Chapter 21: Breaking through Boundaries
The night got darker, and the office had sunk into silence. Only the sound of Jiu Jie's deep breaths and the sound of the rain outside could be heard.
Gu Shi Chen locked her eyes onto his, not moving an inch. Her eyes were clear and peaceful, like a jade-green ripple of spring water that peacefully flowed with deep emotions.
As if he was under her influence, Jiu Jie's violent mood had slowly calmed, the conflict in his heart also slowly stopped.
Jiu Jie breathed in deeply and was the first to look away from Gu Shi Chen's stare. He asked calmly, "You say that you're here to help me? What do you want to help me with?"
"Of course, it's to help you obtain all the things you urgently need." Gu Shi Chen replied placidly.
"What do I urgently need?" Jiu Jie questioned.
Gu Shi Chen opened her mouth and spat out the word word, "Power!"
"Power?"
"That's right, power, enough to exact your vengeance."
When Jiu Jie heard her declaration, a flash of coldness appeared in his eyes, his eyebrows unwittingly knitting together.
"So many years have passed and your red book has only reached the third page. Do you not feel anxious? Do you not thirst for power? Don't you want to reach the highest stage a Watchman can reach? Don't you want to know the truth about that night?"
Even though Gu Shi Chen's intonation was unhurried, every word she spoke hit right into Jiu Jie's weak point.
"What exactly do you know?"Jiu Jie made an effort to restrain himself, so he could be as calm as possible.
"What I know is not important. What's important is the power I can give you."
"What kind of power can you give me then?" Jiu Jie followed up.
Gu Shi Chen smiled, saying softly, "I can give you the power to break through boundaries."
"I don't understand what you mean." Jiu Jie knitted his eyebrows.
"Jiu Jie, have you never found it weird? You obviously have such a strong Li Bi Duo, but your entrance into dreamland is very slow, and you're still only an apprentice Watchman."
"What are you trying to say?"
"You don't feel it? You've been restricted, your power has been repressed. No matter how strong your Li Bi Duo is, if you continue this way; in three years, five years, or even ten years later, you will still be an apprentice Watchman. Your red book will only have three pages."
Jiu Jie was speechless after he heard that. Using what he knew of the past five years, he felt that Gu Shi Chen was right.
Gu Shi Chen continued, "I want to help you by breaking your restrictions and your boundaries until you reach the level where you should be at with your current abilities."
Jiu Jie lowered his head and didn't reply, engrossed in his own thoughts. He hesitatingly said, "If what you're saying is true, what do you plan to do?"
"Jiu Jie, do you believe me?" Gu Shi Chen stared directly at him and asked.
Jiu Jie met her gaze and they stared at each other for a split second, before he slowly nodded his head.
"That's good," Gu Shi Chen stood up and held out her hand, saying to Jiu Jie, "Pass me your red book."
Jiu Jie was stunned. He didn't know why she would suddenly ask for such a thing. However, he only hesitated for a little bit before he passed the red book to her.
<>
"Since you believe me, then no matter what I do from now on, don't stop me okay?" Gu Shi Chen said.
Jiu Jie silently nodded, not knowing why his heart suddenly seized.
Gu Shi Chen's left hand grabbed onto a corner of the red book and paused in mid-air. Her right hand fished out a lighter. She started up the lighter and set the red book on fire.
Jiu Jie suffered a huge shock, anxiously asking, "What are you doing!? Hurry up and stop!"
Saying so, he stretched out his hand and went to snatch the red book back.
Gu Shi Chen coldly glanced at him, calmly asking, "Have you so quickly forgotten what you promised me just now?"
Jiu Jie's body froze, his outstretched hand just hung there.
At this time, the fire had devoured the whole book. Gu Shi Chen held onto one corner, her wrist always moving, as she switched the positions in order to avoid being burned.
Jiu Jie stood there foolishly, his eyes reflecting only the burning red book. He was in a daze, his mind empty. He didn't even know whether it was Gu Shi Chen who was crazy, or he himself that was crazy.
The red book looked thin, but it burned very long. It burned until the pages became black ashes, slowly floating to the ground. In a blink of an eye, the ashes had piled up into a twenty centimeter high pile.
After the red book had been completely burnt up, Gu Shi Chen opened her fingers, letting the last piece of paper carry a small ember, and slowly descend. It burnt up before it reached the ground, becoming a piece of ash, and gently landing on the floor.
Gu Shi Chen lightly clapped her hands, her face completely calm.
"That's the end?" Jiu Jie dazedly asked.
Gu Shi Chen nodded. "Yes, it's done. Your restraints have been broken."
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple."
Jiu Jie was dumbfounded. The red book that had accompanied him for so many years had just been burned away for no reason. He suddenly wanted to curse, but he chose not too.. He held back until his whole face was red and his expression was distorted.
