This entry is suspicious.

"call……"

At home, Zhou Ran let out a long breath and slowly finished his practice.

After practicing the Thirty-Six Forms of Opening the Acupoints several times, he felt sore and tired all over, but his spirit was very high. As streams of blood and qi surged to the top of his head, constantly impacting the shackles of the Heavenly Acupoints, he could clearly feel the barriers of the acupoints loosening little by little.

The feeling of truly becoming stronger is so exhilarating, it's almost suffocating, and the positive feedback is off the charts.

After taking a Blood Qi Pill to replenish his strength and resting for a while, just as he was about to continue cultivating, his cell phone suddenly rang.

Zhou Ran was taken aback when he saw the caller ID.

The number is preceded by a familiar icon, which is the logo of the Sky Ring Federation Response Bureau. This is the official number of the Response Bureau!

Zhou Ran thought the authorities might want to talk to him about the strange events again, so he answered the phone.

"Feed?"

"Zhou Ran? This is Wei Si, the leader of the third response team. Your phone's location shows you're at home. Stay put and don't make any moves. The strange thing in that alley seems to be looking for you!"

Wei Si's extremely serious voice came from the other end of the phone.

"What?!"

Zhou Ran's expression changed drastically. At this moment, it was as if a nightmare had invaded reality. A strong sense of fear gripped his heart, almost suffocating him.

Is the Stopper coming to find me?

Are you kidding me!

Zhou Ran's voice unconsciously rose: "Are you sure?"

"The eeriness in the alley has disappeared. We suspect it has a relentless, vengeful nature, killing everyone it comes into contact with, and you, the survivor, are its next target," Wei Si said.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ran frowned, his fear subsiding, replaced by a deep sense of confusion.

That's impossible.

If the Stopper truly possesses the relentless, life-reaping characteristic, the Book of Fate would inevitably display relevant entries. However, the Stopper only has four entries. Apart from its title and level of strangeness, only two entries remain: [Inevitable Death Upon Action] and [Regional Boss].

There is no entry indicating that the Stopper possesses the characteristic of taking lives, so the person in charge must have misjudged the situation; the Stopper could not possibly be coming for them.

Compared to dealing with the situation, Zhou Ran still believed more in the Book of Fate.

"I'm safe, but I have to act a little nervous."

Zhou Ran gripped her phone tightly, her voice filled with panic: "When will you be here? What should I do now? I..."

"Stay calm, we're on our way. Don't hang up, keep in touch."

"good!"

……

Those at the Foundation Establishment stage possess the ability to fly, and as agents of the Response Bureau, they have the highest right of way. Before long, Wei Si arrived at the residential area where Zhou Ran lived.

His divine sense spread like a tide, instantly locking onto Zhou Ran's location. He then began searching for the strange creature, but did not sense its unique, chilling aura.

But we cannot let our guard down.

Wei Si pressed the earpiece: "This is Wei Si. I request to activate the boundary restriction protocol and seal off Anning Community."

"Received, startup permitted."

In an instant, transparent light curtains rose from all sides, like inverted bowls, sealing the entire community tightly inside, with ripple-like patterns occasionally appearing on the surface of the light curtains.

This is the standard procedure for dealing with the spread of strange forces: sealing off the area, isolating it from the outside world, and minimizing the impact.

Shortly after, other members of the response team arrived in hovercars and began broadcasting through megaphones throughout the neighborhood.

"Attention residents, due to a sudden safety incident in this community, all residents are requested to evacuate immediately according to the instructions. To reiterate, all residents must evacuate immediately..."

At home, Zhou Ran was standing on the balcony looking out when suddenly a man in a dark trench coat descended from the sky, landing outside the window and floating in mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, the balcony window was pushed open by an invisible force.

Zhou Ran stood there, stunned, watching as the man in the trench coat floated into the house from mid-air and slowly landed.

[Wei Si], [34 years old], [Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage], [Leader of Team 3, Qinghe City's Bureau of Strange Events Response], [Calm and Reliable], [Decisive in Action], [Cautious], [Loves Bad Movies], [Severe Coffee Addict]...

Workplace conflicts (gold), lingering old cases (gold), blood feuds (gold)...

He's a big shot.

Zhou Ran couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Mid-Foundation Establishment stage, this was the person with the highest cultivation he had ever seen, without exception, even a small realm higher than the school principal.

