Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 86: The Death Protagonist

The white light lasted only a moment.

When their vision returned, the bloody setting sun was still in place. But the entrance of the building was spotless. There was no screaming, no corpse. The lobby guard and front desk staff stared at them in confusion, rubbing their eyes hard, then huddled together whispering.

Fang Xiu instinctively wiped his forehead. He felt the sweat and heat from climbing the stairs. What had just happened didn’t feel like an illusion.

“Time rewound a day,” Jiao Jiao said gravely, pointing to the digital clock on the lobby wall. “Let’s get out of here first. The guards look off, and the clock looks off too.”

Fang Xiu stared at the digital screen behind the front desk.

[20彡彳 Year αΩ戸 17^th]

[18:01:42 巠亓乂]

When they first entered, the date clearly said “18^th”. Time had just rewound in front of their eyes.

But Fang Xiu was certain… Just now, the display showed entirely normal characters, not this weird glitching script.

By this hour, white-collar workers were starting to get off work, and the crowd gradually surrounded them. Under the suspicious eyes of the guards, the group slipped out with the throng and found a bench to rest.

“Holy shit, that was way too weird.” Yan Yan thumped his chest. “Don’t tell me this is a time loop ritual. Why is my life so hard…”

Fang Xiu was curious. “What do you mean by a time loop ritual?”

He’d seen plenty of similar movies. At least in the public’s imagination, this scenario wasn’t uncommon.

Jiao Jiao thought for a moment. “There’s a basic rule in these rituals: the more the environment around you defies natural law, the more dangerous the ritual is.”

“It’s one thing if just appearances are weird, but if time or space is messed up, that’s real trouble. We have a saying, ‘Spin time twice, you’ll lose half your life’, that’s what it refers to.”

Guan He hesitated, then asked, “But during the Mid-Autumn Festival ritual…”

“We’ve heard about that one,” Jiao Jiao said. “That ritual just had ‘repeating illusions and a fixed setting’. The flow of time was still normal, right?”

That made sense. Guan He had nothing more to say.

Fang Xiu mused, “So basically, breaking the laws of physics around time isn’t easy. Either it’s a powerful E or a really strong illusion.”

Jiao Jiao winced. “…Yeah, something like that. But don’t go talking physics around me… It gives me a headache.”

Yan Yan nodded frantically beside her.

Fang Xiu cleared his throat. “Anyway, whatever kind of loop this is, I think we just saw the ‘loop protagonist’—that woman who jumped. She’s a good lead. Too bad I didn’t see her face clearly.”

She’d bled from every facial orifice, and her face was mangled from the fall. Before he could get a good look, the world had been swallowed by white light.

All he remembered were her blood-red eyes that looked numb, and full of resentment and unwilling rage.

If even Fang Xiu didn’t see clearly, the others had even less. Cheng Songyun remembered her wearing a wine-red sweater. Guan He recalled she had permed hair. Mei Lan, after thinking for a while, said she wasn’t wearing nail polish.

Jiao Jiao looked meaningfully at Yan Yan for a few seconds.

Yan Yan blinked, then shook his head like a drum. “What’s the rush? Let’s talk to Zhuang Ge first. He said not to act rashly, and this isn’t time-sensitive. I say we head back. We’ve already found out plenty for today…”

Jiao Jiao: “What if she jumps from a different spot tomorrow? What if this ritual has other constraints? I’m just asking you to sniff her out, not fight her solo. I know you caught her scent. Quit whining and do it.”

Yan Yan’s face flushed red, eyes darting like a nervous fox. “But there are outsiders around!”

“You think turning into a fox in front of me isn’t embarrassing?” Jiao Jiao hit him with a shot straight to his heart.

Yan Yan’s face twitched, looking like he’d accepted death. He stammered, looking to Fang Xiu for help.

Fang Xiu leaned on his ghost, watching with interest. “What’s up?”

“If he reverts to his original form, his sense of smell is over ten times stronger. We can use that to track her scent,” Jiao Jiao explained. “We’re not taking any action immediately. It’s just scouting. That seems reasonable to me.”

Fang Xiu nodded. “Sounds good to me. Besides, foxes are cute. Don’t stress about it.”

Yan Yan’s human form wasn’t as stunning as Bai Shuangying’s, but definitely above average. By that logic, his fox form couldn’t be that bad either.

Yan Yan looked crushed. “You don’t get it. None of you—”

“Keep talking and she’ll be gone,” Jiao Jiao interrupted coolly.

Yan Yan whimpered.

Eventually, he backed into the bushes, found a hidden spot, and began to shift. A rustling noise later, Yan Yan’s human form vanished, replaced by…

Fang Xiu: “………………”

He worked hard to maintain a neutral expression.

Yan Yan had indeed turned into a standard fox. Small and cute, black nose, elegant paws, fluffy tail, pointed ears, but the fur looked… wrong.

The texture and length were unmistakably like human hair.

He had dyed it red, which helped a little… but still…

How to put it… Well, it was kind of gross.

