Barrier of Light

"Just...dead?"

"Yes, Lord Locke."

A long cordon was set up at the waiting station in the small town of Linz.

Inside the cordon, there was a pool of blood.

A hot wind with a slightly bloody smell blew through the corridor. Locke squatted in front of a pool of blood with a complicated expression. As a star envoy guarding the small town of Linz, this was the first time he encountered such a strange "extraordinary event" after taking office for several years.

The dead man's neck was broken and turned over, and all he could see was a face that had been burned by the flames until it was no longer human.

He was deprived of his "face".

"Where are the surveillance images from the time of the crime?"

Locke looked up.

He looked at the roof of the corridor and frowned slightly: "Didn't the siren sound?"

"Sir...this is what's weird."

The subordinate said respectfully: "The control room at Linz Station was peaceful last night and did not show any abnormalities."

"Deep sea malfunction?"

This absurd idea passed through Locke's mind, and he quickly shook his head: "It may be that the station's hardware is aging... Since there is no image, let's start from the starting station of the train to find out the identity of the deceased."

"Starting station..."

The subordinate brought up the deepwater area file search interface and searched according to the clues given by Locke. After a moment, his pupils shrank and he fell into silence.

Locke examined the corpse. He used his ability to stir up a breeze and conduct some subtle inspections of the bottom without contact.

The windbreaker was very smooth, as if it had never been in a fight.

It seems that the entire fighting process was very fast, without twists and turns, and was completely a crushing battle...

The murderer may be a third-level or even higher transcendent.

"Has it been found out?"

After a few seconds, he frowned and asked.

"It was found out..."

The subordinate's voice was a little hoarse: "The deceased is...Professor Hollin of Holy Cross College."

"Hollin?!"

Hearing this name, Locke couldn't help but raise his voice by three points.

He looked shocked and looked at the deceased's windbreaker again... It was indeed custom-made by the craftsmen in the upper city, and the coat of arms was engraved with the college coat of arms of the Holy Cross... This news made him feel dizzy subconsciously.

In this small town of Linz, except for the bachelor, there are no big people.

Unexpectedly, the deceased in this accident turned out to be the famous Mr. Hollin!

"Sorry, can we go in and have a look?"

A very soft voice sounded outside the cordon.

Locke was startled.

The cordon was controlled by the low-level transcendent from the Tower of Source. At this moment, there was a noise outside the corridor. Locke raised his head and saw a very young figure.

It was a young man with "Dongzhou appearance", black hair and black eyes. Although he was smiling, his eyes were as dark as abyss.

The first contact between eyes makes people feel heart palpitations.

"People from Dongzhou..."

Locke felt that this face was familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

He stood up and asked in a deep voice: "Who is your Excellency?"

This must be the rumored "Star Messenger". Gu Shen looked at the young man with three stars tattooed on his shoulder sleeves and said slowly: "It doesn't matter who I am..."

He turned slightly to make way for the road behind him.

"Grand Maester Ian?"

Locke's heart thumped, and he glanced at his subordinates angrily.

The deceased has just been identified.

Ian arrived immediately.

The latter had an innocent face and used his eyes to indicate that the matter had nothing to do with him...

"Let go."

Locke sighed softly and waved to his subordinates who raised the cordon.

Four people entered the cordon.

He knew both the Grand Maester and Hooper. On the first day he took office in Linz, Locke knew that this old man was the most important person in the whole town. Once something went wrong, the people in the upper city would be furious... But there was something else. Two young people, he had never seen before.

In addition to the black-haired young man from before, there is also a woman in ancient costume wearing a white cat mask. She looks slim and outstanding, as if she has stepped out of a painting. The one in front is too scary to look at. This one It makes people want to take a second look.

Are these two young men also disciples of Archmaester Ian?

Over the years, Locke has seen many people coming from the upper city, wanting to see the Grand Master... Except for Professor Holling, it seems that no one has successfully entered the small courtyard.

"Sir, are we going to do this now?"

The subordinates on the side lowered their voices.

"if not?"

Locke raised his hand and said calmly: "This case is too weird and beyond our control. Since the deceased is Professor Holling, the city will definitely send more powerful 'Star Envoys' here."

