Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Sheng Tianzong, not forgetting their true purpose, whispered, "Rescue them first."

Only the half-dissolved Gong Siyuan knew where the people were hidden.

And it was a literal collapse.

Gong Siyuan seemed to have no intention of maintaining a human form. Its body, starting from the head, gradually disintegrated like hardened clumps of soil mixed with mud, crumbling and shedding debris. The falling debris was gathered by the mud, turning Gong Siyuan into a monster with a human head and a body of mud.

"So, the true form of this Anomaly is mud?" Lin Juan murmured.

No wonder there were so many Anomalies in the hospital, and those in the school—they were all molded from the mud on Gong Siyuan's body.

The mud from Gong Siyuan seeped into the floor, descending to merge with something below. The stabilized building shook violently, threatening to fling Lin Juan and the others out.

Lin Juan summoned the "Forest Cabin," which split down the middle, transforming into a long wooden rope with a thick top and a bottom divided into three strands. The three strands wrapped around Lin Juan, Sheng Tianzong, and Shi Haochen, while the other end coiled around a pillar, anchoring them securely to prevent them from being thrown off.

Intense pollution enveloped them. Under the extreme pressure, Shi Haochen, facing a Class A Anomaly for the first time, went pale.

Sheng Tianzong gripped the rope with one hand and looked down. "The Class A Anomaly, 'Clay Bodhisattva.' Don't underestimate its mud. It may look like mud, but it's actually a highly corrosive substance. Once touched, you'll become corrupted and become a subordinate of the 'Clay Bodhisattva.'"

As he spoke, the hospital shook even more violently. The floor beneath Lin Juan and the others collapsed, forming a gaping chasm.

The void was bottomless, pitch black when they looked down.

No one believed things would end easily.

As superpower holders, they had some ability to sense the pollution in the air. At this moment, Sheng Tianzong clearly felt the pollution readings around them slowly rising, and the source was none other than the dark void below.

"Something is coming out from the bottom of the void!" Sheng Tianzong said gravely, his voice low.

"Perhaps we're about to witness the true form of the Class A Anomaly," Lin Juan remarked.

"Is it Gong Siyuan?" Shi Haochen gripped the wooden rope tightly. The floor and walls below him had collapsed, leaving only a gaping black hole.

His intuition told him he must not fall in under any circumstances!

"It is him, but it's also not him." Lin Juan lowered his gaze, staring downward.

He could sense the pollution emanating from the black hole below, stronger than any he had encountered before.

The "Forest Cabin" trembled uneasily. The survival of the fittest among Anomalies was harsher than among any other beings. If not for Lin Juan's presence, the "Forest Cabin" would have fled as far as possible from such a powerful anomalous presence.

The three of them stared intently downward, unmoving.

Amid the violent shaking, the hospital collapsed with a roar. On the ruins, a new shrine built from mud gradually took shape.

The mud spreading from the ground seemed alive, rising upward on its own to construct a realistic-looking shrine.

The "Clay Bodhisattva" had revealed its domain's true form.

Lin Juan patted the "Forest Cabin" wrapped around his waist. The wooden rope released him, and Lin Juan leaped down from mid-air, surveying his surroundings.

Gong Siyuan was gone. The entire shrine was empty except for the three of them.

The shrine was silent, with the most prominent feature being the statue of a Buddha seated in the center at the front.

The Buddha sat cross-legged, majestic and solemn, gazing with compassion upon the world. Anyone under its gaze would be filled with a sense of emptiness, as if all worldly desires had vanished.

In simpler terms, they would lose their secular desires and wish to renounce worldly life.

But renouncing the world before an anomalous Buddha statue would not bring liberation—only corruption into an Anomaly and the complete loss of self.

Lin Juan seemed unaffected, staring unblinkingly at the statue before him.

Sheng Tianzong scoured the shrine, looking for the hidden students. Before entering the domain, they had thoroughly searched the ruins of the Cherish Clinic but found no trace of the students. The most likely place for the "Clay Bodhisattva" to hide them was within its own domain—somewhere in this shrine.

Before entering the Class A Anomaly's shrine domain, Sheng Tianzong and Lin Juan had quickly agreed: Lin Juan would deal with the Class A Anomaly "Clay Bodhisattva," while Sheng Tianzong would take the chance to find and rescue the students.

