiotic relationship will be subject to a stronger rejection effect.

"You seem quite pleased with yourself?" Gu Chengyan smiled.

"Hmm, this means that B-level isn't my limit..." Gu Cheng opened his palm, and a faint spark of electricity landed in his palm, curling up into a ball in the evening breeze, looking pitiful.

"While the crack exists, your blood flow increases and your body temperature rises slightly."

"Just now, you wanted to jump in, didn't you?" The female voice in her mind paused, as if waiting for Gu Cheng's answer. The latter pursed her lips and put her legs on the steps.

"How did you know?" Indeed, for a moment, Gu Cheng felt that everything in reality was sticky and crowded. She began to miss the unpolluted air in the crack, and the freedom to control lightning at will without any suppression.

“Your heart is beating very fast. Apart from when I was near death and when I was facing Su Wanxi, I have never felt such a fast heart rate.”

Gu Cheng was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then her lips curved into a smile before smoothing it out: "You... how could you still be spying on such things?"

“It’s not spying, it’s our shared body, I can feel it.” Gu Chengyan’s words were perfectly reasonable.

"To avoid disturbing you, I go to bed early every night, but doing that during the day is purely a problem between you and Su Wanxi..."

The woman used her ability to attract steel bars and slid down, the gust of wind in her ears slightly easing her embarrassment. Once she regained her footing, Gu Cheng cautiously looked around to make sure there were no witnesses.