Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 186: A Sliver of Hope

Dian’er returned to the familiar yet unfamiliar top floor of the Disaster Relief Tower.

None of the room’s furnishings had changed. Even A’Shou sat in her usual spot. The number of reports on her desk had decreased, though each scroll had visibly grown thicker.

Her veil still covered her face, but the way it puffed up over and over clearly showed she had been sighing a lot.

Dian’er didn’t dare make a sound.

Aside from newly captured criminals and cultists, all previous rituals had been suspended.

The Underworld envoys had been busy hiring legal experts and official advisors from the mortal world to screen each current sacrifice for karmic blood debts.

Those found to be innocent had to be sent back to the mortal world immediately, along with a form of compensation. The workload was enormous, and following Fang Xiu’s standards, the paperwork would only increase in the future.

Even though Fang Xiu had provided a clear reform direction, the additional tasks of ritual planning and compensation for ghost immortals made Dian’er’s head throb just thinking about it.

Endure it, just for a while longer. Once this period passed and the number of sacrifices dropped, things would ease up. At least the Tower’s performance pressure had dropped significantly. Times had changed. If they encountered a truly unsolvable E, Fang Xiu would personally step in.

“Lady A’Shou, the cultists corrupted by ‘Uncle Hou’s’ persona show no signs of recovery for now,” Dian’er reported honestly. “Fang Xiu’s taboo power is extremely strong. We can’t undo its effects.”

“That brat did it on purpose. If he wanted to, and combined with Bai Shuangying’s abilities, it would be easy to undo.”

A’Shou stopped writing. “Fang Xiu’s planting a trap in those Guishan cultists—Uncle Hou is slick and selfish, you know that as well as I do.”

“Now the core followers are full of Uncle Hou’s influence. When they run into unsuspecting believers during the rituals… ha.”

That would be quite the scene.

Still, speaking of lively scenes… Fang Xiu was personally following Zhuang Chongyue into the rituals and had even brought a mortal along. That, A’Shou hadn’t expected at all.

Fang Xiu, Bai Shuangying, and Yuan Ye, strictly speaking, weren’t sacrifices.

Yuan Ye was protected by the All Phenomena E and the Corner of Heaven’s Will. In a sense, he was an outsider, immune to taboo effects. But A’Shou wasn’t sure what kind of mental state the veteran detective was in.

Recalling her last conversation with Fang Xiu, A’Shou still felt a chill—

She had thought she was being harsh when she suggested, “The international negotiations are done. You can bring Zhuang Chongyue’s soul here and subject him to some of the Underworld’s harsher punishments. Or just let Bai Shuangying have a taste.”

Fang Xiu had replied with innocent eyes. “But I’d rather watch him go through the rituals.”

So that was it. He wanted to play before he killed.

A’Shou said, “But death-related taboos aren’t always painful. Want me to pick a more difficult ritual for you?”

Fang Xiu smiled, his eyes glowing brightly. “A’Shou Jie, can you guess what emotion is the most tormenting during a ritual?”

“Despair?” A’Shou frowned.

“Thanks to Bai Shuangying, I remember all 108 ritual entries.”

Fang Xiu tapped his temple, his voice soft. “In my opinion, the most painful thing during a ritual is having ‘hope’.”

“Even when it hurts so much you want to die, you think, maybe I can make it through this round.”

“If I push through just this one, maybe I’ll be one step closer to my goal.”

“When you’re at the brink of collapse, you still keep going, or else what was the point of holding on all this time?”

“…To be honest, that feeling is just like death by a thousand cuts. Hope you can’t let go of—that’s the most terrifying thing in utter despair. You know this too, don’t you?”

A’Shou had no answer.

A thousand years ago, if she had fully given up on the imperial court, at least she could have died with dignity on the battlefield.

But she had clung to a ridiculous fantasy, thinking that the arranged marriage was a noble sacrifice, that the emperor and his ministers had a master plan, working to save the faltering Kui Dynasty.

Unfortunately, only after reaching enemy territory did she realize it had all been cowardice and the incompetence of a king of a fallen country.

Fang Xiu had then pulled out the “Guishan Divine Words” and happily waved it. “Here. The Immortal Encounter E—their greatest hope.”

“I’m going to make full use of it. If needed, I can even imitate Zhuang Guiqu. I’ll push Zhuang Chongyue to the brink, then ‘bless’ him just enough to let him barely survive each ritual.”

“…Until he completely breaks and gives up everything by his own hand.”

The pages rustled as Fang Xiu smiled brightly, so bright it was almost blinding.

A mortal body made by the Underworld allowed clearance so long as one breath remained. Endless repetition without escape. How was this different from the eighteenth level of hell?

And with Bai Shuangying by his side, the God of Xushan could perfectly erase Zhuang Chongyue’s memories. That meant, in every ritual, Fang Xiu would appear to Zhuang Chongyue as a new teammate. An eternal companion.

A’Shou thought, the upcoming ritual reports would probably be very bloody.

……

Taiyi City Police Department, Gui Province

Officer Yuan sat upright at his desk, staring blankly at his computer screen for a full ten minutes.

Last night’s experience was still spinning in his mind. His emotions were twisted into knots, and nothing felt quite right.