Shi Haochen stayed by Sheng Tianzong's side, activating his superpower "Shadow."

Dark shadows spread like floodwaters, leaving no stone unturned.

Their bold actions angered the shrine's master. Countless mud-created Anomalies rose from the ground, launching attacks.

Sheng Tianzong and Shi Haochen counterattacked with their superpowers while continuing their search.

Their focus remained on finding the students.

Lin Juan faced the majestic and solemn Buddha statue.

Vaguely, he could see many faces appearing on the statue.

There was Gong Siyuan's face, the faces of the missing students from Upward Middle School, and even faces familiar from Lin Juan's daily life—Lu Yanzhou, Lu Mingxuan, Zhuang Yufeng, and others who weren't present.

"You're reading my memories?" Lin Juan narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Who gave you permission?"

As he spoke, he lunged forward.

Under the colossal ten-meter-tall Buddha statue, Lin Juan looked minuscule, as if mocking his audacity. The corners of the statue's lips curled upward.

But soon, its expression froze.

Lin Juan advanced with overwhelming force, landing a powerful kick to the statue's shoulder.

The statue looked down in disbelief. A deep crater had formed on its shoulder, with cracks spreading outward.

It was cracking.

Like baked clay, the cracks grew larger until the statue shattered completely.

Sheng Tianzong and Shi Haochen, who were fighting the mud-created Anomalies, heard a loud explosion. The mud monsters before them suddenly burst, covering them in mud.

Wiping the mud from his face, Shi Haochen opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.

He saw the young man with hair floating in an unseen breeze, and before him, piles of mud debris.

Where the Buddha statue had once sat, only scattered mud debris remained.

Shi Haochen gaped in disbelief. "It's over already?!"

He hadn't even seen how Lin Juan had moved. It was like watching a movie—one moment it was the opening scene, and the next, it had jumped to the ending.

The largest Buddha statue shattered, and the mud monsters derived from it posed no threat. Sheng Tianzong activated his superpower "Starfire," and under the dazzling blaze, everything turned to ashes.

Outside.

A familiar tremor shook the ground, and Director Liu methodically organized the retreat.

Fortunately, the Cherish Clinic had been abandoned for years, with few residents in the surrounding area. The massive tremor didn’t cause much of a stir.

The sudden collapse of Upward Middle School last time had attracted a lot of attention, with many parents calling to inquire, and numerous members of the public and journalists trying to uncover the truth.

After discussing with his superiors, Director Liu dismissed these inquiries with the explanation that "the collapse was caused by careless underground construction at the school."

The collapse of a school was no small matter, and it was impossible to conceal. Director Liu had no intention of hiding it from the start. After providing the reason, he continued the investigation while controlling the direction of online public opinion.

Under deliberate guidance, online public opinion unanimously targeted the irresponsible construction company, with netizens launching a wave of criticism against shoddy projects everywhere.

Corruption was rampant everywhere, and the authorities took this opportunity to thoroughly overhaul the construction industry across the region. Of course, those were later developments.

Joseph also saw the news online.

"Sir, do you believe the explanations online?" asked an assistant softly.

Joseph lit a cigar, took a puff, and slowly exhaled the smoke. "The Chinese government always uses the same old tricks. Do they really think hiding the truth about anomalies from ordinary people is for their own good?"

His meaning was clear—he didn’t believe a word of the online narrative.

The entire Upward Middle School collapsed in an instant. Before the collapse, members of the Paranormal Special Affairs Office had already secretly gone there. By all appearances, it was no ordinary accident.

"It’s a pity. The Chinese officials are too shrewd. Gaining their trust won’t be easy," Joseph shook his head.

"Mr. Lu is your nephew, and that Mr. Lin is your nephew’s spouse. Perhaps we could start with them," the assistant suggested.

Joseph scoffed. "That nephew of mine is not easy to deal with. Trying to start with them would be harder than finding flaws in those fools at the anomaly research institute. Just wait—I’ve already cast the bait. We’ll see who takes the hook."

"As long as you haven’t forgotten the mission of our trip."

Joseph naturally hadn’t forgotten, but that didn’t stop him from resenting the organization’s distrust of him. Sending someone like this to monitor him—mindless, ignorant, and only hindering his plans.

