3. Supernatural Phenomena

When Lu Feng left the leisure bar, several people were sitting motionless in a hotel room across the street, their eyes fixed on the image of Lu Feng on the surveillance screen.

The room was filled with a haze of smoke, dimming the once-bright lights into a subdued gloom.

“Captain, should we bring him in immediately?” asked a man dressed in black, turning to the woman in red beside him.

She took a long drag from her cigarette, exhaled a smoke ring, and replied, “No need. Wait a little longer.”

“But if he’s already been crossed over, he’s too dangerous now,” the man said anxiously.

In his eyes, Lu Feng was like a bomb ready to detonate at any moment—unstable, unpredictable, and extremely hazardous.

“Notify Team B: fishing. Team C: sweeping,” the woman in red ordered.

A few simple words, yet behind them lay a complex operation refined through countless simulations, understandable only by those deeply initiated in the plan.

“Captain…” the man wanted to protest, but she raised her hand to silence him, then nodded toward another person at the computer.

That person relayed the orders swiftly through a walkie-talkie, every movement displaying the practiced ease of rigorous training.

After the commands were issued, the woman in red gazed at the screen with interest. “Lu Feng, are you really a crosser? And if you are, just how powerful have you become?” she murmured, her tone tinged with anticipation.

They had monitored Lu Feng for over a month. She was certain he was a crosser, yet still wavered in her conviction.

No one in the room dared respond. They all felt the captain was taking a risky gamble.

…

…

In the small hours before dawn, Lu Feng was making his way back toward the hospital.

He had walked for a long while, but the hospital was still not in sight.

His steps were steady and rhythmic, but his mind replayed and turned over the events of the previous night.

From a corner of a side alley came the sound of a child crying—soft, plaintive sobs.

Lu Feng stopped and saw, from a distance, a little girl in a princess dress crouched on the ground, weeping.

Strange. Why would a child be out crying in this frozen wasteland? What kind of parent would be so negligent? The Seventeenth District’s Fifth Ring was nothing like the relative safety of the inner Third Ring. This was a dangerous place, where abductions and organ trafficking were all too common.

The girl looked to be about five or six, her head bowed as she sobbed, the two braids she wore dangling and swaying gently with her shuddering breaths.

Her white princess dress blended with the snow, so much so that if not for the crying, one could scarcely make out her form.

Danger!

As he studied her closely, a sharp signal flashed through Lu Feng’s mind—an instinctive warning.

He had no intention of getting involved. He quickened his pace to leave, the horrors of last night still vivid enough to make him shudder even now.

“Big brother, big brother,” the little girl called softly before Lu Feng had taken more than a few steps.

He stopped as if struck by lightning.

His sister’s voice!

—No, that’s not my sister.

—But that voice… it’s hers.

Two thoughts rose in Lu Feng’s mind, at odds with each other.

“Big brother, big brother,” the girl called again.

It was unmistakable—his sister’s voice.

“Sister…” Lu Feng turned around and approached the little girl.

He walked right up to her, squatted down, and reached out, ready to lift her up.

But just as his hands were about to touch her, the girl suddenly looked up.

At last, Lu Feng saw her face clearly—not his sister, and perilous beyond belief.

Her features were unnaturally pale, and though her face was angelic, it radiated a terrifying aura as she lunged at him with overwhelming menace.

Killing intent!

Lu Feng could feel it—sharp, chilling, unmistakable.

With a sudden whoosh, he pushed off with his feet, his body shooting backward like a cannonball. He landed a hundred meters away, shocked by his own speed.

When had he become so powerful?

Was it the strength granted by that “other self” last night?

There was no time to ponder. Lu Feng focused all his attention on the girl, ready for anything.

She charged at him like a mad creature, moving so fast that he barely had time to react before she slammed him into a bus stop dozens of meters behind.

The heavy metal sign snapped at its base under the force of his impact, and Lu Feng tumbled into the alley behind, sliding as if on ice.

He felt as though every bone in his body had been shattered, his chest caving in around the spot where she’d struck him—a pain so intense it nearly drove him mad.

This was no ordinary girl: ruthless, merciless, terrifying.

After the brief clash, Lu Feng regarded her with utter dread.

In the hotel room, those watching the screens were slack-jawed with shock—except the woman in red, who remained composed.

They’d known the princess-dressed girl was strong, but not this strong.

Fighting through the agony, Lu Feng forced himself to get up—and was startled to feel a surge of warmth blooming from deep within, spreading through his blood and meridians.

In an instant, the pain vanished. The caved-in chest began to heal itself.

Lu Feng had no time to question it, as the girl was already leaping at him again.

When she was nearly upon him, Lu Feng shut his eyes, held his breath, and instinctively raised his arms to shield himself.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

…

Lu Feng maintained his defensive stance, but the expected impact never came.

He opened his eyes, stunned by what he saw.

Time had stopped. The air was thick and still, sound suspended, even the dust and debris caught in the wind hanging motionless.

The princess-dressed girl was frozen mid-pounce, her dress clinging to her body, her braids arcing behind her.

Everything was as if the world had lost its gravity, every movement halted.

Only his own heartbeat and breath remained in motion.

And around his body, a faint red aura shimmered.

He’d only read of such phenomena in novels—a power that transcended and mastered nature—yet it was happening to him now.

Lu Feng was bewildered. Since last night, everything he’d experienced had overturned the beliefs he’d held for nineteen years. He felt as if he weren’t on Planet D at all, but dreaming in some alternate world.

In the hotel, the surveillance feed was frozen.

At first, they thought it was a transmission error—until they saw Lu Feng lower his arms, while everything else remained utterly still.

If the girl’s display had surprised the watchers, Lu Feng’s response now left them profoundly shocked—their understanding of reality shattered.

“He… he’s actually this terrifying…” one of the men murmured involuntarily.

Even the woman in red stared wide-eyed, disbelief on her face.

A chill crept over her—she was playing with fire.

With that thought, she quickly closed her eyes, and a white mark flashed on her forehead.

“Lu Feng, stop,”

A distant voice echoed in Lu Feng’s mind—familiar, yet unplaceable.

But with everything around him frozen, how could he be hearing this voice?

“Who’s there?” Lu Feng replied, his tone fierce.