What shook him the most wasn’t the Underworld or the ghosts and souls coming and going, but the child he had raised for over a decade.

Not long after entering the ritual, two of Zhuang Chongyue’s teammates had died tragically.

They had been torn apart, their limbs and heads ripped clean off.

Even knowing those people deserved death, that kind of brutal, old-school execution scene still unsettled Officer Yuan.

…But Fang Xiu had been smiling.

He had watched it all like a movie, deeply focused, appreciating the panic and fear.

Bai Shuangying had shown no emotion at all. He held Fang Xiu calmly, as if the corpses before them were no more than fallen fruit.

By the end of the day, Officer Yuan could hardly take it anymore. Bai Shuangying casually used an illusion to make him “disappear”, and the two returned him to the living world.

Back among the living, Yuan Ye didn’t know whether to feel worried, relieved, or just… free.

He realized that, with how cunning Fang Xiu had proven himself to be, he could easily have hidden everything and lived a double life between the two realms.

The fact that he had brought Yuan Ye to the Underworld likely wasn’t just to show him a cult leader’s downfall.

Yuan Ye rubbed his face hard and let out a deep breath.

“What’s up, Lao Yuan?” a colleague asked. “I heard your kid woke up. Why the long face?”

“Lao Zhou, your son’s been living out of town, right? Just got married recently?”

Yuan Ye carefully picked his words. “Do you ever feel like your own child is kind of… a stranger?”

“Oh, I get it. You don’t know how to talk to your son,” Lao Zhou said bluntly.

“I was planning to retire early, take care of him for the rest of my life.”

“But he doesn’t seem to need me. And… he’s not quite how I remember.”

“I don’t know about your kid, but mine turned out like that too.” Lao Zhou sipped his tea. “If he’s not hiding things to please you and instead shows you his true thoughts—”

Yuan Ye held his breath.

“Either he’s rebelling against you, or he really wants to share everything in his life and doesn’t want you to worry.”

“Is that so.”

“I’m telling you, a kid who shares is a blessing. The ones who only tell you the good stuff—that’s trouble.”

Lao Zhou joked, “Lao Yuan, you’ve stared down all kinds of criminals, but you can’t read your own family. Careful not to lose your edge.”

Officer Yuan hesitated. “What if what he shares is, uh, kind of unusual?”

Living with a thousand-year-old male ghost, turning the living into mosaics—that didn’t seem like a trendy Gen Z thing.

“That’s even more valuable.” Lao Zhou took another sip. “It means he really trusts you and doesn’t want to hide a thing.”

Then he lowered his voice, as if realizing something. “After being in a coma that long, he still talks to you? Wait… Is your kid into men?”

“Don’t overthink it, Lao Yuan. As long as Xiao Fang’s happy, that’s all that matters.”

Officer Yuan: “………………Yeah.”

True enough. Whatever Fang Xiu wanted to do, whoever he was deep down, whoever he chose to spend his life with, he hadn’t hidden a single bit.

That child had buried the past completely and now offered him his entire future.

…And yes, his son really did like men.

The sun still rose as usual. Life still moved forward. All he had to do was adjust his mindset.

After work, Yuan Ye instinctively walked toward the hospital. He was halfway there before realizing it.

He smiled and shook his head, then went to the market to buy some meat and drinks, planning to have an honest conversation with Fang Xiu that night.

But when he opened the front door—

“Woof woof!” A small black dog bounced over and snatched the marinated chicken leg poking out of his plastic bag.

Bai Shuangying expressionlessly grabbed the dog, wrestled the chicken leg back from the dog’s mouth, and stuffed it into the police officer’s bag. “It’s a ghost immortal. Technically, a celestial being, so it’s not dirty.”

Police Officer Yuan: “…”

“That’s not an offering for you. Don’t eat random stuff.” Bai Shuangying picked up the dog and scolded it seriously.

The dog licked its nose and just wagged its tail like a fan.

“Dad, you’re back!” Fang Xiu called out enthusiastically from the kitchen, holding a spatula. “Zhuang Chongyue and his team are resting. We came back for dinner.”

Two pots sat on the table. One was filled with ordinary-looking stewed meat, the other contained… something more questionable. There seemed to be fragments resembling human hands.

Police Officer Yuan: “…………”

He had never so deeply regretted his experience as a homicide detective.

“I followed the recipe. Give it a try.” Fang Xiu scratched his head. “Ours is pork. Bai Shuangying’s is foreign evil spirits. We didn’t mix cutting boards or knives.”

“If it bothers you, Bai Shuangying and I can eat in the living room…”

Under the table, the little black dog whined, staring longingly at Bai Shuangying’s pot, licking its lips.

Police Officer Yuan: “………………”

Setting aside the details, this could have been such a warm and harmonious dinner scene.

After a while, he let out a sigh, torn between tears and laughter.

“Let’s eat together,” Officer Yuan said. “Tell me more about your ghost intelligence department in the mortal world?”

“Okay!”

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The author has something to say:

Looks like it’s almost time to wrap this arc—

Officer Yuan’s wonderfully bizarre domestic life (?

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Kinky Thoughts:

Zhong Chongyue’s punishment reminds me of the Black Mirror episode White Bear.

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