It seemed he’d have to find a way to eliminate this person. If he could smoothly gain the trust of the Paranormal Special Affairs Office, that would be even better.

He’d heard that China’s Paranormal Special Affairs Office had contained many living anomalies. These things had significant experimental value.

Following the collapse of Upward Middle School, the Cherish Clinic also collapsed.

Unlike last time, atop the ruins of this collapse stood a temple formed from mud, towering between heaven and earth, exuding an indescribable solemnity and dignity.

"Director Liu, the contamination level is rising, and the rate is extremely fast!"

"Expand the evacuation area!" Director Liu barked. "Quickly!"

Before they began their operation, they had already evacuated some people. But judging by how things looked now, it was far from enough.

The domain formed by a Class A Anomaly caused greater contamination than the anomaly itself.

As the domain expanded, countless small temples sprang up around the central great temple.

The weather shifted dramatically, with black fog blotting out the sun, plunging the sky into sudden darkness.

Countless contaminants formed from mud crawled out from the ground. Their appearances were grotesque, as if haphazardly pieced together, with the only common feature being the pair of green eyes on their faces.

The green eyes glowed with an eerie light in the darkness, much like a pack of vicious wolves.

"Not good! Our superpowers are being suppressed!" a superpower holder yelled while kicking away a contaminant.

"We’ve been pulled into the domain! Everyone, be careful!"

Outside the temple, a fierce battle ensued.

Fortunately, the most powerful Class A Anomaly never appeared. Although the superpower holders, with their suppressed abilities, struggled to fight, the situation wasn’t one-sided.

Two superpower holders protected Director Liu, who had come to the scene to command. He too had been drawn into the domain.

The superpower he awakened wasn’t oriented toward attack, but fortunately, he had a military background and was skilled in martial arts. Under the protection of the two superpower holders, he wasn’t completely at a disadvantage.

Within the domain, the enemy wasn't the only threat. The persistently high contamination level was even more critical to guard against.

Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of contamination very easily triggered loss of control in superpower holders.

As the overall commander, Director Liu had to devise a rapid combat plan to end the battle as quickly as possible.

Entering the domain wasn’t entirely without benefits. At the very least, they could now contact the team members who had entered the domain before them.

The earpiece, which had been unresponsive since they entered the domain, crackled with static. Lin Juan pressed his earpiece and raised a hand to signal Shi Haochen, who was about to speak, to stay quiet.

"Can you hear me? This is command."

"Yes," Lin Juan recognized the voice. "Director Liu, what’s the situation outside?"

Connecting with Lin Juan brought Director Liu an instinctive sense of relief. "Mr. Lin, we’re all inside the domain now. Eighteen minutes ago, the Cherish Clinic collapsed, and the domain fully erupted. We were all sucked into the domain. There are many mud monsters outside now, and our superpowers are heavily suppressed. The contamination here is too dense—we need to end this quickly."

After explaining his side, Director Liu asked about Lin Juan’s situation: "What about you? Is the mission proceeding smoothly?"

Lin Juan: "Fairly smoothly. Since you’ve entered the domain, have you seen a very tall temple?"

Director Liu: "Yes, there’s a very tall temple in the center, surrounded by many smaller ones."

Lin Juan: "We’re likely inside the largest central temple. Those missing children are probably hidden in one of the temples."

Director Liu: "Understood. I’ll send people to search. Be careful."

Sheng Tianzong also contacted his teammates, and both sides quickly exchanged information.

Sheng Tianzong: "My teammates are in other temples. They say each temple has a Buddha statue. I asked for details—the statues are positioned similarly to the one in our temple."

Lin Juan stepped on the scattered chunks of dirt, lost in thought: "Director Liu and the others are outside the temples. That means those who entered the domain before the Cherish Clinic collapsed are inside the temples, and those who entered after are outside."

Sheng Tianzong: "That’s right."

Lin Juan continued analyzing: "Every temple has a Buddha statue and various mud monsters. I destroyed the statue in our temple, and the mud monsters here turned into soil blocks. It seems the statues control these monsters. The Buddha statue has countless avatars. Destroying one leaves many others scattered around. Without dealing with the main anomaly, destroying one statue won’t help. We’ll never know how many temples or statues are in this domain."

