I'm Trapped in the Block

The sound of rushing water echoed.

Li Luo and Li Xiangyi watched as the powerful relics, all created by the Wishing Spring, were swept into the sewer.

"What a shame," Li Xiangyi said, a hint of regret in her voice.

"Feeling it’s a shame is a form of greed. These relics should never have existed. There’s no reason to regret losing something that was never meant to be," Old Xu said placidly.

"But if we used these relics to explore the Abyss, couldn’t they prevent a lot of casualties?" Li Xiangyi asked, still confused.

"No. Using them would cause even more casualties. These relics all have some kind of hidden effect," Old Xu explained gravely.

"The Wishing Spring has been active for ten years, and so have these relics. I’ve heard the demands from the parents who ask for them. They’re the very definition of greed."

"They try to use all sorts of clauses to evade any potential price. That’s absolutely impossible. Their clever little tricks will only lead to irreversible consequences."

"Every contract has its loopholes, and you should never underestimate a sentient relic."

Old Xu was all too familiar with the parents’ behavior.

After a moment’s thought, Li Luo asked, "You only ’confiscated’ some of them, right? Did the rest not need to be ’confiscated’?"

Old Xu nodded. "That’s right. I only confiscate a portion of them each year. Most of the ones that are left are harmless."

"How do you tell them apart?" Li Luo pressed.

"Intuition." As he spoke, Old Xu pointed to his heart.

"You use the ability the spring gave you to tell if the relics it creates are dangerous?" Li Luo was stunned.

"What’s the big deal?"

Old Xu was completely unconcerned. He pulled out his investigator’s ID again, flipped to a page, and expertly pointed to a line. "In case of emergency, all means necessary are permitted to resolve the problem."

"I’m just following regulations," Old Xu explained breezily.

"If a relic feels wrong to me, I go and confiscate it to keep it out of circulation. If I don’t sense any danger, I leave it alone. I’ve been doing it this way for ten years."

"Of course, the ’wrong’ ones are rare. Otherwise, I’d never be able to handle it all by myself."

’So that’s how it is. He’s been doing this alone for ten years.’

"Then why just toss them in the gutter?" Li Xiangyi still didn’t understand Old Xu’s method of "destruction." It seemed far too casual.

"Intuition."

Old Xu’s one-word answer left Li Xiangyi speechless.

"My intuition tells me that the gutter is safe and that it won’t cause any harm. And for the past ten years, there haven’t been any accidents."

Gazing at the ID still on the table, Li Xiangyi couldn’t think of any more questions.

As he spoke, a melancholic look crossed Old Xu’s face. "I can’t keep doing this forever. I’m getting old. One of these times, I might miss one."

"Besides, the number of relics that feel dangerous to me has been increasing over the last few years, and I’m getting busier."

"That’s why I’ve been trying to get the leadership of Oasis City to shut down the spring. That would solve the problem once and for all."

Old Xu’s hand, holding his cup, trembled slightly. It was clear this issue weighed heavily on his mind.

The fact that he was willing to chat with two strangers for so long was proof of his profound loneliness, of feeling utterly misunderstood.

"Have you talked to them? Weren’t they your former teammates?" Li Luo asked.

Old Xu nodded. "Of course I have. But every time, they ask me if the spring itself gives me that ’wrong’ feeling, since I trust my intuition so much."

"Does it?" Li Luo asked, his curiosity piqued.

"No." Old Xu frowned. "Many of the relics it creates feel extremely dangerous to me, but the spring itself feels completely harmless."

Li Luo thought for a moment. "Is it because the spring itself is what gave you your ability?"

Hearing Li Luo’s question, Old Xu’s brow furrowed, as if he’d stumbled upon something utterly incomprehensible.

He hesitated for a moment before replying, "No. My intuition tells me the spring is safe. Extremely safe."

"Safe?"

’How could it be so contradictory?’

’A spring that can create all kinds of dangerous relics is somehow safe itself?’

Old Xu’s answer shocked everyone.

"That’s right, it’s safe. And lately, that feeling has grown even stronger."

The baffled look never left Old Xu’s face. This matter seemed to have been troubling him for a long time.

"I think there might be something wrong with my intuition," he murmured, touching his chest. "Lately, I’ve felt that something is off in so many places. The feeling is very distinct."

"What places?" Li Xiangyi asked, baffled.

At her question, Old Xu suddenly froze in his chair. The hand holding his cup hung motionless in the air.

Then, just as suddenly, he stood up and began pacing around the courtyard with his cup. He would take a few steps, stop to stare at the ground, then start walking again, over and over.

After pacing in a wide circle, he returned to the table and said to the bewildered pair, "Everywhere."

"This ’wrong’ feeling is faint, but it’s there. It’s on my flowers, on the cup in my hand, on the ground, on the table... even on me, and on both of you."

Old Xu glanced around, then pointed at the nearby buildings. "It’s on everything."

Then, he fixed his gaze on the Block, his expression growing even more confused.

"What’s wrong?" Li Luo asked quickly when he saw Old Xu staring at the Block.

Old Xu pointed at the Block and said, completely baffled, "It’s on everything... but not on your relic. I don’t feel anything from it at all."

Hearing this, Li Luo immediately asked, "Is that normal?"

Old Xu didn’t answer. Instead, he walked over to the Block and tapped it gently, his face etched with confusion.

"Extremely abnormal."

"Over the years, I’ve gotten to understand my ability quite well. This intuition is actually a way to quantify the degree of danger, like a ruler."

"Take this flower, for instance. Its danger level used to be a 1, but recently it shot up to 10. That’s why I felt something was very wrong."

"The relics I just destroyed—the moment they’re created, their danger level skyrockets to over 1,000. Extremely dangerous."

"As for the relics not worth confiscating, their danger levels are in the negative, which proves they’re safe."

"The spring is the same—a negative value. It’s safe."

"But this Block..." After circling it once, Old Xu still couldn’t find the words to describe what he felt.

"Is the Block’s danger level 0, then?" Li Luo asked, following Old Xu’s explanation.

"No, it’s not just 0."

Old Xu stopped pacing. He stood still and thought for a long while before finally voicing his current feeling, his face a mask of complete bewilderment—

"It’s like... my ruler for danger can’t even be applied to it."