Guan He couldn’t help taking two steps back. Cheng Songyun and Mei Lan immediately looked away—one at the sky, the other at the ground—faces blank with forced composure.

“I knew it!”

The sorrowful fox spoke in human tongue. “Even my parents hated it. Now you do too! I had to start learning transformation as soon as I was old enough to understand language. I only got registered after I could hold human form. Woo…”

Jiao Jiao held the fox down. “Quit whining. Start sniffing.”

The fox whined and sniffed around pitifully. After a while, he mumbled, “Got it.”

Jiao Jiao efficiently pulled out a leash and clipped it to the fox’s Taiji pendant—no, collar. With her dramatic fashion and his weird fur, they kind of looked like a failed designer dog pair.

She led him confidently into public view. The fox hung his head in shame, sniffing the ground diligently.

Fang Xiu’s team: “……”

As expected, mystic arts truly were a world beyond their understanding.

This time they were very cautious, avoiding the guards’ line of sight. The fox led them to the elevator and stopped on the 18th floor.

The entire 18th floor was occupied by a consulting firm. Just a few steps in was the front desk. Apparently, the company didn’t get off work at six as employees were still everywhere.

The Jiao Yan duo stopped at the elevator. Fang Xiu smoothed his hair and strode in confidently.

“Aren’t we hiding?” Bai Shuangying asked curiously.

“Not for now,” Fang Xiu whispered. “I need to leave an impression here, so we can spot what changes on the ‘next round’.”

It was risky, but they had no idea when this “loop” would end. Delaying might not be wise.

The receptionist smiled politely. “Do you have an appointment?”

“I’m here for an interview that’s scheduled for six thirty,” Fang Xiu replied with a courteous smile.

He had brushed aside his bangs, revealing his features. With the blessing of his handsomeness, the plain red T-shirt suddenly looked classy on him.

With his sincere eyes, the receptionist flushed a little, completely unbothered.

“Alright, please fill this out. Once you’re done, I’ll get HR.”

She led him to the tea area near the front desk, giving him a good view of most of the office.

Fang Xiu absentmindedly filled out the form while scanning the workstations.

Luckily, the woman who jumped was in sight. He stared at her for several seconds before recognizing her as the mangled corpse from earlier.

She looked to be in her thirties, quietly sitting at her desk sipping milk tea. She occasionally chatted and laughed with coworkers. There was no indication that she was someone planning to commit suicide.

Despite the late hour, the office vibe was good. People chatted freely, the tea and coffee were high quality, and there were no signs of people eating leftovers.

On the surface, nothing seemed off.

Fang Xiu calmly sipped some tea, his pen slowly tapping the form.

While Fang Xiu watched the company, Bai Shuangying watched him. His white eyes followed the tip of Fang Xiu’s pen, finally resting on the form.

Fang Xiu had filled it out casually with confident strokes. The name was “Yuan Yongan”, the job title and expected salary included. Birthday was two years younger than his actual age. Fields like current address and major were left blank.

With how naturally he wrote it, Bai Shuangying suspected it wasn’t random. “Yuan Yongan” was probably someone Fang Xiu knew.

Different last name, probably not a cousin. If it was a colleague, Fang Xiu wouldn’t know his info this well. A friend, then? …But didn’t Fang Xiu say he didn’t have any friends?

Yet here he was, clearly knowing someone’s exact birth date.

He listed elementary and middle school info, then stopped writing, as if intending to leave it there.

Another small insight into Fang Xiu, but it didn’t feel satisfying. Bai Shuangying stared at the quiet pen for a long while before shifting focus to where Fang Xiu was looking.

“She’s not cursed or possessed. I don’t sense any suspicious yin energy,” before Fang Xiu could ask, he explained quietly.

“Her emotions seem normal too,” Fang Xiu replied. “Doesn’t seem like a mental illness, at least not one I can tell.”

“It’s the evening of the 17th. She jumps on the 18th. Most likely, something happens that triggers her.”

“Of course, it could just be a coincidence that her death and the time reset overlap. We’ll have to wait for Zhuang Pengdao’s report on the ritual’s borders.” Fang Xiu added, “Still, this is the best lead we’ve got.”

As he spoke, the woman stood up, picked up her empty cup, and walked toward the tea area.

She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but her makeup was refined, and her expression had a quiet charm. As she approached, a faint perfume scent wafted through the air. It was warm, like a sun-heated wool sweater.

She stopped a few steps away and brewed herself some herbal tea.

“Here for an interview?” she asked with a cheerful smile.

“Yeah.” Fang Xiu smiled back, a little nervous.

“So late in the day, round after round. You job seekers have it rough.” She cradled her cup and sighed. “Oh right, let me give you a little tip.”

“What’s that?” Fang Xiu leaned in attentively.

“Don’t die too quickly, Disaster Resolver.”

She grinned slowly, her smile turning sly. “Better to live a miserable life than die. Once you’re dead, it’s all over.”

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