Shi Haochen quickly pondered: "So, instead of dealing with an unknown number of statues, we should strike at the heart of the anomaly—find the true body of the 【Clay Bodhisattva】—to resolve the crisis of the domain’s descent."

Anomaly domains can expand continuously. The more powerful the anomaly, the larger the domain. For example, the Class S Anomaly "Annihilation" that Zhuang Yufeng encountered in his previous life expanded to the point of nearly enveloping the entire world.

Areas covered by the domain experience rapidly rising contamination levels, causing people to fully mutate into contaminants in a short time.

Having made up their minds, the three decided to leave the temple first.

The prayer hall was sealed shut on all sides, with only two windows high up. Where there should have been a door, there was not a single gap.

Shi Haochen had his shadow cling to the wall, carefully searching. As time passed, his expression grew increasingly grim: "This prayer hall is an inescapable locked room. Even the lit areas above us aren’t real windows—they’re just two glowing panels disguised as windows."

"Moreover, I’ve noticed that the entire prayer hall is shrinking. This anomaly likely intends to trap and crush us inside."

The hall was shrinking at a noticeable pace, but something was clouding their perception, making it seem unchanged. If not for the shrinking area covered by his "Shadow," Shi Haochen wouldn’t have detected it so easily.

Closing his eyes to focus, Shi Haochen said, "At this rate, the hall will crush us in under half an hour."

By then, escape would be nearly impossible.

Lin Juan walked to the wall and placed his hand against it. The surface pulsed rhythmically, like the wall of a beating heart.

He quickly messaged Director Liu: "Director Liu, these prayer halls are also living entities. Be cautious."

Lin Juan’s warning came a moment too late. Director Liu, guarded by the last superpower holder protecting him, was already evading a prayer hall that was pursuing him.

Another superpower holder had confronted the hall to protect him, and his fate was unknown.

Knowing they couldn’t wait any longer, Lin Juan turned to Sheng Tianzong and Shi Haochen. "I’ll break through here. Once we’re out, find a way to save the others. Captain Sheng, inform your team that these halls are alive—they must get out immediately!"

Both nodded.

Lin Juan estimated the wall’s thickness, clenched his fist, and landed a powerful punch. A crack spread from the impact point, and he continued pounding.

Sheng Tianzong and Shi Haochen didn't just stand and watch. They rushed over to assist.

Shi Haochen shaped his shadow into three hammers, handing one to Lin Juan and another to Sheng Tianzong. "Lin, Captain Sheng, use these."

With tools in hand, it became easier to break through.

Shi Haochen swung his hammer with all his strength, but the wall merely bounced back, leaving only a shallow mark.

Glancing at Sheng Tianzong, he saw the captain’s strikes left deeper impressions, though nowhere near as deep as Lin Juan’s.

Suddenly, the hall shook violently, and the walls began shrinking ten times faster. Within moments, Shi Haochen could touch the wall behind him just by spreading his arms.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

A stinging pain shot through his feet. Looking down, Shi Haochen saw a shallow layer of dark green, viscous liquid spreading across the floor. The liquid sizzled and bubbled, highly corrosive—his soles were already eaten through.

"Watch your feet!" he shouted in warning.

Lin Juan glanced down, frowned, dropped his hammer, and slammed his fist into it again.

With a loud crash, the prayer hall was shattered.

Simultaneously, all the prayer halls emitted a low hum.

The world spun as if in agony, and the superpower holders inside were "spit out."

Following the plan, the three of them split up: Lin Juan went to find the anomaly’s main body, while Sheng Tianzong and Shi Haochen focused on rescue.

Locating the main body was no easy task—no one knew where it was hidden. Along the way, Lin Juan rescued several superpower holders, who joined the search.

Everyone understood: killing the mud monsters was futile. Unless the main body of the "Clay Bodhisattva" was destroyed, these creatures would keep coming.

"Clay Bodhisattva."

Lin Juan silently repeated the name of the Class A anomaly, trying hard to recall overlooked details.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up—he remembered. In Gong Siyuan’s first past timeline, he had seen a Bodhisattva statue.

It was a somewhat blackened statue, carefully wrapped in red cloth by Gong Siyuan’s grandmother, who carried it into the Cherish Clinic.