"I'm saying it's done, but it's actually not finished yet." Gu Shi Chen said. "Burning up your red book was to remove the restraints on your power. Other than this, there are still a few things left to do."
"What are you referring to?" Jiu Jie asked.
Gu Shi Chen pointed at the pile of ashes and said, "You'll know when you see it. If you're lucky, you may even get a pleasant surprise."
Jiu Jie didn't care about the dirt, so he immediately rummaged through the ashes. Underneath the ashes, he discovered a hard oval object.
He pulled it out, wiped off all the ashes clinging on its surface, and realized it was a palm-sized egg. The egg was a milky yellow, and different sized green dots haphazardly covered its surface. It was rather heavy, so it took quite a bit of effort to pick it up.
"What is this?" Jiu Jie asked, baffled.
"That's your future dream alert." Gu Shi Chen said faintly.
Jiu Jie was shocked, asking in disbelief, "My future dream alert?"
The so-called dream alert: it is a medium that can appear in dreamland. It's formed from a Watchmen's strong Li Bi Duo and can take the form of an object, an animal, or even something else, so it's not very surprising. Every type of dream alert has a special ability to manipulate dreamland. To the Watchmen, this is a very strong assistance device, but because it's so hard to obtain, only a few high-level Watchmen possess one of these.
According to what Jiu Jie knew, in the current seventh division office, there were a lot of high level Watchmen who didn't possess a dream alert. An apprentice Watchman like him had accidentally gained it. The fortune had arrived too suddenly, making him unable to react.
Gu Shi Chen nodded. "Not bad, this egg is your future dream alert. Furthermore, it’s an anime type, which is quite rare. However, before incubating it, the success rate may not be certain. You need to carefully protect it. You should know how to hatch it, right?"
"Uncle Luo mentioned it before. To hatch it, I need to continuously pour Li Bi Duo into it. When the energy accumulates to a certain degree, it will break out of its shell."
"Yes, that’s right."
Saying that much, Jiu Jie suddenly felt apprehensive. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "You are definitely not a simple psychologist. Who are you? Why do you have such a high understanding of Watchmen?"
Gu Shi Chen smiled. "These are all things that I've heard before. I don't actually understand Watchmen, but a person beside me is someone who is very familiar with them."
"Are you referring to Uncle Gu?"
Gu Shi Chen didn't reply and instead, changed the topic. "Jiu Jie, since the situation is like this, do you still not understand? I really want to help you. If I wanted to harm you, would you be standing here in one piece?"
Jiu Jie glanced down at the egg in his hands and murmured, "The person who gave me the dream alert should not want to harm me."
"Your dream alert is not given by me. Every Watchman can get a dream alert. I only helped you unlock it."
"The dream alert will only appear within dreamland. If this really is the dream alert…," Jiu Jie looked up, "That means that we're still in dreamland?"
"Yes," Gu Shi Chen nodded.
"You're really something. You're actually able to enter so deeply into my mind. It's not just the third level, right?" Jiu Jie sighed in admiration.
"It's indeed not the third level anymore." Gu Shi Chen said. "Me managing to go so deep is only because I used a few tricks though."
"What tricks?"
Gu Shi Chen smiled sweetly. "Same as you. When someone is on the attack, it's when their defense is the weakest. An eye for an eye."
Jiu Jie shook his head in defeat, sitting back onto the sofa powerlessly. "In the end, it's my loss. I'm sincerely convinced now."
"You don't need to be overly modest. You're also quite formidable, I respect that."
Jiu Jie smiled bitterly. "I have one question I can't figure out."
"What question?"
"We don't know each other, and only met this afternoon. Why do you want to help me?"
"It's not that I want to help you, but I was entrusted to by someone."
"Who entrusted this to you?"
"You can probably figure it out."
"Is it Uncle Gu?"
Gu Shi Chen nodded.
But I also haven't known Uncle Gu for very long, but the things that you've done must have taken a lot of planning. Why did he put in so much effort to help me?" Jiu Jie continued asking.
Gu Shi Chen held up her hand. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"So you’re saying that Uncle Gu is in your office?"
"Of course," Gu Shi Chen nodded. "He was always with us, never going too far away."
"Since it's like that, let's head back. There are some things I want to clear up with him face to face." Jiu Jie said.
"Going back is no problem of course, but before we do, I need to clarify something."
"What are you referring to?"
Gu Shi Chen thought for a bit before replying, "Why I'm willing to do this for you, it's not just because Old Gu asked me to."
Jiu Jie smiled knowingly, and nodded his head slightly. He said softly, "I know, thanks."
Gu Shi Chen smiled and said, "It's good that you know. Let's go. We've been submerged for so long, we should be getting back now."
