A large amount of white smoke billowed up.

The three fell silent, eventually turning their gazes towards a certain fellow feigning sleep.

The Tsukumo Oni, arms crossed, twitched his eyelids. After five seconds, he finally couldn't keep up the act, and burst out in anger, "No way...are you blaming me for this too?"

Gu Nanfeng's expression was complex.

He sighed softly, and ultimately said nothing, opening the car door to go and inspect.

Gu Shen also got out of the car.

The moment the car door opened, coarse sand rushed in. This uninhabited area was full of barrenness, devoid of vegetation. The environment was harsh, with fierce winds raging and sandstorms sweeping across the sky throughout the year.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, a wisp of burning fire slowly igniting between his brows. The first thing he did after getting out of the car wasn't to check the tires… but to check for any unusual supernatural aura or mental fluctuations in the surroundings.

"No enemies."

A gentle voice rang out beside him.

This was an environment of raging winds.

Gu Nanfeng's "Lanqie" (Wind Cut) was greatly enhanced in this environment. His mental power had long covered a large area around them, constantly sensing the movements of the surroundings… in case of any unexpected events.

Although he received an affirmative answer, Gu Shen still checked again.

Not because he didn't trust Gu Nanfeng, a top-tier supernatural with the title of "Seal."

But because… the characteristics of the Blazing Fire were truly unique, capable of "seeing" sights that other supernaturals couldn't. After looking around, Gu Shen was finally relieved; there was indeed nothing out of the ordinary here.

"Looks like… a sharp object punctured the tire." Gu Nanfeng squatted down, narrowing his eyes, and said, "It won't affect our journey… we can move forward after changing the spare tire."

Gu Shen, however, looked thoughtful, gazing in the direction they had come from.

In the Blazing Fire's vision, sand grains couldn't obstruct his view.

The road they had come from was flat and even.

A sharp object?

Where did a sharp object come from?

Moreover, to puncture an off-road tire of this thickness, it couldn't be done with ordinary sharp gravel.

Could it really be a coincidence?

That would be too… unlucky.

"Indeed, interesting..."

Gu Nanfeng took the spare tire from the back of the car. While changing the tire, he murmured, "A jinxed person who is abandoned by the Goddess of Fate will even choke on cold water. So people like that really exist..."

"In any case… it seems that not taking the special plane was the right choice."

Gu Shen looked up at the sky, saying softly, "After all, there are too many uncontrollable factors up there."

A malfunctioning dashboard, a fire on the wing, or even being struck by a bird… all of these were possible.

Just like now.

An unreasonable flat tire.

As he looked up, Gu Shen's expression changed slightly… In the Blazing Fire's encompassing vision, he seemed to see something very high in the sky, something very concealed, retracting its radiance.

"Chu Ling."

The mental link was activated.

"Can you investigate 'this thing' in my eyes?"

A retinal screenshot, the scene before his eyes, was captured and uploaded… The Deep-Sea Zone's source code immediately began operating, performing analysis. The uninhabited area north of Dadu District, although barren, still had [Sky Eyes] distributed at intervals.

"The object in the image corresponds to sensor C103e in the area, with traces of supernatural aura appearing." Three seconds later, Chu Ling gave the analysis result. "The unidentified object is suspected to be a Sealed Item… but the level of threat is very low."

"...Roger."

Gu Shen's expression remained unchanged as he retracted his gaze, noticing that Gu Nanfeng had also glanced at the sky.

"Your observation is quite sharp." Gu Nanfeng lowered his voice and chuckled, completing the tire change without any fuss, and asked softly, "Indeed, there's no such thing as a smooth journey… what do you think?"

"You know what that thing is?"

"Changye's 'Fēng Tóng' (Wind Eye), similar to the Deep Sea's Sky Eye, but it only floats above Changye, monitoring every movement of the wind and grass… When I first arrived in Dongzhou, this thing hadn't appeared yet. But after leaving Dadu, it targeted me. It seems the guys in Changye City have already received the news." Gu Nanfeng said lightly, his voice tinged with disappointment, "After all these years, they're still using the 'Wind Eye.' It seems Changye hasn't made much progress in recent years."

"This thing is just a surveillance object… Is the flat tire related to it?" Gu Shen frowned.

"The flat tire… is most likely just our bad luck." Gu Nanfeng clapped his hands, Lanqie carrying away all the dust from his palms and clothes. He examined the new tire, and said softly, "But similar situations won't happen again. Lanqie has already covered the entire car. Any sudden accidents, before they happen… I'll be able to sense them."

Invisible, soundless flowing wind formed a layer of air membrane.

...

...

"There's a question I need to ask you."

Getting back in the car, Gu Nanfeng glanced back at Tsukumo Oni while reversing.

The latter felt a little guilty under that gaze, and shrank back.

"When you escaped to Dadu, what kind of vehicle did you use? You didn't run all the way on foot, did you?"

Tsukumo Oni shook his head quickly after hearing this, "How could that be!"

"But I crashed twice… Later, Cui Zhongcheng sent someone to pick me up in a car..." His voice grew softer and softer.

"Alright." Gu Nanfeng, having received the answer, restarted the car and said lightly, "As long as you're not so unlucky that you have to rely on your own two feet to reach your destination, then it's fine."

Tsukumo Oni scratched his head.

"Is there something unclean?" Lu Nanjin asked softly, hugging her blade.

Not bad, very perceptive… Gu Nanfeng smiled, "You could say that."

Lu Nanjin hugged her long blade tightly, puzzled, "My Lanqie didn't detect anything…"

"Don't worry, wait a little longer…" Gu Nanfeng said softly, "Give 'it' some time."

Tsukumo Oni listened to the two's cloudy dialogue, the more he pondered, the more frightened he became. He moved closer to Gu Shen, wanting to seek some sense of security, and said in a low voice, "Little Gu, do we have something unclean here… where is it?"

"Something unclean… I think there should be one." Gu Shen thought for a moment.

Tsukumo Oni's face turned pale, and he moved closer again, "Is it outside? It's not in the car, is it?"

Gu Shen was silent for a second, and said, "I don't know about outside… but there's definitely one in the car."

Three gazes shot over in unison.

Even the docile and obedient orange cat in Gu Shen's arms had an unusually strange look in its eyes.

The unclean thing… is myself?

Tsukumo Oni was stunned for a moment before realizing. He pitifully shrank himself into a ball.

The next moment.

Another bump.

Just like the previous sudden situation… the tire made a muffled sound!

Lu Nanjin, sitting in the passenger seat, contracted her pupils, while Gu Nanfeng's expression remained normal.

But this time, what was different was.

The entire car body was enveloped by Lanqie's flowing wind.

At the moment of impact, what came into contact with the "sharp object" first wasn't the tire, but Lanqie!