Chapter 305 Unclean Things
Zhou Jue's body tensed almost imperceptibly for a moment, then relaxed, and she slowly turned around.
Sun Jiuchou was standing not far behind her with a smile, holding two steaming cups of field ginger tea in his hands.
"It's damp in the mountains, have some to warm yourself up." He handed me a cup.
"Thank you." Zhou Jue took the paper cup, feeling its warmth on his fingertips.
Sun Jiuchou did not leave immediately. He looked at the main peak of Mount Tai, which was shrouded in clouds and mist in the distance, and slowly said, "The Book of Strange Things says that Mount Tai is the 'grandson of the Heavenly Emperor' and is in charge of life and death in the human world. In ancient times, emperors performed the Fengshan ceremony here in order to communicate with the heavens."
He took a sip of ginger tea, and a strange light flickered in his eyes behind his glasses.
"Do you think the place we're standing in right now could be considered... a ticket to communicate with the heavens in advance?"
Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat at his words.
Too close.
Sun Jiuchou was standing too close to her.
After hearing the warnings from the sea monster and the old tree, this distance sent alarm bells through every cell in her body.
She forced herself to calm down and carefully examined the person in front of her.
Sun Jiuchou, with a smiling face, is knowledgeable, strategic, and an indispensable brain in the team. He was the first secretary the country assigned to her, and he is even in charge of her current shareholdings and charitable endeavors.
There was nothing unusual about him.
If it were there, with her current sensory abilities, there's no way she wouldn't have noticed it.
Unless, of course, he is far too powerful! Far surpassing her!
She mobilized a wisp of her divine sense and gently probed towards Sun Jiuchou.
Just as that wisp of divine sense was about to touch Sun Jiuchou.
Sun Jiuchou seemed to unintentionally turn his head slightly, avoiding her "gaze".
He continued gazing at the distant mountains, his tone leisurely: "The 'wind' here feels very comfortable."
Zhou Jue's outstretched divine sense stopped in mid-air.
She looked at Sun Jiuchou's profile, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
Was it an accident? Or did he discover it?
The old tree and the sea-listening beast were not wrong.
Perhaps that sense of chaos and hunger is not entirely absent.
Instead, it was suppressed and enveloped deep within Sun Jiuchou's body by a terrifyingly powerful force.
Like a demon sealed in an ancient well.
And Sun Jiuchou is that well.
Or perhaps, it's the person guarding the well.
Who exactly is he?
Are they enemies? Or...?
Zhou Jue's mind was in chaos. She held the warm paper cup, but felt her hands and feet were ice cold.
She felt a jumble of questions running through her mind. Had Sun Jiuchou only recently become an unknown entity, or had he been all along?
Sun Jiuchou seemed oblivious to her odd behavior. He turned his head and gave her his signature warm smile once again.
"What's wrong, Xiao Jue?"
"The tea doesn't suit your taste?"
His eyes were gentle and concerned.
But in Zhou Jue's eyes, behind that gentle smile seemed to be a pair of cold, inhuman eyes, looking down at her with disdain.
Zhou Jue held the paper cup, the warmth of his fingertips contrasting sharply with the chill in his heart.
She forced herself to calm down: "No, it tastes great."
Zhou Jue tried to make her voice sound as steady as possible; she even lowered her head and gently blew on the steam rising from the rim of the cup.
“I was just thinking, Jiu Chou, about what you just said about ‘communicating with the heavens’.”
She looked up and threw the question back at her: "Do we... really deserve it?"
Sun Jiuchou's smile deepened, as if he had heard a very interesting question.
"qualifications?"
He chuckled softly: "Qualifications are never given by others; they are earned by oneself."
He turned around and stood side by side with Zhou Jue, looking together at the main peak of Mount Tai deep in the clouds.
"Just like the land beneath our feet, it has been asleep for too long, but it will eventually awaken."
"It's like some dusty doors; you never know if a kind-faced god or a hungry demon stands behind them."
His voice was slow and deliberate, yet it was like a hook, scraping at Zhou Jue's nerves.
"But someone has to be the first to reach out and push open that door, right?"
Zhou Jue tightened his grip on the paper cup.
"What if...there really is an evil spirit behind the door?"
Her voice was very soft: "Wouldn't the person who pushes open the door become a sinner for all time?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Jiuchou remained silent for a moment.
He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Zhou Jue's face, and for the first time, his gentle smile faded slightly.
"That depends..."
His voice was lowered, carrying a strange quality.
"Was the person pushing the door to let it out, or to... check if the chain on the door was still secure?"
chain.
Almost immediately, she thought of the warnings from the Listening Sea Beast and the Old Tree.
Those sealed-away, chaotic, and hungry auras.
Zhou Jue's breath caught in her throat for a moment, and she immediately called out in her heart with the most urgent intention.
"Senior! He knows! He knows everything! What exactly is inside him?"
Inside the Starry Secret Box, the branches and leaves of the ancient tree moved rustlingly without wind.
"We can't see through it... Xiao Jue, we can't see through it."
For the first time, the old tree's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"That chaotic aura was tightly enveloped by another, more ancient power, like a mosquito trapped in amber. We can only sense its presence, but we cannot fathom its essence."
In the pool, the enormous head of the Listening Sea Beast emerged from the water, its golden eyes filled with solemnity.
“He is not one of us, nor is he one of those awakening creatures in the valley.”
"He...is another kind of being."
“Be careful, he is much more dangerous than we think.”
Outside, Zhou Jue's heart sank inch by inch, a being that even the old tree and the Listening Sea Beast could not fathom.
So what exactly is he?
"Look, what's that?"
Sun Jiuchou's voice pulled her thoughts back to reality.
He pointed to a spot not far away where research team leader Li Zhen was squatting in front of a small purple grass, his face filled with almost obsessive ecstasy.
"A plant that has never been recorded before, a completely new species."
Sun Jiuchou's tone regained its usual leisurely air.
"This world is starting to become interesting."
“There are always things that don’t belong to this era that will reappear in all sorts of unexpected ways.”
He looked at the small blade of grass, but then subtly changed the subject.
"Yes, some grow out of the soil on their own."
"some……"
He paused, his gaze slowly shifting from the distant grass to Zhou Jue's face.
"It fell from the sky."
Zhou Jue's pupils suddenly contracted.
Sun Jiuchou's gaze fell on her eyes: "Aren't you right, Xiaojue?"
"Like these 'little gadgets' you have."
"They don't seem like things that should have always existed in this world."
boom--!
Zhou Jue's mind went blank.
Something's not right! Something's definitely not right! Everyone knows she has a system, a spatial ability, and can time travel, so why would Sun Jiuchou say it in this tone?
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Xiao Jue! Jiu Chou!"
Just then, Commander Qi's clear and powerful voice came from afar.
"Come here for a second! The research team has made a major discovery!"
The sound was like a thunderclap, splitting the suffocating space between the two.
The smile on Sun Jiuchou's face became perfectly normal.
He acted as if he hadn't said anything at all, merely chatting with her about the new changes in the world.
He responded in the direction of Commander Qi, then turned around and prepared to walk over.
As he brushed past Zhou Jue, he paused slightly, without turning his head, but his lips moved almost imperceptibly.
A whisper that only Zhou Jue could hear entered her ears.
"Don't be afraid."
"I just... don't like unclean things getting into my house without me even realizing it."
After saying that, he started walking slowly towards the camp, his back view calm and composed, just like always.
Zhou Jue stood there, stiff and alone.
The paper cup in her hand had been squeezed out of shape without her noticing.
Unclean things...
What exactly was he talking about?
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