Chapter 21: Breaking through Boundaries
The night got darker, and the office had sunk into silence. Only the sound of Jiu Jie's deep breaths and the sound of the rain outside could be heard.
Gu Shi Chen locked her eyes onto his, not moving an inch. Her eyes were clear and peaceful, like a jade-green ripple of spring water that peacefully flowed with deep emotions.
As if he was under her influence, Jiu Jie's violent mood had slowly calmed, the conflict in his heart also slowly stopped.
Jiu Jie breathed in deeply and was the first to look away from Gu Shi Chen's stare. He asked calmly, "You say that you're here to help me? What do you want to help me with?"
"Of course, it's to help you obtain all the things you urgently need." Gu Shi Chen replied placidly.
"What do I urgently need?" Jiu Jie questioned.
Gu Shi Chen opened her mouth and spat out the word word, "Power!"
"Power?"
"That's right, power, enough to exact your vengeance."
When Jiu Jie heard her declaration, a flash of coldness appeared in his eyes, his eyebrows unwittingly knitting together.
"So many years have passed and your red book has only reached the third page. Do you not feel anxious? Do you not thirst for power? Don't you want to reach the highest stage a Watchman can reach? Don't you want to know the truth about that night?"
Even though Gu Shi Chen's intonation was unhurried, every word she spoke hit right into Jiu Jie's weak point.
"What exactly do you know?"Jiu Jie made an effort to restrain himself, so he could be as calm as possible.
"What I know is not important. What's important is the power I can give you."
"What kind of power can you give me then?" Jiu Jie followed up.
Gu Shi Chen smiled, saying softly, "I can give you the power to break through boundaries."
"I don't understand what you mean." Jiu Jie knitted his eyebrows.
"Jiu Jie, have you never found it weird? You obviously have such a strong Li Bi Duo, but your entrance into dreamland is very slow, and you're still only an apprentice Watchman."
"What are you trying to say?"
"You don't feel it? You've been restricted, your power has been repressed. No matter how strong your Li Bi Duo is, if you continue this way; in three years, five years, or even ten years later, you will still be an apprentice Watchman. Your red book will only have three pages."
Jiu Jie was speechless after he heard that. Using what he knew of the past five years, he felt that Gu Shi Chen was right.
Gu Shi Chen continued, "I want to help you by breaking your restrictions and your boundaries until you reach the level where you should be at with your current abilities."
Jiu Jie lowered his head and didn't reply, engrossed in his own thoughts. He hesitatingly said, "If what you're saying is true, what do you plan to do?"
"Jiu Jie, do you believe me?" Gu Shi Chen stared directly at him and asked.
Jiu Jie met her gaze and they stared at each other for a split second, before he slowly nodded his head.
"That's good," Gu Shi Chen stood up and held out her hand, saying to Jiu Jie, "Pass me your red book."
Jiu Jie was stunned. He didn't know why she would suddenly ask for such a thing. However, he only hesitated for a little bit before he passed the red book to her.
<>
"Since you believe me, then no matter what I do from now on, don't stop me okay?" Gu Shi Chen said.
Jiu Jie silently nodded, not knowing why his heart suddenly seized.
Gu Shi Chen's left hand grabbed onto a corner of the red book and paused in mid-air. Her right hand fished out a lighter. She started up the lighter and set the red book on fire.
Jiu Jie suffered a huge shock, anxiously asking, "What are you doing!? Hurry up and stop!"
Saying so, he stretched out his hand and went to snatch the red book back.
Gu Shi Chen coldly glanced at him, calmly asking, "Have you so quickly forgotten what you promised me just now?"
Jiu Jie's body froze, his outstretched hand just hung there.
At this time, the fire had devoured the whole book. Gu Shi Chen held onto one corner, her wrist always moving, as she switched the positions in order to avoid being burned.
Jiu Jie stood there foolishly, his eyes reflecting only the burning red book. He was in a daze, his mind empty. He didn't even know whether it was Gu Shi Chen who was crazy, or he himself that was crazy.
The red book looked thin, but it burned very long. It burned until the pages became black ashes, slowly floating to the ground. In a blink of an eye, the ashes had piled up into a twenty centimeter high pile.
After the red book had been completely burnt up, Gu Shi Chen opened her fingers, letting the last piece of paper carry a small ember, and slowly descend. It burnt up before it reached the ground, becoming a piece of ash, and gently landing on the floor.
Gu Shi Chen lightly clapped her hands, her face completely calm.
"That's the end?" Jiu Jie dazedly asked.
Gu Shi Chen nodded. "Yes, it's done. Your restraints have been broken."
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple."
Jiu Jie was dumbfounded. The red book that had accompanied him for so many years had just been burned away for no reason. He suddenly wanted to curse, but he chose not too.. He held back until his whole face was red and his expression was distorted.