The position of the team leader of the Response Bureau is even more extraordinary. In the Sky Ring Federation, the Response Bureau is a super agency that transcends all other departments. It is one of only two agencies directly under the Security Council, along with the Counter-Terrorism Department, and possesses the highest privileges and unimaginable power.

It is said that members of the department can commit murder without being prosecuted, and can evade taxes without being investigated.

But power comes at a price; the response bureau and counterterrorism department have an extremely high mortality rate and require major reshuffling every year.

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Zhou Ran put on a show with all his might and asked nervously, "Team Leader Wei, what's the next step?"

"wait."

"wait?"

Wei Si nodded: "If that monster really has the property of taking lives, then it will come knocking on your door very soon. Similarly, if it doesn't come within a few hours, it means that it doesn't have that property, and you are safe."

"What if it comes?"

"I will destroy it directly." Wei Si's tone was calm, revealing an unquestionable confidence.

Although the previous tests failed to uncover the bizarre killing rules in the alley, they did determine its level: Level Two Bizarre, which falls within Wei Si's capabilities.

Wei Si looked Zhou Ran over for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Why didn't you go to school today?"

Zhou Ran explained everything from beginning to end without hiding anything, because his explanation was flawless; the truth itself was the biggest lie.

Wei Si became interested upon hearing this: "Show me the Thirty-Six Forms of Enlightenment."

Since Qian and the others are idle anyway, they might as well take a look at this so-called enlightenment about life and death.

So Zhou Ran performed the Thirty-Six Awakening Techniques in front of him.

Wei Si originally just wanted to kill time, but the more he looked at her, the more strange her expression seemed.

Perfectly natural, capturing both form and spirit, is this Thirty-Six Forms of Enlightenment really something a high school freshman could perform?

"You're lucky," Wei Si exclaimed sincerely. "You survived the clutches of the supernatural and gained enlightenment in a single day. You've experienced everything that many people never encounter in their entire lives."

"Maybe it's because my ancestors' graves are emitting auspicious smoke," Zhou Ran said.

Wei Si remained noncommittal.

Zhou Ran glanced at the time; half an hour had passed. He then relaxed slightly and said, "Team Leader Wei, the strange creature hasn't arrived yet. It might not have the deadly properties."

"Okay." Wei Si responded, "But we don't know enough about this strange creature yet. It wouldn't hurt to be cautious. Let's wait another two hours. You can continue your cultivation."

Zhou Ran actually wanted to rest for a while, but since the big boss had said so, he had no choice but to continue.

Two hours passed quickly, and nothing happened during that time.

Wei Si withdrew his divine sense, which had been projecting outwards, and lifted the barrier agreement.

You're safe for now.

Zhou Ran was taken aback: "Temporarily?"

Wei Si said, "We must be extremely vigilant about any strange phenomenon whose nature we haven't yet fully understood. Although it hasn't appeared yet, the power of strange phenomena is mysterious and unpredictable. It might appear in front of you when you think everything has returned to normal. I have seen survivors who were killed by strange phenomena two years later."

Two years later, the death came again... Zhou Ran remained silent. No wonder Wei Si was so cautious and dared not draw any conclusions. Anyone who had experienced something like this would likely have a shadow in their heart.

However, Zhou Ran was very clear that he was safe.

From this perspective, the Book of Fate-Seeking is practically cheating. The reason why the supernatural is so terrifying is that its rules and abilities are hard to fathom, and it often takes a lot of lives to figure them out. But he, who possesses the Book of Fate-Seeking, can directly see all the information about the supernatural.

With this ability, if you join the Emergency Response Department in the future, becoming a top-tier operator won't be a problem.

"I will arrange for someone to make regular follow-up visits. You should also remain vigilant and report any unusual activity immediately."

After giving his instructions, Wei Si flew out of the window and returned to the hovercar that was suspended in the sky outside the community. The strange things in the alley suddenly disappeared. He still had a lot of related work to do.

The vehicle launched itself and disappeared from sight in an instant.

Only three officers from the emergency response team remained at the scene to maintain order and explain the situation to the residents.

At home, Zhou Ran silently closed the window.

This was actually a false alarm, a misunderstanding. The Stoppers did not have any life-taking properties, but the officials in charge did not know this. They were facing an almost completely unknown and bizarre situation, and dared not rule out any possibility, which is why such a big commotion was caused.

Once they've confirmed their safety, they'll likely focus their attention on searching for the Stoppers.

As for where the Stopper went...

Zhou Ran was curious about this, but couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and let the response team deal with it.