"You mean, the murderer is stronger than you? Maybe the eighth layer of the deep sea?"

The subordinate was in a trance when he heard this.

"Eighth floor? Haha..."

Locke, who had inspected the body, shook his head, feeling palpitated.

I looked at the wounds on Mr. Huo Lin's body for a long time, but I still couldn't figure out which one was the real fatal wound. The murderer who caused all this is probably much more powerful than the eighth floor...

He looked at the two young men squatting in front of a pool of blood with some curiosity.

From the looks of it, these two were probably in their twenties.

At this age, no matter how talented he is, he should be at the third level at most, right? Can they really tell anything?

Gu Shen looked calmly at the pool of blood.

[Profiling]'s shadow was blurry at the station, and the one who did it interfered with the mental retrieval.

Expected operation.

He asked softly: "When were the surveillance images lost?"

"At one o'clock in the morning last night." Chu Ling said: "There was a gap of about fifteen minutes...Fifteen minutes later, everything returned to normal, and the images in the monitoring room were replaced with static ones."

Since it was a remote town, no one took the train late at night, so no one in the monitoring room noticed anything strange until the body was discovered in the early morning.

"Senior Brother Huolin... I came back this time to share some research results on ancient Chinese literature."

Looking at the coagulated blood on the ground, Hooper looked sad.

I thought that when I came back this time, I would have a smooth meeting, but I didn't expect...

Surprises like this happen.

Ian sat numbly in his wheelchair.

Looking at this faceless corpse, the old man's fingers couldn't help but tremble. From the spiritual link device, only a rough and hoarse breathing sound came... He didn't say anything, or he was immersed in "sadness" , can’t say anything.

"..."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, looked at the pool of blood, and suddenly said: "His briefcase... was snatched away."

"briefcase?"

Locke on the side looked surprised when he heard this word.

"Yeah, briefcase."

Gu Shen stood up, looked at the person in charge of Linz, and said, "You can call up the boarding video of the uptown train and see what it looks like when Huo Lin boarded the train..."

"There is indeed a briefcase!"

The subordinate quickly realized this. He looked at the pool of blood again, examined it again, and said: "Sir Locke, the 'briefcase' that Mr. Hollin carried with him is really missing..."

"Idiot!" Locke cursed angrily in a low voice: "Such important information..."

"Seal Linz...ask the city to grant higher authority and use the [Sky Eye] to lock Mr. Huo Lin's 'briefcase'." He immediately ordered, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Gu Shen.

"Lord Star Envoy, there is no need to go to such trouble."

Gu Shen said calmly: "It's too late now. That person is no longer in Linz. Even if he is... this kind of control is meaningless."

Zhongzhou is indeed the most advanced, richest and developed continent among the five continents.

It's just that the alertness and reaction speed of the extraordinary people in the small town are slower.

"The person who killed Huolin took away the 'briefcase' only because he cared about the documents and information inside... So after getting the information, he would not keep the original briefcase, and of course he would not throw it away casually. That would expose his whereabouts.”

Locke murmured: "You mean... take the things away and burn them after reading."

"You can understand it this way...that's pretty much what it means."

Gu Shen nodded.

He guessed that the briefcase should contain ancient drawings.

The guy took the briefcase, obviously he came here for the ancient drawings... The ancient drawings are not objects that can be destroyed after reading, and they must still be in the hands of the murderer.

Locke was confused: "Since his purpose was to take away the briefcase, why did he need to kill someone? And why... Mr. Holling's face became like this? Is it to make it unrecognizable?"

"of course not."

Gu Shen shook his head and said: "This kind of thing can be immediately revealed by checking the boarding images of Shangcheng... There is only one possibility to deliberately destroy Huolin's face."

This is a kind of killing that is given a "symbol".

The murder at Linz station was not a whim or an accident, but a deliberate plan...

Gu Shen looked at the old man in the wheelchair.

Ian closed his eyes, very tired.

A faint voice came from the spiritual link device.

"Let's talk about it when we get back..."

…

…

There are some things that are inconvenient to say at Linz Station.

As soon as he returned to the small courtyard, Gu Shen was the first to speak.