At the time, Lin Juan’s focus was entirely on Gong Siyuan, who had already been wheeled into the operating room. He had only glimpsed the statue briefly. If not for the anomaly’s name, "Clay Bodhisattva," he might never have recalled it.

What connection was there between the "Clay Bodhisattva" and that statue?

When Gong Siyuan was dismembered, his body parts were scattered elsewhere. What about that Bodhisattva statue?

Gong Siyuan’s grandmother must have brought it to the Cherish Clinic too.

Why did the clinic collapse at this specific time?

That black void!

Lin Juan halted abruptly, getting his bearings before sprinting in the direction where he remembered the operating room to be.

Two minutes later, he stopped.

Ahead of him, a youth in a patient gown stood lightly atop a towering mound of earth.

"Why are you stopping me?"

Lin Juan was baffled by the question. "Stopping you from what?"

As far as he was concerned, aside from helping Gong Siyuan achieve two HE timelines, he had done nothing.

"I want revenge!" The youth turned, bloody tears streaming from hollow eyes. "I want them to pay in blood!"

"Fine, fine, take your revenge, make them pay," Lin Juan replied, looking at him as if humoring a tantrum-throwing child. "But can you release the innocent students and the rest of us from your domain?"

Caught off guard by Lin Juan’s response, the youth’s menacing expression faltered, and his prepared words stuck in his throat.

"Your main body is hidden below, isn’t it?"

Though phrased as a question, Lin Juan’s tone was certain.

The youth remained silent.

Meanwhile, after Lin Juan shattered the largest prayer hall, the others seemed to suffer heavy blows, uncontrollably expelling the superpower holders inside. Sheng Tianzong led the disoriented survivors to continue rescuing others.

"Shi Haochen, find Director Liu first. I’ll regroup with you after rescuing my team!" Sheng Tianzong glanced at the youth.

Given this important task, Shi Haochen straightened instinctively. "Yes, sir!"

"Ensure Director Liu’s safety at all costs!"

"Yes, sir!"

Shi Haochen, with his high talent, became more adept at using his superpower after learning from Lin Juan. He fought his way to Director Liu's hiding spot, swatting away the contaminants that lunged at him.

With Shi Haochen joining the fight, the pressure on the superpower holders protecting Director Liu immediately lessened.

As a Class A superpower holder, dealing with these low-level contaminants was like crushing ants. It didn't take long for Shi Haochen to clear a safe perimeter around Director Liu.

"That seems to be Mr. Lin. What is Mr. Lin doing over there?"

Shi Haochen abruptly looked up. "Lin? Where is he?"

Director Liu pointed in a direction. "He went that way."

Sensing Shi Haochen's eagerness, Director Liu spoke up. "Let's go check it out too."

In this domain, danger was everywhere, so one place was as good as another.

"Brother Lin must have discovered something—maybe even the true hiding place of the Clay Bodhisattva."

Shi Haochen and another superpower holder guided Director Liu toward the direction Lin Juan had gone. Meanwhile, Sheng Tianzong was rescuing people while also heading their way.

The two groups showed up at roughly the same moment. As soon as they got there, they heard Lin Juan's measured, calm voice:

"I hit people—no, I pack a serious punch when I hit anomalies. You don’t want to get hit by me, do you?"

The youth standing opposite Lin Juan fell silent.

Shi Haochen, Director Liu, and the others who had just rushed over fell silent too.

Threatening the anomaly itself within its own domain—Mr. Lin had some serious guts.

It was only then that they finally got a look at the youth facing Lin Juan.

The mound under the youth’s feet was much lower than when Lin Juan had first arrived; it was almost level with the ground. Standing on it was no different from standing on flat land.

Judging by Lin Juan’s style, the youth figured that if it didn’t voluntarily come down from the elevated spot, Lin Juan would knock it off its perch.

Rather than get pummeled for nothing, it was better to come down obediently.

And indeed, if it hadn’t acted quickly, Lin Juan wouldn’t have wasted so many words—he would have just beaten it into submission.

The superpower holders all went on high alert, expecting the Class A Anomaly to fly into a rage and frenzy. But instead, they saw the youth's mouth turn down at the corners. "I don’t want to get hit, Mr. Lin. I don’t know where those students were hidden by ‘me’."

It was it, but "it" was not it.