To Rise Again In The Apocalypse

Moments later, Li XinWen found himself in the backseat of a taxi. The driver kept on glancing back at the rearview mirror, looking at him worriedly. Li XinWen saw this and had to ask, "Is there something wrong with my face?"

"No! No! Nothing's wrong! Just... um... that's it! Your eyes look pretty!" the driver answered in a panicked tone.

Li XinWen raised an eyebrow before lifting his hand to touch the sunglasses he was wearing. 'Weird... I still have this on so why is he saying that my eyes look pretty?' Li XinWen couldn't help wondering.

On the other hand, the driver gripped the steering wheel tightly. His mind was in a mess while his heart was filled with fear. 'This guy is not some gang member, right? The place he's going to... isn't that one of the underground organization's turf?'

With one person misunderstanding, and the other oblivious, the entire trip to Li XinWen's destination could only be described as awkward. Whenever Li XinWen tried to strike up a conversation, the driver would answer but Li XinWen could see that the driver became increasingly anxious and uncomfortable, each time avoiding his question like the plague.

Half an hour later, the taxi finally came to a stop and Li XinWen got out after paying. A huge building stood before him with a sign saying: "Hundred Treasures Antique Shop".

The shop building stood out from the rest of the surrounding establishments. The area was mostly occupied by smaller buildings, a convenience store, a book shop, a couple of cafes, a laundromat and a quaint little restaurant. The shops were designed with modern and contemporary architecture while the antique shop building gave off a retro feel to it. Like travelling back in time.

Below the sign was a ceramic tiled roof which served as an awning above the entrance. It was intricately designed, and the door was framed with wooden posts.

'Interesting contrast,' Li XinWen observed. "Looks like this is the place…" Li XinWen muttered to himself before taking a step forward.

Just then, Lan Yu started sending warm streams of spiritual energy but perhaps due to its excitement, the supposedly warm streams became increasingly hot to such a degree that Li XinWen ended up hissing.

'Calm down! I know parts of you are in there…' Li XinWen scolded LanYu in his mind and only then did the jade calm down.

Li XinWen was just about to take another step forward when he realized the spiritual energy around him shifted. He knew this was LanYu's doing and under its guidance, the spiritual energies gathered and formed a trail. 'You want me to follow this spiritual trail?' he asked and LanYu responded by sending out another stream of warmth towards Li XinWen. 'Alright. Let's see where you're leading me.'

Following the trail, Li XinWen found himself walking towards the alley at the back of the building. The trail led him deeper until he reached the area where trash was being dumped. Don't think that just because it's a dumpster, it would look and smell disgusting. Unexpectedly, the dumpsters were clean and properly organized. Li XinWen continued to follow the trail that LanYu made until he found himself standing before a black plastic bag. 'In here?' he asked, before he reached out with his spiritual sense. Sure enough, there were small bits of jade within the plastic. Left with no other choice, Li XinWen ripped the plastic and began his search.

While he was searching, he noticed someone approaching him from behind. Thinking that it might just be someone wanting to throw some trash, he ignored it. That was until he felt the hostility emanating from the other person. Li XinWen quickly stood up and turned to face the individual. The person who was approaching him suddenly stopped and pointed a gun at Li XinWen.

"Don't move! Raise your hands! Palms open!" the man dressed as a police officer held the gun steadily.

"Sir, I believe that there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding." Li XinWen said as he raised his hands, not wanting to cause any unnecessary problems.

"Keep quiet and cooperate! Turn around now!"

Li XinWen sighed and turned around, still with both hands raised. He could hear the footsteps of the approaching officer and not long after, his hands were roughly pulled from behind and cuffed. "Sir, this is an... unlawful arrest... " Li XinWen stated with a slight hesitation. He himself wasn't sure if that was right. He only remembered that there was once a scene in one of the original Li XinWen's drama where he acted as a lawyer and had to defend a person who was arrested unlawfully.

"Someone from the underground organization is actually talking about the law?" the police officer scoffed. "Guys like you keep bending the laws to your liking and to get away with a lot of s#*&, so how is this unlawful?" the officer continued.

"Officer there seems to be a mistake, I—"

"Shut up punk! Keep your mouth shut before I charge you even further," the police officer cut Li XinWen off and became rougher. At that point, Li XinWen knew that he had indeed been misunderstood

'Seems that there's nothing else I can do... I can only knock him out and erase his memories,' he thought. But just as he was about to exert some effort to break the handcuffs, a cold voice sounded behind them.

"This is not a place for you to be hanging about, officer . Let that man go and leave, otherwise don't blame me if you're out of job the next day."