Chapter Six: Partners

At night, in his old house, Mu Rongxun followed the formula given by Chu Wannian to mix the strengthening solution and began his bath.

The moment he stepped into the tub, a sharp pain pricked his skin, as if countless needles were stabbing into him. Once he was fully submerged, the sensation intensified—his whole body felt as though ants were crawling all over him. He couldn't help but cry out.

To distract himself, he opened the newly unlocked personal attributes panel.

Player: Mu Rongxun (No codename)
Vitality: 1.2
Energy: 1.1
Spirit: 1.3
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship, Devour, Enhancement (from equipment bonuses)
Equipment: Ordinary shortsword, Primal Gauntlets (number of embedded gems: 1)
Contained Creature: Ghoul!
Current Status: Enhancing!

It was a simple, concise status display, offering a clear understanding of himself.

Vitality, energy, and spirit represented all facets of the human body. The standard baseline for an ordinary person was one, but upon entering the Tower of Magic, Mu Rongxun had been enhanced by ten percent, granting him physical attributes far superior to the average person.

After soaking in the solution for a while, Mu Rongxun finally adapted to the pain and began to enjoy the gradual strengthening of his body. A cool sensation spread around him. Even without looking at the panel, he knew he was growing stronger by the second.

When the water in the tub turned completely clear, he climbed out, grabbed a towel to roughly dry himself, put on his robe, and left the bathroom.

The identity assigned to him by this sanctuary was decent—at the very least, he wasn't left to wander the streets.

Seated in the living room, Mu Rongxun began reviewing his recent gains.

First was the strengthening solution, which had increased all his attributes by 0.1. Vitality, in particular, had received an extra 0.1 boost, so now his stats were: Vitality: 1.4, Energy: 1.2, Spirit: 1.4!

This was just a pleasant surprise. The main highlight was his Primal Gauntlets, a legacy from his predecessor: thirteen slots for embedded gems. Only the power of the ghoul was embedded now, but the other twelve, though only temporarily usable, could be formidable if all were filled. For now, only a variant snake head was left.

Mu Rongxun found the snake's attack method rather ugly, far inferior to the ghoul's, so he hadn’t made it a permanent fixture.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning, Mu Rongxun set out early. Chu Wannian had messaged him at dawn to meet his partner, get acquainted, and embark on their first mission.

Mu Rongxun didn’t object—he was curious about his partner. If the partner was strong enough, completing tasks might become much easier.

Because he had no car, the meeting spot wasn’t far from his home.

But when he arrived, he raised an eyebrow at the woman waving at him.

“Hello!”

The woman jogged over, her eyes questioning.

“Mm.” Mu Rongxun nodded, but couldn’t help sizing her up.

“So, you’re my partner?”

“Yes, yes!” Chen Lian herself didn’t know why she felt inexplicably nervous in front of this young man—perhaps because she had witnessed him personally end Qi Tian after he became a ghoul.

“An ordinary person can join the Special Bureau?” Mu Rongxun still didn’t see anything unusual about her.

“I’m not ordinary anymore!” Chen Lian looked straight at him. “I’m not who I used to be!”

“All right,” Mu Rongxun replied indifferently. “You know the mission, right? Let’s get going.”

With that, he turned and walked ahead.

“Where to?” Chen Lian hurried after him.

“Aren’t we supposed to investigate why your husband was possessed?” Mu Rongxun glanced at her, puzzled.

“I mean, it’s far from here,” Chen Lian reminded him.

“I have a car.” Mu Rongxun stopped, turned to face her squarely, and stared at her expressionlessly.

“What do you want?” Chen Lian was startled by his demeanor.

“You should’ve said so earlier.” Mu Rongxun rolled his eyes.

Once in the car, Mu Rongxun began examining the files Chen Lian brought.

“This is all?”

“Yes,” Chen Lian replied helplessly. “My husband’s behavior has become strange lately, but before that, I don’t recall him visiting any odd places. He’s a devoted family man, always coming home early to cook for me after work.”

As she spoke of her husband, Chen Lian couldn’t hide the sorrow on her face.

“Being targeted by the uncanny suggests your husband also had a strong spiritual sensitivity—and you too…” Mu Rongxun mused.

“Is there something in common among those with high spiritual sensitivity?”

“I don’t know,” Chen Lian said with a bitter smile. “I was just dragged into special training for two days, muddleheadedly awakened my abilities, but I can’t explain it myself.”

“Mm.” Mu Rongxun nodded. “Let’s check out this place first.” He pointed to a location in the file—a restaurant the couple had visited to celebrate their third wedding anniversary.

“All right,” Chen Lian choked back her sadness and focused on driving. Every time she thought of these places, she couldn’t help but recall her husband.

Her main reason for joining the Special Bureau was to uncover the truth behind her husband’s death—and then to avenge him.

Mu Rongxun was resigned; only by being close could he sense the uncanny. At a distance, he was powerless. He had only identified Qi Tian’s true nature after close contact—and by sneaking into their car and home. That wasn’t an option now.

“My husband was a gentle man. He didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, never fooled around, and cared deeply for our family. I don’t understand how something like this could happen to us.”

As she spoke, tears rolled down Chen Lian’s face like beads. All her strength was just a fragile facade.

Mu Rongxun didn’t know how to comfort her. He merely fished a tissue from his pocket and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Chen Lian took the tissue and thanked him.

“Life and death are inevitable. Please accept my condolences.”

As he said this, Mu Rongxun couldn’t help thinking of himself. In this strange world, he couldn’t even control his own fate—who could say when he would meet his end? Just like his classmate, who had died before his eyes. It was only because of that tragedy that Mu Rongxun received his slot and inherited the Primal Gauntlets.