I'm Really Going to Become an Immortal

2024 · February 29 · The 20th day of the first lunar month.

15:06 PM.

After calming down for a while.

Having reluctantly accepted the truth of his seemingly sterilized state, Chen Yun decided to start with the first item in his phase summary and planning.

That is, to investigate the cause of his body's transformation.

He did not expect to figure it all out at once; this was merely a preliminary investigative attempt.

He had arrived in Shucheng on the night of the 18th of the first lunar month.

He slept for twenty hours, only waking in the afternoon of the 19th, when he discovered a series of changes in his body and began a series of experiments.

His changes were very likely related to the day's travel on the 18th.

So, Chen Yun's initial plan was to check the surveillance video from the night of the 18th when he returned to his residential complex to see if there was anything unusual.

Perhaps it was something he came into contact with on the road that led to his transformation.

Now, in the afternoon of the 20th, the security office still had the complex's footage from the last couple of days.

Chen Yun did not have the authority to access the surveillance.

However, society does not always strictly adhere to rules.

He simply handed the security guard a pack of cigarettes he had picked up on the way without saying a word.

The guard chuckled, stepped out for a smoke, and gave Chen Yun ten minutes to review the surveillance records.

Chen Yun sat in the guardhouse, staring at the screen in front of him, displaying the surveillance footage, lost in deep thought.

The 18th of the first lunar month.

Which was February 27.

At 9:45 PM, he was seen dragging his suitcase in the surveillance footage at the entrance of the complex.

Although the image quality was not clear.

But one could barely make out a trace of exhaustion on his face.

Moonlight spilled over his shoulders.

Casting mottled shadows.

The surveillance showed him walking towards his home with his suitcase, silently.

He didn't interact with anyone along the way.

Aside from the fatigue of traveling, his steps showed no other irregularities.

Watching himself open the door to his home through the entrance's surveillance, still, nothing seemed amiss.

Reviewing the entire journey.

There was nothing unusual.

If he had indeed come into contact with something that triggered the body transformation on the way home, it likely wasn't in the distance from the entrance of the complex to his house.

But rather on the journey from Jiangnan Province by plane to Sichuan, then by subway from Tianfu Airport.

That was a long distance.

A full 1700 kilometers to investigate, should he undertake it.

Would be a tremendously lengthy journey.

And so.

Chen Yun pondered for a moment.

And ceased his pursuit of further investigation.

That would suffice for now.

Continuing the investigation would take far too long and require too much effort.

And there was a high probability that, like this time, it would yield nothing.

After weighing it against the importance of continuing to observe the changes in his body, Chen Yun preferred to first explore the transformation itself.

The plan to investigate the cause of the transformation.

Would be deferred for the time being.

This did not mean it was being ignored, merely a postponed decision after weighing the pros and cons.

With that thought.

Just as Chen Yun was about to rise from the seat in the security office, he suddenly remembered something.

After clearing his browsing history, he stepped out of the security office.

Approaching the puffing security guard, he casually inquired, "Hey, handsome, how long are the surveillance videos usually kept here? I can't seem to find any from two months ago."

"Due to the cost and storage space limitations, we can only keep them for about a week," the guard responded, merrily explaining through the haze of smoke.

He was quite familiar with the matter.

After all, every so often, elderly residents would come to check the surveillance for lost items.

"A week, huh."

Chen Yun murmured.

A week passes by quickly.

In a few days, the surveillance footage of his return would be nearly wiped clean.

Although there was nothing special in the footage and the quality of the surveillance wasn't good enough to show the changes under Chen Yun's clothes.

But since it was to be cleared soon, it was still somewhat better than not being cleared at all.

This could give Chen Yun an added sense of security.

He hadn't actively suggested clearing the surveillance footage right now.

After all, it would be cleared within a few days.

To do more might be to err more.

"This time, I'm really troubling you, handsome."

Chen Yun said this while shaking hands with the security guard.

At the same time, he inconspicuously slipped a pack of cigarettes into the guard's hand.

The meaning of this gesture, everyone understood.

Viewing the surveillance wasn't exactly by the book.

The first pack of cigarettes was to get the guard's agreement to let him view the footage; the second pack was to ensure that his own viewing wouldn't be mentioned.

To this,

the guard nodded with a big grin.

While pocketing the fresh pack of cigarettes, he quickly said there was no need to mention it.

Rules are rigid, but people are flexible.

Clearly, both parties were pleased with their conversation.

Chen Yun bid farewell to the guard

and walked towards the direction of his apartment building.

Unconsciously,

he found himself on the same path he had walked on the evening of the 20th day of the first lunar month when he had returned home.

Retracing his steps on this path, he still detected no abnormalities.

But Chen Yun, who possessed an extraordinary sense of smell,

still held a glimmer of hope.

He began to try to interpret the world from a completely new perspective.

Countless scents, imperceptible to ordinary humans, exploded around him at this moment.

Swirls of diverse aromas lingered nearby.

Under Chen Yun's perception, they crafted a world seen from a fresh vantage point.

He was captivated by this sensation.

Cooking fumes, cleaning agents, garbage, flowers and plants, second-hand smoke, damp mold...

All these varieties of scents were fully revealing themselves.

Chen Yun's mind pieced together all that had transpired in the neighborhood.

Near the public garden and exercise equipment, the morning crowd sweated through their routines.

Children ran and played on the grass.

Familiar neighbors chatted idly on the streets.

Elderly folks sat around, watching the central pair of old men battle it out over a game of Chinese chess.

Everything happening now.

It was all perceived solely through the sense of smell, without the help of other senses.

And as for events that had taken place in the past.

There were faint hints that could be discovered through the sense of smell.

Chen Yun, just like the day he had searched for the naughty child's home, focused intently on his own scent, deeming it of special interest, and reduced his notice of other scents.

Suddenly,

the trail of Chen Yun's movements became apparent.

Scents from the distant past were completely undetectable, since Chen Yun had gone back to his family home in Jiangnan Province for over a month.

The scents he had left in this community had long since vanished.

However,

his movements over the past couple of days were crystal clear.

Even if his scent from the previous few days had started to fade, there remained a faint trace of it.

Following these traces,

Chen Yun gradually unlocked his restraint on his perception ability for other scents.

Using the trail of his own scent as the main stem, he carefully combed the surroundings, focusing on whether there were any other peculiar or unprecedented special scents along the path he had traversed.

But the answer was...

There were none.

Even employing his extraordinary sense of smell, the answer was the same as what he had seen when he had accessed the surveillance footage:

On the day he returned, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

At least, there was nothing abnormal along this particular stretch near the community.

Pondering this,

Chen Yun rubbed his temples.

He decided to set aside the thought of continuing the investigation for the time being.