"I'm saying it's done, but it's actually not finished yet." Gu Shi Chen said. "Burning up your red book was to remove the restraints on your power. Other than this, there are still a few things left to do."
"What are you referring to?" Jiu Jie asked.
Gu Shi Chen pointed at the pile of ashes and said, "You'll know when you see it. If you're lucky, you may even get a pleasant surprise."
Jiu Jie didn't care about the dirt, so he immediately rummaged through the ashes. Underneath the ashes, he discovered a hard oval object.
He pulled it out, wiped off all the ashes clinging on its surface, and realized it was a palm-sized egg. The egg was a milky yellow, and different sized green dots haphazardly covered its surface. It was rather heavy, so it took quite a bit of effort to pick it up.
"What is this?" Jiu Jie asked, baffled.
"That's your future dream alert." Gu Shi Chen said faintly.
Jiu Jie was shocked, asking in disbelief, "My future dream alert?"
The so-called dream alert: it is a medium that can appear in dreamland. It's formed from a Watchmen's strong Li Bi Duo and can take the form of an object, an animal, or even something else, so it's not very surprising. Every type of dream alert has a special ability to manipulate dreamland. To the Watchmen, this is a very strong assistance device, but because it's so hard to obtain, only a few high-level Watchmen possess one of these.
According to what Jiu Jie knew, in the current seventh division office, there were a lot of high level Watchmen who didn't possess a dream alert. An apprentice Watchman like him had accidentally gained it. The fortune had arrived too suddenly, making him unable to react.
Gu Shi Chen nodded. "Not bad, this egg is your future dream alert. Furthermore, it’s an anime type, which is quite rare. However, before incubating it, the success rate may not be certain. You need to carefully protect it. You should know how to hatch it, right?"
"Uncle Luo mentioned it before. To hatch it, I need to continuously pour Li Bi Duo into it. When the energy accumulates to a certain degree, it will break out of its shell."
"Yes, that’s right."
Saying that much, Jiu Jie suddenly felt apprehensive. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "You are definitely not a simple psychologist. Who are you? Why do you have such a high understanding of Watchmen?"
Gu Shi Chen smiled. "These are all things that I've heard before. I don't actually understand Watchmen, but a person beside me is someone who is very familiar with them."
"Are you referring to Uncle Gu?"
Gu Shi Chen didn't reply and instead, changed the topic. "Jiu Jie, since the situation is like this, do you still not understand? I really want to help you. If I wanted to harm you, would you be standing here in one piece?"
Jiu Jie glanced down at the egg in his hands and murmured, "The person who gave me the dream alert should not want to harm me."
"Your dream alert is not given by me. Every Watchman can get a dream alert. I only helped you unlock it."
"The dream alert will only appear within dreamland. If this really is the dream alert…," Jiu Jie looked up, "That means that we're still in dreamland?"
"Yes," Gu Shi Chen nodded.
"You're really something. You're actually able to enter so deeply into my mind. It's not just the third level, right?" Jiu Jie sighed in admiration.
"It's indeed not the third level anymore." Gu Shi Chen said. "Me managing to go so deep is only because I used a few tricks though."
"What tricks?"
Gu Shi Chen smiled sweetly. "Same as you. When someone is on the attack, it's when their defense is the weakest. An eye for an eye."
Jiu Jie shook his head in defeat, sitting back onto the sofa powerlessly. "In the end, it's my loss. I'm sincerely convinced now."
"You don't need to be overly modest. You're also quite formidable, I respect that."
Jiu Jie smiled bitterly. "I have one question I can't figure out."
"What question?"
"We don't know each other, and only met this afternoon. Why do you want to help me?"
"It's not that I want to help you, but I was entrusted to by someone."
"Who entrusted this to you?"
"You can probably figure it out."
"Is it Uncle Gu?"
Gu Shi Chen nodded.
But I also haven't known Uncle Gu for very long, but the things that you've done must have taken a lot of planning. Why did he put in so much effort to help me?" Jiu Jie continued asking.
Gu Shi Chen held up her hand. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"So you’re saying that Uncle Gu is in your office?"
"Of course," Gu Shi Chen nodded. "He was always with us, never going too far away."
"Since it's like that, let's head back. There are some things I want to clear up with him face to face." Jiu Jie said.
"Going back is no problem of course, but before we do, I need to clarify something."
"What are you referring to?"
Gu Shi Chen thought for a bit before replying, "Why I'm willing to do this for you, it's not just because Old Gu asked me to."
Jiu Jie smiled knowingly, and nodded his head slightly. He said softly, "I know, thanks."
Gu Shi Chen smiled and said, "It's good that you know. Let's go. We've been submerged for so long, we should be getting back now."