"Mr. Ian...with all due respect, what kind of research did you and Mr. Hollin conduct back then?"

The clue of the ruined face reminded him of a troublesome person he met in Dadu before...

Xiao!

In theory, that guy is still on the run for his life in another continent, but the operation of intervening in the deep sea to kill people really looks like his handiwork.

"..."

After a long silence.

The old man's face was gloomy, and the mental link device made a hoarse voice.

"It's...taboo ancient text..."

Taboo ancient texts?

Gu Shen and Chu Ling looked at each other. This was the first time they heard this concept.

"When certain ancient texts are arranged in different orders, incredible forbidden power will burst out... The premise is that you need to understand 'them'..."

The old man drooped his face, his withered hair flying.

"This is a wrong path..."

"Turing and I once studied the 'forbidden ancient texts' together, but the deeper we went, the more palpitated we became. These forbidden powers may not bring 'beauty' to the human world. If they are controlled by the wrong person, then only It will bring endless suffering and torture to this world..."

Gu Shen held his breath and asked: "What happened later, was the forbidden ancient text researched?"

"No... until the end, the research results of the forbidden ancient texts were not successful."

The old man whispered: "This project was interrupted internally by the Ancient Literature Society. Turing personally stopped it. No one is allowed to continue research, and all drawings have been sealed..."

Gu Shen subconsciously looked towards the attic.

"Yes...it's all in the cellar."

Ian said softly: "No one knows about this matter. I have been waiting for the [key] to appear. This is the wealth that belongs to the [key], and it is also one of the biggest legacies left to the Ancient Literature Society by Mr. Turing."

"Since this project has been stopped, why do we need to retain the relevant drawing information..."

Gu Shen was a little confused and asked: "What is the research on taboo ancient texts...?"

"content……"

Ian fell into a long thought.

After a moment, he said with emotion: "There is a specific sequence of ancient texts. As long as you master and understand it, you can 'foresee the future' and 'foresee the future'..."

"This is divination?!"

Gu Shen was shocked.

"There is another specific arrangement of ancient texts that can make people 'find their wishes' and 'lock the cause and effect'..."

The old man chuckled softly.

It was another familiar taboo ability. Gu Shen was a little overwhelmed. He murmured: "Prayer..."

Master Qianye, as well as Li Qingci, can do divination and pray, but they do not rely on ability!

Whether it is divination or wishing, you do not need to use extraordinary abilities. As long as you meet the conditions and are willing to pay the price, you can obtain supernatural power even if you are ordinary!

Both of these are related to "taboo ancient texts"!

According to rumors, the "old humans" six hundred years ago controlled this incredible power.

"In addition to the two things you said, there are more..."

"These are miraculous powers that mortals can control." Ian whispered: "It's just that the project has been stopped. Without Turing, we can't advance the research on the forbidden ancient texts. Later, the ancient texts will be destroyed, and I I and Huo Lin had been waiting for the [Key] for twenty years, but they still didn’t find it, so they decided to restart the research..."

Gu Shen came to his senses.

He asked in a low voice: "Mr. Ian, are there any results from the research on these 'forbidden ancient texts'?"

The old man was silent for a moment and slowly shook his head.

Hooper whispered: "I really can't understand those ancient texts... At the current speed of comprehension, no matter how fast it is, it will take decades, right?"

Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

This is actually a good thing.

It is hard to imagine what consequences this taboo power will bring if it is deciphered.

Everyone has divination and wishes...

But to use the taboo, you need to pay the price with your life and body.

Above the rules, the order of the Five Continents will be trampled upon.

Human nature is greedy, and there is no need to wait for the storm of essence to come. The common people who abuse the power of taboos will send themselves on the road to destruction at the cost of constant sacrifice and transfer...

"It can't be said that it's fruitless."

The old man suddenly spoke.

He raised his head and looked directly at the two young men in front of him.

"I have studied some of the drawings in the cellar... Maybe it can give you some inspiration about the power of forbidden ancient texts. Turing back then was worried that this power would fall into the hands of unscrupulous people."

"But the [key] is something that can be trusted."

Ian tapped the wheelchair gently and asked:

"Do you... want to take a look?"