"Da."

"Da."

"Da."

......

The crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the deep corridor. Besides the few white candles emitting a faint glow, the walls were lined with portraits.

At this moment, these portraits seemed to come alive. Their faces were twisted in horror, some with bulging veins, others with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, blood incessantly streaming from the corners of their eyes, and still others looked as if their heads were about to split open...

Each picture was a disciple, a high-ranking member of the Night Watch, as they appeared before their execution.

In the dim candlelight, a graceful figure swayed.

At the end of the corridor was a pitch-black door.

The door was fitted with an old handle, its surface rough with the marks of time. It felt as if touching it would absorb fragments of bygone years.

Standing before the door, a beautiful, slender hand grasped the handle and pushed open the rarely opened door.

Most of those qualified to open this door were already dead, their portraits hanging on either side of the deep corridor the woman had just walked through.

Watching everyone who came here.

As if to warn them not to repeat their mistakes.

"Creak—"

The door opened inward, revealing a large room shrouded in a gray haze, the deathly atmosphere oppressive, punctuated only by heavy breathing.

"You've come," someone exhaled, like an old man about to breathe his last.

Lin Wan'er brushed a stray hair behind her ear and nodded. The old man standing before her was cloaked in black, revealing only his pale chin.

"You know everything?" After a moment of silence, the old man asked again.

"Crimson attacked the headquarters auditorium and triggered an A-level or higher supernatural event at the execution site," Lin Wan'er replied. "In addition, they also hijacked Crimson No. 4, Wei Jinting."

"That wasn't an attack, it was revenge! No, it was a long-planned attack; we were all deceived!" Another voice suddenly cut through the darkness.

Lin Wan'er's expression remained unchanged, indicating that she had long been aware of the presence of another person.

Through the gray mist, another figure emerged, also cloaked in black.

But this one looked much more miserable. The hood had a large, burned hole near the forehead, revealing traces of blood.

"Chief Inquisitor, you seem to be in bad shape," Lin Wan'er said, her voice slightly surprised.

The first old man shook his head, his tone helpless. "Lin Yuan, the truth about this incident is worse than you think. We concealed part of the truth to avoid causing panic."

"It has now been confirmed that this was a long-planned attack by Crimson. Everything before was a ruse, including the capture of No. 4, Wei Jinting."

"They wanted to use this opportunity to gather all of our twelve families together and wipe us out in one fell swoop."

"The supernatural event triggered was S-level. Almost none of those initially affected survived. The twelve families suffered heavy losses among those who attended. Including the rescuers, only about a third of us survived, and some of them..." The old man paused, not finishing his sentence.

But Lin Wan'er understood. The old man meant that many of those who survived were crippled. They had overdrawn the power of the Gate within them to survive, making them useless to both the Night Watch and their respective families, and even a burden.

"What kind of Gate was it?" Lin Wan'er asked.

Hearing this, the old man with the head wound angrily replied, "It was Xia Tan's Gate! He has been completely corrupted. Those treacherous bastards from the Xia family didn't execute him as promised; they've been keeping him around all this time."

The name Xia Tan was familiar to the older generation of the Night Watch, as he was considered a genius from the Xia family, one of the thirteen original families who founded the Night Watch.

Because he didn't like being constrained, his brother Xia Yuan had the advantage of taking over as the head of the Xia family. But in terms of skill, Xia Yuan was far inferior.

Unlike the Wei family, known for their infighting and scheming brothers, the Xia brothers had a good relationship, and even Gong Zhe, the current pillar of the Xia family, was no match for Xia Tan back then.

Because the highest rating for the Night Watch was S-level, many older members rumored that Xia Tan's abilities were being underestimated at S-level.

Crimson had set their sights on Xia Tan, using him, completely corrupted, to artificially create a supernatural event to attack them. This was something the Night Watch had never expected.

After all... the Xia family had promised that they would take care of Xia Tan.

"Deception..." The old man called Chief Inquisitor had bloodshot eyes. When he became angry, one could even sense something invisible vibrating around him. "These people from the Xia family can't be spared either. They're all despicable liars!"

"Regardless, the plan is the priority now. Focus on dealing with Crimson. As for the Xia family, we'll deal with them later," the first old man glanced at the latter and said.

The Xia family was also a source of pain for the Night Watch. They had once produced a Xia Tan, who firmly opposed the Abyss Project. After finally bringing down Xia Tan, allowing him to be completely corrupted by the Gate within him, they discovered that Gong Zhe was also very difficult to deal with.

It wasn't that they didn't have the means to deal with Gong Zhe, but... it wasn't worth it.

They had to be responsible for all the high-ranking members of the twelve Night Watch families.

Noticing Lin Wan'er looking at the wound on his forehead, the old man called Chief Inquisitor looked displeased, seemingly reminded of the shot fired at him, and angrily said, "The reason Crimson was able to succeed this time was largely because they had turned some of the less resolute among us. These traitors stirred up trouble from within. I have already personally eliminated them."

"That's good," Lin Wan'er gave him an opening.

"Lin Yuan," the old man said, "tell us about your situation."

"Zero has begun to suspect me," Lin Wan'er said calmly, as if telling someone else's story.

"How could that be?" The old man was clearly stunned upon hearing this. "Has his memory recovered? Didn't you use your ability to invade his memories and seal his past? He should only remember what you allow him to remember."

They had never doubted the abilities of the woman before them.

"Yes, but the last time I entered Zero's memories, someone followed me and prevented me from erasing Zero's memories," Lin Wan'er said. "There is an extra Gate in Zero's body. That guy is also eyeing the Gate to the Abyss sleeping within Zero."

"Then kill him! Why didn't you kill him on the spot?!" the Chief Inquisitor demanded, his temper flaring.

"That guy is a bit tricky. I was worried that making too much noise would completely awaken Zero's memories." Lin Wan'er reached out, and on her slender wrist, there was an extremely faint and thin bloodstain.